Remove the choice
THAT is what is going on in the modern world. We are losing our choices. They transplant things in that make it seem as if we have choice, but in reality, no, not so much. IF you want to be diffferent, you are going to pay through the nose and anus for that ‘choice’.
The car thing, yes,,, Thats what got me riled up. Not just the fact that parts are do damnably expensive where they used to be ‘cheap’. Its the modern cars as well. That you MUST have the latest and greatest tools to even COMMUNICATE with the systems in said cars, (and pay a subsciption fee to keep that priviledge. Like the Secure Gateway Feature that totally blocks me out of working on Son of Bossmans Rams.) They remove the choice.
And yes, there is some ‘Oligarchical Prospiracy’ here. That the “Big Three” were at the front of the line with limiting ‘who’ could work on thier stuff,,, The real problem being lack of loyalty there. The customers were loyal, it was the corporations that stabbed the customer in the back. That whole ‘Ford/Chevy’ thing recall. NOW,,,, unless its “OldSkool” iron,,, all of the boys and girls are in the same boat: Can’t work on SHIT,,,,
And its not just in the iron,,,
Look on the shelves at the store: look at the ingredients of the ‘food’ we are allowed to purchase/consume. IT AIN’T FOOD,,,, Its highly processed chemistry with enough additives to make it shelf stable into 2190 and sorta taste like what its labeled as. I was gonna add ‘except for meats’ but even there, with them ‘3D printing’ meat now, unless someone is 100% honest (HA!) you might never know that you bought ‘pseudo-meat’ or “Vat Grown” meat. (and can you tell the difference in taste? I dunno, never had it that I am aware of, BUT, I have bought meat that my kats and dawg WON’T touch,,,)(I trust their noses much better than my taste buds)
Even in the local store,,, They inject water and CO2 for bulk and color; to make the meats look more appealing. Those don’t do a danged thing to the content, except raise the weight (more $) and make them look Fresher than reality. You know you bought an altered meat when you cook it and its 1/3rd the size by the time it hits your plate. A 3/4lb steak that comes to 4oz by the time you go to eat it. (And I consider this a form of theft, or at least fraud. You are paying X amount per pound, FOR MEAT, not water,,,,)
Choices,,,,
.Look at the interwebs. The algorithms dictate what you see now. Your choices are “CONSUME”, not shop around. Certainly NOT the interwebs of the early Aughts/late 90’s. When there was REAL competition between web-browsers for your attention.
“Do no Evil”,,,, When I saw that on Giggles title bar,,, I started worrying,,, I haven’t seen it up there in years, but it was there as late as 2008, about the time that Giggles started ‘owning’ the nets.
I’m not in a good state of mind this morning. Not just because of the tribbles in Bloo. Things aren’t feeling to keen to the future, and its not from watching the news cycles. Those are just distraction from the real issues now, aren’t they? Look at whats going on in Silver,,, Gold, not so much,,, the real indicator that things are ’bout to take a turn for worse is in Silver. Petro dollar? Becoming a note in history,,, like so many others before it,,, It’s hitting us in nooks and crannies that we thought were solid, like car parts for ubiquitous power plants (SBC’s SBF’s that were in EVERYTHING back in the day.) Its hitting in the marketplaces where we attempt to feed ourselves (but are offered crap in return for the duhks we ‘earn’ or recieve.) Its hitting us in unbalanced interest rates: 1/3percent on savings, but you pay 30+ on your credcards,,,, ITs hitting us in ever grwoing tax rates, that are everywhere you look: from your income, to what you spend, to what you save, and soon, what you could POTENTIALLY earn,,, At least if certain mental types have their way,,,
How do you navigate a world that is completely hostile to the individual? If you aren’t a tribe member, or have an odd outlook, the world wants to eat you from the inside out, leaving a shell of a hooman. And they train the young to NOT THINK these days,,, so they won’t question any of it. Hell, they did to us, and now look around,,, I’m questioning, but decades too late,,, and I’m not alone.
Shit makes me wanna pack up and go homeless somedays,,,, at least then, the struggle would be immediate and in my face, not hiding behind some advert with smiling eyes and luciferian grins.
More lates,,,, gotta deal with Docs and Da.
Sunday: bang head on wall, scream, repeat,,,
IF I were really one for anthropomorphizing, I would swear that Bloo just does NOT want to be a running Twuck,,,
That was at 12noon-ish and ‘almost there’,,,,
Ok, everything back together, and of course, ultimately, ALL of this is my own doing (or not doing something) in some way shape or form, but,,,,
Hell, good news or bad news first?
I prefer the bad first so that the good seems even better,,,
BAD NEWS: Running like absolute SHITTE!!! Some of that was part of the reassembly: I failed to plug in the MAP sensor, but that was easily corrected once I saw the computer complaining about it. (that little bugger is hidden under gobs of wiring, and I missed plugging it in.) But she is running,,, Part of me feared this from an experiance I had back in the days. Did a complete ignition service on an old F150, and I do mean OLD. Well, the original plugs were so fouled, I couldn’t see the electrodes,,, just a gob of goop on the ends. New plugs, new wires, cap, rotor, points (yes that old)and condensor,,,
CNS,,,,
Frank Doc told me “put the old plugs back in“, and I did, (Frank had taught me to not question his intuitions.)
