It's Hot!!

[Wolverine]

I can see I'm not completely adjusted to AZ yet. Very difficult to work on the car when it's 110* in the garage after I get home from work! How did you guys get yours built? In the winter?

Or am I just a weenie?

[Slither]

No, it's just HOT here! (but it's a dry heat)

[mikiec]

Quit complaning. We have had 2 weeks of very cool, for this time of year, temps.

You've been here how long? That car should have been done long ago.

Just drink lots of water/gatorade. If you feel light headed or are experiencing nausea stop Go into the house and cool off. If you start to breath heavily, stop go cool off. If you are turning red stop go cool off. Get the picture.

The heat can be very dangerous. Go slow and take your time.

You can get a large swamp cooler for the garage if needed.

Mike

[mikiec]

Heat Exhaustion:
Although partly due to exhaustion -- and feeling like exhaustion, as the name implies -- heat exhaustion is also a result of excessive heat and dehydration. The signs of heat exhaustion include paleness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fainting, and a moderately increased temperature (101-102 degrees F) which, in this case, is not truly a fever, but caused by the heat. Rest and water may help in mild heat exhaustion, and ice packs and a cool environment (with a fan blowing) may also help. More severely exhausted patients may need IV fluids, especially if vomiting keeps them from drinking enough

Heat Stroke:
Heat stroke is the most severe form of heat illness. It can occur even in people who are not exercising, if the weather is hot enough. These people have warm, flushed skin, and do not sweat. Athletes who have heat stroke after vigorous exercise in hot weather, though, may still be sweating considerably. Whether exercise-related or not, though, a person with heat stroke usually has a very high temeperature (106 degrees F or higher), and may be delirious, unconscious, or having seizures. These patients need to have their temperature reduced quickly, often with ice packs, and must also be given IV fluids for rehydration; they must be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible (EMS is appropriate here), and may have to stay in the hospital for observation since many different body organs can fail in heat stroke.

Prevention:
You can prevent heat-related illnesses. The important thing is to stay well-hydrated, to make sure that your body can get rid of extra heat, and to be sensible about exertion in hot, humid weather.

Your sweat is your body's main system for getting rid of extra heat. When you sweat, and the water evaporates from your skin, the heat that evaporates the sweat comes mainly from your skin. As long as blood is flowing properly to your skin, extra heat from the core of your body is "pumped" to the skin and removed by sweat evaporation. If you do not sweat enough, you cannot get rid of extra heat well, and you also can't get rid of heat as well if blood is not flowing to the skin. Dehydration will make it harder for you to cool of in two ways: if you are dehydrated you won't sweat as much, and your body will try to keep blood away from the skin to keep your blood pressure at the right level in the core of your body. But, since you lose water when you sweat, you must make up that water to keep from becoming dehydrated. If the air is humid, it's harder for your sweat to evaporate -- this means that your body cannot get rid of extra heat as well when it's muggy as it can when it's relatively dry.

The best fluid to drink when you are sweating is water. Although there is a little salt in your sweat, you don't really lose that much salt with your sweat, except in special circumstances; taking salt tablets may raise your body's sodium level to hazardous levels. (Your doctor can tell you whether or not you need extra salt.) "Sport drinks" such as Gatorade® will also work, but water is usually easier to obtain.

It's also important to be sensible about how much you exert yourself in hot weather. The hotter and more humid it is, the harder it will be for you to get rid of excess heat. The clothing you wear makes a difference, too: the less clothing you have on, and the lighter that clothing is, the easier you can cool off. Football players are notoriously prone to heat illness, since football uniforms cover nearly the whole body, and since football practice usually begins in late summer when the temperature outside is highest. Therefore, football players should pay extra attention to the fluids they drink and lose: teams should consider limiting practice and wearing light clothing for practice on very hot days, and athletes should be able to drink all the water they want during practice.

Mike

[Wolverine]

Yup - should have been done this past winter. Technically, it should have been done by summer of '04 but...

Going slow has definitely not been a problem for me. Got nearly 2 years of practice at that! Now that the body is at Gordon's, it's time to shift up to at least 3rd gear. Bummer that I waited for summer to do it.

(I get home from work with plans for the evening's build. I walk through the 110* garage, into the house, where my daughter says, "Daddy! Do you want to go swimming with me?". It's been a prety easy decision so far.)

[mrpink]

Girly-man!! I built mine in July and August from 5am to 5pm every day. A roll around evap cooler makes all the difference. Could not be in the garage without it. Now get to work. You're sounding like Mike Dotson

[mikiec]

OUCH..................

