Search results

A dog shock collar with the wire buried in the yard. I'll bet that'd put an end to his walk-abouts. Really, I'm not kidding. If a dog can be trained with it, I'll bet a 3 year old can.

And since he was appointed by T R U M P during his previous administration, I doubt he will be replaced, unless it's with someone with even fewer, if that's possible, credentials.

Each of the two sets of four drive axles still have a long wheelbase, much longer than the common three axle trucks on diesels, so that limits how tight of a curve it can negotiate without risking derailing. I don't think the Big Boys had any unflanged drivers as a few steam locomotives did to...

I'll bet the crew appreciates that big furnace in front of them in weather like that, but not so much in the summertime.

I think we need a separate Amazon thread...

If you like videos about restoring old computer systems to operating order, give Usagi Electric's YT channel. He recntly got a Bendix G15 vacuum tube computer from the 1950s up and executing code read from paper tape. He even built a 1 bit vacuum tube computer that is mounted on his wall, that...

Stearns Computers, they were in Minnesota, I believe, and made PC's that were somewhat IBM compatible, ran a proprietary version of DOS. One of my customers had one, said he had paid over $10K for the computer, keyboard, monochrome monitor, tape backup and an Okidata 132 column printer. It ran...

When I was working for P & H Electronics in my college days, one of the techs working on a radar system got a finger in the wrong place and got it cooked pretty badly.

I have to remember to turn my headlight switch back to AUTO every time I get the oil changed, because when they check the lights they always turn the switch to OFF.

I guess it's just too difficult to move that little lever when you're holding your cell phone with one hand and fiddling with the infotainment/HVAC controls with the other hand. Of course, then there's the clicking flasher noise that is so annoying.

I used to get a lot of service calls from friends that had bought Packard-Bell computers, and once they were out of warranty they were junk. I could usually salvage the HD and put in a new computer. I found that the power supplies were the weakest component, but keyboards were junk too.

The guy in the foreground is applying oil to the inside of the rail to cut down wear in the wheel flanges. In some areas, they used to have oilers on the rails that would apply lube to wheels on the outside rails of a turn to help them negotiate the turn with less friction.

The locomotives are all computer controlled now. Whatever power setting the lead, or master locomotive is set at, the others are set at also. The systems monitor the traction motor current draws and rpm to keep all the axles pulling the same amount. In addition, there are wheel slip detectors...

If you rebuild the spindles, they use generic bearings you can get from a local bearing house. Check their prices before you buy them from JD.

When I had it checked at the Chevy dealer, they said all the shocks and struts were bad, wore out or malfunctioning. It never triggered a code in the suspension system, so no light ever came on in the dash. Since I had the delete kit and standard shocks and struts installed, it rides as well as...

General Electric Generator Car Special train w/caboose west on UP Jeff City Sub 12/27/24

I stumbled across this video about a mechanical drive diesel locomotive developed by a Colonel Fell in England in the early 1950s, that used four diesel engines and special gearboxes.

My first car would be 65 years old.

One of my pet peeves is people walking/jogging on the road at dusk or after dark in dark clothing and with no light or reflective clothing. I have damn near hit several people that pull that stupid trick out here in the country. Between those idiots and the deer, you have to watch like a hawk...

Sounds good to me! I wish you were closer Sandman, I would love to give you a hand on the '66.

Thanks, I appreciate the comments. A '66 Chevy? Impala, Chevelle, Chevy II? I had a '66 Impala SS 396 back in 1968, beautiful car, Marina Blue with white bucket seat interior, loved that car. Unfortunately, I had a rear tire disintegrate at 55 MPH one Sunday morning, and I went off the road and...

Because they're an idiot.

No pictures, but I finally got to drive the Nova yesterday for the first time since I installed the engine with the new Dart block. The roads have been wet or it's been pretty cold since I finished it up, but Monday it was in the 40s and the roads were dry, so I took it for a 10 mile drive...

I measured the loading space in the Suburban with the two rows of rear seats folded down, and it looks like 8' lumber would fit.

That's quite a spread. Where do I sign up?

I still have a couple of cans of black and silver spray paint that I know were bought in the late 70s, and they still work, I just used some of the black last week.

