What are you working on today?

Assembling a 383 stroker small block Chevy for a 1956 Chevy 210 2-door sedan, Forged Eagle Crank & H-Beam Rods, Forged Wiseco Pistons, Prepped .020" over 4 Bolt Vortec 5.7L Block, AFR 195cc Cylinder Heads, High Volume/Standard Pressure Oil Pump.
Custom ground billet roller camshaft for the 177ci Weiand Blower, GM Performance "Bowtie Lifters"....Same I use in LSx builds.
Roller Rockers & Hardened Pushrods, Lifter preload @ .080"
Oooooo aaaahhhh... nice simple engine, clean ship and HD pics. So soothing...
 
My Wife wanted the most basic one, except for a/c and upgraded a/t tires and it only came with their awful base lights. I researched the various LED options (Speaker, etc.) but decided on my default; genuine, quality E-codes. Sad, but in my experience, few current vehicles lights are truly better than quality E-codes.....note that by 'quality', I mean European Hella, Cibie, current Lucas, Koito (Japanese) and NOT the East Asian knockoffs.

No, they haven't figured out the clutch, or the manual option was an afterthought. The feel, or almost complete lack thereof, is not great and neither is the pedal position or engagement, BUT it is a small open 4wd w/ a standard and that makes it all good!
I wanted a basic Sport JLU....back in '19 (ie pre-stupidity) my dealer had a few for $33k

Problem was I have dogs and no power windows in a 4 door was absolutely a non-starter. Of course you couldn't just get pw, you had to buy the Bend Over package, at which point the vehicle was no longer "affordable" relative to better models IMO. It made more sense to double down and get a Rubi for me at that point....perhaps their plan all along.

And hey as long as your clutch doesn't catch on fire you're ahead of the ones that inspired the recall!! ;)
 
Kids 1997 K1500 Silverado 350/4L60E 174,000 miles picked it up with 159,000 miles. He put 99 percent of those miles on.
Hot oil pressure is still between 25 and 30 PSI. Runs so smooth.
Power steering pump died. So we put a new one on, I don't do remanufactured anymore, had bad luck with them. While I was in there did a new water pump, new fan clutch (came in the kit) new hoses, new coolant, new belt, new tensioner and new idler pulley.
I put a bypass pipe on to eliminate the GM EVO in the pump (electric variable orifice). The years before it didn't have it and is works much better.
I think both pumps were original.
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Not much going on today at work it was really slow. We just took what we could get. Used car guys have no work so we all have to split stuff. Done a few oil changes and tire rotations, alignment, and a Subaru 60K service yesterday that I forgot to post.

One of the cars I changed oil in was a new 2022 Kia Telluride with 6,000 on it. Drain plug gasket was seized like nobody’s business like they usually are on Kia/Hyandai. So there are many methods you can use to get them off. Personally I prefer either my small Knipex pair of Cobra pliers that are like Channellock or my 7 inch curved jaw vise grips. But the best vise grips to use for them are the deep bite ones as I call them that are cut more like a “C” than just the traditional curved jaw ones. What you have to do is get the pliers around the gasket and then ratchet the plug out of it. I just wanted to point that part out specifically to help out anyone that comes across one that is stuck. I like it because I get to use my shiny vise grips on it. I keep having to get my vise grips replaced as the chrome peels on them so that’s why the look so new lol.
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Did payroll first thing this morning.

Transmission service on a 8L90E in a '18 GMC Sierra Denali.

Rebuilt a Holley 850cfm HP Double Pumper, Lots of sticky/smelly varnish from sitting for 8 years.

Got some parts in for a upcoming TH400 build, Had to go through them part by part to make sure I got everything.

Got back on the 383 build pretty late, But got some stuff done....
*Milodon Timing Cover.
*Melling high volume/standard pressure oil pump with a 3/4" inlet, Tack welded pickup tube.
*GM oil pan, Wanted a Stroker Clearanced Milodon pan but couldn't find a One Piece Main Seal one in stock anywhere....Had to clearance the GM pan.
*Summit Racing Balancer, Wanted a ATI Super Damper, But got overruled by the customer.
*Cheap Mr. Gasket timing pointer off the old engine, Only took slight tweaking to get it to indicate true TDC.
*Summit Racing Aluminum Water Pump.
*Weiand Blower Intake Manifold installed with Fel-Pro print-o-seal gaskets & ARP bolts.
*Holley Sniper EFI Distributor (MSD) temporarily installed along with the headers so I can build/route the Ignition wires.

