Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[jackiewilson]

Was up at crack-o- sparrow. well into the gates befor Nine. Finished them a little before five pm. Long day . decided ive retired completely. last job ill ever do for anyone, i m just too damn slow and old these days . glad of the help of Ian today, world class Carpenter /
Gates are finished except for final coat of teak oil/
Posts are of english oak . Gates are of some obscure Malaysian hard word, was told its teak, but i have my doubts. Finished results are outstanding.

[GENE LANHAM]

Gene's response to this picture was ...... "Mel and I drove that back to Miami" ....


Sorry Gene, love ya man, but I just can't buy into this tale. I know you've run a lot of different equipment in a lot of different events, but I just can't imagine anyone running that little machine from Fond du Lac to Miami, especially with Riggs sittin' on the back. Besides that, I bet you would have run out of snow before you got to Georgia.

Hey Bill (and Fugimo)---this was nearly 50 years ago!!

And my grey cells are nearly 90 years old!!

Most OLD-TIMERS are familiar with the THANKSGIVING MASSACRE

Odell quit--Mel quit--Mel was working on the LEDGE----MR. K still owned the LAKE---and MIDNIGHT PASS

Odell and his family were living in one of the houses at Midnight Pass---There was a beautiful 36' race-boat called KAM I---

My mistake--I should have said--" Mel and I drove that back to Siesta Key"----------------------

[GENE LANHAM]

hey bill (and fugimo)---this was nearly 50 years ago!!



my mistake--i should have said--" mel and i drove that back to siesta key"----------------------

mel and i took turns driving-----

[willabee]

mel and i took turns driving-----

Did everyone except Jackie miss my little attempt at humor .... Wow, what a tough crowd!

[jackiewilson]

Did everyone except Jackie miss my little attempt at humor .... Wow, what a tough crowd!

Told you we were the two smartest cookies still left drawing breath. ?
As my sainted mother used to say “WHERES Theres no sense , there’s no feeling”. Or was it the other way round ?

[bernie]

That dude with the "Race Director" on his jacket is probably the guy that pulled me and my sled off the starting line at the SnoBol, showed me a letter that USSA had outlawed my Polaris TX Playmate, 12 inch wide track - "too dangerous". I guess like 3 guys had died driving them. I got tossed off a couple times - just took it in stride. . The other sled in the photo was my stock appearing Merc Rocket - 399 CCW, twin Tillotsen carbs, expansion chamber exhaust, 5000 RPM clutch - it was stock until I started it - then people knew it wasn't stock!

[FUJIMO]

[FUJIMO]

Did everyone except Jackie miss my little attempt at humor .... Wow, what a tough crowd!

...we all got it big guy, lol...

[jackiewilson]

...we all got it big guy, lol...

Course you did Fuji. Once it was pointed out.!!!!! What was it my sainted mother used to say! “.We are all wise after the event” !

[jackiewilson]

I have to elucidate a little on this picture. The old guy is Eddie Jegla, My Polish next door neighbour from 68 years ago. He will be 94 this coming Monday. He was bemoaning the fact that he couldn’t find the type of gate he wanted, so like an idiot, I offered to make him a pair.
Told him I wasn’t interested in erecting the gate posts, which are eight foot —— 8x8 solid English oak. Or the electric opening mechanism.
Didn’t realise it would take me all summer to complete the task. There were mitigating circumstances!!
Falling arse over tip and skinning my elbow didn’t help much.
The fact that twenty six chunks of inch and a half teak, cobbled together, weighed in at over 500 lbs and I wasn’t able to manhandle it on my own didn’t help either.
Anyway, my part of the jobs done. I promised a friend I would do him a pair of gates. I kept the promise. Learned a couple of valuable lessons. Never bite off more than you can chew ! Retire gracefully while you still can.
Must confess to a feeling of quiet satisfaction!

[jackiewilson]

Walked away from the scrapyard feeling distinctly sad. Suppose this is where we all wind up in the end, a bin in the scrapyard waiting to be melted down.

[bernie]

Walked away from the scrapyard feeling distinctly sad. Suppose this is where we all wind up in the end, a bin in the scrapyard waiting to be melted down.

Jackie, you should live in Fond du Lac,the OB motor pile is 30 feet high. At least we can buy stuff off the pile, I picked up a SS prop for $5 and sold it for $80! 15 cent a pound to buy off the pile. Bought a snowblower two weeks ago for $15, cleaned the carb, got $60 for it! Sometimes good gearcase, power trim, electrical parts - right now a complete MerCuiser stern drive still attached to the remnants of a boat - thinking about that one but willneed one of the yard cranes to get it down.

[jackiewilson]

Jackie, you should live in Fond du Lac,the OB motor pile is 30 feet high. At least we can buy stuff off the pile, I picked up a SS prop for $5 and sold it for $80! 15 cent a pound to buy off the pile. Bought a snowblower two weeks ago for $15, cleaned the carb, got $60 for it! Sometimes good gearcase, power trim, electrical parts - right now a complete MerCuiser stern drive still attached to the remnants of a boat - thinking about that one but willneed one of the yard cranes to get it down.

You gotta be smart Bernie and “DELEGATE”, Bernie, couple of bucks to the crane driver and he’s suddenly your best buddy. He would dig you a lake so you could float the boat.
Picked up 8 cymbals from the brass pile this morning. Just right for “ BENNY BENSON”. But he’s in Vancouver and probably retired by now.
Dont you just love scrapyards (RECYCLING FACILITIES) AND CAR BOOT SALES !!!

[FUJIMO]

I have to elucidate a little on this picture. The old guy is Eddie Jegla, My Polish next door neighbour from 68 years ago. He will be 94 this coming Monday. He was bemoaning the fact that he couldn’t find the type of gate he wanted, so like an idiot, I offered to make him a pair.

...gotta love the tom sawyer affect...works every time... those gates look pretty nice. that fence will be there 50 years from now no problem...

[jackiewilson]

One of my more ridiculous hobbies is to take an old woodworking tool that died fifty years ago and breath new life into it . I usually take it down from the shelf for a couple of hours whenever im at a loose end or have some deep thinking to do.
This is a draw knife, not used anymore. You certainly couldn’t find one in a catalogue, Ill post some pictures