ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[Jgaz]

Who remembers Chokes???

Here's an old tool most have probably never seen...Blue Point Choke Tester:

www.garagejournal.com

This is a thread on the YA862 and how it magically takes compressed air and turns it into hot and cold air. Now I even know how it did it!

Much better idea to use that tool than trying to cool the choke coil down by spraying it with R12!

A mechanic next to me did this back in the late 70’s while the engine was running.
R12 was sucked into the engine, burned, and came out the tailpipe as phosgene gas!
Cleared out the whole service Dept.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Yes, remember the Freon leak detector that basically was a propane torch with a siphon hose, when you found a leak the flame changed color…. To the color of a phosgene gas flame! It had a nice little FYI note in the instructions that the gas “might” kill you or others!

 

[bugnut]

@zmotorsports can't add to what Gary said, enjoy the daylights out of them they grow up fast!

Greatness, Mike - just greatness! The quality time you're spending with the little guy will pay HUGE dividends now and in the future, and you get the opportunity to reinforce the character traits and world views that have shaped your and your family's lives. Not that your son and DIL can't or don't do that each and every day, but a grandpa is just different!!! It just warms my heart every time my granddaughter tells my bride she is her "best friend"!!! I'm sure your little guys feels the same way about you!
Carry on!

 

[zmotorsports]

Some of you may remember the new Wypall bulk towels and holder that I started using in my shop about a month or so ago. Well, I cannot for the life of me figure out why the manufacturer of the wall rack made it 14" wide center to center on the mounting holes vs. 16" on center. I can only think they intended for them to be mounted to a wall, but maybe they were intending on something a little more industrial like concrete, block or plywood walls like you'd find in an industrial shop vs. a home shop.

Either way, it would have been easy for them to make the holes on 16" centers. When I originally hung mine I found a stud and used it for one of the 3 mounting screws. However, the other two were just into sheetrock so I used a wall anchor style that collapses behind the sheetrock. I have a love/hate relationship with these things and after having 2 of them pull out I shifted gears last night after mowing lawns and opted to come up with a more permanent solution and be done with it.

I cut a piece of .250" x 1.5" stock enough to span well across two studs, then drilled and countersunk for grabbers and the center hole was drilled and tapped to accept a 10-32 machine screw for the top center screw of the wall dispenser. I then sanded, primed and painted it white while I moved on to modifying the other two mounting locations.


Upper mount installed under the cabinets.


I then used the same stock cut into 2" long pieces and drilled and countersunk them to be welded alongside the existing holes, offset by 1" on either side to equal the 16" center to center spacing of the studs. Lastly I matched the black paint of the wall mount.


That's not going anywhere. I still need to fill the hole from the pulled out wall anchor, but this is much more sturdy.


Done.



As the wife and I were finishing up dinner, we had another storm rolling through and I snapped a couple shots of the dark sky. We had a little lightning and thunder, but nothing like the night before where it was nonstop for a couple of hours.





Now with the shop towel rack mounted and not bugging the **** out of me, I can move on to the project that I have wanted to get to this week.

Thanks for looking.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Mike, now that I’m an accomplished painter I’ve decided to expand my palette and paint some of my equipment some other color than black. I’m thinking that once again I’d like to “Be like Mike” and try that RustOleum Hammer Gray for my different stands I have in my shop. I thinned the black with acetone and it worked great and at a very low cost. What have you used to thin the Hammer paint with for best results? Thanks again!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, now that I’m an accomplished painter I’ve decided to expand my palette and paint some of my equipment some other color than black. I’m thinking that once again I’d like to “Be like Mike” and try that RustOleum Hammer Gray for my different stands I have in my shop. I thinned the black with acetone and it worked great and at a very low cost. What have you used to thin the Hammer paint with for best results? Thanks again!

Sterling, I generally use the aerosol version due to convenience and because I am usually painting smaller items. Plus I have this cool paint shaker. However, for larger components such as when I built my workbenches and such, purchasing in quarts is much more economical and it sprays out nicely. For spraying I have had best results with Xylene, but I've used Mineral Spirits in a pinch.

