Gas, tires, oil.

In 2000, after the birth of our first kid, I bought a DV video/still camera for about $750 (and that was online, the local store wanted $1200 for the same camera). It worked great, went on hikes, trips and all over the place. A couple weeks ago, the power led didn’t go off when the camera was turned off, running down the battery, then it totally stopped working, no response at all (even with a charged battery or the AC adaptor). So I found an identical one on craigslist for $100. I needed to get the tape out of the old one, so I started taking out screws.

Many, many screws, all different sizes and lengths. And I had to unplug printed ribbons. I’m not sure at what point I realized that this camera was never going to go back together, but I’m sure now.

I haven’t broken anything, but even if I did get it back together (after many hours), it probably still wouldn’t work. And I still haven’t gotten the tape out. I figure it may work as spare parts for the other camera, though for the price, I’d probably just get another used one.

I finally got the fenders mounted, as you can see, they need to be buffed out, but the wet sanding with 1500 grit took care of the orange peel and dirt in the clear coat. As you can see from the multimeter sitting on the seat I’ve started on the wiring.

I stripped back the insulation, hooked up the meter and started flipping switches on the handle bar controls (I know, I could have just taken them apart looked at where the wires lead). Next I mapped out the key switch the same way.

I’ve tried really hard to only post stuff I’ve actually done and not just link to some website, but this one deserves a link. Kale Auto has some very hard to find auto parts. While many have searched in vain for a quality replacement muffler bearing, Kale has them for only $49.99 a piece. They also carry high performance parts, for instance, why stop at crossdrilled brake rotors when you can also get crossdrilled brake lines. And everyone needs an adjustable power band.
I posted some of these links over on Metafilter, and in the comments many people brought up similar products for other trades, like drywall expanders for builders, prop wash in 5 gallon buckets for aircraft, etc. Its worth a read.

I picked up a couple axles on craigslist a week ago. My ‘82 suburban has 10 bolt axles right now and since I’m towing a camper, I’d like a heavier axle and larger brakes. I got a 6 lug 14 bolt rear (with a gov-lock) and a dana 44 front (with a detroit locker). They put 6 lug 14 bolt semi-float axles in 90’s heavy half and light 3/4 ton chevys (this one came out of a ‘90). The rear axle had been modified so it is locked up all the time but the guy I bought it from didn’t know why. So this last weekend I put it up on jackstands and pulled the cover. Turns out the flyweights on the govenor had been welded in the out position:

It’s an interesting mod, it’s locked up until the high speed flyweight opens it up at 25 mph. I wanted it to work in the stock mode so I cut the rivets and broke off the welded weights.

Now I just need a new govenor, but mean while I can run it as an open rear.

The ‘68 has been running rough when intermediatly warmed up, it was fine when cold, then it would stall at stop lights, then it would run great again. It didn’t seem to be the carb, so I pulled the distributor cap. It was pretty oily and nasty. I cleaned it up, but it only lasted a few weeks before it started to go down hill. Probably a bad seal letting engine oil get inside. I figured I’d just upgrade to an Hei distributor instead of messing with stock one. So I found one on ebay, new (but probably made in china) for about $80. First I put the timing mark on TDC (checking that the distributor rotor was pointing at the #1 sparkplug wire to make sure I wasn’t 180 out).

Then I removed the cap and wires. I used a distributor wrench to take off the holddown bolt:

I hadn’t done it in the above pic, but I made a smudge on the firewall that showed where the rotor was pointing. When I pulled the distributor up though, because the gear is helical cut, the rotor twisted clockwise, as seen below:

It’s this position that I will line up the rotor on the new distributor, so that when it is lower in, it will twist counter-clockwise and line up with the smudge. And it does:

Sometimes the oilpump shaft will need to be twisted a little, you can do that with a large screwdriver. Now I just need 12V power thats not from a resistor wire (like the old coil was) and some new sparkplug wires to fit the new style cap.

2 years ago today… I was in Montana.

Meanwhile, tonight in California, I’m getting snailmail.

I found a pic of the platform I attached to my floor jack for removing the trans/transfercase.

I just counter sunk a bolt into a 2x12 piece of scrap. The cup that normally sits there just has a 1″ stem that sits in a hole, so I just picked it up off and ran the bolt through the hole.
The 2x4 on the front is there to make it level, the rear trans mount sticks down below the pan.

Here it is after the old trans has been lowered. I had to push the trans off the jack and then drag it out from under the suburban because I didn’t have the clearance to just pull it out on the jack.