Project Plain Jane

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So I pulled the diff cover on the dana 60. Gear are perfect,and there is a 46/13 stamped on the ring gear. 3:54 or 3:55 as it's called. Perfect. Just needs axles and brakes. I figure Dr Diff for both.
 
Phew! Been working a bit at a time on the garage roof,will have one of the cracks fully prepped and filled soon. On anther track,due to my father passing I will have a small fund to work with. It's pretty small but something I can maybe buy/sell a few parts,or maybe even a car or 2,build it up into a fund big enough to finish my Dart.
 
Phew! Been working a bit at a time on the garage roof,will have one of the cracks fully prepped and filled soon. On anther track,due to my father passing I will have a small fund to work with. It's pretty small but something I can maybe buy/sell a few parts,or maybe even a car or 2,build it up into a fund big enough to finish my Dart.

Well the rack is fixed,was done some months ago. I have a pic,but wouldn't you know it,photobucket is down for maintentance tonight..sure.Havent used it in months and the moment you need it..sigh...I'll get that pic up soon though.

My Dad passed last January. After all the legal stuff was done,and we paid bills,gave our kids money for thier educations there is still something left for me to spend on the Dart. Definitely not enough to get it finished,so Im looking into ways to invest it and grow the fund some.Buying and selling parts is everyones game these days,tough market to make anything in.And I honestly dont have the realestate to park a vehicle and part it out,so that's not going to work. Some sort of investment fund might,or even a term deposit with good return.
 
The repair came out pretty good as you can see. Theres lots of weldbond mixed with redimix cement. The other crack is in the foreground,and will get done next spring.

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Thanks Bud! I do a lot more stuff around the house,but because the garage houses my Dart this pic got posted.I am definitely more capable these days,hands are way less frustrating to use,fingers actually do what I tell them to do.I had to change a turn signal bulb on my 2000 Caravan today,man those front ones are buried,really hard to get to. Had almost no trouble with it...happy with my bodies capabilities.

Weather here has been so mild,Im tempted to attack the roof and fix the second crack right now! Might turn into a race against time though.
 
Had an interesting phone call from my Dr's office last week. He wants my wife and I to come in ,wants to talk to us about the M.S clinic at UBC university in Vancouver. We both have M.S, so while I am trying very hard to not get super excited....I can't help but feel some anticipation.It's been a very,very long and dark tunnel for my family,and while my diet has helped me survive and be my families caregiver/provider,outside the family stress has acted and conspired to slow down my recovery.

Will have more to share after tommorrow...
 
Had an interesting phone call from my Dr's office last week. He wants my wife and I to come in ,wants to talk to us about the M.S clinic at UBC university in Vancouver. We both have M.S, so while I am trying very hard to not get super excited....I can't help but feel some anticipation.It's been a very,very long and dark tunnel for my family,and while my diet has helped me survive and be my families caregiver/provider,outside the family stress has acted and conspired to slow down my recovery.

Will have more to share after tommorrow...

Any news? Fingers crossed for y'all.
 
I still don't know. I think I need to do a follow up with my GP ,the nurse at the UBC clinic was decidedly unhelpfull and not very forthcoming with what sort of treatments are available. Then there is the travel time which for us would probably be several days. I get tired after about 4 hours behind the wheel,and Vancouver is minimum 8 hours travel.Plus there would be follow up visits.Apparently Easter seals house would help us out with accomodations and even drive us there and back. But oh boy,we recently took our kids to Kelowna (4 hour trip) And I was real tired for a few days after. I just don't sleep well out of our house..

All I can tell you is my wife (who also has M.S) was taking immunosupressant injections for some time,and her condition is far worse than mine. These days she is mostly in a wheelchair,except for short trips around the house.But myself(never took any M.S drugs)
,I keep adjusting and fine tuning my diet,and my disease at least has not gotten worse since I started doing that.I found yesterday that playing my guitar is actually better than it has been for quite some time,fine motor control seems to have improved radically. I am actually able to play the intro to AC/DC's Thunderstruck at about 80% real speed,and that is on my acoustic (harder to play than electric). Im attempting to get my old Peavey 108 amp fixed so I can blast my neighbours...

