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Projects Olds Rocket 324 in a 32 Ford; "trying to finish it thread"..

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by F&J, Dec 5, 2011.

  1. Those headlights are perfect!! And absolutely, you're spot on with a front nerf bar. That would totally complete the look. Such a beautifully done car.
     
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  2. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Thanks for full disclosure Frank, sounds like I have to give this more thought.
     
  3. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    From recalling the board shapes on my former 40, there is no way to stretch vinyl over them, due to the shapes at the front and rear fender?

    You'd need some sort of sewn seam to deal with compound curves IMO

    You must have some pics at home in your old magazines? It must have been done a lot.

    .
     
  4. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    George
    You can do this faster than me.
    Send F&J a photo of couverkids dads (Paul) red 32 five window, you know, the one with chromed front and rear tube BUMPERS.
     
  5. Frank and George my covers have a sewn hem all the way around the covers. there are snaps in the corners and a few in between. this is the way my dad had it done in the late fifties with one exception, along the bottom edge the covers were flush with the bottom of the board and "faced" snapped. when i had them done the upholsterer made the covers longer and folded them under the boards and put the snaps straight up from the bottom. we also added velcro along the bottom to hold it tight. so far no problems and they can still be removed to clean under them. DSCF5515.JPG
     
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  6. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Doug, you forget, I am 7000 miles from my home computer and photo stash right now, I cant post photos at all.
     
  7. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Something like this has real merit. I like it. I could even carry over the pink piping from the interior.
     
  8. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    I knew that:confused:
     
  9. ne'erdowell
    Joined: Nov 30, 2005
    Posts: 561

    ne'erdowell
    Member

    Frank, this sure looks different than when I saw it in your shop a couple of years ago. It is friggin' beautiful! Great vision and nice, nice work. Dave
     
  10. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    That had to be 5 years ago I bet. How is your Rocket powered Ford?
    Quite a few hamb Rocket folks have stopped by over the years.

    Today was another triple H weather day, but I did get the last interior panels reglued and installed. One guy said to use wide tape on the back of the panels so the glue won't let go. I used clear packing tape and it sticks real good.

    I had to paint the inside of body panels before I put them in, and when I was crawling in the trunk, I found a nice inside rear view mirror that I honestly don't recall :) I had to paint from in there, because I can't get the seat out by myself.
    .
     
  11. ne'erdowell
    Joined: Nov 30, 2005
    Posts: 561

    ne'erdowell
    Member

    The A was finished late last spring. I was really pleased with how it came out and it drove great. I ended up selling it in November and am working on a '41 Ford Tudor sedan. Totally different from the coupe but I'm enjoying doing it and think it will be fun when it's done.
     
  12. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Someone just posted the exact Hot Rod magazine pic from 1951, that I tried to copy/mix the color for mine. I never was able to get the same teal look, but close enough I guess...

    I think those headlights in the pic are why I wanted chrome ones :)
    [​IMG]
     
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  13. Love the cabrio! Love the color and the headlights.
     
  14. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Working on the teens/20s Cadillac gas tank today. Last night I did look up the prices for a new tank in a size close to this 20 gallon. They were $250-$300 plus ship. So that's not going to happen, as the only way I got this far in life, is by saving pennies and dimes where I can.

    So I assembled the new sending unit loosely to adjust the things to make it go from 14 to zero inches on the depth. I laid the sender on the end of tank. It has to swing front to back direction, not side to side, because there are 3 compartments in the tank.

    To not have the float hit the front end of tank at 1/2 full, the sender needs to be mounted very close to the back edge, But the tank is a "puffy rectangle" and the sender would not sit flat there.
    DSCN0676.JPG

    So I had to make a blister thingy to weld on the edge, to make a flat gasket surface. I used a piece of .120 gauge sheet steel so it would not be a flimsy gasket surface, and easier to weld to this thick tank metal. I was going to try to use the hydraulic press with a wood form. That was too much setup time, so I used this steel cylinder thing, and clamped it in my big bench vice, bending over a couple inches at a time, then rotate the part again, and again, till done. I started with a guess of a oval shape on the steel, and I guessed good. (for once, lol) :)
    DSCN0678.JPG
    DSCN0680.JPG


    In that last pic, things are pretty busy looking: I had to put the sender hole in one of the 2 compartments that had some way of peeking through another hole, to see if the float ball went far enough in both directions. I could not put it on the far end because there are no other holes on that end. I can't use the middle because I wanted to keep the original Cadillac mechanical gas gauge, so I can watch it's needle dial when I fill the tank, so I don't overfill into the trunk. :)
    DSCN0679.JPG
    ^^ here you can see:, the filler, the new sender mounting, the old Cadillac sender with cork and brass dial, and the gas shut off valve.
    If you look at the very back edge of tank, near the shut-off body, there is a short brass line that used to be where the compressed air filled the tank. I will use that line for an external tank fume vent hose.

