Monday 28 September 2015

It's getting better

So you may notice that the Jeep has moved; and there is not a huge stream of ATF leading to it. Unfortunately as you can see there is still a small leak and there were a few little spots on the ground in work's carpark. But I think that s getting caused by dodgy pipe dope that I used to seal the fittings rather than the plumbers tape I used last time which didn't seem to leak.

Eventually I'll be happy with the state of the car... Probably not before I find a new owner though. A little more work and she'll look like new I think.

Cheers,
Rex

Thursday 24 September 2015

Jeep had an oopsie

Apparently there's a leak.
So I took the jeep out the other day and managed to break it. Badly. I think I know the cause and I'll do a writeup on fixing it. But before I do that I needed to turn it around. In that time you can see the ATF that came out while I ran it to turn it around.

Keep an eye out for the fix and the overall solution to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Cheers,
Rex

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Apparently I can weld

Not my first weld of the day.
I spent some time down at the local Miniature Train club doing some maintenance on the weekend. This time we were building a frame to hold some spare steel that we are keeping in stock for repairing the track as it ages. Seeing as we were making a steel frame I figured that I would take along my 220BZ Rossi Welder I bought from ebay a while ago. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to buy gas or MIG wire so I had to borrow some rods to use. This did have the advantage of letting me compare this welder to the tiny bit of welding I have done before which has been predominantly stick welding on older transformer based machines.

Pros:

  • This thing strikes an arc much easier than the old school transformer based welders I have used.
  • I was using a lower current than the other machine that day (a 20? year old CIG)
  • It was light and easy to move around.
  • It was easy to remove the spend rod and put in a new one.
  • The air coming out the fan at the back of the case never got hot despite being in the sun.
Cons:
  • I seemed to get the rod stuck to the workpiece more than I remember doing so in the past.
  • The earth cable was so short that it barly reached straight up to the bench I was working on. I don't really like the idea of my welder being too close to my workpiece lest any spatter or slag get into it an short or something.
  • Similarly the stinger was a little shorted than I would have liked. However if the earth lead was about the same length it wouldn't be as much of an issue.
  • When breaking the arc off it lasts for a long time and often leaves a sooty residue before it quenches. A bit of a nit pick really because it comes of easily enough.
  • The earth clamp feels a bit wussy and seemed to have twisted at some point through the day.
Interesting points:
  • When the rod sticks to the job there is no buzzing like a the transformer units do.
  • Everyone commented on how quiet it was. The only noise that you could hear was the noise of the arc itself. This was in a reasonably quiet outdoors area.
All in all there was nothing that should be a dealbreaker I don't think and hopefully I will be able to find somewhere to get a longer earth lead. If you want to have a look at some of my welds, stick around after the break.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Starting to warm up. Woo

This was the other day around mid afternoon just after I turned on the car.

Time to get everything done outside before it gets too hot I guess.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

The death of a wreck

So we finally got the last of the parts I wanted off the falcon and this weekend the scrapper is picking it up. The list is surprisingly long especially when you consider how quickly it all came off. Here it is, along with what I plan to do with each item:
 - Airbag - Set off in the paddock with a plough disk or somthing on it
 - Intake manifold - Scrap?Sell? Whatever. I needed it out of the way
 - Injectors - I'm probably going to put these on the Jeep to see if the more modern injectors give me better economy.
 - Throttlebody - Possibly, maybe, unlike but it may end up on the Jeep. I think it's a bit bigger than stock so less restriction at WOT.
 - Fuel Tank - This is going in the Rodeo which will mean that I can drive nearly 1000km without having to refil.
 - Exhaust pipe - I'm goiung to use some of the bends from the pipe to help me make up the new exhaust for the Rodeo
 - Radiator & Fans - With any luck the fans will fit on the Jeep so I can get rid of the mechanical fan.
 - Air con compresser - This is an exciting one, This will be going in the Jeep for use as an endless air setup.
 - Rocker cover - I'll probably clean this up and paint it then sell it
 - Can Shaft - Either sell this or hang it up somewhere as decoration.
 - Power Steering Pump - This will become an oil pump in some future project.
 - Towbar - Sell, no good without the car it goes on.

I think that's pretty much all that came off the Falcon. If anyone is interested it's a Ford Falcon AU II ute. I will update this page with links when I use any of the above in my projects.

Cheers,
Rex

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Green Green Grass at home


Spring has only just sprung; and even just coming out of winter we already have a fair bit of nice green grass in the back yard. Hopefully this year with a little work I can get a nice coverage of the whole yardeven if it is still a little patchy.

Cheers,
Rex