Not a bike, but a project for maybe
working-on bikes. Years-ago, I bought a Kennedy workbench. I cannot recall if it was at Habitat for Humanity, or a yard sale, or wherever. It sat in storage at my in-law's for years, in a shed my f.i.l. had built. They're gone now. The shed was in-need of removal, it took me a couple of weeks making landfill trips here in so. FL. The tip fees showed nearly 8,000 lbs for the stucco building and the foundation. Now the workbench needed a new home.
I needed to make a set of legs for it, I used 2X4's, rabbeted-together, Simpson screws and pocket screws, and machine screws to hold it all-together. It's much-sturdier now, and I still have to cut a bottom shelf for it. I might throw some casters onto it, so it can easily be moved around.
Update: the bottom shelf got made. I was thinking about using some drawer slides, but for now, I just mounted it. 18" X 39" X 9" so it should fit some blow-molded cases easily.
Also in the shed was an old (31 years!) Murray lawnmower, a basic, non-driven model. I had it sitting outside, under an awning at the in-laws. Last night I brought it home, and when I unloaded it, there was a loud clunking-noise coming-from the engine. The piston was apparently-stuck when I tried to turn-over the engine with the pull-cord. I removed the spark plug, and sht a few good spritzes of PB Blaster in, and replaced the sparkplug.
This morning, I removed the carb, gas tank, pull-starter, the blade, and the frozen brake cable for the engine. Once I got the flathead off, I was able to free-up the piston, and the valves opened/closed as they should. I was worried that the loud clunking I'd heard was maybe a conn rod, broken, and just flopping-around, or maybe a shattered piston crown. I found-out what the noise was: a spare spark plug, thrown into the metal gas tank! Why or how it was in there, I dunno, I fished it out, wire-brushed it, and it worked.
Everything got cleaned and reassembled, it had a bulb gasoline primer mechanism, and after a few good yanks, it started, and it smoked. I thought after sitting for so-long the piston rings might be gummed-up, and that a few start/cool-down cycles might free-up things. Sure-enough, the smoking lessened, and the next-time I started it, the heavy initial smoking was gone. I don't really need this lawnmower, as I have >1, so I might throw this onto craigslist or offer-up. Still, another victory over the internal-combustion devils who would deny an engine the opportunity to do work, once-again.
