What are you working on today?

cptbarkey said:
Finished most of the welding repairs on the main cage of the Yerf Dog go kart, the entire front pipe was basically gone but I was able to salvage and rebuild it with some scrap I have on hand. The front suspension rebuild is next. A spindle needs to be bent back into shape then reinforced. The rear needs welding too for a Predator engine instead of the GY6, reversing the axle, moving the brake caliper bracket to the other side. I love welding even thought I'm not great at it. Many more welding projects in the queue.

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The cage welding repairs are finished, there was a back square tube that needed replaced.

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The front suspension is coming along. New ball joints pressed in, the driver front spindle pressed back into shape. Need to reinforce the spindles with more gussets, many complaints of other owners with the the same issue.

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Busy day with the new tractor.. brush hogged acre or so the thistle patch on the west side, trimmed the trees along the highway so can see a little better, got the storage container mostly leveled and stuff put in it. Yay my truck is clean for first time since April. Still need to build shelves, that might be a winter project. Finished the day by getting the fruit trees planted. That ground was hard!! Alot harder than the east side, told her very many more I’m getting a tractor mounted post hole digger. Putting fence around them tomorrow, hopefully survive the night. Dipping the bucket in the pond for water.. thats handy. There’s a buck hanging around, scared me twice.
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D60 said:
They don't blow my skirt up but I think the WJ is really good looking!
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I'm with you! We keep knocking around the idea of replacing our near-200k WJ, but every time we talk about it we realize how much we love it. It asks nothing of us other than oil top offs and a fair amount of 87 octane.

As for projects: I knocked out rear pads and rotors on Mom's '09 Mazda 6 since she's out for a visit. When I hopped in I realized she's got almost 200k on the thing... and once I had it on the hoist I could see that it's definitely starting to show it's age. Nothing major, it's been an insanely reliable car for her for the better part of a decade, but I found more than one tired control arm bushing in the rear and a few other wear items coming due very soon. Looks like we might be lease shopping soon, she doesn't drive much anymore and I think something like an Equinox EV dual motor would be perfect for her use case.
 
Finished work in the orchid for now. Only had enough fencing to go around 3. Brush hogged another thistle area but it was on the bank of the pond. The new tractor just put in low climbing the hill and handled it just fine. Stopped early and went to a open house for houses. The amount of options on manufactured and modular is just insane. Came home after that, just too hot to stay down there and try to sleep with no AC.
 
Picked up auction winnings today, a 2007-ish CFMoto Hoss UTV, a vintage Snapper mower, and a Toro Personal Pace Recycler. Dropped the CFMoto and the Snapper at the ranch property, and on the way home I also found on the curb dead a Honda SX HRA214. Too many projects in the queue but I'm happy. The CFMoto basically has zero documentation or after market parts best I could tell. I will give it a college attempt to start with the original engine, but it will likely be repowered on a later date.

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Son’s 2019 4R:
- trans drain/fill - maxlife ATF with 2 oz LG red
- serpentine belt
- cabin and engine air fliters
- discount priced KC Gravity fogs in stock locations

Attic:
- extended ductwork to route around new storage area
- floored 16’ of path
- my son helped me get lumber up there through the little ladder hole.

Yard:
- I’m not using a chemical service and it shows. Keeping it all cut helps.

The KC gravity lights with the Toyota mount says it works with the 4R, and it does mount up, and they are level. But, they don’t point straight - they are easily 10 degrees outbound if not more. These lamps have a wide throw, so hopefully the illumination is adequate in the forward throw. In general, the beam pattern for the baby gravity lights (3” or so dia.?) is excellent. I found these at 1/3 msrp, so they were worth a shot.
 
Last few days.....

2003 Dodge Ram 1500, 3.7L/45RFE.....Engine overhaul.

*Rolled in fresh rod & mains
*New oil pump (Melling)
*All new timing set (Mopar 05013867AC) along with Cloyes sprockets
*Mahle head gaskets with Mopar head bolts
*Cylinder Heads are at the machine shop getting a full work over, Pressure test, New guides, Seats, Valve job, Surface, Springs, Followers, & Lash Adjusters, Not cheap but I've learned to never cheap out on 3.7L/4.7L cylinder heads.

Pulled the cab (First time with this generation Ram).....Worth it!



2006 Silverado 1500, L59/4L60E.....Owner was very frustrated as "nobody" could fix the A/C.
In the last month....Shops have replaced every refrigerant handling component, Compressor, Condenser, Hose assembly, Evaporator, & Accumulator.
The Liquid Line (Hard Line from the condenser to orifice tube) had a pin hole rubbed in it by the plastic inner fender liner.

Swapped out the Liquid Line & Accumulator, I do have a concern with oil balance but didn't add any PAG knowing mechanics generally add to much oil. I was correct as the head pressure is a little high even after dumping oil out of the leak & swapping the accumulator.

Shops/Mechanics need to do better!
 
