Hot Rod Forum banner

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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: drive til its broke
#4,981 ·
Happy belated birthday John! If I want tools or car stuff for my birthday, I have to buy them myself! ;)


I had to tear into the Falcon's 454 today. Seems I either took it a little too high rpm, or a couple lifters just let go. I had took compression readings this morning, and had two very low cylinders. When I pulled the valve covers I found a bent pushrod, and two lifters that had come apart.
Pulled the intake, and I was able to drop the pushrod down into the valley and out. Went to the local Autozone, as they surprisingly carry Melling lifters and pushrods, and bought replacements. As with any AZ trip, I had issues. I had the numbers for parts I needed and the kid at the counter brings out a 4 pack box of lifters, and a 4 pack box of intake pushrods. I told him I only needed 1 pushrod, and 2 lifters, but he tells me they only sell them in sets of 4. The price that came up was $2.50 for the pushrods, and $3.50 for lifters. I tried to tell him that sounded more like the individual price, but he wasn't giving in, so I gave him the $6 and got 4 pushrods and 4 lifters.
Got everything together, but I'll let the RTV on the intake end seal set up, and then do another cam break in to seat the two new lifters.
Good luck. My fingers are crossed. :thumbup:
 
#4,982 ·
Tonight I put my birthday present together. I wanted this so I could store my plasma cutter and MIG together and move them around together easily. I just love birthdays.:thumbup:

John

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!

Don't you love getting younger ???
After 65, I'm going to start counting down, so you can too....;)

Nice cart, is it from Eastwood ?? I've been wanting one just like that from there for a while too but can't give up my home modified cart just yet. Maybe when I get a TIG...:mwink:
 
#4,983 ·
Happy belated birthday John! If I want tools or car stuff for my birthday, I have to buy them myself! ;)


I had to tear into the Falcon's 454 today. Seems I either took it a little too high rpm, or a couple lifters just let go. I had took compression readings this morning, and had two very low cylinders. When I pulled the valve covers I found a bent pushrod, and two lifters that had come apart.
Pulled the intake, and I was able to drop the pushrod down into the valley and out. Went to the local Autozone, as they surprisingly carry Melling lifters and pushrods, and bought replacements. As with any AZ trip, I had issues. I had the numbers for parts I needed and the kid at the counter brings out a 4 pack box of lifters, and a 4 pack box of intake pushrods. I told him I only needed 1 pushrod, and 2 lifters, but he tells me they only sell them in sets of 4. The price that came up was $2.50 for the pushrods, and $3.50 for lifters. I tried to tell him that sounded more like the individual price, but he wasn't giving in, so I gave him the $6 and got 4 pushrods and 4 lifters.
Got everything together, but I'll let the RTV on the intake end seal set up, and then do another cam break in to seat the two new lifters.
Yup, some big blocks don't like being over revved. I had a 396 like that years ago. Gotta love the inexperienced counter help. 6 bucks for all that is too hard to pass up. I hear ya on letting the rtv set up good. I helped a neighbor install a rebuilt Ford 9" diff in my shop today and he will come back tomorrow to fill it. I like letting the sealer dry overnight to avoid chemical contamination while it's wet.
 
#4,984 ·
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!

Don't you love getting younger ???
After 65, I'm going to start counting down, so you can too....;)

Nice cart, is it from Eastwood ?? I've been wanting one just like that from there for a while too but can't give up my home modified cart just yet. Maybe when I get a TIG...:mwink:
The bad news is after 65 it becomes harder to count backwards. :D

The cart is from Amazon. It may be just like Eastwood's or HF, I don't know. My credit card is on file with Amazon and it was eligible for free shipping so I went that way. For 52 dollars it does what I need.

John

 
#4,985 ·
Happy belated birthday John! If I want tools or car stuff for my birthday, I have to buy them myself! ;)


I had to tear into the Falcon's 454 today. Seems I either took it a little too high rpm, or a couple lifters just let go. I had took compression readings this morning, and had two very low cylinders. When I pulled the valve covers I found a bent pushrod, and two lifters that had come apart.
Pulled the intake, and I was able to drop the pushrod down into the valley and out. Went to the local Autozone, as they surprisingly carry Melling lifters and pushrods, and bought replacements. As with any AZ trip, I had issues. I had the numbers for parts I needed and the kid at the counter brings out a 4 pack box of lifters, and a 4 pack box of intake pushrods. I told him I only needed 1 pushrod, and 2 lifters, but he tells me they only sell them in sets of 4. The price that came up was $2.50 for the pushrods, and $3.50 for lifters. I tried to tell him that sounded more like the individual price, but he wasn't giving in, so I gave him the $6 and got 4 pushrods and 4 lifters.
Got everything together, but I'll let the RTV on the intake end seal set up, and then do another cam break in to seat the two new lifters.

