rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[SilverJimmy]

When I moved to Flagstaff in 93 after one ride out in the Cinders on my XR600 I knew it wasn’t the correct tool for them. Bought a 1994 CR500, or as my buddies called it “The Behemoth that Screamith”! Even without a paddle tire I could climb the wall in the Motordrome! Did you get to ride that hill? Only thing that ***** about the Cinders is how it really tears up the leading edge of all the surfaces on a dirt bike, getting blasted with volcano gravel is pretty rough!

 

[rattle_snake]

Jimmy,
Yes the cinder are all about power to weight, and rider ability. No I didn't do motordome, $100, or some of the others.

My buddy brought a XR400 and a YZ426. He also has several other big two-pokes including a pair of CR500s. I've ridden the 500s in the dunes and desert, I can't say they have any more power than a 4-stroke 450, but fun non the less. Back in the 90s the 2 strokes ruled.



Rode about 50 hard miles on my 2005 'X. It rides like a Cadillac and pulls like a tractor. The YZ426 beats you to death like the 400 before it.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Just after my 60th birthday, I thought, why not, I haven’t had a new dirt bike in years, and a CRF450RX might just be the ticket for my Golden Years! Holy ****! Now I’m trying to get into better shape so my new 2 wheels don’t put me permanently into 4! These new Honda 4 strokes are light years beyond my old 500!

 

[rattle_snake]

I installed a new stereo in my 72 Ford that had more connectivity than the previous $30 special. There are a only a few single DIN stereos with a screen for backup camera.

Well it was less than nothing. Horrific hardware and software to the point of unusable. I wouldn't even donate it to good will.
So...

 

[SilverJimmy]

I did the same thing to a wrist watch that a girlfriend had given to me. Something about the engraving where she professed her undying love for me must have triggered me when she drove by in her new BF’s truck….

 

[rattle_snake]

Just after my 60th birthday, I thought, why not, I haven’t had a new dirt bike in years, and a CRF450RX might just be the ticket for my Golden Years! Holy ****! Now I’m trying to get into better shape so my new 2 wheels don’t put me permanently into 4! These new Honda 4 strokes are light years beyond my old 500!

Ohhh an RX, nice. Yes the new stuff is impressive. Glad to see an old man still riding.

well, I'm not far from 50, and yes need to be in shape to manhandle the machine! but the adrenaline of those climbs!

 

[SilverJimmy]

I’m not OLD, I’m experienced!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Justin, does the YZ426 have a compression release on the handlebars? I seem to remember them having one. My local Honda dealer got one on trade shortly after they were released, and I took it for a test ride...wow, that was an eye opener. Kind of like the Hayabusa my gf at the time's dad brought home (he was the Western Sales Manager for Suzuki USA)...I had no business being on that one either at the point in my life.

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes the YZ426 has a comp lever on the left side. They are not the easiest starting bikes, have to know the process. I rode a YZ400 quite a bit and got starting that one down pretty good. I prefer the easy button on the 'X.

 

[SilverJimmy]

I traded a customer a Kachina Jet Boat straight across for his YZ426. Kicked that ***** till I was almost ready for a 9-11 call. Figured the spark plug was fouled, so I tried to change it…. no way, no how could I figure that out, so I pulled out the service manual to read the plug change procedure. Then I saw that there was a “starting drill” and it spelled out in detail the cold start, hot start, crashed on the right side, crashed on the left side, pretty much every situation. A bit later a buddy stopped by and saw my 426 and commented how he sold his cuz he couldn’t ever get it to start. You should have seen his reaction when I started mine first kick…. while wearing my standard summertime footwear, flip flops!!!!

 

[PugetDude]

I had no business being on that one either at the point in my life.

The girlfirend or the bike?

