Ulu

Thank you for all of this. And for reminding me to get out and change my brake fluid. I have not read all of your exploits but at some point did you not replace the proportioning valve?It seems like a sticky proportioning valve could cause poor brake action. I gave up on buying rebuilt parts back in the 1970s because they were getting horrible back then here in the west. I think that’s because what we were getting were 200k+ rebuilt cores from worn Mexican vehicles, that had been already rebuilt once in Mexico when they came from the United States with 80,000 miles. I remember one fiasco where I went through 5 different Ford 289 starters from Kragan auto. Eventually I decided anything I could not rebuild myself I would have to buy new. Then I started working on the P15 and realized that the OEM parts for that car which had been sitting on the shelf decades were much better than Ford & GM parts from the 70s which I had been buying. As an aside, virtually everyone who buys a Toyota Tacoma thinks within the first few days that they have been rear ended in traffic. The powertrain on that truck is very light, and so when the huge air conditioner clutch kicks in the whole truck jumps a little bit like you’ve been bumped on the rear bumper. The engine is slightly increasing the idle speed at the same instant it kicks in that clutch, just so the engine doesn’t stall at its normal very low idle. Instead the truck seems to jump forward on the suspension but does not slip the brakes. But exactly how hard that he feels will depend on the exact condition of idle speed as your truck is decelerating to a stop. This of course changes on whether the weather is hot or cold and whether the engine is hot or cold and so you could have many different conditions and drive the truck for quite a while before this happens to you.When I sold the 2009 and bought the 2012 I thought they had fixed the problem bit but it still happens on occasion. I think that the 2012 truck is just a little heavier and you don’t notice it as much. So why do I bring this all up in a thread about brakes? It never snows here but people who live in icy conditions have reported that when this happens as the truck is engaging and disengaging it’s AC clutch in defroster mode, that your brakes can lock up on the ice when you do not expect it. This was reported to cause several accidents in very slow down hill conditions when people should normally have been able to stop. In the middle of their stop the braking action would change because of the change in engine RPM, Initiating a skid. BMW motorcycles also had a big problem with anti-lock disk brake systems on motorcycles, were if you were coming to a stop at even moderate to slow speeds, and your rear wheel went over a sharp dip in the pavement like the edge of two slabs that did not quite meet level, the antilock brakes would release pressure thinking you had reached the lock up condition. Having them release and actuate rapidly like that on the margin of some greasy gas station pavement was nearly the bane of a couple BMW‘ers who ended up smacking into gas pump islands. Of course this had to happen about 10 times before BMW quit blaming the riders and changed their program.

I get ads for dog toys, Hawaiian shirts, and industrial saws and sanders. 4 years on social security and google doesn't know yet.

@Los_control In California, this law is "Display of Speed" and you can be charged regardless of the actual speed you are going in MPH. But if you burn rubber on a public street, you are guilty. I got busted for peeling out at Pep Boys Auto back about 1985. Anyhow, I think this is white lie territory. Clearly he knows you're a car guy. I might walk across the street and tell him in the friendliest possible manner that you heard Ol' Miz Jones down the block was furious and said she'd call the cops next time she saw such. If that doesn't appeal to you, maybe just print a little copy of the relevant law, and put it under his windshield wiper like a ticket before he wakes up tomorrow. That would be the absolute limit of my physical involvement with his property. If he can't take the hint, Just speed-dial the cops on the phone while he's racing his engine in the street and let them take care of him. The cop will not have to witness the incident if three neighbors will say he did it, and you have video. Legally it might not be enough for an arrest, but it will get them to give him a serious lesson in the law. Chances are he will knock it off once the cops come and talk to him.

If a valve is stuck open you will not be able to get a good leakdown test. I would do that before suspecting broken springs. If none of the cylinders leak fast at TDC it's not likely valves. But if one does leak, you will know what 2 valves to look at once you get the cover off. And which cover to pull.

We don’t have any frost line. Frost is something in a freezer. Our soil heaves for different reasons. Heavy soil-soaking rains are infrequent, plus too much silt and clay. We did a lot of soil conditioning

I hope the new rubber mounts solve the trans alignment problem. That will mean more than anything else at this point, to the project. It would be good to know the frame horns aren’t bent up from past off-road adventures.

It melts a little hotter, that's all. The alloy has some silver in it and it varies by grade. I've done it and I think it will be OK for trim metal.

It's gotta stay clean. If it gets "white rust" you must toss it. If it's fat stuff, you might scrape it. I have a lead pot for bullet making, and when the lead melts, all that corrosion comes loose. You drop some wax in the pot and it fluxes the lead, causing all the dross to rise so you can skim it. Any corroded solder goes there, for casting informal slugs and shot. Corroded solder is insulated from heat by the corrosion, and so heat control becomes problematic. Otherwise, the flux brings out any corrosion when it wets out.

@pflaming That little repair we made on the point's wire? I had to do that on every wire to the main harness plug on my boat motor. There's 13 wires, close together, and it was a chore. I didn't heat-shrink each wire though. When I was done I over-molded everything with plumber's 5-min epoxy putty.

I don't think I've ever soldered stainless, but it's normally just a matter of getting things really clean, then getting the heat where it's needed. I've soldered copper pipe and copper wire, steel to steel, and copper/brass to steel. I've soldered my wire framed eyeglasses, which I used to break frequently as a kid. I've soldered little jewelry of unknown alloys. I recently bought some stuff for soldering aluminum, but I haven't tried it yet. The trickiest soldering I ever did was in a gas station in Layton Utah. The throttle cable of my Yamaha had broken at the twist end. The guy had solder but no soldering iron. I managed to heat the ferrule with a BIC lighter, and poke out the broken end with the remaining (trimmed) cable. I had pre-tinned the cable, and it soldered instantly. When it's done right, it happens fast.

Pray for a low curl on the slab. I don't know what they're doing now days, but curling up of the slab edges seems to be an issue on lots of jobs done around here. Since the building inspectors are on lockdown here it's the perfect time to put up my new awnings and dog kennel.

My wife never missed it, but I didn't have time for much commercial TV. In those years I was fixing up a boat. Regarding the straight eights, I'd rather have one than any Hemi. But I'd might as well wish for a pet unicorn.

It's surely more than that! A quantum is so teeeeny! It is the smallest possible increase in energy. Maybe that stupid TV show made people think it was something huge.

What I remember was the OD trans was a bust for stoplight drag racing. Like a boat anchor. Heavy, and more drag on the windup. But on the freeway it was worth its (considerable!) weight in gold. My P15 had increased compression, and easily pulled 80+ on the freeway. Unless there was a headwind...

If the 1st/reverse fork is worn, this can happen. I had to fatten my worn forks up with MIG and file them smooth.