ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

Mike I live in the land of dust, one downside to being in the country. Twice a year I have to pull everything away from the walls and run pressure washer the cement.

I hear ya Marc, especially being in the grain belt/agricultural center of the country. I have been very fortunate as far as shops go once I left the farm. When I had my little piece of my dad's shop that I worked out of on the family farm it was terrible with dust. Probably more than likely because it was located on the family farm, secondary was that it faced west, which was hell for the heat from the sun coming in late in the afternoons but also because our jet stream here provides a natural air flow from the west so it was always having wind blowing IN towards the shop.

At our last home, the house and the shop both faced east, which was great for evening sun as well as not being in the natural path of air flow so although there seemed to be dust from grinding and general work I really didn't get much inside the shop, even with a non-developed and farmed field immediately behind our shop and home.

In our current home which both the house and the shop face north it is very similar as far as natural airflow and now that our neighbor has his yard and shop done, there is very little dust that blows around our immediate subdivision even though there are still quite a few agricultural residents around us. I love not having dust blowing into my shop but like you, I still find myself having to blow the shop out once a year or so as a general cleaning. I think my shop was more dusty and dirty than usual due to the grinding in the shop and the priming and sanding immediately outside of the shop but glad it is clean now as it helps my nerves.

 

[Southern83]

I am also a loyal Blue (Miller) fan to admit that Lincoln was getting some of my hard earned money was also difficult.

I'm with you on this. I like the features of my Miller hood but I think they tried to get too fancy on the headgear. Work bought me a Lincoln hood that I really liked. Simple headgear and was really lightweight.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm with you on this. I like the features of my Miller hood but I think they tried to get too fancy on the headgear. Work bought me a Lincoln hood that I really liked. Simple headgear and was really lightweight.

I need more time under the hood but so far I am impressed with not only the comfort of the headgear but how clear the optics are compared to my Miller. Granted to be fair, my Miller is 10+ year old technology and still works great but there is a noticeable difference.

I also never thought I would actually buy an electronic helmet as I have stuck by my old fixed lens helmets for close to 40 years now.

Now that means I need to keep a spare battery in the toolbox.

 

[Nolift911]

Awesome thread - only about half way through, love the attention to detail. I have had a ton of XJ's, ZJ's WJ's and the SRT WK - all fantastic. Can't wait to go through the second half this weekend with a cold beverage

Jeff

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome thread - only about half way through, love the attention to detail. I have had a ton of XJ's, ZJ's WJ's and the SRT WK - all fantastic. Can't wait to go through the second half this weekend with a cold beverage

Jeff

Thank you Jeff. I appreciate the comments and the time you are spending going through the entire thread. I hope you find it informative.

 

[Graham08]

I have an earlier generation Viking 3350 helmet. I think you'll really like it, I know I wouldn't give mine up. Your headgear looks like an upgrade relative to mine, and mine isn't bad.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Now that you're a Lincoln guy, are you hinting we are going to see a Ford in your driveway soon?

 

[Mr.zippy]

Now that you're a Lincoln guy, are you hinting we are going to see a Ford in your driveway soon?

Oh oh…I’m running short on popcorn, dammit.

 

[Finallygotit]

Now that you're a Lincoln guy, are you hinting we are going to see a Ford in your driveway soon?

Oh man...... you had to go there, didn't you. Time to back away from the fan.

 

[PugetDude]

Mike, I bought a Lincoln 3350 last year, found that I prefer the fit and comfort of my old Jackson Safety helmet that came with my 211 from Cyberweld. The Lincoln optics are good but it feels much heavier and awkward in use- might just be me.

Also, buy the batteries in bulk on Amazon or ebay- you're going to need them. Your local Walgreens is not the best place to buy them when you discover your helmet died.

