Sounds lovely, but there's no need. My balls stay warm due to a thick undercoat and my piss is ethylene glycol. The only downside of living this far North is that I can no longer break through the ice with my bare feet after December 15th, so I have to resort to indoor plumbing. My icy glare would probably just freeze everything down there anyway. If anyone is looking for a great set of year-round all terrain tires I highly recommend BF Goodrich All Terrains. They handle better on ice and snow than anything else I've tried and I usually get 50,000 miles out of them. they aren't cheap, but they beat the hell out of buying two sets of tires.
I've got a 2004 Trailblazer that is having trouble starting, it'll crank, but won't always start the first time. I took it to a shop and they claimed it started fine for them and didn't know what was wrong. A quick google search is leading me to believe I need a new ignition switch. Does that sound correct? If so is it something that I should try to replace or take it to a shop? I'm also assuming I need to find a new mechanic.
I have a 2008 Escape. I have determined there is an issue with the power steering. When it idles the steering wheel shakes and jerks. There was a recall for this issue in 2014. I had my car fixed then. Im going to take it to a dealership today or tomorrow. Two things... 1. Is it safe to drive? I drive about 120 (all highway) miles a day. I didnt have any issues with it while driving the last couple of days but the shaking is getting worse. 2. Is there generally a warranty on work done via a recall? Ive read how much it will cost to fix this, and Im not sure the cost is worth the car value to get it fixed. (Car is probably worth 4k. Internet thinks this is between 1 and 1.5k to fix... I plan on buying a new car within the month). I have a bad feeling I will have to fight the dealership on this. Ive had this thing for 9 years. Its been paid off for a long time. I will be sad to see it go. Does anyone have any opinions on Rav 4s? I'm looking at get a used one 2-3 years old. I need something with ok gas mileage, enough space to haul some things, and gets around in the snow. The escape was good for that.
I finally welded in the sub-frame connectors for my Trans-Am. For those of you keeping track at home, I bought these right before I went on a two year, all expenses paid vacation... Here are the preliminary pictures; I still need to dress/paint the welds, and I will be posting some more pictures, as well as my review of how the car rides/handles after the job has been done. Spoiler These are the subframe connectors as I received them in 2013. Disregard the ring & pinion gears and the limited slip differential, those went on a different car. Spoiler Here are the same subframe connectors after they have been modified by me. You can see the pathetically small passenger side brace next to my welded-in custom brace on the left, and you can see where I added to the bracket on the right. Spoiler When I test-fit these connectors, I knew that there would be a lot of custom work required. Right here, you're looking at the front-left SFC mount. It's made out of really thin steel, and this is what the SFC is supposed to be welded onto. Note the oval-shaped hole; this is where one of the welds SHOULD be. I could have just welded the SFC bracket on one side, but it wouldn't be as strong, and it would probably crack. I had a better solution... Spoiler I welded in a plate to spread the load out. Those pock marks you see in the middle of the plate are rosette welds; I drilled holes in the plate and welded them up. Keep your eye on the bottom of that oval hole. Spoiler Here's the right-front SFC welded in. The circled area is where the oval hole was. I wouldn't have been able to use any of that area if I hadn't welded in that plate.
More sub-frame connector pics: Spoiler As you may have seen before, the front of the subframe connector kit I got wasn't up to par, in my opinion. On the driver's side, it would be "connecting" to another really thin piece of stamped steel. In my opinion, that was not strong enough, so I reinforced it. I cut out some 1/8" steel, drilled some holes in it, and welded that in. Spoiler Here's the steel plate I welded in. The holes drilled in it are for rosette welds. Spoiler Even with that plate welded in, there is another problem: The subframe connectors only connect to the car with this one little tab! I know why the manufacturers did this: To allow for manufacturing variances, and for body-flex (after all, these cars are over 20 years old.). But that's not good enough for me... Spoiler Here's another view of the contact area with the subframe connectors in factory form. There's a huge gap that could be filled... so I filled it. Spoiler I welded some tabs of 3/16 steel to fill in that gap. I welded it for 3/4 of the way. I'll provide better pictures of the installed product later.
