Ships Log: Fat Aircraft carrier war games

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
First thing I did was compare the number of coils.

Then I scrolled down and saw that you decided to cut a coil off.
 

rick81721

Lothar
Little mustang update....work has been slow lately, but I got a little done yesterday

This @#$%^&*() springs has been giving me fits.

I bought new, replacement big block springs as the spring in my car are original and almost 52 years old now. I called around, talked to some people in the know and found what was supposed to be the stock replacements.....right away I noticed that they are like WAY longer than the originals...which wasnt a shocker, I mean after 52 years, perhaps they have settled a bit

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So I bought an internal spring compressor which you need to get the springs into the shock tower....However, I found it was dam near impossible to compress them enough to get them to fit. I did eventually get them to compress enough, but it was terrifying how twisted up they were, both in the compressor and in the car...They were actually bowing outwards which didnt look right.

Death trap 101
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So I talked to another guy who sold me the roller spring perches and he gave me a heads up that these springs need to be trimmed....blah blah...lot of conversation about how much trimming later....I ended up cutting off 1 coil.
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So then, while still having to compress it to absurd levels, I was able to get it seated without having it bowing outwards.....


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So I think this is right, however, no idea until everything is in the car, wheels/fenders back on and I see how its sitting....cant wait!

Anyway, with this done, the rest of the suspension/brakes should be wrapped up soon

Can't wait to drive it!
 

Mountain Bike Mike

Well-Known Member
I had a similar experience when I lowered my s10.. I wrestled with the springs and put everything back together and the front end was too high and stiff. Called the company - they sent me full size chevy truck springs... so I had to take the front end all apart again, put it back together stock and wait for the correct springs.. correct springs arrives, rinse repeat.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The correct way to fix this is aluminum heads, aluminum intake. Then you're down to the weight of a small block.

Then purchase small-block springs. As of now your spring rate is too high. :)

The other option possibly is the GT-350 modification to the lower control arm. Then you probably would have a better handling car and the springs would fit...
you mean where you lower the upper control arm 1 inch? That might have helped...but the springs were so BOWED outwards, not sure. I did install roller spring perches on the bottom, which you might be able to see in the pic....This is supposed to improve handling/ride quite a bit. As @ChrisG noticed...the factory coils had 1 less coil than the replacements. Not sure why this is the case. This is where its nice to be restoring an old mustang...many people have had this problem so with a little looking around, I found a ton of information.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Announcing my retirement from professional gymnastics

Now that the April 1st stuff is out of the way....

I have been really slacking with this lately...usually I would say that I haven't had much going on, but lately its been too much...

Life

Bob turned 5 this week...yes yes I know, it goes SOOOOO fast....So I hear.....im still waiting for time to switch from "prison sentence" to "amusement park roller coaster"....Not to imply that I dont love being a parent and love hanging out with bob....I just never get the feeling that time is just flying by...In fact I feel like I have plenty of time to do all kinds of stuff he may of may not like. Over the winter I started taking him to the rock gym near me. I really like the idea of the rock gym...lifting weights bores me even tho I know dam well its good for you...I am not afraid...more like TERRIFIED of heights...so combine no climbing skills and holding onto the wall for dear life (bc autobelays do that "let you fall for a split second" thing) and its a hell of a workout. Bob is mixed on it...He has my fear of heights and while he has climbed to the top of the wall, I can tell the hight scares him...somedays he loves it, somedays hes not into it...but its something to do indoors.

For his 5th bday @humanvice hooked me up with his sons near new 20" hotrock....This worked out great as he was starting to get a little big for his 16" and while I would take him on trails with it, he couldnt rollover too much.

First ride...I have a few upgrades planned for this thing....currently its 2lbs HEAVIER than the my scalpel. :)
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Skiing

I have to say, for a long time my love of skiing has wained.....well not so much skiing, just skiing in the tri-state area...I would hop on a plane right now to hit snowbird if I could....But two things have really helped change that...one of course has been getting bob on skis. Its been a great way to spend time with him over the winter and he's improved to the point where I can take him around and let him do the dumb stuff my dad would yell at me for...Like skiing off the side of the trails, thru the woods, etc....Friday we got my mom back out on skis after a 35 year hiatus
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My mom used to ski with me alot when I little...but then my sister was born, she broke her ankle at killington, and eventually the kids ski day was a day where my dad would take us out and she could unwind after managing us all week...Anyway, she did great and it all came back to her pretty fast. My son could not get enough of trying to show off for grandma....and quite frankly, I might have had some fun showing my mom that in the past 35 years I graduated from snow plowing to being able to ski backwards. :)

In addition to skiing with bob... @Norm learning to ski has been fun to be a part of. He's been improving and @Dominique and I are far less bored waiting for him to get down the mountain now ;) Kidding aside, going skiing solo around here is just not something im all that interested in doing anymore...but having people to go with makes a huge difference.

