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Tanknet Garage And Boathouse


Mr King

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10 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:
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The USPS revealed Tuesday it has contracted Oshkosh Defense, a military vehicle manufacturer, to build its next delivery truck. Dubbed the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), it's a welcome replacement for the current fleet of Grumman LLVs, some of which have been in service for over 30 years.

I'm disappointed they didn't call it the Advanced Mail Fighter's Transformational Next Generation Delivery Vehicle.

Or the Duck Truck.

radiator_springs_donald_by_combatmaster_

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  • 3 weeks later...

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2021/03/11/gm-lansing-grand-river-plant-production-halted/4645665001/

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Detroit — The auto industry's global semiconductor supply constraint is hitting General Motors Co.'s Lansing Grand River plant next week. 

The automaker confirmed Thursday that the plant where the Cadillac CT4, Cadillac CT5 and Chevrolet Camaro are built will be down Monday through at least the end of the month.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/10/2020 at 2:36 PM, Stuart Galbraith said:

Bentley Blower is back! British marque completes reborn 1920s legendary racer ahead of a limited run of 12 customer cars that each cost £1.8MILLION (msn.com)

Bentley Blower is back! British marque completes reborn 1920s legendary racer ahead of a limited run of 12 customer cars that each cost £1.8MILLION

Bentley has completed the first reborn 'Bentley Blower' for 90 years as part of a continuation car project aimed at well-heeled vehicle collectors.

The iconic British marque has used Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin's famed 1929 4½-litre 'Team Blower' car as the template to recreate a limited road-going series of the stunning racer. 

The first model - dubbed 'Car Zero' - took 40,000 man hours to complete and will be used as the prototype for 12 customer cars, each of which will be faithfully recreated using almost 2,000 hand-crafted components and based on the vehicle's original drawings, tooling and a laser-scanned 3D model of Birkin’s 91-year-old competition car. 

Each customer example will cost from £1.5million before tax - so £1.8million inclusive of VAT in the UK - but will not be delivered for at least another two years. 

 

BB1bO05n.img?h=535&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=

 

 

It further says the Chassis has been riveted by Israel Newton, which is a 200 year old engineering company that specializes in Locomotive boilers.

That is the post-Brexit British car industry: Cars build in a fancy shed using 90 year old technology and manufacturing methods, only available for filthy rich customers mostly living abroad 😄

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3 hours ago, cbo said:

That is the post-Brexit British car industry: Cars build in a fancy shed using 90 year old technology and manufacturing methods, only available for filthy rich customers mostly living abroad 😄

You say that like you think its a bad thing. :)

TBH, you could buy a Rolls Royce and get pretty much the same thing....

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20 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

You say that like you think its a bad thing. :)

 

Not at all. Rather, I think the British should embrace their excentricism rather than fantasise about deveoloping into singaporians or japanese or Germans. Build Bentley Blowers  and Morgan three-wheelers and be yourselves :)

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2 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

Now that Dr. Who is female, Brits "being themselves" is kinda a moving target...

 

Nah, ambiguous sexuality and spurious gender identification is part of British excentricity, not at least in the upper echelons of society. 

And when you lave the pub blind drunk at 4 in the morning, who gives a hoot about that as long as you have company from someone not answering your sweet words with "Baaaaah..." 

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1 hour ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Speaking of eccentricity, I'm digging the new Land Rover Defender.

 

Yes, the new Tata looks nice... 😉

Edited by cbo
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  • 1 month later...

While the new Defender appears to be a very capable off-roader, it's not a Defender, one of the main attributes of the Defender was repairabilty by the owner/operator. The new vehicle will be almost impossible to repair in the field. It is the repairabilty and simplicity that attracts them. Companies still stock and produce parts for vehicles that 60 years old, because throughout the life of the vehicle, there were so few changes and the number of individual parts on a vehicle was kept to a minimum. You will not find any parts for this truck in 60 years.

Meanwhile with my 1968 ex-MOD 109 

I froze the bushing, honed the inside of the tube. Got the tube nice hot, oiled the tube manged to get most of the way in till the end of the bushing started to mushroom. This truck had the the older two part bushings and I suspect they were smaller diameter than the newer ones. I have to get the other bushing machined to a snug fit. Not sure if I will take this out or cut it flush  and live with it.

No photo description available.

Edited by Colin
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The problem is, any new version of a classic vehicle is going to demonstrate the same problem. The new Mini (which isnt particularly) is far more complicated than its humble predecessor. I daresay even the new Fiat Abarth is. Im not sure there is a way out of it either, even if you kept the old bodyshell you would have to shoehorn new stuff like computers or electric drive systems into it at some point.

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take the damaged bushing back out and replace it.  It isn't going to serve well like that.

Measure the ID of the rail and the OD of the new bushing.  If it isn't going to fit then it isn't going to fit.  A better quality press rather than a hammer is a good step.

In the very worst case scenario you could taper the new replacement bushing with an angle grinder and a flap disc.  I suggest a flap disc because it is more controllable than anything else for tapering by "feel".

Measure, measure, measure!! Digital calipers are cheap and easy to read

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have mentioned this car before. it's not mine, but I've spent a lot of time drinking beer around it, and on occasion pushing it. Hopefully you can see the image in the link.

https://www.facebook.com/ukdrn/photos/a.1197359056977448/4154660297913961/

The driver got out of the throttle at exactly this point, amd she came down heavily enough to damage the sump and bend so front suspension bits.

