What are you doing today?

[kb426]

Yesterday, I made a farm tractor cruise control for the 32. You guys probably won't be very proud of me for this. I ordered a cam-lock for the pivot point to hold tension. I'm planning on going to LA in 2 weeks and I can't hold my throttle leg in one spot for hours on end on I40. An aftermarket cruise control wasn't an option.

[Bruce Dorsi]

Yesterday, I made a farm tractor cruise control for the 32. You guys probably won't be very proud of me for this. I ordered a cam-lock for the pivot point to hold tension. I'm planning on going to LA in 2 weeks and I can't hold my throttle leg in one spot for hours on end on I40.

Form follows function !!!!    ......I can appreciate your K.I.S.S. engineering!

In place of a cam-lock, I would have probably stacked a few Bellville washers to provide sufficient tension.  .....In an emergency situation, pulling the lever back would cancel your cruise control, without having to fumble with a cam-lock lever.

Of course, I may not be thinking correctly about the style of cam-lock you will be using.

[wayne petty]

for those of you who like to get buzzed... the HARD Way..

http://motorcar.winkworth.us/coils/buzzercoils.htm


this reminds me of a night a long time ago.. winchells donuts.. sepulveda and plumber .. a friend pulled in that midnight friday or saturday morning. his V8 vega would not shut off..  he had just replaced the starter.. had managed to get the R wire pinched into the top post wires. and we were talking beside the car deciding how to shut off the engine.. i said.. i will just smother the carb with this shop rag..  greg the car owner said.. no.. that will foul the spark plugs..  i said.. you have an MSD7A ignition system on that thing.. it will fire a fouled spark plug no problem..  before he or i could do anything about it.. another friend stepped between us.. leaned over the polished black fiberglass fenders on this vega  and said.. i'll pull the coil wire..  he reached up and grabbed it..  oops. mallory pro coil that the coil wire is firmly attached and you need a screw driver to release it..  so it came off on the cap end..  he was trying not to lean on the fiberglass fenders.. but did have his wrist on the throttle linkage bracket..  his hand was covered  in sheet lightening.. up up his wrist where it was touching the bracket..  it looked like michael jacksons sequened glove..  the engine was idling about 1800 rpm..  i  don't know how long it took that motor to slow to a stop.. but steve got every multiple spark off that MSD system.  it would have been totally different if he had been leaning against steel fenders..  he eventually pulled back and tried to walk it off.. there was only about 6 or 7 guys who saw this happen.. and no matter what we did.. he would not repeat the performance for the other 150 guys there that night..  he said he was ok. walked away unscathed..  lucky as heck it only did one hand..

i just thought you might enjoy some memories of mine..

[kb426]

Bruce, the cam-lock I ordered is adjustable. My thought was to set it so I could pull the throttle back if I needed to but be able to release all tension for areas that require multiple throttle openings.

[enjenjo]

I took a load of scrap in today, $180 a ton for shred.

[Arnold]

This thread is for Tony & Wayne & all the others on the "Dry Coast" ...

 You guys have heard me sing the praises  of my "Little Red Truck".. The go anywhere, anytime, nothing can stop it '89 GMC pickup..  I always took good care of it, trying to make it last a Long , Long time ... I bought this truck with 70K miles from the original owner in 2000 as a virgin .. No rust anywhere. .Maintained  just like I would have ..( I bought it from a personal friend) ... . It currently has 120859 miles ..Runs & drives like new ...until last Thursday .... :cry:
 
Thursday morning I noticed the truck sitting "funny"  ...
Kinda like this ..  \  /.....

Notice how the molding that goes from front to rear is no longer "level" ...
It kinds "sags" in the middle ?  

 I found the back of the cab resting on the front edge of the cap ..

After some investigation , this is what I found left of the frame behind the cab  ..
The frame is actually broken through the lower & side rail all the way to the top flange ... The lower flange of the rail behind the right rear spring hanger is not even there..  I need to be REAL careful removing the parts that I want as the frame actually flexes & moves around when I try to unbolt things .. And this truck still runs & drives !!!  

BELIEVE ME ...    
Tony , Wayne & our friends that live where things don't rust do not know how good they have it .......


Bob ..... :cry:

   Hmm..I wonder where the worst rust problem is.I live in S. Ontario..several years ago I thought that we had the worst rust problems.
THEN they introduced some much more aggressive road salt/brine.
The major rust proofing company up here wants to charge extra to get that stuff off before they rustproof.
   This sure ain't no contest..but up here..look for a used pickup(in this case). There are lots of them advertised 2001 and older with rotted frames.TRY and find an UN-ROTTED minivan older than 2003.Lots and lots of 2005 and older strut towers rotted out.2002 and older..subframes rotted.
  I looked for another vehicle last fall. I happened to see an 08 pickup on a hoist while my vehicle was getting an o/change.The owner of the shop had to call it's owner and tell him his truck was just about finished..there was so much rot everywhere that this thing was just going to keep falling apart.I looked at another 08 p/u near me. Just junk.Rotted.2004/5/6 p/u up here can have some very,very serious rot issues.