I saw a YouTube guy replacing the timing chains on a 5.4 Lincoln Navigator....
I think he is a bit of a hack but far more mechanical than me but no thanks.... on other projects a small bit of lathe work could have saved him hours and big $$$$

Not a channel i usually watch
 
Began the arduous process of tearing into the front tack of our 6 horse trailer. We bought it used and knew the roof and front seams had to be resealed. It has the weekender package so it is insulated and has paneling. We also found some mouse crap and knew we had to tear into it.

Well..... she was bad. The bulkheads down the sides are not quite sealed into the horse compartment, which allowed mice to migrate in behind the panels. As well there was moisture and mold so she is being gutted and redone, carpet included.

I will replace the insulation and OSB strapping as needed and find a modern paneling to finish it off. In the process I will likely upgrade the interior lights to LED, likely have a shop install an ac unit, get a plug for shore power and install the inverter I got last year.

I found one of those fancy switches online so it will automatically switch between shore and battery.
 
Since I was home this weekend.. Escape brakes was acting odd again so adjusted the rear brakes, cleaned relubed the pins and tabs. Bleed it again since replaced the master cylinder not long ago but didn’t see any air. We’ve owned this almost 20 years and seems like I’ve had to touch them every 2 years. Might need new hoses but not sure if it’s worth it, at the 200k mark (5k more) will no longer work on it just add fluids till it dies.

Later on worked on the carb on the Yamaha cv80 again. Guess I didn’t understand how a pilot jet works.. oops lol. Just ordered another cheap carb since I can’t find the factory one. These Mikuni vm11’s are hard to find cheap jets for.
 
Done some mower maintenance today on grandmas 2015 Toro Titan ZX5400 zero turn. New belt, spark plugs, fuel filter and oil change. Spark plugs were a bit hard to locate I got them at Advance Auto they were out of NGK and Champion so I took the Autolite which is fine because I’ve had no problems with Autolite in my Fords before so I didn’t mind using them. The fuel filter was pitch black it had never been changed since she got it in 2019. Kind of my fault for not pointing it out to her in years past but glad it’s changed out now. It runs like a champ.

I found the perfect drain pan to slide under the thing so this time there wasn’t a big mess. I got her the Fram filter this time because the Kohler was $18.99 and the Fram was $7.99 so I’ll save the money there. I put the Kohler on it last time only because I didn’t know the cross reference but then I found it. This oil pan was great I just brought an old oil jug with me and poured the two quarts of old oil in it and cleaned out the drain pan to take it back home when I was done. I got the 5 quart thing of oil because that’s enough for two years since it only takes 2 quarts per change. I left my copper anti seize at the house but I had remembered the silver so I just put silver on the plugs it should be fine. She mows all her landlords properties so that way she gets a break on rent. So this thing sees weekly use.
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OCI/cabin filter/wiper blades on the neighbors '20 QX60 (which I loathe)
Common L Nissan design, slot loading the cabin filter vertically is just a poor design
Factory filter on a 5 year old car 🙄
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This may explain why the upper part of the windshield wasn't getting cleaned 🤨
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It's now my full time job to clean up after people who's full time job it is to maintain cars 😒

I also updated the Autel TS900, and paid for AutoAuth
Don't know when I'll actually need it, but with prices going up all the time, I got a very good deal on keeping my scan tool relevant for 1 more year
AESwave took decent care of me 👍
 
Replaced serpentine belt on my 2015 MB GLA 45, currently at about 85k miles. There doesn't seem to be a specific mileage or time designated for replacing it, just check it for damage every 20k miles (every B service). A new Genuine MB belt is less than 20$, aftermarket tool is less than 40$. Glad I did change it, the original one was cracked and damaged.

Have to get at it from the wheel well.

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Can't get it from the top:
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Have to go up from the bottom with the tool(not in the picture). Due to the way they positioned the star key in the tool and the fact that the belt has stretched quite a bit, I had to notch out a portion of the bumper undertray in order to get the tool to fit in the tensioner and have enough swing to move the tensioner to be able to release the belt. New belt shown in the picture. When releasing the tensioner with the new belt installed, the tool stopped about 4 to 5 inches from where the old belt did. I think I will probably make this a replacement item with the plugs every 45k miles.
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Old belt damaged, cracked, it was only a matter of time........
Yes, the belt is punctured all the way through, that is light you are seeing coming through it.
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Cracked and pieces missing.
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Continued working on the horse trailer. Finished tearing the carpet out, removing the underlay and vacuuming out the last of the mess. The rain came so I shut it down for supper.

Tomorrow I hope to have the new OSB strapping cut and mounted along with the new insulation.
 
2nd Amazon cheap carb for the CV80 showed up today.. noticeably heavier than the previous. And the jets were marked unlike the other. Had a 40 PJ and 85 MJ. Had to crank the screws to get it to run. Swapped in the pilot jet from the other that I thought I drilled out too much. About 2 turns out on the fuel enrichment and runs but seems off. Stumbles a small amount on take out and sounds different. Pretty sure it’s rich. Might try adjusting the needle next.. Or might just ride it and see what happens so I can get a reading on the plug. Paying $130 a year to keep this thing need to be able to ride it!
 
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