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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#441 ·
Thanks Brian ,this is the biggest panel I ever made and I was sweating it for months, needlessly, as it turns out, it was fun...this weekend I hope to have the other side made...I think this thread and you guys has a little to do with getting me of my butt and back at the shop last sunday....But having all the grand kids sleep over saturday night might have something to do with it too...
What ever it was that first step was the big one ,now I cant wait to get back on it...
 
#442 ·
Got the interior door panels and window trim installed today on the gasser. Had time leftover so I fabbed up the mounts for the wheelie bars. Need to go to Oregon spring tomorrow and have them bend up the U bolts to mount them, as the ones I have are too long, and not enough thread.
 
#443 ·
Didn't get to work on the car at all this eve. Previous appt. with audiologist about finally getting the wife some hearing aids. She's been putting it off for years (thinking it means getting older, and who knows what else!). Turns out, it's so technical with so damn many choices, we (I) spent two hrs asking questions, etc. just trying to get enough info to help her make a somewhat informed decision. Expensive too! I had already spent a lot of time on the internet trying to get an education about them. Lucky for us the young gal we went to is a good egg and pretty much just tells it like it is. Turns out you gotta tune these things! Kinda like degreeing a cam and dialing in the carb all at once.
I did stop by the metal shop on the way home & picked up a couple pieces I had them break for me today for the seat slide rail mounts. Turns out, I didn't like the ones I made... too thin.
 
#444 ·
deadbodyman said:
Thanks Brian ,this is the biggest panel I ever made and I was sweating it for months, needlessly, as it turns out, it was fun...this weekend I hope to have the other side made...I think this thread and you guys has a little to do with getting me of my butt and back at the shop last sunday....But having all the grand kids sleep over saturday night might have something to do with it too...
What ever it was that first step was the big one ,now I cant wait to get back on it...
Right on, I can't wait to see you getting that sucker out on the road.

Me, not very much, got over to the hardware store and bought a bag of sand for sand blasting my little parts. I also sprayed out color for matching the instrument cluster.

We did take a nice hike (first one this year!) at a nearby park that I have drove by over the years a hundred times and never stopped. Today we went over for a nice hike up and over some hills. I didn't think my wife would hang in there but did with a smile and we all had a great time.

Brian
 
#446 ·
Picked up some replacement trim bits n pieces to replace the ones that sorta kinda got broken t'other day when taking the saggy headliner outta my pickup.

Picked up my travel trailer from the shop where I had been getting some work done on it.

Tomorrow I will (hopefully) be getting the "new" headliner so I can start putting the p/u all back together again!
 
#448 ·
Yesterday was a kind of recovery day for a long walk I took in the new 300 acre town park - I'm on the town committee that make recommendations and decisions as to how this area is to be developed and used as this one will be left primarily as a 'green space' and there are only minimal trails near one side. I wasn't on that side on Sunday :D

We do have some busy beavers!!!


This is what much of it looks like - not an easy walk in the woods :sweat:



Of course, that Monday recovery period ..... 10-15 minutes.

I finished up rerouting the heater hose, drained the engine block (surprised how much anti freeze was in there), finished the trunk lid upholstery along with a couple other little things. The car needs about one more good day of putter and fuss and it will be road ready for the summer.

Dave W
 
#450 ·
Wow, Dave, looks like a fun "nature walk"- :rolleyes: -good to be involved in the Community though, and I look forward to when Retirement actually happens so I can too- :thumbup:

As for me, I finished up my Steering (pretty much), and lowered my a/c unit, then started mocking up my Console-

I'm ordering my new Hilborn EFI set-up this week, and most of my engine parts should be here also-I may be a few Months early on doing this, but I can't wait to hear it fire up on the Dyno-I've decided to go with a DIS set-up, and hope that all of the Electronics (EFI, 4L80E, DIS, etc.) will work without too much fiddling/headaches-if not, I will have a long road to gettin' it to work, as I am now committed (or should be :spank: )-
 
#452 ·
Another just for chuckles:


There were several areas of beaver activity - but never found the beaver house. There are many streams and a pretty large wet land where it was just too mucky to wander. Surprisingly, when in there, very few beasties seen - but there are lots of signs of turkey and deer along with a red fox that met his demise on the adjoining road.

