Other Projects - Car and Non Car Related

I don't have an '80 - '86 F-series, so all I have is "other" projects!

My main automotive project is my '71 Bronco.  Currently the project on it is to go back to rear drum brakes (to regain the parking brake I lost when I converted to 4 wheel disks) and hydroboost for the brakes.  I've posted pictures of the Bronco here before.  Here's one from our trip to Moab last fall.


After my Bronco my second "other" project is my bird dog.  Kenzie is my fourth bird dog and my third Gordon Setter (the other one was a Brittany).  I mostly grouse hunt and I train my own dogs.  I know the dogs are capable of more than I get out of them.  But I don't care about that.  They're my dogs and the "point" (no pun intended) is to have fun with them.


My other "other" automotive project is my '97 F-250.  This is my daily driver and right now the "project" is just keeping a 23 year old vehicle reliable.  But the rust is getting bad enough that soon I'm going to need to do something.  Right now the most likely "something" is to replace it (with another '90s F-series crew cab).  But the jury's still out on that plan.  it's in the picture with Kenzie above.  Below is a picture from about 2.5 years ago.  It's the newest picture I could find actually of it.  The rust is a lot worse now.


And an unwanted project is the clean-up from a wind storm at my parents cabin last July.  We lost over 50 trees on about 3 acres of land.  Two hit the garage, one hit the cabin, but there was surprisingly little damage.  And the boats and camper trailer were untouched (other than a broken window in the trailer).  Still, it's going to be a few years before this isn't eating up a bunch of my time any time we go to the cabin.

Hmmm... firewood!

1986F150Six wrote

Hmmm... firewood!

Yeah, no shortage of that!

Those OBS crewcabs have really been growing on me. Wish I could find a reason to own one.

That firewood looks like one big mess. I had a buddy with land in an old Mississippi pime forest and clearing that brush is a job. Do it in the winter if you can, thats all I can say.

swampedout wrote

Those OBS crewcabs have really been growing on me. Wish I could find a reason to own one.

That firewood looks like one big mess. I had a buddy with land in an old Mississippi pime forest and clearing that brush is a job. Do it in the winter if you can, thats all I can say.

I'd like one myself, or a bullnose crew if I could ever find one.

swampedout wrote

Those OBS crewcabs have really been growing on me. Wish I could find a reason to own one.

TheScatch wrote

I'd like one myself, or a bullnose crew if I could ever find one.

I prefer the '80 - '86 body style.  But for a daily driver in Minnesota it's sure nice having fuel injection.  If I get a "new" truck I'm thinking about an IDI diesel, which would open up the '80 - '86.  But crew cabs weren't that common in that gen, so it'll probably be another '92 or newer.

And I wish I could find a good reason to own a regular cab!  That's what I started with, but I went to a SuperCab when my family outgrew a single seat.  I found I liked the SuperCab when I was alone in it, having a place to stick stuff inside.  And I loved it when I was going somewhere alone or with one other person when I was bringing a dog or two along.  I switched to a crew cab when my 2 boys outgrew the SuperCab back seat.  I thought I'd go back to a SuperCab now that they've moved out, but as I contemplate the possibility of grandkids I can't see not having a crew cab.  And the dog likes the back seat of that too, just not as much as the back of a SuperCab.

swampedout wrote

That firewood looks like one big mess. I had a buddy with land in an old Mississippi pime forest and clearing that brush is a job. Do it in the winter if you can, thats all I can say.

The cabin isn't winterized, so if I go up in the winter I've got no running water or heat.  Ironically I'm running out of firewood at home right now, so I might go up sometime in the next month or so.  But unless I can get someone to go with me I probably won't do anything but load up stuff that's already cut and split.  My wife would kill me if I was up there all alone doing that kind of work.  And with pretty good reason.  I did break my finger last summer getting it smashed by one of the trees I was trying to clear so my parents could get into the cabin.  Not an injury that would've been fatal if I was alone, but enough to make me think, and my wife worry!

