iamdub
Full Access Member
Put some Cerakote on the plastics and that TrailBlazer will look factory fresh.
There are just some days I wish I didn't turn wrenches
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Put some Cerakote on the plastics and that TrailBlazer will look factory fresh.
OP
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We have a fresh box of Cerakote here and when the weather turns right for a couple days, our plans are to do just that.
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I have talked about my American Legion friend that is a custom knife maker. He travels all over the world for shows and people from across the world contact him to make a knife for them. These are worth well over a million dollars:
iamdub
Full Access Member
I know they all have different prices. But, the quick and basic math at an even $1,000,000 puts those at $37,000 each. I certainly appreciate handcrafted items but what makes them so valuable? Exotic and/or ultra rare materials? Metallurgy with an edge that's nearly impossible to dull? Would anyone ever actually use it as a pocket knife having spent that much on it? Are they intended to be a custom-made boutique item that rich people buy as a flex and/or dress accessory?
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I believe, D, all the above. He is known around the world and name recognition is part of it, too. Some of his knives have been for rulers of countries and are over 6 figures. He has well over 50 patents out there, too. Google him and see what is out there. Ron Lake.
iamdub
Full Access Member
That's impressive and, in multiple aspects, fascinating.
It's just a bit for me to wrap my head around.
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Me too, at first. Then I sit with him and have a meal and he explains all the pain staking work involved for the custom precision he puts in every knife and the materials involved for the handles/grips. He invented that little tab release at the heel of some of those knives. He has patents that are involved in the assembly of mass produced knives but the workmanship he puts in to the custom knives, will die with him. He is in his 80's and still builds them, at a much slower pace. He still travels to knife shows, too. I am proud to say that he is a close friend and uses me exclusively for his vehicle work.
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Since we had an ice storm here I have not done any work recently, except for a cam sensor on my girl's 2002 TrailBlazer 4.2. She had a sudden die at idle, in gear, at a stop light about 300 miles north. Started right back up but never saw a CEL. That was about 4 months ago. I looked at all grounds, fuel pressure and also checked for pressure loss, checked history codes and basically came up with nothing. Has been fine till about a week ago when the CEL came on and stayed on. Had a P0340 cam sensor related code. Ran great and no running problems or restart problems. Cleared code and has not come back. I ordered in a Genuine GM sensor and took extra time getting here because of ice storm.
Ok, so I replaced the cam sensor yesterday. Finally got the AC Delco/Genuine GM part in at AZ. It literally took all of 5 minutes to replace. I did find something interesting though. The attaching/hold down 10mm bolt was loose and backed out a bit and when I found that, I pushed on the cam sensor and it moved closer to head and bottomed out. There was no oil leak because the o-ring was still sealing in the hole/cylinder. So, it must have been floating at times. I wonder if the closeness to cam variance was enough to cause a CEL and the one time dying at idle at a stoplight? Here are the pics:
Ok, so I replaced the cam sensor yesterday. Finally got the AC Delco/Genuine GM part in at AZ. It literally took all of 5 minutes to replace. I did find something interesting though. The attaching/hold down 10mm bolt was loose and backed out a bit and when I found that, I pushed on the cam sensor and it moved closer to head and bottomed out. There was no oil leak because the o-ring was still sealing in the hole/cylinder. So, it must have been floating at times. I wonder if the closeness to cam variance was enough to cause a CEL and the one time dying at idle at a stoplight? Here are the pics:
OP
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iamdub
Full Access Member
The clearance ("air gap") of a Hall effect sensor is a precision specification. Do you recall the crankshaft sensor shims for the Vortec 350 and 4.3? On higher mileage engines, the wear in the crank bearings allowed the crank to move ever so slightly, mostly at high RPM, and the reluctor on the crank would actually contact the sensor tip. GM released a shim kit that was two .005" ring washers to space the CKP sensor away from the reluctor. You installed one and tested, then the other if one wasn't enough. That cam sensor is the same style and if it has visible slack, especially putting it AWAY from the reluctor, then I'd say that was the problem. If the PCM doesn't know where the cam is, it'll shut down all operations.
