Wrenchin... Adventures under the hood... Put em here.

[Norseman]

Haha that is awesome, and insane.

[doebedoe]

Haha that is awesome, and insane.

There's a reason our team won the perseverance award. We stand no shot of winning the time race, finishing is always the goal.

The bus we roll the support/beer crew across the country end is also old enough to qualify for the rally -- a 1973 Crown. Learned to smash gears on a RoadRanger, w-shift 10 speed this week as well.

[Jong Lafitte]

There's a reason our team won the perseverance award. We stand no shot of winning the time race, finishing is always the goal.

The bus we roll the support/beer crew across the country end is also old enough to qualify for the rally -- a 1973 Crown. Learned to smash gears on a RoadRanger, w-shift 10 speed this week as well.

Rad!!! Co drivers chatting everybody up, letting kids crawl on the truck and then missing the start times as a matter of course will accumulate penalties too I suppose. Fucking ALF with, what, 10 liters Thead lol. What a riot that must be!

I seen where those dudes ran a 30s Rolls and it was “boring” because it never broke. Ha!

Funny my grandparents had a schoolie blue bird about the same era also a flat nose like that bus. 8L cat V with a 5 speed. My uncle drove that thing up scenic 7 in the ozarks from Louisiana several times. No PS IIRC. Lol.


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[The Reverend Floater]

Spent the last week wrenching every night on this. Often til midnight or later. Yesterday afternoon we crossed the finish line after some 2300 miles of rallying from Rhode Island to North Dakota.

Lots of firsts...adjusting an external valve train, rebuilding band and drum brakes, replacing chains (vehicle is a chain drive) and mounting tube tires on split rims. Plus lots of other stuff...daily oil and water, repacking bearings, greasing suspension, cleaning / re-gapping spark plugs....

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And....../thread.

[doebedoe]

Rad!!! Co drivers chatting everybody up, letting kids crawl on the truck and then missing the start times as a matter of course will accumulate penalties too I suppose. Fucking ALF with, what, 10 liters Thead lol. What a riot that must be!

I seen where those dudes ran a 30s Rolls and it was “boring” because it never broke. Ha!

...

Yep -- the rolls was replaced by the Alf. It only didn't finish once--threw a rod, blew off on of the "manhole" valve covers--and sent a 5" diameter piston out. But the crew wanted to finish in a no windshield convertible so they bought an old Mercedes and took an angle grinder to the a/b/c pillars and got across the line a few days later. That was before I was officially part of the family and team.



I was the "rooki" this year.



The ALF (American La France) is just under 10L in this 4 cyl version. Owner/driver also has a 6 cyl version...i've driven them back to back and the 4 is way more fun. Takes about 5 gal of oil, and loses about 1/2 gal a day as it's a total loss oiling system. But on the whole the drivetrain was really reliable this trip. A little issue with the diff but we chalked that up to not having the recommended lubrication in there. (We used the heaviest gear oil we could find -- the shipment of beef tallow didn't arrive in time before the race.)

The driver/navigator grew up in North Dakota / Western Minnesota so this year was a homecoming. Next year it finishes in CO where the driver/owner now lives so that finish should be a riot too. The last day lunch stop will be in Salida, finishing in CO Springs. Just ask for change for a nickel and there's plenty of beer on the bus for ya.

And yeah, no PS on the bus either. But honestly pretty damn pleasant to drive at 55-60 on a highway. And you get really good at rev-matching downshifts in that thing. The bus' urinal got a big upgrade this year from a funnel mounted to the wall to a proper install.



FWIW...A bunch of other teams don't love the WTFers. We drink too much, don't take the "rally" part seriously (hey...we still finished midpack and got 2 aces), listen to music too loud and smoke dope. Just to piss'em off I'm going to try and find us a beer sponsor for next year. Went through 41 cases of beer this trip. Not counting whatever was consumed in local establishments. And the 7 bottles of scotch.

[gravitylover]

I need to figure out why it's throwing a P0172 code, Rich - Bank 1. I changed the air filter and cleaned the upper intake and dumped a bottle of that Jectron stuff in to clean the injectors. It's running much better but still throwing the code. Is it an 02 sensor like the auto parts store guys keep suggesting? On my UG the 02 sensors show nearly the exact same number all the time. It mostly pops either on startup or while idling and twice when I rolled onto the throttle heading into a mild climb. I picked up a bottle of Catclean that I can put in after I burn off a few more gallons if y'all think it will help to clean the cats, if not I'll return it because I can think of better ways to spend $30.