More subframe connector pics: Spoiler This is the passenger side subframe connector, with my added on connector/arm. The added on piece is 2"X2" 3/16" square tubing that I had laying around my shop. Spoiler Here is a different view; that section on the left is cut out to clear a dip in the floor-pan. Spoiler Here is that same 2"X2" piece of steel installed! Looks kind of flimsy, doesn't it? Wait until you see what I did with it next. Spoiler I had to cut out sections of the 2"X2" tubing to allow for floorpan clearance, and for exhaust clearance. But I gusseted the inside with 3/16" steel tabs. Then I welded a plate over it. Spoiler Additional view of the gusseting I welded in.
Dixie inspired me to post some pics of my project. The run down: 1964 Nova. 2003 LS6 out of a Corvette Z06. Pretty healthy cam 4L80E trans 9" rear end TCI front clip with rack and pinion and disc brakes. Still have quite a bit to go on it. Spoiler Spoiler URL=http://s69.photobucket.com/user/srosier77/media/20160213_155448_zps2gd9nxes.jpg.html][/URL] Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
My girlfriend found a pole in a parking garage with the front quarter of her 2004 Honda Civic over the weekend. It dented it in good, scratched some paint, and some of the frame or supports along the bottom edge of the bumper ended up punching through the plastic. However, the rest isn't cracked and just dented. She'll have it inspected for repair costs, but I'm thinking in the meantime that I may still be able to warm it up with a heat gun and pop it back out. Any tips for advice for that? Might touch up the paint afterwards too but that's a whole 'nother story.
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Dent-in-Car-With-a-Hair-Dryer I have used the hair dryer / compressed air version on a "pressed in" type dent, successfully, and I did not tape foil on. (Think door panel hit by soccer ball.) But, did NOT have success with a "dimple" type dent. (Think golf ball at door frame.) But, it can chip the paint, even when it works, as seen here: I have buddy who's done it using dry ice and foil, pretty much like the wikihow link shows.
For better or worse the paint is already wrecked so chipping isn't a concern. Pretty sure it's in the "dimple" type category too, oh well. I appreciate the info.
And it depends on where the dent is. You can also deflate a basketball, put it behind the dent and re inflate the ball.
Brb, the Minnesotan equivalent of these two have auto body work to do: Maybe that could fly too. The dent is right in this circled area (and it covers up almost that much area too, not a small ding here)... I have to remove a cover on the inside of the wheel well to access the bumper from behind but thats no problem.
I was going to put this up in the "Kodak" thread, but I thought you gear-heads would appreciate it more...
SUBFRAME CONNECTOR UPDATE: After driving the car for a couple of weeks with the SFCs welded in, here's my overall impression. Spoiler One of the main reasons I even got SFCs was to quiet the car down; 3rd generation F-bodies have a well-earned reputation for being squeaky and rattly. There is still a very noticeable squeak from the front-end, but I'm not sure if that's the chassis or the polyurethane control-arm bushings (urethane bushings will squeak when they run out of lube, and mine haven't been lubed since I installed them in '09). The ride seems improved; as soon as I got done with the job, I drove the car down the bumpiest road I could find. You still feel the bumps (these cars are never going to ride like Cadillacs), but they don't seem to jar the car around as much now. Before the SFC installation, my car would sometimes exhibit this weird behavior when braking: It felt like the back end of the car was moving around. I would be holding the steering wheel straight, but it felt like the rear wheels were wobbling/moving the back end. I could never figure out what it was. (And YES, the rear control arms/bushings/panhard rod were all in good shape.) It doesn't do that now, so I guess the problem must have been some kind of flexing in the chassis. Having an easy/ secure place to jack the car from is a godsend. The best part is the peace of mind knowing that I'm not twisting the hell out of my car's undercarriage when I hit bumps/potholes. If you've got one of these cars, I highly recommend installing subframe connectors; in fact, I'm thinking of adding some interior SFCs later:
Any tips on where to get touch-up paint? 2004 Honda Red. Ms. katokoch took her car to get an estimate from insurance so we're taking the heat gun and Bondo route for sure. She knows it ain't gonna be perfect, but it will cost a shit ton less than what they offered.
I'd go to an automotive paint supplier and see if they can give you a match. Paint fades, I bet it hasn't been the original color for quite a while. How much paint do you think you'll need?