Chevy never offered a V8 in the Vega, only four bangers. There were a lot of them installed by others after they left the factory, though.

The early British diesels were sure were some homely looking beasts. Even the modern ones are strange looking.

Got to put the Suburban to the test this week, my daughter and her family were here to visit for Christmas, and the five of us went a few places in it. They have a '19 Tahoe Premier, and other than the extra 2 feet of the Suburban, the interiors are identical. The more I drive it, the more I...

A lot of the wire coming out of China today is copper coated aluminum, and is worthless. Aluminum fatigues and breaks after a couple of bends.

Recently I bought a 2019 Suburban Premier, and one of the options it hasit the Max Towing package. From the beginning I thought the ride was on the rough side, but I figured it was the the air suspension/ shocks. One day I stopped at the local Chevy dealer and asked about it and they looked up...

Didn't they try that 10-15 years ago?

As long as I curtail my liquid intake a few hours before bedtime, I can make it through the night just fine without having to get up a make a run to the bathroom during the night.

I only see one chain at the rear of the machine, it needs a lot more than are visible. I don't know, the specs say it weighs 78,000lbs, and I think most of the weight is going to be in the rear of the machine. Regardless, he is going to be overweight on his drive and trailer axles. Steer axle...

We wouldn't need as many lawyers if there weren't so many stupid and dishonest people.

I had never noticed that before, and I'm kind of a punctuation nit picker.

Product packaging in general. Sometimes, no, I'm certain, that product packaging designers have stock in plastics companies, so the more plastic in the packaging, the better. Sub-pet peeve: Packaging, mostly on products that hang from rods on displays, that are damn near impossible to get open...

Hey Hickerson, get any snow in Gaylord? ;)

An arm and a leg.

I bought a Bluetooth keyboard that I use if I'm at home and need to send some texts. Lots easier than the tiny one on the phone.

Yes, it always amazed me that I could put new shoes and drums on a semi tractor or trailer cheaper than I could on a car or pickup truck. The exceptions were a couple of trucks that had wedge brakes instead of the S-cam type, those 15" Centrifuse drums were $250 apiece. I change a couple of...

Yes, the AFM was one thing that concerns me, but as long as it works, I'll probably let it function. I did see the devices that attach to the OBDII port to disable it, and I might try one of those, as long as it doesn't interfere with anything else in the system. If it didn't require removing...

A friend came over today, and he gave me a hand putting the hood back on, so it's finally completely done, again. After he left, I pulled the tractors out and then the Nova, and swept out that side of the shop, as there was some Oil-Dri, dirt (I don't know where all the dirt comes from), and...

5030, it has the GM six speed transmission, but the Carfax report shows that was serviced at ~70K miles, and only has 97K on it now. Once it gets another 10K or so on it, I'm going to take it to a local shop and have it gone over to make sure everything is up to date on maintenance. Everyone...

Yep, I liked it when I saw the pictures online, and liked the color even more when I saw in in person. I stopped at the grocery store this afternoon, and parked next to a Chevy pickup that was the same color. Hold out for the Tahoe.

I finally found a vehicle, and ended up buying a 2019 Suburban Premier. I couldn't find a Tahoe that suited me, so I widened my search to include Suburbans. Still, 75-80% pf them were either black or white, which I didn't want. I had a couple of false starts, one I liked was priced right, called...

The BEST Christmas movie. It ain't Christmas until Hans Gruber is blown backwards out of the window in Nakatomi Tower.

There was no squeal, it's something the video introduced to the audio. Might possibly be the sound of the starter engaging. I started it a few times, and I heard no squeal.

Oh, that's just evil!

Reminds me of anti-sieze. Once you open it up, be consigned to the fact that you're going wear some of it. But I still use a lot of it. Gotta take the bad with the good.

I got her started up today. 😁 Had to install the shifter boot and fill the coolant, I only spilled about a cup which is a record for me. I only had to crank it for five seconds or so before it fired, but wouldn't stay running until I gave the distributor a little counterclockwise twist. Put the...

