Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[jbmatth]

As I mentioned earlier I've still tried to keep a little busy at home and unfortunately at work as well. They went through a "transformation" at work that has put me in a very interesting position, I now have 2 full time jobs at work, the person I took over for also worked 50-55 hour weeks and we both stayed pretty busy during that time so my "smoke breaks" on GJ aren't as often. On the bright side I get to do this extra work for the same pay so I'm pretty thrilled with that.

Anyway I had last Friday off and went to visit Andy (Old Iron Farmer) at the house he is helping to build, he took me to Frog Rock, I'd never heard of it before, but is a pretty cool place to visit:


After that we went to the house, this is the view from the top floor overlooking the river:


Not a bad view at all. I also stayed busy helping Alex out change the clutch in his '65 Chevelle then we started on the trans swap in his '68 Mustang, out with the AOD and in with a new Tremec TKX:


Still plenty to do, but getting there slowly, made it as far as we could until we had to wait on some parts to arrive. I also got the new personalized plate in for the Viper and another toy I've waited on for far too long:


But my first day back at work there was an oops moment when we split an excavator, but it made for a cool photo early in the morning:


That may take a minute to repair...

Keep moving forward,
JB

 

[Grizz1963]

Cool plate JB.

I recall you pondering what to fit to the Viper.

I was honoured to have had a chance to ride shotgun with you, and not finishing a gallon glass of Mango Margarita Over lunch.

Frog rock.……..

And you would never have guessed why it is called that.

Thanks Andy.

 

[isonic]

But my first day back at work there was an oops moment when we split an excavator, but it made for a cool photo early in the morning:


That may take a minute to repair...

Keep moving forward,
JB

That might be fun to post on Cat social media

 

[jbmatth]

That might be fun to post on Cat social media

I probably won't share it as it was inside the plant, no need for photo credits is suppose.

JB

 

[RADcustom]

Probably good that it looks totally fake

 

[jbmatth]

I officially started my 9/80 schedule last week so I got the Friday off even though I'm working closer to 12's rather than the 9's but that is a conversation for another day. It was the last day I was going to get to work with Alex on his '68 Mustang 5 speed swap, it took some doing but we eventually got the master cylinder in, clutch pedal in, and it was time to bleed the system. I wasn't looking forward to this after all the trouble I had bleeding mine in the cobra. Well that was not an issue, it was bled in 5 minutes and worked perfect. wrapped up a few loose ends and we were done:


Took it for a test drive and it worked great, pretty happy about it all in all and he seemed to like it as well having so much control over shift points.

I worked on the RX-7 some more as well, I had a tough time finding a shop in town that could turn the rotors, but eventaully decided to take a shot at it at home, used a dial indicator and got it squared up in a 4 jaw chuck on my lathe. Even with what looked like deep pits it only took .010" to clean it all up:


I exhausted all of my resources on finding a replacement caliper for the front drivers side so I tried to rebuild it, I couldn't get the piston to move with air so I built an adapter to put a grease fitting on and pump it out with hydraulic pressure:


Worked like a champ, rebuild went pretty easy and back on the car:


Hard to tell but new bearings, seals, pads, bushings, tie rod ends, and struts (technically just the shock body is new inside the old struts) up next will be to bleed the break system, new fuel lines and then it'll be time for the actual engine swap.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice job JB. Looks like the grease fitting trick worked well. I'll have to file that one away and hope I never have to use it.

 

[jbmatth]

I should have also mentioned I sold the '69 Super Bee this weekend, I wasn't going to give it the attention it deserved and the buyer already has it booked to go to a well known shop for a TON of work, if I get photos from him I'll share them in the future.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Nice job JB. Looks like the grease fitting trick worked well. I'll have to file that one away and hope I never have to use it.