[fatnslow]

I need to figure out why it's throwing a P0172 code, Rich - Bank 1. I changed the air filter and cleaned the upper intake and dumped a bottle of that Jectron stuff in to clean the injectors. It's running much better but still throwing the code. Is it an 02 sensor like the auto parts store guys keep suggesting? On my UG the 02 sensors show nearly the exact same number all the time. It mostly pops either on startup or while idling and twice when I rolled onto the throttle heading into a mild climb. I picked up a bottle of Catclean that I can put in after I burn off a few more gallons if y'all think it will help to clean the cats, if not I'll return it because I can think of better ways to spend $30.

Try cleaning your MAF and take a close look at your freeze frame when your car set the P0172. IF it's a failing cat that cleaner ain't doing shit for you. You can also switch bank 1 and 2 O2 sensors and see if the error moves with the sensor and help identify the failing sensor. IF it's the cat you can always try the ghetto method by throwing in an o2 extender. DO NOT FUCK UP THE o2 senor leads while trying to remove it.

[climberevan]

What are my options for improving the AC on my '82 Winnebago with 6.2L GM diesel? It works but isn't bet powerful, so I don't think it needs major repairs.

Is there an R12 compatible refrigerant that can be added? Or must i do the full R134A conversion?

[fatnslow]

What are my options for improving the AC on my '82 Winnebago with 6.2L GM diesel? It works but isn't bet powerful, so I don't think it needs major repairs.

Is there an R12 compatible refrigerant that can be added? Or must i do the full R134A conversion?

Call around and see how to to just charge your system with R12 would be , might only be a couple hundred bucks IF it's still partially charged. Also check your drive belt for the compressor, I had an old car where a loose/old drive belt just wasn't driving my compressor.
Conversion to R134A isn't too complicated in a working system. Basically remove all oil from compressor, refilll with compatible oil, r/r dryer and expansion valve, vacuum and recharge. Here is a Eric the Car Guy video about it. I did it on an old Subaru about 20 years ago WITH replacement of the compressor in about 6 hours and this was before Youtube showing step by step. Keep in mind I'm no master mechanic.
Lot of O'reillys has vacuum pumps and manifold gauges available for use without charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1VG1OHEfAM

[El Chupacabra]

Lot of O'reillys has vacuum pumps and manifold gauges available for use without charge.

Caution on the loaner tools at O'Reilly's -- they have a short window of free usage time, like 48 hours, after which you own it. Autozone does the same type of loaner tool program, but IIRC you get 90 days.

[gravitylover]

That MAF sensor was black with carbon and krusty with pollen The stuff that came off on the (white) towel I had under it was nasty. Hopefully that solved the problem. The live data number is just a few tenths above target so I'll run it and see if it comes down a bit more. The o-ring seal was also dusty and not sealing so that could have been a problem too. Of course I ran into old crumbly plastic issues and had to epoxy/drill/tap one of the screw threads but that's about expected, right?

@montucky - That jectron stuff is kickass. Thanx. I just keep finding more liqui moly fluids that I really like.

[Obstruction]

New to me ‘01 Tundra w/184k needs a few items and fixes to be the first class beater it was meant to be. 4.7L engine runs as smooth as any vehicle I’ve ever owned. Shifts fine and drives nice. And to top it off the frame was replaced and looks great.

Already swapped the ignition lock, fiberglassed a bunch of holes in the bed and cleaned up the headlights to get a sticker.

So what does it need? A fair number of small to medium issues were surprisingly neglected. Leaky power steering lines, leaky transfer case seal (front shaft), disconnected rear o2 sensors (no codes though), minor EVAP code (p0446), needs new battery (current one is branded Bass Pro Shop). Tailgate latch rods are missing and aren’t available without buying the latch and rod assembly (160 for the set). A/C doesn’t work but I’m ok with that. Oh and the stereo sucks and I’m not sure if it gets double digit miles per gallon.

So project Tundra begins. I’ll stop by to bitch and moan periodically.