 

[rharman]

Understood that you'll share when you are ready, if that is the case.

but,

To have a bit of fun, I came up with a list of possible 'leisurely cruising' type machines
-Prevost x3-45 Coach
-Slingshot w/ trailer
-light aircraft of some type
-Rat rod
-Floating money pit (aka boat).
-Tube chassis buggy

Funny, I'd never heard of or seen a Slingshot until the day before you posted this.
Saw one on the road and was like "WTF?". No, just no.....

And, my wife and I were driving past an RV dealer and were amazed at all the RV's on the lot. Easily 200 various sizes/models. I told her the only thing I'd consider would be a customized Prevost...

 

[gearhead1960]

Mike,

Liked your repair on the Snapper. I probably have mentioned it before, but I also maintain an older mower, my Dad's 1980 vintage 2-stroke Lawnboy. It's needed it fair share of stuff that flat wear out, like wheels and magnetos.....but it still keeps on going like the Energizer Bunny....

 

[lilscorpion]

. You'll have to stay tuned for news on that front......

I know what you’re getting - another Jeep. Probably a white one because you’ve noticed how nice they can be.



I have no freakin idea what you’re replacing the Harley with but I’m hopin’ you’re no chicken so we can find out!!

 

[MadeByMiller]

Mike, the Lincoln Viking 3350 is an awesome hood. I have one of the first generations of it and upgraded to the headgear that's on yours eventually. It's by far the most comfortable headgear I've worn, and with thousands of hours behind a welding helmet that's a pretty key feature. I always expected to upgrade to the 4C lens as well, but an Esab Sentinel A50 hood kind of fell into my lap when they first came out and although I've been using it since, I don't really prefer it over my 3350. The Esab has the true color lens like the Lincoln's 4C and that's pretty much the only reason I still use it.

 

[Monza Harry]

I'm a Red Fan Boy and I have recommended this helmet a number of times on "GJ". My only gripe is, mine has the older "Grind" button inside the helmet. And something I haven't seen on any welding helmet is an outside the hat shade adjustment, [I did stop looking after I bought this helmet though]. As for the batteries I hear people comment on, I'm still on the original purchased July or Aug. 2019 but it sits in the light a lot and is used somewhat sporadically as welding is a smaller part of my jobs daily chores. Remember that low gear in low range doesn't change as they are both a #5 shade. And 6 doesn't change much either. These have 4 sensors so blocking them is a challenge, I have met once! So I bought a new battery but tried the helmet real quick and it worked great again, that was 2 years ago. Head gear is Awesome! ENJOY the force on the RED side Mike! The empire is Blue you know(?) LOL!
Harry

 

[LXCam]

My miller T94 has an external grind button that is even large enough to activate with gloves on...








But I’ve never used it

 

[Monza Harry]

Got out of work early today [steel is in "handwork prison"], so I walked through the welding supply near work, and Lincoln has a helmet in there with an external shade control (9-13) it is an 1840 I think. I don't grind with the helmet on either but now that it is starting to look "used" I may in he future, I'm not sure either way. Harry

 

[zmotorsports]

Sorry for the inactivity lately but the wife and I have been on vacation at our annual Spearfish, South Dakota RV/Jeep gathering and I've been offline for the past week plus.


I appreciate all of the comments about the helmet and previous repairs on my thread. So far I haven't been under the new hood a lot but the little bit that I have it has been impressive. I love the headgear so far but this is coming from all of my fixed shade helmets that I have been wearing for several decades now so not sure if it is that much better or just because it is different than what I am used to.

I do like the optics however, even more so over my old Miller Big Window Elite helmet.

Now that you're a Lincoln guy, are you hinting we are going to see a Ford in your driveway soon?

Now Ryan, this comment was worthy of a response. HELL NO! NO on the Ford in the driveway and NO, I'm not a Lincoln guy just because I bought a new helmet. You think you're so funny don't ya????

All joking aside, I have been dealing on a new toy while I was on vacation last week but more to come on that if it comes to fruition.

