What Did You Do In The Garage Today?

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Got the Super Glide buttoned back up after getting the new cams in. Fired right up, but a loud ticking/clatter caused me to shut her down right away. Got the front pipe off so that I could pull the cam cover. Turned the engine over by hand a few times & no weird noises. Everything looked right, so I put the cam cover back on & tried to think of where to look next, hoping that I wouldn't have to unbolt the tank & pull the rocker covers.

Then it dawned on me how easily the exhaust nuts came off & realized I hadn't tightened them completely. I remember hearing that exhaust leaks can make a similar sound, so I put the front pipe back on & made sure the exhaust was buttoned up tight. Hit the starter & she just jumped to life. Noise was gone, bike warmed up quickly & now has a bit snappier bark, with a nice little bit of lope.

Can't wait to get 'er on the road & see what she's, but still have a few small things to take care of first. Gotta remove a boogered foot control mounting bolt, along with its 7 brethren, chase the threads out with a tap & reinstall the footboards with nice stainless socket head bolts. While I'm in the general vicinity, I'm going to cut the original mid-shift shifter shaft so I can pull it, plug the inner primary & put on new derby & inspection covers.
 
Anyone near Wake Forest wanna help me put all this in my 4Runner tomorrow? [emoji12]

Seriously though, might end up needing a ball joint puller...

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Got 'er out on the road yesterday, for short, 20 mile-ish putt. I'm likin' these new cams a lot. The little bit of lope at idle is cool, of course, but it's just got torque everywhere. I mean, it's a low compression, little 88"er, but pulls hard. I didn't go lookin' for the rev-limiter, but I let off before she ran out of breath.

Of course, I had to sprinkle a little retro stank on 'er, while I was at it. Still have to get the tach installed & get the carb dialled in (it's very close, now). Thinking hard about going ahead & installing a high performance, adjustable (initial timing, advance slope & rev limiter, with USB interface for custom maps) ignition. Dealership will do me an abbreviated dyno tune with 3 pulls & individual cylinder AFRs for $100. I can get the carb dialled in no sweat, so it'll be nice to actually see what the bike likes best, timing wise.
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Good looking scoot crazy Carl. I put about 100 miles on my Electra Glide yesterday, and helped my dad get his motorcycle trailer road ready today.
 
Ordered the valve springs for some future head and cam work for the truck.

Still debating a blower, but probably not.

Looking at transmission replacement as well, something that can withstand the power coming soon.
 
Took a cutting wheel, grinder, and welder to my 2.5mo old Tacoma. :confused:

Cab mount chop, which is cutting the part of the body mount that protrudes in front of the firewall and into the wheel well resulting in tire rub when flexing the suspension. Then we weld a flat plate over the newly opened mount. Clean it up with the grinder and paint it. Sounds a whole lot easier than it is!

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Finally out some AG tires on my 1983 Troy Bilt Horse.
3 yrs ago I took this thing out of a broken down shed, repowered it with a Tecumseh 5hp, replaced the wheel axle seals, inspected and filled the transmission and let er eat.

Bought these tires off EBay with a coupon. Painted the wheels and installed new valve stems before mounting the new shoes.

The 35 year right Goodyear tire wouldn't hold air any longer, so it was time.
Plus it needed the better tire tread.

I am eventually going to put antifreeze in the tires for more weight
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^ just to clarify, despite the photo showing the opposite, the new 4x4.80-8 inch ag tires are actually larger diameter than the old turf-style tires by a good bit, esp when they actually hold 20psi. So it worked like a taller gear, slowing the tilling down and letting the tines do work. Only problem is that I have nasty Rocky River slime bull tallow aka yellow clay, and when it catches, the entire tiller wants to do a wheelstand and it lifts the tires. So a weight and some fluid fill is getting done this week asap. Really pisses me off that I can't dig any deeper than my old MTD turd of a reverse rear tine tiller.
 
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drained the oil out of my street bike, first time I have done an oil change on these bikes.
Spilled a little oil on the floor. Dangit.
Wednesday I'll start buttoning things back up and adding oil.
I'd like to ride to work next week. Like to, we'll see.
 
Replaced a serpentine belt and recharged the A/C on the Colorado. Figured out Im gonna need a new water pump, too. Drive sahft bearings are going out. Shaking a lot but not leaking yet.
Maybe that will be tomorrows project.
Or maybe I make it to the weekend lol
 
Well, spilled more oil today, I thought I'd gotten it all out...hell, its been draining for over 36 hours. But I tilted it a LITTLE more and more came out.
So thats a dang mess and I spent time cleaning that.

