heart attack

[JBaum]

I had a heart attack and a 5 way bypass, This board will receive no maintenance until I recover

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

OMG John! I hope you recover well. I'm praying for you.

[7,92lover]

I hope you recover very soon.
Best wishes from Europe.

[dogman5]

Wishing you all the best for a fast recovery.

[an1913t]

Hope you have a speedy and complete recovery.

[waltham41]

Very sorry to hear. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

[bjrmg]

Hope you are doing well! JR

[JBaum]

doctor says I'm healing well, doing well. My website is back online, and I'm getting some endurance back. Thanks to all for the good words. It's nice to feel appreciated.

[Wondering]

Sorry to hear that, John! Get well! I hope you feel better soon.

[bjrmg]

How goes it? Thinking of you! JR

[JBaum]

The biggest pain I have is walking a mile every day. The doctor insists that I need to do it, but I don't have to like it.

I have a friend who had bypasses done 25 years ago, and they're still working for him. My mother is 96, so I figure I'll last around that long now.

Doing well. Whoever came to get me, (don't know whether to look up or look down), I'm still here so they weren't successful.

I have too many manuals to translate sitting here waiting. I can't leave a pile of work - nobody else knows how to do it.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I hope to be here for quite a while yet. I just finished the latest manual, and will start on another one this weekend.

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Physical therapy like walking is really important to getting your strength back, just please don't overdo it. We're all praying for you!

[SturmHead]

John, I went to the Show of Shows in Louisville just to see you, and you weren't there. Allegheny told me what happened to you and I was floored.
Just because KCR stopped the MG shoots doesn't mean it's time to check out. Bob and I are still working on Kenny, Tracy, and Chad, so don't give up. Besides, you're too interesting to talk to with a wealth of knowledge and you owe me a 1917 manual, but that can wait. Just get yourself back in good health.
Lynn

[JBaum]

I'm about half way back to normal, but it's slow progress. I'm gaining endurance faster that I did with getting over throat cancer, but I'm not 30 years old anymore, so healing will take some time yet.

I'd have preferred going to SOS, but I knew that it would run me into the ground, so I had to pass. My brain isn't back to 100% for translating yet, but it's getting better. I've done some translating, but I've been keeping busy with a few other things too: old Packards, Lincolns, and Cadillacs.

I did work on wiring a 1931 Cadillac Limousine with a V-16 last week for about 15 hours over the course of 3 days, but I've been recovering from that for the last three days, so I guess I overdid it a little. The owner had been waiting on me to work on his car for a few months, and I finished what needed to be done so the upholstery guys could put the new interior in. A first class frame-off restoration. The upholstery guys started putting in the new interior as I was putting my tools away. Everyone was waiting on me to do my part so they could do theirs. It's so neat to work on the high end antique cars. I even wired in a new intercom system from the rear passenger compartment to the driver, who sits in the front with a glass crank-up window between him and the passengers.

Here's a picture of another car I've worked on: 1931 Lincoln KB Convertible Coupe with a V-12 engine. I got the small door to open so that the rumble seat lever could be pulled to open the rumble seat, fixed the speedometer, installed a turn signal kit, and did a little work under the hood. Neat car, monstrous motor. No power steering back in those days. Huge steering wheel and has a close ratio 3 speed on the floor (as opposed to a column shifter.) What a beast to drive.

Every day I do as much as I can to build myself back up. I figure another couple months and I'll be good.

[SturmHead]

Hey, under the circumstances I don't blame you for not coming to the SOS. I'm just glad you're getting better. Sounds like you're doing it right too. Not many folks who can work on the high end antique cars.
I do hope to see you soon. Maybe at one of the National Gun Day gun shows when you are able.
Lynn

[JBaum]

I need to sell manuals at a couple shows. It's good advertising, even if I don't sell much at the show itself, I get sales later. It's just a matter of a gun show being big enough and close enough to make it worth doing. The reenactments at Rockford, IL and at Conneaut, OH are great, but there aren't many reenactments like that in the US. I'll have to start hunting some big shows in a couple months when I have enough endurance to be there and on my feet all day.

[an1913t]

I'm about half way back to normal, but it's slow progress. I'm gaining endurance faster that I did with getting over throat cancer, but I'm not 30 years old anymore, so healing will take some time yet.