Cam you run stock lengyh and diameter pushrods with your Pro Comp aluminum heads.
 
#4,989 · (Edited)
NO. Aftermarkt heads use a different valve angle and longer valves, each setup is different.



That is why I ask Vall about his when he said he went to auto zone I am guessing they are stock length ,possibly could be why he had the problem; my BBC has Brodix custom built with raised runners 320cc 113 & angle cut deck.030 and intake flange .048 I used a pushrod checker ,I had to have .250 longer intake and .125 longer exaust also my ARP studs for the head had to be .250 longer with reduced size 12 point nuts and hardened washers.
 
#4,990 ·
so today I got a Kia Sportage I was putting together and when we hire painters I always say to reserve opinions on how they buff til they get a black car, and this car was black. Just yesterday, this painter kicked back a dent of mine(no big deal) but the thing was, he kicked it back for scratches and it was guidecoated with 180, and from a couple things I saw him do, it angered me cause I know if I was trying to pass those things along I would keep my mouth shut. So back to The Kia, it had swirls all over it and edges weren't buffed and looking dull. To keep relationships cool I've gotten past trying to be the hero cause it's not my job, it's the manager's job, but today I had a reason to go tell the boss. So I go in there and the old man is in there and when I tell the manager it needs more buffing the old man goes, "big surprise, he's gonna have to put down his cell phone to fix that", so that kind of made my day. It's always better when the things you see are things that other people see too, so that was cool.

Anyhow, put the Sportage together and the thing was a pain to take off that tail light, believe it or not. First I took out the screws, then had to pop off a clip right at the edge under the lens that goes outwards(they put it there in hopes you break the light cause the lens is weak at the point) Once that's off you have to pull it back cause it pops into a plastic retainer and the taillight has a metal stud and ball that holds it in(x2). Lots of taillights have these from Prius'(easy ones) to Infinitis to Altima's(harder ones), etc-etc. So I try to pry it out with a clip tool carefully under the lens...no dice. Then I tried the duct tape trick by taping a handle to the lens and covering it entirely with duct tape...the duct tape was too weak. So we found some good duct tape and I tried it and STILL couldn't release the lights so I waited for the manager to get back so we could both pull on it. When he got there I told him about it while fixing a ding and he just walked back there and popped it off. I felt like a wimp. That was a hassle for sure.

Anyhow, got the GTO Judge endura bumper done. This is tedious work. I didn't want to bother the princess by asking him to epoxy it so I just sanded out as many cracks as I could and used plastic repair on mostly the whole thing, then topcoated the repair material with poly flex, making sure it didn't touch the endura bumper at all, and in one area it did so I had to sand it back and instantly I noticed how it feathered like crap. So tomorrow I'm going to have to re-tap the bracket holes that bolt to the sides of the bumper cause I can't find bolts that fit and throw in some bolts that taper so it will be easier to screw them in from the fenders. I'm considering not even shaving anything down on the Endura to show these guys a lesson cause at this point I've been just raising the bottom fender to where I think it will be once it's bolted in. It's pretty close as is. Pretty easy to line up. Just put in the brackets and you can take the bolts on/off up top to play with it and do your fixes and then realign it. I actually had to move the lip over where it lines up with the edge of the fender, shim it UP, and ad plastic repair to the edge so it's closer to the fender. Looks pretty solid. I will also lay a bead of structural adhesive on the back under the lip cause when you tighten it down to the fender it wants to bunch up. When I kick it to paint I'll ask that it be epoxied and cross linked to a 2k, both with flex of course. Seems like the next one will be even better. The next time I will shave down a spreader to match some of those crazy shapes so spreading will be easy and a couple other things. I used a short block for this cause being straight wasn't the battle here, trying to a good repair with the time given is what I tried to achieve.
 
#4,991 ·
The bad news is after 65 it becomes harder to count backwards. :D

The cart is from Amazon. It may be just like Eastwood's or HF, I don't know. My credit card is on file with Amazon and it was eligible for free shipping so I went that way. For 52 dollars it does what I need.

John

It's exactly like the HF one I have. Gotta love Amazon. Anytime I'm on the market for something I always check them first. Their prices and free shipping are wonderful.
 