Then I put the battery back in the street bike (had put it on the project to see if it'd fire, I dont know the problem, think its just got very old fuel in it and not getting the fresh gas to the fuel pump side.), put the bodywork back on.

Started to add a seat quick-disconnect, but one of the mounting points, the well nut, is boogered up, so I only put one side on. It'll hold just fine. Just incase I put the original hardware back in the factory toolkit that came with the bike.

Also, I moved where that toolkit is. It resides, from the factory, in the 'trunk' of the bike, under the rear seat. But it eats up most of the space and I noticed a large area the seat. So I wrapped it up in a shop rag to make it nice and snug in there, and freed up the space under the rear seat.

Tomorrow I'll add oil and fire her up and go for the first ride in years.
 
Added a little 134a to my 99 sable. Cools great now.
 
Last week I coated the garage floor and added a clear epoxy with anti skid additive.
From this:
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To this:
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It looks hazy in the second picture since it was taken before the clear coat cured.
 
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People are NASTY ! I hate this part of my job. They want me to work under the dash :confused: The reciept from when I worked on it last is still on the floor from almost a year ago. Yes it smells like it looks.
 

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Cleaned, organized, threw stuff out.

I had too much junk in the garage...still do.
But I cleared a little of it up today. For example, had the muffler off of the 1125R project bike, it was sitting on the shelf. Now, the muffler isnt that large...but it got crushed when the bike went off of a mountain. So I took out some of the bolts to use later and ditched it. Likewise, I started going through boxes of Buell parts I'd ordered over the years and never even opened up. That helped clear up some space on the shelves.

That was the majority of my morning, getting the shelves in order, less junk etc

In the process I mounted the thread checker on a column in the garage, got it off of one of my work tables.

Made use of a lot of the shoebox-sized plastic storage totes - one for clamps, one for funnels, one for fuel line, one for random scraps of metal/brackets etc

Felt good.
 
People are NASTY ! I hate this part of my job. They want me to work under the dash :confused: The reciept from when I worked on it last is still on the floor from almost a year ago. Yes it smells like it looks.
Loved my old Fleet, call terminal manager, get driver reamed and truck cleaned.
Municipal Fleet, inform Fleet Supervisor, hear oh yeah that old chicken crawling with bugs is pretty terrible, and ZFG.

No hey clean that out or I'll charge you an hour to do it option?
 
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5.4 3V Triton spark plugs 1/2 hour to all eight out 100% intact.
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Just yesterday some guy finished a set at work after most of two shifts on them and breaking every one.
They won't listen to me though.
The young guys would save themselves so much pain and fustration if they would listen too those who have been around the block a few hundred times.
 
The young guys would save themselves so much pain and fustration if they would listen too those who have been around the block a few hundred times.

What’s the “secret”? I know those have been a pain in the butt ...heck the 5.4L 2 valve were a pain in the butt! Glad I have the 302 Coyote now!!!

DS


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What’s the “secret”? I know those have been a pain in the butt ...heck the 5.4L 2 valve were a pain in the butt! Glad I have the 302 Coyote now!!!

DS


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HOT engine and an impact wrench has worked well for me.
Ford TSB has given me many opportunities to shake my head.
 
IMG_4135.JPG IMG_3983.JPG Suma-bish spent hours bleeding the hydro system for the power top to no avail.... then finally came up with a solution. Tops great now and got the AC and old dial radio working.
 
What’s the “secret”? I know those have been a pain in the butt ...heck the 5.4L 2 valve were a pain in the butt! Glad I have the 302 Coyote now!!!

DS


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The secret is to ditch that 3v and go GM.... I had an 04 3v and that was the last ford I'll ever own.... got something for that coyote
 
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The secret is to ditch that 3v and go GM.... I had an 04 3v and that was the last ford I'll ever own.... got something for that coyote
2 words for ya:

Bring It!

Lol

DS

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Tinted my garage door windows to keep the heat down. South facing house, no big trees, so it gets beat on all summer long.
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Tough to tell that the right window is even tinted. It’s mildly reflective but cuts out 90% of the heat. E990F39B-17BB-4C6B-BD61-2D851853159A.jpeg
 
Not sure the goat will handle the yote... but dammit we'll try it.
 