Addisons

Have you ever heard of addisons disease? Until ~6 weeks ago I hadnt either. So quickly summed up:Addison's disease is a disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormones cortisol and aldosterone. So if you know me, I may have mentioned to you about how my wife gets ill 2-3 times a year and needs to be admitted to the hospital for IV fluids....This has gone on for many years now...Over time, every year my wife has become weaker and her energy level has gone down. She would bike with me on occasion, but then that became too hard, as did snowboarding....She always has had issues with vomiting...but it doesnt really effect her....Back in the day when we used to drink and play drinking games at parties, she was the champ at puke and rally. She literally threw up just about everything she ate while she was pregnant with my son....after my son was born she has gotten worse. When she would get a fever, start vomiting, then in short order would need to go to the ER bc her electrolytes were dangerously off...he creatinine levels in her kidneys were so high, she was at the verge of kidney failure....This started to become a regular occurrence anytime she got sick....Eventually she started bringing IV kits home with her. After a day or two of fluids, she would be fine again. Im guessing over the past 5-7 years she had been admitted to the hospital at least 1 or twice a year. In the past year tho, it had gotten worse...she was struggling to eat at all, her energy level went from not wanting to do anything like walk the dogs, or hike...to just not doing anything period. I was becoming increasingly worried....Additionally...any of you who have kids know what its like when the "team" at home suddenly has a member who is no longer pulling their weight...it causes alot of stress.. Like I would leave for work and she would be asleep, then I would come home and she would be asleep....So we started going to more and more doctors...She had every gastro intestinal test known to man performed as everyone though it was an issue with her stomach. Nothing was found. Her primary doctor had no suggestions....They really were stuck on her not eating properly and her stomach shrinking as a result......MEANWHILE. After chatting alot about all of this with @Dominos..she did something im embarrassed to say, I didnt even think would be worth it....I mean my wife is a nurse, her mom is a nurse, as is my mom as are the countless people she works with everyday....oh ya, shes also been admitted to the hospital for this countless times and had 8 million tests run... Allison just simply looked up her symptoms on webmd and came back telling me about addisons disease...when i read about it, I agreed that she like NAILS every symptom. I mentioned this to my wife who thought it was absurd....Kinda like when she's telling me what wrong with the car...I get it...However, @Dominos also convinced me that I need to go with her to her doctors and talk to them myself....So about 2 weeks ago the situation reached a turning point when my wife got sent home from work bc she could barely walk around...Her boss told her she could go on leave, or be fired...so we went back to her primary again who ordered her to have bloodwork done. I mentioned addisons to him...he didnt flat out tell me to STFU and go back to fixing cars and bikes...but, I wouldnt say he was receptive. So at midnight that night, the doctor calls my wife and tells her that her bloodwork results are really bad and she needs to get to the ER for IV fluids right away....she reacted to this news by not telling me and going back to sleep. The next morning, we get up and go to the hospital.....Her blood pressure was down to 74/48 and to say she had people worried was an understatement. So when the attending doctor came in, I again mentioned addisons....even as my wife is telling me I have no idea what im talking about...which is correct of course. However, this time...for whatever the reason (I like to think its bc I opened my big mouth), they decided to actually test for it.... Well guess what...that was exactly what was wrong with her. So after a day or so of IV fluids, this cortisol medication.......she was like a new person. She came home from the hospital like popeye after a can of spinach....she cleaned the whole house, ran the leaf blower for 2 hours, cooked food, went hiking......its just staggering the turn around. ...Like the downturn has been so gradual that I havent been noticing how many things she had stopped doing. Then overnight, shes back to her old self times like 5. I just feel like there has been a lot of time and quality of life lost, its sad really. But its so nice to have her back and feeling healthy again. I guess a good lesson is to do your research and dont assume that doctors know everything....Honestly, if not for @Dominos suggestions, I have no idea how long this would have taken to figure out.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
And finally on a lighter note

Racing is back!

Im sad that we had to cancel 2/3rds of the ST series, but unfortunately the shoveling spirit died along with my snow blower a few years ago. Actually the course shoveling is good metaphor for our team....1 person will go out there and just start shoveling with the thought of "goddamit, ill do it myself if I have to" Then the rest of the team goes..."well im not going to sit here and let this person do all of this work alone...wheres my goddam shovel?"....1000 hours of shoveling later....we sit around and say: which asshole started this? im going to break this shovel over his head. Anyway...so we cut it to one race and didnt shovel....its better this way really.