#4,993 ·
Yup, some big blocks don't like being over revved. I had a 396 like that years ago. Gotta love the inexperienced counter help. 6 bucks for all that is too hard to pass up. I hear ya on letting the rtv set up good. I helped a neighbor install a rebuilt Ford 9" diff in my shop today and he will come back tomorrow to fill it. I like letting the sealer dry overnight to avoid chemical contamination while it's wet.
Yeah, I've found that Ultra Black RTV doesn't like oil until it sets up! Get any oil against it while it's wet and it will leak forever. I also never use end seals on Chevy intakes, and use RTV instead. But if you fire an engine before it sets up the RTV will blow out and leak like a sieve.
 
#4,995 ·
That's a good deal ,edelbrock had end user in mind all heads should be made that way ,it would save a lot of money for us rodders.:thumbup:
Not sure if they were just doing this on the smaller oval port heads like I have, or all heads. I know the Pro Comp heads I had on my Austin used a goofy odd length valve, and that required me to go .100" longer on my pushrods to make them run centered. Had nothing but trouble with those heads, and finally took them off and went back to old 2.02" camel hump heads on my 327 to end my troubles.
I got the 464 Chevy adjusted and fired this morning. Did the 20 minute break in, and just need to double check timing now. It sounds great, and a quick test drive tells me it's back to running great too! Hot start tells me it's a wee bit advanced, so I'll check that.
I got some good info about the new lifters with wire clips that every cam maker seems to be using. It seems these lifters need a little more preload to having them disassemble themselves! They don't hold well, so at high rpm's if the internal spring bounces off the clip they'll come apart. I have never used much preload on performance engine lifters, but I dialed a little more into these so they don't have another incident. I hope that does the trick! The old style lifters with their flat C clips were a much nicer piece, and could never come apart. There's only a couple companies in the US making lifters for everyone, and I haven't found any with the old flat clips.
 
#4,996 ·
Got the timing set and it cranks right up, and runs great again! All set for the weekend!
Then helped the neighbor pull the engine/6 speed out of his '95 Camaro he junking out. Engine/rear axle is going away, and 6 speed is going in his '69 Nova. We're pulling the rear axle tomorrow morning before we head to the car cruise in.
 
#4,997 ·
Let's see....... I had a hard boiled egg, a couple of crackers and slices of some stinky cheese for lunch and then welded together a couple of long pieces of .06" sheet aluminum to form a right angle heat barrier conforming to the body lines between the floor and the mufflers that run outside the frame on my '27.

This has been a very stressful month for both myself and my wife of 48 years so, I'm adding this post that has little or no relevance to significance and is no more than a release of my pent-up emotions.

Thank you for your indulgence and consideration.
 
#4,998 ·
Let's see....... I had a hard boiled egg, a couple of crackers and slices of some stinky cheese for lunch and then welded together a couple of long pieces of .06" sheet aluminum to form a right angle heat barrier conforming to the body lines between the floor and the mufflers that run outside the frame on my '27.

This has been a very stressful month for both myself and my wife of 48 years so, I'm adding this post that has little or no relevance to significance and is no more than a release of my pent-up emotions.

Thank you for your indulgence and consideration.
Breath in deeply. Hold it. Exhale slowly. Hopefully next month will be better. If relevance was a requirement this thread would have died long ago Dugg. :)

I spent a few hours on the next body mount for the BelAir. This will be number 6. Not sure whether there are 6 or 8 to go but I know each one is just a little less fun. Can't stop now though. :thumbup:

John

 
#4,999 ·
got the GTO endura bumper all done and the car as well.4 weeks total body/ stripping/ panel alignment/ mock up. The boss is doing a very good thing here. We didn't go the full distance on this but this guy didn't pay for stripping or the bumper to be fixed the right way, he just brought the freshly primed bumper to hide all the crap under it but we swallowed it and stripped it anyways as well as the car. Kudos to the shop for that. Not only that, today The black Charger came back with cracks(old painter) and from the looks of the location it looks like excessive paint build up. So after we fix that the whole car will have been re-painted. The old painter should re-do this but we will do the honorable thing.

So on monday the GTO goes to prime and we'll see how much of an improvement we'll get out of one prime application and the choice to choose our own blocks. The last time we had one in the shop the old painter we call "1/2 coats(primer)" primed it and demanded we use little 6" blocks to block it. I wasn't proud of the work. This time we'll get more primer and bigger blocks, which will make a huge difference.
 
#5,000 ·
Last night I was trying a different tack on the caddy's exhaust. Thought I would just pull the manifolds. Well aside from 2 bolts being hard to get at, there are 2 either broken or missing. One is broken for sure, but I can't get a good look at the farthest back on the driver's side. So it will soon be motor pulling time. Just trying to decide if I want to fix all the wiring first or not. Gonna get the brakes done tomorrow. And maybe pull it out of the garage so I can get the garage truly organized without a 20 foot land yacht in the way.
 
Top