What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Blckshdw]

I would have to take the front seat out, to be able to lay under the dash like that.

Almost 4 days into a work week after being off for half of December, and I'm ready for a vacation already. This new platform that corporate rolled out last month is a dumpster fire. On top of the expected bugs that weren't caught during testing, there's a whole boatload of features that staff used daily that just never got built out. So work arounds are the norm, and we have to be patient, hoping things get fixed before something major happens and we really get screwed.

I had gotten a bunch of system reports rebuilt before my vacation, and I'm glad I didn't wait, because after some update they ran, I lost all my permissions, and can no longer save reports to public locations where people can access them, or edit any existing reports. What should be a 15 second fix, has baffled them for 4 days now.

It's almost as if 2021 turned to 2020 and said "Oh yeah, hold my beer and watch this!"

 

[littleblazer]

I did the heater core in the vette like that. Seat out. I could never do that again. I got stuck trying to reach the obd port a couple weeks ago lol. And I was about a foot further in for the core. I did the blend door in the envoy blind. I saw it in the mirror and... well felt up the truck to remove it. Took about 20 minutes. Most of which was fighting the damn electrical plug.

 

[Mooseman]

Worked on the sled's head today. Lapped the valves and cleaned up the combustion chambers with TEC. That stuff is nasty! Also sprayed some on the piston tops to clean them off overnight. Working on these small parts was challenging with my meat hooks.

 

[BrianF]

We had some dental yesterday. First time in a while that there were no cavities in the family. Now my work plan is garbage, has been eroded over the years (my dad opted out of the retirement plan because its garbage) and we start paying large lumps of cash as my oldest needs braces. We start that next week.

Went to a couple napa's in the city, looking for a 7 pin ignition switch for my sleds but they only carried 5 pin. That and all the small engine shops were closed. So I guess Amazon and its retarded shipping is my only option.

 

[Mooseman]

Worked on the cylinder head some more. Sanded the head flat, flatter than Saskatchewan. Then put the valve buckets and camshafts on and checked the clearances. All except two were off. All the exhausts were on the tight side and three of the six intakes were just a little out of spec on the loose side only by 0.01mm. The shims I have on them now won't make any difference if I tried swapping them around. Individual shims at the dealer are around $10 each and it's not guaranteed I won't need to readjust again. Found a kit on Amazon for $20 more that will have a variety of sizes that will allow me to change them some more if I have to. Should be in on Sunday.

 

[littleblazer]

Since none of the electronics on the Bobcat work I did some wiring. Hooked the glow plugs up to the left turn function of the key switch so you turn and hold to preheat and then crank and go. Thing starts like gasser now. Then I did the belts and an oil change. Filter was dated 2010. Now that it works, we'll never need it.

 

[Mounce]

Got my seasonal sinus infection around Monday, turned out to be the virus or morphed into it by Friday when I tested positive anyways. Getting plenty of quality time with my bed and TV. Pretty mild so far.

 

[BrianF]

Got home from work early, the kids were good so we went on a short 4 mile rip out to check an old abandoned yard site.

 

[Blckshdw]

Since it was sunny and brisk, perfect weather for being outside working on stuff. Had been meaning to deal with the dandelions that were getting too comfortable all over the place, so pulled the mower out for that. While I was at it, followed a tip from a YT video, pulled the side cover off to locate the piezo tweeter just below the deck height adjustment handle, that sounds the alarm when you're in reverse, or the key is on but the driver isn't on the seat.




It's loud AF, and pretty obnoxious, so I wanted to cover it up, to muffle the alarm a bit.

Quite satisfied with the finger-test result, I wadded up a small piece of shop towel, and covered that with a piece of duct tape, and closed everything up.




Had planned to get cleaned up and watch football, but I had all that plywood decking in the shed, that still had a bunch of nails and screws in it. Grabbed a couple of tools, played some music on my phone and got to work on the largest pieces. The floor of my shed has a bit of flex to it, from the piles of scrap metal that were in there when I moved in, and it does tend to give a bit when I park the mower in there. Due to a floor joist running right down the center of the doorway, there's a good ridge there. After getting two of the 6 foot sheets cleared, laid them side by side with the seam along that ridge giving me a more solid pad to park the mower on. No more creaking.

