Looks Like Virtual Mirage Got Hit Again

 All I'm getting is a pretty much blank page with the name in the left corner. I never had the "redirect issue" when their router got hacked, but this time it looks like the (maybe?) got to the server.

I predict more Fun-and-Games as these "Interesting Times" continue to roll along.

Day 5 of the left eye cataract surgery is going well. I just about don't need to wear my glasses any longer, at least not for distances of 2" to about 20'. They still help a bit with driving, but the prescription is wrong for my new "IOL" (lens implant) which means waiting another several weeks for things to settle down so they can do an accurate eye exam. 

Still working on the Fisher stereo. Got all the light bulbs changed (finally!) and now I'm working on the bollixed up Main Tuning Capacitor and restringing the dial cord.

From The Supra Files..... 

I'd pulled the under hood insulation pad off several months ago with the intentions of cleaning it, and then recovering it. It was a miserable, disgusting mess on the underside of the hood, as the loosely woven soaked up all the oil vapors, and the fumes from the Olde Skool NON-sealed battery. I had to look for a decent picture of it for the "Before" shot, and then crop, resize, and pump up the detail. This is about the best I could come up with.

The black "scrim" covering was peeling off, and it was covered with soaked-in oil, and caked-on greasy mud.

After I pulled it off, I didn't touch the mess until the other day. I got really tired of looking at all the crud on the backside of the hood, so I cleaned it. This is after about ten hours of scrubbing with Simple Green, water with a squirt of dish washing soap, and then a water rinse and wipe down.

And it still needs some more cleaning, and I'll try to "color correct" the paint a bit. where it's still a little brownish. Some parts will need to be repainted, like the area of the frame that is hidden behind the two "pockets" on the leading edge. They're not down to metal, but the paint is eroded/degraded in the area, and it won't "buff right out".

Hope y'all have good week ahead, and you and your wingman have "No Incidents".

And remember......Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

 

 

Left Eye Surgery AAR

 Had the lens in my left eye replaced yesterday. All went well, but they didn't put me under as deep before, and the memory is much more vivid than when I had my right eye operated on. The discomfort level was significantly higher than before, so I received extra attention. Turns out there's an abrasion on my left cornea (like a scuffed knee), and every time I blinked, the eyelid rubbing against the abrasion irritated both of them, and it was getting to the Discomfort/Pain Threshold.

Solution? My Doctor installed a contact lens with zero correction to act as a shield. It also helps more of the medicated eye drops stay in place longer, and my eyelid now glides over the scuff with practically zero irritation.

Win-Win!

I also had my 30-day post-op exam for my right eye. All is well there, the cornea has resumed a nice, smooth surface, and I'm about 20/25 with no correction. I can easily go without my glasses for about half the time, but I'll still need some correction. Since I LIKE wearing glasses, this is another Win-Win for me. Mebbe I'll get me some 'o them ball-is-tik glasses I hear folks can get now.....

Light posting for a few days whilst I regain my depth perception, but yowzir....things sure are BRIGHT now!

Have a good weekend, keeps your sensors on alert status, and be cool. I know 'ya can!

Egad....'Tis a Trifle HOT This Week

 Or for what's remaining of the week. It was 97* today, and is expected to be 100+ through Sunday. The humidity is only 17%, so you step in the shade and it's bearable, but step into the Sun and YOUCH! It's flippin' HOT. It's nice to dry freshly painted parts in, but just running the parts outside to soak in the Sun makes me burst out in sweat.

SOoooooo...... Since it's a nice, balmy, year-round 73* in the basement, I'll be hanging out down there changing light bulbs and restringing the dial cord on the Fisher, and getting it ready to test.

And cleaning more Toyota parts as time, yard-work, SLW, and grand-kids allow.

Right eye is much better, and the left eye gets revamped next Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I'll still need some correction, but at least I can see and READ again.

Thank you, Lord...