[Mulv]

Hey

as it happens, I bought the infamous swamp cooler from Jim and I no longer need it. Even though it is a collector's item that I paid several thousand dollars for, I would be willing to part with it for a mere $100- now that my project is also complete...

Let me know...

Steve

[Excaliber]

It's been in the low 90's, and it AINT a "dry heat". We get a light sprinkle and the humidity goes through the roof! I'm dying here! Hard to work on the car during the day.

I was actually thinking about moving to AZ for the nice weather!

[flipper35]

Built mine in Wisconsin. Then moved to the desert. I hate working on anything here in the summer time, my sympathies to you.

[Scotty C]

Welcome to the desert............although not quite as bad in Tucson..........it should be nice and warm at the BBQ.....see you guys there..........

[ItBites]

I just thought I'd let y'all know that I just put two A/C window units in my shop and it is really enjoyable to be out in the shop now. Last Saturday I went to Home Depot and plunked down about $490 total for two 12000 btu/hr window A/C units. I punched holes in the walls in my shop, put in the right blocking and voila... Sunday in the middle of the day it was 78 deg (and I turned em on about noon). Sunday evening, 74 deg and cycling on/off. My wife came down to the shop and complained because it was cooler in the shop than in the house. Also should add that my shop is not insulated at all, so I had to go about 2X the recommended amount of btu/hr. I know some will say I shoulda got swamp coolers, but for close enough to the same price, I have A/C. It will work during monsoon season and won't rust my tools or cars in the mean time.

If y'all can't tell, I'm thrilled. See ya in the shop...

[Wolverine]

Okay, I moved from South Carolina. In my mind, "swamp" and "cooler" can't exist together in the same sentence. Can somebody explain the concept to me? Are we talking mister of some sort?

[Excaliber]

Evaporative Cooler. Water is pumped to the top of all four sides and "dribbles" down to the bottom of the "air conditioner" enclosure. The water passes over a woven medium in appearance like "straw". This breaks up the water into smaller droplets on the journey. Hot dry air is then drawn through the woven medium coming in close contact with the water droplets. The droplets evaporate and in so doing draw heat from the air to make the "phase change" from liquid to gas (evaporation).

The air now INSIDE the box is cooler and is blown out into the air conditioning room. The air is also "humidified", containing the previoulsy liquid water now held as a "gas".

Most things that go through a "phase change" require LARGE amounts of energy to make that change. This energy is the hot air. The air MUST be "dry" in order to absorb the evaporated liquid water and thus become "cool". A "swamp cooler" does not work well in a more humid climate, such as Hawaii (bummer).

Could you say Atom Bombs go through a kind of "phase change", releasing HUGE amounts of energy during the process? The principle is the same, all though "phase change" is not the correct wording for it.

[JB34]

You are sooo right that it is hot. Don't let MikieC make you feel like a sissy. You're not are you? He is just tougher then the average transplant.

A swamp cooler is an evaporative cooler. Inexpensive to operate and relatively effective as long as the humidity is low. Worthless when it climbs. If your DaddyWarbucks like Eric (how many guys have a Cobra and a Vette) and can afford the big energy bills, go for the air conditioners. Being bucksdown, the swamp works for me. Started working on my car at 4 PM yesterday and the garage temp was 82.

More info at: http://energyoutlet.com/res/cooling/evap_coolers/

[mikiec]

Transplant? I've been here for 35 years.

Ok, OK I love the heat. take out the cobra whenever it gets above 110. That way there is no competition on the road from faster ones.

Don't forget gang Hershals house on Sunday.

Mike

[Karl Bebout]

Eric told me that he'd been working two jobs so couldn't get the Cobra's cooling issues fixed but now I realize that he's been working the two jobs to pay his electric bill. Can't blame him.

[Wolverine]

Thanks for the info. Makes sense, now.

Mulv - I'll give you a call about that collectors item. I think I'd like to take it off your hands.

[ItBites]

DaddyWarbucks????

Thats Cooooool DaddyWarbucks to be more correct... Mid 70's kinda Coooooool...

Yeah, the Cobra is still broke, but I'm stylin' in the A/C... BTW, the Cobra is coming along and I'd have it back together if I didn't have to keep making "improvements" instead of just putting it back together the way it worked before for 13 or so years.

My polisher is getting a workout as well...

Also, thought I'd add that since the Cobra is down, I drove the Vette today. Nothing like a big block to make the commute niiiiice.

[Cobrabill]

Dry heat?yeah,like a friggin' oven!

Still beats the crap out of -18 degrees.


I still have my Az plate up for adoption-"SLITHR"