What are you working on today?

cptbarkey said:
I forget exactly who suggested it, but will credit @jeepman3071 because he is the small engine master, finally solved the surging issue on the X354 JD riding mower with a few intake gaskets between the spacer behind the carb. That was a mouthful. Not sure why it was designed like that, but I am no engineer.

While I was in there monkeying around the fuel bowl gasket disintegrated and was also replaced. Mowed for 2 hours non stop.

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Not sure if it was me, but definitely glad you were able to fix it. The Briggs Intek V-Twins have the same issue, but unlike the Kawasaki, the fix is to replace the frequently warped plastic intake manifold with an aluminum one that has been backordered and un-obtainium for quite some time now.
 
Welllll now I’m broke down in Buffalo.

Sounds like a bad CV joint. I don’t think I can drive three hours home tomorrow. Getting it into the Nissan dealer at 9:30 tomorrow morning but they have no guarantees that I can get out of town. They have an entire day booked. Unfortunately I couldn’t drop it off tonight, if I could’ve, they would’ve worked on it first thing in the morning.
 
1965 Pontiac GTO
Post engine break in oil change, smoked everything over underhood and under car, tightened a few moderately loose hose clamps, dumped the water used for cooling during break in for a proper mix of coolant and water

2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD 6.6 Duramax
replaced fuel filter, rotated tires, changed oil
 
'74 Triumph TR6

After replacing all coolant hoses and finally locating quality repro ignition leads in the correct color, well close to the correct color, I was enjoying the car when it developed an occasional but increasing miss under load. Hunch that it was ignition related; half second miss then all is well for a few miles.

Poked around the distributor and noticed that the points were tight and had a little peak of deposits effectively taking the gap down to ~.008 vs .017-.014. Hmmm, about 4K/10 years on the rebuilt disti and parts. Figured the condenser was at fault and there are questions about their quality, so replaced that (with a 'heavy duty/premium' unit), filed the points, lubed the pivots and all seems well.

I feel like a Negative Nancy whining about current parts quality, but here's another example; short lived condenser, wires too long on the replacement terminal, metric point terminal stud (car is imperial),etc. I should replace the points and will, after some research on what is a good brand these days.

Between this and two valve adjustments, getting good w/ the feeler gauge again.

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Only 46K miles, but she's getting a bit older, also a bit needy and the parts situation can be frustrating, but well worth the effort!
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I was gonna start a separate rant thread, but my ranting is not worthy of a thread unto itself:

Having just finished an in-tank fuel pump R&R on a '00 Cavalier, I find myself reminded of my frustration with over-engineering or different designs solely for the sake of different designs.

EVERY connection on this 2000 MY -- for both the fuel lines and evap/charcoal canister -- is essentially tool-less. Everything unclips by hand and squeezes or pulls apart by hand. Granted, you might need a screwdriver (pry tool) or pliers to add some persuasion, but these are COMMON tools.

I remember years ago having a similar experience on our old '02 Silverado.

For me it begs the question of what was wrong with these designs. I see no reason they're inherently unsafe, insufficient, or unreliable. Indeed, every piece of plastic still seemed pliable and nothing broke on me. It was drama free on a 24-year-old vehicle.

I'm a tool junkie and love tools including specialty tools, but here we know from results that simple, easily serviceable designs are possible and robust.

Rant off.
 
D60 said:
I was gonna start a separate rant thread, but my ranting is not worthy of a thread unto itself:

Having just finished an in-tank fuel pump R&R on a '00 Cavalier, I find myself reminded of my frustration with over-engineering or different designs solely for the sake of different designs.

EVERY connection on this 2000 MY -- for both the fuel lines and evap/charcoal canister -- is essentially tool-less. Everything unclips by hand and squeezes or pulls apart by hand. Granted, you might need a screwdriver (pry tool) or pliers to add some persuasion, but these are COMMON tools.

I remember years ago having a similar experience on our old '02 Silverado.

For me it begs the question of what was wrong with these designs. I see no reason they're inherently unsafe, insufficient, or unreliable. Indeed, every piece of plastic still seemed pliable and nothing broke on me. It was drama free on a 24-year-old vehicle.

I'm a tool junkie and love tools including specialty tools, but here we know from results that simple, easily serviceable designs are possible and robust.

Rant off.
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propriety designs, patents, licensing, $$$..... Agree w/ you.
 
D60 said:
I was gonna start a separate rant thread, but my ranting is not worthy of a thread unto itself:

Having just finished an in-tank fuel pump R&R on a '00 Cavalier, I find myself reminded of my frustration with over-engineering or different designs solely for the sake of different designs.