Keep hydrated, use sunscreen and wear a big boonie hat!

Happy Independence Day

 

UP 4014 Big Boy Trip, and The Supra Files

 Sunday morning I hopped in my Little Red Truck, and headed up to Tie Siding, Wyoming to meet up with Well Seasoned Fool and watch Union Pacific 4014 cruise past. 

Not much in Tie Siding...

 

Bunch of interesting rocks on the other side of the tracks.

One of the things that always impress me is how quiet it is when just coasting along. We were standing there jabbering away, when all of a sudden, here she comes around the bend in the tracks.

Silently gliding along majestically.

And she's spotless....

And it felt really good to get out and about on a beautiful Sunday morning.

The right eye seems to be better in the morning than the afternoon. I'm still on the eye drops for another 3 weeks, so hopefully it improve to the point that it's the same 24/7.

Work proceeds on the Supra while my "High Resolution Eyes" get back to normal. I can do lots of mundane things, like clean parts and refurbish them. This stuff falls into that category nicely, so I started on the wiring harness. The plastic "Split Loom" tubing they use to protect the wire was crumbling like a 100 year old potato chip, so it was pretty easy to get off. The tape wrap under it was gooey from exposure to oil vapors under the hood, and high temperatures as it was positioned above the radiator, in the channel that runs across the front. It's now been unwrapped, untangled, and 'broken out' of the harness according to it's place and function.

This makes it much easier to clean the wires, add my new wires, rewrap them, and put new split-loom tubing back on.

This is one of the two harnesses I have to refurbish. I haven't even started on this one, which has all the sensor and fuel injector leads in it.

This is tons of hand labor, and a bit frustrating at times, but it's sure gonna look good when I'm finished.

Enjoy Hump Day.....It's all downhill from here!

Cataract Surgery - One Week AAR and The Supra Files

 My right eye has improved steadily since the operation. I saw my Ophthalmologist yesterday, and after the examination he said it progressing normally from the day-after post-op, and will continue to steadily improve. He said I "Flirting with 20/20", and I was surprised how easy it was to read the eye chart with my glasses off. The first couple of days after required me to wear the Terminator-style wrap around DARK glasses they gave me so I wouldn't dazzled by the brightness increase. And WoW, colors really "pop" again.

As of tonight, my right eye is better than the left one, although a bit blurry a few times during the day. I hope the July surgery goes as well as this one did.

I'd post some pix of the Fisher receiver I'm going through, but they'd be boring! I'm working on getting the tuner in shape now, starting with the several mechanical maladies it suffered, like the main shaft falling out of the drive mechanism. Then I restring the dial cord, check a few things, and can proceed to the testing / check-out phase.

Ms Swan is enjoying her time in "Doc's Auto Spa" getting all cleaned up under the hood as I work on things. I finished removing all the intake plumbing on the left side of the engine. I cleaned it of the worst of the crud to make it easier to find and remove things. This gives me greatly improved access to several coolant hoses, the fuel filter and lines, the slave cylinder and flex hose for the clutch, and the starter.

WHEW!

I'm upgrading the alternator-to-battery cable along with the two battery cables to make best use of the new 100 Amp alternator. I've got all the Toyota Electrical Wiring Diagrams manuals, and had a set of the "schematics" laminated so I could flip between them faster, and not have them wear out from use. Since I had the manuals, and had figured them out, I started on the wiring harness containing the new power lead.

The plastic split loom tubing used to cover the wiring harness was disintegrating along its length and needed replacement, so it went in the trash bin, along with the plastic tape used to keep the wire bundle tight. I'll do the re-wrap with a fabric-type tape, and use new split-loom tubing to cover it. This section of wiring lived above the radiator underneath the white cross-piece in front of the engine, and was in a very hot environment.

And being as it's now Early Summer in the Rockies, here's some pix of pretty stuff.

These are by the garage.

More in front of the house.

