Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

[bimmer1980]

Ug on the credit card issues....

Just curious on the plastic injection job layoff of your son..... Is it possible that other components are delayed and they don't need more plastic parts until the other parts arrive? I know the "just-in-time" manufacturing is a big driver, right?

I'm noting your comment on a possible recession... I have similar concerns and have been noting comments on various companies that have been laying off people or slowing their hiring. A co-worker of mine is adamant that this is simply a "correction" and will not turn into a recession. (hopefully this doesn't go too far into the weeds...)

I'd be curious if your Germany visitors have any insight on their economy over in Europe.

Good luck on the truck this coming weekend!

I was fixing mowers this past weekend, so I get the pain. One of the mowers dropped the exhaust valve seat, then bent the valve as I continued to crank it until I stopped and thought.... It is now back up and running -- new valve and head gasket (Toro Wheelhorse 38" cut, 16 Hp OHV). My JD F525 needed a new battery and a positive cable. I thought it had a gremlin on the electric PTO, but the new cable seemed to solve that too.....

 

[86turbodsl]

Ug on the credit card issues....

Just curious on the plastic injection job layoff of your son..... Is it possible that other components are delayed and they don't need more plastic parts until the other parts arrive? I know the "just-in-time" manufacturing is a big driver, right?

I'm noting your comment on a possible recession... I have similar concerns and have been noting comments on various companies that have been laying off people or slowing their hiring. A co-worker of mine is adamant that this is simply a "correction" and will not turn into a recession. (hopefully this doesn't go too far into the weeds...)

I'd be curious if your Germany visitors have any insight on their economy over in Europe.

Good luck on the truck this coming weekend!

I was fixing mowers this past weekend, so I get the pain. One of the mowers dropped the exhaust valve seat, then bent the valve as I continued to crank it until I stopped and thought.... It is now back up and running -- new valve and head gasket (Toro Wheelhorse 38" cut, 16 Hp OHV). My JD F525 needed a new battery and a positive cable. I thought it had a gremlin on the electric PTO, but the new cable seemed to solve that too.....

We have some more insight on this issue now. The place he works at/worked? had an expectation of getting more orders, they hired a bunch of temps / part timers expecting this business to be placed, but it is either delayed or cancelled. So they let all temps/part timers go for 1 month. Supposedly they will bring them back, but who knows. Layoff is until Jul 11 at least. He likes this job and wants to wait, so i expect he might be one of those called back if they do get the business. JIT is still a big driver in auto business, but that model is fading quickly due to supply chain issues i can tell you that!

At the risk of going into the weeds, i frequently listen to a youtube podcast called the "monkey sitrep" the guy is ex-military, and into intel. He does analysis of worldwide shipping, air flights, all kinds of stuff. He's got some pretty amazing tools to do this with also. He's been saying the supply chain issues haven't really hit us yet, the boats usually stacked up at the ports from China are not there anymore, and that layoffs are coming. I drove past one of the Amazon fulfillment centers in Detroit yesterday, and it was surprisingly empty. Parking lot i mean. I think we haven't really seen what's going to happen yet. I'm trying to prepare in ways that i can. The effects of offshoring our production capabilities are about to come home to roost i think.

As for the German, he also sees massive problems coming. The economy is not good over there either. I can try and give specifics if you have direct questions, we didn't discuss it a ton, but enough to get a flavor of how it is over there. They are seeing a lot of the same things we are i can state.

Thanks on the truck. I didn't work on it last night, got home late as we had a dinner for our departing guest, and today WFH, so that will help. Goal is to get it mobile, and maybe back it out of the shop so i can clean. Once that's done, get it back in and finish it up.

 

[Strouty]

JIT is the absolute best solution on paper, in the end it is just like socialism, it doesn't work in practice if there are any hiccups. I think there are many things that can be learned from this, but most of the important ones seem to be forgotten all too soon. All the cancel culture crowd thinks everything needs to be a certain way, but they don't even understand about everyday economics, there are going to be a lot of people that are in for a rude awakening, of course that probably means everyone that does plan and prepare will just have to pay more to bail people out of their self created hardships. Sorry, I probably overstepped, if so mods can delete it.

As for the credit card, one of our company cards just got hit, someone tried to use it for a traveling photo booth, only $3200.....

 

[86turbodsl]

No problem Strouty, i think you and i are on the same page here. JIT works for minimum cost, but doesn't allow for any slip ups. Since when are humans capable of no slip ups?