Managed to catch the 4th quarter of the Ravens/Titans game. The Bears are still bad at football, glad I wasn't emotionally invested this year. Made a grocery run for a few things, and threw a pizza in the oven for this last game.

 

[Mooseman]

With the kit of valve shims in hand, I adjusted the valve lash on the head. Glad I got the kit instead of just the single shims because I had 5 that were still out of spec and had to adjust them again. Then I rechecked the head surface flatness with a proper machinist's ruler instead of the carpenter's square I was using and I had a high spot in between the combustion chambers. Sanded it some more to clean that up.

Then prep to put the head back on the engine block. Checked the deck and it was flat. Clean, clean and clean again the deck and head surface, put the gasket on and drop it place. Yamaha has a particular method of torquing the head down. Tighten the bolts in sequence to 18 ft/lbs, then loosen and retorque them again to 18 ft/lbs, then turn them in sequence 175-185 deg. Had an issue with getting the timing chain timed right as it would skip when turning the crank. Two issues I found out searching on my Yamaha forum. The chain tensioner extends out when the chain pushes back on it to allow the retaining slip to drop and allow the plunger to extend. I pushed on the chain guide with a screwdriver several times until the clip dropped and the plunger extended. The other thing is that the Valve cover has a guide inside to prevent the chain from skipping during startup when there is no oil pressure on the tensioner. Spun it a few times with the cover on, take the cover back off and the chain is still timed . Put on the valve cover with new gasket and called it a night. Good to see the engine back together.

 

[coolride]

Today, I get a second dose of Pfizer Covid vaccine.

 

[BrianF]

Came home to my wife walking without crutches or a cain. She is making great progress since surgery. Apparently the kids worked hard today at school and chores, so.......

 

[Mooseman]

More work on the sled. Dropped the engine and put the mount bolt back. The exhaust flex pipes were already in place and I had to slip the steel gasket between the exhaust ports and pipes. Very tight and it got hung up on the small rivets that hold the two layers. Get it in and... put it in the wrong way . Pull it back out, it sustained a bit of damage and got a little bent. Getting it back in was harder the second time. Getting the bolts in wasn't so bad except ONE that the threads in the head were being difficult (of course I didn't chase the threads when it was out ), and it was the hardest to access. Had to screw in, screw out, screw in some more, screw out. You know the drill. And I had to do this with a 10mm wrench. My right thumb is sore from holding that effing wrench! Throttle bodies went back on and that was enough for today.

 

[Mooseman]

Yesterday, put the top cradle back on, the cooling system and the oil tank. Also added an Apex radiator and fan that I got last year. They're both the same body style except the Apex is a 4 cyl. I had to mod the location to mount the fan by cutting out the aluminum there that was a relay holder. This will allow it to cool while idling and in low snow conditions.

Apart from a manual switch, I also wanted an automatic switch-on from a sensor. I had gotten a 185f one from Amazon but didn't notice that it was a 3/8 NPT instead of the usual 1/8 NPT. I was looking at drilling and tapping the hose adapter when I looked at the sensor and thought I can tap that front portion of the sensor. Grabbed the 1/8 NPT die and it worked beautifully.

 

[littleblazer]

Dropped the wheels on the vette off at a friend to have the paint fixed. Turns out I need rear hubs. Oh well. With great power comes more broken parts.

 

[djthumper]

WOrkin in the boondocks.

 

[BrianF]

The calm before the storm here. Had some freezing rain and expecting some snow and 100km/h winds. The temperature was above freezing so to hell with it. Kids and I did several miles on the sleds. Got on a recent track for a moose. Cut near our property and meandered throughout the quarter.

My Golden ghost was running crappy half the time. Appears a rich bog, mostly when half throttle and higher. I got it to bog and then hit the primer and she all but died. I am planning to pull the carb and put in a new o ring on the main discharge tube.

I also found a terminal on the ignition wiring harness that fried. So I need to rectify that before putting a new switch on.

 

[Sparky]

Just hanging in there.

 

[Mooseman]

We're self isolating in our house and our youngest son is self isolating in his room. His shop got shut down yesterday when one of the employees tested positive. It's a person that everybody in the shop talks to and he thinks he's likely been infected since they don't wear masks. He went for a test (his third) and went straight to his room. And the night before, he spent the night with his GF so now she's self isolating until he gets his results back.

Luckily I went to get groceries yesterday morning so we're pretty well stocked for now.