Craig - I've seen write ups on the EFI Hillborn so will be interested to hear how yours performs. I've taken an interest in the new MSD 'Atomic' almost plug 'n' play for my near stock engine but don't intend on being one of the first - I've done that before.

Looks like you have solved the a/c location problems as well - it does take time to work these little situations out :thumbup:

Dave W
 
#453 ·
I'm also looking forward to hearing how the EFI Hilborn works out. A friend of mine put that setup on a SBC in his 32 Roadster, and took a lot of tweaking to get it working. He said once he got it running well it was great, but lost several MPG over the tri power setup he had before.
 
#454 ·
Irelands child said:
Craig - I've seen write ups on the EFI Hillborn so will be interested to hear how yours performs. I've taken an interest in the new MSD 'Atomic' almost plug 'n' play for my near stock engine but don't intend on being one of the first - I've done that before.

Looks like you have solved the a/c location problems as well - it does take time to work these little situations out :thumbup:

Dave W
Thanks, Dave, and as idiot sounding as it was, I was a bit confused on the a/c placement-it did work out in the end, though-


1971BB427 said:
I'm also looking forward to hearing how the EFI Hilborn works out. A friend of mine put that setup on a SBC in his 32 Roadster, and took a lot of tweaking to get it working. He said once he got it running well it was great, but lost several MPG over the tri power setup he had before.
Dave and 1971BB427,

I have been a little concerned about the Hilborn too, but I've done my homework ( :rolleyes: ), and hopefully it all works out-

I will say that Andy Starr at Hilborn has been very informative (unlike Kinsler :mad: ), and, part of my decision was based on the fact that Hilborn is now offering the Holley ECU (either the HP or Dominator) as part of the package-I know that their current "Carrabine" and the FAST ECU's do work (less on the former), but the Holley IMHO is the best ECU on the market right now (although, I'm sure there are some who will debate this)-

Anyway, from everything I can tell, it matters whether you buy a complete system or make it yourself, as a few FAST tuners told me that when you weld the bungs onto a Hilborn manifold that it distorts the castings around the butterflies and makes a vacuum leak, further complicating tuning-the Hilborn system supposedly doesn't have those problems-we'll see!

As for the mpg, they say that it actually gets better (but who buys something like this for mpg?), and the throttle response is supposed to be amazing-watch this:

http://youtu.be/7X0J1-VxqFc

My Brother-In-Law is building a '67 fastback Mustang and is using the Professional Products EFI package on a 302-so far, he's in love with it-hope mine goes as well-
 
#455 ·
1971BB427 said:
I'm also looking forward to hearing how the EFI Hilborn works out. A friend of mine put that setup on a SBC in his 32 Roadster, and took a lot of tweaking to get it working. He said once he got it running well it was great, but lost several MPG over the tri power setup he had before.

With gas prices headed to $5.oo a gallon, gas mileage is definitely a factor in how much some of us, like me, living on disability or retirement get to enjoy cruisin' in our hot rods.
 
#456 ·
adantessr said:
With gas prices headed to $5.oo a gallon, gas mileage is definitely a factor in how much some of us, like me, living on disability or retirement get to enjoy cruisin' in our hot rods.
I'm retired too, so I know the fixed income thing! I pinch and save on everything just so cruising in my cars wont have to suffer! Guy's gotta make sure his priorities are correct! :)
 
#460 ·
Tonight I cut the hd seat rail steel mount pieces to size. I started on the drivers seat and drilled out the mounting holes and welded some nuts on the bottom. To clear under the low clearance of the sliders, I'm going to use some stainless button head screws that I have. I'll have to wait until I have the floor panels down permanently before I can finish mount these, but I already tried them out for comfort and fit within the width with doors closed. I positioned the slide mounts with the seat as far back as it would go within 1" of the rise of the rear floor center panel. I should get the passenger side done tomorrow eve.
 

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