What did YOU do today?

[sgtsandman]

I'll be getting the shelf in the shed today and hopefully get the remainder of the metal fabrication done. If all that goes to plan, I'll be cleaning metal and priming it tomorrow for final install.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

On my way past the F-150 while I was messing with the green Ranger today I remembered that I still haven’t addressed the problem with the blower motor suddenly not working. Been a few weeks now and I keep forgetting about it. Checked fuses and none were popped, so I pulled the blower. Almost impossible to turn and it sounded like it ate some bearings. Crap. I don’t have the spare money to throw a new one in, so I decided to steal the one out of the dump truck for now since it doesn’t need one until I fix the motor. Pulled that one out to find some mouse chewed holes in the fan blades. So I got to remove both squirrel cages and swap the good one over since the motor worked on the one from the dump.

Now I had a blower in the F-150 except it only had high. Of course the resistor would pick now to die. So, I got to pull that out of the dump too, and cross my fingers that it would work. Sounds like I have three of four speeds, so it will do for now. Would have been a lot faster and easier to buy new parts but if I want a hope of making the 25th anniversary trip, I don’t have the budget for new, so I get to waste time.

 

[Shran]

My buddy down the street has grapes and gives me a bunch of them every year. We are making grape jelly… I think we will end up with about 24 pints. Plums will be ripe in a couple weeks so I’ll be making plum jelly too. Some years we do chokecherry syrup or wild raspberry jelly, we did those last year and have a ton left over. Great Christmas presents instead of buying people a bunch of junk.

 

[MaicoDoug]

Lil Blue Ford, try tapping on it, like any brushed DC motor (starter also) the carbon gets everything stuck in place & tapping on it is a good way to get it to work temporarily but really tells that story of worn out & dirty commutator. Simply cleaning out the carbon dust works. It's an easy R&R. Do the fan speed resistor at the same time, may require a new wiring harness for it (which the parts house sells too), common failure of the small connector with loose ends.

Time for the junk yard crawl 3rd day in a row. Yesterday I met up with a guy who was looking at this all aluminum escalade V8! $400. He was off to get tools & pull it. That is the V8 swap I want.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Lil Blue Ford, try tapping on it, like any brushed DC motor (starter also) the carbon gets everything stuck in place & tapping on it is a good way to get it to work temporarily but really tells that story of worn out & dirty commutator. Simply cleaning out the carbon dust works. It's an easy R&R. Do the fan speed resistor at the same time, may require a new wiring harness for it (which the parts house sells too), common failure of the small connector with loose ends.

Time for the junk yard crawl 3rd day in a row. Yesterday I met up with a guy who was looking at this all aluminum escalade V8! $400. He was off to get tools & pull it. That is the V8 swap I want.

Tapping on it wasn’t going to help. The blower motor in my F-150 was nearly seized (outer bearing that was visible when the blades were off was actually broken) and by the time I got the plastic fan off, it was seized and broken. I cleaned up the one out of the dump a bit before throwing it in. Same with the resistor, tried cleaning up the F-150 one, but it was no bueno. Cleaned up the dump truck one and threw it in. It’s good enough for now, or rather it will be fine right up until it isn’t. As long as that is after the 25th anniversary thing, I don’t really care. F-150 is currently primary transportation until I can get the green Ranger and Choptop back up.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I took my mom to see Trump...

 

[Snoranger]

I took my mom to see Trump...

View attachment 116035

Fake news.

 

[Rick W]

On my way past the F-150 while I was messing with the green Ranger today I remembered that I still haven’t addressed the problem with the blower motor suddenly not working. Been a few weeks now and I keep forgetting about it. Checked fuses and none were popped, so I pulled the blower. Almost impossible to turn and it sounded like it ate some bearings. Crap. I don’t have the spare money to throw a new one in, so I decided to steal the one out of the dump truck for now since it doesn’t need one until I fix the motor. Pulled that one out to find some mouse chewed holes in the fan blades. So I got to remove both squirrel cages and swap the good one over since the motor worked on the one from the dump.

Now I had a blower in the F-150 except it only had high. Of course the resistor would pick now to die. So, I got to pull that out of the dump too, and cross my fingers that it would work. Sounds like I have three of four speeds, so it will do for now. Would have been a lot faster and easier to buy new parts but if I want a hope of making the 25th anniversary trip, I don’t have the budget for new, so I get to waste time.

everybody is rooting for you. Personally, I’m praying for you to go and have a fun time when you go with no issues. I’m sure others are doing the same.

