Shop Fatigue

Since getting the '51 I've been spending most of my free time puttering around the garage. I don't have much money to acquire parts and stuff but there is still endless amounts of parts cleaning, assessment, testing and refurb that don't require $$$. I'm constantly staying up too late and getting up too early for work the next day. I perpetually find myself "wrapping up this one last thing before I head in." Invariably you end up bumping/marring the part you you've spent the last couple hours polishing into the grinder casting or something and send yourself to bed frustrated...



I was playing just this game with my magneto last night at about midnight. I'd dismantled and spent quite a bit of time cleaning and detailing everything , put it back together and was just cleaning a couple of final casting parts with a little brake cleaner. Without really thinking about it I inadvertently rolled the mag wheel over as I turned the assembly and WOOF! Paper towel, brake cleaner fumes and everything went up. Not a big deal to put the small fire out but it woke me up alright. I immediately thought "Oh yeah, magnetos make sparks without requiring a battery etc. Behaving exactly as designed." Never claimed I was smart when I'm tired. I went to bed without cleaning the resulting soot and crap off the housing...

Just to clarify, the smoky haze hanging over Albuquerque last night was the product of an Arizona forest fire, not my mag troubles.