mobiblog2500

Cooker/Smoker

2009-12-18T16:41:00.001-05:00

More fun

2009-10-06T14:55:00.002-05:00

The compressor continued to leak after being resealed, so I got a new Valeo style replacement. Before I was able to dive into that project though, the front block freeze plug started leaking. After a couple hours of work, I now have great access to the freeze plugs on both sides of the block. They will all be replaced with brass plugs as soon as I get the old ones out. To reinstall them, I am going to try using a palm nailer with a special hammer insert that I made on the lathe.

Resealed

2009-09-24T16:51:00.002-05:00

The gaskets arrived today, so we were able to get the compressor buttoned up with all new case gaskets, O-rings, and a front seal. With any luck, the van will have AC by Monday.

More compressor

2009-09-21T14:48:00.004-05:00

With the A/C delete pulley in place, I have been able to drive the van while working on the compressor. We stopped by NAPA and picked up a clutch puller/installer set today and removed the clutch and coil. The next step is disassembly of the compressor body, followed by cleaning and replacement of the 3 large O-rings and 2 metal gaskets between the separate body sections. The front bearing is in great shape, but the front seal will be replaced while the clutch is off.

Compressor

2009-09-19T14:27:00.002-05:00

I was able to get the compressor off today during Madison's nap. While under the hood, I was also able to get the dash AC controls working again, repair the blower motor high speed setting, and make the windshield washer pump squirt. The compressor gaskets come in Wednesday, so the compressor will be torn down over the next couple days and readied for reassembly.

Bumper

2009-09-15T14:56:00.003-05:00

The factory bumper and associated plastic cover is around $400, so we decided to fab up a bumper from 1/4" plate. There is still a fair amount of work to be done before it can be painted, but I think it is coming along nicely.

Back from the frame shop

2009-07-08T20:03:00.002-05:00

Here it is, all straightened out. The hood, grille, and bumper are toast, but everything else lined up very nice. The headlights are fine, and all the mounting points are intact.

New addition

2009-06-30T16:32:00.004-05:00

While cruising Craigslist, I found this in the "auto parts" section, being sold for parts. My curiosity got the better of me and I drove over to see it. Turns out, it is in really good shape except for the collision damage to the front end. I removed all of the carpet and most of the lower interior pieces to de-funkify them. The inside now looks very nice, but will need a few bits and pieces eventually. Immediately, the van needs a condenser, windshield, and hood. It will be going to a frame shop to get the core support pulled back into shape and the frame checked for straightness before I install the new parts.

2009-05-21T19:48:00.003-05:00

Standoff in the front yard

Headboard and treehouse

2009-05-18T12:24:00.003-05:00

Maddy's headboard is finished, and we got the playhouse moved into the room. We still have to lace a few more nets on the railings and carpet the inside of the top portion before she can play on it, though. More of Maddy's stuff HERE

Subaru 8, Knuckles 0

2009-05-17T11:38:00.003-05:00

Fired 'er back up around 7pm Saturday. After finding a small coolant hose that I had forgotten, (wet manifold) it now has about 80 miles on the new gaskets and everything looks great. The heads on this car are so close to the frame rails that the rocker shaft assemblies must be removed to gain enough clearance. Other than wrangling the heads in and out, there was nothing too challenging about the job. The torque sequence for the heads was comical though...8 steps of torque, release, torque to angle, torque only certain bolts then others, then torque to angle again.

Head gasket

2009-05-12T11:14:00.004-05:00

The driver side gasket was the worst overall, and the site of the final major breach that prompted the teardown. The graphite-ish layers on both sides had broken down and are flaking off over the entire gasket surface. You can see the path in the middle picture, running from the combustion chamber to the coolant passage. The heads are at the shop now and should be ready by Thursday or Friday.

