Advice from old Gearheads NEEDED (check update in comments)
This started this morning.
Since then, did the coolant flush and Oil change. Was hoping that the oil change might ‘change’ the parameters a little and that this would ‘go away’,,, Yeah,, been down that road, rare, but does occasionally happen.
I am of the opinion she has a rod knocking,,, but there’s some grey areas in my knowledge of that. So I am asking others opinions, knowing full well, you aren’t getting ‘real time information’ and that video doesn’t really deliver the sounds I am hearing on this end. I’m not ruling out a stuck lifter, but its sounds “too solid” for a lifter noise. And it does disappear when I let off the throttle, to return again at idle. Not sure if that helps or means anything to anyone.
Second question: I once, many many moon ago, replaced the connecting rod bearings on a slant6 while it was still in the truck: is that possible with a 350? I’m looking at it, and I think it might be possible, but I have never heard of anyone doing that before.
Fact is, I am WAY TOO INVESTED in Twuck to let this get in the way. And it burns me that it wasn’t there yesterday, but is today, and first thing this morning. I did NOT hear it at all yesterday, and there was one point where I had Twuck running and stopped and did a walk around, looking at the lights. I would have heard it then, but did not.
Thanks in advance for any advice/opinion on this. Chime in please, even if you have never commented before,
L.L.L.L.L!
(.’)
adventures in BlooTWuck
Yesterday, Thanksgiving day, was the first day I drove Bloo around town, legal and legit. Took her to the gas station for her first fill up in untold years (midgrade, to help clean out the junks) 25 gallons (on top of the 5 gallons high test I put in a couple of days prior) OUCH! but, I knew what I was getting into with Bloo,,, She’s a big twuck compared to Buffalo: Big Twuck, big fuel tank.
What I wasn’t prepared for, but shoulda been, was the SMELLS,,, It was kold, so crank on the heat and the Mousey Pissy Smells coming out of the heater core were almost TOO much,,, cracked the windows to let it out, and sent out a plea to Brudda B, “you have any idea how to get this smell out? Other than just time?”
Of course he came back with the very ideas I was already tossing around me head: We are brudders by anudder mudder after all. Good thing we weren’t raised together or we might have killed each other early on: we think very much alike, and that can cause issues in siblings at young ages.
YEah, she had some rather funky smells taking place. Things that have been sitting as long as she had been, will have things resting in places were they shouldn’t be; things that will burn off when exposed to high heat like exhaust manifolds and pipes. Some of the smells I expected, like the smell of oil burning off the new pipe sections. Some were quite pungent and short lived, but worrisome while in the air. By the time we were back home again after the running around to Get togethers, her odors had settled down to normal ‘warmed up ‘Hicle’ smells, and the smells out of the heatercore were noticibly reduced, though still present. I still sprayed some odo-ban ™ in the vents and air intake. More to knock it down than eliminate it.(read: cover it up.)
I’M VERY HAPPY,,,
Now. Its time to “move in”. Still need to finish the maintenance details of hoses and oil change and coolant flush, but I can be doing those while I move tools from Buff to Bloo,,, Organizing, setting up a bracket to keep the floor jack from rolling around in that great big center box, etc etc,,,, Its work, its what I do: for some reason, this lazy bastach enjoys having his hands bizzy,,, Some people talk(to much) to keep thier minds distracted, I have to ‘play’ at work,,, ((Still need to run that backup cam and finish putting the dash back together too,,, Small details))
On a left turn of thoughts,,, I was going over the creditcard accounts last night, and looking at future payment plans. Really, this hasn’t hurt me as bad as I made it out, at least in me own little world. I usually pay no less than a $100/billing period,(usually $200) and my minimums are still under that number. SO, No real change to my methods, no extra pain, just longer to pay off. Debt seems to be the norm in this assbackwards world, so what new, eh?
No, I’m not burned out,,, I am feeling a bit of the seasonal blahs though. Seasonal work has the downside of “In winter, we work when its nice” and that means I have to tolerate the craptastic weather to get my personal shit done. Slows a body down some when you look out and the porch thermometer is wrapped in blankets with a thermos of coffee, faking a good attitude. Stuff to do, but I have a long weekend of KOLDKOLDKOLD, so I can spread things out a bit into the warmer parts of the day and still get everything done. Not optimal, but what is? I’ll just squeeze some reading in the in-between times.
ramblin’ again,,,, Y’all take care, keep the digits warm and toasty, raise a glass to the fact that Seasons come and seasons go, and this is just another one. Talk atcha’ll later
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BLoos Legal again/Happy Turkeyday!!!