5.4 3V Triton spark plugs 1/2 hour to all eight out 100% intact.
9Y7NXzp.jpg

Just yesterday some guy finished a set at work after most of two shifts on them and breaking every one.
They won't listen to me though.
And just guess what was waiting for me when I walked into the shop this morning what a coincidence. 05 f150 5.4 3valve for plugs and a running issue. It also has another trick up it's sleave. It has low power under hard acceleration with no obvious cause. Motor is a ford reman with 7k on it, new coils, plugs, injectors, fuel pressure sensor, fuel filter, fuel pump driver module and mass air flow meter. It has quality fuel with plenty of pressure and volume. No miss fires and no data out of whack on the IDS. Hmmmm.....
 
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And just guess what was waiting for me when I walked into the shop this morning what a coincidence. 05 f150 5.4 3valve for plugs and a running issue. It also has another trick up it's sleave. It has low power under hard acceleration with no obvious cause. Motor is a ford reman with 7k on it, new coils, plugs, injectors, fuel pressure sensor, fuel filter, fuel pump driver module and mass air flow meter. It has quality fuel with plenty of pressure and volume. No miss fires and no data out of whack on the IDS. Hmmmm.....
Hmm indeed. In addition to mine I work on a fleet that still has probably a dozen. Update when it's solved.
 
People are NASTY ! I hate this part of my job. They want me to work under the dash :confused: The reciept from when I worked on it last is still on the floor from almost a year ago. Yes it smells like it looks.

The dealership I used to work for (10 years ago now) charged an even $100 clean up if work on the inside was required and a tech decided it was gross. Obviously customer could clean it up themselves.

Tech tells service writer, “geez,that’s nasty” if service writer disagrees, general manager comes to take a look... I once had a new Mercedes come in for a sticking seat (weird in the first place because it’s a FORD dealership) smoking hot college softball player was driving it. That SOB was SOOOO nasty. Smelled like a frat party puked on a locker room and so much trash, it was obvious what the issue was. I got that $100/hr to clean it out. To discover the seat rails were covered in soft drink spills (god knows what else, found all kinds of nastiness) and it was so sticky the seat wouldn’t move..... took forever to get it cleaned up and lubed to make it work. It was even inside the seat motors and switches.

My favorite part of that was her parents went special about the cost. Came at the GM hard as hell. They thought the “cleaning” charge covered a complete detail or some such. It only covered me cleaning out the drivers seat area where I had to work so I could BEGIN to diagnose and repair the issue:confused::cool:
 
My 8yo Hustler Z about kicked my ass today. Cranked fine, I drove over to the house to get my glasses and ear plugs, then drove to the back yard and started cutting. Made it 5 feet and it died. Turned over but wouldn't run.

Here's how it all worked out.
Looked at plugs and they looked bad. Made note to replace them.
Checked fuel supply lines. The whole system is old and crusty. Discovered that the selector valve/shut off switch between the two tanks was not passing fuel. I suspect this is why it hasn't been running 100% this season.
Went to parts store to pick up spark plugs, new fuel line, new filter, and some oil to top off the hydro tank.
I ordered the new selector switch online and set everything up to run directly on one tank for now. Used new fuel line and filter.
It cranked and ran pretty well for about 5 minutes while I cleaned up my tools and tightened the anti-scalp wheels.
I killed it and I went inside to cool off some before getting started on the lawn. When I went back outside the damn thing was dead again.
It was like an interlock was tripped and wouldn't do anything when I turned the key.
I looked at the fuses and they didn't look blown.
After an hour and 15 of tracing power and wires I made the discovery that I had a blown fuse. lol.
Another trip to the parts store and it's up and running.

I initially started today at about 1 o'clock and spent the rest of the day getting the thing running again. I'll be able to do some laps tomorrow...finally.

CHRIS
 
Just finished putting brakes on the girlfriends mail car. It was an easy job and would have been a lot quicker working in the day light without the bugs.
 
Had to postpone two oil changes and brake jobs because the torsion spring snapped, got a pair of new springs from ebay seller in PA,
rdered Monday arrived Wednesday. Installed them today.
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Replaced bad a/c compressor, hoses, including accumulator and orifice (installed in new hose) and condenser.
Also replaced p/s pump, time was limited so I just snapped off the plastic pulley and installed new steel one.
With the pump removed it was easy to pull the compressor up and out.
The Husky Gimbal ratchet has 100 teeth, makes quick work.
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