Out in the shop working on the truck. another day not moving. Always something.

 

[86turbodsl]

Couldn't buy any vacuum line or battery cable parts locally that weren't trash, so we decided to buy online and just clean the shop for the next couple days. Oh well. C'est La Vie.

 

[bulletpruf]

Couldn't buy any vacuum line or battery cable parts locally that weren't trash, so we decided to buy online and just clean the shop for the next couple days. Oh well. C'est La Vie.

These days I'm making my own battery cables; tired of parts store junk. I take cues from the boat guys - Ancor lugs (using Novalox before crimping) and tinned copper wire on military terminals for me.

 

[86turbodsl]

Yeah, we do similar here, i've built cables for my last few. Military terminals, heavy duty cable with adhesive heat shrink. Super happy with that setup. I leave the part store **** for my lawnmowers.

 

[86turbodsl]

And the hits keep on coming. We blew a tire on the company lease car yesterday. Down to the donut. Just after buying groceries of course, so had to unload the whole mess on the parking lot/road. Swapped tire and headed home. Called this morning and the dealer's FIRST slot to get new tires is next TUES. So, since that really should not go anywhere but the dealer, that car is also out of commission. AND the Audi now has a coolant leak. So here's the lineup right now:

1. 2004 Audi A4 - broken ****** on coolant reservoir - loses 1 qt / 15-ish miles.
2. 2021 Tuscon - spare tire/donut (max 50mph)
3. 1997 F350 - blown PS pump (ever steer a PSD crew with no PS? )
4. 1996 Audi A4 - bad rear wheel bearing/alignment TBD
5. 1995 F150 - no exhaust / trans R+R

AND

6. 2006 Yamaha VMAX - leaky fork seal.

There's really nothing else in the yard that could be easily resurrected without MUCH pain.

And i *HAVE* to be at the office Tues - Thurs (another German visitor) and it's supposed to be near 100F.

How do other people deal with these types of things? Just bring barrels of cash? Write big checks?
I've spent something like 3-4G last couple months buying parts to fix some of these issues. I REALLY need the kids'
truck done and out of my shop.

 

[83VillageRepair]

3. 1997 F350 - blown PS pump (ever steer a PSD crew with no PS? )

I needed to pull my big trailer to pick up a "new" service merchandiser this weekend. 150 miles in a 1994 F250 without Air conditioning but I did have power steering.

 

[86turbodsl]

I'll take no AC over no PS in a heartbeat. Been there, done that, got numerous t-shirts.

 

[Bob Heine]

When all else fails, I walk the three blocks to Hertz or four blocks to National, Alamo or Enterprise. One of them usually has a vehicle in running condition. If those four fail me, Avis is 3 miles away and I have a bicycle. Sometimes living downtown is a good thing.

 

[86turbodsl]

Yeah, 17 miles to town here.

 

[Bob Heine]

Yeah, 17 miles to town here.

I'm sure one of your neighbors would be happy to drive you -- halfway to town.

 

[86turbodsl]

And you just cant make this stuff up. Walkinghome from town after audi seems to have blown up. Massive overheat and oil pressure warning.

 

[jbmatth]

Sorry to hear of your vehicle woes lately, that stinks big time. I currently have 5 vehicles I could drive anytime and the cobra if the weather isn't too terrible as well as my wife having two of her own, but down to 1 for a while now. I've had 2-3 down at once before but never even considered I could loose all 5 at once. I guess I need to go buy a few more running vehicles, thanks for the advise.

JB

 

[86turbodsl]

Well this is getting annoying. I walked about halfway back from town, and my son came and picked me up in the Tuscon. We're trying to keep the miles down since we need to make it to Lansing for the dealer yet. I scavenged around in my parts cars and found a coolant reservoir that would fit, and we went back and put in the Audi and filled with water. Drove it back home and it seems to be ok. I'm HOPING that the low oil pressure and overheat were mild enough i don't lose a head gasket or spin a bearing, but i guess only time will tell on that. I'm sure i shortened the life somewhat. The engine does have 314K miles on it.
I have NEVER overheated it before. It's always been ROCK solid at temp.

I think i am going to ask for a week off after this week, and maybe i can get a couple cars back up and running. I can also try calling in favors from relatives, but trying to avoid that if possible because that turns into a giant hassle to go get something since we have multiple trips to go get something.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Sorry to hear of your vehicle woes lately, that stinks big time. I currently have 5 vehicles I could drive anytime and the cobra if the weather isn't too terrible as well as my wife having two of her own, but down to 1 for a while now. I've had 2-3 down at once before but never even considered I could loose all 5 at once. I guess I need to go buy a few more running vehicles, thanks for the advise.

