An Effort to Improve Gas Mileage

Grumpy's Castle; 17 September 2010 --

Grumpy noticed that his prized automobile, Red Rocket, was trending downward in miles per gallon. It was first noticeable last summer when the Grand Mother and he drove to the midwest (at a maximum speed of 65 mph, of course) but averaged just under 31 mpg. In 2008, Grumpy's first "experiment" with slow driving, he had averaged over 34 mpg. What could account for a 10% drop in mileage?

One possibility was that the sparkplugs were in need of replacement*. The owner's manual says that they should be replaced at 105,000 and the 'Rocket' odometer was showing 84,000 of "hard" driving (the Grand Mother's term -- not Grumpy's!).

With this in mind, Grumpy searched the INTERNET for information on the best plugs to buy and any special tools needed. Yep, a special thin-wall deep socket was required. Grumpy chose a set of Bosch platinum plugs with four radial gaps -- similar to the plugs in Uncle Bob's Mooney engine.

The spark plugs on the Honda V-6 engine are not visible -- even when you open the hood. Grumpy removed a "suspicious" looking cover on the front of the engine. The plugs were still not visible, but a set of three small-gauge wires led to three black caps each held on with a single bolt. Removing the bolt and pulling on the black cap uncovered a deep hole about one inch in diameter; at the bottom of this hole -- about six inches down, to be exact, was the top of a spark plug. Would Grumpy's standard six-point deep socket fit down this hole?

The answer was a comforting "YES!" However, the problem arose as to how to lift the plug up out of that hole after it was unscrewed from the engine head. Scrounging in Grumpy's odds-and-ends tool chest, a short grabber was spotted -- something inherited from his Father-in-Law perhaps -- not yet used by Grumpy (he had a longer one that he had bought years ago to retrieve something that had dropped down through an engine block and into the oil pan).

The "Grabber" was useful for extracting each plug after it was unscrewed, but was also used to carefully lower the new plugs into place and finger-tightening them before torquing them with the deep socket to the proper spec.

All went well until the removal of the last plug -- #6. By the time Grumpy had fetched the old plug from its deep hiding place, his hand looked somewhat familiar. Yes, the Zimmerman gene had shown its ugly head again. Now the reader can see why Grumpy can sincerely say that he "FEELS" for his Grandson whose bloody knuckle was the subject of much pondering, guessing and ridicule a few days ago. Up to this point Grumpy was thinking that this job would be an exception to the long tradition that suggested that "A good job isn't done until there is a bloody knuckle or two."

Of course, Grumpy successfully finished installing the new plug in the #6 position -- and the 'Rocket started on the first cylinder!

Then Grumpy went in, washed his hands and took this picture of the "special" tools used on this job:

From left to right, the "special" tools are: six Bosch Platinum-4 plugs (with black marker pen used to identify each used plug so it could be replaced in the same cylinder if necessary); 8mm Allen wrench (to remove cap-retaining bolt); 5/8" deep socket with six-inch extension; 3/8" square-drive ratchet wrench; six-inch "Grabber" (for snagging tops of old spark plugs so they could be pulled up out of the deep hole they were in). Grumpy suspects that the so-called "required" special deep socket was one which included some kind of plug removal device. With the willingness to try something available rather than spend good money on a new tool that may only be used once or twice in his lifetime, Grumpy saved probably twenty bucks -- the new fancy plugs cost almost twice that much! But, as an old friend used to say, "There is more than one way to skin a cat without kissing it to death!"

*For more Automotive technical information, including things that affect gasoline mileage, go HERE.

Upside-Down Tomatoes; Year Two, September Update

Grumpy's Castle; 13 September 2010 --

Good grief, Charlie Brown!! Here it is mid-September and Grumpy hasn't posted an update on his Upside-Down tomatoes for almost two months! What has been going on? Stay here and I'll show you.

The first thing to say is that our Resident Grandson's diligent care of the tomatoes, during the Grand Mother's and Grumpy's absence in early July, resulted in them being healthy in spite of the very hot, dry Summer we had. Grumpy tries to be nice to this Grandson, since he was so good to take such good care of Grumpy's tomatoes and the lawn. It is kind of hard to do this even though there is the possibility that we will get to share a Lemon Meringue Pie some day.

