wired all the LED lights for the garage. Thought I was going to melt! Yesterday was an absolute pleasure. Lined and screwed in, 7 spaces between the trusses. Christmas tree and lights up there. Guess I’m going to find out how the heat will affect them. 
When I had the Kubota on the lift for service I noticed a leaking rear axle seal so took ordered a new one. Went ahead and removed wheel, etc. and took case to the bench. I picked up the seal yesterday and installed it and put case side and axle back on.
Sooo, you know that sickening feel in the stomach when you start to torque the bolts down to an aluminum case and they keep turning? Yep, somehow I stripped four of the ten bolts. Not sure what the hell happened. I used my M12 cordless ratchet to speed them down so that must have over tightened them. The torque specs are 29 to 31 ft.lbs. I thought I was being conservative to not let it tighten them but guess not. So live and learn, ordered HeliCoils last night.
Have you ever used Time-Serts? I prefer them over Helicoils.
I moved stuff around and found a home for this guy. I've been listlessly looking for a wood lathe for a while now but I wasn't really willing to spend anything. Being a fan of the old Beaver tool line (and living in Ontario where they're in just about every garage) I thought a 3400 would be perfect. Then this one fell into my lap in a trade for a vacuum pump that was just taking up space!
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The cabinet underneath quickly became the temporary home for my old Craftsman metal lathe that I inherited from my Dad but haven't had time to make operational again. Keeps the dust off and all the accessories together nicely.
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Then I spent a few minutes with the first of the chisels that came with the lathe. The PO had polished up the bevel but ended up rounding it pretty badly. A few minutes on the belt sander straightened things out and nearly got rid of that bad nick on one side.
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How 'bout now?Sounds interesting. Pictures didn't show up for me.![]()
How 'bout now?
Doubt very much that letting the calipers hang by the hoses caused that. Looks like old age to meThis one was interesting.
These were on my Cummins truck. I just got done pulling a loaded cargo trailer. Slowing down to make a turn, I noticed my brakes were “fading”. We got to the property, unhooked the trailer, and as we were leaving to make the last run (pickup bed load only) I discovered I had no pedal.
Made it to a n Oreillys, checked the reservoir and it was empty
Walked around the truck looking for signs of leaks, and found the passenger front was leaking.
Fixed that yesterday morning, and while under the truck, I noticed that the drivers front was leaking as well.
What would cause BOTH lines to go out at one time?!?!
I did have work done (ball joints) and I suspect that the shop may have let the calipers hang. But it’s been 25k miles since.
I have done some loaded panic stops (car cuts me off and I have to stand on the brakes, with a loaded trailer).
I was in a yard with a lot of small pieces of branch material. I wonder if branches kicked up and got the lines. But BOTH?!?!
Maybe they were just old? The truck is a 99 with 215k miles. Maybe it was just time?
Who knows![]()

Holy smokes! Something so pleasant about seeing old weary paint being given a rub to show its better self. Great work!Started the process of rejuvenating the old paint on the ‘71 911T.
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Results:
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Good reflections:
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It related news, I actually managed to tighten the front one that was stripped & impossible to tighten before... so that's a bit bizarre. *Christine* anyone?
Nope, no attempt to save the thread. Striped the original bolt a while back, left it in there.. at some point it fell out. It went into a 5mm thick threaded aluminum tabDid you clean the threads on the old one before you put it in? Was the new one even one thread longer than the old one? It's not hocus pocus - figure it out.

Nope, no attempt to save the thread. Striped the original bolt a while back, left it in there.. at some point it fell out. It went into a 5mm thick threaded aluminum tab
Last week I decided to sort it by using a slightly longer (stainless) bolt & use a nyloc nut on the back side of the tab. I tried to tighten it before I put the nut on the back. It went all the way in & then just started to spin, no grip at all. Added nut & all was well.
Wasn't happy with a different style fastener in each hole.
Today I decided to use the three M6x15mm parkerized Allen bolts for uniformity. Loosely fitted all three, tightened the front (stripped) one first expecting it to start spinning when it went all the way it.. & it didn't, it tightened up perfectly.![]()
Can't figure it out at all, unless that's what happened. I'm going with *Christine*You said that you didn't attempt to save the thread. Maybe putting the nut on the back saved the thread? Maybe it pulled the internal threads to a different angle? You are an aircraft mechanic as I recall - you know it didn't happen all by itself. If you can explain it then everyone benefits.
We are counting on you man - you have the tools, you have the knowledge, you have the experience.
Attics in Florida don't treat Christmas decorations well. I've seen things melt that I never knew could melt..lol And if it doesn't melt, it gets brittle and falls apart.
Phantom, if those 12 ga wires were corroded, that wi affect the sound quite a bit... (especially the infamous "green gunge" the clear insulation often gets.)
The original bolts, the stainless bolt & the allen bolt were all M6 thread.ZRX, did you happen to have the wrong SIZE bolt, or was the bolt itself stripped/substandard?