I'm glad it worked as well, but pretty sad I had to resort to that, there just aren't many options for parts for these cars, maybe a sign not to ever buy one.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

I am really getting bad at posting updates, work continues to be crazy, but I still manage to make a bit of progress from time to time. A couple of weeks ago right before Thanksgiving I started my car to head to work and it was running terribly and sounded like it was missing on at least one cylinder, popped the hood to find this:


Yep, rats got me again, sadly this happens often enough I keep a spare set of plug wires on the shelf. As it was terribly cold I opted to take another vehicle to work. Upon arriving home I cleaned it up a bit and swapped the wires in just a few minutes, I was back up and going in short order.

Late last week on the way to work I heard a pop noise like I'd hit something in the road, then a rear tire went flat, changed that on the side of the road for the spare and off I went. I ordered two new all weather tires that would go on the front and swapped the front all weather tires to the rear. At home that afternoon I discovered the donut spare had reached the end of life, I knew it was getting close but pushed it to the very end, it had belts showing in a couple spots. The donut spare is a 14" rim whereas the normal tires are for 15", luckily I still had a nearly brand new 14" tire left over from the Green Dragon but the lug pattern was different on the rim. Swapped them over and back in business with a full size spare now.

Monday this week the two new tires arrived and I changed them out, they are directional so I presumed they had sent me a set, not two of the same. Both mounted and balanced at home in ~20 minutes:


Set the tires next to each other for a quick photo only to realize I'd installed them the same direction, popped one off and swapped it around and re-balanced, installed and back in business again. This car has just over 241k miles and is nearly 23 years old at this point, sadly it is suffering from body rot so I know its days are numbered, I'm just trying to limp it along until 250k miles then will shop for a cheap replacement commuter car.

We decided to take a family vacation as my wife had the week of Thanksgiving off, her first vacation in nearly 9 years, we went to Branson, Mo. Silver Dollar City was a must:


We went on a cave tour under the theme park called Marvel Cave, a really cool story behind the cave and that the cave actually is what started SDC park. We also went on a horseback trail ride, indoor climbing and zip lining place, Dixie (I mean Dolly Parton) Stampede, saw the Baldknobers perform, and a few other things I'm probably forgetting. After 5 days there we went to NE Arkansas for Thanksgiving with my family, came back to Ok for a Polar Express ride.

Lastly the colt has been at a boarders for training for about 6 months and came back recently, he is very well behaved. Sadly this is the only photo I got of them standing still, they were both running around like crazy being so excited to see each other again:


I've done a few small jobs in the shop and this is tree trimming and removal time so I've kept busy with that as well.

JB

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Awesome time away with the family JB! Your daughters are getting big!

 

[jbmatth]

Awesome time away with the family JB! Your daughters are getting big!

It surely was a great time Outlaw, we don't get to do much as a family too far from home between our two jobs so it is a welcome change of pace. They are certainly growing up and getting older, I don't know about big though, they are both near the smallest in their perspective classes, they take after their parents I suppose. haha

JB

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I suppose size is relative, but you can see their growth through your photos!

The older of my two boys you met at the HRPT in KC is almost as tall as I am, so I suppose its in the genetics(his mother is also 5'11)

 

[jbmatth]

I suppose size is relative, but you can see their growth through your photos!

The older of my two boys you met at the HRPT in KC is almost as tall as I am, so I suppose its in the genetics(his mother is also 5'11)

It is surprising how fast they grow, the oldest is 11 now and just starting on hitting a growth spurt, she will be a full blown teenager in no time. I'm actually shopping for a new daily driving with the intent that it will be her car when she turns 16, only 4.5 years, time goes by fast when you are having fun. I sure don't remember him being that tall then, but that was 5.5 years ago now.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Eventful weekend, I found out the burners and heat exchanger on the furnace is completely shot and will need replaced, it is a 26 year old unit so I'm looking at replacing the entire thing rather than a quick fix. We still have the backup furnace working so we aren't in a huge rush and can shop around.

I trapped the two skunks that have been living in the basement in a live trap wrapped in a tarp with the door cracked open just enough to get them in. The first one sprayed just a little when I was taking it out of the garage, the second one a few hours later didn't so luckily there wasn't much of a smell. Crisis averted, lets hope they don't find their way back. I'm still not 100% sure how they managed to get into the house even, there really aren't any openings bigger than 1/4" or so to the crawl space or basement.

