Pre-Op

Jaime went through her final prep today and will go into her first repair session tomorrow afternoon. All the meds are in and we will begin to make her ready to receive her new parts.


Someone asked if the government has special tools or things that are not available to the general public. The answer is no. Dr. Rudy Wells gave me a list of tools to assemble for Jaime's repair, and I found that they are  all available to anyone that might find themselves in need of rebuilding their love.

Basic tool kit to get started                   

A. Screw driver assortment: Phillips and flat of different sizes
B. 3/8” drive Metric socket set- 6mm - 20mm

C. Metric Allen wrenches- 2mm to 10mm
D. Opened end combination wrenches- 8mm to 19mm
E. Needle nose pliers- Long handle
F. Torx drivers T and E type (male and female)
G. Wire strippers and diagonal cutters
H. Fuel clamps
 I. Hemostats- aka roach clips
J. Spark plug socket- with a rubber insert
K. Soft faced hammer
L. Feeler gauge- For measuring spark plug gap
M. Vise grips
N. Micro Torch (For heating fasteners)
O. Ullman Devicies CHP-8L- Kook & Pick set

Advanced tool kit

A. Impact Driver

B. Torque Wrench

C. Multimeter

D. Motorcycle lift (Larin)

E. Battery Charger

F. Heat gun

G. Compression tester

H. Carb synchronizer

 I. Air compressor

J. Timing Light

K. Tachometer

Tool Sources

For tools on the cheap, one can always go to JR’s or a Harbor Freight. They sell lower quality inexpensive tools from China.   I personally prefer making the investment up front and getting high quality tools, but these will do when funds are tight. One thing to note is that Harbor Freight does give a life time guarantee on any of the Pittsburgh brand tools.  You don’t even need the receipt. If it ever breaks, just bring that piece in to the store and they will replace it on the spot. That can make the savings worth the risk of breakage, unless of course that tool breaks on a Sunday night when the store is closed and you’re in the middle of a job. Other budget minded options are Craig’s list, swap meets and yard sales. You’d be surprised how many ex-wives, widowers and inheriting kids get rid of good tools that they never plan on using, and are tired of looking at.

For higher quality tools regardless of how you get them, some brands that are tried and true are Snap-On, MAC Tools, and Matco Tools. Others such as Craftsman, Husky, and Kobalt come from the big chain stores and are fairly good as well.

Other items that I have found handy:

Sharpie, pencils, ink pens, composition books, digital camera, surgical gloves, small pry bar, bright colored stickies, stapler, plastic organizer bins, safety glasses.

Sabotage???

Today began phase one of Jaime’s rebuild, which mostly means tear her down. Oscar had advised me that we would need to cut her open and go through all of her insides so that we can identify which parts were salvageable and which parts would be replaced with new bionic ones.  It started out pretty easy, but as mentioned before, you could tell she’s been on the street for a while. As I got the first carb open, Oscar gasped! 

He was concerned about the corrosion and pointed out the worn out O-rings and gasket.  I wasn’t thrilled, but I knew those are easy parts to get. There will be a lot of man-hours devoted to this phase, but it will take a while for those parts to come in anyway. 

I decided to go ahead and pop open the next carb to see how it looked.  That’s when I gasped!  

 

There was so much rust! Then it hit me. I started wondering if what appeared to be an accidental injury was really sabotage? It looked like there was water in her tank. Maybe it was just from bad gas that was left sitting, but maybe, just maybe someone was trying to stop her on purpose. We will get to the bottom of this.

Understanding Jaime's Anatomy

Oscar started talking about all the possible things that we might have to do to bring Jaime back to life. As my eyes started to glaze over, he broke out these ancient videos from his secret government vault. They are pretty basic, but very helpful in understanding engine anatomy. Fortunately, the core principles haven't changed much. It's the advances in technology and materials that will make Jaime even better than before.

There are about sixteen videos that explain engine mechanisms. Click the jump to expand your mind.

"How Auto's Work"    Part 1- The Car Engine.

Examples of different types of cylinder heads.

Thank you to Oscar and HowAutoWork.com for the sharing and free downloads!

The stripping of Jaime- More from Day 1

So I probably should have stated that I'm part of a training program. At the end of it I should be able to perform many basic operations that will extend or bring back to life, sick or injured motorcycles, like Jaime.  Every week the program focuses on different topics, this week is carburetors.  Given that, I have a goal of getting Jaime's carbs off asap so I can work on them in the presence of my chief adviser, Oscar Goldman.