That sounds like a beast! Actually, I'm going to look at one tomorrow, a '19 Suburban Premier with 90K miles that lived in Florida until a couple of years ago. Should last me for as long as I will be driving.

Another pet peeve of mine, is people that stand in line at a fast food joint, talking on their phone or BSing with the others in their group, and then when they get to the counter to order, they can't decide what the hell they want. Grrrrr!

Well, I have it almost done. Worked for a little over three hours this afternoon, and got everything done except for installing the shifter and trim plate, and filling it with coolant. I messed up and didn't install two bolts in the backs of the heads that hold the ignition wire loom braces...

Or there's a woman, usually, that has an "organizer" full of coupons and it takes her a few minutes to dig several of them out that aren't for that store, or are expired, and then proceed s to whine about it. Grrrrrr! Should be special aisle for coupon and discount code users, manned by a hard...

A while back, I came across another term that is used to describe what we, in this area call "doing donuts." I think in Minnesota they call it "whipping shitties." Someone needs to check out what may be in the water up there. Urban Dictionary: whipping shitties

Okay, on a lighter note, it's back to the car, again. I think with all the goings on and all the work tearing it down and putting it all back together, I was kind of burned out from all the work on it, but I'll get back at it now. Went down to the shop this afternoon and spent a couple of hours...

Thanks everyone for the condolences, I appreciate it.

No, different houses, but only a mile apart and only four miles from where I have lived for the last 50 years.

I have been tempted to stop at the houses that my parents grew up in and ask to take a look around. I know that they look small on the outside compared to what they did when I was little.

Sorry I haven't posted any updates for a while, but one of my sisters passed away two weeks ago, and I had my other sister and daughter staying with me last week, so I had no time for other things. The sister that passed had been in really poor health for years. She had had four back surgeries...

Yeah, what he said. ⬆️ Doesn't look like a good idea to me.

Millennial Asphalt Cowboys. Fancy boys with fancy trucks that never see the mud. The loud, smoking Cummins and Duramaxes are really annoying, don't give a s#!t about the environment or other people. it's all about "Look at me."

Jeep drivers are the biggest offenders using non-DOT lights that are flood lights, not focused beam lights. I guess the "It's a Jeep thing" meme is about being an a-hole and not caring about blinding oncoming drivers.

A few years ago, I picked up an Electromotive 645E3 overhaul manual at a flea market. I've spent hours browsing that manual, those engines are amazing pieces of engineering, especially the fabricated, not cast, engine blocks. Although the main bearing saddles and some other parts are cast and...

Back in the 70s, we hauled a lot of slag aggregate out of the Levy Company and Bethlehem Steel in Gary. When we went into the steel plant to load, there would often be torpedo cars setting on tracks waiting to be loaded or cooling down so they could be relined with refractory brick.

I reconcile my CC statements with what I have in Quickbooks every month. I try to get a receipt for every CC charge so I can enter it in QB, except for a couple of auto pay items, like cell phone bill. If I don't get a receipt, I make a note so I can enter it later, and I print out any Amazon...

When I drove truck back in the mid 70s, we used to stop there when we went through Amarillo on the way to CA. They had a pen out back with a buffalo in it. A wall had the signatures of people who had eaten the 72 oz. steak meal. I tried to get my driver/BIL to try it, but he didn't think he could.

My latest pet peeve is car dealers that list online and don't seem to know what the vehicle is priced at. I called to make sure the vehicle was still available, drove 70 miles to the dealer, took it for a test drive, and when they quoted me the price, it was $4K higher than the listed price. I...

Yes, Martin in Michigan and Bunker Hill are the two closest drag strips that I know of. I had called the salesman and told him I was on the way to the dealer to test drive the Suburban with a check in my pocket, five minutes away, when the salesman called me back and said it had been sold, so...

I talked to a local shop that has an engine dyno, and he said he has a two week backlog and wants $500-$1000 depending on how many pulls it takes. The shop that I bought the block from has a chassis dyno that I will probably take it to, he gets $150 for three pulls. Not sure, but I'm not going...

I got the oil pan installed today. The new gasket came Tuesday, but my daughter and youngest sister are in town for some family business, so I haven't had much time to work in the shop. I kind of got ahead of myself when I installed the flywheel and clutch, as I forgot that I hadn't installed...