 

[TollKeeper]

Being pissed at myself. Local dealer had a Black over Gold TrailBlazer SWB LTZ V8 with 51k miles come in stock Friday. Couldnt go look at it Saturday, and Monday it was gone.

 

[m.mcmillen]

Waiting for the cable guy to come see why my signal keeps dropping out. 3rd visit, hope they get it fixed this time.

 

[aaserv]

2 weeks tomorrow and I think Im over this bug/virus... I had the head cold from Hell for about 5-6 days but other than that none of the other symptoms that are associated with C-19. I tend to think I had the version 1-10 and not the 19...lol but who knows. You cant trust the tests and the moment you get a positive test result your banned from every Doctors office in the country. Apparently the treatment is go home and when you think ur going to die go to a hospital. Well thankfully I never got that far and was able to talk to my Doctor via email. Once I convinced him to call me in some antibiotics I was better 3 days later. Went back to work this morning but didnt do much. Think Ill lay around until Monday now that Im used to laying around!

Well as was typing this out I got the email from the test i took this morning and.........it says I STILL have the frickin virus. I think I have to go get some other kind of test this is B.S. I have no symptoms what so ever, feel as good as I ever have. O well I guess I will lay around a few more days then....WTH

 

[northcreek]

Been on a puppy search since losing my old boy Sam.The wife and I swore we wouldn't get another dog since this heart break but, life without a dog sucks when you've had one your whole life. Problem is, since covid people have been on a puppy frenzy and it's hard to find a breed specific dog.
We got on a waiting list for a fall litter of pups(English Springer Spaniel) but, then another breeder called that she had two males. So here are my choices, will be ready to go Valentines day(lol).

 

[BrianF]

She got pretty greasy last night. I may have...... screwed up my wife's physio appointment and we may have had to rip into town before the storm. My wife is progressing but physio is kicking the crap out of her.

We barely made it home as it was a near white out and 100k winds. It worsened over night but thankfully not much snow. I had a little to clear with the quad and snow blower.

We are supposed to maintain some warm weather for the next week so I made sure the arena was clear so the kids can get a few rides in.

We got off easy. Many people were stranded and many without power. But hey, it could be worse. Could be living in Winnipeg.

 

[gmcman]

So this was was taken last month, when I was replacing a blend door motor.. My sausage fingers, and the spare tire around the middle.. Its nice to have a wife that is really small, less than 100lbs, and over a foot shorter than me!
View attachment 99494
View attachment 99495View attachment 99496

There's really no easy way to tackle that job.. pretty funny.

 

[gmcman]

Finally finished this long-awaited build. Ryzen 5600, 32GB, still waiting on a modern GPU but the 1080 Ti will suffice for now.

Replaced the stock 120MM rear case fan with a higher CFM Noctua 120MM to ensure the air keeps moving, have some wire management left.

 

[NJTB]

Still fighting with Social Security. Apparently my old workplace has to fill out a form and they screwed it up twice.
So far my retirements been nothing but on the phone.

 

[TollKeeper]

Finally finished this long-awaited build. Ryzen 5600, 32GB, still waiting on a modern GPU but the 1080 Ti will suffice for now.View attachment 99560

Replaced the stock 120MM rear case fan with a higher CFM Noctua 120MM to ensure the air keeps moving, have some wire management left.

View attachment 99561

1080TI? I just upgraded from a 5970x2 (circa 2009) last year. Scored a Vega 64 LC for 100? bucks! Of course I am still rocking a I7 2600K. Trying to score a 5800x or 5600x before I upgrade.

 

[gmcman]

1080TI? I just upgraded from a 5970x2 (circa 2009) last year. Scored a Vega 64 LC for 100? bucks! Of course I am still rocking a I7 2600K. Trying to score a 5800x or 5600x before I upgrade.

Was using a 980 Ti which is excellent with 1080P. Switched to a 1440P monitor and the 980 while sufficient, had to get swapped to another build anyway.

The 1080Ti is still a sweet spot for 1080P IMO, should keep up for quite awhile, and works great at 1440P with the 5600X. The run on graphics cards now is just nuts, there were already 8 people waiting outside my local MC before it closed tonight. If you aren't gaming @ 4K right now, I would wait or search for a 980/1080. I was lucky and found my 1080Ti on CL for $300, fair considering the times.

Specs if you're interested.