  It is just HARD/SAD to look at..a not bad looking truck..2004/5/6..and upon closer inspection..the cab corners have about 5 minutes left.The rockers ditto.Hard stuff to fix..like body mounts,

  Trans lines are rotting off vehicles after 7/8/9 years.I have an 07.The trans lines are sure not good.

  Brake lines,gas lines..very,very common rot repairs at 9/10/11 years old.

   We live in the snow/ice/salt belt..hard to believe that there are 4x4's advertised as not winter driven rust free..haha

   The rust free,always,always rust proofed vehicles that seem to advertise that.Ya..they don't see much winter driving haha.

   You do not go more than about 1 1/2 years up here without all the wheels coming off..rotors,drums,and lubing everything up.If you do you won't do it again.

  One of my own vehicles..I went 1 1/2 years. What is THAT NEW noise??

  Oh...that is just the rotor rotting and all the crap falling and jamming behind the dust shield for the rotor.

  Coated rotors are almost a neccessity up here.

  I had 2 identical vehicles. One I did not rust proof. Frame rot at the bottom of the sealed dog leg. The other..it rotted at the miniscule area around the plug where they drilled to rust proof it. What..ya gotta seal aroound the rust proofing plugs..I guess so.If that even helps.

  Guess all you can do when someone loses their vehicle to rot..is say sorry for your loss.

   I am beginning to think that rust proofing/oiling..whatever..is just a complete waste of time and money around here.Ya..you get it all coated whatever every year for like $150..and the machine gun effect of salt..sand..mixed with water,ice pellets..just blasts a lot of it off.
Rust proofed vehicle that rotted out in odd places.Wander around a junk yard up here.

   I have rust repair work to do on ALL 4 of my vehicles this year.
   My old 94 van seems to be about the best of them
   Should see the rot on my 07 gate..where NO rustproofing would have worked. :cry:

   I think cars were better when they were made of metal. At least that way you could fix them with more metal. All this galvanized/rocker/moulding crap..great till it rots.Then it is just stoopid hard to fix.If it is even fixable.

[wayne petty]

http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1008_howards_cams_twin_bears_digger/


rust... wow.. i just found the can of wd40 i lost a year ago...  i needed it to assist in drilling a hole.. ..

[jaybee]

No question about it, the rust monster gained a lot of strength when they introduced brine spray.

[enjenjo]

No question about it, the rust monster gained a lot of strength when they introduced brine spray.

Just wait until you see beet juice.

[WZ JUNK]

I worked a little on some repairs and modifications on the Flatcad landspeed car.  It did not get to run at El Mirage during the May event as the wind came up and the event was shut down.  We are getting it ready for Bonneville.

John

[idrivejunk]

They started using beet juice here, some. I'm still working on the 41 truck, seems like thats gonna eat most of my year. Sure is nice rust free for gennie stuff.

[GPster]

The quick version of this story is "I fell into the pond". Years ago I built a garden (?) pond for Linda in our back yard. It is angle shaped and is about 15' x 21'  and about 4 1/2' deep in the center and holds about 4,500 gallons. It is rubber lined with a skimmer on one end and a pump fed 3' high water fall on the other end. We got enough rain last night that the pond water level was too high for the skimmer to work. When this happens I normally set a siphon of water from the water fall to the ground to drop the water level of the pond an inch or so. The siphon usually has to run an hour or so to lower the water that much so I set the siphon up and started the rest of my day.  I showed, put on clean work clothes and started a load of wash with all the wet towels and bath mat. When I went back outside it was time to stop the siphon. So , I stepped over the plants, between the rocks and onto the foundry stone to pull the hose out of the water fall. I hadn't put my sun glasses on and I wasn't wearing a hat. The sun blinded me during these maneuvers and I lost my footing and went into the pond. You can't stand up on a slime covered rubber pond liner under water so I had to swim to the shallow end of the pond with my (clean) clothes on. Luckily I hadn't put my wallet in my pocket but my cell phone was on my belt and my hearing aid was in my ear. Walked to the house and took off my wet clothes to go in to take another shower. Of course all the handy towels were in the washer with the bath matt. As soon as I got out of the shower the phone rang. It was Linda wondering what I was doing. I told her the story and she tried not to laugh, but wasn't successful. I get reminded not to drive after dark, not to climb a ladder but I haven't been told not to maintain the pond. GPster

[river1]

:ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)

sorry couldn't help it  :-}

just be glad it wasn't january

later jim

[enjenjo]

The latest picture of Josh's 5.0 He has been working a lot of OT lately, so he is making slow progress, but he is getting there. I have been letting him do it himself, this is his first engine build.

[enjenjo]

:ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)  :ha)

sorry couldn't help it  :-}

just be glad it wasn't january

later jim

In January he can walk on the water