So today I put the finishing touches on one of the two post-muffler exhaust pipes that currently reside under my 03 S-10. This was a muffler back semi-replacement because the front section had finally rotted right out in two places. Since the back half over the diff section was still in good shape I elected to salvage it and modify it to fit the new portion. Ended up having to take the rear half out again and shorten it by 2" to get it to line up exactly with its partner both going over the differential and exiting at the rear of the box just ahead of the bumper. The last thing on that list was to fab a new tie bar to fit under the pipe where it exited the muffler. It picks up a pair of rubber hangers that offer both support for the pipe but let it move just a bit to accommodate motor vibration. That meant a little bit of crawling around on the floor to get the MIG gun into position to set some tacks to hold it all together. Threw a coat of paint at the rim on the safety spare that now rides around under the back of the pickup box. When I retrofitted the rear anti-sway bar into place, I found that the full sized spare no longer nested correctly into the rack below the bed. The solution was to locate a safety spare that had the correct height to match my existing rubber have the tire dismounted, and then mate it to another rim that would accept the safety unit and that had the correct bolt pattern. I keep a few of them around as car movers when I don't want to go to all the trouble of mounting up a regular wheel. They are getting hard to come by. Works for me.
Today's other project was to complete the stripping project that I had started on one of the Indian tanks. By way of a little bit of history, this tank allegedly came from a 40 Chief so it is 80! years old. I must have scored it at least 40 years ago and at point it got body worked using an obscene amount of Aluminum loaded metal filler. Between a 3M XLT stripping wheel coupled up to my air drill and a hammer and chisel I did manage to remove all the filler; about a 1/2 inch thick at its deepest, and reveal the extent of the damage that I had hidden so many years ago. This tank may prove to be salvageable but it will take a specialist who knows how to melt out the solder seams to take it apart to where it can be dollied back into shape from the inside and then silver soldered back to together. Eighty year old solder is mostly lead based and not to be taken lightly. I went full bunny suit with a full breather, full face shield, and ear protection, just to remove the filler. As of right now it might just get a coat of rust inhibitor and put back on the shelf. it is half of a pair so someone might be interested in it. Pictures to follow.
Nick.
Today's other project was to complete the stripping project that I had started on one of the Indian tanks. By way of a little bit of history, this tank allegedly came from a 40 Chief so it is 80! years old. I must have scored it at least 40 years ago and at point it got body worked using an obscene amount of Aluminum loaded metal filler. Between a 3M XLT stripping wheel coupled up to my air drill and a hammer and chisel I did manage to remove all the filler; about a 1/2 inch thick at its deepest, and reveal the extent of the damage that I had hidden so many years ago. This tank may prove to be salvageable but it will take a specialist who knows how to melt out the solder seams to take it apart to where it can be dollied back into shape from the inside and then silver soldered back to together. Eighty year old solder is mostly lead based and not to be taken lightly. I went full bunny suit with a full breather, full face shield, and ear protection, just to remove the filler. As of right now it might just get a coat of rust inhibitor and put back on the shelf. it is half of a pair so someone might be interested in it. Pictures to follow.
Nick.