    DSCN0677.JPG

    Here's some shut-off valve parts. I don't know if it's the 4 weeks of stupid hot humid weather, or me getting dumber each day, but I thought the tank sat so the valve body was at the bottom side of the tank. DUH, I had it 90 degrees off the first time I showed a pic a week ago.

    So, when I still thought the tank valve was down low, I figured I'd better rebuild the shut off, in case the fuel pump or something started leaking, and would drain the tank. The old long needle shaft was steel, and rotted/pitted at the sealing gland nut, and the needle end was not any better. I had 3/8" aluminum stock, and no steel, so I chucked it in my old lathe to cut perfect straight threads and cut the needle. Geez...I start the thread cutting, and said: "that sure looks odd"... the threads were LEFT HAND :p.

    Tried again after shifting lathe gears, and I almost had it done and the bit dug in, and bent the 2" sticking out of the chuck...3 friggin times! So, I had to go look for a dead center, then drill a pilot hole for the center, and then, duh, it finally cut like New York, and fast.
     
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  15. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Very slow progress on the Cadillac tank install. So, some old history on these tanks going back to the early Dry Lakes Racecar days.. :)

    I guess the racers liked using hand pressurized fuel systems, as we've all seen them on old dirt cars and others. If you follow 1940s Lake cars, the Jack Calori roadster would be right up there at the top.
    calori-roadster-racing.jpg

    I found two pics of a Cadillac tank in that car. One seems to be a very early pic. His tank is a different year than mine, because his has a bolt-on fill neck pointing to the right side. (or maybe he made the neck bolted?). It looks like he moved the tank to the left, to get the filler up through the rear deck panel? It still must have been hard to fill it at the Lakes with a 5 gallon Jerry can.
    cadillac tank.jpg
    His rear center tank bracket is a triangle shape, might be stock Cadillac, and my homemade bracket came out looking like a triangle, too. I did mine like a triangle because I thought it needed some sideways strength, and I had not seen this pic when I did mine. Here is another pic, from a different time, below:
    calori roadster 106.jpg

    And here is a pic of mine, late today:
    DSCN0684.JPG

    .....what A pain to make floor saddles of different heights for the very slanted floor. To make it harder, there is a extended sump sticking out the bottom of tank, so it's impossible to test fit it, unless you cut the 4" hole in the floor first. But how can you cut the hole if you don't know where?

    Here is a pic of the 2 different saddles. Both made from slicing up a 3 foot, 1/8" thick 3-1/2" square tube that once was a rear frame crossmember in the old chassis. The rear one is just an L slice, but then I added curled strips of 18 gauge to make a saddle shape. The front one is 3 sides of the tube, but I ran it through the press to make a curved saddle. These will have rubber strips or felt glued on, and will be welded to the floor.
    DSCN0681.JPG

    Here is a template I used to try to get the location for the tank saddles. Of course, I forgot to check if the seat was all the way back ...lol. After cutting the tackwelds several times, I had to finally cut the 4" hole in the floor, because it won't fit right until I do. (I did want the sump drain under the car, not in the trunk). Also, I had trouble guessing if that the template was level... with the angled floor, angled back of seat, and the rake of the car. Very misleading, so I had to later make a level line on that template to be able to use a carpenter level on it. Then keep moving the floor saddles to get a good fit, and still be level...arrrgh..
    DSCN0683.JPG
    A sharp eye can see that there are two battery cable holes in the floor, and the final "tank in car" pic I posted 2 pics up, shows that the forward cable hole had to be filled, and the tank moved back.....because I finally figured out the seat was only 1/2 way back in this last pic..duh

    The front of these tanks have two mounting brackets, one at each end, almost to the ends of tank. The J-hook is made from 5/16" stainless, so I know the hooks are pretty strong.
    .

    .
     
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  16. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Wiring is the last major thing to do, so I started putting every old/nos/hand-me-down electrical parts saved over the years, spread out on the floor. I got a LOT of stuff ...lol..some good some bad, some ugly, but most all was free.