Gary, its just a bunch of us kids a few years out of high school enjoying old classics.

@Rembrant


Yes that Camaro was a hoot, couldn't keep up with my green machine though! He's was mad he dropped $3k into a 400 SBC that got out run by a 351 Modified :)

Angelo Voltura wrote

@Rembrant

Yes that Camaro was a hoot, couldn't keep up with my green machine though! He's was mad he dropped $3k into a 400 SBC that got out run by a 351 Modified :)

Ha! I could have predicted this! Back in the early 90's when I had my '84 Z28, the stock 305 "HO" they came with was really underwhelming. That is why mine got a warmed up 350 4-bolt main. It had a Crane cam, headers, intake, etc. It wasn't dyno'd, but was estimated to be making between 275-300 HP. I then put a shift kit in it, and the car really ripped off the line. It would lay a short strip of rubber shifting into second gear.

Problem was, if I was doing something like the 1/4 mile, a bone stock 5.0 Mustang would pass me at about the 1/8th mile mark, and easily too. I tell ya, that sure sucked after spending about $3000 in engine and exhaust mods...lol.

I think the issue in that case was the trans and gearing though. That 5.0 had a 5spd, and my Z28 had that awful 700R4 4spd auto. It would scream in 3rd gear and then fall flat on it's face in 4th. I could beat him off the line, but by the time we each got into 3rd gear, he was gone. Bugger.

All these years later, those Foxbody 5.0's still make me twitch.

I would say I'm in the 300-325hp range with my pickup. I put the 400 together in the Camaro and it did run well, but he could never get the thing to hook up on those Cooper all seasons.

Boy, did they sure sound cool idling in the parking lot at work though!


https://youtu.be/6NYM5MB5pAE

Spending the evening cleaning up some old trim a customer gave me at work today for free.

Angelo Voltura wrote

Spending the evening cleaning up some old trim a customer gave me at work today for free.

Very nice!

Given to you?  Wow!

Sure did! He said he didn't have the trucks anymore and didn't want to throw the parts out, so he gave them to me. I tried offer him $50 but he wouldn't take any money.  So I hosed them down with some soap and water, ran some 000 steel wool and coke over them fairly lightly (didn't spend more than 20 minutes a piece on them really) and shined up the plastic a little.

Shined up pretty damn nice I'd say!

The are nice, that's for sure!  

Couple small scratches and dings here and there but very straight and very salvageable and could be put on how they are.

I probably wont install them on my truck but sure is nice to have.

My other project is definitely the remodel on the house. I could probably start a thread with 15 pages of pictures on that one alone.

I have one more load bearing wall to open up downstairs before I can finish the floors and then the downstairs is done. But we have been going at this place for about 4 years as time permits between life, kids, school, work, and other projects.

Keeping this thread alive



2 blocks for the price of one today!
2 old 20rs, 2.2L toyota 4bangers. 96hp, 120 torque.
Got these blocks on a good deal. One is almost useless with a chunk broken off where it mounts at the trans bell housing.
But hey, now my manuals wont blow away in the shop.
Anyways, these are gonna sit until the summer most likely. Bore the good one out, pistons, crank etc then swap my head and putter around the hills wishing I had power steering.
After Ive welded up the frame and cab. Rebuilt the carb. Ported the intake etc.

With those paperweights over the front wheels why do you need power steering?  

Over the last couple weeks I've been replacing 30 year old deteriorated vacuum lines on my '90 Town Car when it wasn't raining or too cold. This required me pulling the upper intake so I was also able to replace the EGR cooler lines and a new set of valve cover gaskets as well. Well I finished that project today and I am so glad to be done working on the TC, man things are tight in that engine bay. Now I can get a new battery and renew it's tag and take care of a few things on my truck, maybe a new intake/exhaust gasket to quiet things down in it's engine bay once my budget recovers.

Sometimes the other, non-Bullnose, projects make us appreciate our trucks.  Perhaps that's what they are for?