Clear

Got an estimate from Ford agent in Concord re: the front end of the Ford — they think it is out of line only — doesn’t need any new parts. $15 – 2 hrs – inc $2.50/wheel for balancing. Perhaps I should get a wheel balancer. I’ll talk to the L2 fleet supervisor on this.

Drove in to Letsalter Bros. at 2495 Mass Ave., North Cambridge, after talking to Pete Aker, L2 auto mechanic. They want about $35 for ball joint and idler arm overhaul and wheel alignment.

Picked up Willy’s clutch return spring at Lincoln.

Clear

After the pistons were expanded, and new wrist pins put in, I put them back into the engine and replaced the pan.

Went in to Park Street, (taking JAH), to attend the B of CE mtg. I brought up 1) the question of classes for brilliant students, and 2) the idea of a school 9 times/semester for the teenagers. Jim Petersen will look into 1) and Woody & I into 2).

Stopped at Sears for six qts. of oil for the Willys — SAE 20 for break-in.

Thunderstorm.

Clear

Worked on Willys at AMS, removing head, pan, and pistons.

Rain

Picked up mtl. at Sears at noon; found that I had not ordered a shovel, which I hastened to do.

Moved the front seat back on the Willys a total of 3″.

The American Field Service local committee informed us that we had been selected last night as the local family to provide for a foreign student during 1 Sept to 1 August.

Confirmation is up to the New York Office which does not rubber stamp the local committee action.

Overcast

Left at 8 AM for DC in the Willys. Drove in the rain from Poughkeepsie to Newcastle, arriving at the Shoreham at 8:15 PM.

Clear

Drove in Willys. Went home about 2:30 PM, stopping at the Concord RR Station to pick up the shipment from wayside Nurseries in Ohio. A Tortuous came, as did a Fresis, Malus hopa, and a Coral.

Planted them in the front yard after dinner.

DCH to Explorers mtg.

Tightened a drag link as well as the two axle nuts on Willys.

Looked at the President’s House where Howard and Winifred expect to move; it surely is a pleasant place, with lots of room and beautifully landscaped.

Left about 10 AM, going thru Poughkeepsie, Canaan, and Gt. Barrington. Arrived home at 7:55 PM, after chasing the rain of last night.

Had Ford front end looked at; I need new ball joints, tie rod ends, and idler arm. Rotated tires.

Saw Dr. Wood, who could find no external evidence of tooth soreness. Had lunch with him and left for Princeton, arriving at 5:45 PM in a driving rain. Howard showed some slides on his new Kodak projector before going to a concert. It was quite pleasant.

Overcast

Left a call for 0530, but was too tired so slept until 0730. Got to the Pentagon at 11:00 AM.

Stayed at Holiday Motel at Shirley Highway & S. Glebe Road.

Clear

Phoned AMS to see if I can get the steering gear fixed tomorrow but they are booked up.

Picked up drive shaft and put it in the Willys.

DCH made his last regular visit to Dr. Yen; he is now on his own; i.e., if he wants his teeth straight he will have to keep the brace in his mouth.

Tuned some of the bass notes. Sally O. came over to give JAH a piano lesson; NJH also took a 15 minute lesson. The treble keys are out of tune.

Clear.
Windy

Took the drive shaft out of the Willys; will leave it at AMS in morning.

Picked up our 5 sacks of Turf Builder at Dr. Wishner’s; it was $3.35/sack, so I got back $.75. Our lawns — the grass from the original plantings — are almost non-existent.

Mr. Gravelin was supposed to appear at 0730 to talk about a ditch for drain tile at the front of the house.

I’ll have to get the 2nd Willys towed to AMS, as they do not have a set of repair plates.

Clear, windy

Tried tuning the piano by counting beats. Certain notes are hard, D42 for example. Perhaps I need to mute all the strings rather that the middle section. A37 & F45 sound dead, although the 2 new A37′s sound fine.

Sticky – clear

Took family to church – 9 AM. The Sanctuary was filled at both services. This should help materially with the deficit.

We then went to Al & Edith’s for a delicious dinner. May & John seem quite well.

Mary expects to get her new VW on 25 April. She is quite excited as it is her first new car.

We went to the Easter concert at the Church at 6:30 PM; it was fine, but too short.

Drove the Willys.

Went in to Tuner’s Supply for some more tools & a pound of Nr. 18-1/2 wire.

Passed a boy (Roger?) on most of his First Class tests except the signalling. We meet at 0545 tomorrow at the Capt. Isaac home to start the march to Concord to commemorate the Battle of Concord April 19, 1775.

Overcast

Rode with HS in his new Plymouth SW. It is an 8 cylinder 6 passenger with auto transmission of a gray color like his old Dodge. It rides very nicely; and does not jerk when the push-buttons are operated.

Sent a check for $96.31 to the Electrical and Hardware Center, 1119 Main Street, Springfield 3, for an AM/FM intercomm with a stainless steel face.

