The Bar 2015 Edition

[Elorrum]

Chilly here, and it's starting to snow a little bit, just a little. I think I'll wait a little while before I head out to do laundry, think the temps might rise a little with the day. I was so "just go" last winter on my trip, didn't bother with whether it would be a good day to drive or not. Feel kind of wimpy now.

Cooked a 20 lb turkey yesterday, have it all divided up into baggies in the freezer, and boiled the carcass for stock, and maybe make some soup today... might just freeze it as stock. Now I need to get some good bread for sandwiches. Lucky, do you like sweet potatoes? I have work tomorrow, might get out early. I skipped this madness for one year, last year, and now I'm back in it... but the benefit this year: no customers. No customers I have to deal with and I don't have to be at work at 4AM, priceless. The nightmares are ended of people waving flyers at me in desperation for 4 days, after the item they desire sold out in 5 minutes since we only were stocked with one pallet.

Sputnik, I still have dreams of skiing, it's a great feeling. I wasn't ever any good at it, and didn't do it much, but it left a lasting impression apparently. Have fun!

enjoy the day bar! I think a fire would be just the thing.

[lucky420]

i love sweet potatoes, but we have plenty and after tomorrow I'm back on the diet of death. There's a reason that "diet" starts with die...but i have lost another 8 inches! so yay

[Ratty]

Congrats Lucky!! Stick with it. The next 2 months are a challenge.

[unjonharley]

OH! the weather outside is frightful.. But the fire inside delightful.. Let it snow>>>>>>>>>>>

[Canoe]

... It's a shame that saguaros won't make it here in the Great Basin FIGJAM . Bigger shame is that they're being poached
I'm kinda partial to Joshua Trees, Chollas, and Prickley Pears/Beavertail cactus...

And that we get "I bet I can put a round in it":

• from here,
• with this little thing,
• with this big thing,
• while driving,
• while drunk,
  etc.

So sad for here, I like some of the Kokerbooms.

[tatonka]

i love sweet potatoes, but we have plenty and after tomorrow I'm back on the diet of death. There's a reason that "diet" starts with die...but i have lost another 8 inches! so yay

congrats

[southern crone]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

[FIGJAM]

Because I think it's funny!!!

[media]

[Thecatman]

Mornin All!
Four day weekend.
Friggin newspaper (Nevada Appeal) had to weigh five pounds this morning with all the ads.
Yeah, had a 12hr day Tuesday. Spent 8hrs yesterday patrolling the truck route with just a few scattered flurries and came home to four inches. Not a whole lot by comparison but was still a shock and I didn't finish the snowblower...rebuilding the carburetor so ended up shoveling. About ready to take it to the John Deere dealer here in town
Yeah ygmir I heard there was snow even down to Auburn as well, which I've seen only once.
Three cheers my new beauty mark lucky
Everybody stay safe on this holiday weekend

[Thecatman]

Same model I have 524D

[magicmarty]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Loads to be thankful for. We are here, relatively perpendicular to the ground, family and friends about, warmth, and shelter. Not too bad.

Going to a daughter's house for a small Thanksgiving dinner in a little while. We are bringing (and cooking) almost the entire dinner. Turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, artichokes, salads, cranberry sauce and a made from scratch pumpkin pie. Feeling sleepy already.

Let's all meet at about 9 this evening for a warm group snuggle in the NEB.

(((((LLF)))))

[Elliot]

Turkey schmurkey. I'm playing with my new computer! A friend (Burner, yes) gave me a slightly used Mac Pro desktop machine. The thing weighs a ton, and is the size of a medium suitcase! Should be more reliable than my old HP which is making scary noises from the hard drive. And this one has humongous capacities/capabilities.
And it runs Windows 7. No more XP! (Not ready to try Apple software yet. Baby steps.) And lightweight flat monitor. No more CRT! Early Christmas!

[magicmarty]

Sounds good, Elliot. Have fun with the new toy!

[Simon of the Playa]

elliot, once you go mac, you'll never go back.

[ygmir]

urp.........

I made a nice table center from a wonderful gift Piney gave me some years back:

[Captain Goddammit]

Welcome to the dark side Elliot! Once you find your way around the Mac operating system I think you'll like it.
Everything is easier.
I haven't been having Thanksgiving so far. The Dodge Cummins I bought in July, super low miles and with a pretty fresh remanufactured diesel, suffered a cracked block. Apparently the particular casting number I have (53) is famous for the exact crack it developed.
The good casting is hard to find, but I located one in Oregon I need to go get on Sunday before it's gone.
That means pulling the transmission and fixing the clutch issue on the old GMC, right NOW so I can drive it there. Well I was just screwing it all back together this evening and all of a sudden the right-side gas tank started peeing fuel, just out of the blue. Fuck! The only thing good about it is it happened while I just happened to be under it and saw it! It's not dripping gas, it's peeing it. Truck might have ended its existence in a fireball if I was driving it, with nice hot exhaust pipes right next to the gas stream!
I happen to have a spare set of fuel tanks for it so I can fix it, but god damn, I wanna sit inside and be warm and eat fancy food!
And of course, after I go get the good engine block, I have to pull the motor from the Dodge (with a crane because my regular engine hoist won't lift a Cummins) and rebuild the whole thing.
Oh yeah, and our fridge just died... fortunately Black Friday sale time is a good time to buy a new one. Like I need that right now...
I did go turn the key on the Land Yacht this morning and it fired up, but there's a dead bird carcass on the floor and feathers spread all over the place, looks like a major homicide crime scene.

[Elliot]

The Mac operating system is in there, of course, but the machine is supposed to be fully capable of running Windows 7, so that's what I'm using for now. I want to get everything working like on the old machine before I try to learn even more new Stuff. For example, the printer doesn't work yet. Probably have to install the printer software.