The other notable thing that happened after Grumpy returned from his July vacation, was that the Sun Gold was moved from around the corner where it had been originally hung, and now hangs in a row with the other three plants, each spaced about 3 feet apart along the Southwest (street) side of the house. At least they all get pretty good mid-day and afternoon sun here.

The Sun Gold plant bears small, bite-size fruit that turn from a gold color to a deeper Orangey-gold color -- and then, if they are not picked, they drop off! Grand Mother and Grumpy agree this is our favorite tomato to nibble on. As you may notice, the plant is prolific in bearing a great many fruits.

The Early Girl has given us a few vine-ripened fruit this year, but the size and flavor have been disappointing; not as much "tomato" flavor as we would like. Also, all of the larger tomatoes seem to have pretty tough skin. Grumpy has not determined what causes this yet.

The Beefsteak Hybrid, which should have fruit about the size of a Grapefruit, has barely given more than two or three small tomatoes so far. Some of these fruit are also grotesquely shaped; again Grumpy has not yet determined why.

The Fantastic, the Grand Mother's favorite canning tomato (she used to go to Wenatchee each summer and haul back over 100 pounds of these, bringing them back and canning them the same day!), has not yet produced a ripe fruit. Some early ones developed "blossom rot", which Grumpy found was the result of the soil being too acidic. A cupful of Dolomite lime in each planter seemed to resolve that problem. Was a cup too much? Was it not enough? Grumpy doesn't know; the grotesqueness occurred before the lime was added.

Next year, Grumpy may concentrate on just two plants: maybe just two Sun Golds.

A New Fence

Grumpy's Castle; Early September 2010 --

Grumpy took advantage of Son-in-Law's extended period of unemployment by asking him to assist in constructing a decorative concrete wall to replace 20-25 feet of the deteriorating cedar panel fence that was built before the Grand Mother and Grumpy acquired this place in the mid-'60's. As it turned out, Adolfo was much more experienced and skilled in masonry than Grumpy could have imagined (he even had all of the professional tools!); instead of Adolfo assisting Grumpy, Grumpy was the "hod carrier" and Adolfo the "Master"! Grumpy was happy to work for such a skilled and good-natured boss -- although Adolfo "fired" Grumpy two or three times for gross mistakes (such as "accidentally" spraying the Master with the garden hose; dropping a decorative block in the dirt, thus delaying its timely setting in its place on the wall; and some other misdeed that neither of us can remember).

The first and most important task was clearing the debris from the line where the wall was to be installed and digging a shallow trench for the footing on which to stack the decorative blocks. Part of the area was "infested" with an old stand of tough bamboo. These had surprisingly not invaded Grumpy's yard (as the other neighbor's bamboo has been trying to do), but still presented a very challenging resistance to the removal of their roots and stalks where the footing was to go.

After the footing was poured, the decorative blocks were skillfully stacked by Adolfo, keeping the sides vertical and the tops level and perfectly aligned so the succeeding courses would also be level and aligned. The Master even allowed Grumpy to help place a few blocks and tap them gently into alignment. Grumpy really appreciated this opportunity to learn a little bit about another manual skill. It helped to develop a better appreciation for those who do this sort of work for a living.

Alternate courses of the decorative blocks were overlapped; Adolfo explained that this makes the wall much more substantial since there is not the weakness of a straight-line vertical mortar joint. Of course this meant that a few blocks had to be split. Grumpy was able to split one with both halves useable! Often, one of the halves will have a piece broken off so that it is incomplete and just wasted.

The end result of their labor is shown above. After consultation with the next door neighbor, the fence will continue for at least another 15-20 feet. But the next section(s) is not as critical, as the current cedar panel fence is quite sturdy in the remaining sections.

Grumpy designed a reusable form with which to produce the steel reinforced concrete posts located each 15-20 foot section of the new concrete fence. The "post" is poured after the blocks on either side have been placed and their mortar cured sufficiently. The form consists of two identical parts that are clamped to the opposite sides of the block fence over the gap in the blocks left for that purpose. The lumber used for the form has a distinct wood grain which is reproduced on the surface of the concrete post as can be seen in the photo on the right. So far it has been used on just one post, but there are at least two more on which it will eventually be used when the next several feet of fence are rebuilt.