JB

I keep a fleet around as well. Usually one new vehicle on the place and that belongs to the wife. I have 3 or 4 other running older vehicles and motorcycles as well. When I start having too many problems to keep up I upgrade to a better class of beaters. I just had to put a clutch in the 2010 Ranger and the Honda Fit isn't charging so time to get busy.

 

[86turbodsl]

It's hard in this state, insurance costs MEGABUX so you tend to try to keep a non-driving car sitting around but when you don't put miles on them, and they sit, then you end up putting time and effort into the non-drivers on short notice if you get in a bind.

I have the following sitting around that COULD be put on the road maybe:

1. 86 F250 - had binding kingpins and questionable brakes at last drive. Diesel and runs fine.
2. 97 F250 - had bad trans (have trans)
3. 05 Golf TDI - has various issues to be determined - was working on injection system when parked
Anything else is huge effort.
I have multiple OBS Fords that could be on the road, but need MAJOR work. 85 Bronco, 91 F150, 96 Passat, Fairlanes, Tempos/Escorts, etc. NONE of those would be any fun to get running on short notice.

I need Derek or Kevin to come bail me out... lol.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Sounds like it's time to daily the Vmax for a while

 

[86turbodsl]

I think that's the plan for tomorrow at minimum. I asked for next week off and got it. It's a thrash for sure.

 

[86turbodsl]

Ran into a friend at work this morning, told him about the car situation, he said he's been in the same place. He's also a gearhead/works on his own stuff. So i think it's a common characteristic for our type. Small comfort, but at least it's something.

 

[Bob Heine]

Trust me when I say you are not alone. More than once I have been down to zero driveable cars and hoofed it over to Hertz to rent something to get around while waiting for parts (when next day delivery cost more than the parts).

 

[Strouty]

Is the Audi blue????

I feel your pain, knock on wood the Blurb is still going.

 

[86turbodsl]

Nope, grey. And, to top this all off, i have leaking fork seals now too. I am going to be very glad to not be driving to work next week.

 

[86turbodsl]

Trust me when I say you are not alone. More than once I have been down to zero driveable cars and hoofed it over to Hertz to rent something to get around while waiting for parts (when next day delivery cost more than the parts).

I don't get how things all happen at once. Like, what is the probability of that happening? And yet, it's happened to me multiple times!

 

[bulletpruf]

Yeah, we do similar here, i've built cables for my last few. Military terminals, heavy duty cable with adhesive heat shrink. Super happy with that setup. I leave the part store **** for my lawnmowers.

Yep, forgot to mention the adhesive heat shrink. Love that stuff.

 

[bulletpruf]

It's hard in this state, insurance costs MEGABUX so you tend to try to keep a non-driving car sitting around but when you don't put miles on them, and they sit, then you end up putting time and effort into the non-drivers on short notice if you get in a bind.

I have the following sitting around that COULD be put on the road maybe:

1. 86 F250 - had binding kingpins and questionable brakes at last drive. Diesel and runs fine.
2. 97 F250 - had bad trans (have trans)
3. 05 Golf TDI - has various issues to be determined - was working on injection system when parked
Anything else is huge effort.
I have multiple OBS Fords that could be on the road, but need MAJOR work. 85 Bronco, 91 F150, 96 Passat, Fairlanes, Tempos/Escorts, etc. NONE of those would be any fun to get running on short notice.

I need Derek or Kevin to come bail me out... lol.

Taking the week off is a great idea; that's exactly what I would do.

86 F250 sounds interesting -- what are the details? 4x4, 6.9, regular or crew cab? Rusty? I haven't rebuilt kingpins yet, but doesn't appear to be a huge pain in the ****. Brakes should be easy-peasy.

If you have the trans for the 97 F250, that shouldn't take too long if you can get it on the lift. Is it an auto or manual? Diesel or gas? 2wd or 4wd?

Golf TDI probably gets 40+ mpg, right?

What the order of march? Fix the kid's truck first?

Sometimes I wish someone would steal my daily - currently driving wife's 2013 Infiniti FX37 - so I would have an excuse to get the '69 Bronco roadworthy. It runs and moves right now, but needs brakes, wiring fixed, tires, shocks, etc.