Didn't have much time to spend in the shop today, but I did get the bellhousing dialed in. Surprisingly, I ended up using the same offset dowel on the left side that I used on the other block, so it mush be the bellhousing that is machined out of true. With the stock dowels, it was off by as...

The oil pan paint job came out great, surprising, considering that I painted it in front of the shop to keep the overspray out, and the wind was blowing like crazy. Mounted the oil pump and laid the pan gasket on the block, and discovered it isn't made for a stroker crank like the previous...

Has Hop Along Cassidy been mentioned? I always thought Penny on Sky King was hot. I liked the the old Bamboo Bomber better than the C310 he got later on. Round engines rule!

As long as it fulfills your needs, and you can get parts for it, ignore the naysayers and keep using it.

Call the DOT, his safety chains aren't hooked up.

Made a lot of progress today. I got both heads torqued down in three steps, 35, 50 and 70 ft.lbs. Then, after I lubed them up really well, I dropped all the lifters in their bores.I didn't degree the cam since I had done that when I had originally assembled the engine, and as all the parts are...

I'm lucky, I could never stand the taste of coffee, but have a Diet Coke addiction instead.

Pot smokers that reek of pot and act stupid. Those are generally the ones who also b***h about the price of groceries, gas and other necessities, but think nothing spending $100 a week on weed.

The calculated compression ration is ~10.8:1. Dynamic compression ratio, taking into account the valve closing timing is more like 9.5:1.

Got to work on the engine for a while this afternoon. I had gotten the rest of the pistons installed yesterday, and after running some errands this afternoon, I installed the cam, chain, sprocket, and timing cover. It's a two piece and when I installed the cover, the top three bolts that are...

Got started installing rods and pistons today. Got everything assembled on the bench so I could get this done in an efficient fashion. The oil rings are really fiddly to get assembled and in position, In addition to the two rings and expander, there is a spacer ring that sets at the bottom of...

The only locomotives powered by inline engines that I know of were Fairbanks-Morse and Lima (MLW). Since the 60s, all GE and EMDs were powered by V engines, even the EMD SW switchers.

The CAT 3406, Cummins 855 and L10s wet wet liner engines.

A lot of gear oil containers will say right on the container that they are suitable for synchromesh transmissions.

And then if it goes titsup, you know who to blame.

I have been working on cars since I had my first car, a 59 Buick, that I converted from a 2 barrel carb to a four barrel and installed dual exhaust with Cherry Bomb mufflers. Then, working in the family construction company operating and working on construction equipment and later in trucks and...

I'm pretty good at double checking things. That's one good thing about going slowly on projects like this, it gives me time to go over not just my written checklist, but also my mental checklist. A few times, I have caught myself and gone back and corrected something. I have had the same...

If I can put on clean undies in the morning without falling over, it's gonna be a good day.

That's a good looking FAST Mustang you had there. FYI, a 4" X 4" V8 is a 402 cu.in. You have to go to 4.125" bore to get 427 cubes. My 434 is just a 0.030" over 427. Pulled all the paper off the block today, it looks pretty good, really orange. Spent about an hour chasing out all the threaded...

Yes, it's a 4" stroker rotating assembly I got from Eagle. 4.155" bore and 4" stroke give me 434 cubes. From what little I drove it so far, it is a real torque monster with that long stroke. Interestingly, the stock 400 block required less grinding to get clearance than the new Dart block did...

Automatics can be scary to work on if you haven't doen it before. Years ago I have a Town Car that suddenly lost all forward gears. After calling several trans shops and getting different diagnoses and widely varying prices, I bought a manual on Ford AOD transmissions and took it parat myself. I...

I keep my beard short, about 1/4", in the summer, but let it grow out longer in the winter to help keep my face warm when outside.

The reversible fans we had on out TD-15C and TD-20B had blades that rotated about 180° so the blade was the same profile, just moving air the opposite direction. Would have them blow hot air forward in the summer and back over the operator in the winter.

Those old Geeps were pretty simple machines compared to the present generation of locomotives.

