Gray Man, Inc.
- Thread starter DRIVEN
- Start date
No, somehow I thought you were a technician for Ford. I'm not sure how I got that impression. Thanks for offering to help. I'll store that away and reach out when we're closer.
you burned some weed along the driveway? wow, talk about personal freedom!👍
I was... did that for a year before I got tired of dealership antics and I've been on a wild job path ever since.
Thrust washer came in. Assembled the flywheel and roller clutch, then installed the side cover. I didn't forget the little white plastic piece.
Topped off the oil, hotwired the starter, and cranked it over until I got steady oil flow out of the check plug. Circulation to the top end, confirmed. Slotted one of the holes in the intake boot to make on-bike installation easier.
Masked, painted, assembled.
Not sure when I'll swap it in. Lots of winter/spring chores to finish first.
Topped off the oil, hotwired the starter, and cranked it over until I got steady oil flow out of the check plug. Circulation to the top end, confirmed. Slotted one of the holes in the intake boot to make on-bike installation easier.
Masked, painted, assembled.
Not sure when I'll swap it in. Lots of winter/spring chores to finish first.
About 5 miles north, this is about to happen too.
Lots of work over the last few weeks has kept me on the road. TW engine still isn't swapped yet because I'm using it as a carrot to get more chores done. I picked away at the tree work but still have lots to finish. Bought another pile of fence posts. Did some work in my basement. And I'm in the middle of another project that I'll confess about later.
And in an undisclosed location, the old man has been making steady, sometimes frustrating progress. He had said from the beginning that he wasn't going to paint it but he wanted to at least make it less than 6 colors. Originally he planned to do a dark metallic green over black fenders. He got as far as painting the dash and didn't like the lack of contrast. He stripped the dash and went medium-deep metallic red. He picked a color and the paint store put it in rattle cans. Once the dash was red and everything else inside the cab was black, he moved back outside. One of the guys at the paint store had told him that they could tint sealer to a close match of the red dash paint, obviously not metallic though. After he'd prepped the body he went to buy it and was told that it can't be tinted and you can only get basic "red". He rolled the dice.
Well, that "red" looked either orange or pink depending on the lighting. But it definitely wasn't red. The gun he used was giving him some trouble too so there were some flaws he couldn't live with. Stripped/scuffed it up again and now it's light gray.
He's been putting it back together over the last couple days. His barber has a '37 sedan so he snagged a usable rear bumper too. Seat is at the upholstery shop. Should be a driver in a couple weeks. Still on the hunt for a pair of 15x7 ETs.
And in an undisclosed location, the old man has been making steady, sometimes frustrating progress. He had said from the beginning that he wasn't going to paint it but he wanted to at least make it less than 6 colors. Originally he planned to do a dark metallic green over black fenders. He got as far as painting the dash and didn't like the lack of contrast. He stripped the dash and went medium-deep metallic red. He picked a color and the paint store put it in rattle cans. Once the dash was red and everything else inside the cab was black, he moved back outside. One of the guys at the paint store had told him that they could tint sealer to a close match of the red dash paint, obviously not metallic though. After he'd prepped the body he went to buy it and was told that it can't be tinted and you can only get basic "red". He rolled the dice.
Well, that "red" looked either orange or pink depending on the lighting. But it definitely wasn't red. The gun he used was giving him some trouble too so there were some flaws he couldn't live with. Stripped/scuffed it up again and now it's light gray.
He's been putting it back together over the last couple days. His barber has a '37 sedan so he snagged a usable rear bumper too. Seat is at the upholstery shop. Should be a driver in a couple weeks. Still on the hunt for a pair of 15x7 ETs.
Alright, confession time. Remember back in December when I did the timing chain on the Supervibe and decided to just slap a head gasket in it since I was in the neighborhood? Well, it didn't survive.
After I got it all back together everything seemed fine. I ran it for a couple thousand miles and it was due for an oil change. I had another car apart on my hoist at the time so I just slid under the front bumper and did the oil change on the ground. Ran another 5,000 miles and did the same thing. Everything looked good except my overflow reservoir was a couple cups low. I looked around and saw that my radiator was leaking.
