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Birth of Long John

Ok guys! The pitty party is over! Wife’s medical was false alarm as was mine! I’m ready to get back on this project. I have narrowed the rear housing to center the pinion gear. I have a 31 spline 3:70 posi and narrowed the cut to fit axles from Speedway and Wilwood disk brakes with emergency brakes. I have cut the rear frame railes off to lower it about 2” so the next move is pull the motor and trans and get the chassis back in the frame jig to be sure it’s straight.
 
old round fart said:
I have cut the rear frame rails off to lower it about 2” so the next move is pull the motor and trans and get the chassis back in the frame jig to be sure it’s straight.
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Will the low ride-height affect the scrub line, or do you worry about scrub lines on such a beast?

(PS - Glad to hear the health issues were not serious.)
 
Thanks Spanky. The scrub line will be the same. I just had too much clearance above the axle housing. Didn’t want to waste the space in the bed above the frame. Want the gas tank, battery and radiator back there.
 
Several months ago I cut my frame off at the kick up to lower it a little. Putting it back has not been so easy! I have many hours in the sweltering heat trying to put it back. Well. today I went scorched earth on that SOB! I could get all the angles equal and everything parallel but the cross measurements were 1/4” to 3/4” off no matter what I did. Today I pulled the motor and trans out and cut the car in half at the firewall! Tomorrow I start a new back half from scratch. I’m throwing the old one in the lake for fish houses! New pictures to follow!
 
Do you need to come over and we ca do some drawing first ?

Would that help ?
 
I don’t think a drawing would help. The problem I was having was getting the parts lined up exactly right. I can stack the kick up to get them identical but the relationship between the horizontal part (like the floor tube) to the step was giving me the problem. I just could not get that square. In all the measurement t discovered one tube was slightly under size. I ordered .120 wall but that tube was .095 wall. Don’t know how I missed that when I built the frame but that was the deciding factor. Motor is out and frame on jackstands so next mode is cutting frame in half!

On another note. I have been waiting 3 weeks for an A /C guy to come out and install my Minisplit. Ordered the vacuum pump and gages fromAmazon. They will be here Wednesday so I may need assistance with that install next week.
 
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Some of the mini split companies will not honor their warranty unless the unit is installed by a licensed contractor. In Tucson I did everything including hooking up the electrical, but hired a contractor to hook up the A/C lines and vacuum and charge the system. That maintained my 5 year warranty. Unfortunately one of the units went out at 5 years and two weeks. I'm trying to decide what brand to get this time. What do you have?
 
I went with Mr. Cool, due to the availability of spare parts! Some brands have none!
 
old round fart said:
Several months ago I cut my frame off at the kick up to lower it a little. Putting it back has not been so easy! I have many hours in the sweltering heat trying to put it back. Well. today I went scorched earth on that SOB! I could get all the angles equal and everything parallel but the cross measurements were 1/4” to 3/4” off no matter what I did. Today I pulled the motor and trans out and cut the car in half at the firewall! Tomorrow I start a new back half from scratch. I’m throwing the old one in the lake for fish houses! New pictures to follow!
Click to expand...
That will solve it! I’ve been known to physically throw a few things myself... sometimes a fresh start is the best resolve.
 
409T said:
Some of the mini split companies will not honor their warranty unless the unit is installed by a licensed contractor. In Tucson I did everything including hooking up the electrical, but hired a contractor to hook up the A/C lines and vacuum and charge the system. That maintained my 5 year warranty. Unfortunately one of the units went out at 5 years and two weeks. I'm trying to decide what brand to get this time. What do you have?
Click to expand...
True, and some require the installer to be one of “their” approved installers. I’ve personally repaired and installed hvac since I was 16, never epa licensed, but have accounts at wholesale supply houses so I can get whatever. I do 90% of the hvac work on my rentals because I can, it’s obviously cheaper, and the guys I know are usually very busy so I can provide timelier service for tenants. BTW, reducing the rentals has been a ongoing process over the recent several years.
 
old round fart said:
I got it a Lowes. I think it is BMI. ITS 1 ton and was about $700.
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Most come precharged for a specific line set length. Some even come with precharged, preterminated line sets. If you do need to braze the lines, wrap the valves with wet rags, swage or use fittings and braze or silver solder the lines. The newer refrigerants require a much higher pressure so traditional sweat soldering is highly sketchy and not recommended. Also, if you charge or check the charge, it’s wise to have shutoff valves at the connection ports because of the high pressure. Gloves are a good idea too. I’ve had frost burn in 90 degree weather from Freon burn. BTW the units I’ve installed recently all suggest nitrogen pressure testing and purges prior to charging. It’s really not cost effective to do this work for your self unless you do it often enough to offset the cost of all of the trade specific tools required to properly do it, from my experience, but unless you know a installer, it can be expensive. Hope it goes smoothly.
 
Got the A/C installed and I’m a little disappointed. It will not stay ahead of the heat so I need to insulate the shop. It will only drop temps 14-20 degrees below ambient and mine does the 20 degrees. It is good enough to work in there it’s not real cool. I may add another unit. That is about energy same as insulating but a lot less pain in the butt!
 
Yeah, insulation is a big help but if not done at time of construction can be a pita. My current shop is too small, but when we moved, I installed a bathroom and insulated it well prior to moving my tools and equipment in. Fortunately I had a friendly tenant who worked construction and he loaded me down with leftover material, and I bought a literal van full of r24 and r30 insulation for 200.00... I was able to insulate and frame walls and ceiling with OSB sheeting. Other than time, I had little money invested. I installed a 3 ton heat pump leftover from a remodel and it keeps the shop as cool as my house. Prior to doing so, the shop, a pole building, was miserable to be in. Now, even without the heat pump on, it’s not bad. I installed a 36” ceiling whole house vent fan in as well, it really helps too and will evacuate welding exhaust, etc, in short order. I just don’t have the energy and time, at the same time, to get much done anymore. It amazes me how much stuff comes up and absorbs my time when I’m retired and have so little to really do. Frustrating. I also have a large bank barn and it gets miserable hot. I have several large fans and if I open it up and turn them on, it gets tolerable. It’s hard to weld with air moving but it’s better than suffocating. I don’t know how I did it as a young man with none of those benefits... shade tree or a garage with a old furnace blower at best and I was productive.
 
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