Well, I spent about 4 hours carefully grinding on my new block to get the rods to clear the pan rail. The carbide burr I had worked really well, was easy to remove material where I wanted and left a fairly smooth surface. When I was done, I swept up the material on the floor amd it wold probably...

A local aggregate hauler had a fleet of short nosed KW tractors pulling dump trailers back in the 70s and 80s with V903s in them. I don't remember if hey were turbocharged or not, was a long time ago, nut I do remember the drivers called them 90 nuthins. If I remember correctly, the VT430...

A long time ago, I was at Weller Truck Parts in Grand Rapids, MI with a friend. He was looking to buy a Cummins VT8-430 to put in a Freightliner cabover, and Weller said they had several takeouts, and they were cheap. They actually had 10 or 12 of them in a pile, said he could have the whole...

Maybe he'll head over to the Flat Earth thread and sow some discontent there.

I wonder what he's shopping for? Underwear, shorts and baby wipes, I hope.

Back on topic, my ordering from Amazon has slacked off a lot lately, I just don;t need a lot of things any more. I also try to at most order once or twice a month by adding items to my cart, unless it's something I need quickly.

Same here. I think my can of Barbasol is over 15 years old, and a bag of the Bic disposables last me 3 or 4 years. Of course whith a beard that covers a lot of my face, I only shave my cheeks and neck. Doing it fresh out of the shower, the whiskers are pretty soft and I'm sure that makes the...

You can see the bow thruster opening on the starboard side in the picture.

Gee, I guess a little thread drift gets your undies in a twist. There are other threads on this site, FYI.

I got all the rings gapped this afternoon, and once I got started, it went pretty quickly. The cheapo ring filer I bought from Summit Racing works pretty well, just hold the ring in place and turn the crank. According to the directions with the ring package, the top ring gets a 0.018" gap...

I picked up the block today, brought it back and hung it on the engine stand. Spent about two hours deburring sharp edges, deck water passages, main bearing bores and casting flash. One thing this block does differently than a stock block is to direct all the oil in the lifter valley to drain...

I had a talk with my optometrist a several months ago about that. On the previous visit I waited 45 minutes for her to show up after the assistant did all her tests and questions. Only waited about five minutes this time. Regular doctors have been pretty punctual on my visits to them lately...

The items in the reflection are in the center of the dash, directly under the dash cam and not in my line of sightm and not even visible at night.

Diesel fuel also has about 10% more BTUs per gallon than gas, which is one of the reasons diesel powered vehicles get better MPG than gas powered vehicles. Also, the higher compression ratios needed for diesels makes them more efficient.

...Deer that stand on the road when it's almost dark. Dang near hit one this evening coming past a corn field. Camera made it look lighter than it was.

I had a cheap chest freezer in my hangar at the airport to store ice and meat for hangar parties for 18 years, never shut it off, and never had a problem. A friend has had it in his garage now for the last 3 years and it's still working fine.

If it's got t*ts or tires, you're gonna have problems with it.

Agreed. Point taken.

Trad is either a troll or an idiot.

In the 70s, working in construction and driving truck, I was up at 4AM-6AM, depending on the job that day. In the 80s-2000s working in a brokerage and then working out of my home office, I was usually up at 7AM. I am not a morning person, never was, but I am a night owl, rarely in bed before...

Yikes!

Is that the one that used to sit on the south side of the Ireland road exit on the 20 bypass?

Decided to paint the oil pan today, started sanding on it to scuff it up for paint, and it seemed pretty thin, so I put in the blast cabinet and took all the paint off. It's good I decided to blast it, as the paint literally blew off, wasn't bonded to the metal at all. I gave it a coat of...

Back in the '70s, the story was they could get 100 MPG with a carburetor. So I guess with EFI, the figure, they say, is 300 MPG.

That's what I was thinking about, just have to figure out a place to put it. Too damn much "stuff" in the shop. I could put it on a cart and also use my welder outlet, but still have to have a place to park it. What I need to do is to get the brakes fixed on my old Yale forklift and get some...

Unless you use a fusion reactor to fuse the hydrogen in the gas, it's not possible. Not enough heat energy in a gallon to move a vehicle 300 miles, unless you can do it on less than a 1/5th of a horsepower. Simple thermodynamics.