Subaru

2009-05-11T09:27:00.004-05:00

We had to stop last night coming home from T-ville to add a little water to the Subaru. The symptoms pointed to a bad radiator cap, but as we got closer to home, it became obvious that it was more serious. I removed all of the accessories, intake, timing, etc last night and pulled one head this morning. I will get the other one off tonight. I am strangely upbeat about the situation and not sure why. I suppose because this confirms suspicions that we have had for about a year now. The car has been losing just the tiniest amount of water over the past year or so, and I dismissed it being a head gasket because the problem never progressed beyond adding a little coolant every month or so. One good thing is the cylinders still have a nice crosshatch after 220,000 miles, so I was happy to see that. I'll drop the heads by on Tuesday and try to get them back on the car this weekend so we can try for another 100K.

2009-05-07T20:39:00.003-05:00

This image is here for This ......Quick and dirty way to host the background image for Maddy's blog.

2009-03-29T10:01:00.002-05:00

The front yard is now slightly odoriferous, but that will likely calm down in the next few days as the sun dries out the upper layer. The manure was already composted fairly well and had a good amount of sand and wood chips mixed in.

2009-03-29T09:59:00.000-05:00

Here are the "containers". We left the bottom bead in one of the tires to create a theoretical water retention area. The other is free to exchange with the ground below.

2009-03-29T09:57:00.000-05:00

AFTER....about a ton of manure. We could have got another load, but I was worried about the tires.

The benefits of having a 1.25 ton truck

2009-03-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

BEFORE

What a load of crap

2009-03-29T09:54:00.004-05:00

Dee is starting a couple container gardens, so Ed and I drove into Bell Sat morning and picked up a load of cow manure from the dairy.

MIG cart/trailer

2009-01-19T11:33:00.003-05:00

I had the MIG mounted on the bed of the truck, but I found myself needing it less in the field and more in the shop. Occasionally, I do need to transport it and got tired of loading it in a trailer or on the back of the truck. So I built this little dual purpose trailer/cart setup. The tongue detaches just in front of the welder when the unit is in the shop, and with the single rear wheel, it is not too wide to be a useful shop cart.

It takes all kinds

2008-11-13T13:04:00.004-05:00

Unfortunately, those "all kinds" live near me. It is also entirely appropriate that camouflage is spelled wrong.

Simplicity

2008-09-13T20:23:00.002-05:00

The block has gone to the machine shop to be bored, and here is the head after soaking. The cam acts directly on hydraulic lash adjusters, so no rocker arms. I'll drop off the head when the block is done, still not sure what will happen with the crank, though. It is scored up pretty bad from oil starvation and subsequent bearing failure.

cringe

2008-09-04T19:05:00.003-05:00

Here we go.....surprisingly, the cylinder doesn't look bad at all. Since I have to buy pistons anyway, I will go with an overbore. That may just bump the displacement to over 1000cc.

Followed me home

2008-09-04T18:56:00.002-05:00

With Kevin's help, we finally got the Metro home. I was able to pull the drivetrain on Monday. The little car turned out to be very straight and clean, which surprised me just a little. Metros generally don't age well, in my opinion. Sitting a little high here, with all of the 150 lbs of engine and transmission out. Although the body and interior are in good shape, the motor is a different story. Most of #3 piston was gone (physically, gone) and #3 crank journal is rough. I am hoping to save the head, as the cam cradles show evidence of oil starvation.

Silly Cat.....

2008-08-13T20:07:00.004-05:00

Saw this funny lookin' cat beside the road, so I followed him around for a bit. It wasn't very friendly, though.....kinda smelly too. I am fairly certain it was French.

Threading Jig

2008-08-03T20:14:00.003-05:00

Finished up the tube threading jig for Lex @ Villin Cycle Works in Gainesville. This is used to thread tubing for the bottom bracket of bicycle frames, where the crank assembly mounts. Handwheel is a Massey Ferguson type steering wheel, and the lever knob is one of my cast aluminum shifter knobs. More of this project, including some build pics, over @ the Campbell Fabrication Blog

Field work

2008-06-21T14:00:00.004-05:00

I have been getting a fair amount of work locally making repairs to tree harvesting equipment. This feller/buncher had several major cracks around the mounting points for the accumulator arm.

In place

2008-06-20T20:57:00.003-05:00

Here is the generator in place, cradled in its bracket. Two hose clamps will hold the unit to the bracket. The ammeter is used when adding the electrolyte. The generator should pull 20 amps after it warms up. I hope to install a relay and cab switch tomorrow. I may put in a clutch switch to turn the unit off as well. After I fill up and get a baseline mileage, I will test the unit over 3 days or so and post the results.

