dimlight65 Posted July 19, 2023 Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 I got a text message from the UPS Store where I may or may not have a mailbox saying, "You have a large and oddly shaped package." I replied, "Who's been talking!" but then realized it was my sway bar! We'll be looking at installing that, the coil over shocks, and chrome differential cover tomorrow! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 (edited) On 7/19/2023 at 5:52 PM, dimlight65 said: We'll be looking at installing that, the coil over shocks, and chrome differential cover tomorrow! And except for the differential cover, we did! I arrived a few minutes before John, relocated the jack stands, and lowered the axle to full droop. We got the air shocks off and the coilovers on, then had a look at the sway bar. We took no in progress pictures, but here's the finished product... I am quite chuffed with this! One million thanks to John for all his help with this and all the other stuff on Project Mission Creep! Edited July 21, 2023 by dimlight65 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 She's almost drift ready! 😲 1 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 Ready for high lateral G's 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 17 hours ago, dimlight65 said: We got the air shocks off and the coilovers on He said, as if this was not a colossal faff... 😄 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 3 hours ago, datsunfreak said: He said, as if this was not a colossal faff... 😄 And there I was thinking you were trying to spell "faff" for a work e-mail! 🤣 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 On 7/5/2023 at 8:09 PM, dimlight65 said: Yesterday I added another bolt to keep the box from tumbling on a high G right hander. 8 hours ago, EDM620 said: Ready for high lateral G's And they laughed at me for thinking ahead! Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 18 hours ago, Duncan said: She's almost drift ready! 😲 I may have to learn to like hanging the tail out! 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 21 hours ago, dimlight65 said: I really want to crawl back under there and flip those end link bolts the other direction! 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 59 minutes ago, dimlight65 said: I may have to learn to like hanging the tail out! She goes Left and Right, what'll them boys come up with next?! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 22, 2023 Report Share Posted July 22, 2023 (edited) After changing the oil in the Smart Car... I decided to see if I could figure out the wiring on the Chinesium rheostat that came with the heater core... Spoiler alert, I did not figure it out. In fact, I blew up something inside of it. Oops. So I'm going with an on/off switch... I wired and installed that switch, then trimmed and installed the heat control cable. Here's the valve end of the cable... And at the dash, fan off, heat off(ish)... Fan on, heat off(ish)... Fan on, heat on... Yes, there is a picture of "fan off, heat on" but I realized that is a combination that will probably never occur. While wiring that switch, I also wired in the dual USB port thingy... And with that, I think I might be done with the re-wire of this van! Edited July 22, 2023 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2023 (edited) On 7/21/2023 at 5:14 PM, dimlight65 said: I really want to crawl back under there and flip those end link bolts the other direction! As soon as we finished, I said to myself "he's gonna want to flip those later"... 😄 Edited July 23, 2023 by datsunfreak 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 23, 2023 Report Share Posted July 23, 2023 (edited) 39 minutes ago, datsunfreak said: As soon as we finished, I said to myself "he's gonna want to flip those later"... 😄 Except... yeah, I probably will. Edited July 23, 2023 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 23, 2023 Report Share Posted July 23, 2023 (edited) Someone asked what I was up to today and I replied, "I'm going to run over to Arlington to pick up a new plug for my rear end," and now I have a meeting with HR in the morning. Anyhoo, we're going to put in effect the "Do not reuse the 25 year old rubber fill plug," theory and watch for more leakage. Old plug... I forgot to take a picture of the new plug, but here's the brake cleaner I used to clean some of the schmutz off the cover.. And here's the new plug installed on the slightly cleaner cover... I topped up the fluid from a bottle labeled 80w-90, but it sure looks like ATF to me... We'll see... Edited July 23, 2023 by dimlight65 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 23, 2023 Report Share Posted July 23, 2023 ATF doesn't have w rating but between 6-12. 80w90 will be noticeably thick. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 24, 2023 Report Share Posted July 24, 2023 23 hours ago, datzenmike said: ATF doesn't have w rating but between 6-12. 