EDIT - forgot to mention -- do you think it might be time to unload some car projects that are on the back burner? Or maybe take a cue from @Strouty and focus (read: obsess) on a particular make/model?

EDIT 2 - we're gonna need to see some pictures of your fleet of project vehicles!

 

[86turbodsl]

Taking the week off is a great idea; that's exactly what I would do.

86 F250 sounds interesting -- what are the details? 4x4, 6.9, regular or crew cab? Rusty? I haven't rebuilt kingpins yet, but doesn't appear to be a huge pain in the ****. Brakes should be easy-peasy.

If you have the trans for the 97 F250, that shouldn't take too long if you can get it on the lift. Is it an auto or manual? Diesel or gas? 2wd or 4wd?

Golf TDI probably gets 40+ mpg, right?

What the order of march? Fix the kid's truck first?

Sometimes I wish someone would steal my daily - currently driving wife's 2013 Infiniti FX37 - so I would have an excuse to get the '69 Bronco roadworthy. It runs and moves right now, but needs brakes, wiring fixed, tires, shocks, etc.

EDIT - forgot to mention -- do you think it might be time to unload some car projects that are on the back burner? Or maybe take a cue from @Strouty and focus (read: obsess) on a particular make/model?

EDIT 2 - we're gonna need to see some pictures of your fleet of project vehicles!

The 86 F250 is literally "86TURBODSL" My first diesel, texas truck, 6.9 ATS turbo, TIRED,needs glow plugs and controller, 2wd, supercab, T19 trans. SLOW. About 65 tops. Not rusty really, kingpins stuck, I'm sure needs brakes. A good parts truck at this point.

The 97F250 is a PSD, auto, E4OD, 4x4. that job i've already done once and it sucked. And it's a Michigan truck and RUSTY. Not worth it. Parts truck.

The Golf got about 42-43mpg. There's some issues i've never figured out. It doesn't run right. An exploratory project.

The wife's 85 Bronco is solid and needs a new engine. The 4.9 threw rods! First one i've ever heard of doing that.

I have to get the kids truck to start, then move it out of the shop and start on the other stuff. Probably the daughter's Audi is easiest. I have the part and tools already. 1 day in/out. The wife's car is a lease and i can't work on it. The crewcab i need parts yet, and so far have only found one junkyard with the right stuff. I need to travel 60 miles to get it. That's a bit of an issue unless the A4 i daily ends up ok enough to drive.

I put a new coolant bottle on it last night, filled with water and it "seems" ok after driving it about 10 miles twice, but i'm a little uncertain about long drives in hot weather yet. Probably a few more drives around the house in order first.

I am semi-focused on two makes - Old OBS Ford trucks and VW/Audi to keep variations down. Audi's are like legos. OBS Ford too.
The trouble is, i get obsessed over fixing the few flaws those vehicles came with from factory.

I'll try and start snapping photos as i start working on these.

 

[bulletpruf]

Thanks for the details. Let me know if you need 6.9 parts. I do have a few NIB glow plugs that you can have for the price of shipping if you decide to work on it.

Your wife may be the first one to kill a Ford 300 six!

Looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing more details!

 

[86turbodsl]

I think long term, the 6.9 / ATS is going in the bronco. So it's probably going to get gone thru. I'm slowly transitioning over to more diesel, as i can make fuel. The globalist goal is fuel so expensive you can't afford to drive, so at some point i run out of funds. I can stave that off for a while with my biodiesel / WVO. THOUSANDS of gallons here already. I can hump harder for wvo if needed.

 

[bulletpruf]

I think long term, the 6.9 / ATS is going in the bronco. So it's probably going to get gone thru. I'm slowly transitioning over to more diesel, as i can make fuel. The globalist goal is fuel so expensive you can't afford to drive, so at some point i run out of funds. I can stave that off for a while with my biodiesel / WVO. THOUSANDS of gallons here already. I can hump harder for wvo if needed.

Ok, there's a guy over on Oilburners.net with an IDI Bronco. Sounds like a fun build.

I hear you on fuel availability. I like the idea of having options too.

 

[86turbodsl]

There's been a few IDI broncos i think, and the IDI is nicely matched for use profile of a bronco. Not really towing, just good torque for onroad/offroad and bulletproof for a bugout/end of the world type scenario. I have a Dana44 solid to put in it as well. With 3/4 ton outers, it should be a good fit. Finding deep enough gears for the setup is the bigger issue. I believe that vehicle has 3.08 gears.

