General Tech What did you work on Today?

[BronkoRob]

Giving a spartan locker a go in the front of the XJ.

Should keep things interesting until I have the budget for a selectable. Comes with serious motivation to make that upgrade happen too. This thing is LOUD! Had a locrite in my old bronco and don’t remember it being this noisy. BUT it does what it says it does, so it will work for now.

 

[N-Smooth]

Giving a spartan locker a go in the front of the XJ.

Should keep things interesting until I have the budget for a selectable. Comes with serious motivation to make that upgrade happen too. This thing is LOUD! Had a locrite in my old bronco and don’t remember it being this noisy. BUT it does what it says it does, so it will work for now.

They are loud but you get used to it. Only reason I haven’t put one in mine yet is that they make everything else need upgrades- shafts and steering especially

 

[kmboren]

I had a few minutes to mess with some stuff tonight so I went to replacing the leaky heater control valve in Pickles. I hate these stupid things and how overcomplicated they are and how the plastic nonsense always breaks so I replaced it with just straight hose. Done.

I went from all these hoses, plastic pieces and 10 hose clamps to 2 hoses and 4 clamps. I call that a win. Also, the hose is from a friend when he closed his shop years ago. I saved it, like a piece of 2x4, knowing it would come in handy some day lol
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Boo. Stop working on XJs and start working on that buggy.

 

[BronkoRob]

They are loud but you get used to it. Only reason I haven’t put one in mine yet is that they make everything else need upgrades- shafts and steering especially

Ha. Funny you say that. Last night I was function checking it on the road and in about an hour of right turns in 2wd and 4wd in the dirt and the steering high pressure hose blew and give me a nice coat of oil all over half the engine bay.

Guess 25 year old hose wasn’t ready for me making it work.

 

[N-Smooth]

Ha. Funny you say that. Last night I was function checking it on the road and in about an hour of right turns in 2wd and 4wd in the dirt and the steering high pressure hose blew and give me a nice coat of oil all over half the engine bay.

Guess 25 year old hose wasn’t ready for me making it work.

My high pressure hose had a pinhole leak. 30+ year old hoses are bad mmmmkay

 

[Hickey]

Cleaned the garage a little and decided to practice a bit with the new Karnage Welder. It’s certainly got some punch to it. I hope I don’t ever need to weld thin stuff on a trail.

 

[mbryson]

Cleaned the garage a little and decided to practice a bit with the new Karnage Welder. It’s certainly got some punch to it. I hope I don’t ever need to weld thin stuff on a trail.

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Steve welded my trans pan together with one. Pretty impressive work. We smeared some sealant over the weld.

 

[DesertRam]

Replaced the brake pads on my 2011 Hyundai Sonata. If these last as long as the OEM pads (274,713 miles), I shouldn't have to do this again.

 

[Mouse]

Finished wiring in the heated seats.

Got a new Bestop top for the scrambler (caught it on sale). Now its time to re-do the roll cage a little so it doesn't destroy the new top (we don't need all that back there - no rear seat passengers). I cut the rear section off when we bought it a few years ago because it was stretching the current top and making the seems look like they might bust (old tiger top). So now, I'll cut out most of the structure at the "c" hoop. Then I'll add an "X" in at the "b" hoop.
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Guess I need to figure out how to use this guy:

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Made some progress



All cut out - here's what was removed and the first test bend in the bender (1.75" DOM)

 

[Mouse]

Fortunately only one bend per piece.



Bender worked very well



While I was making steel dust, I built a jack mount that captures it at the base and uses a pin to keep it tight:

 

[DesertRam]

That jack mount is cool!

 

[Spork]

I'd be tempted to put something at the top so you could put some tension on the jack to keep it from rattling...

 

[Mouse]

I'd be tempted to put something at the top so you could put some tension on the jack to keep it from rattling...

I'm looking at how to eliminate any rattle. The handle mounts will have fuel line between them and the tube. The big pin will have a small piece of rubber on the large end to give it a little tension. The jack itself really can't move much with the big pin inserted. We'll see how bad it is. It can't be worse than when I had it bungie-corded in

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I know what I will be working on...

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Not 100% sure where the oil is coming out. From the time I smelt it happening to the offramp was ~2 miles. Oil pressure was fine and it still turns over and runs smooth. It's coming out with enough pressure to spray all over and hit the fan, which distributes it everywhere else. I'm guessing an odd head gasket or a timing plate leak? Olly tossed it on his trailer and it's a future Kurt problem. I built that motor in 2021 and it's been uber trouble free since then... guess it wants some attention. 😄

Update. Finally had a minute to tinker on this. Olly (@Cruiser) stored it at his casa after fetching it off the highway. I was out of town and didn't give it a second thought. A month or so later we got it back to my house and did a quick car wash blast off before rolling it into the shop. There it would sit for another month.

Today I started hunting around for a leak and couldn't really see a culprit. It was pressurized so I thought it was coming from behind the timing plate as there is a galley there that sprays oil at the timing gears. I decided to toss a gallon of oil back in it (it was 4 qts low), remove the fan belt so it wouldn't spray all over and probe around. Low and behold it's a oil galley plug aka welch plug. It was installed by the machine shop in 2001 so I can't complete about its lifespan.



It may have been weeping before as could see evidence of dirt/oil behind the crank pulley but not enough that it dripped on the floor. The fix should be straight forward, a new 24mm plug OR I may tap it and use a plug, that's how the later model Toyota 2F motors were. I yanked the radiator, fan clutch and blade and shroud so I could access the plug.

 

[mbryson]

More garage tidying. Mobile gecko feet electrical storage.

 

[Gravy]

Moar ATK stuff.
I not only added width and length but also repaired and sharpened the original points.
Imagine how much nicer this will be!

 

[N-Smooth]

I moved the buggy to the shop finally. It was kind of a pain but not too bad. I slowly let it out of the garage with straps for steering. My 9 y/o moved the wheel chock a few feet at a time. He was a big help.

We had to take a pic of it outside for fun. Said 9 y/o for scale. It’s a small buggy.

Then we hooked Pickles my little XJ to it and the kid towed it back to the shop. No pics cause I was busy being the steering with my hips/butt hitting the the front tires to turn them.


I like the pic next to my truck to show how tiny it is too. It’s a cool buggy and it’s really a shame I never work on it 🤣

 

[kmboren]

During an oil change on my 97 F-350 this was brought to my attention. Got it all sorted today with new brake pads. Good as new now.

 

[Kevin B.]

During an oil change on my 97 F-350 this was brought to my attention. Got it all sorted today with new brake pads. Good as new now.
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Yike. How many times has that disc been turned?

 

[kmboren]

Yike. How many times has that disc been turned?

Maybe once, but maybe not. I do believe it has gotten nice and hot a time or two. In this truck it is the entire hub assembly. Or rather 2 bearings that go inside it.