What did YOU do today?

[pjtoledo]

went to a local flea market & got a coleman roadtrip grill for $25, our usual portable grill is a charcoal so this will be a little faster to cook with, love that charcoal smell/taste but took forever to do a meal.
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I could swear that I saw something like that hovering over a corn field last week.

 

[Rick W]

Today has been a pretty big day. All Terrain tires have been ordered for the 2019 so it has shoes for the winter (mud tires often suck in the snow).

I got the extra set of tires for the totaled clown car dismounted so I can scrap the rims.

Picked up 50 retaining wall block for the fire pit and garden retaining wall at Lowe's. Returned to pick up wood to make a shelf in the shed and build another firewood rack. And I just got notification that another order of 50 retaining wall block is ready for pick up from Lowe's.

Oh, and the 10X8 canvas tarps were delivered today so I can replace the tarp on the one firewood rack and for the firewood rack that has yet to be built.

All that is why I thought you were building/buying a new house!

 

[Rick W]

I could swear that I saw something like that hovering over a corn field last week.

Right! Science fiction week at TRS!

@Shran found long lost Robbie (who is now supposed to be a barbecue), and then @racsan finds a two seater drone that’s supposed to be a stove!

I’m a 50s/60s sci-fi junkie, but I don’t remember all the alien crap around the campfire. Or propane fire. But I’m a city kid.

 

[97RangerXLT]

your breakers at both the main panel and the sub panel negate that unless the whips aren’t long enough to make it to feeding a sub panel

And there lies the issue.

I am good with a splice box and extending hte wires up to the sub panel, so we could save a few that way. appreciate the offer. it may be until spring lol. I am hoping to at least get the splice box to the shed this fall, I also need a 220 volt outlet in the garage for the air compressor, and I figure while I am there... it may be that I just do the 220 for now.

AJ

 

[sgtsandman]

All that is why I thought you were building/buying a new house!

It feels like it sometimes. I still have about three more layers of block to lay before the retaining wall for the garden is finally done. The garden will then be done enough to be usable but the project isn't done yet. The same goes for the fire pit area. It was too dark to take pictures. So, weather permitting, I'll take some tomorrow for the Farm and garden thread. Only about 180 more block to go.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

‘Murica

Anyway, that was in the backyard today after a failed attempt at a duck dinner. Feller was polite enough to wait for me to fetch my phone off the charger

 

[broncc]

Made a tuned exhaust for the Capri over the past week. When I first put the car on the road I replaced the straight pipes with a pair of cheap baffled mufflers. This brought the sound almost exactly where I wanted it besides not silencing a horrible drone. At 1,900 RPM the car would give you a headache with the windows up. I knew about Helmholtz resonators for a while, but finally decided to try my hand making one. There is a great write-up and calculator available on Wilhelm Raceworks' site. I still built a test rig on my bench before I went through the effort to install it on the car.



Immediately on startup I said "wow!" Math really is magic. The drone is nearly gone! On the bench I measured 10dB attenuation, and my phone microphone, as much as you can trust it, confirms that.



I have some slight improvements to make when I build a stainless exhaust that fits properly. This is a mod I strongly recommend to anyone who wants a loud car but can't stand the drone.

 

[racsan]

finally took the time to put a new thermostat in the 2.5 escape, I bought it in january, right away knew the heater wasnt working as well as it should, my scan tool confirmed it wasn’t fully coming up to temperature & then when Id turn the heat on the engine temperature would drop even more. fuel mileage hasnt been impressive, only low 20’s. I was really expecting mid 20’s but maybe im expecting too much from a 3,000# fwd escape with a 155K 2.5 One reason I wanted a 4cyl was better milage than the 3.0 awd & also better serviceability. HA! the thermostat was a major p.i.a., for starters the hood needed to go up further & the prop rod for it was right in my way, so I ran a ratchet strap from the roof rack rail to the hood, holding it almost straight up & took off the prop rod. A lot better light to work with too, the thermostat is way down on the front of the block, one bolt you have to pass the socket/extention through the a/c lines. cant even see the bolt. A lima 2.3 is much easier than this arrangement. I cant even get a good picture of it. But its done and I will have better heat for winter & (maybe) impove the mpg’s. best has been 21.5 and thats when its been insanely hot out.