80w90 will be noticeably thick. Yes, as mentioned before... My rodeo involvement > 1 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 27, 2023 Report Share Posted July 27, 2023 On 7/16/2023 at 6:23 PM, dimlight65 said: Yes, I will go back and put heat shrink on those speaker connections. I didn't think they would be necessary at the time, but the more I look at it, the more I think I was not the most correct that I have ever been. And this I did... I also wired in the pigtail for the battery charger... Ok, so it is technically the second pigtail, because I discovered the one John wired up last week after I installed this one. Oops. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 27, 2023 Report Share Posted July 27, 2023 We are getting dangerously close! Today we installed the vent registers... And defroster registers... Which look like this when open... And then we ran a bundle of snakes to connect them to the heater unit... I'm quite chuffed! Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 27, 2023 Report Share Posted July 27, 2023 When we had the heater piping done, John asked if I was ready to wire up and install the knee-knocker panel. I had no reason to say no. Then John popped the opposite side's corresponding piece in to really tie the room together... And that piece really hid the heater hoses better than I expected. Once the House of Dogs is in, and the upper dash parts are on, we'll be a cohesive unit again. Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted July 28, 2023 Report Share Posted July 28, 2023 On 7/26/2023 at 7:43 PM, dimlight65 said: technically the second pigtail well if you were going to park a couple of those little solar chargers on it, then you're golden! Oh, did I say GOLD??? Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 28, 2023 Report Share Posted July 28, 2023 1 minute ago, EDM620 said: well if you were going to park a couple of those little solar chargers on it, then you're golden! Oh, did I say GOLD??? Hey now! I had not thought of that! Genius! I'm off to Amazon! Exclamation point! 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 30, 2023 Report Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) Today was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I arrived at the shop with 5 gallons of gasoline and one of antifreeze and got to work on... Installing the rear curtains! And the glove box & factory fuse cover... Then we installed the gauges.. And shift light... And the other day after some strange liquid fell from the sky, I noticed a significant quantity of water on the relay box under the hood. I decided to make a rain shield. With those successes under our belts, we decided to pour in the coolant. This was not as successful. Apparently this radiator has a bung we didn't realize went into the tank. We have a plan for capping it but took no pictures. Then we poured in the five gallons of gasoline... so, to make a short story long, anyone want to buy a 1997 Dodge van that has burned to the ground? Kidding! Nothing went wrong with the gasoline! What did go wrong after that was my kidney! I spent the remainder of the afternoon in the emergency room trying to figure out if my spleen had ruptured or if it was a stone. It was a 5mm kidney stone fortunately, because I fully expected to be rushed into emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding. Now I'm home, high as balls on morphine and hydrocodone! So, hopefully that will explain any typos. Edited July 30, 2023 by dimlight65 2 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted July 30, 2023 Report Share Posted July 30, 2023 Sounds like a productive day, even with the stone. I keep hearing that it's Hot as Balls on Texas right now. I keep thinking of you guys.. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted July 30, 2023 Report Share Posted July 30, 2023 9 hours ago, Duncan said: I keep hearing that it's Hot as Balls on Texas right now. Yeah, it's pretty warm. But I'm trying to keep hydrated... apparently not enough to pass the stone though! Oh well, it's what it's. My concern now is NOT getting hooked on the codeine pills. Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted July 30, 2023 Report Share Posted July 30, 2023 1 hour ago, dimlight65 said: Yeah, it's pretty warm. But I'm trying to keep hydrated... apparently not enough to pass the stone though! Oh well, it's what it's. My concern now is NOT getting hooked on the codeine pills. I try NOT to take any pain pills unless I have to. When I had my second major surgery, I told them beforehand to give appx 1/3 the usual starting dose, and I'd let them know if I was in any pain and needed more. I was fine, and didn't turn into a drooling zombie like I did after the first time. 2 Quote Link to comment
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