Tom M. and his adventures

[John Hofstetter <hofs@domain.elided>]

>I also found out that, even with my new cooler installed, the power 
>steering unit doesn't need 1qt of fluid... unfortunately, I found this 
>out when I climbed in the Scout for the test drive... romped the 
>throttle, and it was raining... burst the high pressure line.. for 
>tonight and today, I yanked the p/s belt.. it steers surprisingly well 
>with 33s and armstrong steering.  

Tommy,
You are certainly your e-mail daddy's boy. Burst the power steering hose 
in the rain, just like I did, but you were one day later. 

Glad you got your welder, now you can quit moping around about needing it 
so much, and with your driving proclivities, you'll get lots of use out 
of it. In case it wasn't relevant at the time and therefore you don't 
remember it, using stainless steel rod on all welding except cast iron 
works really really well. It cleans its own slag off, is super strong, 
never rusts, and is easy to weld with. 

I suspect that you'll be quite happy with your stick welder, I am, but 
I've had it for 30 years or so and I'm really used to it. Sometimes wish 
I had a MIG welder for sheet metal and such, but most of the time the 
stainless steel sticks do a great job for me. I guess that really, when I 
need to weld Aluminum is the main time I lust for a MIG. Only problem is 
that I'm not as steady as I used to be, and my beads never were prize 
winnners and now would only win an Ugliest Weld contest. I've compensated 
over the years and nearly always try to weld with some support under my 
forearms or bottom of my hand holding the stick, and when I'm able to do 
this, I can weld with anyone. I've got scars everywhere from doing 
overhead welding without the proper clothing, so I won't attempt to give 
you any advice in this regard except to avoid it whenever you can. Bet 
you had some interesting red-hots come your way when you were welding 
back your spring mount.

Regards,
John H.