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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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#5,842 ·


I honestly wasn't planning on going out there tonight, dog tired. But after seeing that it is Harley Earl's birthday I had to go out and pay homage to the man.

I got my drivers A pillar cut and trimmed. A little more fine tuning and it's ready to weld in.


I also did a little testing with an idea my mentor gave me today. Funny calling him a mentor when he is 20 years younger than me but damn if that isn't exactly what he is. The guy is sharp! He told me that he simply doesn't use the die grinder with a cut off disc anymore after trying the angle grinder for this. You CAN see the line way better, I am dying to give it a try.




Brian
Looking good Brian. :thumbup:

I am a little confused. In testing the cut off disk it appears to me you have it in an angle die grinder not a grinder. Am I missing something?

I frequently use a 4 1/2 cut off disc in a small electric angle grinder and just bought a pneumatic grinder for that purpose. It has so much torque it will cut a quarter panel off like butter.

I wonder if that is what your friend is referring to.

John
 
#5,843 ·
Yeah, it's in an air angle grinder which allows you to get into tight spaces and so you can see the line you are cutting better.

Another tip he gave me was to put a rag under your hand so you can slide a little easier while cutting a long line.

Brian
 
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#5,846 ·
I didn't work on anything today! Called a bunch of guys in my car group and said "Let's get together for a burger at the local hotrod burger hang out!"
Beautiful weather and we all drove our cars for a pre T-day get together! One guy didn't make it, as his electric fuel pump gave out, and stranded him! Bummer!
 
#5,847 ·
Brian: In the pix, it seems you have neither any hand protection, nor any eye protection on while using that grinder. Aren't you the guy who preaches SAFETY above all?

As to what did I do today (besides razzing Brian) :D

I finally got my RV winterized, got the Christmas lights put up, and put away all the lawn/garden hoses, and did the "once a week" check-over on all the vehicles (air pressure and all fluids, plus test all lights). Winterized the pool pump house as well.
 
#5,848 ·
I have been kind of laughing at myself today. My daughter, son in law and the grandkids are coming for the holiday so I went down to clean the basement up.

You know there I was with a bottle of Bleachy White, Wax and grease remover, windex and all these things pulled out with some old shop rags.

One thing led to another and I decided to wipe the 1/2 inch of dust off the car. Then I ened up chipping some undercoating off the firewall. Well, I thought maybe I would wipe the residue off with wax and grease remover. Did that and the tire really looked nasty. Why not wipe the tire off? Did that.

I had told Barry the other day I intended to paint the car SPI red but after tonight I think maybe I will just get some satin finish clear coat and start a thread on the H.A.M.B. about my traditional hot rod.

Patina is in isn't it? :thumbup::drunk::mwink::welcome::D:D:):drool:

John







Just kidding!

I am looking forward to the day when we can move to the body though. :)
Heck with that ...lets take it out for a spln....
 
#5,849 ·
Brian: In the pix, it seems you have neither any hand protection, nor any eye protection on while using that grinder. Aren't you the guy who preaches SAFETY above all?

As to what did I do today (besides razzing Brian) :D

I finally got my RV winterized, got the Christmas lights put up, and put away all the lawn/garden hoses, and did the "once a week" check-over on all the vehicles (air pressure and all fluids, plus test all lights). Winterized the pool pump house as well.
I was afraid someone would see what I was doing and mimic me and get hurt! I should have put the gear on, even though there is no air hose hooked to the tool, I should have put safety gear on!

But more importantly....

OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG my 12 year old daughter was a STAR yesterday in Volleyball! She took a leap MILES ahead since last week, OMG it was like she had a VOLLEY BALL PLAYER trapped in her body that escaped today! Three major saves, we are talking diving to the floor hitting a ball inches from the floor coming down 10 feet from her then jumping to her feet and hitting the ball as it came back over the net a second later! OMG I am so jazzed I can't see straight! And it was the whole game, calling for it, then putting it over the net, it was beautiful! I just can't get over what a STAR she was! Then after all that, I got to hug her and dote over her for just minutes before she rode off in her friends parents car to Lake Tahoe.