And this is "Elf City", carefully constructed by two little boys with big imaginations. The parts get cleaned and put away in the Fall, and then brought out and put back together in the Spring. And it's constantly changing. Kinda like a Real World version of SimCity.

Enjoy the coming weekend! No, I didn't watch the "debate". I didn't want to ruin my mood for the weekend!

Check your six, keep your head on a swivel, and never, ever run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at once.

Still Can't Publish Replies To Comments Here

 ARRRRGH! Every time I try and post a reply to a comment here it gets kicked back with an error message.

I'm pretty this started happening after the last Firefox update. I can reply on other blogs, but not my own. I'll go search the Mozilla forums and see what I find

Really frustrating.

SO.......Thanks everybody for the replies. My right eye is getting better each day. The improvement in brightness and color rendition is amazing. I have to wear some dark "Blue Blocker" glasses when outside, but they fit perfectly over my regular glasses, and I like them.

Hope you all have a pleasant weekend.

Test Post and Eye Operation AAR

 This to see if I can still publish new posts. As of right now, I can't reply to comments made here. I've been able to comment on other blogs, just not here on this one.

So my son and I went down to the eye center at 0700 yesterday, and I checked-in to have the lens in my right eye replaced. I was surprised at how smoothly things ran, and how swift the actual operation was. They took my vitals, checked my glucose, set up an IV line, and explained everything to me. I commented to the attending Nurse about how I remember as a youngster that having this procedure was quite a Big Deal. He told me that back then it was a three-day hospital stay with sandbags on the recovering eye. Once I was rolled into the OR, they gave me a "Combination of Ingredients" through the IV, and I was out.

This part gets 'interesting'.

Next thing I know, the lights came on, and I felt like I was a nano-sized observer in a tiny vehicle looking through a porthole watching the operation take place on the "other side of the glass". No audio, just the video, strangely distorted as the Doctor performed the operation.

Then the lights went off.

Next I heard someone calling my name, and asking me if I was ready to go home. I came to, was wheeled out to my son's waiting truck, and home we came.

When the patch came off later in the day, I was stunned at how much brighter things were, and how the colors popped. Very blurry, but wow! This morning it was better, but still blurry. Saw the Doctor this afternoon for my 1-day post-op, and he said everything looked fine, and it would get better day-by-day, and I should see definite improvement in the next 48~72 hours.

So eye drops for the next month, and then they do the left eye.

Issues With Blogger?

 Having a hard time posting replies and comments on numerous Blogger site.

Anybody else see this?

Stereos and Supras

 Been keeping pretty busy with my never-ending list of projects. BUT....it's good to keep busy in retirement, or your brain and body turn to Jell-O. 

And I don't like Jell-O.

One of the main reasons I've been "running slower" than usual is my vision is deteriorating due to cataracts. I'm going in on Wednesday to have my right eye taken care of, and they'll do the left eye a month later. SLW had this done last year, and sailed right through it. She (and the Doctors) tell me I'll be amazed at how much better I'll be able to see. Right now I'm about 20/100 in the right eye, and 20/40 in the left. I can still do most things, but reading, typing, and detail work have taken a hit the last month. So I figured I owed my "readers" a bigger post than my usual dribblings.

Anywhoo.....

The repair/cleaning of the Fisher RS-2010 is coming along nicely. It took a while to source the incandescent panel and indicator lights, and now I can replace them. This radio was introduced in the Fisher 1978 catalog, and while I don't know the exact year this one was made, most of the indicator lamps look original; Very dark, silvered inside the bulb, and they were all dim. It's been repaired at least once in the past, and some of the repair work wasn't up to (my) standards. It's also a bit different that the Service Manual shows.

Ancient, darkened panel lamp. Not even in a socket! The leads are individually soldered to a wire terminal coming out of the glass envelope. Very time consuming to hunt down proper replacements and put the new ones in.

The other lamps used or the "Function" indication were equally bizarre. They were bigger than "Grain-O-Wheat" lamps, and had wire leads.