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Well, it’s another Saturday and another forced project. My Mother-in-law pulled into the garage and I could hear her Buick from inside the house. She comes in stating that her CEL is on and the car is running rough.
The look on my face as I’m pretty sure what the problem is going to be.
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So I go out and pull the codes, and sure enough, it’s the codes that I was expecting.
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2BA9436F-533A-4E97-9433-E754CD417803.webp
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So I start it and you can hear it sucking air like a Hoover through the cam cover. So I shut her down and upon checking for the visible check valve in the intake,..gone. The PCV hose going to the turbo inlet can also be blown through in both directions. Complete failure of this garbage PCV system.
It’s amazing that this car was driving fine right up until this happened. She says that she was sitting in the Chick-fil-A drive through when her CEL came on and it started idling rough. I drove it a couple of weeks ago and not one thing was amiss.
Anyway, I ordered everything From GM and went to work. I kept the old intake as I have seen something about a kit to modify it to avoid this problem that WILL come back. I’ll have to research that and see if it’s a viable option when this happens again.
GM should be ashamed of this garbage. I’m not a manufacturer basher, but this PCV system sucks! (Literally 🤔😂)
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All back together.
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Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend, it’s almost beer time for this fella. Cheers! 🍻
 
Well, it’s another Saturday and another forced project. My Mother-in-law pulled into the garage and I could hear her Buick from inside the house. She comes in stating that her CEL is on and the car is running rough.
The look on my face as I’m pretty sure what the problem is going to be.
View attachment 103548
So I go out and pull the codes, and sure enough, it’s the codes that I was expecting.
View attachment 103549View attachment 103550View attachment 103551
So I start it and you can hear it sucking air like a Hoover through the cam cover. So I shut her down and upon checking for the visible check valve in the intake,..gone. The PCV hose going to the turbo inlet can also be blown through in both directions. Complete failure of this garbage PCV system.
It’s amazing that this car was driving fine right up until this happened. She says that she was sitting in the Chick-fil-A drive through when her CEL came on and it started idling rough. I drove it a couple of weeks ago and not one thing was amiss.
Anyway, I ordered everything From GM and went to work. I kept the old intake as I have seen something about a kit to modify it to avoid this problem that WILL come back. I’ll have to research that and see if it’s a viable option when this happens again.
GM should be ashamed of this garbage. I’m not a manufacturer basher, but this PCV system sucks! (Literally 🤔😂)
View attachment 103554View attachment 103555View attachment 103556View attachment 103561View attachment 103559

All back together.
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Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend, it’s almost beer time for this fella. Cheers! 🍻
It needs more exercise and better oils.
 
While I was in there cursing GM, I changed out the plugs as well.
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A picture of the GM parts bin.
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I know, that’s a bit harsh, I’ll get over it.
In 87,000 miles, this car has had a cat replaced, this happened a couple of years ago while she was in another state and and it started running rough. A Buick dealer made the repair. I couldn’t question anything being so far away. Looking at it when she got back, they obviously did the repair. I’m not sure what happened or how they came to that conclusion, but it was out of my hands at that point in time.
Here recently, it had A/C problems, now all of this. Hopefully, every failure prone part on this car has been replaced at this point. Well, everything except the turbo, fingers crossed. 🤞 🍻
 
I'm doing a solar upgrade on my truck camper this weekend. The existing 130w system works in the summer during blue sky's for powering LED lights, a laptop, cellphone, and MIFI router, etc. but we don't get that kind of weather more than a couple of months out the year here. The plan is to be able to work remotely with lots of fishing breaks during the rainy part of the year so I'm installing an overkill system. It will be way more power than I can use in the summer, but probably merely inadequate during the winter months.

2 385w panels, an MPPT charge controller, 200ah lithium battery, plus all the bobs and bits that go with it. I'm gonna keep the 130w system along with the lead acid batteries as a backup.
 
Yesterday I helped one of my neighbors pick up hay bales from his field before it rains and today I
helped the other neighbor pick up his hay bales before it rains today. Busting tires is much more fun.
 
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I'm doing a solar upgrade on my truck camper this weekend. The existing 130w system works in the summer during blue sky's for powering LED lights, a laptop, cellphone, and MIFI router, etc. but we don't get that kind of weather more than a couple of months out the year here. The plan is to be able to work remotely with lots of fishing breaks during the rainy part of the year so I'm installing an overkill system. It will be way more power than I can use in the summer, but probably merely inadequate during the winter months.

2 385w panels, an MPPT charge controller, 200ah lithium battery, plus all the bobs and bits that go with it. I'm gonna keep the 130w system along with the lead acid batteries as a backup.
Over kill is under appreciated .. I like over kill.
 
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