Saturday was the first annual key swap with some in the Gambler 500 community, we met in southern Oklahoma, showed off our cars, put the keys in cups upside down and shuffle, then pick out your new ride. I trailered the Fauxrari down as I had 6 spare wheels and tires to take with it. The first round I ended up with a Honda CRV however, the last person ended up with his own car so we started over and I drew the Love Quest:


More to come on it, but it is certainly a big change from the 3000 GT.

I have a few trees I'm still trying to get cut down in the pasture that offer no real value as wind breaks and cause headaches when driving and mowing. Once back home Sunday I tackled 5 more, there is about half of this one left that didn't want to fall so I kept chipping away at it until I could twist it free and continue on. The other 4 trees were smaller but still a pain as Osage Orange trees are tough to cut and tough to burn as they don't pack down very well.


Completed now though and just a pile of coals and ash remains.

JB

 

[XJSuperman]

Osage orange is great burning wood.......when its dry. Right up there next to oak and locust. You still rolling around on the monkey brains, or have they all rotted for the year?

 

[jbmatth]

Osage orange is great burning wood.......when its dry. Right up there next to oak and locust. You still rolling around on the monkey brains, or have they all rotted for the year?

That is very true, we had a wood stove growing up my dad had built, it was ~1/4" steel, we had well seasoned Osage Orange in and the top started to glow pretty bright, needed to adjust the draft a bit.

There are still plenty of them rolling around, they are just now getting soft at least and less likely to break an ankle. Alternatively they are really fun to shoot instead of clay pigeons, it is very satisfying.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Merry Christmas to you and your family JB.

 

[racer-john]

Best of the season to All.

 

[jbmatth]

Merry Christmas to you and your family JB.

Thank you sir, we had a good time, with the high winds and low temps not much got accomplished though.

Best of the season to All.

Thank you as well, it was a nice time.

All,
We as many others got hit pretty hard by the weather, faired okay but not great. The HVAC combo unit can no longer heat the house, the burners have rusted out and took the heat exchanger with it. I'm slowly working to get a replacement on order but no huge rush as our backup propane only wall unit can keep up just fine. Sadly it started to act up just as the weather was turning cold and kept going off and taking the pilot with it. I was off of work from Thursday until today so I spent most of that time watching the furnace like a hawk. It was down to 56°F in the house Thursday morning and took until Saturday before I got it up to 64°F, by yesterday it was up to 72°F so all good now.

We did have the cold water line freeze going to the kitchen faucet, luckily being pex it didn't break and is thawed out now. Other than that I did cut down ~20 trees that were in the way in the pasture and got them all piled up ready to burn when they dry and the wind cooperates.

JB

 

[RickP]

Glad you're staying on top of your HVAC -- nothing like a cold snap to stress-test older equipment. My propane backup is acting up too, so I'm with you on watching it closely.

I'll bet you're glad for that pex line in the kitchen! Our main well pipe froze in our last house, but thankfully it was plastic pipe too.

This extreme cold you guys are having sounds way too much like February 2021 -- I hope the power companies are better prepared this time around.

 

[jbmatth]

Glad you're staying on top of your HVAC -- nothing like a cold snap to stress-test older equipment. My propane backup is acting up too, so I'm with you on watching it closely.

I'll bet you're glad for that pex line in the kitchen! Our main well pipe froze in our last house, but thankfully it was plastic pipe too.

This extreme cold you guys are having sounds way too much like February 2021 -- I hope the power companies are better prepared this time around.

RickP, I was really happy when the previous owner told us all of the plumbing in the home was replaced with pex, it is really cool it can handle being frozen and not split, way better than PVC or copper. Sadly we didn't fare as well at work and had a few water lines freeze and split, I'm working the repair plans currently.

