BG is in

This year was a banner year for Blue Goose. She was out and about for 803 miles. Yahoo! So since she arrived in January, 2011 she has logged 1,347 miles, obviously most of them this year.

BG Is Out

Fired up BG this morning! Starting miles for this year's adventures is 18962. Let's see how far she gets.

Oops, What Happened?

We took a drive last week. As we came up to a traffic light I put my foot on the brake, and Blue Goose (BG) took about a one foot jump to the left. The left front brake grabbed for some reason. We continued on and I was very careful with the application of the brakes. But nothing else happened. On the way home I did notice a rubbing sound coming from the left front brake.

After getting home I jacked up the wheel and, sure enough, it was very hard to turn the wheel. The shoe was rubbing. I compared that with the right front wheel. It turned freely without rubbing. Then I spent a couple of days figuring out how to remove the brake drum. I finally was able to remove it and found what I had suspected, the return spring had broken. A new one ($3.50) is now one the way. BG should be as good as new by next weekend.

The picture shows all of the parts associated with the removal of the brake drum. The broken spring is at the bottom next to the drum. You can also see the rear shoe hanging loose.

 

Willys Parking Only

I was given a "Willys Parking Only" sign for Father's Day. The first picture shows it as it arrived in the mail. The second picture show it carefully mounted on a stake with "minimal" damage. The last picture shows it placed in front of and beside the garage where BG is kept.

Pristine

Mounted

In Place

Jeep Tops & Bus Stops

Great Adventure today! When we arrived home BG had 18841 miles on the odometer which means that she has been driven 423 miles since she was purchased.

The new parade top was finished so we took the Benton Franklin Transit buses from home to the upholstery shop. We found that people over 65 get to ride free, a benefit we gladly took advantage of. It took two transfers and a little over an hour to get to downtown Kennewick. The top looks great; I love it. It is nice and snug. I've included a crummy picture of one of the buses we rode and a picture of BG with her new top and whip antenna blowing in the breeze.

 

Swap Meet, License Plates & WOW

Yesterday several of us went to the Tri-Cities 37th Annual Swap Meet and Antique Car Display at the Benton County Fairgrounds. I took my license plates with me. Earlier in the week I called the guy that I brought the license plates for Blue Goose from (see Blog dated May, 2012), because he had expressed interest in the plates I had for sale, to see if he was going to have a booth here. He said wasn't coming.

While at the swap meet I talked to a lady who was selling license plates. She said she would buy plates and was interested in looking at mine. So I went back to the car and carried my box of plates in. She looked over the plates, only interested in older Washington State ones, gathered a few and asked me what I thought was a fair price for them. I said $25 each. She said that was fair and offered me $400 for the lot. I said sure and we consumated the deal.

When I returned home I checked my database to see which plates she had purchased and found that she had picked eleven. So she paid me almost $40 a piece for the plates. WOW!

The attached picture shows an example plate, probably the one she will get the most money for when she sells it.

  

Roll Cage & Whip Antenna

Blue Goose now has a roll cage and whip antenna installed so she can safely explore the land around us (if she ever gets to). The roll cage came from a military jeep and needed to be modified; the front legs were too long for BG. I had a machine shop shorten the legs and put new flanges on them so that all six legs sat firmly on the fender wells and floorboard. I had the roll cage painted Normandy Blue and installed it in BG using spacers and large washers to provide maximum strength in the attachment. Our son gave BG the whip antenna and quick release mounting bracket. Now she is all ready to go.

The first picture is of the roll cage before it was modified.

The second two pictures show BG in all her glory, one with the windshield up, the other with it lowered.