UPS brought a big box from Summit Racing today, right on schedule. Got it all unpacked and it all looks good. I checked out the new oil pan, as I had some concern about it being too deep where it sits over the crossmember, but the depth is almost exactly the same. Tomorrow, I'm going either...

Hopefully I have the new block the first of next week. Been getting parts that I'll need to get it all back together, like a new oil pan because the dipstick is on the right side instead of the left. I ordered a bunch of parts from Summit Racing yesterday, so I should have most everything I need...

I think this thread has drifted a bit off topic.

Vicks and Mercurochrome can cure anything.

No, that's not an issue. Besides, the block would eventually start rusting, and that will lead to other problems.

WTF happened there?

I'm going to paint it before I assemble the engine. That's what I did to the other block, and it'll be easier that after it's all together. Here are some pictures of the old block after masking and painting. I'll do the same to the new block.

Yes, it was. That was part of the prep on the block at the machine shop. But that was 12 years ago.

You know you're old when you wonder what part of you is going to start hurting next.

Maybe I should have done it in a checkerboard pattern like on rockets. ;) I dropped off a piston, lifter and the heads at the machine shop today, so he can bore the cylinders and lifter bores to the correct sizes. My new block was there, but still in the box.

Nothing, I just always wanted to paint a driveshaft like that.

Ditto!

This afternoon, I decided to put the barber pole stripe on the driveshaft like I had mentioned a while back. I pulled it out of the car, and after a few tries at using string and masking tape wrapped around it to lay the stripe out, I ended up used a piece of masking paper cut 5" wide wrapped...

Regarding the block distortion, I did some searching and found a thread on Hotrodders forum that discusses this issue, and the torque values recommended by ARP for the studs. After reading the thread, I remember that the torque ARP recommended was 80 ft lbs, not 70. I now remember that at the...

When my daughter's family lived in The Netherlands a few years ago, my SIL got a ticket for not waiting until the gates were all the way up and the flashing lights off before crossing at a rail crossing. My daughter go a ticket when she got confused and got into a bus only lane.

Oh yeah, the one on Main street was only three blocks from home when we lived in town. Did a lot of lusting for a bike from Western Auto.

I have the small (~18") suicide doors on my standard cab '06 F150. Gives good access to the space behind the seats.

That's a typical failure mode for LED lights. Usually a capacitor goes bad in the power supply circuit. It starts initially, but the oscillator circuit won't continue to run to power the light, so it goes off and tries all over again. A $.05 part kills the light. Same thing happens when you see...

I have gotten most all the parts cleaned up and inspected, so far everything looks good, with no surprises. One thing I did notice on the block was that every cylinder shows that the rings were losing seal at the top of the bore due to distortion from the head bolts. Every cylinder shows the...

I have no idea why it cracked there. When I talked to the tech at the speed shop, he said those blocks were known to have cracking prblems now that they're getting to be over 40 years old, but it is unusual for one to crack there. I do know that when I got the block and removed those two drain...

Well, the engine is out, again. Hopefully the last time. I worked on Wednesday and Thursday getting everything disconnected, I have it down to a science now. One of the hardest things is getting all the cable ties cut off the wiring harnesses, I use a lot of them to keep things neat and away...

That's what I was thinking too. There are no loading chutes visible, so they must use pneumatics, I would think,

Just curious, but the pictures of the Spruceglen at the grain elevators looks to be using a pneumatic system to load?

So, how's the project coming?

Back in 1997 when Ford changed the body style on the F150s, a local paint contractor bought a couple of them. About a year later I saw one of them ahead of me at a traffic light and it looked like it had been in a war. The tailgate was caved in on the top, the rear window was now a piece of...

And had automatic transmissions and chokes.

Thanks guys for the concern about the cracked block. I appreciate it. Talked to the machine shop tech today, and I'm going to go ahead and get a Dart SHP block for the replacement. He thought the same as I did that using another Chevy block could lead to the same or another problem down the...

Well good news and bad news. The good news is I finally have all the oil leaks fixed. The last one was the left valve cover gasket leaking. I couldn't see it on the side of the head, but I finally added some UV dye to the oil and drove it a while. When I jacked it up and shined the UV light on...

