Author Topic: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!  (Read 128997 times)

Blicj11

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #195 on: April 06, 2017, 03:10:41 AM »
 :(
Blick


elagache

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Biquette is transported home (Re: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #196 on: April 15, 2017, 11:12:42 PM »
Dear WeatherCat automobile enthusiasts,

Orinda Motors finally was able to pull the big-block engine out of my trusty wagon by Friday morning.  I still think it is one handsome machine:



With that done it was time to send Biquette home so that Orinda Motor could take on another classic car customer.  So yesterday I arranged for her to be transported on a flatbed truck.  Here she is being loaded:



You can just make out the "Orinda Classic Car Center" sign under the roof.  At home the process was reversed and she was unloaded on the driveway:



Finally with some human muscle power, she was wiggled into her normal spot in the garage:



Today I went through all the parts and labeled the boxes to make reassembly that much easier.  Sometime next week the engine will travel back to Arizona to find out what in the world went wrong.

Definitely a gloomy time for da' trusty wagon and owner .  . . .

Edouard

Blicj11

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #197 on: April 18, 2017, 04:14:36 PM »
Sorry for your loss but it will be interesting to see what they discover.

Now that you have let us peek into your garage, I have a comment and a question.
  • In my opinion, the best garage door openers are manufactured by LiftMaster?
  • Is that blue tarp protecting from a water leak?
Blick


elagache

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Engine on its way to Arizona. (Re: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #198 on: April 18, 2017, 11:38:31 PM »
Dear Blick and WeatherCat garage maintainers,

Sorry for your loss but it will be interesting to see what they discover.

The engine was packed in a heavy-duty wooden crate and was supposed to be picked up today for its transit to Scottsdale, Arizona.

In my opinion, the best garage door openers are manufactured by LiftMaster?

That was the brand provided by the company when we upgraded from a wooden garage door to a metal sectional door.  The opener has worked just great.  We've only had one problem with it.  The motion sensor controlling the lights failed about a year after installation.  The company that put in the garage door replaced it for free.

Is that blue tarp protecting from a water leak?

*Sigh*
, yes it was.  The leak has been fixed but I forgot to remove the silly tarp!  :-[

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

xairbusdriver

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #199 on: April 19, 2017, 01:53:28 PM »
Quote
Is that blue tarp protecting from a water leak?
Quote
*Sigh*, yes it was.  The leak has been fixed but I forgot to remove the silly tarp!
You didn't "forget"! You're simply planning ahead! ThU5:-) [cheer]
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


elagache

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Ain't that the truth! (Was: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #200 on: April 19, 2017, 11:29:28 PM »
Dear X-Air and WeatherCat home maintainers who are all too painfully aware of Murphy's law.

You didn't "forget"! You're simply planning ahead! ThU5:-) [cheer]

Ain't that the truth!  [rainyluck]

Edouard

elagache

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2017 Orinda Classic Car show. (Re: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #201 on: September 09, 2017, 10:52:27 PM »
Dear WeatherCat automobile enthusiasts, 

Alas, the engine for my trusty wagon remains in Scottsdale, Arizona.  The engine builder over there had an machinist quit and that created a backlog of work that delayed progress on the engine.  So my wagon was, for the second time since 2010, unable to attend the Orinda Classic Car show.  However, I went over there and took quite a few photos of my own.  I uploaded all my photos to an online photo gallery that you can find here:

https://canebas.smugmug.com/ClassicandCustomAutomobiles/Car-Shows/2017-Orinda-Classic-Car-show

If all you've got to view these photos is a smart phone, you might try this link instead:

https://canebas.smugmug.com/ClassicandCustomAutomobiles/Car-Shows/2017-Orinda-Classic-Car-show?mobile=true

Not surprisingly, most of the cars are American, but there were a few exceptions.  There was another Morgan this year:



There was also a 1955 Jaguar XK140 drop head coupe:



Since "caravans" are a topic of interest around here, there was a Rotary fund-raiser project in the form of a wood teardrop trailer:



Here is another view:



The trailer was being raffled off as a fund raiser.

Finally, here is homey survivor for sure:



This is a 1959 Nash Metropolitan!  Here is one more photo:



If you need more pics to satisfy your classic automotive cravings, click on the gallery links above.  There are 54 images in all.

Enjoy!  :)

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Blicj11

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #202 on: September 09, 2017, 11:10:18 PM »
Nice work, Edouard. Here's to hoping engine #2 runs better and lasts longer.
Blick


elagache

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Engine being repaired not replaced (Re:Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #203 on: September 10, 2017, 11:15:46 PM »
Dear Blick and WeatherCat fans of "assertive" station wagons,

Here's to hoping engine #2 runs better and lasts longer.

