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That new dash is super cool, nice work.
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Aug 12, 2019 22:17
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MC Hawking posted:My housemate got a free shitbox so I helped him clean it up a bit. 1998 Buick LeSabre with 296kmi on the clock. Probably got flooded up to the wheel wells since I found a bunch of clay packed in the rocker panels. We recovered about $10 in loose change. Engine has a mild oil weep off the bottom but all the fluids smelled pretty clean save the brakes. Someone has at some point swapped out the Dexcool with regular antifreeze which I'm presuming is a good thing since Dexcool eats seals. As a former owner, they are fairly indestructible. It did get flooded, I said gently caress it and turned on the ignition and it poo poo out several gallons out the exhaust. Yeah, I didn't drive it into the flood. It was parked in the street and the water came up so so high entered the cabin quite a bit.
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Aug 12, 2019 23:05
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C-Bangin' it 
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doogle posted:https://youtu.be/iYxEzI0W69o I can't wait to get something similar done but a new found leak in my master bath shower pan has put my car budget on hold 
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Aug 14, 2019 14:01
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Crosspostin Bought my SVT's clone. Another black 03 with 80k-ish miles. This one is rougher, tons of wiring hackery, ugly wheels, blown up front bumper and it sat for a while so it had some mice in it. However, it has a jackson racing supercharger on it. Probably swapping the blower over to my cleaner SVT. Doesn't run because of the wiring hackery, but everything is there for the blower. Planning on pulling the motor and trans, throwing a used engine harness in to avoid dealing with the bullshit and it's getting stripped out to be a rallyx car first, and then a stage rally car later.   Already transferring all the ugly from my other one. Uglyhood went on the new one, going to swap the slightly cleaner rear bumper too.
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Aug 17, 2019 23:17
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Did the cam belt on my second car, completing the 72k mile serivce. Had to redo the timing after getting a timing error code, which sucked. I'm done with working on cars for a while.
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Aug 18, 2019 13:55
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Any tips on washing an unwaxed surface? Just got the car back from the body shop a few weeks ago and was directed to not wax the car for a month to ensure proper curing. Of course the car is quite dirty and I'd like to remedy that without damaging the brand new paint. Gentle rinse, sponge? Mild soap recommendations?
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Aug 18, 2019 18:58
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Panty Saluter posted:Any tips on washing an unwaxed surface? Just got the car back from the body shop a few weeks ago and was directed to not wax the car for a month to ensure proper curing. Of course the car is quite dirty and I'd like to remedy that without damaging the brand new paint. Gentle rinse, sponge? Mild soap recommendations? You can use a shampoo with carnauba content. That's a very weird instruction though. Many body shops will use a last stage protection directly after any finish corrections especially because fresh paint is sensitive. I never experienced negative issues using carnauba or synthetic waxes on hardened fresh paint and I suspect the damages of the environment on unprotected fresh paint are a much bigger risk.
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Aug 18, 2019 21:09
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Well he did say it was extremely unlikely that there would be an issue, this is just a precaution for edge cases. As he explained it it's possible that there could be a tiny amount of moisture trapped under the surface and covering it with wax could cause the paint to blister when it evaporates, whereas if it's left alone it will simply harden and be fine. All I know is they did a hell of a job with the repairs and seemed to take their job seriously, so I'm inclined to trust their input. There might be a protectant of some stripe on it; I don't recall if he mentioned it. So basically clean water, regular car soap, a sponge and don't get crazy will probably be fine.
