What did you do today?

[highup]

Replacing the intake and rocker gaskets this weekend. What have I gotten myself into. 4.3s are a PITA. To many things to remove.
I'm sure hoping that the water leak I had was the intake gasket and not the head gasket. That would mean removing the engine. That ain't gonna happen.
......thats what stop leak is for.
Took lots of photos during disasembly....... hey, it's got to get put back together. and these ought to help.

 

[highup]

Took the rocker cover off nearest the leak and it was amazingly clean. I haven't taken the passenger side one off yet but since I have a gasket I think I'm going to. It will be interesting to see if the other side is equally clean.
The lifter valley is a different story.
On the bright side, this old 1988 engine has a roller cam. That's probably why the truck still runs. Uses about quart of oil every 1000 miles. Not bad for 264,000 miles.
It's 240,000 to the moon, so I'm on my way home.

 

[highup]

Good luck Zan. Hope the worst you get is a short power outage.

 

[Floorist]

Randy, 10 years ago I would have torn one down, Can't now.

 

[zannej]

Thanks guys,
CJ, I don't blame you on that bs from them about your oil pan. I'm glad they have never pulled that on me. I go to a local tire shop where they don't screw customers bc they want repeat business. I admit, I wouldn't go there when they had one of my brother's friends working there bc he doesn't listen & messes stuff up. But he didn't last long there. Too many mistakes & they fired him. He also talked back & refused to listen to instructions. As soon as he was gone I went to get my oil changed. I provide the oil and filters myself so I knew what was put in. I get the Mobil 1 Annual stuff. I'm actually due for a transmission fluid change and some filter changes and other maintenance though-- but not gonna happen with this storm going on.

Looks like it adjusted back east again. Now they think it will go way east of Alexandria. I'm southwest of Alexandria.

Someone on the houserepairtalk forum sent me a link that shows all of the wind patterns over the entire planet. I'm watching the storm pretty much live as it beats the hell out of the very tip of Louisiana's toe. Boothville-Venice, Buras, Grand Isle, & Golden Meadow are getting thrashed.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-89.65,28.91,4367If you click over a spot it will tell you the location and the speed of the winds. It's over 120mph over the areas on the east side of the eye.

This map shows predictions but doesn't show that it is already pounding towns more to the east (the Boothville-Venice and Buras ones).
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.451...7m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m3!15m2!1m1!1s/g/11rw_rgn09

 

[highup]

Randy, 10 years ago I would have torn one down, Can't now.

Rusty, it's not about tearing it down.......
..... It's about the other half of the job.

 

[highup]

I've been waiting to see this for over a year. It's got a rather slow intro, but actually fitting for the unveiling.

If anyone doesn't think YouTube pays well....
....well it does.
His for fuel tanks are labeled'HATERS TEARS'
WD's YouTube channel is basically him destroying stuff.
A lot of times it's some very nice stuff. That said, is his stuff and he can do whatever he wants with it. Some people get really pissed off and give him all kinds of crap when he slowly destroys a brand new truck, taking it to it's very limits. They hate him for destroying a brand new truck and they hate him saying that he could have given the truck to somebody that needed one and stuff like that.
So he named his four fuel tanks HATERS TEARS.

 

[Floorist]

Thanks guys,
CJ, I don't blame you on that bs from them about your oil pan. I'm glad they have never pulled that on me. I go to a local tire shop where they don't screw customers bc they want repeat business. I admit, I wouldn't go there when they had one of my brother's friends working there bc he doesn't listen & messes stuff up. But he didn't last long there. Too many mistakes & they fired him. He also talked back & refused to listen to instructions. As soon as he was gone I went to get my oil changed. I provide the oil and filters myself so I knew what was put in. I get the Mobil 1 Annual stuff. I'm actually due for a transmission fluid change and some filter changes and other maintenance though-- but not gonna happen with this storm going on.

Looks like it adjusted back east again. Now they think it will go way east of Alexandria. I'm southwest of Alexandria.

Someone on the houserepairtalk forum sent me a link that shows all of the wind patterns over the entire planet. I'm watching the storm pretty much live as it beats the hell out of the very tip of Louisiana's toe. Boothville-Venice, Buras, Grand Isle, & Golden Meadow are getting thrashed.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-89.65,28.91,4367If you click over a spot it will tell you the location and the speed of the winds. It's over 120mph over the areas on the east side of the eye.

This map shows predictions but doesn't show that it is already pounding towns more to the east (the Boothville-Venice and Buras ones).
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.451...7m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m3!15m2!1m1!1s/g/11rw_rgn09

Weather channel shows it swinging to the east.

 

[highup]

That's a neat map Zan. I wish I had more controls so you could change it to miles per hour and slow down the graphics. Maybe there is and I just haven't figured out where they're at.

 

[zannej]

Rusty, our power went out last night so I couldn't track the storm until the power was restored a few hours later. It turned way more east than I'd expected. Looks like it was hitting Mississippi. I hope Frodo is ok.

It completely missed us so no idea why the power went out. Our power company is not in the affected area. I have friends down south who lost power, water, & have trees down but are OK. Best friend's gf's brother is in Raceland. His car broke down just before the storm so he couldn't evacuate. Last I heard his roof had blown off and rain was pouring in to his trailer.

Highup, I looked for those sorts of controls too and didn't see them. I know I could click the Earth thing to get some options but mph wasn't one of them.

My brain is still foggy this morning. I'm about to take my meds and then wait 45min to eat (have to wait after taking thyroid meds). I'm not sure if any stores will be open because I think some people evacuated thinking the storm was hitting here.

