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Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
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86turbodsl

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Jul 1, 2005
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Michigan
I had the wife's little trailer in the shop last few days. I redecked it with treated, rebuilt the framework holding that down, and completely rewired with new lights. I developed a pretty cool way to hold the wire- cut up 10' plastic conduit, held down by straps welded to the frame. No more floppy wiring. Now that is done, i can get one of the cars in there for further work.
 
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86turbodsl

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Not really, i didnt' think to take before pics. After is definitely an improvement. Right after that i got one of the Audi's on the lift to look at the exhaust leak. It's a start from scratch deal.
 
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86turbodsl

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This morning i fixed the truck. Well, usable anyway. Three more to go. Also picked up a stack of 32 particle board 4x8, will be used for decking the loft in the horse barn, so we can throw round bales up there this winter. Assuming the mast gets changed anyway.
 
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86turbodsl

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Every year we go to the US12 garage sale in Michigan. Over a 100 miles of yard sales. Family time. This might be the first year we have rain. They're saying 60% chance of rain in the afternoon. I put all the wood inside for prep. Maybe we can make murphy work for us for a change.
 
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86turbodsl

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Well, 2022 US12 in the books. Lots of rain. We were home early and went to the brewery and got dinner instead of eating on the road back. A few items to be had, but nothing that loaded the car up for sure. Back to the shop tomorrow.
 

bimmer1980

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Feb 5, 2009
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Location
York, PA
What did you end up getting at the "Road Sale"?

I've had mixed luck at yard sales.... a few times I find something, but at this point, I have such small (or targeted) needs that mostly the yard sale is a waste of time. It's more of just watching other people unload household junk.... (helpful if you are just starting off, but I what I need...)

Hopefully the exhaust works proceeds along....
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
What did you end up getting at the "Road Sale"?

I've had mixed luck at yard sales.... a few times I find something, but at this point, I have such small (or targeted) needs that mostly the yard sale is a waste of time. It's more of just watching other people unload household junk.... (helpful if you are just starting off, but I what I need...)

Hopefully the exhaust works proceeds along....
I got a few books, a croquet set and not much else. I can't claim to never get good stuff, i've gotten machine tools in this sale before (My 7" atlas shaper) along with lots of other tools, my main motorcycle jacket and on and on. It's hit or miss.

I need to catch you guys up. The exhaust work is tabled for a minute, my Audi is on the lift, getting a lot of work done, since it won't start anymore. Starter is bad.

I started working on pulling that and made some mental notes on how much needs to be done to make this car right, and changed direction a bit.

The list of things to do on it:

Starter
Clutch / flywheel
Timing belt
Front brakes
CV boots are both torn
Downpipes are rotted/Cats are dead
Full exhaust
Shifter repair kit

Many of these items require the same parts to remove, so i'd be pulling things multiple times to do these jobs sequentially.
So i decided to just drop the whole engine/trans and do everything at once.

With that said, i can't keep asking the kids to not have their cars, so i came up with bandaids to get them on the road while i work on my stuff.

I am building stubby header mufflers for the kid's truck, so it's not NASCAR loud, just sorta loud. I can build the full exhaust later and he gets his truck back. The Daughter's audi, since it's getting a new exhaust anyway, i'm cutting out the offending bellows and scabbing in a short section of rigid pipe and clamping it. So she can run around and we know it'll be short term. Both of these items can happen by this weekend.

My truck, i got back on the road with a bandaid fix last week, and i have the wife's car for now, and she'll drive my truck for her few days she needs it.

I have a big project at work that i am nearing completion on, and i plan to take at least a weeks' vacation once that completes and i will be working on the Audi for a lot of that probably. I've heard you can drop the whole drivetrain in as few as 4 hrs, not sure that's true or not, but since i have SO much work to do on it, i think the time to do all these jobs will be a lot easier if everything is out on a cart. As far as a cart to support 1000lbs or so, i think i'm going to build it out of some pallet rack stuff i have sitting around. Should be more than stout enough. I do have to pickup some good casters to pull it out from under the car though.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's the way we do the cars at work and it seems to work pretty well. And i have the lift, so might as well not fight it.
 

jbmatth

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Jun 3, 2013
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Northern Ok.
I've done similar a few times where the work could be done with the engine in, but it is much easier to access by pulling it all out. Great example of one was my Duramax, I was replacing the flywheel and starter due to grinding issues, tried doing it in the truck and at one point realized I was only a few bolts away from being able to pull the cab, 30 minutes later I had full access to everything. Done and dusted.

JB
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
Exactly. Why use 4.72 feet of extensions and 3 universal joints to pull bellhousing bolts when i can do it on the cart with an impact.
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
And the hits just keep on comin...

Got my money refunded by the downpipe guy. "We ran out the day you ordered. New stock will be ready in 3-4 months."
Well, guess i'm doing something else then...
 
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86turbodsl

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Wife asked me if i can make my own downpipes - I answered, "yeah, but that's not the point. I'm trying to save time, not money.."

