Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Small victories last night, got the old dip stick tube hole plugged using the original bushing, therefore I did not need to drill and tap the block. I hammered in the new dip stick tube, only bent it a little when i gave it one extra tap to be sure it was fully seated…but i straightened that by hand after. Thirdly i reassembled my hoist and have the 3rz dangling off of it. The rotisserie is still attached, wanted to have some reassurance the hoist wasnt gonna lose pressure overnight. Perhaps tonight I’ll pull the rotisserie off, and start on the rear main seal and glue on the new oil pan.
Alright, time for a mini update. In the last 3.5 months nearly nothing has changed, but I’m gunning to change that this weekend.
Since June, I painted and primed the gas tank, cleaned the mating surface for the oil pan, modified the new dipstick tube so it’ll fit the conversion engine mounts, removed the old dipstick tube bushing, then drilled/tapped/plugged and sealed that bushing. Tonight i intend to reinstall the old bushing, and install the new dipstick tube. Currently the tube is in the freezer so it’s a little easier to drive into the block (having shrunk ever so slightly).
The plan for this weekend is to test fit the 3RZ in the engine bay! Prior to Saturday (when I’ve got the day to myself), i want to get the motor onto the hoist so I finish this oil pan conversion……I must replace the rear main seal, and glue the new pan in place.
Hoping for big update with pictures by end of weekend. Fingers crossed.
I also finally sold the old TH350 trans to a cool Kijij dude building an Iroc Camaro. $70 in my pocket.
Not much The Shop these days since getting the atv sorted out.
On the labour day weekend i did a full brake job on the Caravan, pissed me off that i had to put another set of calipers in the rear end….my lifetime free exchange calipers failed again, lucky for me the Shop was closed by the time i got dug in, so i had to buy a brand new set from Canadian tire to the tube off about $450. These better last till at least the spring. This damn van eats through rear brakes in about 15,000 km, perhaps Ive gotten 30,000km once since we bought it.In lighter news, I am nearing my 3,000km target on the bike this year, up to 2,000 as of Saturday. I had to adjust the rear brakes, too much travel on the pedal when i need to lock it up on the trails.
Weather looks killer for next 10 days or so, will hopefully get another 250-500 kms closer to my goal by end of next weekend.
Got a full day in the shop to myself, and no family at home this coming Saturday. Hopefully big things come from this opportunity.
Makes sense, but I’m not ready to give it up yet. Gonna be tire shopping this winter, might just go down to a more A/T style (70:30 tire) as opposed to the 90:10 MTs I’m rolling on now.
Friday on my home from work i detoured to Mono Centre Brewing Company and picked up 6 brewery-fresh beers, thoroughly enjoyed them over the weekend. Thinking this may become a regular detour while riding weather is in stock. I was hoping to make another trip there with Matt today, but his wife has kept him busy, and now MCBc is closed for the day.
On Saturday i had to do pads and rotors all the way around Sams caravan, calipers in the rear as well (fucking again!!!). I did the brakes in the rear exactly 11.5 months ago, exactly 30,000 kms ago. One pass on back left was down to the baking plate, which prompted Sam to alert me of the servicing required. I think i noted in April when i pulled the snow tires off that the rear brakes looked like shit. This damn van EATS rear brakes, pretty sure I’m gonna outsource the job next time. Maybe somebody else will have better luck.
Attachments:
Last night I took my atv OUT of The Shop to put her through a good heat cycle since the swamping.
I ripped down the local section of OF-ATV trail about 6 km each way, going hard southbound, and cruising back more sanely Northbound home.
The heat cycling worked, the oil is now a perfect colour with no appearance of aeration or water contamination. As a bonus, I also learned the top speed of my ‘91 is right where it was advertised 32 years ago. I hit 70km/h, perhaps a tick over, and the internet claims a top speed of 45 Mph (72.5km/h). To be honest, I had prolly topped out at 45 km/h previously riding with the kids. Most of my accumulated mileage has been in LOW range, and I don’t mind that at all. Still looking to buy a two-up seat so i can take the kids on longer / better tours.Today i rode the bike to work, hoping to over compensate a little in September because I have not ridden nearly enough kms yet this summer. Sitting around 1,500 total, goal is to hit 3,000 before i put her away for winter.
