New World Datsuns...

Been driving the Neon for a few days. Sailed right through DEQ.

Came up empty handed at the wrecking yard for swap meet flip transmissions. Oh well, maybe they'll have one more sale before April. Grabbed a Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box that's supposed to be a quick ratio upgrade for my El Camino.

Spent several hours yesterday going through my shop and listing more items on CL. Probably do some more today.

Played it pretty lazy this weekend. Did a carb rebuild on the quad, finally bolted the sway bars on the Reaper chassis, sold a few more CL items, and did some more cleaning and organizing in the shop.
I spent several days tweaking my cart for a sizeable parts order for my pickup. Once I placed the order I got an email showing the order was received and I was billed. A day later I got another email showing that some items were shipping from their Florida warehouse. It also showed several other items from their New York warehouse on back-order. One item shows that it will be available in mid-May. That item? The rear bumper that I need in order to bend and weld up my exhaust system while I still have access to a pipe bender. I'm probably quitting in April. Fuck!

Do you still have the old bumper, then when the new one shows up you can replace it.

No. It never had one on the rear and the front got pretzeled in the wreck. Ford was pretty crafty back then. For example, the cars and pickups used the same frames. They also had bumpers that could be used on the front or back. While the passenger and commercial bumpers were stylistically different, you could interchange them. I'm planning to use the commercial (pickup) rear bumper, which is straight, and a passenger front bumper that has the drop in the middle.

I did some research on Mac's last night. I guess I should have done that before I ordered -- my mistake. I knew they were a subsidiary of Ecklers, which is huge in the Corvette world, as well as several other makes. I've bought from Ecklers before. Being affiliated with Ecklers, I figured I was safe. Well, it would appear that Macs has a horrible reputation for customer service and a policy of taking orders and taking payment and then letting the customer know that the parts are either on back-order or just plain not available, then the customer has to fight to get their money back. They also have a reputation for gouging on shipping. While I realize that you can find bad press online for just about any company, these guys have a lot of it.
According to my latest shipping update I should be seeing most of my order Friday. The only things showing back-ordered are my bumper and a halogen headlight conversion. Once my initial shipment shows up I may cancel the rest of it. Bob Drake has the headlight kit but I haven't found another source for the bumper yet. I won't really freak out until it actually goes sideways.

Did timing belts on the Goldwing tonight. Hard to believe it's been almost 18 years since I last did them. Waaaay overdue.

^^^







Just some photo documentation. Also did an oil change and plugs on the Goldwing.

The transmission photo is to show the A833 finally in it's home. Previously, I had a Muncie there for mock-up. When I went to slide my driveline in place I discovered that I needed a conversion joint to mate the shortened Chevelle shaft to the Corvette diff. Finally got that done tonight.

Tomorrow night I help my brother with his Accord. He claims he's going to get back to the Reaper cab soon but I won't tickle that thread till something happens. Also slated soon is to isolate and repair a tick in Zero's engine. Swap meet is rapidly approaching and my list is long.

Just fired up both bikes and the quad. Add carb rebuild on Zero to the list. LS carb leaking. Dammit!

Had a slow day at work last week so I grabbed some parts when I went home for lunch and did a steering box upgrade on the El Camino. A Jeep Grand Cherokee unit is a bolt-in that gives you a significantly quicker ratio along with improved road feel. With the new rag joint and fitting adapters I think I was in the whole swap less than $80. Money well spent and if I would have known what a vast improvement it was I would have done it years ago.


Tough to see down there but just below the yellow lettering on the belt there's a Z cast in the box. That's the one you want.


Also, sold the quad.

Got my trailer...finally.


It's perfectly useable as it sits but could certainly use some work. It'll sure come in handy for the move though. Maybe I'll make it a project once I get everything moved and settled.

Made a 4 hr drive to pick this up tonight.