 And there's a whole flock of them living behind the front panel. Almost looks like they're nesting.....

The different colored lead wires are from previous repairs. Fisher held the bulbs in the holders using something like rubber cement. The previous repair apparently didn't have any, as some of the bulbs had little strips of electrical tape wrapped around them to wedge them into the holder........duuuuhhhh.....I can't let this out of my shop with these "issues".

And since the Service Manual differs from the "As-Built", I had to make a new diagram of how the dial cord is strung on this unit, and not Go By The Book. And the problem with the tuning being all wonky was that this little bit dropped out of place,

Which caused the shaft on the Main Tuning Capacitor to wobble, and fall out of place as I was checking it.

This pretty much made restringing the dial cord mandatory, along with all the little pulleys and things being gritty, stuck, loose, and other ailments.

 Oh. and then there's this:

What is it? Dunno. Not on the views of the chassis or board pictorials, and if it's on the schematic, it's not designated as being off the main board. I'm going to have to see what it's connected to. I had to pull it loose, as this capacitor is one of the ones running at ~95% of it's rated voltage. 

I'll take my "eye patch" time to do easy stuff on this like finish cleaning some items on it, and then I'll get back on it full-bore. Chasing down the parts on this unit has taken about double the amount of time it usually takes. The capacitors are easy-peasy, and it took some time to find the current replacements for the previous replacements for the obsolete transistors, but tracking down suitable replacements for the lamps was a bit frustrating, as these all run on 8 VAC, a bit unusual for indicator lamps.

Annnnnd.... Work continues on the Supra. I finally got the Intake Runners off the engine, and that makes getting to the starter, fuel filter, fuel hoses, water hoses. and wiring harnesses on that side of the engine much easier. Took a good hour of cleaning greasy mud off that side of the engine before I pulled the starter because the bolts were buried!

The two main battery cables are out , so I can document them and send the info to the place that makes new ones. 

The remaining cable I'm updating in the harness is the one that runs from the alternator output stud to the new junction box I fabbed up to replace the disintegrating original one. I'll get a larger gauge cable with ring lugs from the people doing the others. It's the main junction point between the high-current battery lead to the rest of the car. It's where the two main Fusible Links are located, and was really nasty looking. It's also where the high-current lead to the new fan controller will go. And I'm experimenting a bit to build a "Soft Start" control, rather than slamming a relay closed and whacking my electrical system with a 40 Amp surge as the fans speed up. More on that to follow.

Hope y'all have a good, safe week!

Happy Father's Day!

 To all the Dad's out there. May you have a peaceful, quiet day.

With coffee!

Still working on my "Mega Post", but it's a bit hard to do with the vision problem. I'm having my right eye operated on this Tuesday, and the the left eye next month.

Been Busy....Follow-Up Post Coming Soon To A Browser Near YOU!

 Been a week since last post. Been busy herding grandkids, playing with the dog, yard work, house items, and working on all manner of stuff.

More to come, with pix.....

Massive Storm East of Colorado

 The Spring/Summer weather is always interesting to watch here. Here in the foothills we're more sheltered than folks living East of here. My son's place in Greeley, about 30 miles Southeast of here, got absolutely hammered a couple of days ago. His backyard flooded, and the water ran into the basement via the back door. He was lucky, other than some trees stripped by hail, he sustained no damage. People in other parts of town got flooded, and there was a fatality.

When I was checking the weather earlier, this storm showed up:

It extends North into South Dakota, and South into Kansas. Sure glad we don't live in the storm's path!

Are We Down To One Box Now?

 This "case" set some unpleasant precedents. Does this mean we get to see Barry's birth cert? Marriage license? Why not?

Memorial Day

 

WWVB Antenna Damage

 When we first moved here, I was a bit concerned about ice and snow bringing down my antennas. The first few Hams I met laughed and said the WIND would kill my antennas long before I had to worry about ice and snow getting them.