Despite the rain, I think we had a great turnout....I dont think the kids seems to mind the rain and mud much....the course got slick, but i dont think there were many spot were it was muddy persay. By the time my race got started I was drenched and freezing....I had like a HISTORICALLY awful start...I mean I was standing, sprinting, pedaling as hard as i could, but i just wasnt going anywhere. Not totally surprising, I usually start bad in the beginning of the year and certainly when im freezing cold, but this was off the charts. I was pretty far back in the pack by the time we hit the ST.....I sat in for a while and just took a few deep breaths as my body got up to speed.....the only good thing about this is that USUALLY after about 5min, when everyone is coming off that start sprint high and calming down...im now feeling good my legs are waking up. Somewhere in lap 2 I starting charging....caught and passed a few people….got back out near the end of the ST…looked down past the swampy area and saw that Iggy, Brian, Justin, Vic were still a long ways out….slowly I started to reel everyone in little by little. Took a few laps but I finally caught up to @jShort in third….by this time, I was feeling goddam awesome to be honest. Every lap after the two bridges over the stream, I attacked the shit out of that climb…..I could see that 2nd place was way up there but I had about 1.5 laps left to run him down. On the last lap I closed in on the switchbacks….Nick was actually out riding me on the DHs and tech stuff, but I was gaining on him on the climbs…So in my head I thought I would wait until the last climb after the bridges and attack there…..However up the switch backs he was going slower than I expected…at the top I saw some daylight and decided to try to make a break for it on the right side over a bunch of tree roots…this was stupid as everything was now rain soaked and I slid out…didn’t fall completely but enough to come to a complete stop for a second…..So that was that…Nick didn’t let me get close enough for the rest of the lap. Finished 3rd…Which after that start, I was really happy about. So that was a good start to the year...
I like this pic @capedoc took as I look like im about to blow chunks onto my tire...which is how I felt.
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JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Have you ever heard of addisons disease?

A guy I worked with for ten years has Addisons, but I don't know a whole lot about it. I know he's been on meds for it since he was a teen, and then he is on meds to counteract the meds he is on.

That's awesome that you guys finally know what's going on!

That was THE single longest paragraph in the history of this website.

"Challenge accepted" - @Dave Taylor
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Racing is back!
While this may seem like a lot of words, this is just a 5 minute conversation with Utah.

I'm sure Dr's/nurses hear from patients and family all the time what illness they think they have and zone out when someone tells them of a rare disease they think they have but damn, its always amazing when an educated person in a particular field continues to go down the same path hoping for a better solution. There is something to be said about a fresh set of eyes looking at a problem and applying a pragmatic way of thinking.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
That was THE single longest paragraph in the history of this website.

Solid use of punctuation and capitals. If ya like ellipses...like i do. ;)

in a parallel story, the symptoms are similar to taking prednisone, and not tapering off them correctly.

glad this turned out well.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Ringwood, Mustang, etc

Its been a while since I have done a mustang update hasnt it? Well I havent been super motivated to go out in the garage and work in the cold, but as the temps have come up in the past few weeks, I managed to get a few things checked off.

Finished all of the brake lines for the rear end, then got it into the car.....Wasnt too bad doing this solo with the help of the lift...Although now that it has a posi dif..you can just roll it around...I had to place it on a couple of bin lids and try to slide it into alignment...Lot of moving the lift up and down along with the floor jack.

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I did the tail lights because somedays you are just looking to go out to the garage and do something that doesnt require a whole lot of thinking or muscle power.....And its something you can just check off....Everything here is new...lens, seals...I tried cleaning up the buckets, but the zinc plating was totally gone so I bought a new set....Really makes the trunk area look nice. The guy who did the welding on my car had all of these parts brand new laying around for years since he decided not to use them on his car....made me a killer deal on everything

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Then I started to put the wiring harness back in the rear of the car....(dash board to rear tail lights)...Then I stopped and was like....wtf am I doing here....Tossed this in the garbage and bought a new one....as with the front. After 52 years, this stuff has had it.
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Wiring isnt "done" persay, but its pretty close.

The bigger ass pain is all of this:

All of the brake lines are done....While I bought a pre bent set...It was like universal pre bent...Ala, fits nothing. So everything requried addition bending and I had to make a few other lines.

This spot...You can see the brake booster/master to the left, next to the wedged in the middle is the new clutch master, next to that is the brake distribution block, and also in there is the wiring harness. Every old car is famous for having VAST amounts of space under the hood to work on shit....except this one. Lot of work with the tubing bending, but I got all of the brake lines to fit....then i had to tighten everything in order as I put all of this crap together in the hopes that I dont have to take all back apart for a while....Famous last words...Pic here is before I bench bleed the master and finish up the brakes.
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So were moving along...I think next up I need to get myself an engine hoist and get the motor off the stand.
 
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