Shame about the cracked block! But you have the skills to handle it.

[Captain Goddammit]

Elliot, that's part of why you'll like your Mac!! You usually don't need to download printer software. You just plug it in and it works. Everything is easier.

The GMC's clutch dragging issue continues to elude me. Could be damaged pilot bushing maybe. Maybe- even after bleeding the hydraulic linkage like a 19th century doctor treating the plague - there's still air in it.
It engages about halfway up the pedal like it should, but when you floor the pedal the clutch is still dragging a bit and it's a bitch to get it in gear from a stop.
ALL parts are new, flywheel, clutch, slave, master, throwout bearing... I've made several different length pushrods for the slave... I've adjusted the height of the fork pivot... I've even called it unsavory names.

[unjonharley]

Elliot, that's part of why you'll like your Mac!! You usually don't need to download printer software. You just plug it in and it works. Everything is easier.

The GMC's clutch dragging issue continues to elude me. Could be damaged pilot bushing maybe. Maybe- even after bleeding the hydraulic linkage like a 19th century doctor treating the plague - there's still air in it.
It engages about halfway up the pedal like it should, but when you floor the pedal the clutch is still dragging a bit and it's a bitch to get it in gear from a stop.
ALL parts are new, flywheel, clutch, slave, master, throwout bearing... I've made several different length pushrods for the slave... I've adjusted the height of the fork pivot... I've even called it unsavory names.

It's the lose nut, rolling around on the floor..

[Elliot]

The printer is now working. The Mac (or Windows 7) "found" it. All I had to do was click a few buttons to make it the Default printer.

Could something be flexing in the clutch "linkage"? How about the pedal bracket? Could it be loose, or cracked? Or a crack in the firewall where it mounts? A few millions declutchings could probably do that.

[jneilvindy]

New burning man swag to get me through the long cold winter dreaming of 2016!

piss clear.jpg

[Captain Goddammit]

It's all new parts, it's just being a little difficult to sort out because it's stuff that wasn't originally designed to work together - '98 Vortec "Mark VI" style 7.4 in an '86 GMC (which had the old-style "Mark IV" big-block).
I had to change to the later flywheel (GM changed the balance on the later "Vortec" 454s) and that requires the later clutch. All that stuff doesn't line up with the earlier truck's linkage and I get to figure out how to make it work.
It's hydraulic, and it seems happy with another new pushrod between the slave cylinder and the release fork, this one another half inch or so longer than the last one.
That puts a little preload on the release bearing all the time which I always understood was bad, but I guess that's how hydraulic ones are and supposedly the release bearings are designed to spin constantly and not fry in short order.
I guess I'll find out.

That means the trans didn't even need to come out. That goddamm pushrod pops right in with no tools in about 30 seconds. The silver lining is if I hadn't been down there doing that Thursday night right when the fuel tank started leaking I'd have burned the truck up.

[mgb327]

CG, I have worked with similar Frankenschtein drivetrains. With a pre-load on a throwout, I fried 2, till I finally got the sweet-spot of no touchie. I was working with a 327/375 horse SB Chevy in a MG. The hydraulic slave that was recommended was too small, I had to redo with a larger throw unit, and was constantly bleeding the lines. I finally made a bleeder unit that I could do inside, while driving if needed. Just don't leave the bleeder open if you need to hit the clutch in an emergency. I found that lengthening the pivot on the fork only resulted in pre-load. I used silicone fluid, saved a lot of damage that regular DOT would have caused. I will always prefer a mechanical clutch system over hydraulic any day. Good luck, I know you can do this.....

[EspressoDude]

CG: does the clutch pedal pushrod become completely 'loose' when the pedal is up? this allows the master cylinder refill port to open and equalize/bleed all the fluid from the slave cylinder, tubing, master cylinder, to the reservoir. without doing this there will always be pressure on the slave/pushrod/throwout fork and bearing.

discovered this building a 65 Corvair mid engine 327 crown conversion

[ygmir]

do you guys use metric or SAE crescent wrenches when adjusting the muffler bearings?

[EspressoDude]

one side is metric, the other side is inches.

Best ones I have were acquired in Japan, brand name is "STRONG HIT" implying a multipurpose tool

[ygmir]

Leave it to in interpreter to imply, what we all know,
Hammer, pry bar, metric/sae wrench, battery tester........so many uses.

[Elliot]

CG: does the clutch pedal pushrod become completely 'loose' when the pedal is up? this allows the master cylinder refill port to open and equalize/bleed all the fluid from the slave cylinder, tubing, master cylinder, to the reservoir. without doing this there will always be pressure on the slave/pushrod/throwout fork and bearing.

discovered this building a 65 Corvair mid engine 327 crown conversion

Captain! This may be it! I've seen this several times with hydraulic brakes that dragged! The master cylinder must come all the way back! Ages ago in auto mechanic school they drilled this into us. Likely it is the same with a hydraulic clutch. ("Why didn't I think of that?!")
EspressoDude, you may be a genius! (Well, we knew that.)

Also, when we (the trucking outfit) received 50 new Volvo 18-wheelers some years back, I complained they all had no clutch pedal free play. Turned out, they were hydraulic and were not supposed to have free play. This may or may not pertain to your little GMC.

[lucky420]

Morning Bar...

Yep, it's cold as fuck this morning 14 fuckin degrees...brrrrrrr

Yes to staying in bed a bit longer

[Thecatman]

Mornin All!
Yep! I feel your chill lucky, it was 11 here in Carson at 5:30. (WTF was I doing up so early after working 7hrs yesterday for double time?)
I got my cowboy underwear ready. Supposed to be colder tomorrow.
We got more snow on Wednesday than we had all last winter.