What did you do to your non g-body project today [2025 edition]

Lady had 03 honda accord overheated after checking under hood I found the heater control valve bracketed to the firewall area had snapped its arm off and that had allowed the shaft to recess ( fall) inside leaving a 9mm size hole were coolant spewed out ...I fixed a temporary splice out of a little section of pipe bypassing the broken valve untill a part can be had. The thing is- the car was building heat very fast" I suspect it really needs a valve job with gasket swop.. At least I instructed them to watch for the coolent fans to be shure they were working at stops in town or below 30 mph....last I heard they had made it on one town test drive 'aparently with out overheating. Thing builds heat like a tired old subaru...personally I would pull the head and grind valves but threre always flipping cars so"..aside from this... i"offered her a good deal on the extra work" ...now we shall see what developes ...

Put new 6.5 speakers in the fiancé's impala. Been blown (the speakers 😜) the past few years since before we met, and finally had time and money to do so. Just cheap autozone kenwoods but she's happy and that's all that matters.

While dodging snow and rain, I am replacing the entire suspension on the Wifey's Cobalt. Springs, shocks, struts, lower control arms [ball joints and bushings], front trans mount. The whole rear I did in half a day. The driver front took two and a half days. Lots of little stupid problems. The rear engine cradle bolt is also the rear control arm bushing bolt. The cage nut inside the body was stripped. The other side I could see clearly. This side was obstructed by the trans and other crap. The sheet metal surrounding the cage looks to be structural, so I did not want to cut any of that away.
I took the easy way out and cut a hole in the floor. First I pulled the carpet back and made a crude measurement as to where the caged nut was. Then I took a long sharp spike and slipped it up through the bolt hole. That located the spike at the precise spot on the floorboard I needed to make a hole. I used my jack to carefully push the spike up through the floor. It came out right under the brake pedal. I cut the foam cushioning, then cut a hole in the sheet metal. Perfect! I am waiting on an order of M14x2.0 flanged nuts, grade 10.9. I will slip a big washer over the cage, then screw on the nut, and be able to torque the bolt to specs.
I learned a lot on that side so today when I did the passenger side I was armed. The LCA and strut I did both in one day. Of course the LCA bolt on THIS side, which is out in the open, torqued perfectly the first try. I still need to replace the front trans mount which is ripped apart. And secure that hole I made, And seal it against water. Snow is on the way again so it will be a race to get that done before I get shut down.

I got the front mount out, and replaced pretty quickly. No room to work but do-able.

The LCA bolt was run up as far as I could. There was just enough threads above the cage nut that I could put a big washer and an M14 nut on. With a breaker bar and a 21mm socket inside, I was then able to torque the bolt from underneath. It take 74 ft lbs + 180° more turns. I tried to find out what the final torque was but my torque wrench only goes up to 150 ft lbs. It was clicking at that setting yet not moving the bolt. The torque is above what I can measure.

Lastly I had to close the hole I made. My little inverter stick welder made some tack welds, then I schmeared left-over silicon all over the wound. Then the cushion flap went back in place, and the carpet laid back down.

Test drive: NO RATTLES! The alignment even felt good. But after the snow melts I will get a real alignment at my guy. The car feels better than it ever did. All the parts cost $400- money well spent.

Got that Camaro with the LS swap finally starting correctly, the harness did not come labeled so had the crank sensor and another sensor swapped because they used the same connector. Then it ended up being wrong in the connector itself so needed repinned. It still has a couple things it needs ironed out before going out to paint, but moved onto that buddies wifes Bentley they got from Mecum to move around and start charging it since the batteries were dead and then also mess with the windows which needed reprogramming

Working on my brothers 6.0 turbo project. currently motor is together, we are working on the heads

Drove it with a uhaul trailer (ig either forgot about me crashing one of their trucks or they don't care anymore) to get a new bed.
10 hours in a mild snowstorm. Hate stepside beds on gmt400s. Useless rotten fiberglass bs.

Looking at your bed reminds me of possible good news I got last week. The 1 Ton I picked up a few months ago with multi color paint and looks like had a better life at one point... Might be a 454SS. Lots of elbow grease on this one, but might be well worth it.

A 454SS pickup from the 80's? that actually still possesses it's OEM big block would be a thing of beauty. Had a chance at one years ago but the owner was a flake who had used it as collateral on a loan and then got tangled up in drug debts so the fight was between the bank and the dealer as to who was going to snatch the ride. I so did not want to have to explain to some mook that he did not own the ride, it was mine and I didn't owe him anything, whatever the previous owner had promised; they can be so unreasonable and persistent; both the banks and the dealers!


Nick

CopperNick said:

a flake who had used it as collateral on a loan and then got tangled up in drug debts

Click to expand...

I think that's been true about all 3 of the trucks I've ever seen.