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Aug 19, 2019 00:59
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I've heard from several high end paint shops that you need to wait a month or so after finishing a paint job before applying ceramic for that exact reason, the paint won't properly finish curing otherwise. Not sure if that extends to wax or not 
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Aug 19, 2019 08:27
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Yesterday: went hunting through the local LKQ yard for a straightish wheel that would fit my car. Finally found one that looked pretty straight when spun on the donor car. Also, with the tire and weights removed, it laid flat on its side - something the old wheel wouldn't do. Today: left work, went to Discount Tire to get new front tires right at open. Told them up front I had a bent wheel on the RF, a better wheel in the trunk to replace it, and bad alignment affecting the other front tire. They spun the front right wheel on the machine and confirmed poo poo was fukt. They also said the new to me wheel is slightly bent, but not nearly as bad, and claimed I shouldn't feel anything. Car no longer sways back and forth at parking lot speeds, very slight vibration at highway speeds now (instead of being a paint shaker). They recommended a locally owned shop when I said I was going to get an alignment immediately after, (there's a Firestone in the same shopping center I was planning on going to, but they gave me a coupon for  off at the locally owned place, pricing it the same as Firestone, and I'd much rather give my business to a locally owned place). Local place has a 4.8 star rating on Google and 4.5 stars on Yelp, vs the typical ~2 star rating for Firestone. They also said I should save the receipt for the alignment, saying they had to note the uneven tire wear - that receipt will save my treadwear warranty. It was 3 miles from Discount to the shop, so...Went straight to the shop they recommended. Told them I was aware of multiple issues on the car, I suspected worn bushings, not interested in fixing anything on it as it's a beater, I just want a "as close as you can get it" alignment. They said they'd see what they could do. Advised a 1-2 hour wait. Walked to a pub down the road, got a drink, walked back. They were finishing up when I walked back in. Turns out said pub caters specifically to overnight workers according to the bartender (they open at 7am, earliest you can buy alcohol in TX, and they had about 7 or 8 other customers in there already at 9am), and it's walking distance from both work and home, so I may have found a new after-work hangout. Only gripe is they allow smoking, and for some reason I really want a cigarette after being in there.  Shop said it needs sway bar end links (it doesn't, it has ~8k old Moog end links, and they're plenty tight), said that was the cause of the clunking I'm hearing. I told them the sway bar bushings left this world a long time ago and I have new ones, I've just been too lazy to put them on, and told them it has new end links on it. They begrudgingly agreed the noises their tech heard could be the bushings. Confirmed the control arm bushings are worn out, but not bad enough to make it dangerous to drive. He said they did a "good nuff" alignment like I asked, and said the bushings were still good enough that they'll do their usual 6 month warranty. Drove home. Night and day difference, the car feels much more solid. Shop forgot to apply coupon, and I was tired enough that I didn't question the total until after I got to the car and looked at the receipt. Got the typical "oh poo poo... uh... well we'll give you a free oil change next time you're in" line. Meh, whatever, it's . I'm not that worried about it. I mentioned I do my own synthetic oil changes with an OEM filter anyway, he said they'd do the labor for a couple of them for me if I wanted. I'm a little annoyed, but meh, it's just $10 on something that's normally $80-100 anyway. They didn't give an alignment sheet, and I didn't think about it until after I got home; I was kinda curious how hilariously out of spec it was.Today started with me planning on just the tires. Discount knocked enough off via the treadwear warranty from the lovely Barum tires that I was able to do the alignment (even with the forgotten $10 discount). tl;dr new tires, new alignment, shop pulled typical shop shenanigans with a coupon. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Aug 19, 2019 |
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Aug 19, 2019 17:57
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I'd had an intermittent issue in my C5 Corvette where when I turned the key on, the cluster would flicker and the relays in the passenger's footwell (that's where the BCM and one of the fuse boxes is located) would click. It wouldn't start or run when that happened. It would act like the battery was dead. If you turned the key off and back on a few times the gauges would cycle like they were supposed to and the car would start and drive fine. Until yesterday (when I didn't even have a problem starting the car), where it went into limp mode on me on the way to the bank. I pulled over, jimmied with the key for about 5 minutes, and it eventually started and I got back home. I went to the Corvette Forum and found a tech guide. Today I tore apart the dash, and I found burnt contacts in the ignition switch. Cleaned them with 400, 1000, and then 2000 grit sandpaper and then reassembled the dash. So far so good. I did about 50 starts, and no issues. I guess I'll find out over time.  
