Winter mods for an Alaskan Drifter

[JagLite]

You get it alright!
Old knees and other joints don't like this kneeling and constant up and down anymore.
One of these days I will take pictures of all of my "little helpers" that I find so beneficial in the shop now.
Like the rolling stools, floor pads, and so on.
Might help someone else make their shop just a bit more comfortable.

If/when I get healthy again. 
I've been fighting a chest cold for a month now.
Go to work, get home, go to bed.
Repeat.... 

I have my Rickman Metisse entered in our once a year motorcycle show this weekend and I haven't had the strength to get it ready to go.
I go to the doctor again today so I am hoping he will say that I am almost over this.
That's the way it usually works for me, finally go to the doctor and spend a couple hundred to have him say that I will start feeling better tomorrow.

I may have to ask my wife to help me load the bike on the trailer at this rate...   

What a whiner I am, eh? 

[CDNRatMan]

  JagLite know were you are coming from, I have an Ikea farm tractor seat with wheels, I can roll around the living room really easy with it, really close to a bathroom, the kitchen is right there, and of course the big screen TV to watch a hockey game while tinkering. So much better then the shed........Now you want to see a nice shop you should see GreenBarn's. He will tell you his shop also comes with delivery service for meals....but that is just his wife's way of keeping him out of the house and out from under her feet........lol.......

[JagLite]

I really like having a shop.
Finally...
I had a one car garage shop when I turned 48 and now at 61 I have a two car garage shop.
If you can, do it sooner than me!

All those years working outside on my projects wasn't near as much fun as sitting in a comfortable thinking chair or on a rolling mechanic stool working on my bikes with good lighting, comfortable heat, and good music playing on the four speaker system. 

[Ironraven]

Zounds, this is cool stuff!  Love your shop, I'm going to insist that my next place has a decently sized heated garage for just that reason.  I love wrenching on stuff, but frozen fingers aren't much fun.  I love me some Steampunk/Dieselpunk myself!  If you're ever over on that online crack site Facebook check out Friends of Industry, I'm a founding member of that cadre of maniacs.

[mittico68]

Nice ladies...

[CDNRatMan]

 very stylish and smart looking.....

[DC]

You dress up clean Mr. DC

Just something I wear when out for a stroll.

Some pics of my wives dressed up too.

[CDNRatMan]

  Well get to work on the bike and worry about the clothing later..........

[JagLite]

Hah!
I will need a mask like the Lone Ranger too.
Or maybe the Phantom of the Opera mask would be better for my ugly mug.

[CDNRatMan]

  I think you will be with the missus help the coolest rider in AK, best dressed, coolest looking bike, costume for the hound and you are fixed right to a tee.......all decked out in a steam punking outfit...........with your zombie gun and glasses to spot them.....

Perhaps we can talk her in to making a costume for Troll also.........

[JagLite]

Excellent!
Those are neat pants at a very good price.
A long duster coat is almost a requirement I think

[CDNRatMan]

  Not to steal your thread on the work you are doing on your bike. I bought a pair of Olsen riding pants from these people. At their Western Store.

https://www.westernemporium.com/store/005142W.php?eesc=cat

because the good lord built my butt close to the sidewalk I had them tailored for me and the extra material I had made in to a pocket for my glasses and wallet on each leg. I found them super comfortable, and they handle the heat and the cold equally well. Also my WWI canvas trench coat is pretty cool.......

I would be interested in what your missus comes up with........I have been toying with the idea of like golf knickers and high boots......

[JagLite]

Thanks for the link!
Robyn will have fun checking them out for ideas.

A Drifter Rider outfit sounds like something she would have fun designing and making.
She has done several Steampunk styles and is working on one for me at the moment.
She showed me the "gun" she picked up at our local used clothing store for my outfit.
It is some kind of Nerf handgun that she will modify, paint, and detail into a Steampunk laser... or blunderbus.

Like me she always has several projects going at various stages.

A Drifter Rider Outfit sounds really good!
I will keep you informed if she is interested

[Old Drifter]

You dress up clean Mr. DC

Looks like the latest in Drifter rider garb! 

[CDNRatMan]

  You dress up clean Mr. DC

[DC]

[CDNRatMan]

Have her check this site out......I personally buy clothing from here and it is a hoot and a lot of fun......

https://www.gentlemansemporium.com

the steampunking stuff is cool also......

