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

[Don R]

  Dave, I was watching Roadworthy Rescues on Youtube and Derek had a similar starter issue on a Chevy truck. When he finally got the right one it was dead shorted, so he had to combine one new starter that fit with another new one that worked. I wondered if he had gotten a GM metric starter by accident.

[dave500]

yeah Don,gotta check with those chevy or holden v8s just bolt flat up to the block the pinion engagement?mine wouldve been way wrong,last thing i want is to damage the ring gear on first crank!

[BenelliSEI]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

[Kelly E]

Yesterday we assembled the rear suspension on the 01' Honda TRX 350 Rancher ATV. I sprayed the swingarm with rattle can bed liner. We also replaced all the wheel bearings and seals with an upgrade to tapered roller bearings for the swingarm pivots and new pivot bolts.
We cleaned up the rear brake but still need to replace all the vent lines for the brake and rear differential. Next up will be assembling the steering and front suspension.

[BenelliSEI]

Kelly….. Looks good. I’m always impressed by the clean design and strength of the components on those machines.

[Kelly E]

If it wasn't well built it wouldn't have survived the summer my buddy's son had it. He even bent the steering shaft between the mounting points when he barrel rolled it into the Nooksack River. He rode it with the bent steering shaft quite a bit before the summer was over.
I drove it onto the trailer when I picked it up 3 years ago. It was so dirty I'll never get it all the way clean without a total disassembly and sandblast. The mud where he rode has a high clay content and is like a baked on ceramic coating. I've had to scrape with picks and cylindrical wire brushes to get most of it out of the engine fins. I think if I don't it will run a little hotter than it should. It's almost as done as I can get it.

[RAFster122s]

So, after all your hard work Kelly...where does it go? Back to the abusive riders or is it going to stay in your care?

[Kelly E]

So, after all your hard work Kelly...where does it go? Back to the abusive riders or is it going to stay in your care?

My buddy gave it to me to save it from his son. It's staying here for my son and I.

[BenelliSEI]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

Better to be Lucky than Smart! Excellent condition and the right colour too. Put it away in the basement. I’m thinking all this plastic would be best handled on a warm, sunny day, out on the lawn. Meantime I can polish out a few very light marks.

[RAFster122s]

Congratulations on finding a very nice donor, big plastics on cars are a fortune and becoming  more common. It really drives up repair costs when these parts are damaged beyond repair, or repairs are problematic or extremely time consuming.

[BenelliSEI]

Congratulations on finding a very nice donor, big plastics on cars are a fortune and becoming  more common. It really drives up repair costs when these parts are damaged beyond repair, or repairs are problematic or extremely time consuming.

David….. I’ve been searching for +5 months. This one was nicely shrink wrapped, on a pallet, and included the rear wheel arch mouldings, bumper beam, foam insert and 4 X plastic corner brackets. None of the tabs and inserts are broken and it is virtually unblemished. Same colour as my car too! All for less than US$275. I pretty pleased.

P.S. a new Volvo part was 6X that and unpainted. Ridiculous. No wonder cars get written off so quickly.

[grcamna2]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

Tow truck drivers need LOTS more training than they get when they first begin.

[BenelliSEI]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

Tow truck drivers need LOTS more training than they get when they first begin.

Fortunately Tim caught him on his one security camera and my paint was still on the back of his truck when he came back. The guy was denying hitting anything! He actually left a good scratch on the glass hatch. Why it didn’t blow out is a mystery!

I’ll probably waste a day replacing it. The small tow hitch needs a good coat of fresh paint, so the job will “grow”.

[Stev-o]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

Tow truck drivers need LOTS more training than they get when they first begin.

Fortunately Tim caught him on his one security camera and my paint was still on the back of his truck when he came back. The guy was denying hitting anything! He actually left a good scratch on the glass hatch. Why it didn’t blow out is a mystery!

I’ll probably waste a day replacing it. The small tow hitch needs a good coat of fresh paint, so the job will “grow”.

Are you going to file a claim with his insurance?

[BenelliSEI]

A few months ago, a tow truck driver managed to back into my 2008 Volvo C30 and split the rear bumper skin (it was parked at my buddies auto repair shop for a small service I was too lazy to do myself). I’ve been regularly searching the internet for a replacement and stumbled on one today! Same colour and only 40 miles away. Going to check it out this afternoon. Gotta love the web!

Tow truck drivers need LOTS more training than they get when they first begin.

Fortunately Tim caught him on his one security camera and my paint was still on the back of his truck when he came back. The guy was denying hitting anything! He actually left a good scratch on the glass hatch. Why it didn’t blow out is a mystery!

I’ll probably waste a day replacing it. The small tow hitch needs a good coat of fresh paint, so the job will “grow”.

