schro

I went up the valley to 'Pick a Part' (the JY) in Chilliwack 2 years ago to pull disc axles off a wreck, and as I was getting the last bolt out my wife called me and told me to get back to the city right away because her water had just broken while she was at work. Our baby boy was born that night (2 weeks early). Needless to say I have not had a lot of time to work on the truck for a while, but the rear brakes were in need of service (trouble lights on) so I dug out the axles from storage, bought new pads (rotors were in great shape) and did the swap yesterday. There is an obvious improvement since going from worn drums to new discs, but the improvement exceeded my expectations. Pedal feels firm and responsive and the braking is better that it ever was (I've had the WD21 since 140000K, currently at 290000K and this is the first rear brake job). I would feel comfortable towing with this truck now.

Worse gas mileage. More wheel weight.

The printed tire diameter would be for an unladen tire. A real world application would depend on checking the distance from the centre of the axle/hub to the ground at recommended tire pressure in a laden vehicle and multiplying by 2. This effectively gives you a smaller diameter than the one printed on the rubber. I don't know for certain how much of a difference this would result in or how much this actually affects diameter, but I do know that if I place a jack under my rear axle, I have to lift the vehicle a fair bit before the rubber leaves the pavement (maybe an inch to an inch and a half, so my 30" tires would be 27" or 28" for the sake of the spreadsheet)

welded up the last of my exhaust system. painted all from the y-pipe back with high heat silicone paint. I didn't have an oven large enough to bake the finish on, so I built one by putting a firebox under an 80 gallon steel drum. I insulated the drum by wrapping 4 bats of fibreglass around it and wrapped it in aluminized tape. Insulated the firbox with some scraps of cement board and a bit more fibreglass. Stuck a BBQ thermometer through the side of the drum 1/2 way up to monitor the temp and test fired with some scrap wood cut from old shipping pallets and was able to easily maintain a temperature between 400F to 650F. Total cost (excluding the thermometer which I will use on my BBQ) was $0 since the oven was built entirely from scrap and leftovers at the warehouse where I work, and it only took about 2 1/2 hours to build. baked the paint at 450-650 for 2 hours. Had to do 3 batches to get all of the parts done. While waiting I replaced the rear driveshaft U-joints, and cleaned up the warehouse. The last batch is baking right now. It's been a long day and I just want it done so that I can go home and shower. Boy am I tired, It's been a long day.

I ended up going to emerg. Turns out that the feeling of 'sand in my eye' that I thought was from arc eye, was actually sand in my eye. I don't know how, but even with safety glasses on I got debris into my eye (5 very small particles were removed by the attending doctor) I went out and bought shade 3 glasses for grinding just in case.

Yea, I saw that one too. I wanted it but instead I spent the money on the welding jackets that they had on sale for $24

Use the .024 wire and gas. When on MIG you can work thinner stock than with flux cored. You will be more likely to punch through if you use flux cored. . Yes. and put your grounding clamp as close to your work area as reasonably possible so as to not setup any stray current in wiring etc. It may also be a good idea to unplug the ECCS computer. For light prep try one of those 'brillo pad' style flap wheels, or the 120 grit sand ing ones. they remove less metal, and as long as they are adequate to clean the surface to shiny metal it's enough. I use those 2 and a wire wheel on the angle grinder. If you use a grinding wheel you will likely thin the sheetmetal too much and be more likely to punch through. Before ou start (assuming that you are using a floorpan cut from a wreck) practice a few butt joints and lap joints on the extra stock that you cut from the wreck.

KMS Tools has an autodarkening helmet for $49!

still working on welding up my exhaust system. using 2 1/4" ppe from the 'y' back Magnaflow high flow cat Walker sound FX muffler (the largest one available with 2 1/4" inlet and outlet... I know, I know, Flowmaster and Magnaflow for more performance, but I am slightly concerned with noise) The Pacesetter headers were a major disapointment. The second set that they sent me bolted onto the heads okay, but the Y-pipe would not fit, and I couldn't wait send them back a second time for them to f*ck them up again, so I cut the Y-pipe apart and re-welded it myself, changing to a 2 1/4 outlet, adding the bung for the O2 sensor, and lengtheming the pipe back to the new cat before installing a 3 bolt flange. I've only had the MIG welder for about a month, and this is my first big job with it. Hell of a learning experience, but the results so far are pretty good.