Yes, I do. In fact, Dad flew us in there a couple of times when he had his C172. I think one of his friends had a Cub based there. Was a cool place with all the old tail draggers and fabric covered planes. I think there was also a private strip just west of County Line Road/Ash Road, on the...

Pickerels. They were converting them to corporate planes, with interiors, seating, avionics upgrades and engine maintenance. The facility was also a dealer for Seabee amphibious planes, there is one in the picture on the right side.

Might need a parachute.

Very well said. (y)

Our municipal airport didn't have fences until after 9-11. That changed everything in aviation.

Those were different times, more respect for other's property, and more common sense as far as safety was concerned. Did you notice the helicopter in flight to the left of center of the picture? here is an amazing spectrum of planes in that picture form a Mooney Mini-Mite to a P-51 to a B-25. At...

One of the local airports I used to fly my ultralight into is now a Meijer's store. They also flew a lot of old war planes into and out of it back in the 60s. It was a really cool place to hang out as a kid. The road at the bottom of the picture is US33.

... shipwrecks?

Until some minor thing, that is of absolutely none of their business or of no consequence to their lives, offends the f@#$)#g snowflake.

Took the Nova to the alignment shop yesterday, got it done in the afternoon, and a neighbor took me to get it. It drives pretty much like it did before, but now the steering wheel is centered. The tech ended up removing all the shims I had installed when I assembled the suspension, and the...

So does she ever stop the cycle before the timer runs out and let the display keep flashing "Press Start to Continue" forever rather than hit Cancel?

I've had really good luck with microwaves I guess. I'm on my second one since '81 when the wife left. I think I've had the present GE unit for at least 20 years, and it get used nearly every day.

It's a combination, it has a subframe in the front, the rest is unibody. Camaros and Firebirds of that era were built the same way. GM called them X-bodies.

....When the X-ray and MRI techs know you by name.

He claimed it's putting out around 1,000HP, I'm not sure how much it would take to run in the 8s, but I imagine it would take close to that. I'm guessing mine will put about 400HP to the wheels, so around 500HP at the flywheel. I'm going to call Pro Motor to see when I could get it in to run it...

Decided to give the Nova a bath yesterday, I haven't washed a car since I washed it last, about 11 years ago. A wash mitt, some warm water and some Dawn soap got it soaped up good and used the hose to rinse it off. Picked up a large microfiber cloth at O'Reilly's that worked well to dry it off...

I still have my Snap-On carbon pile load tester from the 70s. Still works fine.

I'm still trying to decide what to do. I have an extra set of trim, and I made a tool out of a bolt that will slide through the underside of the trim and roll the top edge out, so hopefully it will go on over the vinyl. Still working on it though. At this point, I'm sort of leaning towards...

There is a local shop that has a chassis dyno, and I plan on taking it to them and let them put a tune on it. If I do, I'll get a video of that. It'll be interesting to see what the RWHP comes out to be.

So this week I've put about 90 miles on the Nova, with no problems. The oil leak is gone, and the coolant leak is gone too, finally. I took Brian for a ride on Thursday, and Ed, my old boss from the 80's came over on Friday and went for a ride. The engine is running really well, I've been...

Couldn't have been checking his mirrors very often, or he would have seen that happening. That's why we put PTO activated beeper alarms in the cabs of our semi-dumps.

The coolant was seeping out of the area below the #8 cylinder exhaust port, around the two rear outside head studs. Then it was running along the outside edge of the block, then down onto the starter, eventually dripping off the starter bolt or flywheel cover bolt. As a note, I think I mentioned...

Well, I'm an idiot sometimes, but we'll get back to that in a few minutes. So, Saturday I worked all afternoon getting everything reassembled and reconnected on the car. Filled the cooling system, everything looked good. When I started it, the loud scraping noise let me know I didn't get the...

I change mine every year.

Jeez, I had to mute the sound, her voice is like an unmuffled chainsaw. What ever it is they're hauling, it must be heavy, judging by the tire deflection. Of course, that rig is going to be pretty heavy too.

