Cant believe im saying this...

[rusty ol ranger]

Not to change the subject but what do you guys think about this for bracing the corner?

Its for granite countertops....ill also run the angle iron under it and use washers to make everything even, obviously ill be using it in an L shape not the shape the pic shows it postioned) It dont have a weight rating (that i can find) but its 1/2 in thick and goes plenty deep enough to get the front of the bracket up into good steel (about 12 inches...these go up to 16)

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You really shouldn’t need anything thicker than like 1/8” steel for anything on an RBV except maybe frame components. Also trying to join thick steel to thin steel doesn’t always go well.

Couple other things. Check your welder over. My buddy bought his Craftsman welder and said it was a nightmare to work. I looked it over and found that it was set up for .30 wire but the idiot that sold the stuff to him sold him .24 solid wire for a .30 flux core machine. No wonder it worked like shit. Also, use a decent wire. Miller, Hobart, Lincoln, Kiswel… no-name wire may or may not cause headaches. I know the wire that comes with HF welders is pretty crappy. The wire HF sells is a little better.

Make sure your welding contact tip (the bit that the wire comes out of) isn’t egged out from wear. If it is, replace it. Also I highly recommend getting a tub of nozzle dip, it helps keep slag from sticking to the welding tip.

HF auto darkening helmets are cheap and work ok. I’m sure a more expensive helmet is better, but an auto darkening helmet is a big advantage, even a cheap one. I usually run around a 9 or 10 shade. Personally, I also like using a welding cap on top of my head because I got tired of hot slag and sparks landing on my head. It’s a bit distracting when you smell hair burning.

Lighting plays a huge part in it, you need good light even with an auto darkening helmet. I have some work lights that I’ll set up as I need to make sure I have the light to see what I’m doing.

I‘d have to look it up, but search on YouTube, Make It Custom did a couple good welding videos on there.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

You really shouldn’t need anything thicker than like 1/8” steel for anything on an RBV except maybe frame components. Also trying to join thick steel to thin steel doesn’t always go well.

Couple other things. Check your welder over. My buddy bought his Craftsman welder and said it was a nightmare to work. I looked it over and found that it was set up for .30 wire but the idiot that sold the stuff to him sold him .24 solid wire for a .30 flux core machine. No wonder it worked like shit. Also, use a decent wire. Miller, Hobart, Lincoln, Kiswel… no-name wire may or may not cause headaches. I know the wire that comes with HF welders is pretty crappy. The wire HF sells is a little better.

Make sure your welding contact tip (the bit that the wire comes out of) isn’t egged out from wear. If it is, replace it. Also I highly recommend getting a tub of nozzle dip, it helps keep slag from sticking to the welding tip.

HF auto darkening helmets are cheap and work ok. I’m sure a more expensive helmet is better, but an auto darkening helmet is a big advantage, even a cheap one. I usually run around a 9 or 10 shade. Personally, I also like using a welding cap on top of my head because I got tired of hot slag and sparks landing on my head. It’s a bit distracting when you smell hair burning.

Lighting plays a huge part in it, you need good light even with an auto darkening helmet. I have some work lights that I’ll set up as I need to make sure I have the light to see what I’m doing.

I‘d have to look it up, but search on YouTube, Make It Custom did a couple good welding videos on there.

The wire thats in it is the wire that came with it new...yes thats how little ive used it. I doubt the tip is shot because like i said...ive barely used it lol.

Ill check out those youtube videos.

Im going to use bolts for this little adventure. Mainly because i want it to hold up a while and i dont wanna have to redo it in a year after i realize i didnt practice my welding enough lol.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes to everything lilblueford said.
Dig out your old 1000watt halogen work lights and set them up, 2 preferably.
Welding helmets will stop UV light regardless of what shade they are. So go a lighter shade if you still can't see.
The cheap auto darkening helmets usually come with 2 sensors, which is OK. But if you can find one with four sensors its better, less likely to get flashed because sensors get blocked.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I made awesome progress on this thing today.

I changed the negative cable, sured up the ECM ground and it runs 100% better. It smoked like crazy when i first got it fired (kinda a grey seafoamy looking smoke that smelled like old gas) but it cleared up in about 5 minutes of running.

Now it just wont idle...its rich...and get some black smoke when you stab it. When its just running 2-2500rpm it sounds awesome besides a few slight missfires im attributing to totally black fuel smelling plugs.

Cant get codes from it....im thinking it maybe my reader...it acted up last time i used it too.

I know the O2 sensor black wire is melted/broke at the plug...i got a new one around somewhere. Gonna start there. Im thinking that or TPS. I tried a good spare MAP sensor to no avail.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I made awesome progress on this thing today.

I changed the negative cable, sured up the ECM ground and it runs 100% better. It smoked like crazy when i first got it fired (kinda a grey seafoamy looking smoke that smelled like old gas) but it cleared up in about 5 minutes of running.

Now it just wont idle...its rich...and get some black smoke when you stab it. When its just running 2-2500rpm it sounds awesome besides a few slight missfires im attributing to totally black fuel smelling plugs.

Cant get codes from it....im thinking it maybe my reader...it acted up last time i used it too.

I know the O2 sensor black wire is melted/broke at the plug...i got a new one around somewhere. Gonna start there. Im thinking that or TPS. I tried a good spare MAP sensor to no avail.

FPR could also be at fault and I’d check the intake air temp sensor. PCV could be shot too which would dump oil into things

 

[Curious Hound]

Fix the O2 sensor wire. That will affect rich/lean running. Hopefully, you don't have any injectors stuck open. Since you KNOW that is broke, fix it before wasting money on other parts you may not need. Everything else is a guess until you fix everything that is known.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

FPR could also be at fault and I’d check the intake air temp sensor. PCV could be shot too which would dump oil into things

Theres no fuel in the vacuum line...i know that sometimes they fail without that though. I got a new fuel pressure tester coming friday.

The wireing to the IAT looks messed with but on a quick glance looked decent. The sensor itself looks new.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Fix the O2 sensor wire. That will affect rich/lean running. Hopefully, you don't have any injectors stuck open. Since you KNOW that is broke, fix it before wasting money on other parts you may not need. Everything else is a guess until you fix everything that is known.

yeah im gonna do further testing on thst when my new pressure tester gets here.