 

[SilverJimmy]

I did read the instructions and they did recommend Xylene for thinning. Did you thin about 10% or so? The stands I want to paint are made out of semi air brake drums and 4” square tubing. Three of those stands and then a couple built with 1” thick plate and junk Cummins Big Cams camshafts. So using spray cans might wear out my finger!

 

[zmotorsports]

I did read the instructions and they did recommend Xylene for thinning. Did you thin about 10% or so? The stands I want to paint are made out of semi air brake drums and 4” square tubing. Three of those stands and then a couple built with 1” thick plate and junk Cummins Big Cams camshafts. So using spray cans might wear out my finger!

I think it ended up being a little more than 10% reduction. I remember the instructions stating 10%, but it didn't spray worth the ****, so I added a little more just to find that balance of spray ability vs. coverage.

 

[ntsqd]

My goodness but that boy is growing!

Backing up a page or so, when building the front axle under the FSB I looked at RCV's for it. Then I found out how often they suggested that they be serviced and that just about kilt that idea dead. Digging into it a little further and I realized that there was no way to grease the TTB's inner CVJ in place, it had to come out to get greased. If I recall correctly the recommended service interval was 3500 miles or so? For every service the whole RS axle assembly had to come out to grease the center joint? Yea, that's so not going to happen. Instead I clearanced the yokes so that they can't bind in droop (shocking how little angularity the OEM parts have and how little metal needed to be removed), and put Dana u-joints in all three places.

 

[zmotorsports]

My goodness but that boy is growing!

Backing up a page or so, when building the front axle under the FSB I looked at RCV's for it. Then I found out how often they suggested that they be serviced and that just about kilt that idea dead. Digging into it a little further and I realized that there was no way to grease the TTB's inner CVJ in place, it had to come out to get greased. If I recall correctly the recommended service interval was 3500 miles or so? For every service the whole RS axle assembly had to come out to grease the center joint? Yea, that's so not going to happen. Instead I clearanced the yokes so that they can't bind in droop (shocking how little angularity the OEM parts have and how little metal needed to be removed), and put Dana u-joints in all three places.

Yeah, I don't think I'll run RCV's ever again Thom. What's funny is that "now" there is more information/data available and enough of it that they can't dispute the fact that there is a lot of maintenance on them. Fifteen or so years ago when I purchased mine, I spoke to RCV quite a bit before buying because there just wasn't a lot of information on the internet yet and they informed me that there is no maintenance other than their recommended grease interval of 5k miles. I thought no big deal, I rotate my tires every 5k anyways so that's easy enough.

What they did not tell me is that "when" (not if), they start making noise, they will require a rebuild of the balls and cages which is NOT covered under warranty, despite my asking very specific questions about longevity. They told me as long as you keep them greased there is not rebuild intervals. I call BS on that now.

When I contacted them the first time about the clicking, they informed me that their warranty does not cover that because the components that are causing the noise are considered "wear items". Wear items? They sure as hell didn't mention that even when I specifically asked about service intervals.

While I still believe that they are probably the strongest axle shafts available for most applications, I also now, after many years, am under the belief that I don't think they are actually worth the initial cost and especially when the maintenance is figured in. Maybe for a race built or purpose built vehicle, but for a vehicle that plans on having a lot of miles racked up on it, I cannot recommend them. I think they're a solution that went in search of a problem that really didn't exist.

Also worth mentioning, is the fact that it makes greasing ball joints difficult as well. I have had to use a needle attachment to great my lower ball joints all this time and now I can actually get a standard grease coupler on my lowers.

I can attest that the 1350 joints are quite a bit larger than my son's standard 1310 (76xx) joint and fill the knuckle almost completely. The standard 76xx joint would have been plenty strong for the kind of off-roading we currently do but just went the 1350 route to get as much strength as possible and it wasn't a lot more $$, especially compared to the RCV's.

 

[zmotorsports]

I finally got around to replacing the windshield washer reservoir on my Jeep last night. What a PITA that was. It would have been bad enough with just dealing with the Chrysler PCM that bolts to it, but then that front corner is also where I have my GM ECM and all of the related wiring. Getting the wiring out of the way wasn't terrible, but that shoehorn that thing down in there and then attach the ABS module to it as well, so you have to lift up slightly on the ABS module, then lift up on the whole reservoir/tray assembly to clear the upper shock bolt and try to wiggle it out.

