Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Don R]

 My Dad's old Bolens lawn tractor had a car battery in it. It spun that onan so fast I think I could have mowed without gas.

[Don R]

 My buddy found a Curt trailer hitch for a GM truck, it was in a pallet of overstock but it didn't fit the PO's truck. He got it cheap but it didn't fit his truck either. He posted it for sale for $180, I checked the part number two different places and it fit mine so I grabbed it today. 2.5 hours of driving but a $280 hitch for $125 and it's the exact one I wanted.  I hope the label is correct.
 The original 2003 hitch on it is a little rusty and I've heard a few horror stories of them failing.

[Bailgang]

The other day I helped my youngest son bleed the clutch and brakes on his 99 Miata. This is a project he's been working on for a year now and will very soon be road worthy once he installs the cooling system. He bought the Miata with a blown engine so out came the 4 cyl and in went a 3.5 liter V6 out of an '02 Honda Odyssey mini van. This little Miata ought to be a lot of fun.

[BenelliSEI]

Prep work on the MR2 race car. Needs a new Fire System. Trying to decide where to install the larger bottle!

[Mr. Mike]

Some Ford/Mercury vehicles use an electronic power steering assist module and motor assembly rather than the old fluid type power steering set up. Over half the steering column and steering wheel has to come out to replace this module. PITA to get to, a hefty snap ring plier is required too. I had to grind down and fashion a nice long nosed angled plier to get that pig off and back on. If you pull the alignment pin on this module and the unit is not aligned properly on the column, you’ve wasted $160, and will have buy another. Youtube was a great tutor on this replacement and I saved about $600 by doing it myself.

[dave500]

man i hate new tech!

[Don R]

 I replaced $120 worth of cables on the dragster. The second chassis builder (update) welded a bracket on with the cable pointing right at an upright in the frame so it's always in a bind, I'll need to cut off the bracket and re-weld it back on properly. Of course it's right on the battery box so everything has to disconnect and come out.

[BenelliSEI]

Yesterday rained all. Managed to get the massive fire bottle into the space the old one occupied (foolish rule change). All new plumbing, nozzles, pull handle and hardware. Done.

[BenelliSEI]

I replaced $120 worth of cables on the dragster. The second chassis builder (update) welded a bracket on with the cable pointing right at an upright in the frame so it's always in a bind, I'll need to cut off the bracket and re-weld it back on properly. Of course it's right on the battery box so everything has to disconnect and come out.

Don..... post some pictures once in a while. Nice to see what you’re working on!

[BenelliSEI]

Washed it......Finally.

[strynboen]

start to put the volvo penta engine back together...have got a spare engine,,so thange the salt vater cooling as the new old engine had heat exthanger and2 vaterpumps..so got the hardvare to thange it..cylenders and heads and manifold..are all moved over..

[Stev-o]

finally got some time now that retired to do trial fit up an check cam rockers n stuff on 440 

What will that 440 be going in?   I like those Indy heads!

[Stev-o]

Dropped the boat back in the water after a lot of maint:

Fluid changes, new impeller in the water pump, new bilge pump, exhaust blower motors [2]
and cut and polishing of the fiberglass hull. 

Still looking pretty good for a 15 yr old boat...ready for summer!

[BenelliSEI]

Dropped the boat back in the water after a lot of maint:

Fluid changes, new impeller in the water pump, new bilge pump, exhaust blower motors [2]
and cut and polishing of the fiberglass hull. 

Still looking pretty good for a 15 yr old boat...ready for summer!

Looks great!

[Don R]

I replaced $120 worth of cables on the dragster. The second chassis builder (update) welded a bracket on with the cable pointing right at an upright in the frame so it's always in a bind, I'll need to cut off the bracket and re-weld it back on properly. Of course it's right on the battery box so everything has to disconnect and come out.

Don..... post some pictures once in a while. Nice to see what you’re working on!

 I suck at pictures but here's a link. Ours is the purple car, my daughter drives it. This is the top 10 of our association.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wv8cqL93HoUM6zaH7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ywkXTpij8M6trn947

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gNuvtsvKSTroUPCK9

[RAFster122s]

What kind of motor do they use in the dragster? Is your daughter a good driver?

[Don R]

  It's a 567" big block chevy style. It has no real Chevrolet parts in it. Dart block and CFE heads, I forget whose crank, Manley rods, J&E pistons, comp cam, isky roller lifters, T&D rocker arms, Billet moroso oil pump and steel pan. Edelbrock intake and Holley EFI.
  We were racing a couple years ago, my driver had reaction times of .008, .008, .008, a dark cloud rolled in and she knows she sees the light better when it's darker so she added. .007 to the delay box. Her next reaction time was .015.  On a good day we're competitive with anyone in our class. I'd love to run NHRA national and Divisional events but it's several days to go to their races and we don't own a motorhome. Our association has some champions in it, the last full season we ran we finished #2 and actually lead the points until we got paired up several times with a former champion in a borrowed car. He got us first round two out of the last three races, it's hard to maintain a points lead after that.