EvilBeard fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Aug 20, 2019 |
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Aug 20, 2019 20:16
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EvilBeard posted:I did about 50 starts, and no issues. I guess I'll find out over time. I hope you didn't overheat and damage the starter in the process.
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Aug 21, 2019 00:25
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 This was a few weeks ago during the cam install, as you can see I had to take a lot off the car to get to the cam. And that the gym has encroached on my garage space.  Improved Racing crank scraper (windage tray not yet installed).  New cam in. The wood dowels are to hold up the lifters and not let them fall, which would require me to pull the heads.  Both the old (blue beehive-style) and new (double) valvesprings. The keepers are easy to install as long as you use a little assembly lube so they hold onto the valve stem while the spring is compressed. I used the TDC method, where you put the piston you are changing the valvesprings for at TDC while you change the valvesprings/keepers/retainers/seals. The valve only drops a few mm until it contacts the top of the piston. The other way is to use shop air through the sparkplug hole to hold the valves up, but I didn't trust my small air compressor to do it.  If you look at the coilpack closest to the firewall, you will now see a transmission dipstick tube. Its a JRE dipstick tube for a 5th gen Camaro, but it works with the SS too. I took the car to Mayhem Motorsports in Raleigh last week to have the ZL1/CTS-V torque converter installed and had them throw that on there while the transmission was out. The car drives so much better with the ZL1 converter in it. The stock converter would push the brakes even with the stock cam.
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Aug 23, 2019 14:16
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 I need to put a cam and a converter or a Fabbot AR5 in my truck.
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Aug 23, 2019 19:05
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Finally fixed a single cylinder misfire in my Volvo 960 that only happened after driving a certain road a certain way. Turned out to be a failing ignition control module, 2 bolts later and it's running great.
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Aug 24, 2019 15:48
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Checked the oil level in my old Falcon ute yesterday after firing it up to make sure everything is running. Half the sump is full of petrol. This is due to the choke cable snagging badly and not opening correctly. Well I better do an oil change.
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Aug 26, 2019 01:11
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Had to use my roadhazzard policy from TireRack today.  
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Aug 27, 2019 02:40
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double postin: I started putting the block together: 
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Aug 28, 2019 21:21
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is that some weird perspective thing or is your oil pan a foot deep
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Aug 29, 2019 07:32
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Powershift posted:is that some weird perspective thing or is your oil pan a foot deep Yes? 
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Aug 29, 2019 17:53
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Oh, that's a Scooby engine, isn't it? Or at least a flat-four of some stripe. Wondered why it looked all kinds of wrong to me in those close-ups.
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Aug 29, 2019 20:59
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Replaced the rear upper control arms on the 2005 Saab 9-3. Nothing too problematic with them, the whole job was maybe a 1-1.5 hours.  The outer bushing, despite looking fine, was completely worn, with lots of play. I received front wheel bearing / hub assemblies for the 2002 Dakota as well. I haven't actually had the wheel off to confirm it's the bearings that are a problem, but given the noises they are making, I would be very surprised if they weren't a problem.
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Aug 29, 2019 23:01
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I changed the CVT transmission fluid in my wife’s Civic with the 1.5t. As a side note, Honda extended the engine warranty to 6 years unlimited miles because of the fuel/oil dilution issue. The change would have been less than 20 minutes but I ordered the HFC-2 fluid on Amazon and Honda MTF fluid arrived instead. So I had to drive down to Honda and grab 4 quarts of it.
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Aug 30, 2019 00:06
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Did the rear pads + transmission oil on my Dads Volvo. Dealer wanted some outrageous price to do it so I figured I'll do it myself. For what the dealer wanted just to the pads, I got the pads+diagnostic computer+transmission fluid and one of those giant syringes to pump in the fluid. The transmission oil was super simple to change, and the pads weren't too bad neither. Was damned dirty etc so while I had the car up on the Quick Jack I did some undercarriage cleaning.
