flagmanruss

Let's see, the place got sold ~1987... my ex took care of my proceeds from the sale.I'd not last a minute on a floating dock these days... it's all I can do to walk on solid ground.

I owned a very small share in the place... Not a great way to start the morning... I hope I'm not boring you guys.

Lots of thoughts... I wonder what vehicle this is. Clearly prepped for this. Clearly not running a BHAF! I recall a guy who repowered his older 35' Chris Craft with a pair of GM V diesels c 1985... not sure what they were as he did not have us work on them. (I'm actually glad as he was a jerk.) The boat was a leaker & lived on the pumps. A couple of times, it tried to make like a submarine. We walked the boatyard docks every morning... Boats that were in danger, we'd throw our pumps on & call the owner. So after one such incident, the guy's mechanic appears. The owner (owned a used car dealership) told the mechanic that the mechanic had done something wrong as the motor was "siezed". The mechanic thought he was going to wheel the dead motor up the floating dock... He quoted him a favorable price to lift it out (after he freed it up) with our fork lift (from the solid ground of the lift pier) & place it in his truck. What had happened is... the Chris Craft (as most boats) have a wet exhaust... the cooling water is dumped into the exhaust through a riser after the engine... and the exhaust / cooling water flows overboard through the transom (or outdrive in an I/O) So although the CC did not "sink", the motor had. When the exhausts got deep enough, flooding water had flowed back up the exhaust & filled a chamber through an open exhaust port. Attempting to start it had brought the piston up on a fluid filled cylinder... bending the connecting rods. The auto / truck mechanic was at a loss to explain the damage & was being stuck for the repairs by "the jerk" until I explained to the mechanic what had happened. Although more rare, I understand that a running engine could have problems if the transom was slapped just right by a following sea. Many boats had rubber flappers on their dual 4" or larger exhausts. A lot of commercial boats had wet (water cooled) exhaust manifolds, but the water dumped overboard through a hose & through hull fitting, while the hot dry exhaust would be a stack... noisey & sooty to have on your white decks.

Oh, yeah, I want one. How good is it in 2 feet of snow?

I'd be looking really close at the upper door gasket. It's an item that gets wear. Other than that... Roof top clearance lights??? I had them leak once in the driving rain, got water into the overhead console. It could only have come from them. I disassembled them & could not find a fault. Reassembled them with a touch of silicone sealer. It has not leaked again. Russ

I watched it again... totally insane. People get killed doing crap like that. My ex-FIL used to get big bucks (and no bargain at that) towing 4 X 4s off the beach with a bulldozer before the incoming ocean tide could get to them. They were stuck, not drowned though. It was several hundred dollars cash money, no checks, no credit cards in advance or he'd not drop the ramps on the trailer. His sons used to give Dad hell for even doing it... small hours of the morning the Police would call. The next day, the boys would have to power wash the machine to get the sand & salt out of the tracks & regrease the machine. Ole John used to laugh... the driver/owner could always shake down his buddies for the cash... "Frat boys..."

Life is a little different now because of my MS... but I used to take the CTD to the end of the pavement. Then get on the horse & head into the woods. Nick could walk right up on deer. Nothing like approaching nature on it's own terms. I remember finding apple trees in blossum... and discovered the ruins of a long gone farmstead... This just naturally led to living history... stepping back in time no phones, no internet... (no running water)(no flush toilets).

If it was in park... Bet he had nice flat spots on the tires! LOL! My front brakes all but seized on the CTD during a period of inactivity parked in the snow... I drove the truck quite a long time... ya could not really tell. It drove fine but the MPG s*cked! Ya think! Heck I even towed the trailer with horses in it. Plenty of power...Russ

That was more than a little deep! I sunk one car on a flooded interstate. Once committed, there is no choice but to keep going because you dare not turn around. I guess that's what that Ford pickup I saw had in mind... but I'm here to tell you it really was not a good idea. I had the interior flooded above the front seat cushion, water in the trunk, water in the crank case, transmission, rear end. Flywheel housing, starter, alternator. It really sucked. I had the car towed off the interstate, a wrench dried the distributor enough to drive it home. I put it in the shop & used a bilge pump to pump the water out, wet vacced the rugs & such. I could have had a mushroom farm growing in the carpets by the next weekend. The insurance was pretty generous with me but a year later the rust popped through all the fenders...Russ

I think car & truck covers are fine for out-of-service vehicles... even better for classics stored indoors to keep the dust off... Anybody own trucks that fit that description?Russ

I got a big barn but it's full of stuff. I always wanted to build a shop. It's not going to happen. It's not on the driveway anyway.

