GOOD GOLLY! Time sure gets away... I'm still alive and well, just haven't done anything noteworthy on my Deuce. I just looked at the date above and nearly choked; it's been 6 months since I updated here! I've been doing everything else and spending almost no time in the garage or shop.

Back in March the left front tire on my Model-A came apart and went flat on the way home from a local cruise-in. That led me to replacing all 4 tires on it. They all still had plenty of tread left and no dry cracks, BUT... they were all 17 years old! A good friend (a former tire dealer) told me he never runs a steel-belted radial tire more than 6 or 7 years old because, no matter how good they look, they are a ticking time bomb. Old bias ply tires can run forever until the tread is gone, but steel belts have a definite life expectancy. Lesson learned. This concept was just reinforced when a friend up in Indiana recently popped a front tire on the way to Pigeon Forge. It happened at about 70 mph. The car (a 'glass bodied Deuce roadster) went into the median, snagged the separation cables, spun around, and came to rest in the median facing the wrong direction. The front axle was snapped, left front half ripped off, frame diamonded, bent and twisted, body cracked in several places, grille shell and radiator destroyed and 3 of the 4 wheels damaged. Luckily, neither of the guys were injured, but the car is totaled. The cause?? A new-appearing steel-belted radial tire with the production date of 1991! Tires are branded on the back side with the week and year of production. Learn to read the code (it's easy) and take care of yourself.

So, what else has kept me from the shop? It started with the never-ending "honey-do list". I had several things that I had put off because of my wife's back surgery last year. Just as I was getting to the end of my list, I got Covid! Fortunately, it only kept me down for about a week, but then we found out my wife needed additional surgery - this time on her neck. It was done on September 1st. The recovery for the neck was supposed to be easier and shorter than for her back, and it has been, but about the time I was able to leave her alone I pinched the sciatic nerve in my back! HOLY CRAP!! So, here I am now with a limp in my walk, a touchy back, and constant fatigue (a leftover from Covid). So I haven't abandoned my Deuce or this thread; I'll get back to it, I promise.