    I had planned a long while ago, to use this old switch for turn signals. But I took it apart to find it has a built-in "flasher coil and points" and is maybe 6V. Then I took the repro switch apart to see if I could swap in the modern "7-Wire" system, compared to the old "3 wire" in the other. Nothing will fit.

    I could have just used the new switch, but just holding it on the column, it just looks like someone got lazy at the end of the build :) . Geez, I detest new stuff with a passion, it looks so crappy and it will be right in my face.

    DSCN0686.JPG


    So I had to steal the old Deco one that was saved for my 32 Nash. I tried cheating by spraycan white, but it looked awful placed on the column, so I did spray it in body color.

    It's a 3 wire also, so I will need to use a "electronic trailer converter" to use a 3-wire with only two filament tail lights.
    DSCN0687.JPG
    I had some stainless flex conduit from a scrapper friend, so I tried that through the former column shift hole in the column bracket....with a reshaped grommet. I thought it might look gaudy, but I think it looks fine.
    DSCN0689.JPG

    I took the switch body apart to remove the 3 position crimped switch to clean it's contacts/lube/test. It has a tiny bulb under the chrome lever beehive thing.

    When I had the switch contacts all apart, it looked like the bulb can't work, because it gets power from the main flasher wire. That would try to make the flasher work all the time...I thought?

    After I recrimped it to test R & L sides, I also tried testing the bulb contact. I have no idea why, but the ohm meter shows the bulb does not have power in center, but does have power on left and also right. I don't know why. I must have missed something in there?

    .
     
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  17. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    that switch looks GREAT Frank. Thanks for the reminder, that's one of the few vintage parts I still need for the '39 that I don't have yet. I need to get my ass in gear and find a nice turn signal switch. That ones a beauty.
     
  18. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Using what I have here to choose from, here is the switch setups. I went with a 56 Olds headlight switch because it has a dimmer for the dash lights, and it is so easy to wire when it's in the mounted position. I had to take it apart for cleaning.

    The switches from top left to right: The booster fuel pump switch, then the starter push button that I need for the Ford steering column ign switch, then the cigar lighter, and headlight on far right. I had to put things in whatever dash hole fit best.

    My son will like the cigar socket for his phone stuff/gps

    All those knobs are 56 Olds


    It looks ok in person, but in pics it all looks iffy. Chrome does not look so awful in person, so screw it. I need to finish, not redo things
    DSCN0691.JPG

    Then the bottom two switches; Those are for the 1940s? Olds heater and blower motors. It has a smaller motor for just defrost, and a normal motor on the heater core.
    DSCN0692.JPG

    Those knobs started out as pull cable knobs on the 56 Olds. They are marked as Defrost and Heater, which works out good. I had to mount these on the old style resistor heater switches that have a 1/2" neck with a #53 bulb. So, I chucked the stem of each knob in the lathe so I could bore a 1/2" hole right through from the front.

    Then I needed lenses. I found some colored plastic "ball buttons" that were in some car stuff a friend gave me. I had red, medium blue and teal. I cut them in half and super glued them on. The knobs pop right off to change a bulb, just like the original brown plastic knobs did


    I might try to get the car done for Oct 8th Fallout show. I feel stressed since I thought of that yesterday. I have all the switches mounted and will start stringing wires today.
     
  19. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Update; I am mostly finished with the homemade wire harness/installed. I only need to add wires to the rear marker light.....and in this pic you can see a two terminal "wire attaching block", next to the trailer converter box in the trunk. (the converter allows use of the old fashioned 3 wire turn signal switch)...with the 41 chevy rear lights

    I put that terminal block there, to tap into the taillight wire, and also the wire coming from the brake light switch before it enters the converter. (my son is going to make my marker light housing into a combination marker/3rd brake light) So the block gives an easy hook up.
    DSCN0705.JPG
    You may have seen my recent thread about getting this converter to work. I found out that you cannot test these with only rear lights hooked up, but hadn't wired the front signals yet. Now it works great

    here is a old pic showing the rear marker light housing. Can't see it very well. (that's a reminder-note to check the gear oils, taped to the marker light :) ) It was once a rear tailgate emblem for a 1940s Olds Woodie, and was never illuminated. My son is going to remove the plastic lens, and use red translucent plastic, then build a wall between the marker light bulb, and the 3rd brake light. The extra brake light might give me a better chance with the texters out there?
    Snapchat-4970118570374086406.jpg

    I did find so many neat things to help wire the car, given to me by a 82 year old friend who retired from restoring hobby cars. I found this handy 5 wire quick disconnect plug. It sure makes it easier to string wires to the removable dash and not worry if they are long enough, or waste time under the dash hooking up each wire you run in the "rough-in phase".