VRROOOMMMM,,,, Goop covered nasty can’t see the electrodes spark plugs, and the thing ran like a scalded dawg,,, wouldn’t even belch on the new plugs.
SO, my fear this AM, and it could have become a self fulfilling prophecy so to speak, was that I would clean all that crap out of her intakes and shit would go sideways during the start up,,,
Here we are,,,,
Running rough as fuck: doing on the fly diag, old skool style,,,(this was at 5ish, and outside, daylight was failing me), Pull plug wires and watch results. #1, near dies #2 near dies, #3, #5 #6 #7,,, all near kill the engine. #4 #8 NO CHANGE,,, Fact, no spark showing on either,,,, That both are on one bank, she is running ragged as hell. I had a couple old wires of questionable health, swapped them in; it didn’t change anything, but then, didn’t prove anything either. Like I said, ‘Of questionable health”,,, But the fact that #4 had ZERO spark at all, (and I can’t say either way on #8 as it’s location is hard to see and get at; one or the other, not both,, I can say, it effected zero change to the running. ) I’m goin’ with all the yankin’ pullin’ and movin’round,,, these wires and plugs are in need of refresh. Could be the cap and rotor need it too,
GOOD NEWS: Despite the engine running like absolute shitte, NO LIFTER NOISES,,,, OIL PRESSURE IS UP,UP,UP!
And she DOES run,,, Just not as well as I was expecting
So, my operations were successful, this is just Bloo grumpin’ about me rollin’round in her engine bay again.
SOOoooo’sssss
What lessons has Dio learned in all this? (and not just this weekend, but the whole mess since Turkey day.)
1: if you’re gonna rebuild, it had better be a wild upgrade! Keepin’ it the ‘same’? Its cheaper and MORE CONVENIENT to get a long block from a known reliable rebuilder with a warranty system. (I guess you know now, what my future plans are for Buffalo when it comes time. I’m slow to convince, not stoopid.)
2: MUST HAVE A BACK UP HICLE IN PLACE. At least this lesson didn’t bite me in my ass this time around.
3: Recovering a lot find/barn find? ASSUME THE ABSOLUTE WORST AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. THIS did bite my ass,,, I had high hopes and been laid low several times already. And may get laid low again, if/when the rings fail. What my plans are at that point,,, Finances will dictate that path when/if it comes into being.
What it won’t be? A rebuild: I am done tearing this block apart,,, I’ll pull it and replace it. The Finances will dictate how quickly that “Swap” happens, and it will NOT be a junkyard block of unknown history: I want fresh, spec’ed and WARRANTY,,,
I’m tired guys, more than a little grungy, and only sorta frustrated. Self-fulfilled prophecy thing; I was expecting trouble, and this is actually similar to what I had figured would happen. (what I didn’t do bit me,,, ) (in my defense, the plugs and wires were rock solid when I started this, running smooth despite the lifter killing #8)
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ANDDDDDDDDD
An update to the screamin’ in me head,,,,
Just did a local parts house search for Cap/rotor/wires/plugs,,,,
$19.56 A FRICKIN PLUG!!!!! @WTIFover????? Thats $160 pre-tax for a PLUGS!!!! Toss in cap/rotor/wires and the bill came to well OVER $300!!!!
I just ordered the EXACT SAME THING and paid for FedEx Express shipping and didn’t break 2 bills,,, Total order was some change shy of $120 and the shipping was $50 to overnight it,,,,
AND I STILL CAME OUT BETTER THAN RUNNING AROUND LOCAL
sigh,,,, not sure this is a good thing,,, local businesses can’t compete, or something,,,,
EOD report (end of day)
Cam shaft installed, lifters in place, pushrods cleaned and inspected, and the fun of taking up valve lash completed. Yes, the Cam Gear is labeled 180 out. Knowing that makes for less headache later. I considered re-tagging it, but figured ‘line it up as labeled, turn the crank one full turn and call it good (and that way, I know pointing the distro at #1 will be right.)
spent the last hour pulling the pan and oil pump, installing the new pump and replacing the pan. Noted that this FELPRO gasket was quite a bit thicker than the last one, but I went ahead and ‘caulked’ those areas that were leakers on the last one. Better now when they can seal up correctly, than later and I am ‘Band-aiding’ something to get me through a bit longer. And it will sit down there overnight curing before I go droppin’ oil in the pan.
I’m at the point where its essentially ‘put it all back together and cross your fingers.” I spent several hours making sure the lifters/cam operation was done correctly and well. Proper lubrication, proper lash removal, all the points pointing where they should when they should, And I had noted that Bloo was developing a coolant leak at the intake manifold. Nothing of serious note, but there was some seepage showing on the wrong edge of the gasket face. Thats gonna be corrected with the new gaskets.
And I has a pile-o-parts,,,,
So y’all know what I am up to tomorrow,,, Domestics (and I have some seriously NASTY clothes that need attention right now) and BLOO reassembly,,, And hopefully, Vrooms!!! But I ain’t pushin’ hard, I still have muhnday if needed (Doc appointment for Da in AM, so taking the whole day off.)
