What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Mooseman]

Not much rain at all which was a blessing.

Seems like NYC got that rain from it and there were tornadoes in NJ too. @xavierny25 is our guy there. Hope he's OK

Not much for me today except getting dicked around. Been in contact with a guy whose trying to get rid of a lease on a 2021 Sierra 1500 Duramax. Took forever to respond, then he was communicating OK and then silence again. Then found another one on Leasebusters, a 2021 Silvy 1500 Duramax but it's in Quebec. Sent him a message and he's just being a dick, like telling me to contact the dealership myself, which I have no idea which one it is. Maybe just a Ontario hater and I even messaged him in French. Screw him.

 

[Mooseman]

Today I tried to give some love to the Caprice. Took her to the DIY garage to replace the tranny fluid and filter, replace the upstream O2 sensors and, if I had time, replace the stock calipers with the Brembos I got a couple of years ago.

Since the engine and exhaust were hot, started with the front Brembo conversion. Should be easy enough, same rotor, just swap the caliper. Yeah, never so simple. Both sets of caliper to knuckle bolts were too long. The shop had some washers to shorten them. Then, when I went to put the wheels on, the spokes rubbed on the caliper. So I need spacers but to get me home, more washers. Just ordered some spacers from Amazon.



Now on to the O2 sensors. I had to replace them since one that I lengthened the wires for the headers was now acting wonky and apparently it's a big no-no to do that so after some research, found out that apparently sensors from a 99 Corvette will work with its longer wires. Got the old ones out, went to plug the sensor in and it's a totally wrong connector. F*ck! So old sensors go back in.

Then the tranny fluid. Basically went OK and the pan was really clean since it wasn't that long ago. Buttoned it all up and then the fun began. Because it doesn't have a dipstick and just a plug where it should be, it has to be pumped in until it dribbles out the pan plug. All the shop had was a hand pump like you use with diffs. Hand pumping 6.5 quarts of fluid was not quick and doing it while the engine is running. That's the method of filling this 6L80E. The one that thought it was a good idea to not have a dispstick in this car should be shot!

 

[Blckshdw]

Because it doesn't have a dipstick and just plug where it should be

I would imagine someone somewhere would have had to figure out a dipstick mod. Swap in from another vehicle maybe?

 

[Mooseman]

Most install an expensive aftermarket one however heard of one guy who installed one from a truck. I'll definitely look into this as I don't like not being able to check the level easily. Otherwise it has to be jacked up level to take the dribble plug out while it's hot and running.

 

[BrianF]

Well Moose, that sucks. Hope you can get it sorted.

Just another day in paradise out here. Horse quality hay and feed prices are through the roof right now, thats if you can find it. As it stands, our feed price will be jumping from 8 cents a pound to about 30 as we will be moving to alfalfa cubes. Although to be fair, the transportation costs and time will be minimal as we will get bagged feed on pallets that we can run in with a flat deck as opposed to renting the big tipping trailer and running heavy weights. Also the percentage of loss from mold or the odd shitty bale will be all but eliminated.

Anyways we put in more fence, including a little strip of grass along the road. Just need to hang some electric and it will pasture a pile.of horses for the next month. Found rhe kids out for a ride when I got home from work.

 

[TollKeeper]

Laid my father to rest over the weekend.

Spent some time at the family cabin.. We might be loosing it, depending on how the Estate goes.

Getting ready to head to the hospital.. Wife is ready to pop with kid #2. So waiting for the dam to break, than off we go!

 

[BrianF]

Sorry for your loss tollkeeper. Also congratulations on the child!!

As for me, spent the day on the range. Lots of fun but the heat kicks my pasty white ass. So here I sit with a headache I stead of getting more fencing done. Oh well.

 

[azswiss]

Sorry to hear of your loss TollKeeper. All the best for the impending happy event.

 

[Matt]

Laid my father to rest over the weekend.

Spent some time at the family cabin.. We might be loosing it, depending on how the Estate goes.

Getting ready to head to the hospital.. Wife is ready to pop with kid #2. So waiting for the dam to break, than off we go!

There's a rollercoaster of emotions there.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[TollKeeper]

There's a rollercoaster of emotions there.

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks all

And yes it is!
What made it worse is I cant stand my dads wife.. And I had to play all nicey nicey with her... GRR!

 

[NJTB]

Thanks all

And yes it is!
What made it worse is I cant stand my dads wife.. And I had to play all nicey nicey with her... GRR!

I'd need a pill for that, maybe several.