ROTFL! Not what I expected! I saw a Ford 4x4 the other day. It had a hole in the right fender with a black plastic intake to the top of the windshield. I just shook my head. I did not have a camera. (If the water is that deep, they better put out an anchor!) I'm still looking for the pictures of the stack on my Twister tractor (Bruce Manufacturing). I built the stake body on the rear... Still looking for other pictures. My mistake was not repowering it with a Honda instead of trading it. Russ

Well my truck is stock 4X4, not lifted. I have to stand just so, get my good leg up on the step to just get into the driver's seat. I can't get in the passengers side. I'm only 5'6 but I can get most of the snow off the roof with both feet on the ground. If your truck is higher, all bets are off.As for the "why" it should not be necessary to learn everything the hard way. Now I'd never thought about a snow block sliding forward over the windshield at a stop! I bet the quad-cab could slide quite a snow bank!Russ

I've been pretty anal about this in recent years... I know you're all thinking this is no big deal... When clearing the windshield, I always clean the roof off too. The last year I had my Chevy on the road... I went out & cleaned about 6" off the windshield before I got called away, leaving the snow on the roof & the truck sitting in the sun. When I returned, the snow had slid forward on the glass... and the glass had a horrizontal crack right at eye level. Of course, it failed inspection. I figured it was one in a million but a buddy of mine had the same thing happen on a newer truck.Fast forward to present. My good wife gave me H*ll for climbing in the back of the truck with no one else home. I thought I was clever working around my lame leg but she was not amused. I have modded one of my snow brushes. I have several of the cheap telescoping brushes... and I removed the handle on one (4' extended) with a 5 foot fixed handle off something else. I don't need to telescope this one since it resides in the mud room when not in use. What a difference the extra reach is! I can push most of the snow off the windshield, hood & even the roof from the drivers side. With a bit of planning, I can dump most of it into the woods, so no shoveling. I just thought I'd share this little idea while I'm watching the snow flakes fall.Russ

I don't have a definative answer but MY 01.5 with matching OEM rubber will hop like crazy on a turn in 4H... at snail speed on my gravel drive. I think the limited slip diffs have something to do with it. I once used 4H to pull gently off a town commons trying not to tear up the grass following an encampment. When I got on the paved drive the stress was so great & could not disengage. Yikes!Russ

The "muffler" that came with my system is straight through, same in & out with just a few little louvers in the pipe... That's why I put the quotes around the word muffler. Looking at the prices now, I guess I got a bargain. Russ

I've not really towed enough lately to record MPG... but my 4:10 geared truck with OEM rubber is not real good on fuel. I'd have done better with standard ratio... HOWEVER, I have found that my automatic/OD truck does better if I use the right foot for speed control... and pay close attention to the road. I use the autopilot to give me short rests only. Speed is the #1 MPG killer. I do measurably better if I keep the speed around 55. My best ever MPGs running light, was on secondary routes where I got the automatic to shift into high and just stayed off the thottle... speed was about 40-45. The truck was just loafing, lugging a few small bumps (not even really hills) without down shift or turbo whistle. (I don't have a boost guage.) Back to the highway... Highway is all about windage & the faster you go the more airodynamics hurt you. I got rid of my 5th wheel before I took my Chevy gas C30 off the road... I never put that hitch into the CTD. My gooseneck horse trailer has a narrowed front so is less of a drag than the camper. Now when I'm trying to get MPGs, I let the truck coast where ever possible. My theory is holding the throttle steady at anything above idle takes more fuel than idle does. I try to keep my speed at what ever I've decided to so if it coasts down below that, I bump it back up & back off the throttle again on those down hill grades on the interstate. Going uphill, towing, I use the throttle & hold speed high enough to prevent downshifting. If I get caught in traffic, & have to down shift... I cuss a few times & spend the next mile getting the speed back up. I watch the speed on the crests of the hills (easier if I'm running light). I back off before the cruise would react, so I crest each hill with only the selected speed. Pretend their is a cop with an attitude running radar on the other side... Driving this way is tiring... because it is all manual. I like driving though... so that's some reward for the pain. I guess it would be better to run the cruise if you don't want the work of constantly watching every second. I made a few 6 hour interstate trips last year, running pretty light. One last thing, make sure your brakes are not dragging... I had a problem with this & found my MPG was horrible. Best wishes, Russ