[highangle]

New to me ‘01 Tundra w/184k needs a few items and fixes to be the first class beater it was meant to be. 4.7L engine runs as smooth as any vehicle I’ve ever owned. Shifts fine and drives nice. And to top it off the frame was replaced and looks great.

Already swapped the ignition lock, fiberglassed a bunch of holes in the bed and cleaned up the headlights to get a sticker.

So what does it need? A fair number of small to medium issues were surprisingly neglected. Leaky power steering lines, leaky transfer case seal (front shaft), disconnected rear o2 sensors (no codes though), minor EVAP code (p0446), needs new battery (current one is branded Bass Pro Shop). Tailgate latch rods are missing and aren’t available without buying the latch and rod assembly (160 for the set). A/C doesn’t work but I’m ok with that. Oh and the stereo sucks and I’m not sure if it gets double digit miles per gallon.

So project Tundra begins. I’ll stop by to bitch and most periodically.

AGM batteries are coming down in price and last twice as long as conventional. Grid batteries are also deep cycle by nature, so an accidental deep discharge or two won't leave a scar for the rest of the battery's days like it will with conventional starting batteries.

Bass Pro sells all sorts of boat, rv, atv, golf cart batteries, of different techs. If your battery has any pro rata left and certain stars align, you can sometimes catch a sale.

[ghosthop]

^^ I am a fan of crimping new leads and putting in a group 31, if it will fit. $100 plus $20 for terminals compared to the $300-400 for AGM. Probably overkill for a beater project.

[Obstruction]

I’ll check out the AGM I haven’t looked at them in a few years. My go to is an interstate BLEM (blemished) from the interstate store $85 w/ a 2 year warranty. The Bass battery looks ok but it only has a 550 cold crank amp rating and spec for the truck is 760 and thats gonna matter where we live.

[highangle]

I’ll check out the AGM I haven’t looked at them in a few years. My go to is an interstate BLEM (blemished) from the interstate store $85 w/ a 2 year warranty. The Bass battery looks ok but it only has a 550 cold crank amp rating and spec for the truck is 760 and thats gonna matter where we live.

An AGM will typically have much more juice at 0f than a conventional of nominally higher rating. A red Optima G35 with 720 CCAs will outdo any 880 CCA conventional at 0f.


I put a pair of G65 Diehard Platinum [rebranded Odysseys] in my F350 in 2014. After 8 Ak winters they still turn the starter faster than stock and still have 2 years of warranty left.

[warthog]

I have used a Blue Top deep cycle style Optima in my Jeep for a while now.
I just recently learned that the Yellow top is the same exact deep cycle battery without the extra threaded posts for marine application. The warranty is a year longer on the yellow top, and they are cheaper. Whoops.

[MontuckyFried]

Welp, faaaaaaaaak. Looks like my new C30 didn't last long. Overheated the other day, pulled over immediately and it was hissing and pissing coolant. Of course it was a day that was like 110 and I had kids with me, so that sucked. Just had it towed to my mechanic and let them deal with it. Was broken heater hoses (not unusual at this age/miles), they fixed it quick and got it back. Anyway, fast forward a couple days and I've lost coolant and car had trouble starting. Smoking. Misfires. Sludge under oil cap and some shmutz in the coolant reservoir. Craaaap. Anyway, I think I'm dealing with a blown head gasket and possibly worse, something like cracked cylinder liners or head. I dunno. Anyway this car is effed until further notice.

Considering the astronomical prices of engine repair, how crazy would I be to attempt to tackle this job myself? I want to at least pull off the cylinder head to inspect for cracks, warping, or whatever. Will just have to park it and take my time with it I guess. Thoughts?

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[Cisco Kid]

If fixing cars is your hobby, go for it.

[MontuckyFried]

If fixing cars is your hobby, go for it.

Not the hobby I want right now since I don't have time, but I might be forced to attempt due to lack of funds. Haha. Will be a good TR for this thread if nothing else. Wish me luck!

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[gravitylover]

Bummer dude. My transmission may be on the way out and it may be too expensive to be worth fixing.

[Timberridge]

Props to Montucky and GL for doublehandedly keeping this thread alive.

[gravitylover]

Lol

[MontuckyFried]

Props to Montucky and GL for doublehandedly keeping this thread alive.

[TIPS HAT]

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[mcphee]

^i know texas is big and all but have you considered the benefits of ebike commuting?