Last night, the battery cable stuff showed up, but the heat shrink they sent is garbage, so i found double wall adhesive and ordered that. Amazon changed shipping options yesterday too, the next day stuff is gone, and replaced with 2nd day "environmentally friendly" shipping check box. So that slows me down AGAIN.

(edit) I checked this morning and next day is back again. So they're playing with time of day you look at things. UGH. So i have to order again to get it today. Madness.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I have a Cummins 4BT that I always thought would be great in a Bronco. In any case a 3/4 ton conversion would probably be in order.

 

[bulletpruf]

There's been a few IDI broncos i think, and the IDI is nicely matched for use profile of a bronco. Not really towing, just good torque for onroad/offroad and bulletproof for a bugout/end of the world type scenario. I have a Dana44 solid to put in it as well. With 3/4 ton outers, it should be a good fit. Finding deep enough gears for the setup is the bigger issue. I believe that vehicle has 3.08 gears.

Last night, the battery cable stuff showed up, but the heat shrink they sent is garbage, so i found double wall adhesive and ordered that. Amazon changed shipping options yesterday too, the next day stuff is gone, and replaced with 2nd day "environmentally friendly" shipping check box. So that slows me down AGAIN.

(edit) I checked this morning and next day is back again. So they're playing with time of day you look at things. UGH. So i have to order again to get it today. Madness.

I'd look into swapping in Super Duty front (Dana 60) and rear axles (Sterling 10.25). They are CHEAP and easy to source. I'm swapping in a kingpin Dana 60 into my '87 dually (currenntly 2WD twin I beam on coil springs) and using a Sky Offroad kit to do it. I sourced a '90 diff because I didn't want to have to swap my rear as well to have the same wheel bolt pattern.

 

[86turbodsl]

Yeah, everybody is doing that, but then you're locked into 8x170 wheels and if i have to buy wheels also, it starts to get expensive. I am swimming in 16in 8x6.50 wheels. Around here, you don't even see superduty axles for less than 1000 each.

 

[86turbodsl]

I have a Cummins 4BT that I always thought would be great in a Bronco. In any case a 3/4 ton conversion would probably be in order.

The trouble with the 4BT is that it's 3.9L, and in a 4cyl package. 4 cylinders have a bad 2nd order motion that starts to get really bad when engine size goes much above 2.5L, and it's REALLY bad in the 4BT. So you end up with a lot of vibration, or a lot of bandaids to get it livable. I know people do it, but i'm not interested in a lot of vibration in a daily.

 

[83VillageRepair]

The trouble with the 4BT is that it's 3.9L, and in a 4cyl package. 4 cylinders have a bad 2nd order motion that starts to get really bad when engine size goes much above 2.5L, and it's REALLY bad in the 4BT. So you end up with a lot of vibration, or a lot of bandaids to get it livable. I know people do it, but i'm not interested in a lot of vibration in a daily.

It does feel like a tractor engine not really commuter friendly

 

[bulletpruf]

Yeah, everybody is doing that, but then you're locked into 8x170 wheels and if i have to buy wheels also, it starts to get expensive. I am swimming in 16in 8x6.50 wheels. Around here, you don't even see superduty axles for less than 1000 each.

No kidding? Around here, you can easily get a pair for $1,000.

I have my 7.3 IDI turbo apart; hope to make some progress this weekend and next week. With the 4th of July weekend, one day of leave, and the rest telework, I'll have 6 straight days where I'll get some quality wrenching done.

 

[bulletpruf]

The trouble with the 4BT is that it's 3.9L, and in a 4cyl package. 4 cylinders have a bad 2nd order motion that starts to get really bad when engine size goes much above 2.5L, and it's REALLY bad in the 4BT. So you end up with a lot of vibration, or a lot of bandaids to get it livable. I know people do it, but i'm not interested in a lot of vibration in a daily.

You see a few folks swapping these into early Broncos, but mine will get the 302 rebuilt and stroked to 347.

 

[86turbodsl]

i picked up a hydraulic cable crimper from amazon. Man, does that thing work nice. So much better crimps than we've been doing up to this point. The kid's truck will have awesome cables. I'm also thinking of emptying the shop out into the yard to help with cleaning. It's almost paralyzing where we're at right now. That would also allow some wall painting and more pallet racking erecting if it's that clean. I need to stay on mission and get at least 2 cars up though, so that's primary focus.

I'm on day 3 of daily on the bike. I wonder how long until my hands' feeling comes back...