Allegedly, some with access to welding tools have built a can around a piece of straight pipe so there is something there if anyone looks underneath. In my case the tailpipe rotted out about the same time as the exit flange on the back of the muffler... I went to SS more to prevent a recurrance than anything. It really ticked me off seeings as a 84? GMC 1500 I'd owned (ex ended up with it) we'd de-catted and replaced the gas filler neck with one off a one ton... had an OEM SS exhaust!

I fished a wire up to the fuse box for my built in radar detector... I just slipped the fused accessory wire on the key on hot side of the fuse.

I replaced the whole system, a turbo back SS kit, including oversize pipe, straight through "muffler" & even larger exhaust tip. The kit came off e-bay in a huge box. Everything was in there. No BS. There were 2 grades of Stainless available & I chose the less costly. The kit could accommidate several model variations and had duplicate brackets. The excess brackets were cut off in installation & the installer stated that some needed tweeking to clear the spare tire & suspension (at the same time). I feel the straight through muffler with it's tiny louvers was a great investment... the truck sailed through state inspection. "See it has a muffler!" (Yeah, one you could put your arm straight through.) The OEM exhaust steps down at the muffler, so somewhere in there you'll need to step down. I didn't worry about it since I wasn't going to reuse the tailpipe... in fact the tailpipe had rusted out of the back of the muffler & I threw it away quite some time ago. I find the truck is somewhat noisier with the new complete system than the old one sans tailpipe. It isn't bad in normal driving but there's definately a bark on a steep grade. I can't wait to hook the 10,000 # trailer up as I expect it'll really talk to me. The only experience I have to compare is my old C30 with built 454, headers into oversize pipes. Again it was a complete system which came with glass packs... It sounded nice around town... but drove me out of the cab with a 5000 # trailer. I matched up oversize truck mufflers to the oversize pipes & was able to tow without deafening the horses. Best wishes, Russ

Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) has announced he will not run for re-election!

ISX, I recall an article back then about a transmission swap with required a tailshaft swap to use the Mazda transmission. I never understood why the Ford branded unit had a different output spline or some such. I think the engine was the same as the Mazda. I seem to recall the glow plugs I bought had a Mazda wrapper inside the Ford box. Danged thing would not start in December with only 1 of 4 glow plugs working. (No Sh*t Sherlock!) These seem to have been built 83-84... 59 hp. I've found some referances to this being a Madza built Perkins engine! "In 1985, a Mitsubishi-built 2.3 L turbodiesel with 86 hp replaced the Mazda diesel" http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Diesels.htm I remember running an errand with a friend... his S10 just walked away from me at lights.

I just did a search & found a ton of info... http://www.allpar.com/mopar/perkins.html

I had a Ford Ranger with a 2.2 Natural diesel. It was very used when I got it. It was a total dog... couldn't outrun a toddler on a bicycle. I let my stepson drive it when he first got his license... he did fine... I was driving when the tranny came off the engine, broke the case up. If I'd been smarter I might have had a real transmission builder switch the tail shafts & put a Mazda 5 speed in there. After 2 attempts at repairing the case, I threw in the towel. RussPS This was only offered 2 years... back in the 70s. NEVER buy a used anything that was only built a year or 2!

Thanks Mike. This is really interesting... In essance, the actual injection ports are so far removed from the filter element & air supply... and the air supply temp is sensored & manipulated by Cummins... that trying to vary the temp does not give measurable changes. So supplying enough air for needs (which will be increased if modded) really takes precedence. Such is the differance between naturally aspirated gas engines... and turbo charged intercooled diesel. I bet CAIs will continue to be great sellers... because consumers generally don't know this. But the members here DO!Thanks, Russ