In early April, we had a severe storm system that went through with rain, hail, and very high winds. Wind speeds were excess of 90MPH out on the plains, like where WWV is located. One of the "Triatic Cables" holding the Capacitive Loading Assembly, aka the "Top Hat", failed, and the other eight wires it supports came down

Full article, with lots of pictures, is here at the WWV Amateur Radio Club website.

Supras and Stereos.....

 The repairs on the Fisher RS-2010 are proceeding, but a bit slower than I expected. The failed transistor is an obsolete part number, so I had to search around and find a proper substitute. Found a replacement, but it turns out those are obsolete, too, so more searching took place. Finally found a suitable, modern transistor, and it's compliment, and ordered 10 of each. I also found numerous electrolytic capacitors that were used AT, or slightly under, their maximum rated voltage. Running a capacitor rated 63 Volts in a 60 Volt circuit is a huge mistake. I'm surprised they haven't failed already. So, parts are (finally) on order, and I'll continue to clean it up as I wait for the parts to arrive. Parts installation and reassembly isn't difficult, and then I can do the alignment of the receiver, and finish it up.

And work continues on the Supra. The front Main Seal was starting to leak, and between the oil, and rubber dust from belt wear, it was real grease pit under the timing cover.

Took a lot of scrubbing, but things are clean now, and I can start putting this section back together.

Next up is to get the intake runners off so I can clean up this side of the engine.

 

Should be pretty nice looking after it's finished.

Sixty Years In Amateur Radio

 I just realized that it was 60 years ago this month that I received my first Amateur Radio License.

I'd always been given old electrical things by my neighbors, and was given a few "Old Radios" that would be worth a nice chunk of change these days. Some of them had "other" frequency bands on them labeled as "Short Wave", and by connecting a long piece of wire to the antenna terminal, I was able to hear stations from all over the world. I was hooked!

A grade school friend who I still keep in touch with helped me build my first "Real Radio", a Knight-Kit "Star Roamer" shortwave receiver.

In the Summer of 1964, he and I attended the Novice Class License classes that the local radio club put on, and we both passed our code and theory tests, and were duly licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. In those days, it could take 8~10 weeks to receive your license, and after about six weeks, watching the mailbox became an obsession. My Dad was so proud that he drove me up to Allied Radio Corporation on 100 S. Western Ave in Chicago to get my first Amateur Radio receiver.

It was a Hallicrafters SX-146, and was a 'dream receiver' to a 13 year old kid.

My first transmitter was a "Home Brew" affair built from salvaged radios and TV sets. It had a 6L6 power amplifier, driven by a 6AG7 crystal oscillator, and put about 10 Watts output to the antenna. It was very similar to this circuit, but I was running more voltage to the tubes.

8~10 Watts isn't much power, and my Dad got tired of my whining about it, so he made me a deal. He'd match what I had saved, and when it was enough, we'd go to the Heathkit store and buy a DX-60 transmitter.

My antenna was a simple 40 Meter "Inverted Vee" antenna, one of the many flavors of the ever popular dipole antenna.

At that time, the Novice Class license was good for ONE year, and it was NON renewable. You either upgraded your license, or got out of the hobby. Upgrading to General Class was a Big Deal, as you had to demonstrate your proficiency with Morse Code at 13 words-per-minute and take a comprehensive written test covering the FCC rules, Operating Procedures, and a very Technical section.

But that's a story for another day.

Have a good week, and keep your head on a swivel!