 

[rattle_snake]

I traded a customer a Kachina Jet Boat straight across for his YZ426. Kicked that ***** till I was almost ready for a 9-11 call. Figured the spark plug was fouled, so I tried to change it…. no way, no how could I figure that out, so I pulled out the service manual to read the plug change procedure. Then I saw that there was a “starting drill” and it spelled out in detail the cold start, hot start, crashed on the right side, crashed on the left side, pretty much every situation. A bit later a buddy stopped by and saw my 426 and commented how he sold his cuz he couldn’t ever get it to start. You should have seen his reaction when I started mine first kick…. while wearing my standard summertime footwear, flip flops!!!!

The 426 my friend has is a flip bike, supposedly (he has 7+ bikes now). He paid $1500, the seller put $2300 in the head but his kid couldn't start it.... so for sale.

The girlfirend or the bike?

 

[PhantomEB]

Cobra got a double-DIN upgrade. It's a cheap unit as well, but supports a back up camera. The unit for the truck came with a camera so I put it on the car. Have to use an app for certain things but got it working.


Knowing how much an audiophile you are, can I pick your brain?

Surgery coming up fast that very well may restore my hearing to almost thus of a normal guy, I will want to upgrade my stereo in this 2012. Not looking for it all but sound decent.

I know first step is to change the deck, which I mandate has to have a back up camera, preferring one on the license plate that I can use while driving. Does your pioneer allow for this? Model number please if it does!

then I think I have room underneath the passenger seat for an amplifier, and could go with a bazooka tube(?) on the hump as I want to retain the use of my back seat for the dogs.

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes most of the screen type head units will support 1 or 2 cameras. You may have to ground the e-brake input wire to use the front camera while driving.
I used this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099TJFCRS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

The Ram trucks have room under the front seats for an amp. I am going to build a box for my friends 2007 ram under the back seat. Will show the details.

 

[rattle_snake]

Spent the weekend scouting for upcoming deer hunt. Usually hunt unit 17A however this year drew 17B which borders directly south. So slightly new territory to check out and find available water. On Sunday morning I put a few rounds through the savage .308 and Mossberg 30-06 to get the new scopes sighted in. Plan to fine tune some more but sufficient for 100 yards. Had a trailer tire blow out right as we left camp. It looked to have separated on the drive in, as I had inspected while loading. Had to dig out the truck's jack out of backseat filled with gear. I bought a folding star wrench long ago and it was nice to have for the trailer lugs. Also broke out the air pump as the spare was only at 25 psi. Made it home without issues.

Normal people would just buy new tires of same type/size, but I suffer bigger-tire-itus. Loaded the cheap trailer tires bulge a lot and sidewall is exposed to the sharp rocks in AZ. Going to look into something bigger, more robust and cooler looking. Plan to adjust suspension as needed.

 

[rattle_snake]

Puttering along on the speaker project, equipment finally ordered. Wanted a nice custom hanger and had the time to make it. Compact as possible and reuse the ceiling mounts. I cut some 2x4 3/16 rec tube in half, cut the corners off and machined a slot for some 1/2x3/4 DOM with the mill. It's much slower than just hogging it out with a die grinder but trying to improve quality even though it won't be seen.


I don't know the CoG of the box, or where exactly the mount needs to be. The unistut will allow adjustability, however the short version won't fit a nut over a fastener. I made the mount brackets offset to allow the pivot point to be anywhere.

 

[rattle_snake]

Also working on the port extensions. I had a length of 4" SS tube left over, a bit too short. Another piece is almost $100 so I considered alternatives. Found a 4 pk of 4" polished SS 45 mandrel bends for reasonable price. Together the length is sufficient so I cut the rem in quarters and spot welded the pieces together with some SS mig wire.


Test fit. Not sure what orientation will look best. Next step is to cut some mounting rings/flanges.


I found a rem of 1/4 SS plate at the local metal supply. Made a cut file for the CNC plasma. Unfortunately the coolant pump wasn't pumping. Poo. I tried backfilling discharge to make sure it wasn't dry. Didn't work. There is a check valve in the inlet and pump is below fluid level so it should never loose prime. I pulled to cover off the pump and impeller is OK. I pressurized the tank vent with air, it there is no flow out to pump. The pre filter is clean and refills as expected. Looks like I need to drain the tank and take it all a part.