This cold spell wasn't anything like the one in 2/21, that was very rough, we didn't get over 20°f for 10 days if I remember right, but even then the line didn't freeze in my kitchen. It may very well be time to move south, I'm over the cold.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

I'm just barely going to make it this year for my annual Year In Review Post, I didn't do as much auto related work this year, only really working on 2 of my own vehicles other than a little maintenance but stayed plenty busy working on all sorts of other stuff. This isn't going to be very chronological so stay with me. I've really enjoyed this can crusher I put together a few years back and did a little upgrade to it this year upgrading the lines and valve, works much better and has no leaks now:


On the ranch side of things we had our first calf this year which my girls named Cocoa:


Also picked up three other heifers Oreo, Danni, and Earl, note the size of the pond in this photo:


Sadly that was about the last time it was that deep, I spent quite a bit of time on the tractor this summer part of that was digging some more on the pond so it could hold more water when we do eventually get some rain, this photo is from the opposite side of the pond, note where the red heifer is located, that is the normal edge of the pond:


I used the 3020 to haul quite a bit of hay this year:


I also got the 4010 sold:


Early in the year we had a little snow that drifted and I managed to get Lever Action stuck in it taking 3 days to dig out:


I also participated in my first endurance mini bike race:


The guy I'm standing with there organized the Grinch Key Swap event later in the year where I gave away the Fauxrari and gained the Love Quest:


Had a significant increase in work load at work, I can't share much that happens here, but this was too cool not to share and ya'll seemed to like it the first time:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I continued the work on swapping the Godzilla 7.3L engine into the Warthog, one thing that tried to fight me for nearly a week was the hydraulics on the clutch system:


I also got new wheels and tires for it:


New valve covers with the old intake:


New intake but back with the old valve covers:


Eventually it all came together and I was able to take it on the first test drive:


Another bit theme for this year ended up being fire, the most notable one was when I needed a little help from the local volunteer fire department:


This one was a little more in control, it was a few weeks to get the big tree in the background all cut up and burned along with a few hundred smaller ones in this little corner of the horse pasture in the yard, I should note that the big tree was dead when I cut it up:


Here is another pile in the hay pasture I was finely able to get burned after waiting about a year and a half for the right day:


This one was more recent and is just on the other side of the fence from where the big tree was that I cut up and burned:


This little bit was in the back yard, I did eventually get all of these out and used the ripper to pull all the roots and all but one stump:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I helped a buddy build this cool foldable flag pole this year after a few others failed him, it is still holding strong now 6 months in:



I picked up quite a few toys this year, including a few that make loud noises, here is one of my favorite ones:


This is a tool that is almost more of a toy, sadly with so little rain this summer I think it has less than 10 hours on it still after mowing for 4 months with it:


Another tool that is more toy is this new to me South Bend lathe:


I actually got this one for free, cleaned it up and sold it for $2,500, easy money:


My favorite new toy this year has to be the Viper though:


I mean with that V10 with 8.0L how can you not like it:


It surely is more comfortable than the cobra and is easier to keep the inside clean and dry:


I spent 2 months in Montana working an outage and got to see some cool stuff on the little bit of time I wasn't working:


Here is one of the hot springs at Yellowstone:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

One of the car projects I helped out with this year is installing an engine in a friends '79 RX-7 that didn't have an engine when it showed up, just a lot of loose parts:



As I started to assemble the engine I realized I was missing a lot of parts needed to make it work:


So I picked up a donor car that had the parts I needed but not much else:


I couldn't find anyone to turn the drums so I figured it out and turned them myself:


The Viper is staying at a buddies house and part of my "rent" was to help put a clutch in the '65 Chevelle he picked up after being deployed oversees for 7 months. I also talked him into putting a 5 speed manual in his '68 Mustang replacing the AOD:


All complete and working great:


They do all look pretty good hanging out together:


I did get to enjoy quite a bit of family time I don't typically share much about on here, we had a great time in Branson over Thanksgiving visiting many places including Silver Dollar City:


Had fun doing a little fishing before the pond disappears:


I got to see a few of the GJ folks too, Grizz came for a visit and was the first person on GJ to see the Viper and get to go for a ride in it and the Cobra. I even went to visit our own OldIronFarmer Andy and checked out the house he is helping to build:


That is all for now, it was certainly a good year, here is to another great one next year, stay safe everyone.