AORUS GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti 11G Specification | Graphics Card - GIGABYTE U.S.A.

Discover AORUS premium graphics cards, ft. WINDFORCE cooling, RGB lighting, PCB protection, and VR friendly features for the best gaming and VR experience!

www.gigabyte.com

As for the 5600/5800, I was in the same boat. The 5800 is just at that price point you have to accept there's more performance within arms reach. I like to compare the 5600/5800/5900 to the Vette, base/Z06/ZR1, all are excellent performers, but do you hold out for the ZR1. The 5950 would be sweet also but I had to draw the line, maybe another time.

I sucked it up a few weeks ago and waited 2 hrs for MC to open, was going to grab a 5800 and they had the 5600 in stock, albeit only a handful, opted to save a few $$.

 

[Sparky]

Rearranged the home office and set up the new wireless AP in a stupid temporary way, but it works better than the old AP in a different stupid temporary way, so... win-ish, kinda?

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

lazy day on couch. still recovering from the childproofing procedure.

 

[Mooseman]

Yesterday, put most of the sled back together, filled it with oil and water and fired it up. Took a lot of cranking even though I primed the fuel pump several times and had to crack the throttle. Idled nice and throttles up quick. Got the temp up to 90c but the fan temp switch I got didn't come on even though it was supposed to at 85c (185f). Might be off a few degrees. Wish they were adjustable. I'll have to test it and see what temp it actually opens at. Shut her down and closed the shop for the night to cool down so I can drain it and refill again with water to flush it again. Flushing out all the blue coolant Yamaha used as well as the head sealer I tried last year. Will fill with the usual green stuff which is what they used years prior. So after just have to finish putting the plastics back on and service the skid, mostly grease and check the wheels.

And of course, I tweaked my lower back yesterday and am now in full spasm. So pills and heat for me today. And of course it happens just as we finally get a major dump of snow

 

[gmcman]

Ouch @Mooseman , sorry to hear.

 

[BrianF]

Well hey, at least you got the sled operational. So when you are all holed up and crippled, you know for a fact that you could have been out sledding. Like Ray from trailer park boys said: its the way she goes. Some times she goes and sometimes it doesn't. Its the f'n way she goes.

 

[BrianF]

Mind you Ray was talking about burning all the liquor money on the VLT's, not having a bad back.

 

[Mooseman]

However, good news is that our son tested negative. He's not sure if his shop will reopen on Monday though as one other employee tested positive so far. At least we're off the hook. If the trails open on Monday, we could go riding

 

[gmcman]

More PC stuff, upgrade for my daughters well-aged i3 laptop using my old i7-4790K. Will (hopefully) be a surprise.

Reinstalling Windows and need to secure all the cables.

 

[Mooseman]

More pills, heat and rest. Didn't do anything yesterday and the muscle relaxants made me sleepy so likely MOTS today.

 

[xavierny25]

Last 2 days....
My old landlord practically begged me to install the laminate floor in the old apartment. He's paying going rate per sq ft for the install. Although I have a ton of work in the new house I just couldn't say no besides he basically doesn't trust anyone working on his house other then himself and me.
I've got the day off from my regular 9-5 tomorrow so I should be done with all of it by mid-day I hope. Lol. Its always the last couple of cuts and trim that seem to take the longest. Contour gauge has been my best friend for around the metal door frames

 

[BrianF]

Looking nice!!! New flooring always does wonders.

I ripped home from work and tackled a few things on the sleds. I fixed both primer check valves. I had one missing spring and the other was all bent and stretched. I cut a few coils off a pen spring and reinstalled. Seems to work well as both sleds fired on first pull. In the last picture you can see the needle valve orientation in the intake elbow.

I then moved onto the bog issue with the ghost. I half tore the carb off and pulled the main discharge tube, put on a new o ring and then threw it back in. The carb was dry after this and a couple primes and she fired right up like nothing ever happened.

I did some hot laps to get her warm, then base lined the high jet and she ripped pretty good. I gave her 1/4 on the rich side and it seems good. She still is not perfect but again, much better.

Then tipped the ghost to do the chain case oil. I had only topped them up last year. Out came some gross looking crap. In went the overages I caught when doing the transmission on my 3500. Some mix of various atf. Now the Evinrude was damn near dry. Wtf I say. Glad I checked. Its now topped up.