Maybe I'll work on my..... something.

I said F it. I took my gun savings and ordered a new Sure-Grip (LSD), 3.23 gears, and a new install set. Everything came in today. Picked the housing up from powder coating yesterday.
Waiting on one bearing to get here to hone it out for making setup bearings. That way, I can figure out the shims without having to press and remove the new bearings multiple times.


Toilet for the trailer was scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, but UPS is apparently having issues and it seems to not have moved to acceptance of the package.

 

Can't load it while turning, but got the pattern to show a bit.

 

Started building the trunk floor, but can't do any grinding. So, I'm at a standstill on that. Got the rear end completely assembled minus brake calipers. It is now sitting on the floor in the second bedroom along with the wheels/tires so they are out of the way and not getting covered in dust.
Working on trim work inside the trailer and awning/trim on the street side. Had to put the arms up so that I could figure out where to put the rails. These are my $100 new power awning arms. I don't have a tube and fabric yet, so I need to make some arm locks to keep the arms closed when I cut the zip ties off.

 

Got the awning rails located with most holes drilled and held with clecko pins. The ones that aren't drilled yet go into steel ribs and my drill bit sucks.
I also got the trim pieces that go over the overlap cut to size and shape. However, I can't mount them permanently until I mount the arms permanently as I cut them to cover the top lip of the awning arm mounts.

 

Been holding off on visiting the page. Glad I did. Lots of new neat stuff to check out. I like the FW rack.

 

I try holding off on visiting this page too. Every time I do, it is because I spent money/need to spend money/have to stop being lazy and do some work.

I might have the trailer done enough to take an on-site night watchman job for one of the local logging companies this winter if the VA doesn't get me scheduled for surgery.
Sept budget is going into building my propane system and finishing the plumbing inside. Waiting for fire restrictions to ease up so I can finish building the grey tank rack.

 

Fitted up the grey tank. Borrowed some space in an industrial area to weld up the base, have cleco pins holding it in place.
It is about 1/8

" from the front axle when the axle is fully tucked (full weight of the trailer on the front axle only). That is as far back as I could get it between the floor supports. Im debating if I like that or if I want to move it further back, but under the supports. It would be lower but still between the axles.

 

Getting ready to start building the brake system. Put the skinny tires on the back to keep the fatties clean. Looks like she skipped leg day for a while....

 

Toilet just arrived.

 

Got a Lippert Solid Step for $100. Used but in very good condition. Need to modify the latch since my door doesn't open all the way flat to the wall.

 

Props to Hedman customer service. I sent them an email expressing my concern on QC on a $200 set of header flanges that should have never even gotten past the first weld. Quickly got an email back from someone up the chain telling me that there was another set headed my way.
Once the second set of flanges arrived, I stuck some metal together.

 

Decided that I didn't like the grey tank mount. So, I rebuilt it. Now, grey tank is centered between the axles with 2" of insulation all the way around except the fitting end and sump which will have 1" to allow for use of a tank heater on the sump and level sensors on the end. With 2" of foam under the floor, when I put the underbelly on and insulate/box in the hoses, it will be a true 4 season trailer.
With relocating the tank, I can tuck either axle all the way up and still get my arm between the axle and tank bracket. Plenty of room.
The T fitting is for allowing the sink drain and the shower sump pump to go into one fitting on the tank, that way the sump pump doesn't have to go into the 1/2" fitting on the bottom which would cause the sump pump to have back pressure anytime there is water in the tank.

 

Surgery scheduled for next month that will hopefully get me back to being useful next year to get to work on my property. Until then, just tinkering.
Need to clean the surface rust off the rotors on the '40, put the pads on, and bleed the brakes. Picked up a new wire harness. Once those are done, she will be drive able. Granted, it will be loud with open headers. But I can run open headers on the street legally because it is classified and registered as a hot rod/special purpose vehicle. I'll probably put some angles on the collectors to get the exhaust away from the body.
Anyways..... Not mine, but my father picked up a 2001 Focus ZX3 to get back and forth to work as the state decided they don't like him saving money by parking his work truck at the police station and now he has to drive 40 miles a day to the office to get his work truck just to come back.
The focus has some issues that I am getting taken care of for him before I will be down. Cleaning the engine today & tomorrow. It gets hot at +65 on the highway. So, I will be flushing the coolant system, taking the radiator out to chase the tubes/replace rad if needed, replacing the WP (hoses and thermostat housing are recent replacements by PO by looking at them). Will replace the valve cover gasket since it leaks, and will check & replace timing belt & pulleys if they aren't new.
Doing the work and buying the parts for it as my birthday gift to him.
It was pretty nasty inside and outside, but cleaned up very well. @ $1300, it is muchh better than other cars he checked out and I think he should be able to break even on it when it's time to sell it in 3 years when he retires. He wanted a commuter car so he doesn't put the miles and mpg on his new Tundra.
Only dripping leak is the PS pump which will be ordered along with new hoses if it isn't just a loose hose.
For some reason, the PO wired the front marker lights to the brake lights with wires that run up the top of the car, down the windshield, then through the engine bay to the front. I will be removing that wiring and either fixing the factory wiring or running new wiring to turn the front markers on with ign.
Enough rambling....