More tomorrow as I know more, hopefully good news,,,
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more information
those of you’ns that have been following along in the “Adventures of BlooTwuck” might recall I had a CNS back after getting the Crankshaft installed.
Weelllllzzzzzz,,,,,
That wasn’t due to my not paying ‘tention.
Note the opposing timing marks on the gears? And the distro is pointing at one here. I had the marks lined up BEFORE I pulled the timing cover, popped a looksee into the cylinder to verify TDC and was confused. The exhaust valve was hanging slightly open. (I do love that borescope, and being able to see things without a full teardown.) SO,, I pulled the distributor cap and sure nuff, was 180 out. Line the timing mark on the crank up again with the distributor pointing at the #1 spot, double check the cylinder. Valves closed. Either that cam is 180 out, or the gear is marked 180 out, but NOW I KNOW WITH CERTAINTY how to line things up for running,,,,
Only,,,, mehbee not,,,
“Whutchooo mean Dio?”
replacing a cam with new,,,, I’m gonna have to inspect the new lobes and see what matches, what doesn’t, and figure out how all the new and old line up
ANybubbberwhatzanohtzees,,, ON to another confirmation: I have a thermal camera that I have used in the past for locating drafts and heat leaks around the stead. Got to playing with it the other day, and took a gander at Bloos exhaust manifolds. I had made the audatory assessment that Bloo’s ticking lifter was either 2 or 4 but I couldn’t figure which one. Well, the Thermal image was screaming that it was #8 (intake or exhaust, but either would cause a cooler output) Whelpers,,, I get the valve covers off and sure as shit, #8 exhaust rocker arm is looseygoosey. Floppy like Cosmos’ ears. A couple others are feeling a tad loose as well, but #8 is showing full collapse.
Sound isn’t the ONLY way to isolate a problem, and even with a stethoscope, may lead you down a wrong path. Not that it matters that much here, but I am taking the lesson and polishing up my chops with it. Especially since my hearing isn’t exactly the greatest,,, USE THE TOOLS AND MAKE SURE,,, is what I am saying.
SO,,,, at this moment, Bloo is ‘almost there’. I have the intake plenum and manifold to remove to get to the oil galley below that, where the lifters are. I already have full access to the cam, just need to clear passage out/in for the swap (the new won’t go in until I verify those lobe orientations) And I still need to pull the oil pan and do the oil pump thing.
But, I am ahead of schedule as I wasn’t expecting to be this far ahead this early in the weekend. Bonus,,,, I can relax a bit, and take Mikees advice. NO RUSH (except on the sound system!)
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Breaking Trail
shortened day at J.O.B. brought Bloo to Das and jumped in. Truly, I do not want to, but looking more n more like Im gonna have to open the AC system to clear the way. Will try removing grill and loosening the condensor core first. I may get enough room that way.
and I dropped a sparkplug in the drain pan. Oops
and I have a sticky ground point that is gonna need some heat applied to move. One frellin wire holding the harness in the way. If need be, cut the ground off, re-splice on install. Just dont want another point of corrosion added into the mix.
so much more to be removed yet. Feel like I’ve barely started. And thats even before the repair begins,,,
and not trying to jinx meself,,, who knows what Ill find in there.
more laters
T’ursday t’inks,,,
Francis is back in style, and dropping thought bombs on us.
AND HERE
Is it any wonder why I no longer want to dip even my pinky toe in the waters of this ‘reality’ that ain’t?
Stuff on goin’ on in me head on this end, and Like I mentioned in comments, the Lucidity feels more like a training session for things forthcoming. To elaborate a bit, the ‘conversations’ tend to be of a social sort, but the implied situations are ‘uncomfortable’ to this hill bound curmudgeonly hermit. IE, I don’t like groups of more than 3 and even then, only when all are vetted.
Well, these conversations have been probing far deeper into that social interaction thing. Like more in line with what I would be involved in as a Self Employed type. Maybe its just my psyche pushing a learning curve, but there are points where the inputs do not feel ‘natural’ or ‘internal’.
yeah, a bit strange,,, even to me. And it could be experiance from deep in my past when on the road that is being pulled up as training material,,, stuff I had long forgotten and need to brush the dust off and polish up.
Where are we going? Who the frell knows. Dropped in at Da’s today to check in: news feeds are all over the place about war zones, from Russia/Kraine, to Iran, to the goofy Greenland hoopla,,,
Something I read this AM,,,,
“The country feels less like a republic (and more like) a nervous breakdown with a flag.” (not verbatim)
Some of the words ring to me, some don’t (see First FWP link for ‘distrust’ issues) but that one line as quoted,,, Now, if you haven’t read the first two links,,, do,,, There is topic in the second link (Tyranny) that should put the polish on this missive. Debasement/inflation. Nuff said?
anyboddamaggijitz, I’m dealing with house, curbing the creeping dreads, preparing my mind for the immediate future of “Wrench” to get Bloo that much closer to RELIABLE, and just getting along to get along in this microwindow of history.
and some music to share the spirits I feel right now.
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