I don’t know if you were praying man, but I bet if you take a few minutes in between each little job and you close your eyes and you talk to the Man upstairs about what would help and what could you avoid and what could you prioritize, you might see a few things different. It only takes a few minutes a day.

Lil Blue Ford, try tapping on it, like any brushed DC motor (starter also) the carbon gets everything stuck in place & tapping on it is a good way to get it to work temporarily but really tells that story of worn out & dirty commutator. Simply cleaning out the carbon dust works. It's an easy R&R. Do the fan speed resistor at the same time, may require a new wiring harness for it (which the parts house sells too), common failure of the small connector with loose ends.

Time for the junk yard crawl 3rd day in a row. Yesterday I met up with a guy who was looking at this all aluminum escalade V8! $400. He was off to get tools & pull it. That is the V8 swap I want.

& for @lil_Blue_Ford & everyone

Might be an old guy thing. Everybody today goes bonkers over WD-40. Me too, the stuff is incredible. When I was a kid my Dad had this can of 3-in-1 oil for most of the same stuff. That can was about the size of a pack of Virginia slims. He had it the whole time I followed him around and he was taking care of the real estate, then I had it through high school and college, and I’m pretty sure I had it at my first house. And then the damn thing ran out just like that. I got another one, and I think I’m on my third now after 60 years. The stuff is incredible for certain things.

Those little bearings on the blower motor and fan, all kinds of tiny sealed up stuff, sewing machines, wind up clock pivot points, etc. The WD-40 will work in the short run, but the WD-40 is so light, it can actually “rinse out” heavier oils that last longer, staying in place longer.

I have no idea what is in it, but it will free up stuff almost as quickly, it will flow and penetrate, but it lasts for a long, long time. I’m not even sure where to buy it, my can is still half full. It only takes a drop.

My two cents, hope it helps

 

[sgtsandman]

everybody is rooting for you. Personally, I’m praying for you to go and have a fun time when you go with no issues. I’m sure others are doing the same.

I don’t know if you were praying man, but I bet if you take a few minutes in between each little job and you close your eyes and you talk to the Man upstairs about what would help and what could you avoid and what could you prioritize, you might see a few things different. It only takes a few minutes a day.


& for @lil_Blue_Ford & everyone

Might be an old guy thing. Everybody today goes bonkers over WD-40. Me too, the stuff is incredible. When I was a kid my Dad had this can of 3-in-1 oil for most of the same stuff. That can was about the size of a pack of Virginia slims. He had it the whole time I followed him around and he was taking care of the real estate, then I had it through high school and college, and I’m pretty sure I had it at my first house. And then the damn thing ran out just like that. I got another one, and I think I’m on my third now after 60 years. The stuff is incredible for certain things.

Those little bearings on the blower motor and fan, all kinds of tiny sealed up stuff, sewing machines, wind up clock pivot points, etc. The WD-40 will work in the short run, but the WD-40 is so light, it can actually “rinse out” heavier oils that last longer, staying in place longer.

I have no idea what is in it, but it will free up stuff almost as quickly, it will flow and penetrate, but it lasts for a long, long time. I’m not even sure where to buy it, my can is still half full. It only takes a drop.

My two cents, hope it helps

For fan bearings, I've found Synthetic 5W-30 is where it's at. 3-in-1 didn't last long nor some of the other stuff I tried before trying the 5W-30. It's been about a year now and the bearings haven't needed lubricated since. Keep in mind, this is a small house fan. The bearings were made in the orient. So, not of the best quality to begin with.

 

[racsan]

I had a full day, dentist visit @ 8am, picked up 3 treated 2x4’s at lowes (8 footers barely fit in a equinox) Got some fresh gas for the generator and ran it awhile, mowed the yard then took down the little chicken pen inside the chicken house, built some new roosts & let the newest birds have the chicken house to themselves while the older birds were out in the yard before dark. Picked up some electrical heat tape for under the house so I can have a little peace of mind for the water line from the well & wrap a loop or two around the pressure tank thats now there, that might be tomorrow’s project.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

everybody is rooting for you. Personally, I’m praying for you to go and have a fun time when you go with no issues. I’m sure others are doing the same.

