Project BAMSFH™ sage continues...
My updates here have been very sporadic, mostly because I have been insanely busy, but at least the end is here. I have stepped down from the co-head position with the local chapter of a world wide non-profit organization (read: Prince of the Mists, West Kingdom, SCA), and hope to have more free time over the foreseeable future of weekends.
Almost a month has passed since my last blog, mostly due to preparing to step down from above said position. In those long weeks and days, I have found some time to work on a couple of things here and there. Notably, I received the carb boots in the mail along with a replacement bolt for the front caliper. I decided that while I have it all apart anyways, I might as well pop the valve covers and make sure things are good inside there. A lot of my reading since starting this project has pointed out that when rebuilding the carbs, it doesn't do a lot of good to not check you valve clearances.
So one bright morning, I got to work on the valve covers. The front cover came off pretty easy, but the rear cover was a royal bitch. I had to slowly and carefully wiggle and turn and angle it to finally get it out. Both covers were a mess which doesn't bode well for the gaskets but they looked fine other than being a bit dry and not so squishy. I cleaned them both off and set them aside after applying some oil based gasket restorer.
Breaking out with my trusty wrenches and feeler gauges, I processed to try to find top dead center. Then I ran into my first speed bump. On the right side is a screwed on plug that covers the place where you can see if you are TDC or not. It of course was locked up tight. I sprayed some WD-40 in there and attempted to knock something loose. No go. More WD-40 and tapping. No go. More WD-40 and some hammer taps and screwdriver force. No go. Realizing I am close to stripping out the screw slot, I raise the white flag and move onto plan B. Pulling the plug from Cyl-1 I slowly turn the engine with my finger down inside the spark plug hole. I can feel the pressure rising and hear the escaping air, here comes TDC for that cylinder. Watching carefully up in the valve/rocker area I watch to see when TDC is achieved. Finally finding it, I loosen the lock nut and start adjusting the gap. It is super tight on Cyl-1 intake, but on the looser end of the scale on exhaust. After some fiddling, rotating the engine two full turns, more adjustment and fiddling, more tunring of the engine... (you get the point) I finally get it where I am happy with it being snug but on the looser end which I read is better than too tight. One more half turn to get the rocker under force for the lock nuts and I torqued them down. Same pattern for each of the remaining cylinders working my way around 2 then 3 then 4. I don't see anything that alarms me inside the valve area and everything seems tight and solid, so that is a good thing, I think.
The rear valve cover was just as much of a pain in the ass to put back on as it was to take off, but I finally got it on.... BACKWARDS!!!! ARRRGG!!! OK... deep breaths. wiggled it out, turned it around, wiggled it back in. Now I have the valve covers back on and tightened up. I will keep an eye on the gaskets to see if I have leaks once I start her up and let her run for a bit.
Installing the carbs with new boots... SO MUCH EASIER! with a little bit of grease and angling them slightly upwards, all it took was some wiggling and downward pressure as I straddled the bike. I felt them pop into place and visually inspected things to make sure they in fact seated properly. Once I tightened down the hose clamps I realized that I had forgotten to install the new water tube o-rings. Which of course can only be accessed with the carbs off the bike. Sigh... called it a night.
Last Thursday night, I finally had time to pull the carbs again and replace the water tube o-rings, but discovered that the o-ring/gaskets in there were bigger than the ones sent in the Basic Carb Rebuild kit. At first I thought it was just them being smooshed flat, but even smooshed they were still ~33% thicker than the new ones provided. The problem is that once you attach the water tubes screw down mount, it pulls the tubes back a bit and the smaller o-rings unseat. Thankfully, the originals were still in good shape and I ended up reusing them. I'll let you know how they hold up once I get to the point. I sent off an email to V4 Market about this, and they said they would look into it. I'm fine with the ones I have in there if they don't leak, but wanted them to know so that they can fix the sizing so that the next guy doesn't end up in trouble with bad o-rings and replacements that won't fit.
With the carbs off again, I was able to get the throttle and choke cables attached. I checked and double checked many times to make sure I was attaching the cables in the correct direction. Then reinstalled the carbs and tightened everything down. Then I reached to test the throttle snap... huh, I don't think it is supposed to twist forwards. Yup, Installed the cables backwards. Sigh... no time to fix it now.
Skip to last night, and me having time to fiddle with the beast. I got the carbs off again pretty easy (new carb boots and experience starting to pay off) and spent several minutes fighting with the cables, carbs, and adjusters (what I would have given to have 4 arms right then and there) and finally was able to get it all connect up in the proper direction. Then with my new found carb installation experience, I angled the boots and easily seated the carbs back on and got them tightened up.
Tested choke, works fine and no binding. Tested throttle, rolls on the correct direction and snaps closed with no hesitation. WOOT! Swung handlebars left and right, no catch and no visible pull on the cables.
