There are just some days I wish I didn't turn wrenches

[OR VietVet]

The manual of that Nissan I bought new at the end of 2021 says the brake fluid needs to be flushed every 10K. BULLŚHIT.

Completely agree. BF is not even getting close to needing a flush, IMO, till 30k miles, unless you are ******* the brakes and ride them in the passes and tow and and and......Used to be about every 3 years or 40k to 50k miles.

 

[iamdub]

Completely agree. BF is not even getting close to needing a flush, IMO, till 30k miles, unless you are ******* the brakes and ride them in the passes and tow and and and......Used to be about every 3 years or 40k to 50k miles.

Agreed. In my example, this is a Nissan Kicks. There's not even enough mass to be hárd on the brakes.

 

[OR VietVet]

Well, after the F150 workout, I now have a welcome break in the action. I have offered to roll to my friend's shop to help get him caught up and am waiting to see what he says. He does things his way, so he may just work a weekend to get there.

My girl's favorite cousin passed away overnight and I need to help her get thru this. I am off for tacos today and then will just be with her to do what needs done. It was expected but is never accepted. Her brother, who passed in 2004 and was a Vietnam Vet, and this cousin were very close and my girl was always the younger sister to the both of them that "hung around" and went everywhere with both of them. She will now be in her "take it all on and put it on her shoulders" mode and be there for the wife and rest of family. She just cannot help herself. 40+ years as a flight attendant helping others and taking after her mother, has made her a SAINT in everyone's eyes.

 

[OR VietVet]

Got a contact last night from an AL member that he wants me to get and install the outer window belt weatherstrip on both front doors of his 2011 Tundra. RA had them and are ordered. The front pair at RA are the same price as just the one is at the dealer. Should take all of 30 minutes to replace both. Hopefully he wants more done after I look under the hood but he is tight with his money but a great guy.

 

[OR VietVet]

I knew if I sat around long enough, I would get some more work. As I said, waiting on the window weatherstrip pieces to come in.

Now my girl's landlord called and his son has a 77k mile 1996 Toyota Tacoma 2wd with a 2.4 engine and has a hot soak starting problem. I tried and tried to duplicate but could not. I had done some inspection of it when he took possession from a deceased relative and I did an air filter and a complete inspection and all looked good. I was gonna do the fuel filter before but it looks like a supreme PITA to do and now with the starting problem, that I have not been able to duplicate so far, it looks like I will do it because I want to remove for restriction inspection. We have no previous work paperwork for this truck. I plan to do a MAF and throttle body clean too. He is also missing a "front bumper filler piece" on the right side. The left one is such a dark Forest Green, that it looks black. I found a new pair, left and right, at RA for about $13 and are black. Gonna replace them and make them both black. If you stand back about 3 feet or more, you cannot tell the difference.

 

[OR VietVet]

Then, while I was researching the Tacoma parts, a new local prospective buyer for the 65 Mustang, called and wants to see it Tuesday and is aware of all the concerns. He asked me, "If I buy it can I replace the clutch and oil pan"? Hell yes I can. Can I fix the brake pull to the left and the brake vibes? Yes I can. He would put new tires on and align, so the slight drift left and the 55 mph front vibes will likely be cured by that. He is aware of the missing door build tag but she has located a company that supplies the blank tag and can stamp the info in for her. The weather has turned nice here and is daily in the 70's to very low 81 to 82 degrees. My kind of car work weather.

I told him I estimate 5 hours labor for the clutch, at $80 an hour. That tiny transmission should be no problem. I even have the pilot bearing puller tool and the install tool. If all else fails, I will do the grease in the pilot hole and drive the install tool handle in there and a couple good whacks and it should pop right out.

The rear crank seal is the old two piece design and can still get the "rope seal design". Not gonna do that at all, unless he buys the special tool to remove the upper half of the seal and does not hold me responsible for the bearing condition.

 

[OR VietVet]

The prospective 65 Mustang buyer must be serious. He is coming to look on Tuesday afternoon. He also wanted an estimate to replace the oil pan when doing the clutch. He also wanted brake concerns estimate. Hard brake pedal will pull left and higher speed and apply brakes and has front vibes. I told him I have an inspection fee and then can give repair estimate. We shall see.

 

[OR VietVet]

Talked to a guy in NJ today about the missing door tag on the Mustang. He clued me in on a guy in AZ at Marti Auto Works that has the blank tags and can make them with a pic of old tag or supplied codes for the new tag. I have all the line codes figured out for the tag except for the axle gear ratio and I will do than on Tuesday. Then the guy in NJ asked how much for the car because he is partners with another guy and they own Classic Pony Cars and No Reserve Classics and they want the 65 Mustang to dress up and go thru the engine and suspension and add 4 wheel disc brakes and resell it. Have to wait till the Tuesday view guy shows and see what he says.

 

[OR VietVet]

The best part of today was that the weatherstrip parts showed up for the 2011 Tundra, friend from AL. The worst part of the day was the Tundra showing up. The aftermarket parts from RA sucked a big hind *T*I*T*. The old OE part/weatherstrip came off pretty easy. The aftermarket part matched up close to 90% but that 10% kicked my ass. Looked at videos and was made by Toyota to be easy to install. The aftermarket company FUBAR. There is 5 little gripper tabs that the channel was supposed to attach to, located inside the door outer skin. Tabs there but no matter what I tried, the tabs would not grab the channel in the small clip on area. On the OE part, that channel is flat and allows the tabs some room to get in there and grab and hold. The aftermarket ones had a bulb seal like design, along the whole strip that would not give the tabs any room to allow them to settle in the channel. Ordered OE weatherstrip for left and right doors and will install when get here. Learned a lesson about quality parts. There are numerous videos on you tube about pissed off techs across the country and the POS parts they are handed sometimes.

 

[OR VietVet]

The local 65 Mustang prospective buyer was waffling too much and I shut him down. Told him to come in with an offer by 10 last night. Did not hear from him till this morning and he said he typically does not answer texts in the evening. I told him he had to pay $26k or no deal. He balked, Goodbye. Then this morning I talked to the first guy that already came and looked and he said he would be up this weekend with $25,500 cash and a trailer. Hope it is all done with by then.

I was supposed to finally put the new p/s mirror on the 2020 Acura RDX this morning but the 80+ year old owner forgot. His "friend" got on the phone and said he would be here by 10 tomorrow morning. Will get that done finally.

The fuel filter showed today for the 96 Tacoma and the bumper fillers are to be here on Monday and then I can get that all done.

Unfortunately, when the local 65 Mustang buyer went stupid, I lost $800 labor money but it is what it is. Likely good that it happened because he may have been a PITA to deal with on the clutch and oil pan work.