Are you going to file a claim with his insurance?

He paid cash.

[gotorx7]

Narrowed down a problem on my Mazda RX-7 which was created grinding noises when reversing...

I had convinced myself it was a broken Diff, but disconnecting the handbrake cable has resolved it.

Next step - find out why the handbrake (which seems to work just fine) is not releasing properly..

[Don R]

 The last I knew real deal steel was 4 months out on building me a new 69 firebird body, I emailed to get the order going but now it's 18 months.
 I waited too long, speculators flooded orders in to get their metal bought and beat the tariffs.

[Kelly E]

Today we got the steering, front suspension assembled and most of the disc brake conversion kit as well. I'm still sanding the front cargo rack. I have to get more .17" vent line to finish replacing them. Only the fan motor vent line is still good. I've got the rear differential and brake vent lines done. And I still have to prep and paint the wheels before I get new tires. It still has the original tires date coded in 99'.

[Don R]

 Not a vehicle but I decided to service my old free to me 14" Poulan chain saw today. When I pulled out the primer bulb the fuel lines fell into so many pieces, I had to watch a video to see where they go.
 I bought a kit last year so I had everything it needed. The challenge is the fuel lines make their seal to the gas tank by a tight fit where they enter the tank. You have to shave down a couple inches of the tube and stick it through the hole, then grab it with forceps to drag it in then cut off the end and add the swinging filter.
 What a treat.

[Terry in Australia]

Not a vehicle but I decided to service my old free to me 14" Poulan chain saw today. When I pulled out the primer bulb the fuel lines fell into so many pieces, I had to watch a video to see where they go.
 I bought a kit last year so I had everything it needed. The challenge is the fuel lines make their seal to the gas tank by a tight fit where they enter the tank. You have to shave down a couple inches of the tube and stick it through the hole, then grab it with forceps to drag it in then cut off the end and add the swinging filter.
 What a treat.

The same thing happened to my cheap Aldi weed whacker Don. I couldn't work out how it wasn't starting until I realised that both the fuel line and return line had gone hard and broken just above the tank grommet. I didn't have any fuel line that tiny in OD so I bodged it with some 5mm fuel line that was a tight fit over the outside. It worked in a fashion, but as it's pretty hot here right now, I was wearing work shorts and didn't enjoy the gasoline dripping down the back of my bare leg and into my boot. I ordered 2 sets of lines and won't use that death trap again until they arrive.

[Terry in Australia]

Ever seen a set of sparkplugs like these? I decided to replace the plugs on my "Dedicated Gas" (a 50/50 mix of propane and butane) Ford truck. It was only serviced 10,000 miles ago, but the NGK plugs are screwed. How it even started amazed me, the white stuff was actually bridging the electrodes in a couple of them, yet I was still getting really good "gas" mileage. The gap is supposed to be .8mm, some of the old one's gaps were twice that. 

Ute plugs 23 Jan 2025 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Over here "Gas" is less than half the price of petrol, so of course it's being phased out, and in a year or so I'll probably have to either convert it to petrol, or just buy a petrol version. It's a shame, it's probably one of the cleanest 23 year old trucks I've seen, and a credit to the previous owner/s.

Ute plugs 23 Jan 2025 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Falcon and K1 26 May 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Stev-o]

The last I knew real deal steel was 4 months out on building me a new 69 firebird body...

Hey Don - what is "real deal steel"??   We had no problem finding body parts for the '69 Goat we are restoring.  What do you need?

Are you familiar with Firebird Central?

https://www.firebirdcentral.com/FIREBIRD_SHEET_METAL_PARTS_s/254.htm

[Kelly E]

Terry, can you install a carb or would you have to go to fuel injection?

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, can you install a carb or would you have to go to fuel injection?

I don’t think so Kelly, and the EFI petrol versions are common and cheap, so my thoughts are to buy a cheap one and transfer everything across, then get rid of the remains of the second ute. I thought about buying the V8 version (302 Windsor) as I love V8’s, but from memory the standard V8 version only produced around 185 Kw (250 BHP) and because the dedicated gas 6 cylinder version (mine) have a special high compression head to go with the 115 octane (or thereabouts) gas, if I buy a mild cam and extractors (headers) mine will make 185 Kw, with much better fuel economy.

I don’t mind that at all, as it only makes around 130 BHP on dedicated gas. It’ll be a big job transferring everything across, but as I’m retiring at the end of the year, it’ll be a good project. The other benefit of converting mine is that because dedicated gas engines produce next to no carbon, the engines last forever and the oil is as clean as it was when I changed it 5000 miles ago, so my engine will be in better condition than the donor truck’s engine.

[scottly]

Terry, can the engine be operated on straight propane instead of "dedicated gas"?