[Don R]

 I took the race car trailer out for 5 new tires, it got outer wheel bearings, brake service, a new trailer hitch, burglar alarm work,  The newest tire  was 5 years old and had a lump, the spare was 10 years old and the oldest pair was 7 years old. When a deer collided with it it got 2 new tires a few years back. He was a 10 point buck going under the wheels, 5 points coming out. 2 tires got antler pokes and one cracked rim. 

[Kelly E]

Lately I have been rewiring and installing new lights on a golf cart trailer along with servicing the wheel bearings, replacing the tires and adding mounting points for a motorcycle front wheel chock. It's a tilt bed so no ramps to make loading non-running motorcycles easier.

[Terry in Australia]

Now that most folks are back at work, fuel has leapt up as much as 40 cents per litre in the last week. I always fill my CB750's (high compression pistons) with 98 Ron fuel, which is another 20 cents per litre more than standard 91 Ron fuel.

Today without thinking, I grabbed the 98 pump and started filling the car. I put 30 bucks in (around 15 litres) before I realised my error and hung the pump up. The worst thing is that being a modern car with computer managed everything, there is absolutely no benefit in running the higher Ron fuel. No biggie, but the older I get, the more forgetful I become....

[RAFster122s]

At least you aren’t dealing with a high performance motor like the twin turbo Mini Cooper S, it requires you to run the high octane fuel  which is running around $.20/gal at Costco which is $0.20/gal cheaper than the next cheapest station.  Just glad when I drive it conservatively I am able to get between 34 and 36 mpg.
The President cancellation of the pipeline and other actions along with the return of drivers and increased demand have taken the fuel prices in the US about a $1/gallon higher than it was...

The pipeline ransom ware attack drove fuel to unobtainable in a few areas back East because of hoarding and demand. Luckily the pipeline is back in operation and things should return to normal soon until the next gut punch.

[dave500]

well i had an exciting time putting new leads and plugs into our mighty hyundai,wife said was hard to start cranking with a fart or two(the car not her in this case!),she keeps a little log book for it still and the old leads were 10 years old and the plugs 5,fixed it up and she tells me its never run so good,funny how the slow deterioration isnt noticed?its a 99 model she bought it new.

[Terry in Australia]

well i had an exciting time putting new leads and plugs into our mighty hyundai,wife said was hard to start cranking with a fart or two(the car not her in this case!),she keeps a little log book for it still and the old leads were 10 years old and the plugs 5,fixed it up and she tells me its never run so good,funny how the slow deterioration isnt noticed?its a 99 model she bought it new.

My wife's 2002 Hyundai is missing and farting occasionally Dave, my son installed new plugs a few months ago, but I might need to chuck in a set of new leads too. They're brilliant little cars, out 1997 Excel had two oil changes in 100,000 Km when I bought it from the skanky Ho who worked for me back then, it had a cracked windscreen from where her pisshead hubby threw a stubby at her, and a dent on the tailgate where he kicked the car as she drove past. The dipstick looked like someone had painted it matt black.

I gave it two oil and filter changes in quick succession to flush out the dead oil, installed a new windscreen, new tyres, cleaned the cigarette ash off every part of the car, scrubbed the ashtray to get rid of the stank, and replaced the cam belts. Only thing I've had to replace since has been one set of disc pads. Nothing has gone wrong with it, and it absolutely loves 98 RON fuel. The wife's too cheap to buy it, but whenever I fill it up it goes like a rocket on the stuff, and gets better fuel mileage than my CB750's.

[Terry in Australia]

At least you aren’t dealing with a high performance motor like the twin turbo Mini Cooper S, it requires you to run the high octane fuel  which is running around $.20/gal at Costco which is $0.20/gal cheaper than the next cheapest station.  Just glad when I drive it conservatively I am able to get between 34 and 36 mpg.

I've got a twin turbo Subaru Liberty (Legacy) GT that eats mini's for breakfast David, with around 300 BHP. I run it on 98 RON fuel which at the moment costs around $5 USD per US gallon. Doesn't matter, it's fun to drive, especially @ 15 pounds of boost...........

[70CB750]

well i had an exciting time putting new leads and plugs into our mighty hyundai,wife said was hard to start cranking with a fart or two(the car not her in this case!),she keeps a little log book for it still and the old leads were 10 years old and the plugs 5,fixed it up and she tells me its never run so good,funny how the slow deterioration isnt noticed?its a 99 model she bought it new.

Our kids pass on each other 99 Camry, that thing has 280 000 miles on it so far.  Hope it will last the college years for my youngest.  Anyway, it developed funny problem, it felt like transmission slipping etc, I could not figure it out.  Finally I decided to check on sparkplugs and #3 plug cable just pulled out of the boot.  That spark plug was firing only when the cable was in the right position.  I felt bad for the little yota, trying so hard