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Friday, 05/16/03; Grandy, North Carolina - Day Five

 

The Parts Arrive!

 

There was nothing we could do this morning on the car until the parts arrived, so we slept in and goofed-off. About 1030, we drove to the post office and grocery store. Joann checked with a hairdresser and got an appointment to have her hair cut. While we were standing outside a “dollar” store discussing when to come back for Joann, a clerk at the store, hearing our conversation, piped up and said, “You don’t have to come back up here, I’ll be glad to drive her down to the motel.” That conversation sums up the attitude of the people we have met here in Grandy.

 

Since we have a microwave in our rooms, we bought things we could heat for lunch, so our lunch was not the usual sandwich. This brings up a point we should make about the rooms. Those of you that are old enough can picture our room as typical of the 1930’s “cabin” that were found on our nation’s highways. The only difference is that in the Smith’s room are a small electric refrigerator and a microwave oven. The Olsons have only the oven and use the Smith’s refrigerator to store their perishables.

 

After lunch was more goof-off time. Finally, shortly after 1500, Dennis received a call from Bill’s wife, Pat, that the package had arrived. We jumped in the car and drove to the garage. The part wasn’t there! Had we misunderstood Pat? Had she thought that we were coming to her place of work? Dennis called her and just as she came on the line, Bill drove into the drive with the part – he had gone to pick it up. We grabbed the old rods and pistons and with the new rods, drove back to the machinist’s to have the new rods installed. “JD,” the machinist had made his trip to the doctor’s office and back. He had checked the head and found it with a slight warp, so he had resurfaced it as well as chased the threads in all spark plug holes. He replaced the rods, loaned us his cylinder hone and we were off to the garage.

 

We honed cylinders three and four and installed the rod and piston in cylinder number three. By that time, it was after 1800, so we knocked off work, confident that we could finish up on the morrow. We returned the hone to the machinist on the way back to the motel. After a fast wash-up, we walked to the restaurant and had a good dinner.

 

Tomorrow – will we get the Olson car running? We’ll all have to wait and see!

 

The Dauntless Four

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