EVERY connection on this 2000 MY -- for both the fuel lines and evap/charcoal canister -- is essentially tool-less. Everything unclips by hand and squeezes or pulls apart by hand. Granted, you might need a screwdriver (pry tool) or pliers to add some persuasion, but these are COMMON tools.

I remember years ago having a similar experience on our old '02 Silverado.

For me it begs the question of what was wrong with these designs. I see no reason they're inherently unsafe, insufficient, or unreliable. Indeed, every piece of plastic still seemed pliable and nothing broke on me. It was drama free on a 24-year-old vehicle.

I'm a tool junkie and love tools including specialty tools, but here we know from results that simple, easily serviceable designs are possible and robust.

Rant off.
Click to expand...
Someone somewhere is getting paid very well for their bad ideas. I can't give mine away. 🙄😒
 
snarl said:
@wings&wheels Could you do a pertronix conversion and get rid of the points?
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Yes, but I keep the car as original as possible to the point where it only has 2 significant non-original I components; modern starter (until I find a good rebuilder for my original) and a discrete backup hood release (tr6 weak point).

I like Pertronix and have one on my Series 3 and have used them on 3-4 past cars. One of my first mods for ‘drivers’.
 
Not automotive related but this is what my project has been this week. Fixing up a very beat up 1985 old town tripper. This canoe was THE canoe for river trips in its day. It’s made of royalex. I bought it for next to nothing and wanted to fix it as best as possible to make it my river trip canoe. I do annual trips on the Allagash river in northern Maine every year. About 100 miles paddled over 7 days.

Changed out the original plastic seats for wooden webbed seats (breath much easier and lowers your center of gravity). Replaced the rotten worn out yoke and thwart. Repaired lots of areas with epoxy (west system 655). Added Kevlar skid plates. Filled in as many gouges and big dents as possible with epoxy. Painting with Pettit easy poxy polyurethane paint. First coat of paint down.

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Last few. Some small areas that stick out on the side of the boat are areas I epoxied damage. Some didn’t want to sand too deep into the repairs so it’s not absolutely sanded flush. Short of skimming the entire hull with filler, this is as good as it’s going to get.

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'01 4Runner: the owner wanted a general inspection for his teenage daughter.

I told him one front strut was leaking, but it appeared small and I know some fluid loss is considered normal. It passed the bounce test and didn't drive at all like a blown strut. Still, he wanted them replaced and good thing he did.

Once out of the spring, that strut was BLOWN. I think the leak appeared "small" because it had no oil left to leak. I kinda think the struts were OEM from 2001 with 235k (faded black and stamped Toyota).

I guess the moral is that this IFS can have a blown strut but not drive like it. New Bilsteins went in:
20240613_084107.jpg

Rear shocks felt very bouncy and also appear OEM (again faded black and stamped Toyota). I used the break-em-off technique rather than messing with the rusty nut on the upper stem.

Replaced with Sachs:
20240613_084127.jpg


While doing the right strut I found a broken sway bar link I had missed. O'Reilly is bringing me a cheap Masterpro replacement today
20240612_234152.jpg
 
mattd said:
Last few. Some small areas that stick out on the side of the boat are areas I epoxied damage. Some didn’t want to sand too deep into the repairs so it’s not absolutely sanded flush. Short of skimming the entire hull with filler, this is as good as it’s going to get.

View attachment 224706

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Matt - usually there’s red in your photos and they are all heavy diesels. This time it’s red and I now admire you even more. This is a different art, and your yearly trip sounds therapeutic and so healthy!
 
D60 said:
'01 4Runner: the owner wanted a general inspection for his teenage daughter.

I told him one front strut was leaking, but it appeared small and I know some fluid loss is considered normal. It passed the bounce test and didn't drive at all like a blown strut. Still, he wanted them replaced and good thing he did.

Once out of the spring, that strut was BLOWN. I think the leak appeared "small" because it had no oil left to leak. I kinda think the struts were OEM from 2001 with 235k (faded black and stamped Toyota).

I guess the moral is that this IFS can have a blown strut but not drive like it. New Bilsteins went in:
View attachment 224717
Rear shocks felt very bouncy and also appear OEM (again faded black and stamped Toyota). I used the break-em-off technique rather than messing with the rusty nut on the upper stem.

Replaced with Sachs:View attachment 224718

While doing the right strut I found a broken sway bar link I had missed. O'Reilly is bringing me a cheap Masterpro replacement todayView attachment 224719
Click to expand...

Was there a particular reason you used B6s up front and Sachs in the rear? I think the B6s are valved digressively while the sachs are more linear? (Which is exactly how my truck is set up but it was kind of by accident).
 
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