Sometimes I wish I wasn't so cheap

wrote:

Nice work Wookie. Unfortunately you have just reminded me that the clutch in the mini needs replacing 

 At least I won't have clearance issues - the motor has to come out for that jiob.

I'm a few years away from sixty but have always sent the daily driver and the camper to the shop. It still stings when I get a bill for something I could have done myself, but I know I'd get nothing done if I had to look after all the vehicles.

You can do a mini clutch with the motor in, you just have to unbolt the right engine mount and jack the motor up a couple on inches on the right hand side (you do need a flywheel puller though) 

Respect & good on ya' for the timing chain project!  Sadly, the days of doing such jobs DIY seem to be coming to an end.

We look around the VJMC and other vintage motorcycle events and see way too much gray hair.  Not enough young people to pick up the banner.

Too many young folks these days not interested in pursuing the working knowledge of the 'things' in their lives, much less developing the skills to fix them.  Tools seem foreign to many of them, and there seems to be an undercurrent of manual anything (working with one's hands or getting them dirty) as being beneath them.  Not all, just too many.

Somewhere in Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" there are references wherein citizens bribe 'tech-men' for seemingly simple tasks, because the typical 'citizen' doesn't have access even to the knowledge of how the tech in their everyday lives function.  The world is already there in some respects; see John Deere's concept of locking out repair by anyone other than JD dealers.

And let's not forget Proverbs 22:29 "Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men."

If something is broken or malfunctioning, we'll often make an attempt to fix it ourselves first.  Lots of related youtube vids are useful if chosen carefully.  If that thing doesn't work to begin with, often there's nothing to lose by attempting to fix it ourselves.  Even if we fail, we've almost always learned something.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE
 

wrote:

Respect & good on ya' for the timing chain project!  Sadly, the days of doing such jobs DIY seem to be coming to an end.

We look around the VJMC and other vintage motorcycle events and see way too much gray hair.  Not enough young people to pick up the banner.

Too many young folks these days not interested in pursuing the working knowledge of the 'things' in their lives, much less developing the skills to fix them.  Tools seem foreign to many of them, and there seems to be an undercurrent of manual anything (working with one's hands or getting them dirty) as being beneath them.  Not all, just too many.

Somewhere in Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" there are references wherein citizens bribe 'tech-men' for seemingly simple tasks, because the typical 'citizen' doesn't have access even to the knowledge of how the tech in their everyday lives function.  The world is already there in some respects; see John Deere's concept of locking out repair by anyone other than JD dealers.

And let's not forget Proverbs 22:29 "Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men."

If something is broken or malfunctioning, we'll often make an attempt to fix it ourselves first.  Lots of related youtube vids are useful if chosen carefully.  If that thing doesn't work to begin with, often there's nothing to lose by attempting to fix it ourselves.  Even if we fail, we've almost always learned something.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

 

Thank you, you are right on all points. To be fair it is getting harder to DIY modern vehicles because of the technology involved. Fortunately I am an ex- VWG dealership tech and have spent the last 15 years involved with training techs and apprentices for VWG, JLR and John Deere so I at least have relatively current knowledge if not the practice. Some even basic jobs bring with them issues, if you change the left headlamp bulb on a MKIV Golf ( you need to remove the battery for access) you often need to re-initiate the engine basic settings when the battery is re- connected with a diag machine or it will idle like a "bag of shite". 
John Deere's plans won't fly in Europe and the UK as several years ago something called " block exemption" came into force meaning dealers could no longer dictate who worked on your vehicle (as long as OE parts are used and the correct schedule is followed by a competent person service and repair can be carried out by non dealership repairers without effecting your warranty entitlement)

For those here who still like to read books I found this one to be of great interest and would encourage you to check it out.

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work
Matthew B. Crawford. New York, NY: The Penguin Press, 2009

This site has a review of sorts that should give you an idea of what the book is about.

thekeypoint.org/2018/09/05/shop-class-as...o-the-value-of-work/
 

wrote:

wrote:

Nice work Wookie. Unfortunately you have just reminded me that the clutch in the mini needs replacing 

 At least I won't have clearance issues - the motor has to come out for that jiob.