Carolina In the Pines

 

She came to me, said she knew me
Said she'd known me a long time
And she spoke of being in love
With every mountain she had climbed
And she talked of trails she'd walked up
Far above the timberline
From that night on I knew I'd write songs
With Carolina in the pines

There's a new moon on the fourteenth
First Quarter the 21st
And the full moon in the last week
Brings a fullness to this earth
There's no guesswork in the clockwork
On the worlds part or mine
There are nights I only feel right
With Carolina in the pines

When the frost shows on the windows
And the wood stove smokes and glows
As the fire grows we can warm our souls
Watching rainbows in the cove
And well talk of trails we've walked up
Far above the timberline
There are nights I only feel right
With Carolina in the pines 

 

 I first heard this song shortly after we moved here. I thought it was John Denver, but it wasn't. I looked and looked and looked, and finally caught enough of the lyrics to Google it, and found out it's by Michael Martin Murphy. You probably heard him do "Wildfire", which was popular.

It's called "Carolina In The Pines", and is now on my playlist.

Enjoy!

Meanwhile, Back On The Workbench......

 My next patient on the table is a Fisher SR-2010 receiver with no output.

 Basic examination revealed a burned 100 Ohm, 1/4 Watt resistor, labeled as "R60", caused by a shorted transistor. The bad transistor is the slightly-out-of-focus grey device with the tab at the top.

Since the transistors originally used are obsolete, I have to locate substitutes. I have the data sheet for the OEM transistors, so I know the parameters. Several members over at the AudioKarma forum have gone through the process of selecting replacements with modern parts, so that's how I'll go after I read a hundred posts or so....Since the substitute will have somewhat different characteristics, and it's in a "balanced" configuration, I'll replace both of them. And I'll do the same for the other channels. I also noticed half-a-dozen electrolytic capacitors that should be changed. Their maximum working voltage is 63 Volts, and they're on a 60 Volt supply. They're loud, messy accidents just waiting to happen.

Before I started on this, I checked all the controls for smooth operation. All of the switches need cleaning, their mounting hardware was loose, and several of the push buttons are sticky. Simple job cleaning them, but it takes time.

One thing that really bugged me was that the tuning knob had a scratchy, notchy feel to it. It also made a "tic tic tic" noise as you rotated the knob. Further investigation revealed the operating shaft for the tuning capacitor was a tad loose....

So since the dial calibration is now completely borked, and I have to disassemble the capacitor to find out what happened, it looks like I'll be restringing the dial cord with a new one. Which means off with the front panel.

Which revealed a cracked light diffuser under the panel.

A drop of thin acrylic cement, acetone, or toluene will hold it together once I get it realigned.

I'll do my usual "Clean-and-Shine" and replace all the dial lamps, which are quite darkened with age. Should be quite pretty when she's finished.

 

Annnnnd out in the garage, work proceeds on the Supra. I needed to know the current draw of my new fans so I can size the new wiring and fusing, so I made a little lash-up to power the fans while I measured the current.

 I used some 10 gauge red/black cable, and a fully charged Optima Yellow Top battery. The clamp-on ammeter is one that also reads DC Amperage, and it showed a running current draw of about 5 Amps, with a brief surge to 20 Amps when the fan is powered on.

Total Rain for April.....

 Have a good, safe week, and don't forget to check your six.

Array Solutions AND MFJ Closing Up Shop

 Got this from a friend:

A few weeks ago, Array Solutions announced they were closing their doors. Now MFJ has made their announcement
.
April 25, 2024
 
 Dear Fellow hams and Friends,
 
 It is with a sad heart as I write this letter. As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in Starkville, Mississippi on May 17, 2024. This is also the same for our sister companies: Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.
 
 Times have changed since I started this business 52 years ago. Our product line grew and grew and prospered. Covid changed everything in businesses including ours. It was the hardest hit that we have ever had and we never fully recovered. I turned 80 this year. I had never really considered retirement but life is so short and my time with my family is so precious.
 
 I want to thank all of our employees who have helped build this company with me over the years. We have many employees who have made MFJ their career for 10, 20, 30, 40 and more years. We are going to continue to sell MFJ products past May 17, 2024. We have a lot of stock on hand. We will continue to offer repair service work for out-of-warranty and in-warranty units for the foreseeable future. Finally, a special thanks to all of our customers and our dealers who have made MFJ a worldwide name and a profitable business for so many years.
 
