Pruning the pear tree

Today I pruned the pear tree!  This is what it looked like this morning:

And now, this afternoon:

Pruning keeps the tree from growing too large, and forces it to make more fruit.  I also took off a few branches that were crossed, and some that would grow too close to the shop.

TR4 Startup 1: Before

I made a short video of the TR4 starting up.

This is a baseline "before" - mostly for the sound.  I need to have the carbs rebuilt / resleeved (note the puff from the backfire on startup), the distributor reworked, and the manifold gaskets replaced again.

I put a second mike down behind the car, which gives the car a better sound but makes me sound very tinny.

Repurposing Electrical Boxes

I picked these up for free, they were discarded from a reno.

(Side note: Old electrical equipment is terrifying.)

I considered using the breaker panel as a sub panel when wiring the shop, but Federal Pacific (aka Federal Pioneer / Stab-Lok) got a bad reputation for making circuit breakers that didn't break when the circuit overloaded.  These boxes will be gutted and used for other projects that don't need to meet any electrical safety codes.

Triumph Fenders Acquired

For reasons I cannot comprehend, a pair of TR4 fenders showed up on a local classifieds website.

 They were expensive, as used car parts go, but ridiculously cheap for a set of decent used fenders.

Looks like they were originally midnight blue.  There's a few dings and creases from age and whatnot, but no bad rust at all.  Should clean up really well.

Triumphant Return

I started this blog to document some of the discoveries and processes related to camera repair.

However, upon reviewing my "bottom line" between buying / repairing / selling cameras and the same for bicycles, there's an order of magnitude of difference.  The smaller margins (buying a $40 camera, selling it for $45) plus the parasitic nature of online sales (eBay, PayPal, and the post office all get a pretty good cut) means this blog is being repurposed.

I also have a sports car!  A 1962 Triumph TR4:

I have had it for fifteen years now.  This year, it is 50 years old.  So, instead of continuing the rolling restoration that has been ongoing and off-going for the intervening fifteen years, this year it's coming off the road to receive some much needed R&R.