 

[rattle_snake]

The spray adhesive that I used on the guitar cabinets let go and more glue doesn't help. So a mechanical method seemed like the right choice. Used some 1/2 x 1/2 aluminum angle drilled for some screws to hold the end of the fabric to the box.

 

[rattle_snake]

Waiting on new sub amp but able to make some progress on the box for the cobra. drilled mount holes for the amps and added some aluminum angle on the transition from vinyl to paint. Can't really see the box top in the car although I wanted to make it look finished. I want to add some limited LED lighting around the amps, but holding off until I get them installed and try some temporary locations.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Justin, go to Discount Tire and check these trailer tires out. Hartland Radial load range D and a 2150 lb capacity per tire.
The best thing about them is that for $7.50 per tire Discount will give you a 10 year warranty on them. Had a blowout on my trailer coming home from the Rubicon a couple years ago. Discount in Bakersfield warrantied that tire and then when I got home I took the other 3 in and got them warrantied also. Only thing I had to pay was another $7.50 on each for 10 more years!
With my cordless impact and some blocks of wood I can do a tire swap in less than 5 minutes, bearly work up a sweat!

 

[rattle_snake]

I was thinking of something more like this

 

[rattle_snake]

Another Ford being added to the fleet.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Another Ford being added to the fleet.

Details?

 

[rattle_snake]

Dug into the plasma table coolant pump again. It has hose threads on both sides so I was able to pull the pump off and cap the inlet. I ran the unit with pump cover off and saw that the impeller doesn't spin. It just slips on the brass sleeve. Bad design, cheap product. I chose to modify and get it working but a different style is needed. I drilled a hole in the brass sleeve at the flat, and used a short piece of wire as a pin to drive the rubber impeller. It worked.


Struggling with cutting the 1/4 SS on the plasma table. 1st cut was a bust with many problem, and I didn't have any extra material. I know better just impatient. The THC is wonky and height all over the place. I turned it off. The consumables were shot, put in new. did some test cuts, could only get full cut with 6-7 imp which is really slow. Won't pierce so start of cut is ****. I called it a night.

 

[lilscorpion]

Dug into the plasma table coolant pump again. It has hose threads on both sides so I was able to pull the pump off and cap the inlet. I ran the unit with pump cover off and saw that the impeller doesn't spin. It just slips on the brass sleeve. Bad design, cheap product. I chose to modify and get it working but a different style is needed. I drilled a hole in the brass sleeve at the flat, and used a short piece of wire as a pin to drive the rubber impeller. It worked.


Struggling with cutting the 1/4 SS on the plasma table. 1st cut was a bust with many problem, and I didn't have any extra material. I know better just impatient. The THC is wonky and height all over the place. I turned it off. The consumables were shot, put in new. did some test cuts, could only get full cut with 6-7 imp which is really slow. Won't pierce so start of cut is ****. I called it a night.

Uh….WHAT?! Plasma table coolant pump? To fill the table? If not…so many questions I have.

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes just to fill the water table.

 

[Bodj Built]

Dug into the plasma table coolant pump again. It has hose threads on both sides so I was able to pull the pump off and cap the inlet. I ran the unit with pump cover off and saw that the impeller doesn't spin. It just slips on the brass sleeve. Bad design, cheap product. I chose to modify and get it working but a different style is needed. I drilled a hole in the brass sleeve at the flat, and used a short piece of wire as a pin to drive the rubber impeller. It worked.


Struggling with cutting the 1/4 SS on the plasma table. 1st cut was a bust with many problem, and I didn't have any extra material. I know better just impatient. The THC is wonky and height all over the place. I turned it off. The consumables were shot, put in new. did some test cuts, could only get full cut with 6-7 imp which is really slow. Won't pierce so start of cut is ****. I called it a night.

That's strange. Is it a grounding issue? I don't cut much stainless, so I'm not a huge help, but I just cut some 16g stainless and it worked fine.

