Took a break from construction work and decided to change out the steering box on the Ghia. It was steering like a boat, so I picked up a new box for it. What a pain in the ass removing the old box turned out to be. Had to unbolt the gas tank retainers and prop the tank up just to get the old box out The ball joints, all the tie rod ends and the pitman arm joints looked good, so I won't be replacing them now, even though I have all new replacement parts on hand, but will be installing a new steering dampener.

Old box:

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Prepping new box (filled it with white lithium grease and painted it to keep rust at bay):

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Cleaned up old parts for re-use:

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New dampener - needed it, the old one was real sloppy:

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Will be installing the new steering box after I finish cleaning up and giving the suspension & braking components a shot of new paint

The smoke is so bad in the air (fires) that my wife forbid me from going outside. I was bored all day.

Pretty bad in Utah too..

The reason I didn't work on my 914...

I was working on my next door neighbor's 914. No kidding.

Our neighbor has a Blue 75 2.0 that he bought brand new. It is a 1 owner car, but Bob knows nothing about cars. So I help him out.

His wife Debbie saw the LED lights we put on our 3 914s, and wanted to get Bob a set. So she had me order them. They came in yesterday and I went over and installed them. Spokeworks LED boards all around, and 914 Rubber LED headlights.

He loves them. They are MUCH brighter, and much safer.

I also replaced his left rear taillight lens, and put on a late fuse box cover I had laying around. His backup lights don't work, but I think it is the backup light switch. And the rear sway bar link has broken one bushing.


It was a fun evening talking and installing the lights.

With some help from a few of the guys at the shop we pulled this rust bucket out. A 1984 CJ-7. Its definitely in rough shape... to say the least , but it will make an awesome project and all the pieces are there. This jeep was actually my fathers in the late 90's which he had always regretted selling. So - after years of watching it rust in a field we finally bought it back and plan to restore it to exactly how it was some 25 years ago.

Dug out the 6"x14" ATS 'Classic' wheel I had repaired last year and fitted it to the '66 912 to see how much clearance it had. Looks good to me

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The original 'steelie' lug nuts were rusty from years of neglect, so I subjected them to a session on the wire wheel and hit them with some flat black paint. They'll have to do for now.

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I'll have to start looking for some decent 14" tires in the near future ...

Also, installed another window in the north side of the laundry room project.

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I have some drain pipe and gas line plumbing rework to do before finishing the siding on the north wall ...

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... hoping to get that done after the current heat spell simmers down

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Years ago I rescued a flagpole. It was ready for a repaint, new sheave, rope and flag.

Nice going guys.

I got the rebuilt engine and overhauled subframe/front suspension back in the ‘74 Tii.

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I (finally) finished the Two Rock Elementary entrance gate and my co-conspirator (Randy from DreamScapes) got it installed!

@tygaboy - nice!

The Cayman objected to not being exercised frequently over the past few months.

Let's see if my new purchase will help the situation.

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*simulated internet photo for your visual stimulation.

Sorry to hear about the smoky air, people living near wild fires and can't go out. Here in the desert about 110 today, in early morning had to change trans oil in honda civic and trim flowers for wife EARLY before the heat came, now stuck inside from the heat. Still have to put the odometer back into the 914, MAYBE tomorrow real early 5:45 am when light. About another 6 more weeks and will bring it out for the fall, winter, spring driving season. Click to view attachment

Saw this on the Planet-9.com forum, John. If the battery is dead and you can't access the cockpit or front trunk, here's a neat method to charge the battery up ...

I'd add an inline fuse to the positive leg though

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Who would have thought that you need to break in to your own car to be able to charge or change the battery.

I got lucky. When my battery went dead, I couldn't unlock the driver's door or front trunk, but there was just enough juice left to pop the rear hatch. I crawled into the cockpit and was able to open the driver's door from the inside. Then I watched a video on youtube that showed where there's a connection inside the fuse panel to hook up a 12 volt source. I connected one of those small emergency battery packs there, which provided enough power to allow me to pop open the front trunk so I could swap out the battery


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/ss6-8TJYIqE

The 914 looks great, some fantastic driving to be had out there once it cools down.

Thanks for the kind words, have to wash it in Oct, right now just in storage, very dusty. This pic was taken in Jan at a car show

No work in the 914 , went up to Charlotte NC to visit our son and while my wife was at a class yesterday i drove up to Denver to pay Rick of Rix914parts.com a visit at his shop! besides having a sweet creamcicle LE he happy had at Okteenerfest and Amelia island, and besides his 914 parts like the firewall bushing, back pads, /6 carb intake hats, beautiful rebuilt pedal assemblies, etc etc, he has a few nice /6 conversion projects going on too. just wanted to shout out to rick for the hospitality, a couple brews and just time to shoot the breeze, thanks! hope to get back up there again in the near future.
oh and as a bonus, we left 100degrees in southern South Carolina for 78-82(62 this morning) and just 39% humidity! didn’t have to go far to escape the humidity and heat .

It’s crazy HOT outside

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charlotte NC today, we had 100 in HHI South Carolina Friday, broke a 100year record!

Wife wanted her Secretary desk brightened up. Too hot to paint during the day. She’s real impatient so doing the best I can. Moved it inside to cure some more before reinstalling hardware.

Also making some progress on the 936
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changing original tires out of 79 CT70

Waiting to see if I still have oil leaks after replacing the feed line hose and installing a Rothsport check valve on my -6. Rain and lightning/thunder around here so not taking it out.

Well it’s getting worst!


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Staying Indoors!