Hydro Generator

2008-06-20T20:51:00.005-05:00

I threw together one of those hydrogen generators I have been hearing about. The plans I used are on this site http://www.smacksboosters.110mb.com/. After an exhaustive search through hundreds of fairy tale sites, I found this guy. He builds the units, but also freely posts the plans for those who can fabricate one themselves. Nothing about the claims made on the site seemed out of place and the documentation made perfect sense to me. This is not a "RUN YOUR CAR FROM WATER!" deal, it only produces supplemental fuel. I now have to run the unit through a break-in period before I can expect full output. During testing, the unit produced a nice constant stream of gas, which lit off with a loud "CRACK!" when ignited, and blew the top of the bubbler off. Satisfied that the unit does in fact produce gas, I began to fabricate a mounting bracket that places the body right beside the other hydrogen generator, that being the battery:)

Maddy's Monster

2008-06-18T12:45:00.003-05:00

We have been putting together something for Maddy when she gets a little bigger. Details @ http://www.maddysgarage.blogspot.com

Ingot

2008-05-25T20:51:00.003-05:00

While the furnace was heating up, I decided to try melting some aluminum. Even without the refractory, I was able to melt a nice amount very quickly. This time, I decided not to let molten metal splash all over my face and run down inside my glove. Using my loooooooooonngg handled crucible (about 7 feet) I poured the metal into a stainless pipe. When it cooled, I had a nicely poured ingot with no voids.

Furnace construction

2008-05-25T20:42:00.002-05:00

Started building the forge today, here is the outer shell being brought up to temp to burn all the old beer out. So far, I have even been able to use stainless for every part that sees heat. The only fuel used for this was a few oak logs, and the bottom of the keg actually started glowing red. There is plenty of oak around here, so it will be nice not having to buy propane. Once the refractory is poured, this should be almost ideal for my purposes.

Panel

2008-05-06T14:09:00.002-05:00

Here is a shot of the control panel for the truck genset. I am slowly enclosing the entire unit for noise control and weather protection. In other news, this is the first post sent from the laptop that is now completely Microsoft free. It is running the latest version of Ubuntu, and I couldn't be more pleased. It even picked up all of the strange little devices in the laptop during the install, like the wireless network adapter and the touchpad.

Score!!!....maybe

2008-05-03T21:56:00.003-05:00

I happened upon an old ThermoKing reefer unit for free, finally got the chance to check it out today. The good news is that it contains a water cooled 1800 rpm ONAN diesel that is probably good for around 7 or 8 hp. Also, there is the compressor, which should make a nice air compressor. Bad news is that the whole shebang has been sitting under oak trees for the last 20 years. However, things are looking fairly promising. New injector lines will have to be made, and everything rubber is pretty much gone. The motor turns, and even seems to have compression. I won't know for sure until I get it home. Went over tonight and broke a lot of the bolts loose, but it will take a few more hours to get everything free without damage.

Operational

2008-03-07T12:03:00.004-05:00

Finally got the logos on the doors. I did a small job on Wednesday that went well except for a bearing failure in the belt idler. After a new bearing and two new belts, all is well once again.

Front bumper

2008-03-05T12:27:00.003-05:00

New front bumper mounted up to truck. It is built from 2" x 6" quarter inch wall tubing and weighs about 75 lbs. I slammed it in the door a few times to get the bends in each end. Still need to cap the ends and weld in a step plate on the upper edge.

Whew!!!

2008-02-28T17:52:00.002-05:00

I was a little worried for a day or so because the welder would not operate properly when running on generator power. Turns out, there was a belt slippage problem when under load. I installed a secondary spring on the idler assembly and now everything is A-OK. The weld quality is just as good as if I was running off a service line.

Almost...

2008-02-20T16:06:00.003-05:00

Mounted the welders, toolbox, and bottle rack today. I still need to mount the air compressor and put belts on the generator. I am going to shorten the front of the rack just a little to cut down on vibration.