 

Focus: ordered wp, timing belt set with pulleys and seals, timing alignment tool set, thermostat (looked new but didn't even consider opening in 5 min of sitting in boiling water), radiator (po hit something that jammed the lower brace upwards which bent the radiator). Did a chemical and hot water flush today, found that at some point the PO had mixed in dexcool. There was a bit of the orange sludge at the bottom of the radiator, and a bunch jammed up in the heater core which explained to me why the heater didn't seem all that great. I also got to cleaning the engine/trans with purple power and a solvent brush. It cleaned up pretty darn good.
Tomorrow, I am pulling the radiator and fixing the lower brace. I'll push the car back out and do another hot water flush of the engine and heater core (just because), then start working on the wiring.
I need to find a schematic for it. The front signals (and dash signals) turn on solid when you hit the brakes, and brake lights and hazards don't work unless the ign is in the run position.

 

Focus- only thing that doesn't work properly now is the AC. Compressor is locked up.
Trailer- using my downtime from surgery to get small stuff done. I picked up some metal roofing from HD to make the enclosed underbelly. Went with red because I was able to get it for 40% off due to damage (whole stack of it was on a forklift without bracing so it all had buckling and the person on the forklift hit one corner on a wall causing bends on the edge) since they couldn't order more until that stack is low. I finished up the red panels just before it got dark, I need to get one sheet of flat sheet to do the front 2ft as the front of the trailer didn't give a spot to attach the front edge of the panels since they sit above the bottom of the frame rails. That will provide additional protection to the gas line and also (more importantly) keep wind from catching the front edge of the panels and pulling them down.

 

Glad you're back. Hopefully your procedure went well and you'll be good from now on.

 

Thanks. That's what I'm hoping. Of course, only 2 weeks post-op, I'm sore and limited on what I can do. But, I can definitely feel the changes to how the nerves were compressed. Will be getting scans done again in Jan to visualize final placement of the implant and make sure everything stayed where it was suppose to.
Hopefully with this surgery and getting the trailer liveable, I'll be able to get on with one of the logging companies as a watchman. Depending on how it feels in a yr or 2, I have an open offer as a mechanic. Just need to be able to function and not get worn down in an hour or two.

 

So, driving the '40 around with just headers is definitely a bad idea even if it sounds awesome. The rumble is enough to change your heartbeat and make your ears bleed. But, it also rattles windows at the elem school. So, she will be parked again until I get all the parts in to put my side pipes back on and hook them up.

 

I've had that experience with a couple of GTOs back in the late 60s in the bay of a gas station. Even though it was a 3 bay garage and both ends of the bays had open doors. Very few people ever believed me. My heart would 'skip' every 30-40 seconds.

I've also been in the pits and watched guys like Don Garlits go on their hands and knees by their upturned headers, stopping and listening to each tube / cylinder. Suspect those guys were all deaf at a young age.

Glad you got it moving!

 

Today, I built the brackets for the shower sump pump and for the propane tanks. The sump pump brackets are made of 1.25" angle to give enough edge to hold a wood base and allow mounting to galvanized sheet as a skin to protect it from road debris. There will also be 1.5" of insulation around it to help keep it from freezing. There is no trap between the drain and sump pump (pump has a backflow valve), so the heat inside the bathroom will help also.
For the propane tank base, I wanted it to sit between the spare tires. So, I used angle to go across the A frame and welded it to the tire mount brackets. This setup seems to work best as it is solidly mounted, yet still removable.
All brackets got dropped off at the sandblaster today and will get coated with POR15 once I get them back.