[JagLite]

I have always used the large cardboard box before.
Same filter and exhaust fan blowing out the garage door.
But in my previous shop I had heat in the slab so very little dust in the air.
I forgot about that this time and the overhead gas heater blows everything around almost constantly.
I didn't notice that until I painted of course. Duh...
For small jobs I will turn the heater off from now on.

The sewing machine is an antique, 1922 Singer that my wife is restoring.
It will get all new gold filigree decals over the black paint and then gloss clear coat over that.

She will use it when we are "camping" in our RV since it is a hand crank machine.
Very neat.

She has several other sewing machines in her sewing room that she uses normally.
No, she doesn't sew anything practical, she loves to design and make dresses from the past.
1600's, 1700's, 1800's and a few from the early 1900's.

After she makes one, she may get to wear it once somewhere, then she puts it on Ebay and sells them for more than what she has in the materials so it is a self supporting hobby, not a business.
She's happy and that makes me happy.

Of course, if she would make these fancy dresses in a more common size they would find more buyers but she makes them her size, which is tiny. 5' tall tiny. Oh, well...

[CDNRatMan]

 cool idea on the paint booth. I have used a large cardboard box in my back room.....when you need to come up with an idea it sometimes is good. Now why the sewing machine....lol......

[JagLite]

I'm back!
It is so nice to not be sweating from 8am to 10pm...
I can't take the heat you all deal with.
70 degrees is HOT to me   

I sprayed the paint on the tank and fenders before leaving and it turned out unacceptable.
Most disappointing. 

So much "junk" in the air got stuck in the paint and since I am using mat clear I can't buff it out.
And the color was just too white...
So, I built a temporary paint booth using PVC pipe, corner pipe fittings, plastic drop cloths, and two air filters - one in and one exhaust with a fan sucking the fumes out.

I like this color much better and the paint came out nice and smooth.

I also painted the parts for another bike in the temp paint booth, and my wife is going to use it to paint her sewing machine before I take it apart.

I had to move my Drifter to make room for it and with no wheels on the Drifter I was glad to have a good rolling jack and flat surface to make it secure...

I have some painting to do on the forks and then I can put the bike back together and finish the exhaust system.
The weather has been exceptionally warm here with highs in the 40's so the snow has melted away and people are already riding!
That is amazing, and about two months early.
We aren't complaining though! 

[CDNRatMan]

  lol going out of state.......to visit 49 in BC are you......

[Tim]

Hi Jag some cool work here. Any updates? I am digging your efforts.

[JagLite]

Finally the shop heater parts arrived and the repairman installed them Friday.
Three weeks with no heat in the shop...
This weekend was mostly spent painting but I did get to work on the flex tube exhaust a bit.
Cutting and tack welding along with some thinking.
The thinking is the tough part.

The inner pipe is a slip fit inside the pipe flange:

Both pipes tacked to the flange pipes:

The outer flex tube will slip over the inner tube after I seal weld the inner tube to the pipe flange stub.
Then the inner pipe will get welded to the collector and the outer flex will slip cover the joint.
That's the plan so far anyway, subject to change if I figure out a better way.

The outer tube will get a 3/4" wide band clamp around it at the flange for appearance.
Or possibly just a section of tube the size of the clamp welded over the end.
I haven't found anything to use as a dressing and since it is all getting painted flat black anyway... 

Here is a comparison of the sizes of flex tube:

The 1.5" I am using for the inner (actual) exhaust pipe, the 1.75" that I am using as the outer pipe for appearance, and the way too big 2.25" flex I thought I was going to use.
I tried to get 2.0" for the outer but can not get it without paying far too much for shipping.

I won't get to work on the pipe for two weeks as I am going out of state but I was glad to finally get to do something.

I hope to shoot the color coat on the tank, fenders, and side covers before I leave so they can dry while I am gone.

[greenbarn]

Anxiously awaiting....  Do you have anything in mind to cover the ends of the flex?? 

[JagLite]

My outer flex pipe arrived.

But it won't work.
I don't know what I was thinking to order 2.25" flex tubing to go over the 1.5" inner flex.
It is HUGE. 
It is 2.25" I.D. and way too big.
It looks like a cartoon bike.
Goofy!!! 

So today I ordered a piece of 1.75" flex.
I also made some real progress on painting.
I called the pro's and had them come fix my shop heater.
Now I can actually do some painting this weekend.
I hope...