Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Clean Up Day!

Didn't get a bunch done on the car today. Installed the second half of the new braided stainless steel brake hose after I figured out how the mounting clip holds it to the strut.

To do that, I had to jack the car up and put a jack stand on the passenger side and pull the wheel and tire off. Once I saw how the OEM hoses were routed and attached, it was perfectly clear to me. This was a case of "I should have taken a few pix of it all stock", which I promptly did of the passenger side while it's all intact.

And I busted all the bolts loose on the passenger side so the strut is 90+% ready to be removed.

I'm hoping that now that I have a bunch of tools I didn't have before I started this, and the experience of doing it, that the rebuild of the passenger side will go much smoother than the driver's side did.

The other thing I did was to clean up and organize the workbench, throw out the trash can full of the dirty paper shop towels I use, wipe down some tools and put them back where they belong, and throw out a bunch of now empty ( !! YAY !! ) parts boxes.

Thursday should be a good day, and I figure I can easily get the strut pulled, pull the hub/brake disk assembly, and replace the spring and shock absorber insert.

Friday I'll be on the Iowa all day as we're having a radio event to commemorate VJ Day, and if I'm not too frazzled after all the "L.A. Fleet Week" activities, I'll take my wife out for dinner.

I really wanted to be an active participant in Fleet Week this year, but the "Supras in Vegas" event is a month earlier this year, and I let myself get jammed in a scheduling conflict by not getting off my duff and starting the work on the Supra earlier.

Oh, well...at least I'll be down there one day to support the Iowa.

4 comments:

  1. At least it seems that life is never boring on your end.

    I got a call from my mechanic this morning. He is working on the truck, which has decided it doesn't want to shift anymore. Turns out the entire assembly that holds the "clutch rod" in place is worn out, and has to be replaced. Mechanic says he can get the bushing kits, but that I will have to find an auto machine shop to make me a new "rod" as those are unobtainable. So I did a computer search and found five auto machine shops in the adjacent counties. Starting next week I will be driving around seeing if any of them will undertake the task, and if so, what it will cost.

    I am not going to scrap my truck. Eric (my mechanic) says it's in great shape otherwise, and should last longer than I do if I can resolve this issue.

    I often wonder how I managed to keep afloat when I was working, because now that I am retired it seems like I never have a minute to sit down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yeah....always keeping busy. "Idle Hands" and all that...

      I don't know enough about Ford trucks of that vintage with manual transmissions to make a comment.

      Just hope you find a competent shop that's willing to work with you!

      Delete
  2. You're becoming a better mechanic as a result of all this. That's a good thing, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I suppose so.

      What year Supra did you own?

      Delete

Keep it civil, please....

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