I don’t know if you were praying man, but I bet if you take a few minutes in between each little job and you close your eyes and you talk to the Man upstairs about what would help and what could you avoid and what could you prioritize, you might see a few things different. It only takes a few minutes a day.


& for @lil_Blue_Ford & everyone

Might be an old guy thing. Everybody today goes bonkers over WD-40. Me too, the stuff is incredible. When I was a kid my Dad had this can of 3-in-1 oil for most of the same stuff. That can was about the size of a pack of Virginia slims. He had it the whole time I followed him around and he was taking care of the real estate, then I had it through high school and college, and I’m pretty sure I had it at my first house. And then the damn thing ran out just like that. I got another one, and I think I’m on my third now after 60 years. The stuff is incredible for certain things.

Those little bearings on the blower motor and fan, all kinds of tiny sealed up stuff, sewing machines, wind up clock pivot points, etc. The WD-40 will work in the short run, but the WD-40 is so light, it can actually “rinse out” heavier oils that last longer, staying in place longer.

I have no idea what is in it, but it will free up stuff almost as quickly, it will flow and penetrate, but it lasts for a long, long time. I’m not even sure where to buy it, my can is still half full. It only takes a drop.

My two cents, hope it helps

I’m starting to realize just how many are rooting for me... and I can’t thank you all enough. Truly. You all are great. I was starting to get really worried and today brought an end to a bunch of worries and gave me a much needed boost.

I decided on a change to the bumper that will make it simpler and faster to build. Have to wait until Monday to make it all happen but I’m ok with that, I can knock out the electrical work and see about getting an axle dug out to modify for the Choptop in the meantime. Maybe get my bed patched too.

Which brings me to something else. Dad mentioned needing tires for his one tractor. I had some up beside my shed, so I went and fetched them. Turns out the exact part of a Ranger bed that I need to patch mine was keeping the tires company. Since I scrapped that bed like 15 years ago or more and this piece wasn’t in my scrap pile or Ranger parts piles, I didn’t realize it was still hanging around. Big win. I’m enjoying a celebratory cigar and beer now. It’s been a great day.

I love WD40, but it’s not for everything. Actually makes for a kinda poor lubricant for things like bearings. I usually go after bearings with some non-detergent 30 weight oil. Or grease. If I’m in a hurry they get hit with this commercial product called Nutcracker. It’s better at lube than WD40, more along the lines of PB Blaster. Usually I try to do better than that, but Nutcracker is supposed to be safe around electrical motors. Besides, this ideally will all be torn apart and re-done next year or so when I rebuild the F-150 so I’m not super worried.

I believe Autozone sells 3-in-1 bottles. Been kinda meaning to get some.

 

[sgtsandman]

I started work on prepping the metal for the equipment boxes and sanding the box lids.I'm doing one box at a time since everything is hand fitted and has a nigh chance of not being interchangeable from one box to the next. The lids need sanded so paint will stick as well as the acrylic, paint able sealant I'm going to be applying between the metal and the box lid. It is also a heck of a lot easier to sand the lids with the metal removed than after it has been permanently installed. Not to mention sanding after would mess up the primer. Tomorrow, those parts will be cleaned and primed as well as the fastener heads.

While I'm waiting on the primer to cure, I'll start tearing apart the next box and prepping it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

When I got home I relaxed for a couple but then went out to the shed to see what it will take to add another lean to onto it (this time not supported by it, don't want to trust it too much). The plan is to add a 12'x24' lean to next to the shed so I can park the boat outside in the winter in a safer location than what I did last year (outside with a mooring cover over it). My brother and I made a rough material list the other day...

I had some random stuff in the way so moved that then took the walk behind brush mower to the weeds that were tangled in the stuff. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to clean it out a bit more then take the tiller on the tractor to it and flatten it out a bit and pull out 2-4" of dirt so I can add gravel under the roof...

This shed is going to be a true unit... started out being a 12'x20' stick built, about 9 years ago I added a 12'x20' lean to to one end, now I want to add another 12'x24' to the long side then a 4'x12' to the other short side for firewood...

 

[901wd#2]

Went to the local car show, somehow I got second place in the burnout contest, The winner only popped one tire, but his Ranger was cooler than my Japanese shit box, even though mine sounded better.

 

[sgtsandman]

The first box's steel has been primed and installed. Work is in progress on box #2. I stopped for a bit of lunch.