Saturday

2008-02-16T20:51:00.004-05:00

I didn't get much done today, just some paint and a little more welding. The original bed went away today, a serviceman stationed up at Eglin came to get it. He had a charcoal gray '85 extended cab with some bed rust, so he seemed pleased with the purchase. I have all of the equipment staged on the bed now, just need to drill for everything and do the rest of the underside welds.

Generator/Bed

2008-02-15T17:25:00.003-05:00

Welded in the deck today and mounted the generator assembly. I lifted it onto the mounting points using 3 soda straws, a sugar cube, and 2 ordinary kitchen matches. If everything goes as planned, the welders, tanks(s) and all of the associated stuff will be bolted on tomorrow after I find belts for the generator. I think I will just end up with a small circuit box mounted on the truck so I can have breakers for both 120vac and 220vac. Also, finally got a buyer for the original bed, he will be coming to pick it up around noon.

Loud noises

2008-02-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

Driving to work today, I heard and felt a terrible oscillation from the truck. Kind of a loud "BRUUUUUHHHHMMM". I was slowing down to pull off when I realized what it was. The 10 foot long top rails for the rack are hollow, and I had made a giant wind instrument out of the Toyota.

Generator and motor

2008-02-10T21:16:00.000-05:00

Here you see the generator head and the motor mounted in their final positions. I will need to pick up a couple belts tomorrow and a small piece of keystock. Other than that, the frame just needs a coat of primer and paint. I can't wait to hook it up to fuel and 12V and fire it up.

Still Ugly....

2008-02-10T00:30:00.000-05:00

In this pic, I have finished most of the welding, but still have a ton of gussets to install. Also shown is the license plate/taillight bracket. There are still two large crossmembers to be installed before the deck goes on. Also, the fuel filler neck will be shortened and a proper bracket made to hold it.

Generator frame

2008-02-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a partial mockup of the engine/generator frame. The generator head isn't in place because, well, it is really heavy and I didn't feel like picking it up. In this picture, I am mainly just checking the muffler to make sure it will tuck under and clear the frame.

Bed Removal

2008-02-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

Well, it had to happen eventually. It does look ugly without it, but the new bed will be more functional.

Big Dang 'Ol Head

2008-02-09T21:14:00.000-05:00

Here is the gen head sitting next to an antifreeze bottle for scale. It is a bit larger than I expected, and VERY heavy.

Georgia trip

2008-02-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

I left for GA Friday around 4am to pick up the generator head and the Kohler 25hp. The truck buzzed along happily the whole time, and I was able to use 5th gear on the hills until I got close to TN.

Painted

2008-02-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

Here is the bracket painted black. It has since been shot with rubberized undercoating, as this area will be largely inaccessible when the bumper is installed.

Front bracket

2008-02-03T22:10:00.001-05:00

The front crossmember had been tweaked a little, so I chained up to the big red Dodge and pulled until everything was acceptable. Then I welded in 3/8" x 2" bar over the crossmember and tied this into the frame head to replace the woefully inadequate stock bumper mounting system. Finally, two pieces of 3" angle were added for bumper mount brackets.

Surprise

2008-02-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

I removed the useless drop-in bedliner and found.........solid original steel. Not one hole in the bed floor or even the front wall. There is some minor rust on the rails up front where a truckbox was mounted, probably had that foam tape that soaks up water installed between the box and the bed rail. Most importantly, the side seams are still intact. The seam sealer is cracked in a couple spots, but everything appears to be original. There are some funny things about the truck I keep finding. Not bad, just different. The rear bumper, seats, sunvisors, and some other miscellaneous items appear to be from a later model. Everything is done well, though, and most people probably wouldn't notice. I expected a ratio problem with the 31" tires, but the truck runs very strong and pulls all the way through 5th gear.We will see how much that changes with ~900 lbs of welding gear on the back.

New (to me) truck

2008-02-01T18:47:00.000-05:00

Picked up this little Toyota today in Bell, which is only about 10 miles from us. I will be using it for my welding platform in lieu of the Suzuki. Believe it or not, it is not lifted, but does have 31" tires with great tread.