I have been doing a lot of work on my PF lately, including fitting my nightmare Pacesetter headers. This morning I was test fitting the Y-pipe and found that it is nowhere near able to fit, but I'm not about to send them back AGAIN so I decided I would cut and weld the Y-pipe myself to make it fit. As part of my preparation I was cutting along the welds and grinding off the ceramic coating so that I have clean metal for the new welds. I DID NOT DO ANY WELDING. Over the course of the day mt eyes became more and more irritated, particularly when I went outside (it was dark overcast this morning, as it usually is in Vancouver, and has been clearing and becoming sunny) until now, when I cannot step out into the sun for more than a few minutes before my eyes become so irritated that I am effectively blind from tearing and burning. I called a guy at the local welding shop, since I knew that the symptoms were similar to arc eye ( I ALWAYS use appropriate eye protection when welding) and asked him if grinding sparks were bright enough to cause arc eye, and he informed me that they are! Particularly when grinding ceramic coatings. Who knew!? I am very safety conscious so I thought I should pass this along so that others can avoid the discomfort that I am going through right now. Cheers.

common sense and PATIENCE... Absolutely YES! That is all I've ever done. Read the FSM. Read the Hanes manual. Look at the part until you understand what it does, and how it works. Buy or borrow the right tools and don't skimp on them. And don't be too afraid to take on a daunting job, it's the best way to learn. The first thing I did after cracking the case of my transmission was to mount the centre plate in a benchvise, crack a beer (or 3), and sit there for over an hour spinning the gears and moving the shift forks, until i figured out how it worked. I personally can't speak about the quality of dealer repairs, since I've never taken my vehicle to a dealer for service. But... I have had very mixed results with independent shops. I've found errors in the work of 2 of the last 3 mechanics that I've been to (improper assembly in one case, and a missing part in another. The 3rd mechanic I trust, but he usually encourages me to do the work myself. Maybe because he's getting old, or maybe I ask too many questions) I feel confident enough in my own work now, that the only reason I would go to a mechanic would be if the cost of the tools that i would need for a job would be more expensive than having someone else do the work. For example... an alignment.

A full tank in my '95 5 speed would get me just over 500 Km highway driving only (AKA roadtrip) provided I didn't have to go on the Coquihalla. City I would usually get just over 350.

Well... build quality: (for 1) I'm waiting on replacement headers from pacesetter. The first set that they sent me was not useable. I have it in writing from them that they will inspect the replacement product before shipping.. The headers that they initially sent were so far out of true that you could see it obviously with the naked eye (it was the first thing I saw when I opened the box) Pacesetter is honouring their warranty, but I had to eat the cost of sending the faulty headers back to them (they will cover return shipping of the warranty product) The welds on the set that I've seen were not pretty, and there was welding splatter, especially around the EGR port. If you get the painted ones, it is not a high heat paint: (for 2) A couple of weeks delay while i wait for ceramic coating on the new ones. All of that said, I have heard several people on this forum say that they were happy with the Pacesetters (as well as several comments to the contrary) so I guess that it is hit or miss. If they could improve their consistency they would be a good value. For me personally, this will be the last set of pacesetter headers that I will ever buy, but I could not afford the alternatives this time around.

I finished building my hydraulic press yesterday so, last night I pressed the mainshaft and countershaft out of the transmission centre adapter plate. ...broke the adapter plate (snapping aluminum is a very ugly sound) Today I went to the local Nissan dealer and ordered a new adapter plate (Can$159.00 reg price, but the guy gave me a deal. The parts guy knows me by name now.) Part is on backorder, 2 - 3 weeks. Parts guy told me that whenever this Nissan dealer does a transmission rebuild on the FS5R30A they order a new adapter plate. I now understand why. The bearing race seat for the countershaft is fragile, and if the O.D. main gear bushing does not give on the countershaft when pressing the shaft out, then the aluminum will. Also today, started removal of all of the front side components from the mainshaft assembly. Everything carefully labelled and bagged.