What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2023]

[CopperNick]

Sounds a lot like what the local operators have to have to work the plows and sanders for winter. We need the D with a Z (airbrake) endorsement and better be thinking about an A or B (tractor/trailer semi or tractor/trailer/pup/trailer, either fixed or floating second fifth wheel) Guy I worked with for a bit had the whole alphabet except the M (motorcycle) He also had so many health issues that he pulled his own pin and retired right at the beginning of Covid. Per hour is only about the same as your drivers get, but it is union and the benefits in the contract can be attractive. Lots of overtime in the winter.



Nick

 

[pagrunt]

Thew the new shoes on Friday so I had something to drive for the weekend
View attachment 230458
Tried to be responsible and take this instead of taking the GTO which may give me problems and end up with this.....
View attachment 230459

I just think all your rides like doing this to you

 

[Ugly1]

Ugly 1, The tub as a fire bin is not a bad idea, unless you ask the local bylaw mooks. Around here outdoor fires are SO restricted that the local fire bugs have to come in and measure the free zone between the fire pit and the nearest buildings. Surprised the neighbour south got theirs as the delivery line for their Nat-gas might still run underneath the lawn around there. I wouldn't qualify as the greenhouse and the vegetable patch enclosure are too close to the garage to give them the room they want for a fire break. Last BBQ I was at the rim for the fire pit was an old split rim from a semi. They've been outlawed for commercial use as they are flat dangerous to work with' particularly during tire changes and have a bad habit of trying to rip people's faces off at the tire shops. The location is far enough out in the toolies with enough room in the back yard that it is not an issue. Not quite the privacy of a farm or cabin but tolerable close.



Nick

Seen the videos but told about those split rims long before computers. Dad was a truck driver and we had a number of old Chevys and Dodges with them too. And can’t forget the 31’ dodge fire truck cut down to a doodle-bug. My brother still has it. Been in the family since late 60’s

 

[CopperNick]

And my "Not a G-Body" G-10 van is back together and running again. Did the recommended set up steps for the Accusump; input the high pressure on the air side to move the piston completely over to the shut off valve side of the tank, bled the air charge down to spec, re-attached the JIC connection and hose to the valve, cleaned and painted the battery tray, put the battery back in, and remade the connections to it.

And it cranked. Optima Red Top 34/78 AGM battery. 1000 CA//800CCA. Pulled it out almost a month ago and left it to sit on a convenient tree stump. Popped it back in today and no hesitation. Threw the charger at it afterwards and it showed an 80% plus charge level. Worth the $$$$ I threw at it.

Typically, a battery that sits, loses about 1% of its actual charge per day; more if it is being vampired by ECU's or memory cards. That was one of the major PITA's that I had to deal with when I ran the FI TEch system. It was a leach for zots to keep the ECU happy. As little as a week without starting the van and I would have to throw the charger at it to bring the battery back up. The wiring for it demanded a permanent hot wire direct from the battery or a battery source. It was fused for safety but still not something that I was happy with. MY S-10 is the same way but it is not a voltage Hog the way that other system was. Off the road, it only needed some charger love about once a month to keep it happy and a day on the charger was usually enough to do the trick.

As soon as the mill lit off I went back to the Accusump, watched the pressure rise to 60 on the gauge, and threw the lever on the valve over to the closed position. Shut the mill down, added the 2 more quarts needed to replace what went into the tank and refired the engine to allow it the time needed to warm up and the choke to come off.

Yes' I did have the main door open for this exercise; I don't breathe exhaust fumes all that well. Did have to keep an eye on the door jic some kamakazi squirrel tried to rush the opening to get inside. They are seriously looking for places to den up for the winter and I so do not want one of them as a squatter roosting up in the attic. Happened once before and about drove me nuts; ended up having to hoard in all the vent passages between the rafters and close the whole thing up. Got that done and spent the next month watching that squirrel go psycho trying to find a way back in. Thing actually tried to gnaw an opening in one of the end rafters and gave it up. Too bad cause when I built the covers i added a backing layer of steel wool and stapled it in place using steel window screen to hold the wool down. First time I ever heard a squirrel both bark, growl, and shriek at the same time. Used to feed them but found out accidently that the crows will eat almonds too. Sorry squirrels.