I'm a few years away from sixty but have always sent the daily driver and the camper to the shop. It still stings when I get a bill for something I could have done myself, but I know I'd get nothing done if I had to look after all the vehicles.

You can do a mini clutch with the motor in, you just have to unbolt the right engine mount and jack the motor up a couple on inches on the right hand side (you do need a flywheel puller though) 

Yeah, I've taken the clutch cover off like that before, don't fancy trying to get the clutch off like tthat though. Have a puller from guess-works, does the job pretty easily. I'm chasing an oil pressure problem as well and need to do the main bearings - so it's just easier to pull the bugger out

wrote:

Respect & good on ya' for the timing chain project!  Sadly, the days of doing such jobs DIY seem to be coming to an end.

We look around the VJMC and other vintage motorcycle events and see way too much gray hair.  Not enough young people to pick up the banner.

Too many young folks these days not interested in pursuing the working knowledge of the 'things' in their lives, much less developing the skills to fix them.  Tools seem foreign to many of them, and there seems to be an undercurrent of manual anything (working with one's hands or getting them dirty) as being beneath them.  Not all, just too many.
 

Re: the VJMC - to be fair, some of us are losing our hair as well.

The local nephews aren't quite sure why I like wrenching. They don't look down on it AFAICT but they see it as quite foreign - ditto with riding in general. They're very risk-averse, apparently.

wrote:

wrote:

Respect & good on ya' for the timing chain project!  Sadly, the days of doing such jobs DIY seem to be coming to an end.

We look around the VJMC and other vintage motorcycle events and see way too much gray hair.  Not enough young people to pick up the banner.

Too many young folks these days not interested in pursuing the working knowledge of the 'things' in their lives, much less developing the skills to fix them.  Tools seem foreign to many of them, and there seems to be an undercurrent of manual anything (working with one's hands or getting them dirty) as being beneath them.  Not all, just too many.


 

Re: the VJMC - to be fair, some of us are losing our hair as well.

The local nephews aren't quite sure why I like wrenching. They don't look down on it AFAICT but they see it as quite foreign - ditto with riding in general. They're very risk-averse, apparently.

I feel pretty lucky that I have one of those young folks around here that is happy to pick up a wrench. I don't think he'd want to do it full time but he should be able to keep his bike on the road. I wouldn't mind it if he was just a tiny bit more risk-averse when it comes to riding, though 

I have a one-word answer for anyone who asks how I learned to fix cars, bikes, etc... Poverty. 
 

wrote:

I have a one-word answer for anyone who asks how I learned to fix cars, bikes, etc... Poverty. 

 

It's a great motivator if you don't like walking 

There's another side to it as well...
   I need a couple of fuel tank supports for my dune buggy. Seems easy enough...
I got out the square tube, the hack saw and the welder. After an hour I was part way through fabrication of one of the 2 needed brackets. 

I realized that I was wasting my time trying to do something that I should farm out. $45 later, 2 factory fuel tank brackets were on their way from Manx. 

I gotta know when to say when.

And so there is a second chapter to this story and a lesson to be learned (this is why the build updates have been sporadic) over the last couple of months the car has become noisier again and a "camshaft position sensor fault stored" which is normally a chain issue. As I had replaced these in Sept (with non OEM parts to protect my build budget - as the original had lasted 90k miles I figured 30-40k miles would see the car on to it's next owner) I decided to replace the "variable valve timing unit" which is not recommended to be replaced as part of the chain job) with an OE unit. Still the same so out of desperation I have pulled the transmission again only to find the replacement chain has stretched like a piece of "cheap knicker elastic" in only 5k miles (I can only assume it hadn't been heat treated correctly) The side deflection in the 90k chain was 30mm and the new replacement was only 15mm confirming the old chain was well worn. Well imagine my surprise when the chain that had 15mm of deflection 5k miles ago now has 47mm of deflection (must of been almost ready to break and destroy the engine) so now the bun fight with the supplier rages on 

 

This is exactly why I can’t wait to own an electric car. They are boring things, no excitement. But that’s what I want, a boring car that just runs.