Saturday means working on Henry’s parade float Jeep. Henry, of course, insisted on using his tools as much as possible, and he had a great array in his tool chest that he could choose from. Today’s task was important. We were pulling out the old motor and putting in a new one. This job involved unhooking the controls and then undoing four tough-to-reach bolts. I did the tough jobs while Henry was responsible for squirting some WD40 on every nut and bolt, bearing and chain. He did a great job. He also held the wrenches on the bolts while I climbed underneath to work with the air wrench. We had the old motor out in record time. Taking the clutch off the old motor proved to be tricky, but with Henry and I working to solve the problem, and with the help of Henry’s awesome tool collection, especially his biggest hammer, we accomplished the task. Placing the new motor in place and bolting everything back together was quick.

Before we could go for a test drive, we had to buy some oil and check everything one last time. Henry insisted we needed to jack up the Jeep and find the creeper so he could check all the bolts underneath. The Jeep passed inspection. We filled the tank with gas, and it started on the second pull! We went up and down the 300-foot driveway a few times before heading around the neighbourhood for a longer drive. Henry wanted to stop at our local convenience store to buy some candy for the parade… but we have a lot of work to accomplish before that. The second day of work on the Jeep was a HUGE success. Most importantly we had a lot of fun! Stay tuned for the next progress report…