What are you doing today? Thread

[knappyfeet]

Got the Craftec Cover unboxed.

Going to sit and have a Rockstar, read the instructions and watch the company's installation video.

Just unboxing the parts and orientating things.....it looks so simple even I can do it. Everything's numbered...looks easy.

Only thing is I'm hoping there's just enough clearance for my old cooler.... it looks like it may be a tight fit.

[ATC King]

That cover is going to look nice. It'll tie the lines of the vehicle together.

Can't beat the old gas mantel lanterns. Something about the quality of light and the sound just makes camping more relaxing. Except for the old mantels that were radioactive.

[knappyfeet]

That cover is going to look nice. It'll tie the lines of the vehicle together.

Can't beat the old gas mantel lanterns. Something about the quality of light and the sound just makes camping more relaxing. Except for the old mantels that were radioactive.

Covers coming along nicely.

The only issue is the vinyl is damaged from shipping. I'm pulling and twisting and letting it sit outside but the kinks & indents and damage isn't coming out. It's OK because the seller is more than willing to send a new one.

It's a nice cover.

[oscarmayer]

just finished building a performance 250R MX engine for a 86 TRX. now am goign to work on the rest of the machine for XC style racing! my son is gonna race it! i also have parts on order for my daughter's 200x, and i gotta tune the wife's 350x. my plate is full!

[oscarmayer]

looks great!

[ATC King]

I have an off brand/discontinued trail camera that I stopped using a year or so ago because it would constantly take pictures or videos until the batteries died.

Other than that, it's a pretty decent trail camera, even records good audio. I thought about chunking it but decided to pull it apart first and check the PIR sensor. The sensor had some spittle on it, but I'm not certain if that would have caused it because I also reinstalled the firmware at the same time and now it's working.

The camera was discontinued but at least they kept enough support on the website to have the firmware available, which I saved a copy of.

I think the times it really started to mess up was in 100+ degree weather. I'm not putting it back out anymore unless the high is lower than 90.

Hopefully it'll stay working for a while longer.

[knappyfeet]

In preparation for camping trip I installed new mantles in the old Coleman lanterns and ran them and the heater for awhile.

I should have cleaned them out before I installed the new mantels as one of them is flickering a little.....but they are as bright as can be.

The catalytic heater works but not great.... it's just a novelty.

[ATC King]

I've been working on getting a friend's older Chevy truck going.

He bought it some years back and it sat for years before that. When he picked it up it drove onto the trailer then died and wouldn't restart. It sat at the back of his place, in the woods, after that. A couple years ago I urged him to let me look at it and we got it over to my place where I found out the distributor was bad. I replaced several things, after cleaning the rat nests and crap from the engine bay.

It ran but the transmission only had two forward gears and reverse. A couple years passed by with the truck seldom being used and now it's back at my place for more work to get it running good enough to justify a transmission rebuild.

I've been plucking away at it the past couple months. It's an 80's model with TBI. I done a complete rebuild on the throttle body, using my ultrasonic cleaner. The throttle body was a real mess, most all of the passages were plugged up.

I just had it in the shop to replace the brake master cylinder and booster and at the end of the day, it wouldn't start.

Things like that are going to be a persistent problem with this truck until it's all lined out. It sat for years and was abused and neglected before that. Then there was the rats chewing things up. It's a real mess and if not for the situation with me doing the work for a friend, it would've been scraped years ago. There's no way most people could afford the repair labor, again, friend job but I'm not doing it for free.

Back to the no start issue, I finally had to close the shop up late last night and have another go at it this morning.The first thing I worked at was cleaning up all the grounds I could get to. I even found one that was completely loose. I don't have any scan equipment old enough to do OBD1, so I'm having to do it the harder way and really, OBD1 is so lame that the hard way is about the only way. I do have a GM OBD1 code reader and book, but on a vehicle as bad as condition as this, it's not much help. There's too many problems for a code to mean much.

I was plucking away at ground connections and noticed the coolant temp sensor was broken where the connector goes. That let a lot of moisture in and corroded the connector pins. I cycled connecting and disconnecting it several times to scrape the corrosion off, then I left it unplugged and attempted to start it. The engine started! I then plugged it back up and it still started.

Several hours of work only for it to be a bad coolant sensor because of damage. It just happened it was good enough for me to pull it into the shop, only for it to not start after unrelated repairs.

