2019 POTD Thread Archive

Today i had to fix my brother's Ford, the power steering is leaking he took it to couple of shops where they replaced a bunch of parts but it will still leak when parked, from logic only place where it will leak when cold is the reservar, so i left it over night and with a torch i found the leak coming in between the pump and the reservar, took it apart and found the reservar has changed shape and is now egg shape instead of round. So i decided to make a metal sleeve to press in it, to help it keep its shape, i started with some 14mm solid steel C45 grade, drill it with a smaller drill first then with the right size, this made lot of heat and discolored the piece, the outside needed to be little smaller then the original size of the rod, so i took my small belt sander and took couple passes and chamfer the end, then i put new o rings and some silicone and assembled it, such a ridiculous problem to have, as many problems seam to be on this mondeo.
IMG_20190413_192202.jpgIMG_20190414_163504.jpgIMG_20190414_163755.jpgIMG_20190414_164337.jpgIMG_20190414_165111.jpgIMG_20190414_165256_1.jpg
 
Chris wanted one of the shelf’s to put in the kitchen. So I made up one today
9c74382a7cb6f331ab0d770d41e72bc1.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Today i'm back on fixing the little Niva, first i fired up the grinder and flatten back the welds on the two front patch panels. Then i taped back the rubber grommet on the other bumper mount and grounded all the bubbling paint to bare steel, then i sprayed some anti rust acid, i'll need to make a patch for here. But it was getting late to make noise so i started taking apart the front suspension, i remove the wheel bearing oil seals and wirebrushed everything then i sprayed everything with some of the new anti rust acid. This was hard and dirty work, removing all the old grease and washing the bearings, the wheel hub has some scratches, looks like wheel bearing has span, i'll need to measure it and ether weld and turn it down or knurling.
IMG_20190416_170038.jpgIMG_20190416_170042.jpgIMG_20190416_170053.jpgIMG_20190416_194638.jpg
 
Whilst not technically a machining task I did do some mechanical work.
My neighbor woke me up this morning at10 am, well I am retired, with the news my aquaponic system was leaking and watering his yard.
I knew there was a leak somewhere and had been trying to find it for the last 3 days with no success.
This morning it was easy, water was pouring over one of the grow beds.
Some bird set bush tomatoes had set root in three of the beds and I thought I would see how much fruit they produced.
It was a lot but they were taking a long time to ripen and their root system had gone ballistic and clogged the auto drains so the bed flooded and overflowed.
Time to remove them. I should have taken a before shot as this is after they were removed.
aqua-1.jpg

Now for the mechanical part that was also todays job.
I had built a shredder from some old popular mechanics plans a few years ago utilizing an old lawnmower and had to rebuild the pulley system and get a new motor for it.
shredder-1.jpg
absolutely required for this job as there was a barrow load of tomato plants to pulverise for compost.
shredder-2.jpg

And it made this much
shredder-3.jpg
 
I've been in desperate need of a metal storage area. The collection of metal was becoming too cumbersome. The collection of random buckets filled with stuff was a pain to sort they to figure out what I had. I dumped everything on the floor and started at it for 3 days, it was strategically placed in the center of the floor and in front of the lathe. I couldn't work at the lathe and it was a royal pain to get to the mill lol20190417_220403.jpg
So after 3 days of nothing happening in the shop and staring at the pile I got serious...
I drew up several plans, made a decision made a material cut sheet, packed up saw, straight edge, clamps and extra batteries and made a lowes material run.
I have a smaller SUV, I can not fit big sheets of plywood in it, they need to be cut up. I found one of their flat roller carts, loaded 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood on it. Headed out to the parkinglot and cut up everything to size, loaded it into the suv and drove home.
At the shop I only needed to cut pieces for the shelf cleats guess and screw it all together.
Finished product
20190418_182144.jpg20190418_182203.jpg
It seems to be just what I needed. Also storage of shop fixtures. I'm happy
 
Today i spent some time in my overalls grinding the rest of the rust from the front panel, and then i gave it a coat of primer, i disassemble the headlight brackets and did them as well, then come the hard job of wirebrashing the front suspension and applying a coat of direct to rust primer to stop the rust and prolong the life of the parts, hard dirty job.
IMG_20190418_172011.jpgIMG_20190418_172018.jpgIMG_20190418_172032.jpgIMG_20190418_172043.jpg
 
It's way past midnight by the time i got back home, but decided i need to finish at least one job on the little niva tonight, so i decided it should be assembling the hub i disassembled, the brake disk is mounted on the inside and is all hold down with the wheel studs, i did a bit of setting up on my shop press and settled the studs and the brake disk. From disassembling it, i know the studs have not been installed properly and the disk was loose, so i check the other side and it also wasn't done correctly, this car has new disks so whoever changed them never fitted the wheel studs in all the way. The second disk did took a lot more pressure to get them fitted and made a loud pop and all 5 of them. As for my shop press, i know the bottle jack is leaking a lot, and the entire thing needs to be retired but still seems to get the job done.
IMG_20190420_112528.jpgIMG_20190420_111651.jpg
 
On my lunchtime I cooked up a rocket stove from parts I've been collecting out of the scrap bin . After the engineering time , machine time , along with the original costs of the scrap parts , I figure this thing is worth bout $9 grand or so :grin: LMAO , at least it kept me busy for an hour . :encourage:

Can't load pics now but maybe tomorrow . ( it is pretty cool looking )
 
Well happy easter to everyone, after my last post i keep on work and pulled an allnighter, and assembled the drivers side upright, bearings, new seals all installed packed with grease. Then i went over to the Little Niva and checked the tie rod end, it has a broken boot but the joint it self is tight, so i went over my spares and took off a good boot from a bull joint from an renault alpine that happens to be the right size, because it was open i decided to drill and tap it for a zerk fitting, this way it will be a serviceable item, next to be installed was the freshly rebuilt axle, installed with new spring washers and teflon nuts. Then i installed the upper a arm and then i put on the hub and install all new stainless hardware, then i tested the new wheels by jacking up the suspension, and checking for wheel rub thru the suspension travel and it fits great, then come the hard part, installing the front spring, the car is on jack stands, and they are in the middle, which makes it very unstable, also is very light, so as soon as i started to compress the spring it started lifting so i started loading the corner with every heavy thing i had to hand, little by little i did manage to assemble it without injuries or damage, it took me about 6 hours to finish this corner, but i took my time and install anti seize on all the bolts, also drill tap and install a zerk fitting on the top ball joint and grease them, there's not room to fit one to the bottom one.
IMG_20190420_114503.jpgIMG_20190420_122327.jpgIMG_20190420_123105.jpgIMG_20190420_125030.jpgIMG_20190420_130555.jpgIMG_20190420_134417.jpgIMG_20190420_142814.jpgIMG_20190420_154208.jpgIMG_20190420_154222.jpg
 
Back
Top