Kohler twin

2008-01-26T17:58:00.000-05:00

Scored a deal ($250) on a 25hp Kohler twin on EBay. I will be using this to run a 12kw generator head, instead of the previous plan to run it from the Samurai PTO . It is a vertical shaft engine, but I don't think the generator head will care which way it is mounted. I suppose there could be long term issues because of the weight of the armature, but I will keep an eye on it. Anyway, the engine is brand new, part of a shipment that was involved in a truck accident. It is in Dalton, so I will pick it up when I go to GA to get the generator head.

Two steps back......

2008-01-26T17:26:00.001-05:00

Drove the Samurai to work one day last week and decided that I will not be using it for primary transportation or for my welding rig. It ran really well, as expected. It does have a little driveline vibration, probably just a driveshaft out of phase or a u-joint going bad. While the truck is much more stable with the CJ leaf springs, it is still not something I want to drive everyday, especially with a heavy load or pulling a trailer. So I will probably be selling it soon to someone who can enjoy it.

Madison is here

2008-01-11T11:05:00.001-05:00

Dee started having contractions around 4am on Thursday. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30am and Madison Anne Campbell was born @6:33pm. Mother and baby are doing fine and will be coming home Saturday morning. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. See more of Madison @ http://maddy-mac.blogspot.com/

PTO shaft

2008-01-09T17:55:00.000-05:00

I had to source a new yoke for the transfer case end of the PTO shaft, as the old one I had was beat up fairly well. The cross holes were even egg-shaped. In the foreground, you can just see the edge of one of the generator frame legs (red oxide primer)

Shocks

2008-01-09T17:45:00.000-05:00

Pictured here is the fabricated driver side shock tower. The original one was designed for a much shorter shock. I will need to mount some bumpstops eventually, but I am not too concerned because of the great amount of up travel in the system.

Brisk morning

2008-01-03T21:06:00.000-05:00

It was forecasted to hit 17 degrees last night, so we put out the sprinkler near some scrub. Not sure how cold it got, but we will be moving to Florida as soon as I can get the bus fare. BTW....Happy New Year, everyone!

Hitch

2007-12-30T17:38:00.000-05:00

Finally started on one of the most important parts of this whole deal, the hitch. Found this small Reese type bar and modified it to match up with the frame rails. I boxed the ends of the factory frame rails with half inch thick plate for a solid welding surface and built standoffs to mount the hitch itself. Except for a few gussets and a step plate, this part is done. I won't need much of a drop on the ball portion because the trailer itself sits so high. The receiver type hitch also gives me the option of going to a pintle type hitch easily if I need to.

PTO shaft

2007-12-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a shot under the truck showing both the driven shaft (blurry) and the PTO shaft (rusty) on the rear of the transfer case. I still need to run a shaft between the two. However, as you can see in the picture, there is a crossmember in the way. No problem, though, I will be cutting the crossmember and boxing it. This serves two purposes: First, it allows the driveshaft to pass through while maintaining the integrity of the crossmember. Second, it serves as a driveshaft shield in case there is ever a catastrophic yoke or u-joint failure.

Generator frame

2007-12-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

Pic of the frame bolted into the rear of the truck and the floor cut to accept the foot. Once I get the generator head, I will drill and tap four holes in the frame for the mounting feet. I have the center to center mounting dimensions on paper, but the head is cast in China, so I will wait.

Bearing blocks installed

2007-12-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

Pic of the frame with pillow blocks bolted in place and shaft installed. The yoke on the lead end is there for mockup purposes, and will help when building the intermediate driveshaft after this assembly is bolted into the truck. The pulley goes in between the bearing blocks on the mainshaft.

Generator mount

2007-12-14T15:35:00.001-05:00

Here is the main frame (upside down in this picture) that the generator head will bolt to. This frame bolts onto the center rear cargo area behind the seats. The fork will be drilled to mount a pillow block on each leg, with a 4" pulley on a 1" shaft between the legs. The fork, extending through the floor of the cargo area, connects to the PTO on the transfer case via a short driveshaft. Then the generator head, with a 3" pulley, is bolted to the top of the frame and driven by belt from the lower pulley. Clutching will be done with a simple spring loaded idler pulley, like the deck drive on a riding lawnmower.