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I have done close to nothing on my 914 since the beginning of May. We hit 104 on April 29th, the first week of May hit 106F, the next two weeks was closer to normal. The last week of May hit 112F. Usually when the heat hits early in May the summer is mild, staying mostly under 105F. We have had close to two months over 110F this summer. Two weeks of over 115F. No rain to speak of, we normally have thunderstorms most of August. Last summer broke heat records, this summer almost doubled those records. After 55 years it might be time to move.
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We got lucky. After 95% +++ humidity all summer long, we just had a great weekend. Nice temps and low humidity.

Yeah, HOT again ... 103° here today. Washed wife's Outback under the shade tree, then took a long nap, as I didn't get enough sleep last night

Just ordered (4) Toyo Extensa A/S II P195/70R14 90T tires from TiresDirect.net for the 912's ATS wheels. Labor Day special pricing, $50. discount, no tax & free shipping. $225. shipped to my door

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Unfair competition.

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Built the shelves last week now I have moved in 3 2 stroke twins.

Been working on a sign for a local coffee shop, just delivered it and installed it today. Quite pleased with the end results. Pardon the tinted photo, lots of smoke in the air here in CA still...

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That seems like a great deal

^ @tygaboy this is super, super cool…

And plain beautiful.

Front done... change out the CAD in a bit

Got the power steering connected on the FJ40 V8 swap (came to me like this, making lemonade from a VERY rough rig). The event we did with it last year was rough at points without it.

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@euro911 - those tires any good? Handling?

Don't know, just ordered them yesterday. Here's some reviews though:

"I bought a set of these for my 2014 BMW X1 Xdrive28i all wheel drive. My initial impression of the tires are good. Very quiet, smooth, minimal resistance when taking off from zero and definitely better braking power than the purelli tires that the car came with. Rain traction has been good as well. You can find these at a decent price. I'm usually a Yokohama guy but these toyos were a great choice. I've put less than 1000 miles on the tires so it's a little early to gauge overall handling but so far so good. Definitely need grip with all wheel drive."

"These tires are great! Very quiet, great grip and reduced my stopping distance greatly. Good tires for the price, would purchase again."

"The car drives better with these tires good steering response."

... and some more ... https://www.mavistire.com/tire-reviews/toyo/extensa/

Huh?

I don't think that's my quote ... but while on the subject of music, I did pick up another axe (Fender 'Player Series' Jaguar MIM)- was delivered today. I need to perform a set-up on it, (typical process)

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^^ What he said almost +10F over average for the whole summer.

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Pulled a muscle or knocked a vertebrae in my lower back out of place yesterday (Wed.), so went to see my chiropractor. Made a couple of adjustments and stuck me on the roller table with an ice pack under my back for about 20 minutes (holiday on ice ) - feeling much better now, but not ready to do anything too strenuous just yet - let it heal up a bit more

So, what to do with the down time? ... performed a set-up session on the new Jaguar (not the car) ... plays well ... it has totally different sound than any of my other axes.

Woke up to find that the local fires dropped a ton (well, a half-ton) of ash on everything. With the nightly marine layer and the ash, it fuched-up all the recently washed vehicles sitting outside ... oh well, at least the daytime temperatures came down a little.

___________________________

Mark

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I spent my Saturday repairing RSR front spoiler damage.
Guys...don't fight with parking lot bumpers, they usually win


Oscar
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Car looks great Oscar.

Installed new coil springs in our '10 LR4 Land Rover. Originally it had air bags which worked fine until last week the truck wouldn't go up from it's lowest position. Luckily just a few blocks away from home so I was able to drive it.

I could have fixed the air system, however with the age and mileage it is going to be one issue after another unless I replace everything at once.

Rides good with the coil springs, everything works except that I cannot lower it to make getting in to or out easier or raise it up higher for added ground clearance which I don't do any kind of rock crawling it, it has plenty of clearance at normal ride height.

The little box is to trick the electronics into thinking the system is working correctly.

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No work on Chucky this weekend.
Spent 9 hrs in bumper to bumper traffic returning from Vegas last night (work related)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)



Oscar


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Took the dash out of our 79 928 for the fourth time, and North Hollywood finally got it right... everything works now, although the cruise control kicks in at 28 mph, which is 3 mph late

[quote name='ValcoOscar' date='Sep 28 2020, 08:39 AM' post='2854983']
No work on Chucky this weekend.
Spent 9 hrs in bumper to bumper traffic returning from Vegas last night (work related)

Oscar

Had a similar situation a few year's ago, peeled off I-15 and took the long way home through Death Valley, Trona, Ridgecrestand Palmdale down to I-5 then home. Beat others in our group who stuck to I-15 by 30 minutes. Ended up seeing a beautiful sunset in Death Valley and had a stress free drive.

Bob

Thanks, Oscar.

Been feeling much better, but have one more chiro visit later today (Wed), just to make sure I'm back on track.

After I replaced the steering box and tidied-up & painted front the suspension/brake components on the Ghia last month, decided to move to the rear and do likewise there.

Here's the driver's side (the passenger side look just as good now too)

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... and of course, the job wouldn't be complete unless I wire-wheeled & painted the lug bolts.

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Also, disconnected & labeled all the motor wiring, cables & hoses in prep for dropping the drive train. Going to replace the howling transaxle & will be refurbishing the CV joints soon.

Also ... this neat device was delivered on Tuesday afternoon

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It's going to make moving trailers a whole lot easier. I think if I can fabricate an extension with some additional wheels to keep it on an even plane, I can use it to move cars too

On a much needed vacation.

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