 

[Floorist]

Our local power company sent trucks down there.

 

[zannej]

The areas that got hit will need all the help they can get.

 

[C.J.]

The areas that got hit will need all the help they can get.

Has anybody here ever worked for FEMA before. I never have but I’ve heard tales of people going and making bunches of money doing this kind of work. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard people say. Prolly like working on a crab boat. I went to school with a buddy that did that one year on a crab boat and he didn’t go back the next. Money must not of been that good of money for the hell that I imagine working on a crab boat is. I knew a couple guys personally that went and did some FEMA work after a hurricane maybe 20-25 years ago and they were gonna make a ton of money but after they got back and I talked to them they didn’t really make all that much money. Maybe it was more about going for the experience of doing something like that. Might as well go on a mission handing out bibles in Belize. I’d be willing to do that for free just for the vacation part of it.

 

[Floorist]

Havasu has volunteered for Red Cross missions a bunch of times.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I was told when Katrina hit nola the guys that went down to do flooring had to jump through hoops to get their money if they did get it. Remember you would be working for the Feds.

 

[Laney]

Most of the new cases are people under 40.

"Case" is a meaningless term. The test is a sham.

 

[Floorist]

"Case" is a meaningless term. The test is a sham.

Have you been tested? I have. I had to have one before surgery.

 

[Tom Picciani]

It’s coming to central Pennsylvania. Expecting 4-6 inches of rain starting this afternoon. Some people are going to struggle.

 

[zannej]

The government is full of idiot bean-counters who have all sorts of stupid rules. When we got hit by Paka, none of the island had electricity except the federal buildings & the air port. My father ordered a washer and dryer to be set up at his offices & the bean counters said the people should have to go to the laundromat to get their clothes cleaned. He then had to explain to him that the only laundromats on the island got wiped out by the storm. He said his people needed showers, clean clothes, and food. One of the best examples of the stupidity was when they called to ask him why he paid to have a vehicle shipped from Guam to Saipain. "It's only 30 miles! Why didn't you have someone drive it there!" He then had to tell the person to get out an atlas and note that Guam and Saipan are separate islands and it's 30 miles of ocean in between. Idiots.

Military is just as bad. I still remember they were building something and then stopped. Turns out there was some confusion about the budgeting. They used the wrong funds or something and no longer were authorized to continue building so the partial building just sat there rotting.
But then you have the military/government officials who only paid attention to the price of items and not shipping. There was a company that realized that the govt/military never checked the price of shipping. So first started charging something like $99 shipping on a $0.03 item. Then started charging thousands of dollars. Finally got busted charging $100k on a shipment of washes & nuts. Accountants went back and saw they'd been screwed out of over two million $. The company owners offered to pay it back to not go to jail but were told "too late".

Anyway, things in the town are sucking right now because the water supply got contaminated when they were trying to repair a broken 75yr old pump. City didn't have water for about a week before the storm was supposed to hit. It's under boil advisory right now so none of the restaurants can serve ice or anything made with tap water (well, they aren't supposed to-- I bet Pizza Hut is still serving bc Mike is an a-hole). I'm relieved the storm missed us but I feel bad that it hit Frodo (from plumbing, houserepair, and homesteading forums). I hope he'll get power back quickly.

My friend's gf's family from Raceland evacuated to my friend's house. The gf invited them without consulting my friend first. I went by this morning to pick up the sick kitten that my friend was supposed to be taking care of. He got too sick with Covid to take care of it properly and his gf threw the poor thing outside. The day before yesterday the kitten's eyeball ruptured. I didn't know about it until the vet was closed. So I took him in today. Not only was the eyeball ruptured & he still had crud in the other eye, but his front paws were infected and he had an ear infection. Vet cleaned him up, trimmed his claws (said pus came out of them when she trimmed them), and gave him antibiotics. I really wish I could bring him home but I don't have a safe place for him. I took him back over to my friend and told him the kitten needed to stay inside where he could get his paws cleaned daily, his eyes get the medicine twice daily (even the dead one bc it needed to be disinfected), and the little guy needed love and food. He promised to keep him in and brought him inside. Upside is they didn't actually charge tax at the vet's office this time-- they normally do. Might have been an error though. The antibiotic shot used to be $10. It's now $32. Exam price has doubled as well. But it was still under $100 so it wasn't so bad.

Friend is no longer Covid positive but hasn't recovered completely. He's still feeling weak and has shortness of breath. He gets winded walking to his driveway. I think part of that is the heat.

My brother informed me earlier that he has a job interview tomorrow. I think he wants me to drive him. But he can drive himself. I just hope they aren't messing with the roads then. He may have to take the backroads out. They are tearing up the paved road right now. If I'd been in a lower vehicle I would have gotten high-centered. They didn't have any warning signs of road work either. It's a mess.
My kitties missed me while I was out so they have piled on to me again.

 

[highup]

I'm still working on my pickup trying to get the intake manifold gaskets on. I was just about ready to and had everything cleaned up.
Saw something I didn't like and it needs more investigation.
I need to try and find out if it's my head gasket that's leaking.
Maybe it isn't but I've got to find a way to test it and I've come up with a plan.
Last night I cut up four pieces of quarter inch aluminum and four pieces of plywood and made a wood/aluminum/ silicone end cap for each of the four water ports in the heads. The aluminum should act as a great big washer. I was going to put the aluminum on the bottom but then I rethought my methodology.