The first step involved getting some working room. Which means removing the seat and gas tank. For future references, any mystery keys should be identified and it's use cataloged. After trying all reasonable methods for removing the seat, it occurred to me that it must be tied to what I thought was a helmet lock. Sure enough, one of the mystery keys unlocked the seat and voila! It came right off.  Note: I find it helpful to mark everything when possible. The mysterious key has been marked with red nail polish.

I knew the battery was dead so I went ahead and took it off. I thought I would try to charge it, but it was toast. Jaime will need a new energy source.  Jaime's veins are a little trashed. At some point, we might have to give her new wiring to accommodate any new bionic parts.

You can tell she is advanced in age. Probably a smoker when that was vogue, her filters were falling apart. I went ahead and took those off, new lungs will be one of many things on the replacement parts list. I'll have to see what our agency can afford. Yes, government cutbacks have affected us too.

Next, removing the gas tank.  Since this bike had been sitting for so long, I had a pretty easy time with getting the tank off.  There was no gas to drain, catch or store. In fact, after removing the hoses and pulling back the tank, it sounded like there was just some sand in there.  Not good for a running bike, but less for me to have to sponge up. There is a locking cap on this tank. Again the mysterious key seemed to open it, but I'm not convinced it's the right key. It might have just worked because the lock is old and falling apart anyway.

This initial triage took a lot longer than expected. Hopefully the carbs will come off in time to make it to the scheduled surgery.

Day 1- Jaime

So obviously photography and I have separated. I wouldn't say we're divorced, but we are takingsome what of a break from each other. Fast forward to today and I have another love interest. I suppose you could say I'm having a full blown affair. I have nothing to hide so everyone knows about it. I've even decided to document our relationship. As time permits, I will post pics and tidbids about our adventures together.


Her name is Jaime. That's what I want to call her anyway. Her legal spouse calls her something else, but I prefer Jaime. As in "Jaime Sommers, the bionic woman.
When we first started she was a mess, and still is. She looked ok in her little red outfit, but when you got closer you could see she needed a makeover, badly.

We're starting that makeover today.



It took a while, but she finally let me undress her. I could tell she's been on the streets for a long time. She going to need lots of love and rehabilitation.

We can rebuild her.

On the DL

I think my significant other is on to me. Maybe it was just my own guilt as I walking by her to go see my new luv. It's funny how one day we can be totally content with our relationships and then the next day stumble into something new. It doesn't matter how great the current one is. She's old news. Not exciting. Well, today, I did my best to stay away from Di. I didn't immediately run back to my SO, but eventually, tonight I did. I couldn't take the looks I got when I would walk by. The silent treatment can be deafening. So I went back and begged for forgiveness. At first she was a little standoff-ish. Then I started to hold her, massage her legs a bit, and she slid right back into the palm of my hand. She didnt let me down either. I'm still amazed at her ability to narrow her focus and blur everything else out.

It felt good to be together again. I'm still thinking about Di, but at 40, Miss D is my age and she can bring out the best in me much better than Di. I can regress all the way to 17 when I'm with Di. I know we'll spend more time together, but Di will never be my D40.

Apple of my i??

Well, I've been absent from the blogging life for a while. I've had a couple ideas for topics, but haven't had the energy. And now my friends, I have a new distraction! Or is that addiction? No, more like affection. For now we'll just call her Di.
I love her. She is beautiful, talented, and loves to travel. What more could you ask for? I especially love the way she takes pictures. She is the epitome of point and shoot. She even goes one better that P & S. She can point, shoot, and edit! She can do graffiti, distort and add funny little accessories to willing subjects. She can upload those pics in seconds or can send them to any wireless sibling. She's so much fun to hang out with!
I do recognize that she's not perfect. She has a small handicap, .3 megapixels to be exact. She also cant send pictures over the internet. That's a total bummer to me, but I can look past her short comings. I also wish she could play music while we do other things, but I could stand to work on my ADD tendencies. What I love about her the most is that she is doesnt care about what others think of her. So many people compare her to the ibot that Crapple pimps out like an overpriced hooker. Di is a classic: cute and fun to be around. Period. She doesnt need to bring sexy back or control every other part of your life.
It's nice to be in love. Other than photography, nothing has been able to pique my interest at all. I'm sure I don't fit the stereotype of someone that would love her, but I don't care. I can see us having a very happy life together.
Meet my new love, my beautiful blue DSi...