JR's Korner of BillyBob's Garage

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

BOOKSTORE operating in association with Amazon.com Books

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and time of disassembly for restoration.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

10. Reamed . . . and put away wet

To use the ridge reamer, one inserts it into the cylinder and adjusts the clamping mechanism to hold it in place. On top of this horrid tool is a hex nut which you turn with a wrench thus causing the cutting head to remove material from the cylinder top. After a few rotations of the cutting head you must re-adjust the clamping which extends the cutting head and you turn the nut again. You continue this procedure until the ridge is gone.

In order to operate the thing I found that I had to sit on the engine block under the raised hood with a leg hanging on either side of the engine block. I started the operation. Adjust . . . turn the nut . . . adjust . . . turn the nut . . . adjust . . . turn the nut. Two hours later the first cylinder was smooth enough to get the piston out. Let's see, two hours per cylinder with five cylinders to go. That's ten hours. If I skipped lunch and bathroom breaks I could still have the tool back before the parts jobber closed. I could make the numb-nuts eat his laughter!

Did I mention that temperature was about 92 degrees and the humidity was around 85%!

After hours and hours of "adjust and turn the nut" I was finally on my last cylinder and I still had time to get the tool returned before the store closed. My joy at the prospect of seeing the look on the numb-nut's face as I triumphantly threw the damn tool down on the counter while demanding my deposit was short lived, however. All at once I got cramps! Two of them! One in each leg! Both calf muscles tried to tear themselves from the bones. I desperately needed to straighten my legs to relieve the cramps, but I couldn't use my legs to get off the damn engine block so I could straighten them! I finally, grabbed the radiator and, mustering all my upper body strength (I'm a skinny bastard so there wasn't much strength to muster.) I catapulted myself off the engine block, over the radiator and unto the driveway. I landed on my chest but my legs were now straight. I just lay there until the pain subsided. I could barely get up. When I finally made to my feet I slammed the hood leaving the tool from hell in the last cylinder, went to my refrigerator, grabbed a beer, Iron City of course, and lay on my plaid couch. I was asleep before the beer was half gone. The numb-nuts had won!

< Back to IntroReaming aftermath >

You can email JR at  jr@laroke.com

Issued Wednesday February 18, 1998

Updated Wednesday June 24, 1998

copyright © 1998 William Craig Kephart all rights reserved