The wheelie bar mounts are bent as well.

if he hadn't gotten out of it, the car would have been in the wall, as the wheelie bar loaded up unevenly, lifting the right rear enough that the car turned significantly to the right because of the uneven traction.

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  • 1 month later...

I think there could be some members of the Grate Sight that are knowledgeable in things automotive, like torque-converter automatic transmissions. If you have some spare time, perhaps you may help me.

Well, there is a 2008 Lexus IS 250 that I am interested in. The thing has 2.5 liter V-6 (4GR-FSE), of the same kind a lot of V-6 3.5 liter Toyotas use (2GR-FE in that case, but the engines are pretty similar), about 97k miles (155,000km) on the odometer, but only one previous owner. Both the engine and the transmission types, are very common in USA.

The transmission is an Toyota/Aisin A960E. I do not know if the AT fluid has been changed ever. The dealer mechanic says they have checked the ATF level, and its density, and according to the density, or specific gravity, value, the fluid is fine.

I am no mechanical engineer, but I could go to Blackstone Labs site, and see they do not include fluid density in their AFT reports. Viscosity, and impurities contents seems to be more important to assess the fluid condition. I tried also applying my googling skills, but did not find anything relevant about using density to estimate lubricant oil condition.

So, my question is: Is there anything I am missing, or really fluid density is a good metric to know if the fluid is degraded?

 

Edited by sunday
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the density of the fluid increases as particulate matter from the transmission bands enters the fluid.  At that mileage it could stand to be changed.  Modern transmissions don't pollute the fluid as much as older designs did.  Having said that if you changed the ATF every 25,000 miles with a new OEM grade filter the transmission would likely go a half million miles.  Every 50K is a more reasonable interval.

In a transmission that has been neglected I change the fluid in increments by using a suction through the dipstick.  Take out 3 quarts and replace.  Do that three times over a month and then change everything.  I think it helps flush the valve body without dislodging enough debris at one time stick any valves.

 

In any event 97K isn't a lot of miles for a Toyota product.  Make sure all the electronic features properly and that the interior is satisfactory.  All those repairs will represent more money than mechanical failures are likely to cost at that mileage.

Ask to see the service records, look under the front for obvious signs of collision and check the tops of the inside of the fenders.  If it has been wrecked in the front you'll see wrinkles there.  Trunk and door alignment around the tail lights will tell you if it has been hit in the back.  Look for peeling paint or dry paint spray down low.

Most cars for sale have been wrecked but if you can't tell then it's most likely been repaired properly.

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Thanks Tim!

I was thinking of doing that same procedure, but using the draining plug. However, I think I will go to an independent mechanic to change the ATF filter, put new gaskets, and clean the pan, then begin the change procedure, two liters (quarts) at a time.

Carfax report was absolutely clean, the mileage on compulsory revisions check, only issue is the melting dashboard, a common problem around that model year. Paint condition is very good, with only some of those pits caused when an door is opened against a wall. Electronics are good, checked with my OBDII scanner, and there is one year seller's warranty.

Service records are spotty - only the first four services were done at the dealer, then the biggest service Lexus does was done last month. Seller is the official dealer.

I asked about the ATF as Toyota/Lexus has that questionable policy of automatic transmissions "lubed for life", that could be irrelevant if one only keeps the car for 5 years, even 10, but not if the car will be kept for 20 years. I do few miles per year, so I could use an old car. The IS250 has a relatively simple engine (for a 24-valve V-6, that is), without turbo, EGR, nor particle filter.

I foresee to do the oil changes myself, as the cost of the additional tooling (filter wrench) will be recovered in one or two changes, and I could use the synthetic oil of my choosing also.

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if the car hasn't always had synthetic then maybe a blend would be better.  Engines born and raised on mineral oil like to stay that way.  I would be surprised if someone had a Lexus and didn't stay with synthetic.

If you have a good OBD2 scanner then there's just not much to worry about.  With a one year warranty it's a very safe deal.

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Lexus/Toyota OEM oil is synthetic, some kind of Mobil 1, and the last change was with OEM oil. There are some good European made full synthetic oils available around here.

I found a not small number of auto mechanics Youtube videos on Toyotas/Lexus, in channels like this, or this. Now I distrust mechanics that use impact wrenches to torque wheels in a car.

 

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you shouldn't do it.  Thousands of times in our shop we've picked up an impact and then said "never use an impact on an aluminum rim" and then proceed to do exactly that.  Just go from lug to lug crossways and take it in little bites.  If you know your tools you'll be plus or mines 5 lbs within the recommended torque spec.  I even do it on my one set of expensive wheels which I really shouldn't but each time I check them with the torque wrench they are so close and I am only working on my own stuff.

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The oil analysis that you can get through at least NAPA in the us looks at more than just the density they do a mass spectroscopy analysis and tell you how many ppm of various metals, contaminants and other stuff is in the oil or transmission fluid. This can tell you if you have a bug end issue developing, a cam thats being eaten or a head gasket leak thats putting glycol in the engine oiL but hasn't gotten to the point of causing the engine to over heat or what not. 
 

If the transmission has just been changed there will still be some percentage of fluid from the previous change in there unless it was a very fluid heavy flush.  
 

As to torque with impacts, one can develop feel for it and one can also use torque sticks. 
 

I don't know Toyotas, but Honda's can be pretty lune specific in the long term. Short term you can be fine with a substitute but my feel is that Honda throws in some specific additives that I figure are worth the $. Given how Hondas pretty much run for ever so long as you keep up with the fluid changes, its worth the $$.  

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