 

[scotts90ranger]

So far today I've mowed some, pulled the engine out of the boat, tilled some on the pond berm, mowed some more, changed the oil/filter on the mower, then since Amazon showed up I put a scope on a pellet gun I got for "cheap" (emphasis since I've had to add a bunch of labor but it's all learning...) and turns out the barrel was bent so unbent it in the crotch of a tree which is the preferred method for most... I'm thinking of calling it a day, I haven't gotten the boat engine on a stand yet since I wasn't in the mood to pull the bellhousing and flywheel then find bolts... I think I'll save that for tomorrow night and hopefully have enough energy to pull the head with issues...

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm sitting at the tire dealer waiting on the all terrain tires to be mounted on the OEM 2019 Ranger rims.

Once that is done, I have 5 winter tires on crap rims that need unmounted so I can scrap those.

That should be it for tires until I get caught up on the projects I have going on right now. I do need to pick up a couple more 2x4x8 boards since I apparently couldn't calculate board feet and how many boards I'd need when I first drew up the plan and dimentions.

Then I can get to work on finishing the metal fabrication for camping equipment boxes. Since the rain has been spitting off an on this morning, I may move to working on the shelf for the shed. It will be light enough to move once it's built. The firewood rack, on the other hand, is composed of pressure treated lumber and needs to be built in place.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get the metal on the equipment boxes cleaned and primed this week. That way I can get those permenently installed and sealed against weather. Painting would be nice but I don't think I'll have enough time before LBL for the paint to have properly cured and hardened.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Tore into the 351 out of the boat tonight, it's a nasty beast... and some real units of mechanics have been working on the thing... all of the bellhousing bolts only had 3 threads of engagement but for some reason some had 4 washers? There was a ground wire connected through an intake manifold bolt, I needed 3 different sockets to get the exhaust manifold bolts off (9/16" standard, 3/8" 12 point and 5/16" allen) and again most had 3 threads of engagement (for a 20 pound exhaust manifold). I'd been curious on why it never got over 120F on the temp gauge and now I know, there's a thermostat installed but it's empty so someone had brilliant ideas...

Anyway, I got the affected head off and there's just a smidgen of rust around the exhaust valve on that one cylinder (#2), the rest looks fine? not sure what's going on, ran out of steam for the night so didn't pull the spring and valve since I'll have to cut the stem tip off to get it out (we were really getting deep in the redneckery) or at least do some cleanup grinding... I gotta do some looking, there weren't any dowel pins in the one head I pulled, hopefully they're available aftermarket...

I did grab a dual groove alternator pulley from work tonight, now I just gotta get two new matching belts and cleanup the spacer mess that someone put in the alternator bracketry... and clean off like 1/2 pound of belt dust...

Lots of cleanup to do

 

[mikkelstuff]

Yeah "some real unfits of mechanics have been working on the thing..." Same with my '75 Ranchero with me 2,000 miles away. Still cleaning up the mess.

 

[Curious Hound]

Spent the day with mom in honor of her recent birthday. All across the western Carolinas. Blue Ridge Parkway, a long dirt forest road, Pisgah Natalie Forest, Smokey Mountains, Cherokee, Maggie Valley, etc. Saw something I had never noticed before out in Cherokee lands. Bilingual street signs - English and whatever their language is called. I should have taken a picture of one. But I got a picture of Mom and Livvy in my big beast.

 

[sgtsandman]

I finished the shelf for the shed and cut the grass. With as much rain as we got, I'll be cutting it again in a day or two. So, I just did a quick hack job with the side discharge chute installed. Just enough to keep the height down and little concern with looks.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yesterday I hauled a load of logs to a family friend that has a sawmill then the guys came over and hung out.

Not fully decided on what I’m getting into today. Need to work on the green Ranger and I need to pick up all the trash on my property then run the tractor around all the places I got things opened up now before the weeds have a chance to fill in. Once I get it all straightened up I’ll have to get some more pictures and stuff of the property.