Gearhead Thread

[Sgt PSN]

I like my motorcycle to stop when I say stop, turn when I say turn, and go when I say go.

Most Harleys fail that acid test in a bad way.  Not all..most.

Harleys are about posing. 

I've never driven any type of crotch rocket or "performance" type bike so I don't have any experience to compare to.  But going back to your Hummer example.....if you drive a Hummer like a Corvette then you're not going to be pleased with the performance and will probably run off the road or slam into a building.  Same goes for Harleys.  It's not meant to be ridden the same way as a BMW or a crotch rocket. 

[Diomedes]

A left turning across your lane on the phone SUV driving soccer mom doesn't care that your bike can't stop because it thinks there's no one else on the road for a sunday drive.

[mussa]

nailed a rock sunday riding my quad. luckily i wasn't going too fast and i just grazed it or i could of ate some serious shtein. bent the rim and popped the tire though...starting to learn how to wheelie it also

[PhillyPhanInDC]

nailed a rock sunday riding my quad. luckily i wasn't going too fast and i just grazed it or i could of ate some serious shtein. bent the rim and popped the tire though

starting to learn how to wheelie it also

Ah, to be young and stupid again.

[mussa]

i wouldn't call 27 young.

wheelies on a 4 wheeler are no way close to as crazy as they are on a bike. they basically have a bar on the back if they go back too far the just stand up and you just let go and jump off.

[Sgt PSN]

i wouldn't call 27 young.

I would.  And I'm not even old. 

[mussa]

your fargin old dude, sorry 

[Wingspan]

i wouldn't call 27 young.

ok then...

Ah, to be young and stupid again.

[Sgt PSN]

your fargin old dude, sorry 

I'm only 31 ya bastich.  Don't really look it, definately don't act like it and damn sure don't feel it.  Although I can tell a difference in myself physically from 27 to now but I still don't consider myself old.  And I probably won't consider myself old until the day comes when I can't run, play ball or drink an entire bottle of Maker's during a pre game tailgate. 

[mussa]

i know man, i was just bustin yer chops.

[mussa]

i wouldn't call 27 young.

ok then...

Ah, to be young and stupid again.

hey i never argued the stupid part

[PhillyPhreak54]

Bought a 2005 F-150 Lariat on Saturday. It has 20K miles and Was owned previously by my boy who traded it in on a 2008 F-150. I got a great deal too...It has the 5.4L, leather and is the crew cab, not the 4-door version. Dark green too.

[Diomedes]

this looks promising

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/c1609351d9092110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Crower has spent a lifetime eking more power out of every drop of fuel to make cars go faster. Now he's using the same approach to make them go farther, with a radical six-stroke engine that tops off the familiar four-stroke internal-combustion process with two extra strokes of old-fashioned steam power.

A typical engine wastes three quarters of its energy as heat. Crower's prototype, the single-cylinder diesel eight-horsepower Steam-o-Lene engine, uses that heat to make steam and recapture some of the lost energy. It runs like a conventional four-stroke combustion engine through each of the typical up-and-down movements of the piston (intake, compression, power or combustion, exhaust). But just as the engine finishes its fourth stroke, water squirts into the cylinder, hitting surfaces as hot as 1,500°F. The water immediately evaporates into steam, generating a 1,600-fold expansion in volume and driving the piston down to create an additional power stroke. The upward sixth stroke exhausts the steam to a condenser, where it is recycled into injection water.

Crower calculates that the Steam-o-Lene boosts the work it gets from a gallon of gas by 40 percent over conventional engines.

[Diomedes]

Now that I live in the great state of Maryland, in the Greatest City in America, I have a transportation problem.  Namely, the motorcycle isn't enough.  I could get by deep into November on it in NYC and then switch onto the subway when it got stupid to ride, but there ain't no subway around here.  I need a car.

Mid September, I found one.  An '89 Volvo 745GL, 237,000 miles.  Single family owned, garage kept for most of it's life.  Well maintained, with paperwork.  In much better shape than you'd expect to find on the East Coast for a car that old.  $500.

Known issues when I bought it were a busted front left turn signal (OEM replacement in box in car, just hadn't been installed), busted running light, and the overdrive had stopped engaging properly.

I have worked on Volvo 240's a little bit with a friend, so I have some confidence that I can take care of this car.  He's still got three of them, as a matter of fact and so between the two of us we figure we can tackle just about anything goes wrong.

Since buying the car I have done the folowing work myself.  With a little help from my friend, more than a few orders to Volvo parts dealers and several trips to the junkyard.  BTW...I farging love the junkyard.  Crazy Ray's is like a goddamned playground to me.

Replace front right turn signal. (part was in car)
Replace front right running light.  (junkyard)
Replace Power Steering belt. (Advance Auto)
Replace power steering pump mounting bracket..made of aluminum, the pin which holds the pulley to the bracket had hollowed out the holes in the bracket, so the belt wouldn't run in line with the other pulleys. (junkyard)
Replace A/C compressor belt. (Advance Auto)
Replace Alternator belt. (Advance Auto)
K&N Air filter. (IPD.com)
Overdrive Solenoid bypass...once we figured out what was going on it was an exceedingly simple fix.  rather than replace the expensive solenoid, we bypassed it by grinding away a passage for gear oil to flow regardless what the solenoid is doing.  Had to buy new o rings, but otherwise saved myself at least a benjamin. (FCPGroton for the new O rings)
New front brake pads (Advance Auto)
Front rotors turned..brought the rotors (rather than the whole car) in and it cost only $20 (Pep Boys)
Spot welded the rear exhaust bracket...inspection required this.  I'm no welder, but a couple tack welds wasn't difficult.
Sway bar end links...learned I have the aluminum control arms rather than the steel.  After orderding the wrong parts, of course. (IPD and FCPGroton)
Replaced the hot air intake hose (junkyard)
Oil and filter change, magnetic drain plug replaces old drain plug.  (IPD)
New wiper blades. (Advance Auto)
Parking brake adjusted. 

With any luck, it will pass inspection in a couple hours and I'll be able to register.  All told, including a couple tanks of gas I've run through it already, I've spent well under $1000.

It still needs plenty of love..the rear brake pads are at 4/32 so they need replacing soon, which means getting the rotors turned.  But it runs well and i could quadruple the amount I've spent on it before I come close to what our other car ('92 Honda Accord) has cost us in two and a half years. 

The long range thought here is that when Spring rolls around and I can afford to have the Volvo off the road a bit, I'm going to have some fun with it.  There are all kinds of conversion kits.  The most common engine conversion in the US is to drop a Ford small block V8 into it.  I don't know if I'll do that, or some other engine..perhaps a Lexus?...but I'm def. going to turn this thing into a sleeper.

check it...this is a 240 bay--not a 740--with the V8 conversion.



and lookit the exhaust!!

[Diomedes]

follow up on an earlier post

...and today I'm helping a friend pull a small block Chevy V8 305 from his '79 Malibu Classic and we're going to put a 350 in it.

here's a burnout video of said Malibu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdSa4sJwzhg