And get this, my wife and I walked back to the van and were talking about our STAR and she rolls past in the car just feet from us not even seeing us standing there waving goodbye to her........waa waaaaaaaaa

I miss her, can't wait until she is home on Wednesday so I can hug and dote over her more!

Brian
 
#5,850 ·
new tools

been trying to get ready for winter and snow at my house. need to put my plow on and new snow tires this weekend. got 4 days off from work for thanksgiving. went and picked up a used carolina horizontal band saw this past weekend. paid $200. for it, i'm going to spend some time this week and clean it up and make sure it cuts straight. then need to make room for it. phil
 

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#5,851 ·
been trying to get ready for winter and snow at my house. need to put my plow on and new snow tires this weekend. got 4 days off from work for thanksgiving. went and picked up a used carolina horizontal band saw this past weekend. paid $200. for it, i'm going to spend some time this week and clean it up and make sure it cuts straight. then need to make room for it. phil
Good score! If you have to replace the blade spend a little more and buy a good one. It makes all the difference in the world how straight it cuts!

BB :thumbup:
 
#5,854 ·
Started on my winter upgrades for the Falcon gasser, and got a setback right out of the gate! Pulled the Super T10 4 speed and found two broken ears on the mounting bolts! Did a little investigating and realized the 11" bellhousing I am replacing with a Lakewood is not a car bellhousing! It has the 5.125" center hole for a truck trans, and the car trans have a 4.6" hole!
The trans was only supported by the ears on the 4 speed, so those hard launches at the drags broke two ears. Actually very fortunate that it didn't snap all 4 ears and launch the tranny out the back and really raise heck!
I've got a local fabricator that can relly weld aluminum well, so I'll take the trans and the bellhousing over and have him weld the ears back on.
 
#5,855 ·
Started on my winter upgrades for the Falcon gasser, and got a setback right out of the gate! Pulled the Super T10 4 speed and found two broken ears on the mounting bolts! Did a little investigating and realized the 11" bellhousing I am replacing with a Lakewood is not a car bellhousing! It has the 5.125" center hole for a truck trans, and the car trans have a 4.6" hole!
The trans was only supported by the ears on the 4 speed, so those hard launches at the drags broke two ears. Actually very fortunate that it didn't snap all 4 ears and launch the tranny out the back and really raise heck!
I've got a local fabricator that can relly weld aluminum well, so I'll take the trans and the bellhousing over and have him weld the ears back on.
Wow, The good news is it could have been sooooooo much worse. Good luck putting it back together.

John
 
#5,856 ·
Wow, The good news is it could have been sooooooo much worse. Good luck putting it back together.

John
Thanks John! I'm sure it can be fixed as good as new, and the Lakewood bellhousing has the small hole, so it will support it.
If anyone is in the situation where they're using a Chevy truck 11" bell with a passenger car trans, Advance Adapters actually sells a reducer to take up the difference so you can safely use the truck bell. It's Bellhousing Index Reducer Bushing (#716041)
Had I known there was a difference I'd have certainly sprung for the $35 to get one and use it!!
 
#5,858 ·
Got my last one from Graingers. I think I paid about $50. Wasn't cheap.

BB :thumbup::thumbup:


Prices seem to differ out on the left coast ,we can buy a bellhousing here $30-35 dollars ,seems cheaper than a bushing, I have a stock pile of Cast with side mounts and a few Aliminum for restorers Not Racers,they will cut your legs off with a flywheel explosion.:evil::evil::evil:
 
#5,859 ·
Prices seem to differ out on the left coast ,we can buy a bellhousing here $30-35 dollars ,seems cheaper than a bushing, I have a stock pile of Cast with side mounts and a few Aliminum for restorers Not Racers,they will cut your legs off with a flywheel explosion.:evil::evil::evil:
Lots of bellhousings on the left coast for $25-$40 also, but not when you're talking 11" with small hole for passenger cars. Most of those go much more, and don't appear for sale often. The cheap ones are usually aluminum for 10.5" clutches, or 11" truck bellhousings with the larger hole.
 
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