Stopped at the courthouse today, got a new plate and paid her registration for the year. (til September, but close enough)
And there is still some nigglin’ little stuff that needs a-cared for before I go making her my “main squeeze”. Need to repair the hose between the tank and the fill neck (not the fill hose, but the breather tube side.) That made putting fuel in her challenging the other day, and I knew immediately what the issue was.
New Tail lights came in today, 5 days early, WOOT!
and its a long weekend, even though I won’t get to her tomorrow. Fams in town, get togethers all over the place, DIET BE DAMNED, I’m gonna enjoy Southern Hospitality at its finest. I can work on any gains to be had later,,,
But I will soon be dropping Bloo as a subject matter and she will be reduced to mere mention as a bit player, much like Buffalo does now. (at least in the blog, in my little world, she will be a fixture.)
And its KOLD again. nights in the 20’s for the next few days. Fire going in the stove since the days will be closer to 40s,,, better than burning mad copious amounts of propane. Let the propane be for the lulls when I am not home. Keep the house warm enough until I can get the fire built back up.
Anywhozamajiggiwitz,,, Y’all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, look around, I am sure there is something to be thankful for in your life. (and if not, FIX THAT DANGIT!) I could list my Thanks/gratitudes; its a rather long list these days and for that I am thankful as well.
Get out there, eat too much, feel fat and happy and miserable in the same moment.
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Half and Half
Half a day at the J.O.B. half a day on BLooTWuck.
Took Bloo to work after the fact and used the Plasma torch to cut a space for a top box in one of her side boxes. Sadly, I had to take the top box apart some to get it to fit still. it was NOT going in any other way. It still works for my needs, its just not as nice as it was when I bought it. 😦
Son of Bossman finally got to see and hear her today. He seemed rather impressed, and I think now, he sees exactly what I saw in her when she was sitting in that feild. And yes, I am sure he has addressed the fact that this is ‘ultimately’ my escape route, but knows that I will use BlooTWuck just as much as I use the rest of my tools to accomplish the current mission at the J.O.B. I don’t ask for compensation for my tools: I may ask for gas money when/if,,, That can be worked out then though. (for the record, there have been jobs where I took Buffalo for the simple fact, “thats where ALL of my tools are”.)(note this though, not ALL of my tools are will be on TWuck: I won’t have my machining tools or shop press etc. But I HAVE proven, that there isn’t much I can’t handle with what I do carry on the regular)
Found a nice surprise though. When I was cutting out the shelving in that side box, I found someone had already cut a hole to access the fuel pump without needing to drop the tank. And its a BIG cutout. I used part of the cut shelving to make a coverplate and four tek-screws to hold it in place. No need to have stuff falling out onto the road. Yes, the hole was that big.
I did take her to the gas station as well. She’s gonna be thirsty pig, I can already tell. I only put in $20 of high-test and it broke off the “E” but only ‘just’. 5 gallons of fuel doesn’t even get you to 1/8th tank. She’s a one-ton: I should’uv expected that.
AND, She is FULLY insured now. Not liability, FULL coverage. ($500 deductible but,,,) Unfortunately, while I was at the insurance agents place, that 4pm rolled around so I wasn’t able to make it to the Clerks office and get her registered and plated. Thats tomorrow when I do my bank run (the clerks office is right across from my ATM access point. My bank is actually in Sinsin-nasty still. Been with them since 2001, don’t wanna fuck up a good relationship by changing to local, not yet anyhoos.)(it a credit union, so I get better rates than some corporate bank ”institution”)
And with the long weekend forthcoming, I will get all the little piddlin’ details addressed. Gotta deal with the fams on Turkeyday, but that leaves me Freeday on, and I can start loading all the tools from Buffalo and get organized after all the greasy-grimey stuff is done.
She’ll be rolling legal and legit REAL SOON!!! (not like my sneaking up the road to the gas station this afternoon. LOL)
And Buffalo gets a vakay/semi-retirement. Gonna be after all the holidays before I go ordering the parts I need to fix her, and I am in no rush so long as ONE of the trucks is road worthy. TWuck is “IT!” for the time being. After her sitting for the last 12 years, I can almost hear her saying ‘thankyouthankyouthankyou’ for being back into living mode.
And that brings me around to my “pat myself on the back” point. I picked up TWuck on HallowsEve. Today is the 25th. She was lock-wheeled when she came home, and now she is running around on her own power. 25 days from junkyard lump to working WORK truck. Not too shabby if I do say so meself. (and to be frank about it, I KNEW when I saw her, that she was salvagible, with lots of potential. I’ve seen far worse, and some better, but,,,she was ‘in-reach’: I had to jump.)