Rolled out...finally

2007-12-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

After installing the transfer case and driveshafts, I topped up the fluids and drove around a bit today. The 15psi fuel pump is not up to the task for this application. The truck idles fine, but dies out under load. So, I will need to go ahead with the high pressure one. The huge difference in ride quality with the Jeep springs was immediately noticeable. Also, the steering is much better after moving the tie rod above the springs.

PTO finished

2007-11-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Another shot of the case bolted together. The case mounts in the truck like it is oriented in the picture, at about a 45 degree angle. I finished and installed the spacer tonight that goes between the rear PTO shaft bearing and the shoulder of the shaft itself. The dimension was fairly important, as it controls the endplay for the PTO shaft assembly. Also visible is the twin stick conversion, although the sticks will be bent differently once the case is installed.

High-steer setup

2007-11-23T20:05:00.001-05:00

Here you can see the Mercedes steering arm bolted to the knuckle (gray arm). This brings the tie rod above the leaf springs, which is much safer and does away with the bump steer associated with a Z-bent drag link.

A thing of beauty...

2007-11-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

Seal plate bolted (temporarily) to transfer case. Next task will be to reinstall the case and run a PTO shaft to the rear of the truck.

Seal plate

2007-11-23T11:56:00.001-05:00

Finished seal plate, apparently welded by a drunken blind monkey with one arm.

Installed

2007-11-23T11:51:00.001-05:00

Pictured here is the shim and bearing as installed in the case.

Shim

2007-11-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

The rear output bearings outside diameter was originally 56mm, but the new shaft necessitated a larger inner bore. Turns out, a 56mm bearing is nigh impossible to obtain. Anyway, I had to go with a 55mm OD/30mm ID bearing. After a bit of research, I discovered that bearing shims are not entirely frowned upon, so pictured here you see the shim I fabricated from .020" shim stock. The fingers are to keep the shim from "walking" and end up pressed between the bearing and case.

Seal, continued.....

2007-11-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Here you see the seal retainer pushed against the plate, ready for tack welding. That won't happen until tomorrow, after the rear bearing is installed, to ensure proper centering. I am going to foolishly enter the city limits tomorrow in search of metric hardware.

Transfer case seal

2007-11-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

Pictured here is the seal retainer, turned from a forged pipe nipple. The seal is pressed into this, then will be tacked to the plate shown above after centering on the output shaft. Finally, the assembly will be removed and full-welded.

Knuckles

2007-11-17T22:17:00.001-05:00

Finally received the knuckle seal kits, so the truck is now back on all fours. I rebuilt the calipers myself, but won't do it again. The dust boot is fairly tricky to get in right, and remanufactured calipers are cheap. But for now, I went ahead and made use of the caliper kits I had purchased. About the rotor..........its not as bad as it looks. Well, OK, i guess it is.

Busy work

2007-11-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

While waiting on the majority of the front end parts, I disassembled and cleaned the front hubs. The original argent colored paint over aluminum was mostly gone, so the bodies got painted black and the dials red. There was quite a bit of gunk in the mechanisms as well, so they are not just eye candy now, they also work much better.

Its alive

2007-10-27T19:31:00.000-05:00

Installed the fuel pump and tank today, seems to be working fine. The original pump was good for around 70psi, but a regulator at the throttle body cut it down to around 8psi. So.....I figured...I could use the 15psi Holley pump I had lying around. Anyway, it seems to be working well so far, the truck fired right up like the day it was new. It may be a different story under load, not sure yet.

PTO shaft

2007-10-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here you see the PTO shaft being turned down on Dad's lathe. I ended up cutting too much off before I shipped it, but it looks like everything will still turn out fine. There is enough of a stub left for a u-joint. So, the plan now is a short driveshaft assembly which will connect this output to an electric clutch in a pillow block assembly. A belt will then run from the clutch pulley to a pulley on the the generator shaft.

