project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[PhilA]

On 8/10/2021 at 12:31 PM, hairnet said:

So Much wamt

Crew cab

[PhilA]

Time today to spend a little wrench time.

Ooh. Well at least it flows still.

Seen worse. Not much viscosity left, and rather dirty. A lot less dirty than the same mileage last change, though. It's getting better. I'll just spend the $27 for a jug of oil every 1000 miles.

Oiled the linkages, carburetor, jet needles, set the points and idle mixture. Greased the suspension again because I was under there. Much happier now, drives much better. 

A service really makes a difference.

 

Phil

[Noel Tidybeard]

look what Randy bought

 

[PhilA]

(apart from 12v booster on a 6v car), very nice. Very good price too, they don't go for that cheap around here.

[hairnet]

Hnnng

Lol at the flathead V8 comment

12v converter - does that mean it's scarier wiring than yours was Phil

Side window bit square at the back looks stude

[STUNO]

Hope the next day or so goes well and you get bypassed.

[STUNO]

The current outlook looks bad, Phil's home is in the worst place to be hit. I hope you are somewhere safe by now, or getting ready to go. We need everyone on this site to be as ready as possible to do what we can to help if Phil ends up without a home and Pontiac.  I see evacuations are under way in Louisiana now. Phil is obviously resourceful but hurricanes are just plain violent.

[captain_70s]

Phil has evacuated to Texas with family.

Hopes are wind directions are favourable and they come home to an intact house/garage.

[hairnet]

Hope it goes well for you @PhilA

[PhilA]

Yeah, we grabbed what we could (a small space suitcase, the dogs and mother in law, the kids went with sister in law to Alabama. 

Outlook doesn't look good at all. The most powerful portion of the storm (eastern eyewall, 140+ mph wind at that point) sat over our house for a few hours as the storm rotated around it like a pivot. 149mph constant wind, with gusts up to 178mph. 

Not much survived intact. 

The roads are impassable so I'm stuck here for now. The power is going to be out for weeks, probably over a month. The water isn't safe to drink. There's not going to be fuel available for a week or so easily. 

I'm just hoping that my house still has a roof and might be livable. I'm mentally preparing myself for having lost everything I own.

Right now the sitting, waiting, uncertainty is starting to overtake the numbing feeling of seeing the weather tear everything apart.

Phil

[juular]

Shit man. I'm wishing you all the best.

[LightBulbFun]

fuck thats a properly shit situation, im sorry to hear of it!

but im glad to hear that you and your family managed to get out safe and sound!

and I hope when your able to return that the damage done is relatively minimal and life can return to normal quickly

[PhilA]

I wrote this for elsewhere:

It's hard to comprehend.

 

The eye of this storm was the size of Bristol. That's the calm section in the middle where not much happens.

The primary eyewall is where the storm begins. That's the fastest moving wind, particularly in the eastern side. That causes straight-line wind of high speed, and the disturbances at the edge spawn multiple tornadoes.

 

That was about 10 miles wide, with high winds and much rain. Then there's a gap of calmer drier air about 10 miles wide again, then a 30 mile wide primary feeder band which is more high wind and much more rain. Then that just sort of repeats outward until you reach the edge of the storm, which has more tornadoes.

That outer band was about 200 miles wide, with rain clouds out a further 300.

 

So, at the core you have a wall of wind strong enough to rip a Portakabin to shreds and pick up a 44 ton truck and dump it on its side, pull a metal roof off and pull down a solid 100-year old oak. What it also brings is water. The wind pushes the ocean inland for about 30 miles, some places 15-18 feet deep, which takes a few days to drain away again. That is hugely destructive.

 

In short, if you were to transpose this to the UK...

 

Southampton is leveled, in its entirety. Fareham is 8 feet underwater at the lower points.

Bournemouth is mostly without power and has damaged roofs with downed trees. Weymouth has downed power lines and tree branches. Exeter is on a state of emergency as the river is reaching the top of the banks.

Tornadoes have damaged significant portions of Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton. Folkestone is flooded from heavy rainfall. Reports of localized flooding in Calais.

 

Winchester, Basingstoke and Reading have severe damage, missing roofs, collapsed buildings. Two-thirds of London is without electricity. Oxford is flooded from excess rainfall.

 

The following morning Milton Keynes is experiencing fallen trees and heavy rain, power outages as the wind begins to lose energy, with straight line wind speeds of 50-60 mph.

 

The next morning, heavy rain floods Hull as the system moves outward.

 

Does that help for scale?

[juular]

Sobering..

[hairnet]

scary that even if it stays coastal it affects an awful lot round it

[PhilA]

Most of what I have can be replaced. 

A few things can't be, but hey. 14 years ago I moved here with just a suitcase.

I'd rather not have to start over from that again, though.

[STUNO]

Thanks Phil, it has happened now. Get back as soon as you can.

[PhilA]

It's going to be 5-7 days before the roads are cleared enough to get back.

There's no electricity.

There's no running water.

There's no phone service.

There's no gasoline.

There's no food.

 

 

A word I would use is "dire".

[STUNO]

All the above are being attended to except food, look down and see if food is what you need most !

But seriously ASAP try to get someone there to get some details/photos to you. Your workmates may be able to get some info , but may take a day or two.

[PhilA]

We are trying.

[billy_bunter]

Did think of you when it was mentioned on the radio the other day. Glad to hear you and family are OK. Fingers crossed for the house.

[mercedade]

Jesus Christ Phil, that's utterly terrifying.

I would love to pretend that the powerlessness was somehow liberating.

Really hope for the best possible outcomes.

[PhilA]

17 minutes ago, mercedade said:

Jesus Christ Phil, that's utterly terrifying.

I would love to pretend that the powerlessness was somehow liberating.

Really hope for the best possible outcomes.

Unfortunately it's just hot and oppressive and muggy after a storm due to the sheer volume of rainfall. The water gotta go somewhere, and a lot evaporates into the air, meaning that thick fog with the outside temperature at about 22°C isn't uncommon...

[PhilA]

[hairnet]

Omg

Heavy Pontiac ftw

Shed can be sorted

And 50ft to the left? *prays it's ok*

[PhilA]

Just now, hairnet said:

Omg

Heavy Pontiac ftw

Shed can be sorted

And 50ft to the left? *prays it's ok*

House is mostly ok. Shingles are gone from the south side of the roof and it's leaking a bit, and the den carpet needs to be pulled up but it's ok

[hairnet]

Excellent

Actually fuck.all that

As long you you and others affected are mostly getting through it

That's the main thing

 

[danthecapriman]

Just caught up with this, it’s absolutely awful what’s happened. Really puts things into perspective.

Important thing is you, your family and friends are ok. Material things can be fixed or replaced.

Hopefully the Pontiac is ok.

[PhilA]

Pontiac is a bit beaten up and the sun visor is gone. 

[davocano]

Crikey, what a shock it was to read about this.

Wishing you all the best, Phil.