The first coat

Not sure if it is a question of motivation or a problem with time management or just that I am actually too busy. The issue is that I am not spending any time down in the shop getting any forward motion on these projects. I am not going to be too harsh on myself because I am in a relatively “good place”. With the eager help of my lovely bride, I have come to the conclusion that I have too many projects and I have too much material to work with.

This climactic understanding has come with some consequences. I have promised myself to not take on (or at the very least) not prioritize above any project other than fixing my truck. I have also stopped one of my favorite practices of getting up on Saturday mornings and driving around these hill country neighborhoods going to garage sales and picking up more items that I can’t live without. These are some serious sacrifices and I intend to keep up with them until I have organized both the whole house and more importantly the shop.

To be fair, the only things in the house that are not “organized” are the garage which I made a big dent in during November. My closet, that needs a good purge and a little more organization. The Attic which is really not that bad since i added some shelves and repacked most of the x-mas decorations. The attic lift project will undoubtedly make a HUGE difference on that area. And lastly and most messy, my office which not only am I in right now, but I spend at least 40 hours a week sitting, and lately, standing in.

So back to the original thought, I did manage to get down to the shop for about 30 minutes yesterday. I managed to chuck a little paint on the spare 350 block. A quick first coat of Gloss Red Enamel.

This is the first coat so it came out a little un even but I am sure the second coat will smooth everything out. I really like the actual Red color on this motor. I still need to paint both heads, but I am going to wait till I do the valve job. I should probably try to start on that today.

While I was down there I tried to document all that needs to be done in and around the shop. I didn’t get everything but this is a quick view of what I did get.

The list of tasks that accompanies these photos is long and none of them are trivial. Hercules only had 12 tasks to complete for his so called epic. Mine seem to be never ending. I did not show the South East side of the shop or the East side, although there is not a ton to do on the East side, there definitely is some. The only “clear” side of the shop is the North side of the shop where there is no door and it is mainly blocked by 3ft chunks of rock that were left there by the previous owner, as was the small storage shed and the crap that is in it.

Here are some of the projects that need to be done inside the shop.

At this point I am exhausted from just explaining what needs to be done, never mind actually working on it!

skullet