 

[Redbeard]

and not only today, marking the 20th anniversary of this Terror Attack on the USA. And later today going with the mrs. to a local fire station for their monthly fish fry.

 

[Blckshdw]

It's pretty overcast today but no rain, so decided to take advantage and get the yard cut. The county hasn't sent their crews out to mow the easements between the sidewalk and street, so I figured I might as well hit those too since it's not hot and miserable out. When I got ready to pull the mower out, realized I never plugged it back in to charge after the last time. Cut the area immediately behind the house first, then went to the front and side yards. Got the easements done, and was annoyed by the amount of trash hiding in the tall grass. Moved to the backyard, and got maybe 1/3 of the way through that. The blades would stop when I hit some heavier areas, when it usually just bogs down instead. I can sit there for a second for the blades to chop and clear, but not the case this time. Looked down to see the battery indicator blinking red. Back in the shed to plug in, I'll finish that tomorrow.

Ran the string trimmer a bit, until I got up to the garage. I've pretty much destroyed this head, and had a replacement sent. In trying to get the old one off, I forgot that the main bolt is reverse threaded. Needed a hammer to get the old head off after getting the bolt out. New head wouldn't go on, I think the shaft got stretched outward when I overtightened the bolt with the impact. Not sure if I can fix that, so may have to look up a replacement piece. Also can't put the old head back on, for the same reason.

Since the gutter by the living room is easily seen from my couch when the blinds are open, and that section I lowered looks just plain bad, I drug out the ladder and tried to raise it. That didn't go as planned. Those hangers put the screws at a steep angle, and when you tighten them, the last quarter inch causes the hanger to slide down like 1/2" There are 2 that I just couldn't get where I wanted them, so there's a bit of a dip in the middle of the longest of the 3 sides. The section with the downspout now looks "normal" instead of like it's hanging off the bottom of the fascia like it did before.

That's enough labor for today. Got cleaned up, now putting together a grocery list. Need to restock the house, as I had visitors last weekend, and was too lazy during the week to get anything, so the cupboards are looking pretty bare.

 

[Matt]

Currently on my way to Florida for a week.

 

[Mooseman]

Just got back from a 4 day long RV trip to Sandbanks and then 2 days at our son's 500km north for a visit. Beaches, wineries, apple cider and cheese factory. Weather wasn't the best but made the best of it. Really nice RV park with a heated pool that the Mrs enjoyed to help her healing shoulder. Then finally saw our granddaughter. Again, the weather wasn't the best but it didn't matter. Missed her so much, as well as our son. He's been working hard in the gold mines, 21x12 hour nights and 7 days off all summer. Finally able to pin him down for a couple of days this weekend. Helped him out a bit while he was replacing the pinion seal on his '11 Silvy while we were there.

Awesome trip. No troubles at all during the tow or camping.

 

[TollKeeper]

Sitting in the hospital, since yesterday..

Welcome my son Austin

 

[azswiss]

Congratulations!

 

[Mooseman]

Congrats!

Today did a couple of things with the RV. Took it to a weigh scale as I got scared when I took it to a closed MTO scale giving me a total of 14,778 lbs! This time I got a total of 12,860# without passengers/dog (~550 lbs). This was a relief as the Avy has a GCWR of 14,000#. The trailer itself weighed in at 6560#, which is still under it's rated max of 7500#.

I filled the black and grey tanks with water and tank cleaner as the sensors in both a giving false readings. Will let that sit for a few days. I really hope this works as I don't want to replace the sensors.

 

[northcreek]

I filled the black and grey tanks with water and tank cleaner as the sensors in both a giving false readings. Will let that sit for a few days. I really hope this works as I don't want to replace the sensors.

I've given up on those sensors ever working right, I'm going to put quality 33-240 ohm sensors in the nasty tanks like I did in the fresh water tank with gauge and it works perfectly.

 

[northcreek]

Sitting in the hospital, since yesterday..

Welcome my son Austin

Glad to hear that your earlier fears were a non-event and the end result was a beautiful boy...

 

[NJTB]

Sitting in the hospital, since yesterday..

Welcome my son Austin

Congratulations!!!

 

[Matt]

Sitting in the hospital, since yesterday..

Welcome my son Austin

Congratulations to you and the family.

As for me, probably sitting by the pool and drinking beer...again.

 

[Mooseman]

I've given up on those sensors ever working right, I'm going to put quality 33-240 ohm sensors in the nasty tanks like I did in the fresh water tank with gauge and it works perfectly.

Inquiring minds want to know. What are these sensors and gauge? Link?