Next up, radiator flush while it is off the bike. Then on to the fuel pump! Fingers crossed I might actually be ready to fire up Project BAMSFH™ before the end of the year!!!!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Big Bloo... when it rains it pours.
First off, Big Bloo is pushing 220,000 miles for a 2001 Jeep GC. I expect problems to continue to pop up until the times comes when it just is costing too much and I finally retire her. In the mean time, I gotta have something to drive until I get the BAMSFH running. This post deals with the latest quick fix that turned into a nightmare... the front brakes.
Coming back from an event Saturday night, the front right brake started making the metal to metal grindy sound during stops. So of course, Sunday I set aside a couple of hours to check and replace the pads. I do not recall when exactly I had checked the brakes last, but my brain was/is telling me that it was 6 months to a year ago and they were >60% on the pads then. I happen to have the pads from back then when I planned to replaces them and it turned out I just needed to clean and adjust them. Skip now to Sunday when I take the left front apart. It is pretty grungy, but comes apart pretty easy. The slider pins stick a little so I make sure I clean the pins and put fresh grease in them before putting it all back together.
The fun parts comes when I start on the right side. These are cleaner, due to not being close to a known small oil leak on the left side, and I'm hoping for a quick replacement. Problems start almost right away when I notice I cannot adjust the slider pins at all. Crappity crap crap. I put the calipers back on the front end and then loosen the caliper mount pins before pulling the calipers back off. The inner brake pad is gone... as in shiny metal along the top and bottom with a millimeter of pad material before hitting the backer plate. The top slider pin is frozen solid but the bottom one is in better shape than the left side. I tie off the caliper and pull the mount completely free and over to the work bench. Using clamps and wrenches I try to break it free. Nada. Squirt in some WD-40, tap it a bit, try again. Nothing. Let it sit for a while as I go inside to check on ways to remove the pin easier. Come back out 10-15 mins later and soak the pin in WD-40 again, tap it, then try twisting the pin with a wrench. Nothing. Hammer taps. Nothing. Hammer hits harder. Nothing.
Time for the big guns...
I place the mount in a bench vice and clamp down onto the pins top part. Using a 1 1/2" wrench as my fulcrum I try to crank the pin free. Nothing, except for the bench trying to move and the vice loosing grip. Finally I put the pin into the vice itself and try to compress it down into the mount in hopes that that force might break it free. Nothing.
OK, I have now wasted close to 2 1/2 hours on this crap. I clean up and take the mount with me to my friendly neighborhood O'Reillys to see if they have one in stock since online store searches are being dumb. The store close to me doesn't have it. They have the pins, which apparently are a separate thing you have to buy, but they don't have the mount and it would take til Wednesday to get in. Well fuck! I tell the clerk thanks and head to PepBoys, the next shop down the road. The guy there says they don't have it either, but their store in Union City has it... 20 minutes away. Fine... I ask him to call them to hold it for me just in case there is a run on 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee front caliper mounts. They also have the pins in stock so I ask to have those held as well.
Que montage travelling music...
Upon arrival, I ask at the front counter about parts being held for me. They look at me with a blank look on their faces. Fucking asshat at the previous store didn't call them. Sigh... OK 10 minutes of explaining and searching and the guy (who is obviously new to parts look ups) finally goes to get it. I tell him I need the pins as well. He comes back with the mount and then goes and gets the pins. As I open the mount box I find no rubber boots nor are they in with the pins that they go on. Now, normally one would reuse the rubber boots for a job like this. I however cannot reuse the boots since one of them is stuck on with the stupid seized pin. He looks at me with another blank look on his face as I say I need the boots too. Que another 10-15 minutes of searching the parts computer. I had to point out the section he needed to look in to find the boots. They do NOT have them in stock... of course they don't. Does the other PepBoys have them? Don't know... the computer isn't showing stock numbers at all for some reason. Sigh...
Que angry montage travelling music....
Back to the first PepBoys only to arrive just as they are locking up the doors for closing at 6. FUCKITY FUCK FUCK. OK... breathe... Off to the O'Reilly as I know they are still open til 8. They more than helpful guy tells me that he does NOT have the boots in stock but they are in stock at the store in San Jose... 20 minutes away. I ask him to call them to have them hold them for me, I wait while he does, then out the door I go.
Que "done with this stupid day" montage travelling music....
Upon arrival at the SJ O'Reillys, they have the part waiting, I pay for it and leave. No fuss. Finally, something went right.
Que relived to finally be going home to finish this project montage travelling music....
It's dark now, by the time I get home. Place snazzy headlamp on forehead, being assembly and greasing of the new mount and pins. Then putting the new mount onto the calipers and finally putting the new pads into place. It all goes back together fairly easily and quickly, thankfully. All buttoned back up, I fire up the Jeep and pump the brakes for a while to get them back into position and seated. I think there was/is some air in the lines as it took a lot longer than normal to stiffen up. Finally stiffened up to much better than before, I take a spin around the complex followed by a spin around the neighborhood stopping every so often from ~30mph to seat the pads and get everything settled. Satisfied that my brakes won't end up killing me, I clean up and head inside to relax.