I'd have preferred going to SOS, but I knew that it would run me into the ground, so I had to pass. My brain isn't back to 100% for translating yet, but it's getting better. I've done some translating, but I've been keeping busy with a few other things too: old Packards, Lincolns, and Cadillacs.

I did work on wiring a 1931 Cadillac Limousine with a V-16 last week for about 15 hours over the course of 3 days, but I've been recovering from that for the last three days, so I guess I overdid it a little. The owner had been waiting on me to work on his car for a few months, and I finished what needed to be done so the upholstery guys could put the new interior in. A first class frame-off restoration. The upholstery guys started putting in the new interior as I was putting my tools away. Everyone was waiting on me to do my part so they could do theirs. It's so neat to work on the high end antique cars. I even wired in a new intercom system from the rear passenger compartment to the driver, who sits in the front with a glass crank-up window between him and the passengers.

Here's a picture of another car I've worked on: 1931 Lincoln KB Convertible Coupe with a V-12 engine. I got the small door to open so that the rumble seat lever could be pulled to open the rumble seat, fixed the speedometer, installed a turn signal kit, and did a little work under the hood. Neat car, monstrous motor. No power steering back in those days. Huge steering wheel and has a close ratio 3 speed on the floor (as opposed to a column shifter.) What a beast to drive.

Every day I do as much as I can to build myself back up. I figure another couple months and I'll be good.

John, your choice in cars is as incredible as your choice in guns! Would love to see more pics. I wish you were closer to Dallas, I'd volunteer to come help you with the cars. There's an older gentleman near me that has a '34 Packard Super 8 Coupe that I've tried to convince to let me make an offer, but it's been in the family too long.
Take care.
Carl

[JBaum]

I think one is a 38 Packard 180. I put a police siren/PA system in it so the guy could use it in political rallies and parades. They still used 6 volt positive ground systems then, so I had to put in a 6 to 12 volt transformer and keep the 12V system electrically isolated from the body, since all the modern stuff is 12 volt negative ground. I have a 1947 Cadillac convertible to do the same siren install for that guy's buddy. He'll be getting a 12V cigarette lighter socket to charge his phone and use his GPS while I'm at it.

The Packard is a beast to drive too. Straight 8 motor, 3 on the column shifter. The carburetor needed a new heat riser tube that makes the automatic choke work. The tube is a copper tube that extends into a hole in the exhaust manifold and out the bottom through another hole. Once the air it sucks in warms from the warmed manifold, it lets off on the choke. The tube had corroded away and was sucking exhaust gases into the carb, clogging the choke controller with carbon. A very primitive system by today's standards.

The body is made with sheet metal over a wooden frame, as were most cars back then. I've had to do a few little "woodwork repairs" to the wood door openings to fix some stripped screw holes for the door jams. Drill out the hole in the wood, drive in (snug fit) a glue covered piece of dowel rod, wait two days for it to completely dry. Cut it off flush with the surface, and redrill the exact right size hole for the screw. It's a good thing I used to do woodworking/furniture repair in my younger days.

The Cadillac owner asked me if I knew about a dual points distributor. I never knew they used that in the 1930s. Last time I worked on one of those was in a RoadRunner. To set the timing, you take a cover off the bell housing and the timing marks are on the flywheel. You set the gaps first, then adjust the timing of the first points by turning the distributor while using the timing light on the cylinder 1 wire, then you adjust the timing on the second set of points by turning the camming screw in the distributor while using the timing light hooked to the cylinder two wire. Two sets of points, two condensers (capacitors). It has a third headlight in the middle in front of the radiator that turns side to side via the steering linkage.

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

I just passed another kidney stone, my third one. Not as dangerous as a heart attack, but painful. It truly does suck. The rock is in a plastic baggy on the desk in front of me. The thing has a nasty sharp hook on one side. How it managed to work its way out is beyond me. I'm saving it as a souvenir.

[JBaum]

Kidney stone - That sucks. My wife has had a few, and one was so painful that the doctor took a look at her and told the nurse to get fentanyl for her. Yup, she got a legal dose. Knocked down the pain in about 10 seconds. Another one she had came out from riding with me on a back road in my Rav4. Not the best riding car, but it bounced her around enough that she passed it as soon as we got home. That was worth the rough ride I gave her.

I'd trade having a kidney stone pulled out over having bypass surgery. though. They split my chest open 9-1/2" + three other 1-1/2" scars. Looked like I had a chest zipper until it healed.