Happy May Day, and a Supra Safari

 As opposed to "Mayday", which usually isn't a happy day.....

Weather's been pretty nice, so I'm doing my Day Shift activities outside, and then go on Second Shift for my projects. Day Shift is mostly yard work and general chores / clean-up things, and being with the grandsons when they're here, usually two days a week.

Still working on the Fisher, and it's going to be hand-to-hand once I really get back into it. I checked for stray bits of wire causing a short, carefully checked the back of the board for solder shorts, and pulled the heatsinks off the four transistors to verify they were properly oriented.

No joy

So now I have to start disconnecting things from the Power Amplifier stage to see which supply is drawing all the current. Stay tuned.....Details to follow.....Film at eleven.

On to more enjoyable things, like an old car.

First off, I'd noticed that the power steering fluid I put in when I installed the new hoses 2,000 miles ago (Yes, I flushed the system until it ran clear) was already getting a distinct shade of brown indicating it, or something, was breaking down and putting trash in the fluid. The right side steering rack boot was ripped when I bought the car, and the rack was dripping oil. I put a new boot on it when I rebuilt the suspension, but now I see the left side boot is ripped. It's dry, but but it only a matter of time before the seals go out on this side.

SO......A "Re-manufactured" power steering rack assembly (bought it 11 years ago!), new power steering pump, upgraded power steering fluid cooler, new outer tie rod ends, and new urethane bushings are going to be installed.

 The 40 year old OEM rubber bushings are pretty tired, and starting to squeeze out of their mounting brackets, so replacing them will make the steering more precise.

And the obscenely dirty, rank, gross, grody-beyond-the-max and possibly hazardous, carpet is OUT of the car!

In the Summer of 1998 (I found the receipt), the master cylinder for the clutch blew the seal out, and dumped about eight ounces of brake fluid inside the car, soaking the carpet. Since the seal rarely fails all at once, it was leaking inside for quite a while. I can imagine the Original Owner going bonkers adding brake fluid to reservoir constantly, and never seeing a drop under the car! Now it's bad enough to have a spill like this, but you clean it up as quick as you can. In this case, it looks like the carpet, the carpet backing, and the sound deadening mat on on the floor pan marinated in brake fluid for 27 years. And they all bonded together. The only way I can get the backing off the mat is to vigorously wire brush it.

This is after about 45 minutes of brushing it.

Still have more crud to get out of there, but it's coming along. I'm concerned about the mat itself, as it's butyl rubber, and may have to be scraped out and replaced. If it has to come out, I'll replace it with something like "Dynamat".

The passenger side isn't as bad, as all of the brake fluid dumped into the driver's footwell, but it's still going to take a bunch of brushing. All the grey stuff next to the transmission tunnel is what has to come out.

 

And we have a new addition to the fleet.

 The car on the right is the one I bought for myself a couple of years ago. I ran that one while grandson #1 drove my older ARRMA "Senton" short-course truck. He liked mine so much that I bought him the "little brother" of mine. It has a smaller motor and battery, but still goes like stink, and runs beautifully.

Let the games begin!