Did as much as I could with the StroboConn, to about C76. Tried the chord method, and found it quite good!

Clear

A quarter of an inch of wet snow blanketed everything last night.

Drove to work in the Willys.

Worked on piano in PM. It is quite difficult to rotate the tuning pins in the treble section with the short-handled hammer; I’ll order the extension hammer tomorrow.

All the children home from school, and under foot.

Took Willys down to AMS where I checked the compression and timing. Compression ok in all 6 at about 90 psi. The timing was way off.

Tuned all the piano notes except the upper 28 and the lower 8.

The chap who does black-topping came around and he will widen the drive by 2′ and dig out under the porch, starting in about 1-1/2-2 weeks.

Had breakfast at Harry’s; he insisted when I went after the tires. Put his on the RF of Willys and my good 5th one as the Willys spare. Put the 2 off the Willys on the 3rd SW.

Rain

Drove the Willys today.

DCH complained of a sore throat, but made him go to school anyway.

The Willys seemed to have some small amount of vibration still, and the engine didn’t run too well this morning.

Borrowed the StroboConn from the Lab — over VAN’s signature.

Went in from L2 to the Trustees meeting at the Church. We voted unanimously to authorize the Finance Subcommittee to bind the Church in negotiating for the land & building now occupied by the Warren Institute for Savings.

Overcast – rain/snow in PM

Drove Ford today, stopping at AMS on the way home to get the Willys drive shaft.

HS finally decided that he would like to have his rear springs — boosters taken off so I did so; it was quite a job as the nuts had locking inserts. He gave me his six volt adjustable regulator that I’ll try putting on the Willys, changing the ground — This as an experiment.

Put the Willys drive shaft on and road tested it. There didn’t seem to be any vibration.

Had a large bit of wax taken out of my right ear at the Acton Clinic.

Clear

Rode with HS.

The Willys drive shaft was not fixed; they had the parts on hand but not in. They will put a lubrication fitting in also.

Went over to the Scout Meeting. They finally were practicing marching.

Wrote some letters in the PM.

JAH is using the piano consistently now; she is in a contest with a few others. I believe I should offer a prize to the winner.

Went to Boyers on the way to work to get a universal joint kit, but he didn’t have one, so I called AMS & told them to go ahead on their source.

Regulated the piano let-off and back-checks. I didn’t leave them in one line; perhaps this is due to poor key leveling.

Clear

Rode with HS; left the drive shaft at AMS. The outer cup on the rear was worn out, so I’ll have to get it replaced.

Finished adjusting the piano key dip — black keys — and jack let-off.

LCH went to a Brownie Women’s Group Meeting to hear a chap from the County Agricultural Extension Office talk about landscaping.

Overcast

Took family to SS & church; Harold Brown spoke on the definition of the “Universal Church,” a fine sermon.

We then went to Wollaston to the Vetterlein’s for dinner & a most pleasant afternoon. They have a 70-year-old home that they are gradually working over — 3 floors & basement. They also had a good HO-gauge train layout — JCH fell off a stool while watching it, hurting his forehead.

Took the drive shaft out of the Willys; it still vibrates.

Clear – frost

Drove the Jeep; it still vibrates slightly.

Ordered a 100″ antenna for the Jeep, and a 10 qt. can of oil.

Saw Dr. Thoma; he gave me another jaw exercise, that of lining up the teeth in front by the line between the upper and lower 2 front teeth. It makes the occlusion much better.

Started to level the piano keys, but found that a thin center rail punching under the bass is too much of the middle section.

Clear 32°F

Wrote letter for LCH to mail to First National Bank of Anchorage to redeem the three COD bonds; the last coupons brings the total to $1,537.50. LCH put the letter & bonds in registered air mail for $2.49.

Took out the Jeep drive shaft after jacking up the LR wheel to see if the shaft vibrated; it did, and there seems to be something wrong in the differential.

Removed the Willys door lock cylinders to see if they could all be operated from the ignition key.

Raised the piano action so the keys will strike the front rail punchings. This makes the bass section too high.

Clear – windy

Drove the Willys, leaving the flat snow tire for exchange, putting one of the good tires on. The snow tire had a break in it, so I discarded it.

Got one new door handle at Boyer’s for $4.00; bought a convex mirror at Auto Engineering for $3.50. Picked up the piano keys at Newton, 97 Austin Street, Russ Grethe. Went to Tuners Supply for a few tools and to return some parts.

The Willys has an unbalanced universal joint, as removal of the snow tires did not remove the vibration.

Started to put the piano keys on.

Clear

Had a long phone call with Geo Stroebe; he said he was taking Teldrin for sinus drainage, so I spoke of the vinegar & honey. I’ll get together with him when I come out next time.

Clear – cool

Picked up Cornwell & Sears tools. Both are good. Saw a ’57 Ford with a windshield washer, so hooked it on and it worked ok. Stopped at AMS to get the spark gap on the Willys; it is .020″.

Ordered some parts to finish the piano action regulating job.