DRIVEN wrote:Had a slow day at work last week so I grabbed some parts when I went home for lunch and did a steering box upgrade on the El Camino. A Jeep Grand Cherokee unit is a bolt-in that gives you a significantly quicker ratio along with improved road feel. With the new rag joint and fitting adapters I think I was in the whole swap less than $80. Money well spent and if I would have known what a vast improvement it was I would have done it years ago.

What gearbox did you remove?
I'm looking for one of those slow turning gearboxes for my Landcruiser.

It's a Saginaw 800. Whatever would have been stock in a '64-'67 Chevelle. I'll have to go check it again but it's something like 3.5 turns lock to lock.

Bought the TW on Wednesday and went to DMV to transfer title and get new tag on Thursday. I gave it a more thorough going over Thursday night and everything looks good aside from needing to replace the headlight bulb. As luck would have it, I had one in my stash. Friday morning a gave it quick wash and rode it to work. Everything I've read so far seems to be true. It's extremely short-legged and probably tops out around 60, maybe 65 (I've only had it up to 50 due to my commute route). I can't get over how much fun it is to ride and can't wait to get it in the hills. I spent most of yesterday reading up on upgrades and modifications. After sifting through hundreds of pages of threads and articles I've decided I'll probably just add a rack or two for now and leave it mechanically stock.

Marc is supposed to bring the C-monster over later today for a little work session. I'll update in the other thread if he does.

I guess I'm late to update, Marc brought me a rack that will be easily modified for the front of the TW. Marc is awesome like that.

Swap meet prep and house sale chores in full swing.

Compound thread coming to a close soon.

How much time left until work gets your notice?

The original official timeline says 4 more work days. I have Friday off for the swap meet then I'm taking the next week off. The first few days of next week will be working on the house and then I'll boogie out for Idaho Wednesday where I'll do another ride along for the new job and hopefully get the official go-ahead which is unclear because I wouldn't technically be an employee but a contractor. I'll also spend some time with my builder. He's got the plans back from the architect and a couple bids for concrete and excavation. We'll also walk the upper part of the lot and place the house and new driveway. I have the finances available to get through a good portion of the build but not to completion so we can actually start pushing dirt soon. My renters will be out in May at which point I'll need to do some cleaning, paint and carpet before moving over there.
Anyway, to answer you question, I'll be back at work on the 17th at which point I'll likely give notice something to the effect of, "Hey, I bought a place and I'm leaving. If you have a replacement I can have my shit packed and gone before lunch. If you need to shop for a replacement I'll be willing to work as long as mid-June but my priorities have shifted and I will definitely be taking some long weekends."

I'm really impressed with the amount of work my wife and daughter have done with respect to packing and organizing. There are stacks of packed boxes and storage totes in almost every room. We'll be meeting with a realtor this afternoon to discuss strategy. If it was just a regular house in a regular subdivision it'd simply be a matter of picking a price and hanging a sign. Being a somewhat rare (nowadays) large lot at the end of a dead-end street in a subdivision which also happens to be adjacent to a commercial shopping center and having the 2 large-ish shops it has a few possible marketing angles.
-Sell it as what it is, an okay house with a couple shops. Boomers like single level houses and storage for toys.
-Sell as a business base that doesn't need a store front. Think plumber, electrician, HVAC, landscaper who might have a small fleet of trucks and inventory.
-Sell to a developer who would tear everything down and probably build townhouses. The one 2 doors down just hit the market Thursday and is listed at $300k and I estimate that probably 12-16 units could be put on my lot.
-Approach the owner of the strip mall next door.
Honestly, I go back and forth about this place. In the summer when all the trees grow in it feels really secluded but there's just no way to deny that I'm close to a really busy intersection and there's lots of traffic noise. Compound that with the South Hillsboro project (20,000 planned housing units about 1.5 miles south of me) that just started and I really think I need to get out while I can.

I still really want your house. But no way I could ever make that happen.

Met with the realtor yesterday. Shits about to get hectic and temporarily expensive.

What does that mean, ask for more than it is worth at first and see if anyone bites, is that what you mean by "temporarily expensive"?