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silver linings
Orvan Taurus brings the link but I want to re-iterate on it some.
Yes, its depressing the state of the Educrata (they are no longer intellectuals in my book)
BUT,
Its mighty fine to see that one of those being indoctrinated under them has seen the facade and looked past the theater curtains and scenery; seeing the real world they try so hard to deny. This shows to me “You can deny the Truth, but the Truth will always find a way through.”
I love the fact that this person, mentions so many of the “Giants”, like Mises, Hayak, Shakespeare, etc, while at the same time pointing to the Current ‘idols’ and showing thier faults and issues.
And then turns around with the PS of ““I want to defend the truth, so I’ll sign with my name. If you were teaching the truth, why didn’t you sign with yours?” TOUCHE!!
More laters,,, gotta get to the J.O.B.
L,L,L,L,L!
(.’)
Short but long daze
Short since the daylight is so shortened, long because I was a bizzy little concrete eating beaver today. or would that be a Concrete-pecker? dunno,,, Drilling all those holes for the posts that I welded plates to last week. New drill RAWKS,,, Essentially a Bosch Bulldog concrete drill, but in the Hercules (harbor frieght) name. That company has turned a corner the last few years and the higher bid items are still cheaper than the name brands, but very comparable to them as well. Most all of my Dewalts have been swapped out for the Hercules line now, and I even picked up some that Dewalt never did. Quite the happy camper with them, especially with their warranty policy (5 years on all brushless models). I had a band saw that was rather beat up, and a couple weeks back, took it in, and the manager said “leave it over there on the counter and get what you need”, No questions, just get the new one and do the check out thing, and pay NOTHING,,, Dewalt started playing mind games with their warranty deal a few years back, and they rotate models so frequently, by the time you need to get a new one, they tell you, “you can maybe get the new one at 20% off in trade, NO warranty for out of production models.” (that was also dependent on your retailer. Some wouldn’t even give you the 20% reach around.)
No, I’m quite happy with this brand,,, and when the current Dewalts I am using go south, they will get replaced with a bluer model. (its easier to keep one brand of battery as well. And thats another thing Hercules has going for them that none of the other brands do, to the best of my knowledge that is. The batteries have a 3 year warranty. Haven’t needed it, but its there.)
But tonight, it feels like Christmas in my house. I have the batteries I used today going on the chargers, blinking red and green lights, fire in the stove warming the house, and sleepy dawg snoring in the corner,,,, Almost makes me want to get some hot chocolate and peppermint stick going in a big mug. LOL
Dunno what tomorrow brings. Weather liars are saying we are expecting a monsoon for the morrow, and if so, I doubt Son of Bossman is going to want us out in it. I have nothing lined up in the shop at this point, that I am aware of,,, We’ll see.
I did install the toy in BLooTwuck today on my return home,,, still need to run the cable for the back up camera, but its ran through the dash and dropped on the floor for now. I could do that if I am off tomorrow. I really hope we are working though. Its going to be one short week with the holidays, and no, we don’t get holiday pay,,, sigh,,,,
anywhoos,,, gonna call it a night with cheery thoughts in my head with the flashy lights and snoring pupper,,,
y’all take care.
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Please note, I am not endorsed by, nor do I recieve any compensation for the above missive. I am only stating my experiance with a certain group of tools and my satisfaction of such as a tool user/skilled craftsman.
Silly Dio
What can I say, I’m a techno-nerd: I like technology (to a point)
And Bloo-Twuck got/is getting an upgrade or three. I have the LED tail lights enroute (the brake lights DO work, but near impossible to see during daylight) along with a license plate light. Those get installed as soon as in hand. We’ll see how the Zon deals with holidays, eh?
BUT, I was bored, had the stuff in hand and wanted to make sure my wiring was correct.
Its not fully installed: I am fabbing the mounting bracket at the J.O.B. (using the old radio frame: the radio that the face plate fell off of, as soon as I pulled it out.) That way, I can use the existing mounting tabs, and as you can see, its ‘almost’ a good fit.
Yes, its an android/apple compatible device, it has built in navigation (that I likely will never use as the phone maps are more reliable) and a backup camera. THAT was the key point I wanted. The bed blocks a lot of real estate, and while I do use my mirrors, theres still quite a bit of blindspot back there. (and I noted, there are some dings from previous backing incidents. I’d like to avoid those,,,)
NOW, I need to find that back up lamp powerwire,,, Pokin’ in probin’: here I come! (good thing I have that solar panel to keep the battery up.)
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Dio's Workshop 