Still working on the AFR gauge installation. Found my inventory of Deutsch connectors and can use them to make up the balance of the harness it will need. Not sure if I need to install the OBD II port subsystem. The wire harness and plugs are there for it but absent any kind of ECU driven ignition system , no real need for it. Same/same for the laptop leads. The gauge is self contained for what I need from it so that makes the whole job a little easier.

The downstairs rain barrel is about as full as I could get it. Went out to my outside barrel Sunday afternoon and it still sloshed but the tap had frozen over night. Used the pails to bail out the last two refills and dumped the rest, about another 5 gal out on the ground. Mostly ice and sediment so not really worth fighting for. Turned the barrel upside down and brought the pails in. Took a half hour today to move the barrel into the cold storage shed and swap the downspout delivery pipe over to the full up eavestrough downspout and discharge line.

I may not be able to use those last two pails. it all depends on how much sediment the water in them still contains and how much it will take to filter that crap out.

Hopefully with all this done I can get back to sawing on the Monte's quarte panel again before the shop gets too cold and I have to put it to bed for the winter.


Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Turned out that one of the brand new LED turn signal bulbs didn't want to flash so a bit of work to dismount the housing from the rad cradle and a fast swap to another bulb to fix the problem. Had anticipated having that particular issue arise so brought in more bulbs than I actually needed jic.

An old acquaintance of mine runs a specialty welding shop and he happened to mention that for a trailer tongue to sit level, I would need 19" from ground to the ball. So I dug the ball assembly out for my receiver hitch and he threw a tape at it. Turns out that to get the correct height I would have to flip the ball in its mounting hole, so that was a today to do thing. Thought i would have to persuade the retaining nut with an impact gun and socket but a large combination wrench and a couple of smacks with a short maul and the nut surrendered. Cleaned the whole mess up, re-assembled it, and did a test fit into the receiver socket; slid in nicely and the pin lined up like it was meant to. The trailer will not be arriving until next spring so no hurry, just cleaning up items on the back list.



Nick

 

[MrSony]

Sold the F250 and associated parts. $1800 towards down payment for me and my lady friend's first house.

 

[ck80]

Sold the F250 and associated parts. $1800 towards down payment for me and my lady friend's first house.

Congrats on making life moves.

10 cents of free advice: plan for the worst, and expect the best. Think long and hard about having the house held in trust (many mortgage companies are fine with a specific type of trust used) where the trust docs specify how and when trust beneficiaries (you and lady friend) can dictate an order to sell.

 

[MrSony]

Congrats on making life moves.

10 cents of free advice: plan for the worst, and expect the best. Think long and hard about having the house held in trust (many mortgage companies are fine with a specific type of trust used) where the trust docs specify how and when trust beneficiaries (you and lady friend) can dictate an order to sell.

will do
and planning the worst is my mantra.

 

[joesregalproject]

Finally got the rear suspension work on the LaCrosse wrapped up today. In all, it got a new subframe, trailing arms and brackets, lateral links, sway bar brackets, bushings and end links, struts and strut mounts, fuel filler neck, and new parking brake cables and equalizer. I went with mostly budget parts- TRQ from 1A Auto, Dorman and Monroe for the struts. I did choose the OESpectrum struts over the cheaper Roadmatics though I opted to reuse my coil springs.

The ride is a lot better, the parking brake is finally adjusted correctly, and the car isn't so rusty underneath anymore. I still have to take it for an alignment, then it should be all set.

 

[pagrunt]

and the car isn't so rusty underneath anymore.

And just in time for rust breeding season. Just for this it started early this year.