I appreciate all of you following along and yes, even Ryan with the jabs. The interaction and comradery of this forum is awesome!

 

[Mr.zippy]

Prevost...........with under storage garage for a Jeep?

 

[zmotorsports]

So here are a few pictures from last week's South Dakota trip. Unfortunately we didn't get quite as many off-road miles as I was hoping for and not what we usually put on due to some weather but overall it was still an awesome trip. Got to spend 8 days of one on one time with the wife with some time with friends mixed in.

We left on a Friday afternoon and drove as far as Rawlins, WY for the night. On Saturday we drove the remainder of the way in to Spearfish, SD. Here is our lunch spot just outside of Edgerton, WY and south of Gillette about 60 miles. Coach was running great and thought I'd snap a picture of it all hooked up while the wife was fixing lunch.


On Sunday the gathering "officially" started so the wife and I went in to Deadwood and walked around before opening Happy Hour and the gathering kick-off. It had been a few years since we actually just walked around the town. Saw Bigfoot and had to get a picture.


If anyone gets to Deadwood the breaded steak bites at Mustang Sally's are phenomenal. I had them several years ago when we stopped and I was craving them so that is where we stopped for lunch.


On our Monday trail it led us down towards the Mt. Rushmore monument and there is a small section along the trail where you can see the faces off in a distance so I grabbed a picture.


On the same trail as we were nearing our air-up spot, these guys were walking along the trail.


Wednesday was a wet day so trails were cancelled. We went to breakfast with some friends and then decided to take to the pavement and head down towards Custer State Park, one of our favorite road trips. We went down the Pigtail Bridges out of Keystone, SD and the colors of the leaves were just barely starting to turn with the first cool temps of the season.


On the return trip we came up the Needles Highway.




While we were in the area and seeing as how it has been about 10 years since we actually went to the Mt. Rushmore monument we took a small detour. With the weather being somewhat inclement, the crowds were small with hardly anyone there. Just after shooting this picture we headed back to the parking terrace and as we were pulling out of the monument's parking area we looked back and the clouds had dropped to the point that the faces were no longer visible and the skies opened up so we timed it perfectly.


Sorry I don't have any off-road pictures as my mind was obviously elsewhere this trip. I kept forgetting to take pictures until we were airing up at the end of the trail. By the end of the week however, the leaves were in full color transition and were beautiful.

Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

We had pushed the full 650-miles back home on Saturday, leaving the campground @ 7 am and arriving home at 6:15pm. We stopped once for fuel and once for lunch at Independence Rock just outside of Casper, WY. The drive home was long but uneventful and just relaxing with the wife while listening to a couple of audio books.

Yesterday morning I went to work detailing the coach, although it really wasn't too dirty other than the front end. I was surprised with the amount of rain we had in South Dakota but it must have been a clean rain because other than a few water spots, the coach was actually relatively clean, other than the front. I think I should have applied for some funding from Wyoming for bug abatement as I came home with most of the Wyoming bugs on the front of the coach.

While I had the washing supplies and equipment out I figured I would wash the wife's car as well as the truck as I haven't had the time to give the truck a good thorough hand washing/detailing for quite some time.














All in all for a 16+ year old truck with 113k on the clock it still looks amazing. I keep telling myself I really don't need a diesel truck anymore but can't seem to bring myself to sell it as it is such a nice truck and fun to drive.

Thanks for looking.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Thanks for sharing the pics as usual Mike!

Last time we took the kids up to the faces, the clouds were in and out with rain the whole time. We did get one photo op when they cleared just enough, however.

 

[purplezr2]

Where is Edmonton Wyoming, I couldn't find it on the map?

Did you go from Rawlins up through Casper, then Wright to Gillette?

 

[Seagoon]

We had pushed the full 650-miles back home on Saturday, leaving the campground @ 7 am and arriving home at 6:15pm. We stopped once for fuel and once for lunch at Independence Rock just outside of Casper, WY. The drive home was long but uneventful and just relaxing with the wife while listening to a couple of audio books.