    I only needed 5. One ground, one gauge power to the Ford voltage limiter, one for temp sender, one for gas gauge, and last one for dash lights.

    I really like this plug feature, because I can leave the dash cluster out while I was testing the gauges and whatnot. Sure beats bending under the dash. Here it is propped up on the floor for a pic, with a test light LOL.
    DSCN0701.JPG

    I need to get a speedo cable hole drilled somewhere, while I do the dash install. I did find a cable that maybe came from a 56 Olds parts car with a Hydramatic. I got so lucky that the other end fits the 47 Plymouth speedo. I think it's got to be long enough. I also went through the Olds parts book on a chart to choose the correct speedo driven gear-vs-tire size. The trans came from a 3.41 rear ratio, and I swapped in a 3.23. The books shows this part number for the correct gear, and it came from a pile of trans stuff from the "Olds Farm". I hope I have the correct drive gear in the trans, I forgot to look that up.
    DSCN0702.JPG

    Well if your read Paul's 27 Thread, he tried to finish his car enough for a local show, but had gremlins pop up. I maybe also jinxed myself when I said I was trying for the last show here, on Oct 8. I fired the car up late today to test gas gauge, and temp, and volt gauges....the car was not charging. So I tested the generator by disconnecting both wires, the ground the field with a voltmeter on the output/Arm terminal...it's dead..


    I found some generators on a shelf, but the best candidate was on my 1953 303 engine. I took it off and bench tested it on the bench grinder's wire wheel on the pulley fan. You just hook a voltmeter to BATT, then jumper from F to the case (grounding it), then spin it, and see if the volts pin the analog meter...and it did :) I will paint it and install in the morning.
    DSCN0704.JPG
     
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  20. bowie
    Joined: Jul 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,098

    bowie
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Your cab is lookn' awesome! Good old backyard hot rodding at it's finest. Just love your color combo.
     
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  21. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Excellent tip for us newbie musclecar guys! Thanks Frank, I'll test mine tomorrow, see if they all work! I really, REALLY want to chrome one for the '39.
     
  22. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    I'm not sure if a digital would work.. I tried one on the bad generator still in the car. The digital meter was showing all over, spastic. Then I dusted off the analog Fox Valley I bought in 1970, and the one in car showed zero.

    When you test them this way, you only ground it just long enough to see if it can run "wild"... meaning far beyond 12v ...like 2 or 3 times the normal Volts. You don't want to burn it up.

    Testing on the car; unhook all generator wires, including suppressor ...then run the RPM up to driving speed...but again, not for long.

    GM/Mopar is ground-to-test on the Field.

    Ford is different; you must power the F to test those
     
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  23. Frank, great progress and ingenuity as always. Just in case.......I have a box of speedo driven gears from various Olds squirreled away in the shop if you need to experiment further with the speedo.
    What is the part number for the trailer convertor device? Looks like that could be handy to have.
     
  24. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Walt, here is a tip I rec'd from d2-willys on my other thread. He works for the Hopkins Company which makes these:

    QUOTE:
    Next time use Hopkins 48895 or a powered converter. Both have the necessary grounding circuitry and should install much easier. EndQUOTE"



    And George: I forgot to say something about testing "long dormant" generators. A generator needs residual magnetism in the fields to excite itself. If it sat for decades like mine, and tests bad, you should then hook it up with heavier cables on the bench to a battery, to "motor it". It should spin if that was the real issue, but quite slower than a motor. That will instantly remagnetize it. I will do that today on my DOA one. It might be OK.

    .
     
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  25. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Thanks VT, I knew that, but had forgotten it.:confused: Thanks for reminding me!:)
     
  26. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    Still trying for the show, but I'm burned out a bit with doing multiple things at once.

    I ran hard lines to the vac wipers from the Olds dual action fuel pump on passenger side. The line to the intake vac source went to the rear carb base running along the top edge of valve cover. There is already a single heater hose there, as well as the fuel feed line from pump to the firewall fuel block.

    So, I decided to try running the other hard vac line to the wiper, on the driver side, above it's valve cover. I did these late last night, because I wanted them done before installing the dash cluster and speedo cable. Well it was like trying to stuff a marshmallow up a wildcat's ass, getting the bends correct to go under the front of intake, then along the valve cover, and be able to run it through a new hole in firewall. I had to take the plug wires off on that side, but so tired that I forgot to install them.

