With a long New England winter settled in I was not quite able to get the tin roofing on the building so the restoration phase will have to wait a few more months to begin. Aperios covers were left in place but tucked in a bit tighter for the winter. So it seemed a good time to work on the sandblasting program in the warm shop. One downside of a steel boat is that they need to be sandblasted and painted every 10 years or so. Aperio is well overdue for the full show.
After an email blitz to various town and state surplus agencies I purchased this 1969 air compressor from the Burlington National Guard Air Station. Nobody at the air base knew if it would run. Many hours have been spent freeing stuck valves and seized parts, I installed 2 new pistons, a few new bolts, exhaust valves, gaskets & filters. With a bit of luck that will do the trick and it will handle the entire sandblasting process and then be sold prior to launching the boat. The compressor is a bit small but that might come in handy at times. $200 for the machine and it has a jackhammer too! That and the 300lb sandblasting pot I am about to build may help put some change in Aperios coffer.
Today I am empowered by the thoughts of visiting Arawa, Papua New Guinea and walking on the beaches where my grandfather landed in WWII. He made it out of there safely... I hope to too!
New pistons, rings and wrist pins.
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| Two pistons removed and waiting for the new ones in the mail. |
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| Turned the key and nothing. No clicks, bangs or puffs of smoke. Just plain dead. |
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| Prior to the adoption process. - lonely and neglected. |
