Canuck 289 scratch build

[old willy]

Hey gang!

Though I would post a little update, I still feel like I am dragging my ass around post covid but it’s getting better.

The snow is melting and I have done a little bit more work but first I wanted to talk about that sexy topic……Shop Safety!

Ok. Ok , not sexy, but important, sorry but this will not feature any graphic pictures of some recent injury or anything like that….

I recently upgraded some of my gear but it has been a long journey of learning.

As a kid my father had commercial construction companies, shops and employees but it was the 70’s and workplace safety was not something that I really witnessed first hand. It existed for sure ,
there is a picture of me as a little boy in one of my dad’s shops using a jigsaw and wearing a rather large goofy pair of safety glasses so I guess some thought was being given to it but not much.

Now people want to put hearing protection on their kids if they want to use a cordless drill in the next room! I think there are extremes, but I digress…..

As indestructible teenager I never thought about it, now I did start wearing glasses for distance when I was 14 so, safety glasses I guess? But anything else…naaaa…..cuts, burns, scrapes .

But I learned…slowly….My buddy’s dad owned the local body shop and the first time I bought some car paint that had hardener in it he took me aside and gave me a talking to about wearing a proper respirator and why, cyanide derivative! Yikes!

In my late teens I had a very memorable experience ARC welding in nylon topped running shoes, yes you can guess what happened, the old guys in the shop had a good laugh watching me hop around trying to get that shoe off but I have never forgotten and never had nylon topped runners since!

When I started working around aircraft I started understanding about hearing protection, I mean I wore them at the shooting range, and if you have never been to one, it’s nothing like TV and the movies a .45ACP is deafening !!
But hanging around turbo props like Mitsubishi MU-2’s is equally painfully loud, so you learn, quickly.

Later when we were drag racing I discovered these newfangled form fitting little glove things at our local race shop, they were Ringers Resource gloves, nice, they made a lot of sense trying to work on a hot engine, checking plugs and such,( hearing protection is also a good idea around those things too).
However I started wearing those gloves in the shop as well, cutting and grinding, for a while I was going through about a pair a month, expensive? Yes, but boy does it save your hands from cuts and burns.

Honestly, I have been very lucky, I have never hurt myself badly, cuts and scrapes sure, perhaps a couple of close calls I guess, but no big gashes or broken stuff and I can still hear OK too.

That part surprises me to be honest as I also use to attend a lot of loud concerts and played a bunch of loud electric guitar myself years ago and unlike the safety conscious kids today, nobody wore earplugs….if it’s too loud, your too dam old! And yet I can still pretty much hear a pin drop….strange….

OK, OK. I know, nice story guy, but where the hell is he going with this??

However I have always had a habit of breathing in all the dusty crap, no lung issues yet that I know of, but since I have been back at this cutting and grinding thing more I seem to be more aware of it.
Every time I come back in the house I tend to blow a lot of “black stuff” out of my nose.
My wife has also rightfully been on my case about it, as I also sometimes have that Droopy Dog look with a big dark area below my nose or just everywhere my safety glasses were not protecting.

So after all that rambling ….. you all did want something to read, right?

My issue is always the stack up, if I wear a respirator or good N95 dust mask it pushes my safety glasses up rendering them mostly useless, if I put on the full face shield I can’t wear my ear defenders, yes I know…. but I don’t really like ear plugs. So would I rather be deaf or blind?

After a recent session cutting some 3/16 plate I blew my nose and went and started looking for better options, I know about positive air systems and there are some amazing full face setups with fans and filters, but I don’t want anything with a hose to trip over or too bulky or too expensive, I am only going to use it when I am cutting and grinding, then back to regular safety glasses.

This was the best option I found……..



The company is GVS and it is their elipse integra series model SPR550. My size is medium / large and no, I have no connection to them, I bought it fair and square.

The goggle is attached to the respirator and the respirator area is very slim for better visibility. Also the goggle is ANZI Z87.1 rated so it is a real safety goggle, not just for dust and it is vented so it doesn’t fog up either.

I really like these, when they arrived I was just going to quickly test them out but ended up doing an extended cutting session, they are very comfortable, my ear defenders fit normally, I really like these.
So what I am saying here is if you are looking for something good and you don’t mind looking a bit goofy in the shop they are excellent!



And honestly, saying this as your friend, if you are still blowing black dust out of your nose…GROW UP! Get some protection man!


I did get a bit of work done too, I laid out and fit up the rear mounting plate for the diff and after a couple of test fits and my new goggle thing arrived I cut out the center and trimmed up the sides, so far, so good, my diff mounting plan is working.




Next up I will work on the front diff mounts. I am waiting on a polyurethane set but I have the original rubber ones for mock up purposes in the meantime.

I hope to post more soon.

And as always I have a question for the group.

Hey you there, you with the 289…..what diameter is your driveshaft?

Cheers,

Hudson




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