Recent content by eljefino

Those old shoes look fine. If it were my car I'd grind the lip off the old drums, adjust the shoes, and slap it all back together, maybe with a little antisieze. Then pull the drums every other year and check the lip-- easier promised than delivered, LOL. I don't honestly mind drum brakes...

Thanks, got about eight weird sizes and duplicates for well-worn stuff. They have 20mm impacts (and maybe chromes too), which are great for swollen 3/4"/ 19mm lug nuts. The website somewhat accurately depicts the clearance, as well.

They didn't accept my embossed certified copy of my birth cert from 1992. (I'm not from 1992 but the copy was.) It was done on xerox paper but the registrar used the embossy thing to put a 3D seal on it. It's the way it was legally done! This same birth cert worked fine for me getting my...

The filter either rusted on the shelf or on the car. To me the pattern looks more like it was on the shelf, as the baseplate is somewhat protected from road spray. If this engine really is this sensitive to oil flow and was fixed with a new filter I would still seek out better yet parts and...

Mankind is genetically programmed to like being near (fresh?) water. Before we invented plumbing we felt "safe" being near something to drink and maybe even fish in. Real estate the world over is more expensive/ desirable by water because we want to be there. The people running the camp...

I had an open Takata recall on my 08 Silverado for most of the 3-ish years I owned it. Got postcards etc probably monthly-- some from GM, some from the local dealer. Ignored them. Figured I'd just have a closed casket funeral. 😁 I mean, really, get it right the first time. Mobile service...

As an aside, ScotchBrite inside an engine is no bueno-- it slips through the oil filter and attacks the main bearings. I had flash cam rusting on my Dakota 2.5 which sat with a loose valve cover during the humid season for a week while I did the head gasket. I figured it would work itself out...

Part numbers can't be trademarked-- this is why Intel went from naming their chips 486 to Pentium (TM). I've seen "white box" generic rotors with four or more cross reference parts numbers that matched name-brand competition. As said above, those are "descriptive" part numbers based on numbers...

Yeah I still have a stash of 10w30 from the AA clearance of 12/2019. I'm sure it's good but I use it as "beater oil."

The top of the engine is indeed a hot mess of hoses and smog stuff. It could use valve cover gaskets but I'm not ripping all that stuff off just for that. At some point Ford went to the Mazda 5 speed which is a garbage tranny. Every one has a noisy 3rd gear and 1st is way too tall. I've had...

Watch Facebook Marketplace for your tire size in "gently used" then have yours peeled off to sell "gently used" yourself. If you can do timing chains, you can figure out the HF tire mounter-dismounter. Though you would have to have them balanced, but WM does a "one time" balance for around $6...

"Small" by BITOG standards. 😁

Marine cams are radically different than automotive ones. Auto you want a nice even torque curve from 1500 to 4k RPM. Marine you want the tq curve to keep going up and up until redline. Not surprised they didn't bother switching to a roller.

Cut out the bad stuff, do the POR-15 and fluid film the inside of the rocker, then close it up somehow, anyhow. The loose fitting plastic cover doesn't count. Find some sheet steel from metal roofing or from an old computer case, cut it up, form it to shape, then attach with pop_rivets or...

It could have had issues that left the original Merc a shell.