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HybridZ

Pop N Wood

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Posts posted by Pop N Wood

  1. The solid TC bushings cause the rod to flex with suspension travle instead of the bushing. A number of people have had their TC rod break under these conditions. Fortunately I have not heard of anyone getting killed yet.

     

    MSA sells the TC ball and socket type joints. I think they are ground control units. Do your family a favor and if you have urethane TC bushings, replace them with something that moves.

  2. I probably will take the car to the dealership for service to be sure they hit all the points recommended in the manual like what was mentioned above. And again' date=' to help with stuff like 80LT1 said... keep on their good side and hopefully they help me out...

    [/quote']

     

    Well why don't you just mail them a check every month or two and give them money for no reason? I know I would like you if you sent me money.

     

    Do you really think they are going to refuse to fix your broken power window or fouled O2 sensor just because you didn't pay them money to check your belt tension? If it comes down to replacing your transmission or losing an oil change customer for life, then I hate to say which option a disreputable dealer is going to take. Dodge has certain legal obligations here. I have only known a hand full of people who ever complained about being denied warrantee service. All of those were because the dealership claimed there was nothing wrong (an intermittent problem or some type of noise) or because the part broke 3 days after the warrantee ran out. My neighbors Chrysler minivan and a buddy's Dodge Durango both did just exactly that.

     

    If you are this worried about the car breaking, then you should have bought a model you trusted more.

  3. Ideally you would put the car on a frame machine to ensure it is perfectly square and in spec. Then you weld the car to a metal dolly of some type. That way none of the critical dimensions change when you do the work.

     

    Or you can do it the HybridZ way and just unbolt everything that unbolts, hook the empty shell to a couple of engine stands, break out the sawsall, BFH and MIG welder and have a go.

  4. In the automotive advice column written by two guys names Click and Clack, they claim there are some cars that legitimately require a 3k oil change interval. Something about super tight tolerances yielding a very low tolerance to contamination. They specifically referred to a Saturn. My advice is to follow what the manufacturer recommends.

     

    Also I wouldn't get overly worried about oil changes violating your warrantee. If you bring the car in with a blown motor, an inch of sludge in the crankcase and the original oil filter, then they are probably within their rights to deny your claim. If you honestly keep up with the oil changes and something goes wrong, a reputable shop will be able to tell.

     

    Of course the key word is reputable.

     

    But keep in mind most warrantee claims are not oil related.

  5. They are called stub axles. And there are wheel bearings in there which could go bad or get excessive slop in them.

     

    If you have a 1970 240 like your screen name implies, then you also have the smaller stub axles. They have been know to snap. When they do, if you still have stock drum brakes, then there will be nothing holding your wheel on the car. It would probably not be a bad idea to pull the 35 year old stub axles out and inspect them anyway. You could then easily upgrade them with the heavier stubs out of a 280.

     

    Keep in mind that replacing stub axles is not alway easy. Do a quick search to get some details.

  6. The problem with compressed air motor is the same as a hydrogen or electric powered vehicle: where are you going to get the compressed air from? Most likely an electric or gas powered compressor. Back where you started. Still need to generate electricity or refine oil to run the compressor.

     

    In this vehicle air is just the storage medium. You still need a power source to create it. The compressed air solves nothing. Maybe less environmentally unfriendly waste byproducts, but still locked to the fossil fuel cycle.

     

    But as an engineer I think the "efficiency" you talk about with an air motor could be disproved mathematically. Compressing and expanding air is a highly inefficient means of converting energy. When you think about it that is all a car motor is. A heat pump that uses burning fuel to pressurize the air.

  7. And no "charge time" compared to an electric. Just plug in, wait for the tank to fill, then go. Or you can fill up anywhere they have an air tank.

     

    Try again. The one article says the carbon fiber tanks are pressurized to 300 bar. That is roughly 4500 psi. Last time I checked the local gas station wouldn't pump my bike tire that high. The refilling tubes would have to be heavy gage pipe with bolt on connectors to withstand that kind of pressure.

     

    It must take hours to refill a tank with a volume sufficient to drive any distances whatsoever. Think about how fast a die grinder will suck down a tank of compressed air. And like said above the majority of the energy used to compress the air would be lost as heat.

     

    Just as a point of comparison, ballistic missle subs use 4800 psi air to blast the missles out of the tubes and above the surface of the water. The ship I was on had a 3000 psi compressor to eject torpeados and such. That thing was flat scary. It was a massive piece of machinery. The Navy use to give me shots using a compressed air device that injected the immunization through the open pores of my skin. That thing only used 2200 psi air. Could you imagine what would happen to you if you got in front of a 4500 psi air leak?

     

    I am skeptical to say the least.

  8. Good score. One of the most useful tools I own. I was lucky enough to find a set of tanks that size for only $50. The guy I bought them from sold them so cheap because he thought I would have trouble getting them refilled. I guess they don't sell that size tank to the general public anymore.

     

    Of course then I bought a cheap azz set of Radnor regulators. Wished I had ponyed up the extra $$$ for a set of Victors.

  9. A couple of years ago I made an inflatable zombie out of some plastic sheeting, duct tape, a pair of coveralls and a leaf blower. I put the thing all slumped over in a chair next to the front porch. When the kids would come for their candy, I would warn them to watch out for the man in the chair. As I handed them their candy, I would stomp on a foot switch that turned on the leaf blower and a 500 watt work light. The leaf blower would inflate the zombie causing him to sit up in the chair. Between that, the noise of the leaf blower and the light I had a dozen kids run off screaming.

  10. RacerX, one of the resident body gurus, is high on the zero rust stuff.

     

    http://www.zerorust.com/

     

    Guess I should say he talks highly of it. Hell, maybe he gets high on it too. Looks like a pretty good product either way.

     

    BTW, if you have rust that goes through the sheet metal, I have always heard you need to cut at least a half inch around the rust into good metal. With an old Z that usually means the little hole in the floor boards ends up cutting away the entire floor and half the firewall.

  11. my question is: if one were to mig weld chrome-moly by doing a penetrative tack, quench it with water to let is cool down, and repeat until fully welded, would that generate less heat on the metal and therefore not make it weaker? just somethign i was pondering in the back of my head.

     

    Well I am no welding expert, but cooling hot metal quickly will harden it making it brittle. Better to have the metal bend than crack. One way to do this is to cool the metal slowly and evenly. That is why some welding experts contend welding chrome moly with a torch is referrable to TIG because they believe it helps stress relieve the material.

  12. dude' date=' couple of people freaked out when I took out my pocket knife to open up some boxes.

     

    My reply was "well, I carry it with me when I'm not at work. Since we're not at the office, it goes with me"[/quote']

     

     

    Well just tell them they are the ones who expanded your job description to include wielding an axe. Tell them you want to have it handy in case anyone forces you to volunteer again.

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