The washer fluid reservoir is part of the entire tray and cannot be purchased separately as it appears to be hot molded or melted together to form the seal between the two pieces and it is at that seam where mine has been leaking.

Old one out.


New one at the ready.




Back in place and wiring reconnected. I also tidied up a little of the wiring while I was there. I noticed some poly loom was cracking and deteriorating so I replaced a few sections as well as routed a few behind the tray along the factory wiring loom. I sure hope I don't have to do that job again and this one lasts.




While moving on to reconnect the battery, I also installed some Grote mil-spec style of battery connectors and rerouted a few of my grounds landing them on the fender grounding connection points rather than right at the battery. I'm a little late to the game and only recently started using these military spec or grade battery terminals and so far I have been impressed. I didn't like a couple of the insulated crimped rings on the ARB wiring harness, so I cut them off and went with the non-insulated ones I've been using and adding heat shrink for a much more watertight and cleaner looking electrical connection. That is still a little busier looking positive connection than I prefer, but I haven't added any additional loads (accessories) since doing the LS swap, so I don't want to add another bus as I don't see myself adding any additional accessories. On the positive terminal, I currently have the 3 OEM cables, winch, Camaro SS fan, ARB leads and the one jumper to a remote fused load distribution box for accessories such as lighting. IF I were to offload some loads I think I would at most only lose one wire from the positive so the juice ain't worth the squeeze.



Thanks for looking.

 

[SilverJimmy]

I have no knowledge of the RCV axles and how well they last but I wonder if in an application with locking hubs with not as much rotational time would they still be a good choice? My 1992 Toyota Land Cruiser has almost 300k on it with the original OEM Burfield joints. I had them repacked and resealed at about 250k and they are still quiet and going strong. And my Samurai also has Burfields in the front axle, never broke one either, and it’s done the Rubicon 3 times!
33” Swampers aired down to 7 psi and 6.5:1 gears in the transfer case. If the stock Burfields were weak I would have seen it! Japanese steel, made from the finest American scrap!

 

[zmotorsports]

Sterling, one of the reasons I went with RCV's was because I was quite familiar with the Birfields and had good experiences with them.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Birfields? Yup, learn something every time I’m on your thread! Thanks Mike!

 

[ntsqd]

From over 3 decades of observation the recipe to break a Toyota Birfield is to pick any two of these options: V8, 4+:1 Ring & pinion, doubler, tires taller than 33", Tires wider than 10.5", Heavy right foot, throttle while turned. Combine the two and BANG!

As I understand it the main difference between a Birfield (Toyota, Samurai) and a Rzeppa CVJ (VW Bug & Bus, Porsche 930/5, etc.) is that the grooves for the balls in the Birfield are parallel to the shaft centerline while the CVJ's grooves are at a slight angle and the balls are inserted in opposing angle grooves. I used Redline's CV2 grease exclusively in Patch's Birfields and steering bearings. I brinnelled the bottom steering bearings about every 2.5-3.0 years, but never had a Birfield problem.
I've no idea which design RCV uses.

 

[zmotorsports]

Birfields? Yup, learn something every time I’m on your thread! Thanks Mike!

Going back to your comment about locking hubs Sterling, yes, I do think that would make a difference because the shafts would turn much less with lockout hubs and therefore exhibit less overall wear. That being said, the RCV's require a "special" stub shaft, (read EXPENSIVE) and must be custom ordered in order for you to be able to purchase another kit (read, more expense) from one of only about 2 or 3 companies that offer lockout hub kits for the late model Jeep Wranglers. Spyntec is the ones I looked into many years ago but opted against the conversion for a couple reasons. One being special order and I have owned enough highly modified vehicles to know that when traveling into the back country from multiple different small towns, custom made parts are not conducive in the event of a breakdown and needing parts. Secondly, I didn't think the efficiency that they were claiming was as reliable on a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a phone booth, so any kind of ROI, at least from a fuel economy perspective, is negligible if any.