Stuff my dog says; on second thought I'll just build a race car

I'm on a roll this week. Not only can I not get a belt that actually measures it's advertised length my breather tank came in. The ad copy clearly states that it incorporates a ball valve in the bottom of the tank which I was planning to plumb into the oil pan. The bottom of the tank however is as smooth and solid as it can be.
I'll end up just drilling and tapping the thing pipe thread and putting a valve on myself but seriously, how can so many people involved in the automotive aftermarket be that bad at their jobs?
 
NashGTI said:
I'm on a roll this week. Not only can I not get a belt that actually measures it's advertised length my breather tank came in. The ad copy clearly states that it incorporates a ball valve in the bottom of the tank which I was planning to plumb into the oil pan. The bottom of the tank however is as smooth and solid as it can be.
I'll end up just drilling and tapping the thing pipe thread and putting a valve on myself but seriously, how can so many people involved in the automotive aftermarket be that bad at their jobs?
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I go through it daily. I have one particular auto body supply co. (think nationwide) that I deal with, and with the exception of one guy who I've dealt with for over 40 years, they are all idiots. I have to do ALL of my own tech research because they are too lazy to offer the customer service I pay for. On another note, a friend of mine is building a '74 Challenger with coilover susp. etc. He paid around 10k for the kit and I was looking at and asked him where the rear sway (anti-roll) bar was. He was told not to put one on as it would not make it handle any better and would make it ride rough. I'm not a chassis tuning expert but I've built and driven several race cars and can call complete B.S. on that. Yeah, it sucks dealing with people who's last job required the use of the phrase "would you like fries with that?".
 
Paul Sutton said:
Apparently close to 25% of Americans have worked at McDonald's at some time in their career.
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Well I never had to ask "Do you want Fries with that" Nope I was the guy making the fries! They actually let me run the grill a few times and also make those apple pies that would burn the top of your mouth they were so hot!

Here's a question for those that did work at McD's how many managed to get paid OT? When I worked there it was back before the breakfast menu came out and I did the morning set-up along with working the other stuff. One week one of the other kids asked me to fill in for him on a Saturday so I said sure. That was enough to put me over the 40 hour limit for my states straight time rules. I was lucky and the boss was actually a great guy and had no problem with it.

My next job was working as a mechanics helper in the shop at the local quarry, but that job only lasted for about 45 years!
 
No fast food for me either. Growing up until I left for college I did handman type jobs and delivered newspapers. Once I got to Nashville I got my first real paycheck job at a car dealer and worked there for 9 years.

I do agree with the adage that everyone should have to work some type of service industry job at some point though.
 
Third time was the charm on the belt. I finally got one I'm happy with. Just needed one an inch longer than it's advertised length. Obviously.
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Decent amount of belt engagement on the pulley with this one. Something I'm not pleased with is tensioner design. Factor of putting a blower on an engine that wasn't even sold with power steering is there isn't any place readily available on the engine to mount a belt tensioner. I've got a mock up now.

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But I'm not sure I'm going to use this design. It's not something I like the look of even though it would probably work. It's also on the wrong side of the belt as it's on the tension side not the slack side. To get something on the slack side it'll have to be even more of a monstrosity.
 
GLJ said:
I'm curious how did you come up with the pulley diameters for the drive and driven pulleys for the blower?
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Max operating speeds of the engine and supercharger. Followed by easiest thing to get, with assistance from the Desktop Dyno program to double check boost numbers. The max engine speed is 5 thousand RPM and should realistically be kept under that, the max input shaft RPM on the blower is listed by Eaton as 12 thousand RPM. My initial plan for that was a 5 inch crank pulley and 2.5 inch supercharger pulley to keep that blower speed to a 10 thousand max. What I ended up finding though was that 5.5 inch is a pretty standard power steering pulley diameter so that's what I got there and should keep things to 11 thousand max. According to the desktop dyno program that should give just under 6 psi of boost which suits me just fine.

TLDR: Math
 
Axle bearings were delivered this afternoon, so after finishing up work for the day and going home to get the bearings I'm now back at work hoping to get those backing plates sand blasted and painted tonight so that they will hopefully be dry enough to press on bearings and reassemble the axle Sunday.

I need better paint
 
NashGTI said:
Axle bearings were delivered this afternoon, so after finishing up work for the day and going home to get the bearings I'm now back at work hoping to get those backing plates sand blasted and painted tonight so that they will hopefully be dry enough to press on bearings and reassemble the axle Sunday.

I need better paint
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What'cha using?
 
NashGTI said:
Nothing but the....?passable in a pinch?

View attachment 219706

It should be OK for the back axle though I'm thinking. Especially an ancient pitted not thoroughly sand blasted axle.
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On car/truck chassis's and parts I like to use PPG's AUE line of coatings. They can mix black to whatever gloss level you like, it dries fast and is inexpensive. For rattle cans both Krylon and Duplicolor dry faster. The only thing slower than Rust-oleum is me, IMHO.
 
46th Georgia said:
On car/truck chassis's and parts I like to use PPG's AUE line of coatings. They can mix black to whatever gloss level you like, it dries fast and is inexpensive. For rattle cans both Krylon and Duplicolor dry faster. The only thing slower than Rust-oleum is me, IMHO.
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Yeah I'm used to dupont enamel spray and it dries quick. This stuff is glacial but was half the price. It'll all get there in the end right?

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Also, I don't know what normal drum brake backing plate thickness is but these things are Hefty. More than an eighth inch think they feel twice as heavy as memory serves others to be.
 
Woke up tired and sore this morning so I didn't go in til after lunch. The paint was basically dry so I was able to press stuff back together and put the axles back in. Except I promptly lipped the outer seal metal ring on the axle housing putting the right side together.
Dana 44 are weird, so the casing of that outer seal does double duty as a retaining spacer for the axle. That means I have axial play in the right rear axle now that shouldn't be there. Which means I have to replace that seal, which means cutting off and replacing the brand new bearing again.
To top things off, feeling not great this morning graduated to feeling pretty awful this afternoon so I'm laying on a couch in the lobby right now. Not the productive use of my time I want.
 
Disaster of a day, I should've just stayed home but felt I needed to get things on the car in case I can't make it tomorrow so things are out of the way for Monday morning. In addition to the wheel bearing snafu I also managed to cross thread a brake line and give the axle a forearm shiver.
 

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I was finally able/willing to work on the car again today after being ill for a while. Got the rear brakes assembled this morning and verified that the wheel cylinder is indeed leaking and cross threaded so the wheel cylinder and line will have to be replaced. Then I went to work on the blower belt tensioner.
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I've got something here now and I THINK it will work. I started the engine and it didn't squeal like a pig (boy) or immediately chuck the belt into my face. Granted there is very little stress on the belt with the supercharger just free spinning but it's a start.

 
I got literally one of the things I wanted done today. I fit the oil filter stuff and made the hoses but the system isn't sealed yet because I need a fitting for the oil cooler as the one I have isn't correct. Then I capped that block PCV tube and put on an AN adapter to run it up to the catch can, but didn't actually mount the catch can anywhere yet. Nor do I have the fittings I need to connect it.
I did however put in a short support piece for the rail that holds the steering reversing gear and bottom side of the supercharger mount brackets. So hey, I got at least one thing done.

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I haven't done it yet, but I'm finally accepting of the fact that I'm going to have to do all the aluminum welding myself too. None of the people who have offered help with it have actually come through. Time to get practicing on that again I guess.
 

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