Twin stick test

2007-10-18T21:37:00.001-05:00

Here is the front half of the transfer case with the mainshaft and twin shifter setup installed. The shifter works flawlessly (of course I'm surprised) In this picture, the fork is in the neutral position. All of the bearings and seals are new, so everything should be good for another 100K. By the way, if anyone has an idea for a boot to seal this thing, let me know. About 2" dia at the base, with two 3/8" handles. I have been thinking about what is called a "breakout boot" used for electrical installations.

Fuel level sender has arrived

2007-10-16T19:42:00.000-05:00

Finally received the fuel level sender and gauge from Summit. This will be going in the Suzuki tank as soon as I blast the hole for it. I have one of these in the red Dodge and it has worked flawlessly so far. Cool thing about the gauge is that it matches the el cheapo line of gauges at most of the NASCAR memorib.....err.....I mean "parts" stores.

Big Dang Drill Press

2007-10-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

Large drill press that I have had for a while. The motor plate is broken, so it has been sitting in a corner covered with various things. It has all sorts of places to hang things. Nonetheless, I think I may fabricate a plate to mount the motor since that is really the only thing missing. It really could be a nice machine. The spindle is so large, it will easily double as a mill with the addition of an XY table.

Hurry! take a picture!

2007-10-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

Here you see the shop actually clean and somewhat organized. Yeah, this is pretty much as good as it gets. We loaded the Dodge completely up to the top of the cab and still have about another good half load staged to go to the dump. Seems like every time I go through this, I find more things I can do without. The Samurai will (hopefully) be driving out under it's own power soon, which will open up a bit of floor space.

Twin stick setup for the Zuk case

2007-10-13T11:04:00.001-05:00

Picture of the fabricated case insert that allows independent actuation of the shift rods in the transfer case. The right stick now engages and disengages the front axle, and the left stick moves the shift rod to engage High, Low, or Neutral. I removed the center detent ball inside the case to allow the rods to move independently, while retaining the two detent balls and springs for the stock rod positions.

Exhaust

2007-10-09T21:46:00.001-05:00

A pic of the muffler bolted to the brackets on the windshield frame. The exhaust required some creative twists and turns, but it is now complete from manifold to flapper. I do still need to weld the joints, but that is the easy part. A little reinforcement of the hood where the cutout is, and this part will be done.

Rack and table

2007-10-02T18:24:00.000-05:00

Arms have been added to the uprights so I can carry a small assortment of steel stock. Also working on the table extending rearward from the toolbox. I'm not sure what I want to sheet it with yet, though it will probably be 3/16" plate. I hope to get the lights on and the junction box installed this weekend. The tag office requires a scale ticket for homebuilts, so I will have to get it weighed before I can tag it.

Behold the future of personal transportation

2007-10-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

This highly advanced device was spotted today near the shop, no doubt the result of several years of ultra-top secret research and development. Equally curious is the strange fellow atop the conveyance.....is he an android of some type? Alas, it is only Jason, hopped up on sweet tea, zipping by on an upended trailer dolly.

One more.....

2007-09-29T20:49:00.001-05:00

Passenger side... Still room to mount a small work table extending from the toolbox out to the rear of the trailer, above the tank noses. Now for lights, fenders, and a spare tire.

Trailer (Continued)

2007-09-29T20:44:00.001-05:00

Driver side view...the trailer packs the Hobart MIG, Lincoln arc, toolbox, a small air compressor, and a rack for two tanks. Onboard now is 75/25% for steel. As soon as the rig pays for a spool gun, the other rack will hold argon for AL welding.

Welding trailer

2007-09-29T20:40:00.001-05:00

Change of plans for the welding equipment. Instead of all 720 lbs of it going in the back of a lifted Suzuki Samurai, the gear is now on a trailer. This is much safer and gets me on the road earlier as well. The tongue is kinda long, but it backs up and tracks great.

Fuel tank

2007-09-17T19:47:00.001-05:00

And here is the tank itself. Although it looks about...oh.....400 years old in this picture, it was in fact built about a week ago. Still in primer because there are still some things that need to be done to it. The sending unit still needs to go in and the fill tube (which will interface with the original fill hose) will be welded in shortly.