 

[rattle_snake]

I think I just need to experiment to find the right recipe for this material. And write it down.

My machine is only 27 amps. It will cut 1/4" mild steel OK, at about half the recommended speed. It should be able to do 1/4 SS if the operator can figure it out.

 

[rattle_snake]

Details?

Almost, Thursday. Some suspense for the peanut gallery, haha

 

[Bodj Built]

Ouch. 27 amps isn't much.

 

[rattle_snake]

I was able to adjust the pierce time/height, torch height and speed to get an OK cut at about 12-14 ipm. But the cut was at a 30* angle. New consumables fixed that, and I was able to cut a clean test circle. On to the actual part, the first pierce was poor and wrecked the last tip immediately. I paused the program and learned that I could restart wherever. This is good, however the torch would remain at full retraction height (1.000") and not pierce or cut anything. No Z movement At that point I stopped, went on sendcutsend and ordered what I needed in a few minuets. For the time and cost of getting more material and consumables, it didn't make sense. And for this project I want it precise. The last set were cut on a water jet, and are prefect.

Thin material is much more forgiving and will cut fine with questionable setting and worn out consumables. I understand my machine is undersized but will do almost everything I need. Justifying spending $2-3K+ on a decent 45A machine is difficult.

 

[rattle_snake]

Reworking the high power wiring system. Added an insulated 3/8 stud next to the ground lug. Crimped a lug on the 2 ga wire and upsized the rings on the fuel pump voltage regulator and the nitrous heater. Each amplifier will have an 8 ga wire run to the lugs, and also power for the DSP.


I cut out the speaker wire extensions that were aluminum, and replaced with OFC. While doing so contorted in the trunk, my back gave me a warning signal. I stopped immediately, but I can barely move today. I have done core exercises at the gym regularly for 6 years now and it has prevented a serious injury since....

 

[rattle_snake]

My older daughter's new set of wheels


2020 Ecoboost premium Kona blue with black leather.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I hope she slaps a nitrous kit on it......

Badass car!

 

[rattle_snake]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that...

ford 4 cyl nitrous plate system-2.3l ecoboost

the nitrous express 4 cylinder ford ecoboost plate system features spraybarless technology for the ultimate in atomization and distribution. the billet plate bolts between the throttle body and intake making installation quick and easy. the solenoids are integrated into the plate for a super...

www.nitrousexpress.com

 

[OutlawDrifter]

https://vorshlag-store.com/collections/s550-mustang-lsx

The above parts will allow you to LS swap that car for correct V8 engine noises




Sharp color!

 

[rattle_snake]

Received the new audio gear to complete the system in the cobra. One of the amps was recently replaced, so it seemed like a good time to go bigger on the sub amp. So they match. 500 W to 1500 W. +/-100 V rails, can deliver about 40A to the speaker.


15" P3 subwoofers for the shop to replace the 10" P3s. Same motor assembly as the 12" and 10" versions, just a bigger cone. I think the 15 has about +3db more output than the 10. A vented box add another +3db so the 15 should be +6db, or twice as loud. The down side is big and heavy which doesn't work in the car but fine for the shop.

 

[rattle_snake]

The above parts will allow you to LS swap that car for correct V8 engine noises


Sharp color!

Thanks Marc for your thoughtful suggestion

 

[rattle_snake]

Installed the 2nd amp on the box and wired up power with 8 ga copper. But then 8ga seemed undersized for the 200 A input rating. I had some leftover 2 ga from the run to the battery, but was too short. So I swapped the amps side to side to make the bigger wire work. Of course in the thin 1/2 gap between them was a set of old holes. One design goal is to be able to remove the amp bezel to access the controls. For this to work the wiring needs to be secured to the box. Used some simple P clamps.


Ripple effect put mid/tweet speaker wiring on far side and extensions I just put in are too short.

 

[rattle_snake]

Test fit the sub cone out and my guess with bevel came out perfect. In order for the speaker to be sealed on the face all the holes in the mounting ring need to be filled. The trim ring will still fit and work properly from the back.