Yesterday morning I went to work detailing the coach, although it really wasn't too dirty other than the front end. I was surprised with the amount of rain we had in South Dakota but it must have been a clean rain because other than a few water spots, the coach was actually relatively clean, other than the front. I think I should have applied for some funding from Wyoming for bug abatement as I came home with most of the Wyoming bugs on the front of the coach.

While I had the washing supplies and equipment out I figured I would wash the wife's car as well as the truck as I haven't had the time to give the truck a good thorough hand washing/detailing for quite some time.














All in all for a 16+ year old truck with 113k on the clock it still looks amazing. I keep telling myself I really don't need a diesel truck anymore but can't seem to bring myself to sell it as it is such a nice truck and fun to drive.

Thanks for looking.

That looks very impressive for it's age and mileage! Is it standard height or is it lifted? I'm just interested because we don't see trucks like that in the UK (our roads are way too narrow) so I know very little about them. If it's lifted is it for a practical reason or just for the looks?

 

[MadeByMiller]

Always neat to see your trips over to my neck of the woods, Mike! Poor luck on your behalf that you just happened to be in the hills for what has unfortunately been a very rare wet spell this summer. I recently took my family and a couple friends on a cruise through the Needles Hwy for the first time. Of course, our six month old was screaming the entire time, so to call it an enjoyable scenic ride would be a mistake ha.

 

[zmotorsports]

Where is Edmonton Wyoming, I couldn't find it on the map?

Did you go from Rawlins up through Casper, then Wright to Gillette?

I'm sorry, I meant Edgerton, Wyoming not Edmonton. It is just northeast of Midwest, both of which are north of Casper about 45-miles.

We traveled from Rawlins, up through Muddy Gap and Alcova to Casper then instead of going to Wright (Hwy 59) we actually turned north on Highway 50 and went up through Savageton into Gillette.

 

[zmotorsports]

That looks very impressive for it's age and mileage! Is it standard height or is it lifted? I'm just interested because we don't see trucks like that in the UK (our roads are way too narrow) so I know very little about them. If it's lifted is it for a practical reason or just for the looks?

Thanks. I have a 6" RCD suspension system under it along with 36" tires and 20" wheels. Mostly for looks as there is no real advantage to lifting other than the fun factor.

I appreciate the comments.

 

[zmotorsports]

Always neat to see your trips over to my neck of the woods, Mike! Poor luck on your behalf that you just happened to be in the hills for what has unfortunately been a very rare wet spell this summer. I recently took my family and a couple friends on a cruise through the Needles Hwy for the first time. Of course, our six month old was screaming the entire time, so to call it an enjoyable scenic ride would be a mistake ha.

Yeah, we were definitely in your neck of the woods all right. One of the trails we did actually started in Rapid City and ended up coming back up to I-90 in Sturgis. We generally get a little rain on a day or two during this gathering but nothing like last week. On one day we could have gone out but we didn't want to tear up the trails being that wet and create a lot of ruts, plus I HATE mud so there's that.

 

[MadeByMiller]

Yeah, we were definitely in your neck of the woods all right. One of the trails we did actually started in Rapid City and ended up coming back up to I-90 in Sturgis. We generally get a little rain on a day or two during this gathering but nothing like last week. On one day we could have gone out but we didn't want to tear up the trails being that wet and create a lot of ruts, plus I HATE mud so there's that.

What trail was that Mike? I'm not too familiar with the off-road scene here.

 

[zmotorsports]

What trail was that Mike? I'm not too familiar with the off-road scene here.

I have it marked on my tablet as Pine Grove. I'm not sure of the "official" name but it starts off of Pine Grove road.

 

[PugetDude]

Nice pics of the Black Hills, Mike. That area is one of our favorite trips- Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway, the Pigtails, Custer State Park, Deadwood…
The night lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore should be on everyone’s bucket list.