    I also found both Edmunds air cleaners that originally had multiple wraps of house screen, which they covered with coarser screen for a better look. I decided to use one layer of cloth, between the two types of screen, from hospital surgery room (don't ask) :)

    I had one done and installed when a friend dropped by yesterday, and I ran the motor to have him listen to the valve chatter. It kind of seemed that my forever steady idle had changed a bit with one cloth air-cleaner on. By the way, that's the 53 generator that did work out good. Still need to buff/paint this side valve cover....and more cleaning everywhere.
    DSCN0710.JPG

    I get to trying to change the speedo driven gear, but the 1935 chassis X member is blocking it. I just can't rip the carpeted trans tunnel and floor mat out, so I had to make a homemade crows foot wrench to get in there. What a bitch to get at, and after all that, the damn gear is 20 tooth just like the one I looked up in the book!. So, I need to get back in the book again.. sheesh.

    So, late today I'm done installing other air-cleaner, and dash cluster, speedo cable.... and ran it to see if the wipers work and speedo works on jack stands. Sheesh, the engine sounded worse, smelled rich and a bit of roughness. Thought it was the air cleaner cloth restricting. I went to get something and saw the 4 plug wires off LOL. I've worked every day since July 5th, with maybe only 3 of those were 1 hour or less, so I am used up.

    I am not getting any word from my son on the marker light he was wanting to try to build. And he is now back out in the North Atlantic ocean, jumping off the boat and chasing fish with a speargun :) So, I recalled hearing about restorers making new red lenses from broken red plastic lenses, dissolved in acetone. I broke up an old VW lens and used topcoat grade PPG lacquer thinner around 10AM today. It is about 2/3rds dissolved at 5 PM. No idea what's next to make a lens, but I'm thinking.

    here is the wrench I made and the bottle of red goo, and the Olds tailgate emblem housing:
    DSCN0707.JPG

    and here is Joe, better known at his workplace as "scuba steve". They named him that because they think he's F'n nuts to jump in the ocean chasing fish, when there are sharks around :)
    Who is nuts? Me laying under an old car forever, or him doing fun stuff? That is Block Island in the backround. Coastal Rhode Island
    Nigstrip.jpg
     
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  27. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    that's a big fish!
     
  28. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,380

    Paul
    Editor

    looks good Frank,
    you do multiple things at once,
    I do one thing multiple times,
    seems I always screw it up at least twice before I get it even passable..

    that is the third chrome Chevy dual bore master I've seen in a week,
    is or was there a source for them already chromed?
     
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  29. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    I'm a rag picker, :) , car is built with junk. That old chrome master came off ebay. Nobody bid too hard because the seller said it was frozen solid on both bores. I do worry about "life's" other things way too much, but I have zero fear of running a re-honed rebuilt single brake master with old NOS kits. I made sure I have a excellent working handbrake in a good spot, but I also can feel when a wheel gets wet with fluid, and I do a good job I think, with running lines properly, etc.


    Speaking of comparing "us"...I was under there fighting the speedo and I noticed antifreeze on the floor. The car never makes a drip, so I thought of your 27 pic showing it leaking a huge puddle during "your" deadline work. So I look up, and it was not a lower header bolt like I guessed, but it looked like the corner of the headgasket. So, I go topside to see what size socket for headbolt retorque, and spotted my NOS heater shut off T handle valve was dripping. It's screwed into the back manifold port. (Whew) Dang, the day before I had screwed the T down to shut the heater off, and I even tightened the packing nut in case it needed it, from disturbing it.

    I still think I can make it. My hyd lifters sound lousy. I do have adj rockers. Dave50 runs a engine shop and was here a week ago, but he did not seem concerned. Oh well...run it.
     
  30. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    It's a Striper. Not good to eat when they get that big, due to Mercury saturation. 49 inches and weighed at dock scale at 49. Kid wanted to break the 50, and it was before drying out all day, but that does not count...the dock scale counts LOL. He is not scuba, they free dive snorkel, to sometimes 50 feet depth. He can go 3 minutes, his bud can go 5 minutes.

    They dive daytime, then troll their lines at night with live eels.

    Fare game when they see a lobster pot lost on the bottom with missing rope. The traps keep trapping until they rot away. Feds made them stop vinyl coating the traps, so that they will eventually rot, and stop trapping/wasting lobsters. Son and friend do wire the doors open when they find a lost one.
     
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