Western medicine has not progressed at all as far as M.S go's in over 60 years.Unless there is truly something lifechanging available through the clinic at UBC Im thinking it's not worth our time.
 
Anyways...so UBC is a deadend. Only options they were offering? Drugs. No thanks.Always keeping up to date on the latest thing for M.S,like stem cells etc. Seems there is currently a trial in Great Britain involving alergy therapy,where they inject the allergy proteins into a patient and slowly increase the dosage. Viola allergy gone. It is being viewed as a possible treatment for M.S.I do thank my lucky stars I dont have something like als. A family friend recently died of it,man it's a bad disease. Me with my goofy pain levels and walking seems tolerable in comparison.

Anyways Im never doing nothing. Recently have been working on the Families Grand caravan,battery light keeps coming on.My thinking is it's the alternator,and boy thats no fun job getting it out. It's a 2000 and the alt is at the back of the engine behind EVERYTHING!! Anyways it's off,going to the wreckers tommorrow for a replacement. Yup,could be the pcm (electronic voltage regulator)but more likely just burnt brushes in the denso alternator.

Weather here is slowly warming up,and I have my eye on the next crack in the garage roof,as well as some internal drainage mods..
 
Any actual car progress pictures here to share? I hate text heavy threads. What's been DONE?
 
Any actual car progress pictures here to share? I hate text heavy threads. What's been DONE?

Patience Rob.. Weather is getting better. Garage roof work and drainage mods will commnce soon.No point in doing metal work to my Dart when I have a bad roof.
 
Patience Rob.. Weather is getting better. Garage roof work and drainage mods will commnce soon.No point in doing metal work to my Dart when I have a bad roof.

Just wonderin if all you're gonna do is run your mouth........or actually do somethin. LMAO
 
Oh,also we are selling this house.Due to my wifes M.S having taken her ability to mostly walk,and negotiate stairs.Currently upgrading the electrical to comply with legislation. We will 99% likely stay local,and are actively looking for another house which will meet her needs. Also needs to meet mine as well,meaning a good garage not the current dank,cement tomb I have.
 
Been a while since I posted.Lots has happened in that time so bear with me while I get this all down. First off we never sold the house as my wifes health took a massive swing for the worse.She began falling a lot back in May 2019 and she was a big girl.I had no choice but to call the ambulance and in turn they got 4 big sturdy firemen to get her off the floor. This happened 3 times in May and after the 3rd fall they kept her in hospital.In July last year she was transferred to a long term are facility,and the Dr's began trialing different drugs in the hopes of getting her pain and other symptoms under control. It only increased her rapid decline.Every visit I had with her I could see her worsening,and I was going 2-3 times a week. This was tough both mentally and physically.When covid struck the care home went on lock down and no visitations were allowed.But we kept in touch via facebook,messenger and facetime.Thats when she informed me she had come to a decision and I was going to be allowed to see her so she could tell me.She had decided to use Canada's M.a.i.d program (medical assitance in death).It was a heart breaking decision for both of us but it was 100% her choice to make,and I couldn't disagree with it not after seeing how much she was suffering.So I did the right thing and supported her .Gathered witnesses to sign and a proxy to sign for her as she could no longer hold a pen.Informed family and friends.Got all our ducks in a row legally.On May 13th she left us.


Here is her obituaryhttps://www.myalternatives.ca/trail/obituaries/2020-jones-shannon-louise?fbclid=IwAR0O-CreykPLDju6A1_Zd-sp8K452SLPQd4zU08V-u2vMUh66l5xOaR4wns

The Dart I am restoring was named for her.Plain Jane was a nickname bestowed on my wife by a room mate a long time ago,not for her looks but for her eating habits.So it will continue under this name and the finished car will have something on it to reflect this.This car was what I was driving when I met her.We had our first date in it. I can never let it go,sell it etc.So I might as well finish it.
 
my condolences to family and friends for such a great loss . Hang in there Paul things will slowly get better .
 
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