The Official Hot Rod Thread - Part 4: Burnouts for Distance

[jeffsqartan]

Well, racecar has developed a clunk on the rear. Being a beam car theres not much to clunk. 2 bushings, 2 shocks and a spring on each side. Done. It was none of them. The left rear caliper pins are worn to the point of sloppy. Hit a bump, it starts to shake and rattle until you breathe on the brake pedal where it stops until the next one. Easy fix. I already have braided lines that will be here tomorrow, a pair of new Mando rear calipers fixes that.

I figure since its also leaking, I'll drive the Sierra until the weekend. It hasn't been driven much so it'll be good to move it around. Back out of the garage and as I'm pushing the garage door opener I feel my foot falling to the floor... Blew a brake line in the driveway.

Really glad I bought the wife a new car last month. At least I only have two broken cars.

At least it blew out there and not at 60.

 

[jeffsqartan]

I've been slowly working on the convertible.
New bushings in the front A-arms might fix the inconsistent turning that the car has had. I suspect that the front has been binding awkwardly because of the super old bushings. I bought new ones and collapsed one of the arms while attempting to remove and install the new shells. Bought a new arm and should be back in business.
Also had a bad balljoint and two bad tie rods, maybe the inner rods are bad, too.
Just to get the car up and running, I'm only fixing the balljoint right now. I'll jack with tie rods when the car is on the road again.
I'm converting the steering shaft from the rag-joint to a u-joint style connection. Requires cutting the rag joint off and welding on a new joint.
I have to remove the passenger side wheel studs and replace them with longer studs. Already did the driver side. The bushing removal tool from Horror Fright was super helpful for this. Didn't have to remove the wheel bearing/hub and place it into the press, just popped the tool on and went to town.
The exhaust needs to be repaired in a few spots.
Still have to put the engine back together - Quinlinn got the crank back to me. It's been super nice working with him and I plan on using him again in the future, though I hope not for a couple more years lol.
Gotta put the new input shaft in the transmission before it goes back in.

I think that's it? I wanna make some adjustments to the fenders and bumper to raise the driver side up and more solidly mount the front bumper (it jiggles a little so the headlights bounce at night, which is super annoying).

Still a lot of work, but just getting an hour or two in every other night has been super nice. Just moving along and making steady-ish progress.

 

[gregkl]

My progress on the XJ is kinda slow these days. Seems like "life" gets in the way and some of the current work on it isn't the type that I want to go out to the garage for just an hour or so during the week. And several weekends get busy so there's that.

I'm mostly cleaning. And cleaning. And cleaning, lol. I got this small scrub brush and Dawn Power Wash in spray bottles and scrubbed the entire underside getting rid of all the motor oil, transmission fluid and dirt from years of leaks and use. It is pretty clean now. Next step will be a good coverage of Boeshield to help protect it all.

I have the intake and exhaust system removed. I'm cleaning all that too and will be replacing the injectors. The exhaust manifold is cracked so I will be getting a replacement for that.

I'm debating cleaning up my downpipe vs buying a new one. OE is stainless steel I believe, aftermarket is aluminized steel. I think I could clean it up and shoot it with some paint to make it look new. Just now sure it's worth the work.

While I have all that stuff off the left side of the engine, I'm scrubbing the block clean along with any bracketry, repainting stuff too.

I will replace the engine and trans mounts just because they are original and I think it will make sure everything is in alignment.

After I get that put together, I'll yank the driveshafts, clean them up and paint.

 

[Jaybird1980]

My progress on the XJ is kinda slow these days. Seems like "life" gets in the way and some of the current work on it isn't the type that I want to go out to the garage for just an hour or so during the week. And several weekends get busy so there's that.

I'm mostly cleaning. And cleaning. And cleaning, lol. I got this small scrub brush and Dawn Power Wash in spray bottles and scrubbed the entire underside getting rid of all the motor oil, transmission fluid and dirt from years of leaks and use. It is pretty clean now. Next step will be a good coverage of Boeshield to help protect it all.

I have the intake and exhaust system removed. I'm cleaning all that too and will be replacing the injectors. The exhaust manifold is cracked so I will be getting a replacement for that.

I'm debating cleaning up my downpipe vs buying a new one. OE is stainless steel I believe, aftermarket is aluminized steel. I think I could clean it up and shoot it with some paint to make it look new. Just now sure it's worth the work.

While I have all that stuff off the left side of the engine, I'm scrubbing the block clean along with any bracketry, repainting stuff too.

I will replace the engine and trans mounts just because they are original and I think it will make sure everything is in alignment.

After I get that put together, I'll yank the driveshafts, clean them up and paint.

Oven cleaner works really well for cleaning oil/grease and carbon off of things, just avoid using it on aluminum.

 

[femurphy77]

Anyone have transmission builder recommendations? My transmission guy isn't sure he can get this together before the middle of February.
This is for my truck - all I need is to have the kit installed into a transmission, potentially buying a used transmission to do that (I'm leaving my current transmission in the truck until the new one is ready, then it can come out as a core or whatever).

If anyone wants the details - 05 F350, 4wd, 5r110 transmission, and the rebuild kit is Warren Diesel's full billet kit. I can buy a transmission or whoever builds it can provide their own and I can pay for it, doesn't matter to me. Just would like to get this done faster than the middle of February.

Dkaufmann of INGO fame did mine and CM's. The downside is that he's a couple of hours north of here. I did a drop off and pick up.

 

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[thunderchicken]

View attachment 249386

Any idea when this was taken?

 

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Any idea when this was taken?

No

 

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[jeffsqartan]

View attachment 250282

Where are you getting all of these from?

 

[bobzilla]

Where are you getting all of these from?

Don’t we have a thread for pictures? I thought this one was for discussion. I keep popping in and only seeing page after page of photos.