Fuel tank cradle

2007-09-17T19:29:00.000-05:00

Here is the cradle that bolts under the Suzuki to hold the fuel tank. I still need to add a couple forward brackets and the strap assemblies that will go around the tank.

Not like this, it won't.......

2007-09-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

After some objective discussion, we determined that neither Dee or myself had lost anything in Old Town. (Click picture for pick'emup truck rear window wisdom goodness)

Old Town

2007-09-08T20:26:00.001-05:00

Dee and I went geocaching today, found this former railroad trestle near Old Town that is part of the rails to trails thing. It stretches over a fairly wide part of the Suwannee river.

Finished box

2007-09-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

One of the boxes finished except for weatherstripping. There is some slight rust in places, but nothing structural. These boxes will weld in and become part of the rear cage/top assembly, then the entire deal will be cleaned up and painted.

Mocking up

2007-09-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here is the box tacked to the cage to make sure everything will fit.

Cutting....

2007-09-05T20:55:00.000-05:00

In the process of cutting the box up....I recently invested in a carbide tipped steel cutting blade for the Skil Saw, makes quick work of just about anything I use it for. Lowe's carries a decent one for a reasonable price, and it can be sharpened a few times if you keep an eye on it.

Ohhh....The humanity!!!

2007-09-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

Here, the box is being marked to get sectioned into four pieces. Kind of a shame to cut it up, but it is not in perfect shape and I have no use for a box this size. The large box will become two smaller enclosed boxes that will form part of a utility bed-like structure for the back of the Samurai.

Score!!!

2007-09-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

After nearly running over this box in the middle of Newberry Rd, I loaded it into the back of the Sub and brought it home. Kept it around for a bit hoping I would find the truck that it came from. Anyway, no luck finding the owner, so now it will be modified a little to suit my needs.

Input shaft

2007-09-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Pic of the modified input shaft, the large diameter shaft is 2" stock, which will be turned down for the rear bearing which has an ID of 30mm (about 1.18") . The remaining stickout will then go to 1" to mate with the electromagnetic clutch.

Samurai Transfer Case

2007-09-04T22:25:00.001-05:00

I got just a little too happy with the hydraulic press and ended up cracking the rear half of the transfer case., but after welding, it seems like all is well.

Completed

2007-07-22T22:49:00.001-05:00

Sitting outside with top on and most of the hardware installed. A set of small driving lights have since been installed on the front in place of the old rectangular ones. Believe it or not, the lights that were on it had non-replaceable bulbs.

Paint!

2007-07-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

Freshly painted, ready for top and hardware to go back on. That sure is one purty bike in the background.......

Almost ready for color

2007-07-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

After sanding and ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH pinstripe removal.

mobiblog2500

Cooker/Smoker

More fun

Resealed

More compressor

Compressor

Bumper

Back from the frame shop

New addition

Headboard and treehouse

Subaru 8, Knuckles 0

Head gasket

Subaru

The benefits of having a 1.25 ton truck

What a load of crap

MIG cart/trailer

It takes all kinds

Simplicity

*cringe*

Followed me home

Silly Cat.....

Threading Jig

Field work

In place

Hydro Generator

Maddy's Monster

Ingot

Furnace construction

Panel

Score!!!....maybe

Operational

Front bumper

Whew!!!

Almost...

Saturday

Generator/Bed

Loud noises

Generator and motor

Still Ugly....

Generator frame

Bed Removal

Big Dang 'Ol Head

Georgia trip

Painted

Front bracket

Surprise

New (to me) truck

Kohler twin

Two steps back......

Madison is here

PTO shaft

Shocks

Brisk morning

Hitch

PTO shaft

Generator frame

Bearing blocks installed

Generator mount

Rolled out...finally

PTO finished

High-steer setup

A thing of beauty...

Seal plate

Installed

Shim

Seal, continued.....

Transfer case seal

Knuckles

Busy work

Its alive

PTO shaft

Twin stick test

Fuel level sender has arrived

Big Dang Drill Press

Hurry! take a picture!

Twin stick setup for the Zuk case

Exhaust

Rack and table

Behold the future of personal transportation

One more.....

cringe