Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[gsxrken]

Nightmare of a job swapping the struts on my 2011 Ram 1500. All sorts of nasty rusty hardware underneath even though the truck looks great from the exterior. Lower bolt fused to the inner steel sleeve in the bushing. No amount of torching, chiseling, impacting, very little access for cutting. Rented $400 of various ball joint and axle presses from advanced auto and finally got it out and pressed in a new one. (The other side took 20 minutes. That pissed me off too, actually.)
Tweaked my back in the process and had to shut down for 3 days. I just LOVE caveman suspension work.

[A930Rocket]

Removed the tape on my inner rocker holes from below on my ‘14 F150, hosed them out and hit them with Fluid Film. Taped them back up for another year.

[john70t]

^Awesome. That is exactly what every rust-belt car needs.

I once fabricated a spray tool like the Fluid Film for using home-made Waxoil
(it was a bit too heavy on the wax part and not warmed up enough).
Mine wasn't quite as good as their available product and applicator though.

Pics of my suspension project

[slow&rusty]

Giving the suspension and brakes some much needed love over the past few months. New ball joints, tie-rod ends, rack boots, Bilsteins, strut mounts, brake rotors & pads, pad sensors, paint, fender linings, lots of powder coat down to new lug nuts. Before and after pictures.

[Baz]

Took delivery today of new pivot hardware for my Silverado tailgate. Will be working on that in the morning. Hopefully it will bring the tailgate back into alignment so it opens and closes better.

[Baz]

Pruned 3 of my Cabbage Palms this morning. I have others that are taller and I no longer feel comfortable pruning myself so will hire those out. I have a guy who can do them they way I like at a reasonable cost.

I prune them once a year...waiting for mid-latter July for the annual flower stalks to fully emerge.

It was an overcast morning so I took advantage. The humidity was still present though so did my share of sweating.

[astrochex]

Not a fix, per se, but insulated the garage doors (south facing). Hoping to cut degrees from the garage temp. Attic insulation above the garage is next.

[madcorgi]

Changed oil in wife's VW Sportwagen. My first experience with VW's weird bayonet style oil drain plugs. Seems to be a pretty good system as long as you are positive it's closed.

[Baz]

Changed out another brake line today on the Silverado. Actually paid my mechanic to do it.

This was the line that runs from the ABS box to the rear splitter for the rear brakes.
It had two holes in it - very small - but enough to leak brake fluid.

The holes:




The old line after removal:


We used one of the pre-fabbed stainless steel lines that came in the kit I bought back in 2018, like this one, which is for the axle:


The other two lines I previously replaced (MC) I used the NiCop line on. I still have both front wheel lines and the rear axle line left to replace at some point but for now no leaks and a firm pedal!

[A930Rocket]

Baz, How do they ship brake lines without crushing them?

[kach22i]

Took a long time, but I'm finished doing my S10's brakes. My first time doing brakes, it was a learning experience made more difficult because the truck has sat for the past four months.

Reattached the passenger side mirror that was falling off.

Changed the oil and put more air in the tires.

Took it to a quarter car wash, and also cleaned the dash and glass inside and out.

Not a day's work.

Also fixed my small dining table by making a jig out of a bucket. The center post came loose, JB Weld fixes all, just gotta line it up. Used a soldering iron to start a hole, then a hole saw. The base is heavy cast iron, post is gas line pipe, top not shown is Baltic Birch plywood.

Finished things by naming our house using copper wire that should soon match the patina of the dragonfly artwork. We live on a river, lots of dragonflies.




In addition, went up on the roof and cut a large branch that almost took out our WiFi line.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Baz, How do they ship brake lines without crushing them?

Good question.

They used an elongated box - maybe about 6' long - and the ones that are too long to fit - they bend them and place pieces of marker tape on both sides of the bend, so when the buyer gets them, he can "unbend" where needed. Some of these have as many as three bends in them.

They are really easy to bend back straight again though - even though it's SS.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by john70t

^Awesome. That is exactly what every rust-belt car needs.

I once fabricated a spray tool like the Fluid Film for using home-made Waxoil
(it was a bit too heavy on the wax part and not warmed up enough).
Mine wasn't quite as good as their available product and applicator though.

Pics of my suspension project

That link will be useful to me.

Porsche is next in line for brakes, but while I'm in there........associated bits need some TLC.

[GH85Carrera]

The driver's side air bag on my 1986 El Camino had a leak. You can see some small rips where the air was leaking out. The big one close the the seam was the culprit. The old bag conforms to the spring after a while.

I just put the car up in the air with my scissor jack, unbolt the lower bolt of the shock, and support a few pounds of weight from the tire with my floor jack, slide the bolt out, and lower the trailing arm. The spring just wiggles out, and then wrestle and cuss at the old air bag. Squeeze it down, and cap off the nipple with a plug. Remove the old bag, and slide the new one in. It starts off life as a cylinder. It takes the shape of the spring pretty fast I bet.

Jack up the wheel to get the shock bolt to go in, torque to spec, lower the car and add in 10 PSI. The two airbags are on separate lines, so I can load level as needed. I run with 8 to 10 PSI in them most of the timebut I can go to 20 PIS if I need to raise the rear end for a load.

I am the worlds slowest mechanic, and the airbag replacement only took me 40 minutes from going the the garage to coming in mission accomplished.

[mgatepi]

Had some free time so I restored my old parking meter! You can buy every part you need on line...

[Scott Douglas]

If it were me, I'd figure out a way to draw a vacuum on the old bag to help collapse it.

[Baz]

Looks like HD is now staying open 'till 9pm. I will be getting some 4' LED bulbs tomorrow for a fixture in my garage with the standard florescents. It will come with the new tombstones needed.

We had a certified frog choker yesterday late afternoon. This stretch of the road in front of my house is already one of the lowest along the entire avenue, but last night the storm water really came up and washed a bunch of mulch and shell into my yard and drive. Even displaced the end RR tie....which has never in 24 years happened.

[RSBob]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Changed oil in wife's VW Sportwagen. My first experience with VW's weird bayonet style oil drain plugs. Seems to be a pretty good system as long as you are positive it's closed.

Get an oil evacuator and pull it out through the dipstick. Makes JSW oil changes a snap.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

If it were me, I'd figure out a way to draw a vacuum on the old bag to help collapse it.

The old bag had a hole in it. No way to pull a vacuum. I just squeezed it and manhandled it. The new one was easy, cap the connector after squashing it. It slid right in. Open the plug, and it filled up in no time.

[oldE]

Finished putting the steel on the south roof of the barn today. Started moving the staging to the north side. Because of the profile of the roof, I will only need one lift on this side instead of three.
I am so over climbing staging.

Best
Les