Last night in The Shop, I tore the front tube out of the bike to inspect it for a leak. There was a tiny pin hole, worthy of a patch. I held the tube beside to tire to determine what inside the tire caused the pin hole, and I found bits of a “QC passed” sticker mashed into the inside of the tire. Looks like the tube just rubbed and chaffed the sticker, until a sharp corner managed to wear away at and poke through the tube. Such a stupid failure, but at least one small patch was all i needed.
Currently layering up for a cold ride in this morning.
Tonight in The Shop, I had a helper working on the atv with me. Together with My middle daughter, we welded in studs and bolted the front back into place using 5/6 locating fasteners. 3/6 are M8 bolts in the original nut, 2/6 are the new super strong 3/8” studs welded to the frame tube. The last M8 needed a whole lot more work to make proper, and it was plenty late enough already.
Def a win tonight working with my darling daughter.
That’s exactly why I thrash the cheap machine haha. Getting into camp at Ardbeg is the furthest offroad the Taco gets, but I do send it down No Winter Maintanance roads on a weekly basis.
Crap day today. Finally got a Kijij buyer to show up for my old shop beer fridge, go figure it wouldn’t get cold after 20 mins of running. I apologized to the buyer, dragged the dead fridge to my scrap metal pile. 30 mins before that fail, I hop in the bike to ride home, discover a flat front tire. I pumped it up, rode home with a slow leak. 20 mins after getting home, tire is dead flat. No luck this year. Only 1,200 kms accumulated, got my third flat tire of the season. Feeling defeated, need a small victory to turn this luck around.
Last week I DESTROYED my cold heading machine at work. One little ooopsie, prolly 2-5 weeks downtime, minimum $5k repair. So glad I don’t pay the bills there.
A little make-busy project in The Shop this week as I try to reattach the front bumper and rack onto my atv. It has been hanging on loosely for 3 years ive owned it, prolly cause most the fasteners are missing. Of the 6 fastening locations circled in yellow, the locations also circled red were missing. My task is welding some studs into the two lower locations, they were likely the largest fasteners holding it together once upon a time, assuming an M8 bolt.
Attempt #1 failed the other day because I got spatter on the stud threads and broke off the stud while trying to remove the very stuck nut. Lesson learned, version 2 sometime this week.Attachments:
Well The Shop has been slow recently, but i did manage to ressurect my atv after swamping it in Ardbeg on South Trail.
It took 1 diesel flush and 3 oil changes to get the water out of the crank case, a carb cleaning, air filter service, a new spark plug, rear brake cable tightening, and front brake resevoir re-fill & bleed.
On Saturday I rode the atv around the block, about 500 metres with my youngest daughter, and all seems well thus far. I believe putting it through a good heat cycle will do great things, but that opportunity has not yet arose.
That’s all for now.Attachments:
Sounds like a good time to be had. I wonder what my bike would run in a 1/4???
Hey you made any official 1/4 mile runs in the ‘51 since you got the 3.73 gears?
Not much completed in the last week or so. I put Matts bike back together, but we still haven’t taken a test ride.
I changed the oil and filter in my bike because i thought i was hearing a metallic rattle on my last ride, but I was rippin’ triple digits on pavement, so it may have just been a combination of knobbies, pavement and wind noise. The oil came out clear of debris, but pretty dark from heat. Regardless Im hoping for the best.
Was working on Matts bike last night with him, trying to figure out a strange stalling issue that arose on our last ride. Seemed like the carb was running dry, but when I pulled the carb apart last night nothing looked strange. So I gave it a very quick clean, set the float valve a touch lower (so the bowl fuel level will sit higher), and put a new fuel filter inline too replace the very old and yellow’d one. Hoping the filter was plugged, and we’re done with this stalling issue.
Tonight I’m picking up parts for Matts bike, some rubber isolators for his seat that have been ready for pickup a couple weeks now.
The power washer fired up first pull with the choke on, and ran strong after opening it fully. Only trouble is the wand trigger doesnt function properly, its stuck 90% open, so “always on” sorta deal. My neighbour wasnt too concerned, said he’ll get a new wand later.
Last night I repaired the wiring harness, was less work than expected once I unwrapped all the electrical tape. All the ground wires had full continuity, and just any 6 feet were melted through the sheathing. The hardest part was de-pinning one two-pin connector as the male terminal had two ground wires going to it. Once I got the pin out, I openined it, replaced both wires and had a miserable time shoving the two new back through the connector. Eventually WD40 saved the day haha.
Anyways, gonna ship it back to my bro-law today.