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Aug 30, 2019 16:02
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nadmonk posted:Replaced the rear upper control arms on the 2005 Saab 9-3. Always like these pictures. Us rustbelt types would eat off that suspension.
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Aug 30, 2019 16:08
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The amount of salt used roads in some parts of the US really gives me nightmares.
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Aug 30, 2019 17:31
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Colostomy Bag posted:Always like these pictures. Us rustbelt types would eat off that suspension. Sadly, this car will probably succumb to that soon. It was a North Carolina car for the first 13 years of its life, then I bought it and moved from North Carolina to Northern Michigan. I'm hoping to keep it at bay as long as possible, working on this is so much more pleasurable than on my girlfriend's 215,000+ mile Honda Element. Things I finished up today: Installing the new wheel bearing / hub assemblies in the 2002 Dodge Dakota. I've long suspected at least one was bad. The driver's side one seemed ok, but the passenger side bearing made a crusty noise spinning it with just moderate hand pressure. On the plus side, there's no need to disconnect the steering knuckle. I wasn't making much progress getting the hub out of the knuckles, so I figured there must be a trick. I was hitting it with a sledge and trying to separate it with a chisel. Turns out the trick ( as used by several mechanics on Youtube) is to hit it with a sledge and chisel.   Pretty new ones in place (before bolting them in):  The old caliper pins looked a little bit rough, I did order new ones, but the more I got looking at the old ones, the more I decided the surfaces were in pretty good shape. I threw them in my drill chuck and ran them through copper scrubbing pads to get off the big stuff, 200 grit sand paper to make sure they were flat, and 1500 grit wet to get them smooth. I think they turned out just fine.  A little test drive and the weird bearing noises are gone, so I call that a win. Up next is....nothing planned, that doesn't seem right... Oil changes I guess. Oh yeah, put new brake rotor set screws in on the Honda Element.
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Aug 30, 2019 20:46
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nadmonk posted:Oh yeah, put new brake rotor set screws in on the Honda Element. I still don't understand why Honda does this. The lug nuts will do just fine (just like on every other car ever) at holding the rotor on. It's like they looked at it and said "Yeah customers/dealers will like to drill this out in the future."
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Aug 30, 2019 20:55
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Suburban Dad posted:I still don't understand why Honda does this. The lug nuts will do just fine (just like on every other car ever) at holding the rotor on. It's like they looked at it and said "Yeah customers/dealers will like to drill this out in the future." Every. drat. Time. (and of course make them Philips head) I do have a manual impact driver now. I suspect that will help in the future.
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Aug 30, 2019 21:01
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nadmonk posted:Sadly, this car will probably succumb to that soon. It was a North Carolina car for the first 13 years of its life, then I bought it and moved from North Carolina to Northern Michigan. I think I had good luck with a slide hammer, which at least helps you get the force straight out rather than eccentric and having it jam. I mean you're done so oh well, maybe for he next guy. I also had one on my International that I had to put a roll of duct tape on to keep from marring the bearing surface and wail on with a sledge to get it to rock back and forth and eventually out. The other side came out with no issue.
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Aug 30, 2019 21:20
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StormDrain posted:I think I had good luck with a slide hammer, which at least helps you get the force straight out rather than eccentric and having it jam. I mean you're done so oh well, maybe for he next guy. I'm starting to encounter enough situations where I think to myself "a slide hammer would be really handy right now" that I may breakdown and buy one.