It was the only thing I could see but didn't look bad enough to explain the coolant loss. Ordered up a new radiator as well as a pair of front axles. Kept an eye on the coolant level and just ran it. Figured I'd do the radiator and axles at the next oil change.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago.
I racked it and raised it up enough to dump the coolant and R&R the radiator. Then raised it up to dump the oil and slam the axles in it. And that's when I saw it...
Sunnuvabish!!!
It never left a drip on the ground and I never even smelled hot coolant. It just oozed out the back and dried on the back of the block and transfer case. Finished my oil change, swapped axle, and rotated the tires. I put it on the light duty roster and ordered another gasket set.
So, Friday I jumped in.
I was really hoping to find a smoking gun but saw nothing definitive. Original gasket was MLS, as was the one I put in 3 months ago. New head bolts. I cleaned the surfaces with a carbide faced hand scraper -- no Roloc on an angle grinder shenanigans. Block and head are both flat. The leakage was external and there was no indication that it was burning any coolant. Not sure why it (I) failed, but it (I) did. It was all self-inflicted. If I'd just left the original head gasket alone, all of this could have been avoided. This time I ordered a composite graphite gasket. Figured it might be more forgiving. Hoping to get more than 15,000 miles out of the new one.
While it was apart, I decided to check my exhaust screen. Sure enough, it was restricted. Outlet side looked okay but inlet side (viewed through O2 sensor hole and backlit) showed 90%+ obstruction. Guess that might explain why she huffs and puffs on some of the long steep hills.
I cleaned the screen.
It's all back together now. I suppose the intermittent P0420 its tossed for the last 100k will be a little more reagular. Hopefully this hassle is behind me now. I'm starting to question the status of our relationship.
Now, back to cutting trees and building fences.
After I got it all back together everything seemed fine. I ran it for a couple thousand miles and it was due for an oil change. I had another car apart on my hoist at the time so I just slid under the front bumper and did the oil change on the ground. Ran another 5,000 miles and did the same thing. Everything looked good except my overflow reservoir was a couple cups low. I looked around and saw that my radiator was leaking.
It was the only thing I could see but didn't look bad enough to explain the coolant loss. Ordered up a new radiator as well as a pair of front axles. Kept an eye on the coolant level and just ran it. Figured I'd do the radiator and axles at the next oil change.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago.
I racked it and raised it up enough to dump the coolant and R&R the radiator. Then raised it up to dump the oil and slam the axles in it. And that's when I saw it...
Sunnuvabish!!!
It never left a drip on the ground and I never even smelled hot coolant. It just oozed out the back and dried on the back of the block and transfer case. Finished my oil change, swapped axle, and rotated the tires. I put it on the light duty roster and ordered another gasket set.
So, Friday I jumped in.
I was really hoping to find a smoking gun but saw nothing definitive. Original gasket was MLS, as was the one I put in 3 months ago. New head bolts. I cleaned the surfaces with a carbide faced hand scraper -- no Roloc on an angle grinder shenanigans. Block and head are both flat. The leakage was external and there was no indication that it was burning any coolant. Not sure why it (I) failed, but it (I) did. It was all self-inflicted. If I'd just left the original head gasket alone, all of this could have been avoided. This time I ordered a composite graphite gasket. Figured it might be more forgiving. Hoping to get more than 15,000 miles out of the new one.
While it was apart, I decided to check my exhaust screen. Sure enough, it was restricted. Outlet side looked okay but inlet side (viewed through O2 sensor hole and backlit) showed 90%+ obstruction. Guess that might explain why she huffs and puffs on some of the long steep hills.
I cleaned the screen.
It's all back together now. I suppose the intermittent P0420 its tossed for the last 100k will be a little more reagular. Hopefully this hassle is behind me now. I'm starting to question the status of our relationship.
Now, back to cutting trees and building fences.
It's gonna be a pretty busy weekend. Normal spring roster. Today was cutting wood and burning weeds out of ditches. 10hr day.
Tomorrow is more of the same. Also just found out yesterday that I'll be getting a new neighbor. The son of the old guy next door is buying the pasture to the south of me and is planning to build there. Seems like a cool enough guy.
Tomorrow is more of the same. Also just found out yesterday that I'll be getting a new neighbor. The son of the old guy next door is buying the pasture to the south of me and is planning to build there. Seems like a cool enough guy.