It does crank over faster with multiple grounds cleaned. I guess that wasn't a total waste of time.

There's no way an actual shop could stay open working on vehicles like that. They'd go broke. Anyone using an older vehicle as a daily driver wouldn't agree to pay for the labor it takes for diagnostics alone, because that older vehicle is all they can afford. Anyway, I don't like working on vehicles like that but it does test me and I appreciate that, but it's not for a living so the stress isn't there. Everything I touch on it leads me to another problem, but my friend doesn't mind throwing money at it because it has good bones and if nothing else, it'll make a good farm truck that's still good enough to drive to town. It's 4x4 and a long bed.

I'd really like a legitimate Tech1 scan tool for this old stuff but I don't do enough of it to justify the cost. Even used Snap-On bricks are still stupid priced. I'd even settle vintage CRT monitor type carts, but even those in working order are about as much as a modern, basic, bi-directional scan tool. And..that's why the old vehicles go to scrap yards. Someone paid $1,000 for some diagnostic equipment 40 years ago and still thinks it's worth that, even though it's no longer supported and any repairs will have to be done by the owner...and Radio Shack isn't a thing anymore, at least what they used to be if someone needed basic electronic components.

Anyone know of a cable and OBD1 phone app? Screw old and overpriced diagnostic equipment.

[oldskool83]

Big A is up to working to a few things today....working 445am to 2pm, after 245pm my daughter and I are going to be replacing xmas lights for the 3rd time now out on my big pine tree in front yard since one straight was dead, and the 3 new ones were different color blue. Up next, tape up my trx200sx frame for Thursdays installation of new motor with a friend. After that install the 200sx cam chain adjuster stuff and intake stuff. If its warm out after that might call it and nice and get out the 87 moto 4 80 and take daughter for a quick rip thru the woods down to the local pond. Eat dinner and work out on treadmill a bit.

Go to bed.

[ATC King]

I finally put my bike carb back together. It's been clean but in pieces for the past month. I can't get it running just yet though. The throttle cables are shot. Stock throttle cables don't fit and the last ones were stock that I modified the length and soldered on new ends. I've got to buy a universal cable kit and make some, which is fine by be so they fit right and aren't too long or short.

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Also, another mountain lion was captured on a trail camera in Amity, Arkansas. Game and Fish is going to have to admit there's a breeding population and create a management plan, which they've been blowing off for the better part of a half century and gaslighting everyone who's heard on seen one.

[ATC King]

I've got a CRF150F to sort out. It's already been in my hands to get running. Now some parts ordering is about to happen after a little riding.

I'm supposed to be getting a couple Beulls this weekend to look at. I've never rode one, but that's about to change.

Family and friends only work. I stopped taking in anything else, but I'm considering dropping any work that's not on my own vehicles. I dislike working on junk for minimal gains. It stresses me out and leaves the bank account low.

[poppa]

I get it...

[El Camexican]

Is that what that’s all about? They denied their existence in Manitoba for decades, I always wondered why.

[ATC King]

I can only imagine the expense and time to create a management plan for a large predator that would also be a game animal.

A century ago there was a larger population and since about the 1960's it dwindled to basically nothing, which is probably why they the state never bothered with it. Many Arkansan's have grown tired of being dismissed about them, like the sightings may as well have been Bigfoot. Oklahoma has a Bigfoot hunting permit (even though it's a joke), but big cats in Arkansas...nope.

Side note, don't hike in Oklahoma while wearing a Bigfoot costume.

About the same as with the gators. Up until recently they was no management other than a ban on hunting. Now there's permits. That's decades after their population exploded and ranchers were having constant problems with gators in the cattle ponds. Game & Fish probably got tired of all the calls to remove them, and I say that with some knowledge of how gator and rancher encounters were handled differently as it became more common.

When ranchers and farmers start incurring losses, things get looked at more closely. Someone ends up as and it may not change anything.

[ATC King]

I visited the man in the van, down by the river.

He's in his 80's and has been travailing the US since my teen years, at least. When he comes through this way, there's a small campsite near the river that he likes to stay at for a bit. Same van he's owned since the 1970's, which he bought new.

I had no idea he was down there, as I was just out for a ride on the moped and hadn't been that way in a while. It was a nice surprise. He enjoys the company, and I enjoy that there's still people like him out there, living free and how they want.