Keep Moving Forward,
JB

 

[Grizz1963]

For those with short memories, liking a review, or just new to this thread of awesomeness…..

Viper.

Godzilla Cobra.

It was not the first time I visited at JB’s

And as always, a generous, funny host.

Thanks again.

 

[jbmatth]

For those with short memories, liking a review, or just new to this thread of awesomeness…..

Viper.

Godzilla Cobra.

It was not the first time I visited at JB’s

And as always, a generous, funny host.

Thanks again.

Grizz,
I'll never tire of seeing those cars, they are a blast to drive and just stare at, thank you for documenting them for me.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Well I know it, I've been slacking, I have been working some, but not as much as I would like to. I've been working on the RX-7 engine swap, I don't have any photos of where I am now, but here is the engine I'm pulling out to get all of the accessories to then put into the '79 I'm trying to get running:


I have the engine out, and almost all of the accessories moved over to the good engine, more to do but progress is progress. I've got a 3 day weekend and the weather appears to be favorable to make a bunch of good progress on it. I'll likely get a little distracted by some new additions though...

My yellow car The Lemon, is reaching the end of its time with me, I'm a little shy of 250,000 miles (400,000 km), the rockers have started to rust through, years of salt, mud, and gravel have taken their toll on the body. Mechanically it is doing great with no real concerns at this time, but some of the parts for the rear brakes are no longer available and being a limited edition run the chances of finding good used parts is nearly nil so I've decided to let it go once I hit the magic 1/4 million mark.

To replace it I've been looking at a ton of options but recently re-discovered the GM Delta platform, specifically the Saturn Ion Redline and Chevrolet Cobalt SS, they are approaching 20 years old for the first year of production but they have a big following with lots of parts availability. My search took me to Arkansas last weekend to pick up a silver Ion Redline:


Then yesterday I found a Cobalt SS locally so I picked it up too:


Both are 2005's, both originally powered by 2.0L supercharged 4 cylinders, both 5 speed manual transmission cars, originally they had 205 hp. The Cobalt SS is still mostly stock with 118k miles but they were very hard miles, it'll need a lot of work before I want to drive it much, luckily it was cheap.

The Ion Redline had the supercharger removed and a turbo swapped in along with a lowered "racing" coilover suspension, upgraded clutch, 3" straight pipe exhaust (Cat still in place and active), LED lights everywhere, and a few supporting modifications. It works great, but I believe the wastegate on the turbo is weak and goes silly around 15psi of boost. I'll investigate that but even with that it is fun to drive a ~260-300 hp commuter.

Yes I have a problem, I like cars a bit more than what would be considered healthy...I can live with that though.

JB

 

[rattle_snake]

The little Eaton on the SS would like the smallest pulley you can find...

 

[jbmatth]

The little Eaton on the SS would like the smallest pulley you can find...

It needs a LOT of things before then, it is barely drivable as is. But for a few hundred bucks it could be high 200 hp about the same as the Ion. Likely it'll be the car I drive most of the time to work so no need to stress it anymore for reliabilities sake. Before that I need to rebuild the entire front end, troubleshoot and fix the check engine light, ABS light, Air Bag light, and Brake light on the dash. I've got a lot of work ahead of me on it.

JB

 

[Sifan]

Is there a light that isn't on?

 

[jbmatth]

Is there a light that isn't on?

One of the brake lights LOL Funny enough, now when I open the door the flasher turn on and stay on until you start the car. Actually now that I think about it I haven't tested the horn, it could be the alarm going off just no horn. I shouldn't have bought this car...