 You all are so much appreciated.
 
 Sincerely Yours, 73s Martin F. Jue, K5flu

Array Solutions specialized in large antenna systems, and MFJ made many Amateur Radio products.

A Week With Luna....

 She's settling in quite nicely. She's very obedient, affectionate, friendly, and amazingly good with both our grandsons. She's still camera-shy, so I snapped this one with my cellphone.

She's not quite sure of what to make of our backyard, which is big enough to qualify as a Dog Park in some cities. She was in the shelter for about three weeks, and prior to that she was an "apartment dog" for 3~4 months. We don't know the environment of her original home where she grew up, but she has more than just basic training. The owner who turned her in got her from her brother. He and his wife are expecting their first child, and couldn't cope with an active dog and a new infant, so he gave Luna to his sister. She had to surrender Luna because her landlord "Found out we had another dog", and threatening legal action. Poor Luna was caught in the middle, and lost her home. She's great in the car, but do NOT turn on the windshield wipers! She lunged at them today when we took her for her visit to our DVM. Just protective, I guess.....

And it's really nice to have a dog in our lives again.

Meet Luna!

 Great name for our new pup, eh? She's camera shy, and "Red Eye Removal" doesn't work for dogs!

She's two years old, predominantly American Staffordshire Terrier, aka "Pit Bull". She was surrendered to the NoCo Humane Center by a young couple who are expecting their first child, and decided they couldn't handle a young dog and a new infant at the same time. The first dog we looked at wanted absolutely nothing to do with us, which is surprising, as we're both People of the Dog, and most dogs like us. I mean growl, turn her back to us, and stare out the window until the staff person came to collect her.

Luna was very happy to meet us, and took to us immediately. She responded properly to several commands we gave her, and seemed to be a very good natured dog.

I tried to get a good picture of her, but the Big Black Nikon camera I have spooked her, and when I clicked the flash up, she backed off. As soon as I took this picture she came back wagging her tail, but I've never seen a dog get spooked by a camera.

And she loves exploring her backyard. I'm sure she'll love the trails here, too.

We get to see how she does with other people tomorrow, as The Kids are dropping by for a bit.

For Phil......

 My buddy Phil from Bustednuckles brought up a good point on my previous post.

Since I have things on the engine torn down this far:

It would be (take your pick) foolish, stupid, and/or Just Plain Dumb to NOT replace the $35 water pump while it's out there right in front of me.

To which I wholeheartedly agree:

These are all new, bought on "Wholesaler Close-Out" from Rock Auto. They're all Made In Japan, and look identical. These haven't been available for quite some time from Toyota, so we're forced to use aftermarket for replacements. The pump in the car is fairly new, isn't leaking a single drop, and the bearing rotates freely with zero wobble, play, or noise or grittiness.

Since the water pump is right in front of me, the cooling system is completely drained, and I have the parts and gaskets on-hand, it a no-brainer to swap it out. Since I'm ditching the engine-driven clutch fan, the bearings in the new pump should last a good, long time.

Annnnnd......Since it appears to be weeping a bit, a new front main seal will also be installed.

YAY! Harmonic Balancer Off The Engine

 The special tool I ordered worked like a charm after I bought some longer bolts. Since the tool is listed as for a Lexus, which used this basic engine, I guess the harmonic balancer isn't as deep as this one on my Toyots.

Tool on Balancer:

 Big Bolt removed:

 

Puller on Balancer:

Balancer off car:

 

It's a Good Thing I'm doing this, because even though the belt looks fairly new, the tensioner is shot. Hard to rotate, gritty feeling, and most likely the one the car was born with.

This will be my play room the next few days while I clean this up, and install the new parts.

Next thing will be to pull the lower intake runners, followed by more cleaning of those parts and the left side of the engine.

 

Then I can start on the wiring upgrades......