Well, it's back in the car, again. Put the flywheel, clutch, bellhousing and transmission on this afternoon. Got it rigged up on the cherry picker with a ratchet strap to get the angle right when I lowered it back into the car. It went in without a hitch, and got the trans mount in and bolted up...

Nor could I.

Yes, when I assembled the engine I calculated the static compression ration, taking all those things into account. Attached is the spreadsheet I used to calculate it. The static CR is 10.784:1, dynamic CR is 8.08:1. I also degreed the cam when I installed it. I set it straight up, neither...

UPS dropped the heads and gaskets off today, so I got started putting it back together. The AFR heads are really nice pieces of equipment, and although they are an as-cast head, the unmachined cast surfaces are pretty smooth. The water passage that was the problem on the Procomp heads is...

I'm not sure right now. I'm going to clean them up, bag them and put them on a shelf, then I may list them for sale on Craig's List or Marketplace. Without another block on hand, I'm not sure how the water passages will line up with those on other blocks, but I do know that head gaskets for most...

I talked to a tech at Summit racing this morning, and made sure the AFR heads have the steam holes that are required when used on a 400 SBC block, and they do. So I ordered a pair, all the gaskets I'll need, and a new set of plugs, since AFR recommends a different plug than what I have. This...

To do it correctly, you would have to make and press plugs into the holes, machine them flat, then drill holes in the correct locations. That would probably cost more than the heads are worth.

Yes, It was definitely leaking from the head. After finding the head bolts not being up to specified torque, I was mulling over whether just to retorque them and put it back together, or pull the head and take a look at the head gasket. I was wanting to get it back together and be done with it...

Got the new seal and gaskets today, and as the picture shows, the new seal will have overlap and won't have a gap at the ends. I thoroughly cleaned the seal bore, coated the journal with some oil and rolled the top half into place, then applied the anaerobic sealer to the block mating surface as...

Yes, when I was under the car looking at the oil leak, there was water running off the rear of the block, down onto the starter and dripping off a starter bolt. I don't think it was coming out at the rear of the intake, but could have been, I couldn't see that area as the firewall is in the way...

Okay, so I have it out, on the engine stand and the pan removed. Pulled the oil pan, oil pump and rear main cap. The sealant I applied at the rear of the cap was definitely sealing that area, and was adhering very well. The bottom half of the seal stayed on the crank as one end was clocked into...

Yeah, it was definitely oil under the center of the engine. Water was dripping off the starter on the right side.

I have an engine stand, but I really don't want to start it on that stand. Oh, it's definitely a leak. When I backed it into the shop, it left a drip every few feet or so. The picture was what leaked in a few minutes after I shut it off. As near as I can tell, it's coming from the same place...

I had automatic shutoffs on some of our trucks. High water temp or low oil pressure and the engine would shut down. They saved a couple of engines for us.

Well, balls.

I have an 18 volt to 20 volt Lithium adapter on my Dewalt impact driver, works great.

Some hump action at the Elkhart, IN yard.

I didn't take the Nova to the cruise-in, as it wasn't finished up yet, and none had vinyl tops, so I couldn't ask about that. Of all the Nova owners I've talked to, only one has spent longer on their rebuild or restoration than I have.

Well, it's done, again. I got the last items finished up yesterday, radiator, hoses, engine oil, set the timing and hang the exhaust. Today, Brian came over and gave me a hand putting the hood back on. That lined up just like it did before no problem. Tomorrow, I'll take it for a test drive and...

Yes, I am pretty proud of it. It's been WAY more of a project than I thought it would be when I started, but then you never know what kind of hidden surprises you may find! Thanks, but it has a few things I wish I would have done differently. Some it the gaps aren't as consistent as I would...

I spent all afternoon slowly reassembling things today. It doesn't seem like I get much done, but there are so many little things to do, and some of the bigger things end up taking two or three times as long as they should. For instance the distributor. Normally it takes a few minutes to get it...

Believe me, no it isn't. I would really rather have been driving it than pulling the engine, pullingit apart and putting it all back together again. I'm not a mechanical sadist. I did get it back in the car today and a few things reassembled. I'll probably have it done this weekend, if things...