JB

 

[jbmatth]

I had a nice relaxing weekend for the most part, worked on the stereo installation into the AG Surfer (Silver Surfer, play on the fact it is silver and that it is a Saturn, ya know outer space and stuff.) Pretty straight forward really, the battery is trunk mounted so it made the power and ground wiring pretty easy. I'm not thrilled with the way the receiver mounts so far back in the opening though:


I hadn't ever owned a car with Recaro seats but after riding in these a bit I think I'm sold, they could use a good cleaning though:


I also received the door trim piece that was missing near the back of the drivers side door, it was a little tricky to install but only took one screw and it is done:


Lastly just because this is my first ever turbocharged gas vehicle I had to take a photo of that, it is a cute little thing:


I had a buddy and his wife come to town for a visit and being a nice day I opted to bring the Viper out as they'd never seen it before, we opted to eat at the airport and were joined by a few military members:


Here is a little better shot:


Other than that just tinkered about some and enjoyed the nice weather.

JB

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Definitely was a nice weekend. Viper looks good!

Are you going to punt on the "new" Chevy and just keep the Saturn?

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like a nice weekend. I'm jealous as I haven't been able to drive our toy for a couple of months now due to the lack of a break in winter weather. Cool shots with the helo's in the background.

 

[jbmatth]

Definitely was a nice weekend. Viper looks good!

Are you going to punt on the "new" Chevy and just keep the Saturn?

Spring is just around the corner, I'm really looking forward to more days like that.

Yeah I think that is the best bet, I'll fix a few small things to make it a little easier to sell, but at this point I'd just be throwing good money after bad. I hate loosing money on car deals, I just didn't see the smoke from the exhaust with my rose colored glasses on.

Looks like a nice weekend. I'm jealous as I haven't been able to drive our toy for a couple of months now due to the lack of a break in winter weather. Cool shots with the helo's in the background.

It sure was, we haven't had too much snow this year, just lots of cold windy days. Come on spring and sunshine! It was a pleasant surprise to have them land while we were eating.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Little bits of progress, tinkering away with the RX-7 but had a small job jump in line. The steering on the Cobalt SS was terrible when I bought it, I suspected from a visual inspection it was the inner and/or outer tie rod ends, turns out that was only partially correct. The entire steering rack needed replaced but the outer tie rod ends were actually in good shape. Not wanting to spend the money on a new rack for a beater I opted to buy one from a Pull-A-Part, I was passing through Tulsa Friday on my way to a Gambler 500 event and stopped in to pick one up. After returning home Sunday I installed it and started working on the alignment, well namely toe. It took 3 shots but finely landed on 1/8" of toe in: (Note final measurement on the rear didn't get written down as I had it done.)


So the Gambler event, I'd just sold the Love Quest so really didn't have a car to take I wanted to risk on the trails so I opted to just tag along with someone, in return he asked that I help spot rocks and video using his phone for his You Tube channel so I really only got two photos with my phone, a partial panorama of an old fire watch tower:


And one of his car as we were leaving the last trail right at sunset:


Made it back safe and sound to camp, then off early the next day to get home.

That is all for now, ya'll have a good day,

JB

 

[jbrentd]

I need to learn how to DIY alignments like that. Nice job JB. Is that fire tower on the K trail?

 

[jbmatth]

@jbrentd Yes it is on the K trail, even though I'd been to that area before I'd never actually made it to K trail, it really is a fascinating area with some great views.

The DIY alignment has more to do with keeping the tires alive until I can get a proper alignment done at a shop. I opt to go with toe in at 1/8" to just get in the infield, as you can see the first measurements (top numbers marked out) were 1" toe in which would have eaten the tires up in a hurry. The place I get alignments done is about 40 total miles of driving away by the time I get to work and drive there and a lot of damage can be done in even that short of a distance.

The simple method I use for toe can be seen in the above photo, I use a 2x4 and a piece of square or rectangle stock, stand the 2x4 on edge and gently clamp the metal to the tire above the bulge from ground contact then measure the distance between them right at the edge of the tire. Not perfect by any means, but quick and easy.

I'd like to get one of these kits, but can't really justify the cost as of now: QuickTrick Wheel Alignment - Portable - 4th Gen Slider Kit

JB