 

[BrianF]

First of four days off. Spent it doing yard work at my wife's store, than onto home where I continued to clear fence line. I had cleared a bunch back in the summer, enough to get the posts in. Now I'm cutting four feet back to allow a safe amount of room for the animals to pass.

Later this week we are possibly heading to Vermillion, Alberta, to check out some hay. Even if we continue to feed some alfalfa cubes, we still want some tonnage in the yard. We need enough to get through a shitty winter and get us to next summer.

Speaking of winter, tonight its getting close to freezing and tomorrow has a frost warning. Summers done boys!

 

[northcreek]

Inquiring minds want to know. What are these sensors and gauge? Link?

This is what I was referring to. Not saying this is a bad kit but,you can find these same components, possibly not from China in other ads. You have to select the proper length sender for your tank depth and a way to access the top of the tank but, it's doable and it works.

52MM Water Level Gauge With 6.5inch Sender 240-33ohms 9-32V For Car Marine Black | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 52MM Water Level Gauge With 6.5inch Sender 240-33ohms 9-32V For Car Marine Black at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Mooseman]

Mowed the lawn today. Was way overdue. However, nothing is as simple as it seems. One of the brackets on the mower deck rusted and broke off. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the belt getting thrown off every time disengaged the blades. Welded on a piece of steel plate and welded the bracket to that. Had to grind down the slot where the belt passes through as it was now about 1/4" higher and was rubbing on it.

Earlier today, went to Princess Auto to pick up some brake cleaner that's on sale and I spotted an outdoor HDTV antenna for $40. I've just about had it with Rogers cable after I received a notice that the Anywhere TV app would no longer work after Oct.1, which allowed me to access all my TV channels on my phone or tablet. And they also jacked up the rates. I'm ready to finally cut the cord. My only problem is accessing AMC. I might have to either subscribe to AMC+ or go the the grey area to watch my shows with some popcorn . The only other thing I really watch is the news but I could subscribe to that if I really need to but with the antenna, I'll be able to get the local and national news. Will just have to watch at specific times. I'm ready to cut the cord.

 

[BrianF]

Last of my days off. We finished up our large pasture with electric, just in time for a roast beef lunch. Then had some neighbours come by for a visit. We had six riding in the outdoor arena so we set up a trail obstacle course. They finished up with using these large pool noodles to do some jousting. Everyone had a blast and finished up with a BBQ.

 

[gmcman]

Been away from the site for a bit, @TollKeeper Sorry to hear about your dad, prayers sent.

Congrats on your son. Hope all is well.

 

[xavierny25]

Same here! Ive been away for some amount of time had some stuff I had to really focus on.

Seems like NYC got that rain from it and there were tornadoes in NJ too. @xavierny25 is our guy there. Hope he's OK

My house was fine got some water in threw the basement door but it basically pitches right to my sump pump pit, the trap and back flow are there aswell. After awhile the back flow preventer locked so the pump was pushing it all out. Unfortunately the pvc pipe out side bust at a joint. Found out later while doing the repair that the pipe to the street was clogged. Did away with the basement door settle and part of the frame to build up a 2" high reinforced cement threshold. So no more water gets in unless the drain by the door get clogged.
My neighbor wasn't so lucky and they got about a foot of water in the basement. Back flow door is either cracked or bent as they just continued to take on waste water. I was able to help with my spare pumps and some hoses.

Front windows on the house got replaced recently.
Had to remove the bushes for them to get the work done.

Love the 2' extension of the bay window makes the living room look way bigger then it is.

The rest of the windows and new siding is scheduled for the first week of January.

Congrats! @TollKeeper and sorry to hear about your dad passing.

 

[TollKeeper]

Sold my Escalade tentatively. They were hoping I would come down 5000 in price.. Uhm, that aint happening. They are supposed to meet me sometime this week with the full 15k. I am surprised at how little people read. My ad specifically stated FIRM, NOT NEGOTIABLE.

Hunt starts for a new truck. Got my eye on a 9-7x Aero, but I need a dealers license to buy it, and I dont. Anyone here got a dealers license?

Thanks for the well wishes all.. Baby and momma are going good. Wallet is considerably lighter.

Now is only the estate, that was supposed to close in 11/20 would actually close. The money right now would certainly be nice!

 

[littleblazer]

Just finished the rebuild on the 55 carb. What a pain... look up a holley 4000 and you'll get the idea... just weird.