So……now that you’re back….

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice pics of the Black Hills, Mike. That area is one of our favorite trips- Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway, the Pigtails, Custer State Park, Deadwood…
The night lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore should be on everyone’s bucket list.

So……now that you’re back….

I completely agree Scott. That night lighting ceremony is AWESOME! The patriotism is so thick you can cut it with a knife and it can be quite emotional if a person is in the right frame of mind.


As for the other, you got me Scott.




Let's just say that it looks like it's a done deal and should be in my stable very soon, like maybe tonight. That is if all goes as planned with my son being able to get off work early and we can get on the road early enough today.

Don't get your hopes up too much though, it's nothing earth shattering, special or "collectable" per se, just something I have always wanted and I am blessed to be at a point in mine and my wife's life that we can acquire it and enjoy it. Wanting to finally purchase this was one of the reasons I decided to sell the Harley after my son sold his. Something that the wife and I can enjoy together and hopefully more than we have been enjoying the bike over the past couple of years. Just another time and money waster basically.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Well, I have something to look forward to now. Can't wait to see the new Vette!

 

[zmotorsports]

Well, I have something to look forward to now. Can't wait to see the new Vette!

Sorry to disappoint ya. Not a Corvette. I'm not a Corvette guy. I used to think I was but after doing some reflecting over the past several months, I think the only reason I liked Corvettes was because my old friend and mentor was a Vette guy and I aspired to that. We had actually negotiated on me buying his C5 Vette after my shop was completed but unfortunately, he passed before that deal could come to fruition. Looking back as much as it pains me that he is gone, I am glad I didn't end up buying his Corvette. Nothing wrong with Corvettes so I don't want to offend the Vette people, they're just not me. IF I was building a track car I would lean that way as I do appreciate the engineering and design that went into them but I'm a big guy and they're not comfortable for me and I just wanted something to cruise around in and enjoy with the wife. They are a GM product so I can see where you'd think it would be a Vette however.

 

[Mark_17]

Sorry to disappoint ya. Not a Corvette. I'm not a Corvette guy. I used to think I was but after doing some reflecting over the past several months, I think the only reason I liked Corvettes was because my old friend and mentor was a Vette guy and I aspired to that. We had actually negotiated on me buying his C5 Vette after my shop was completed but unfortunately, he passed before that deal could come to fruition. Looking back as much as it pains me that he is gone, I am glad I didn't end up buying his Corvette. Nothing wrong with Corvettes so I don't want to offend the Vette people, they're just not me. IF I was building a track car I would lean that way as I do appreciate the engineering and design that went into them but I'm a big guy and they're not comfortable for me and I just wanted something to cruise around in and enjoy with the wife. They are a GM product so I can see where you'd think it would be a Vette however.

You and your wife will look great in that Saturn Sky

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

My guess is a Saab convertible.

 

[4 FN 27]

Sorry to disappoint ya. Not a Corvette. I'm not a Corvette guy.

Neither am I Mike...buy I seem to have ended up with a few???

As long as it is not EV or a Moped Mike...do what you want... After all doesn't GJ get the final say on what you are about to acquirer?

 

[PugetDude]

I bet Vieux is welding up a salt-ravaged Lada for Mike as we speak.

 

[gearhead1960]

My guess is a 69 Chevelle convertible with a 454 and a Muncie "rock crusher"....

 

[zmotorsports]

You guys are all just FREAKIN' KILLING me. It tells me that either you get great joy out of taking jabs at me (Ryan, Scott, Pat, you know who you are without mentioning) or, you don't really know me. I'm hoping it is the former rather than the latter.

Mark is the only one who's guess I kind of liked, although wrong.

What is sad is that I feel most will be disappointed in my purchase. Oh well, it is something I've wanted for a long time and I am glad to finally have one in my stable. That's all that matters.