Your own repairs

[Steve]

In Canada you get fined 1000's of dollars and get license suspended and possibly jail time....It is Mandatory to have full auto insurance period

[Tom]

Having insurance is mandatory in the US....but I don't know what the penalties are in Georgia
Probably not too severe, if I were to guess.


Also...the "minimum" liability policies are grossly insufficient.

[Tom]

So...I looked it up.


First Offense $25 lapse fee; $60 reinstatement fee Driver's license and registration suspended for 60 days. Up to one year in jail.

Second Offense $25 lapse fee; $60 reinstatement fee Driver's license and registration suspended for 90 days. Up to one year in jail.

Third and Subsequent Offenses $25 lapse fee; $160 reinstatement fee Driver's license and registration suspended for six months. Up to one year in jail.


Not much of a deterrent for the section of society that does not mind spending a little time in County jail every now and then.
Very little financial deterrent at all.

[Tom]

Charity job I am doing.
Transmission in a 1998 Taurus. Sub-frame has to come out....and I had to buy a engine holding fixture.
I used to have a engine holding fixture, but some loser stole it when I worked at PB, many years ago.
Instead of splurging $200+ for a brand name...I bought one at Chinese (Harbor) Freight for $69
Hardest part of the job is getting the exhaust off. I ended up cutting one bolt, so I'll be taking the rear exhaust manifold off to attempt extraction.
Off to an Aamco on Monday to be rebuilt. Friend of a friend runs one and is going to do it at minimal cost.

Attachments:

[Bob]

So that's what you been up to. They are a pain to do without a lift.

[Tom]

Jul 31, 2016 12:47:49 GMT Bob said:

So that's what you been up to. They are a pain to do without a lift.

Uh yeah......We never did get the front of the car lifted high enough to get the trans rolled out from underneath the car while still on a trans jack.
Greg did "something" that caused the trans to roll off the jack, so I just dragged it out from underneath the car on a sheet of cardboard.
In addition to the engine holding fixture, I also bought a 800 lb trans jack at Chinese Freight.

Not really a hard job, IF you have the right tools. Not having a lift makes it a little harder of course.
BUT...to be quite honest, I always hated working under a lifted car with the engine holding fixture in place.

Did most of the work in the early morning, before it got real hot outside.
So....while I did not sweat a lot, I did get a lot of skeeter bites.
Just can't win.

[purplecharger]

Jul 31, 2016 16:26:07 GMT Tom said:

Jul 31, 2016 12:47:49 GMT Bob said:

So that's what you been up to. They are a pain to do without a lift.

Uh yeah......We never did get the front of the car lifted high enough to get the trans rolled out from underneath the car while still on a trans jack.
Greg did "something" that caused the trans to roll off the jack, so I just dragged it out from underneath the car on a sheet of cardboard.
In addition to the engine holding fixture, I also bought a 800 lb trans jack at Chinese Freight.

Not really a hard job, IF you have the right tools. Not having a lift makes it a little harder of course.
BUT...to be quite honest, I always hated working under a lifted car with the engine holding fixture in place.

Did most of the work in the early morning, before it got real hot outside.
So....while I did not sweat a lot, I did get a lot of skeeter bites.
Just can't win.

Tom just keeping spraying around the house for Zilka free zone

[Tom]

Got the transmission back yesterday. Cost of rebuild was $309

A good friend of mine set me up with a trans shop that did it at their parts cost.
The $309 even included a remanufactured torque converter.

Looks like I know what I will be doing this weekend.

[Tom]

Also managed to find my daughter a "new for her" car yesterday.
1997 Camry with 109k miles. A few bumps and bruises but seems to run great.
Going to put some new struts, sway bar links, water pump/timing belt on it....just because I can.

Bought complete "quick struts" that have new mounts and springs.
Retail at around $150 each. A friend of mine who works at a Wholesale parts place got them for me, for $80 each.

[purplecharger]

Aug 25, 2016 22:22:49 GMT Tom said:

Also managed to find my daughter a "new for her" car yesterday.
1997 Camry with 109k miles. A few bumps and bruises but seems to run great.
Going to put some new struts, sway bar links, water pump/timing belt on it....just because I can.

Bought complete "quick struts" that have new mounts and springs.
Retail at around $150 each. A friend of mine who works at a Wholesale parts place got them for me, for $80 each.

Friends in special places pays off sometimes

[Tom]

Aug 26, 2016 13:14:10 GMT purplecharger said:

Friends in special places pays off sometimes

No kidding. That friend has saved me tons of money over the last year.

A few days before I left for Carlisle, I needed a new fuel pump assembly for a 2003 Expedition. At local parts stores it was $325-$350
My friend at the wholesaler sold me one for $175.
I generally can get parts at around 50% of parts store pricing.....and they have always had what I needed in stock.
The only downside is that they are closed on weekends.

[Tom]

Did some work on both of my Rams today. The blower motor on my DD had been getting louder and louder.
Picked one up at O'Reiilys for ;ess than $50 and changed it out very quickly.
What was real nice is that it also fixed another problem.
For as long as I have owned the truck, airflow has been real weak. You can hear the blower motor running at speed, but the airflow out of the vents has always been weak.
You really notice it on hot days.
I kind of assumed it had an under dash problem, maybe with the doors on the heat/ac box.
Turns out it was a couple leaves inside the squirrel cage. Now the airflow is strong as it should be.

Then I put a new radiator and battery in my 2000. Sitting up for a few months in the cold killed the battery.
Radiator trans cooler pipe (lower) had a crack in it and was spewing fluid.
$24.99 for a gallon of ATF+4

[Bob]

Feb 1, 2017 21:14:32 GMT Tom said:

Did some work on both of my Rams today. The blower motor on my DD had been getting louder and louder.
Picked one up at O'Reiilys for ;ess than $50 and changed it out very quickly.
What was real nice is that it also fixed another problem.
For as long as I have owned the truck, airflow has been real weak. You can hear the blower motor running at speed, but the airflow out of the vents has always been weak.
You really notice it on hot days.
I kind of assumed it had an under dash problem, maybe with the doors on the heat/ac box.
Turns out it was a couple leaves inside the squirrel cage. Now the airflow is strong as it should be.

Then I put a new radiator and battery in my 2000. Sitting up for a few months in the cold killed the battery.
Radiator trans cooler pipe (lower) had a crack in it and was spewing fluid.
$24.99 for a gallon of ATF+4

Is the DD a diesel dually?

[Tom]

daily driver....The 98 Ram

[Bob]

Feb 1, 2017 23:01:08 GMT Tom said:

daily driver....The 98 Ram

I thought you upgraded.😁😁😁😁😁