Currently playing with my new surface I picked up last week. I got the low end I3 4gb ram one. I only need jt for data logging and tuning the vette and it slides right between the consol and seat out of the way. For what I'm doing with it it's more than fine. I have the I7 16gb 1tb hybrid setup for anything serious lol.

 

[Blckshdw]

Decided to grab my battery booster out of the EXT and rig up a lil test bench, so I could work on my Android HU without having to take the dash apart and swap out a bunch of stuff. I had the feeling this replacement screen wasn't going to work, the way my luck has been lately, and it turns out I was right.

Hooked everything up on a TV tray, turned on the power and got a 2 tone blank screen. Held the hard reset button and the screen cleared, but remains blank and darker, so the unit itself is toast too. I don't know if they'll let me send the screen back, or try to sell me on buying a new base unit.

 

[Mooseman]

Converted the rear brakes to Brembos on the Caprice. Tried to do it on the weekend but the mounting bolts were too long so had to wait till today to get other ones. I actually wound up cutting the original bolts as the ones I got were too short. Because the new rotors were larger than the originals, I had to cut off the lip on the dust shields. Went reasonably well and they look awesome through the wheels.

 

[BrianF]

We had our hay come in yesterday. Had it trucked in from several hours away. New hay guy and new hauler. Worked out great. Borrowed a friends JD 6420 to unload and stack. That also worked great. Played baby farmer for the day.

Then we get word that our alfalfa cubes are in. So we need to plan a day to pick up 9 pallets, which is 450 bags or 19,800 pounds...... so I need to find a loader with pallet forks or some poor bastard better have a strong back.

 

[Mooseman]

Had the Caprice aligned again after the previous shop botched it, pulling to the right and steering wheel cocked to the right. It was off alright. The front toe was out to lunch and the rear toe was also off, which the other shop never touched. Now she's running straight as an arrow. This shop charges more ($125 vs. $79) but it was done right by an old tech that knows his stuff, even if it's a type of car he's never worked on before.

Then took it to the DIY garage for a couple of things. Replaced the first set of wheel spacers I put on the front wheels to some slightly thinner ones (5mm vs. 8mm) as I found there wasn't enough threads left for the lug nuts for my comfort level. Then replaced the cheap exhaust clamps that came with the system with some strap style as I was getting some leaks and also getting a lean condition (high LTFT) in bank 1. Well they worked as my trims went back to normal after resetting them and no more leaking noises, just pure exhaust sound

Now I just have an issue with the TCC not engaging properly. Noticed that my RPMs fluctuate slightly while cruising. With the Tech 2, I can engage it solidly with no slip however, returning control to the PCM/TCM, it slips and doesn't put on full pressure like when I was engaging it. Might be an issue with the tune. I'll have to compare with the stock tune and see if I can fix it.

 

[Matt]

Road trip yesterday. 888 mile round trip to NC to pick this bad boy up.

 

[flyboy2610]

Party at Matt's place!

 

[TollKeeper]

Sold my Escalade tentatively. They were hoping I would come down 5000 in price.. Uhm, that aint happening. They are supposed to meet me sometime this week with the full 15k. I am surprised at how little people read. My ad specifically stated FIRM, NOT NEGOTIABLE.

Hunt starts for a new truck. Got my eye on a 9-7x Aero, but I need a dealers license to buy it, and I dont. Anyone here got a dealers license?

Thanks for the well wishes all.. Baby and momma are going good. Wallet is considerably lighter.

Now is only the estate, that was supposed to close in 11/20 would actually close. The money right now would certainly be nice!

So it is officially sold. Full 15k price tag..

XUV is now back into full time duty!

This is the third time, almost 4th, for doing this..
Bought a Mercury Montego, parked the XUV, sold the Montego, Drove the XUV.
Bought a Buick Rendezvous, parked the XUV, sold the Rendezvous, Drove the XUV.
Bought an Acura MDX, sold the MDX.
Bought a Cadillac Escalade, parked the XUV, sold the Escalade, Drove the XUV.

After riding around in that Cadi for 4 months, and getting back into the XUV, I certainly noticed squeaks and rattles!

Edit: On the plus side, I have managed to keep 22000 miles off the XUV

 

[Mooseman]

Installed a spare tire carrier on the RV to take it off the tongue and send the weight to the back. Took the poop tote off since we haven't used it once. I'll throw it into the truck if we ever need it.

 

[BrianF]

Borrowed a friends tri axle bale trailer and ripped into Crimetown for some alfalfa cubes. 17,800 pounds. The guy loaded it a bit uneven and I had to leave before we got it perfect but the balance was not bad.