I picked up some giant casters at Horror freight. I'm going to use some pallet rack cutoffs and beams cut down to make the engine/trans cart. Should be quick. Then i can get this all knocked out this weekend. I have about another week of my big project at work and then taking off a week or so. Vaca is piling up and i need a break from madness at work.
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
Got a text from my kid.... he said it's still leaking coolant, which i cannot believe, since we've literally hit everything on that thing, and now it's got a ****** leak. Front seal. Which on that trans, needs pulled and separate the case halves... i can't catch a break with this ****.
 
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bulletpruf

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San Antonio
Got a text from my kid.... he said it's still leaking coolant, which i cannot believe, since we've literally hit everything on that thing, and now it's got a ****** leak. Front seal. Which on that trans, needs pulled and separate the case halves... i can't catch a break with this ****.

Ouch.
 
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86turbodsl

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I checked it out, no evidence of any leakage, or burning. I think it burped. The front seal is leaking, but doesn't seem bad at all. I checked the fill plug on level ground and got it coming out. So either the T-case is leaking into the ****** and overfilling it, or the ****** is a bit overfull and maybe it'll stop. I told him to drive it for now and we'll keep checking it.
 
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86turbodsl

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Last couple nights i have been prepping the Audi for engine/trans removal. I got the exhaust off Tues night and the driveshaft off last night. The shielding will need some attention. I am also thinking about fluid filming everything before i reassemble. It's better if you don't get any on driveshafts. The driveshaft will also need some attention, the rubber bushing the center bearing runs in is a little fragile looking. Some RTV filling might handle that. The CV's seem ok still. I also ordered some nice v-band clamps to make exhaust removal in future easier. And i still need to order mufflers and resonators.20220824_203802.jpg20220824_203809.jpg20220824_203838.jpg

I can also see i will need to attend to transmission seals perhaps. I've thought about swapping the trans for a unit with better ratios. And i may do that yet. Now would be the time i suppose. The flex coupler on the driver side was definitely shot.

And i've also determined that this job will likely require more space than i have available and i need access to the forklift for this job, so i think i'm going to have to clear out the space beside the lift quite a bit. So i think that's this weekends' job. My vacation starts this Friday, so it's going to be a lot of work on the car and shop this next week.
 
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bulletpruf

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San Antonio
If you need something more substantial to repair the bushing with, try a product called Window Weld. My 2013 Infiniti FX37 had a liquid filled bushing on the rear subframe that wore out, releasing all the liquid. Dealership wanted something like $3,500 to repair since it involves swapping out the entire subframe for a new subframe (the bushing can't be replaced according to the dealership). I ended up repairing it by filling it with $25 of Window Weld. 2 years later and it's doing fine. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FW61EW/?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
On another note, my kid's truck has started consuming coolant again. Never a white cloud, never in oil, we don't know where it's going. He always comes to me for guidance, i'm ready to tell him to push it off a cliff or set it on fire. We've literally replaced EVERYTHING coolant touches except heads/block.
 
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86turbodsl

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Michigan
Geez. i can't trust anything. Found the hose clamp on upper thermostat housing too far back on hose. Slight drip. I asked him to do that one. Moved clamp, seems ok. ****** still leaking though.
 

LutzTD

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Dec 31, 2011
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Lutz, Florida
Is the cap holding the right tension/pressure. It might be pushing it out the over flow
that's what I was thinking too. did you pressure test the system and cap? I had a mustang that overheated, fought it forever. finally figured out the cap portion of the radiator was wrong and needed to add a second rubber gasket on the cap for it to seal. the cap wouldn't hold pressure even though both tested good separately.

haha nevermind, glad you got it figured out
 

Strouty

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Mar 21, 2010
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Southern Maine
My GF's Volvo XC70 had to have the shaft removed to get some AWD parts replaced, I thought it wouldn't be too bad, the car was on a lift, I have plenty of tools..... Well it took about ten hours over three days to get the shaft out, there were actually three people involved in the process, so I wasn't out fumbled alone. I just remember telling her I wasn't working on her car again. ;)
 

Monza Harry

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Dec 29, 2018
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Location
Windsor ON
My GF's Volvo XC70 had to have the shaft removed to get some AWD parts replaced, I thought it wouldn't be too bad, the car was on a lift, I have plenty of tools..... Well it took about ten hours over three days to get the shaft out, there were actually three people involved in the process, so I wasn't out fumbled alone. I just remember telling her I wasn't working on her car again. ;)
Oh that's going to cost you! Just sayin' ... Harry ;):D
 
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86turbodsl

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Jul 1, 2005
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Michigan
Well today's my birthday, it's been a crapshoot so far, but the wife has convinced me to look at getting a new(er) car which to me means something with less miles on it that i already have tools for. We'll see what happens on that front. In the meantime, it's hot and i'm back in shorts so i might wander out to the shop in a bit.
 

Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
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Boca Raton, Florida
@86turbodsl, Happy 53rd Birthday! I remember that age well -- I was three years into my second career and two years from a second retirement. I would love to retire a third time but that would mean going back to work.
 

Strouty

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Mar 21, 2010
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Location
Southern Maine
Happy Birthday for sure, finding something you know and have tools for is good in a lot of ways, or you could buy something that you don't have to work on.....
 

LutzTD

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Dec 31, 2011
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Location
Lutz, Florida
happy birthday, there are no deals out there right now on the used car front. everything is way over valued. wait as long os you can, I think once the chip shortage is played out and new cars are available again the used market will tank.
 
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