Thus ends the saga of the seized caliper mount adjuster pin.
Coming back from an event Saturday night, the front right brake started making the metal to metal grindy sound during stops. So of course, Sunday I set aside a couple of hours to check and replace the pads. I do not recall when exactly I had checked the brakes last, but my brain was/is telling me that it was 6 months to a year ago and they were >60% on the pads then. I happen to have the pads from back then when I planned to replaces them and it turned out I just needed to clean and adjust them. Skip now to Sunday when I take the left front apart. It is pretty grungy, but comes apart pretty easy. The slider pins stick a little so I make sure I clean the pins and put fresh grease in them before putting it all back together.
The fun parts comes when I start on the right side. These are cleaner, due to not being close to a known small oil leak on the left side, and I'm hoping for a quick replacement. Problems start almost right away when I notice I cannot adjust the slider pins at all. Crappity crap crap. I put the calipers back on the front end and then loosen the caliper mount pins before pulling the calipers back off. The inner brake pad is gone... as in shiny metal along the top and bottom with a millimeter of pad material before hitting the backer plate. The top slider pin is frozen solid but the bottom one is in better shape than the left side. I tie off the caliper and pull the mount completely free and over to the work bench. Using clamps and wrenches I try to break it free. Nada. Squirt in some WD-40, tap it a bit, try again. Nothing. Let it sit for a while as I go inside to check on ways to remove the pin easier. Come back out 10-15 mins later and soak the pin in WD-40 again, tap it, then try twisting the pin with a wrench. Nothing. Hammer taps. Nothing. Hammer hits harder. Nothing.
Time for the big guns...
I place the mount in a bench vice and clamp down onto the pins top part. Using a 1 1/2" wrench as my fulcrum I try to crank the pin free. Nothing, except for the bench trying to move and the vice loosing grip. Finally I put the pin into the vice itself and try to compress it down into the mount in hopes that that force might break it free. Nothing.
OK, I have now wasted close to 2 1/2 hours on this crap. I clean up and take the mount with me to my friendly neighborhood O'Reillys to see if they have one in stock since online store searches are being dumb. The store close to me doesn't have it. They have the pins, which apparently are a separate thing you have to buy, but they don't have the mount and it would take til Wednesday to get in. Well fuck! I tell the clerk thanks and head to PepBoys, the next shop down the road. The guy there says they don't have it either, but their store in Union City has it... 20 minutes away. Fine... I ask him to call them to hold it for me just in case there is a run on 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee front caliper mounts. They also have the pins in stock so I ask to have those held as well.
Que montage travelling music...
Upon arrival, I ask at the front counter about parts being held for me. They look at me with a blank look on their faces. Fucking asshat at the previous store didn't call them. Sigh... OK 10 minutes of explaining and searching and the guy (who is obviously new to parts look ups) finally goes to get it. I tell him I need the pins as well. He comes back with the mount and then goes and gets the pins. As I open the mount box I find no rubber boots nor are they in with the pins that they go on. Now, normally one would reuse the rubber boots for a job like this. I however cannot reuse the boots since one of them is stuck on with the stupid seized pin. He looks at me with another blank look on his face as I say I need the boots too. Que another 10-15 minutes of searching the parts computer. I had to point out the section he needed to look in to find the boots. They do NOT have them in stock... of course they don't. Does the other PepBoys have them? Don't know... the computer isn't showing stock numbers at all for some reason. Sigh...
Que angry montage travelling music....
Back to the first PepBoys only to arrive just as they are locking up the doors for closing at 6. FUCKITY FUCK FUCK. OK... breathe... Off to the O'Reilly as I know they are still open til 8. They more than helpful guy tells me that he does NOT have the boots in stock but they are in stock at the store in San Jose... 20 minutes away. I ask him to call them to have them hold them for me, I wait while he does, then out the door I go.
Que "done with this stupid day" montage travelling music....
Upon arrival at the SJ O'Reillys, they have the part waiting, I pay for it and leave. No fuss. Finally, something went right.
Que relived to finally be going home to finish this project montage travelling music....
It's dark now, by the time I get home. Place snazzy headlamp on forehead, being assembly and greasing of the new mount and pins. Then putting the new mount onto the calipers and finally putting the new pads into place. It all goes back together fairly easily and quickly, thankfully. All buttoned back up, I fire up the Jeep and pump the brakes for a while to get them back into position and seated. I think there was/is some air in the lines as it took a lot longer than normal to stiffen up. Finally stiffened up to much better than before, I take a spin around the complex followed by a spin around the neighborhood stopping every so often from ~30mph to seat the pads and get everything settled. Satisfied that my brakes won't end up killing me, I clean up and head inside to relax.
Thus ends the saga of the seized caliper mount adjuster pin.
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