Mostly a technicality, but for the record.  It is the same engine that was delivered in late 2012.  In 2014-15 it went through a first round of repairs that fixed a damaged crankshaft bearing and changed the design to be more of a passenger car engine, instead of a racing engine.  The only parts that didn't get a careful going over where the cylinder heads.  It turned out they also needed to be reworked. Ultimately the original castings couldn't be prevented from leaking and were replaced.  So hopefully the last parts of this engine that hadn't been reworked are now is top condition.

I am hoping the engine will be shipped before the end the end of this month.

Cheers, Edouard

elagache

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IT'S BAACK!! (Re: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #204 on: May 19, 2018, 10:53:58 PM »
Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally billy-goat station wagon, . . . . . 

Last time I reported on my trusty wagon, the engine was still languishing in Scottsdale, Arizona.  However, the last issues were resolved by the end of March and it was shipped in April.  Actually it has been over a month since a rather large and heavy crate arrived at Orinda Classic Car Center.  Alas they have been so desperately swamped with work that the crate was shunted in a corner while they tried to catch up.  Finally this week they were close to catching up and had enough time to open the crate and allow what was inside to peek out:



Here is the driver's side:



Here is the passenger side:



Finally here is the back:



They were still really busy and a Lincoln needs to be towed home before Biquette can come in.  However, the plan is to have her transported this upcoming Tuesday.  She will be getting some suspension and steering upgrades before the engine gets put back.  In the meantime, I've got to corral all those parts which have piled all over the house and get them ready to be put back together!

All of a sudden a very exciting time! . . .   [bounce]

Alas, that will make me a bit more scarce on this forum until things settle down once more.

Thanks for your support!!   [tup]

Cheers, Edouard   [cheers1]

mcrossley

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #205 on: May 20, 2018, 09:55:43 AM »
Wow! A work of art, there is nothing like a really nicely prepped bit of engineering.
Mark

Blicj11

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #206 on: May 22, 2018, 01:38:32 AM »
Thanks for the photos and the update. I was wondering what had become of this sweet project.
Blick


elagache

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The return to Orinda Classic Car! (Re: Billy-goat station wagon!!)
« Reply #207 on: May 23, 2018, 12:04:48 AM »
Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally billy-goat station wagon, . . . . . 

Today was the day!  Early in the morning I pushed Biquette out of the garage so that she could get nice and clean.  She even got a bit of a bubble bath in the process:



Then it was up on the flatbed transport truck:



We lucked out!  It was the same driver that brought her to Orinda Motors the previous time!  The trip was uneventful and after a few miles, she was unloaded at the Orinda Classic Car Center (the division of Orinda Motors now devoted specifically to classics.)



Finally she was parked right next to her engine so that they could bond once more!



Mission accomplished!  [bounce]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

elagache

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Memories of CA Memorial day snow! (Re: Da' trusty billy-goat wagon! )
« Reply #208 on: May 25, 2018, 11:31:02 PM »
Dear WeatherCat users who stroll down memory lane from time to time,

We are having a very unusual start to the Memorial day weekend with a little rain falling today.  That reminded me of another adventure with my trusty wagon involving the weather.  In the mid-1980s, I attended 2 Riverside Telescope Makers Expos.  It is held every Memorial day weekend at Camp Oakes near Big Bear Lake in Southern California.  It is over 450 miles from my home and about an 8 hour drive.  One year Biquette got the call to make the drive and so I picked up the two friends going along with me as early as they could break from work - sometime in the afternoon.  It is a very crowded affair and getting a good camp site was important to be comfortable, so people line up in front of the entrance before the campground opens.  We arrived around 3 in the morning utterly exhausted.  In order to get some sleep, we tossed a tarp on the ground, put our sleeping bags on top of that, and quickly fell asleep.  When we woke up it was daylight and there was a dusting of snow on us and of course Biquette!  [snow] It was only the second time my wagon experienced snow in the 50 years we have owned her since 1968. 

Fortunately, that year the storm blew through quickly and we had a nice clear weather the remainder of the weekend.  The previous year we weren't so lucky.  We had snow and rain and extremely cold temperatures under cloudy skies.  Little point to having a telescope under those conditions!

The moral of the story is that even in California you can't count on the weather for the Memorial day weekend!  [biggrin]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Blicj11

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Re: FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!
« Reply #209 on: May 25, 2018, 11:37:46 PM »
Haha. Good weather story and kudos to you for working it into the Biquette thread. I can't remember, because this thread is quite long, covers multiple years worth of a adventures, and actually started on other forums. I assume your dad bought this car when it was two or three years old. Is that correct?
Blick