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Aug 30, 2019 21:43
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nadmonk posted:Pretty new ones in place (before bolting them in): So, quick question: why do you Yankees like to complain about rust and such, then refuse to paint bare metal, on the undercarriage, to at least attempt to keep it at bay? that's like complaining about the current administration when you didn't vote. Or am I missing something? (highly possible)
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Aug 30, 2019 22:38
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Helped my dad bend the axles on his 31 Chevy. Had to run to the bank, and he'd parked his 56 in front of my garage, so I just took it to the bank. pulling out of my parking spot, the wheel jerked out of my hand and I lost power steering. belt snapped completely in half. They're basically new belts. No idea what caused it, as the pump spins freely. put a new one on for him, but there's something going on with his steering box when it gets to full lock. when I tested it after replacing the belt, it started to squeal and I left go of the wheel. Going to have to track that one down once I'm cleared by my doctor to resume real activity.
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Aug 30, 2019 22:56
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Picked up a set of wheels for the Sierra so I could mount winter tires to them. Looks like the Michelin XIce's go on sale at Costco next month so I'll do that. Gave them a test fit and they work, I got a great deal on the wheels from Craigslist and I happy to drop from a 20" wheel to a 17" so I can get less expensive tires with more sidewall. Although I've gotten used to the larger wheels and the bare wheel looked so dinky! I've been looking at every truck on the road to see if I can see them in person but I'm committed so idk what I expect to get out of that. I especially like that these are also GMC branded and look just like a mini version of the ones that came with it. Normally I'd want to plasti dip them but these look sharp as is, and I can't imagine a color that compliments the maroon color of the truck.
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Aug 31, 2019 02:05
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Oh I did more and I figured I should share for yalls amusement. I had a dented headlight trim ring so I used it to practice on my new buffer. I failed in two ways. First, I didn't remember that I was supposed to clean the part between wheels so I definitely got some cross contamination. Second, because of this I wanted to rake some off to try and save the finishing wheel but my rake got stuck and I flipped the machine because I didn't bolt it down because I was working on a small part and didn't see the need. So now I have a friction burn on my arm. That headlight ring is real smooth tho.
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Aug 31, 2019 03:16
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Darchangel posted:So, quick question: why do you Yankees like to complain about rust and such, then refuse to paint bare metal, on the undercarriage, to at least attempt to keep it at bay? that's like complaining about the current administration when you didn't vote. Oh sweet summer child.  All of that likely was painted and/or coated at one point when it was new unless it was cast. Once rust starts then there's way more prep involved and not easy to keep up with. Also not everybody wants to lay on their back and grind/strip/paint the underside of a 10 year old car because, goddamn, that sounds miserable. As for that hub, I wouldn't want to touch the mounting surface. And I feel that trying to prep a rough cast part for paint would not go great either because the surface finish you're starting with. Hammer it out in another 15 years or just buy another knuckle, etc.Ain't nobody got time for that. Easy to knock it until you live it and debate the pros and cons. Suburban Dad fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 31, 2019 |
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Aug 31, 2019 15:55
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Did some work on my old Falcon ute today. First thing was to remove the wheel with the completely rooted tyre: Replaced it with this, but found out the wheel isn't exactly a Falcon wheel, even though the studs line up perfectly. The hub of the wheel doesn't match the hub on the axle, and the hub cap won't fit. Hopefully it will do for the time being until I can send the wheels off to a friend's father's business who refurbishes wheels:  I changed the oil on it as well.
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Sep 1, 2019 12:16
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Suburban Dad posted:Oh sweet summer child. I get not bothering with the existing poo poo, but I’ll be damned if I let that poor metal go in defenseless like that. Gonna do what I can to keep that oxide at bay. Plus, rusty rotors just look like rear end through the wheels. Yes, I’m aware I would lose my mind up in the Northeast. That’s one of many reasons I’m not there.
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Sep 3, 2019 01:20
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toot
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Sep 5, 2019 23:04
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Finally got new brackets installed and the vintage air compressor mounted.  Tomorrow's goal: reroute the alternator wiring to the opposite side of the engine and find v belts that'll fit.
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Sep 6, 2019 01:13
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