1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

nissan titan tow

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far left of photo is a glimpse of the big nissan.
5.6L normally sounding awesome with 2 pipes.

a relay is keeping it from starting.
I had just mentioned the "thick" rain from the other day.
it can grab at any make and model. Hard to be prepared.

my neighbor asked if I could tug him out of the pit and back home. only 1 mile or so
wanted to tug at my summer welds anyway.

the gmc looks huge next to it.. and with a smaller 5 liters.
you could imagine how fun that little nissan must be

truck did good at the tug. had to use reverse and forward gears.
no creaking or squeaking.
the shame of this manual v8 gmc is feeling infinite... a reason it needed welds in the first place.
an owner got too ambitious many years ago with tow ability. I am the one fixing it since I have owned it.

I can call it a full half ton again.

[Barry Donovan]

working the new buzz

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looking over the truck this AM,
30.6F was the low
our coldest day since July

the new welds are being stubborn with the paint I used. It's not coming off but leaving a thin layer instead. the new buzz is dialing into the cold. I am sure quench is still the word for it.. change my mind.

anyway, still wanting all the tools for frame working...
I found this 60A plasma cutter in the less than 200 dollars search (a number I play around with sometimes)



so I bought it.
even when not on sale the price is very good.
other sellers have it at $319.

reading the ad carefully, they mentioned the brand names into their chips.
reminded me of the american marantz stereos, picking and choosing what they wanted from overseas to build something.
I have done the same in my little electron motivatons

anyway, first project is the new hangers, and I was line drawn with grinding when I found friction welding.
this truck ran for that long... it made new steel out of connections. It is an act of science that is against odds

I knew i needed something like the plasma. I also found too many complaints on the 50A versions...I mean everywhere I checked reviews.
it was actually discouraging.

So, I stepped it up to this cheap 60.

with a 30 day return, I'll be attacking scrap in the cold to be sure its good.

18mil maximum, 14mil nominal on steel cutting ability.

[DanStokes]

Dan

[Barry Donovan]

Dan

I guess this one will take a week to get here..
I'll be going at a chore right away. its getting cold but can play with bolts and new holes anyway.

[Barry Donovan]

the hunt for white october

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its a famous movie with the russians who shoot at school kids.
or is that a submarine movie

white dawn. that's the one with russians and school kids
anyway...


something cold going on...
I hope the frozen twizzlers stay together

for the 1200 pound glacier it may gain in the back.

at 37F my truck ices over.. I have to knock off some degrees to my reading.
thermistor too close to the building I guess

it seems we went to 24.5 or colder.. shows 27 in the thermometer memory

the iron dust of july is a movie in the making...

[Barry Donovan]

the only recall

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23 years..
may as well humor the trucks only error today

my wipers turned on, but intermittent was goofy, the washer switch would be random, and sometimes wipers would not shut off when they were told to


so, I swapped in the new board, used some seal all at the top..back to new.
this second board is a valeo, showing truck was already updated a long time ago.
it outran the dope on the resistors, and that challenged the tiny relay spring tension.

the new board, its third.. has ceramic coated resistors, different outer color. I think this will nail it for some time. the little relay will be the fail again. the tiny tension inside them can only spring back and forth so many times. I figure a decade or more anyway.

I am impressed.

... this truck has zero errors.
all switches, all functions.
knock on welded steel.. lets hope it enjoys this time in space for some years to come.

..and the plasma cutter is on its way. I hope to be trying it out on some indian summer day soon.

[Deaf Bob]

Check if you can just change the cord to 220. My kid bought a 110 corded model and the seller said just change plug ends. The 110 version was working to cut 3/16.. 220 plug cuts 3/8 fast.

[Barry Donovan]

Check if you can just change the cord to 220. My kid bought a 110 corded model and the seller said just change plug ends. The 110 version was working to cut 3/16.. 220 plug cuts 3/8 fast.

I would have to go generator for the 220.
that is my next gadget... don't need it quite yet. just playing with gmc frame and old boat trailer.
I also found some tricks in the garage to narrow down the circuit just for what I got plugged in.

would love to blast some 1 inch plate for giggles some day

[Barry Donovan]

hood adjust ?!

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why didn't anyone tell me.

went 5 years with the manual trans diesel grumble shaking gas stations and old people and house pets for almost 5 years.

anyway, looks nice. going over details this fine autumn day thinking of the 7 months under the ocean season...at 20 below.

all ready.

I have something emerging in the back end handling its like a cradle rocking feeling..fast motion. I found the sway bar kit for a burban, might use it.
as for now its quite ok. It reveals on the rutted right lane of the highway at 80mph or so. I am finding all vehicles have to do something a bit goofy swapping lanes there anyway.

it is nice to have a toy like feeling weighing 5000 pounds. its very confident.

[Barry Donovan]

$200 plasma cutter 60

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I just went to leave a feedback.. price is back up to $284
By chance looking for instructions, I found it amazon for $419
holy cow.

ebay link


Anyway, wired in the plug, hooked up regulator etc..
will be trying on metal soon enough. I just had to verify that it turns on.
the dial reads up to 63 on full amps.

no errors yet.
the air hookup is vague, found a guy on you tube playing with the 50 cutter
same hoses and regulator...and he paid 60 more for the 50 earlier this year.
same company

found aliexpress as well.. english alibaba I guess.
a discount there too, on the 50.

ebay has been my thing for 18 years now.

[Barry Donovan]

priiiis'es batteries

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what was that word for more than one prius.
priiii
priuses

my neighbor has a prius.
I learned today he needed to haul them batteries to get rebuilt.
talking of cost etc.
I found he had no ride.


I offered to use my truck, as the batteries need to vent, especially moving around over the road bumps etc.
I also did it for free.. about 30miles round trip.
my building is retired and elderly, disabled.

there is something peculiar about batteries. I knew they were not there on the ride back.
they only weigh 100 pounds. I carried them into the garage.. my gimpy leg did not mind.
there is more than weight to a battery pack. a nystery heaviness.

I am done making fun of rice.
I am however going to save some customers, one at a time.

in less than two weeks, towing a nissan, and hauling prius batteries.
we got the craziest cycle of winter coming on.. it does not happen but every 30 years.

anyway, this warm autumn, its allowing me to plan on some last minute metal chores.
I want the back end to take on 1000 pounds.. that way I can ignore my truck in the yard for the winter.
the killer seems to be ice pack and melt, and storms piling on.
I am simply aiming to add bolts through the new steel and old hangers.

god damn that gets heavy. I only got a wimpy tail truck after all. Welded.. I digress.

found my weather for the next two days


joking aside... it is one of the reasons I love welding this 96.
it responds to mild steel and weld perfectly.

my subaru used to perk up to the weather, instead of sag down. I will always find barometers and many other facts amazing with steel.

(a mechanical barometer uses bi-metal mated to gain a reading)

[Barry Donovan]

realizing home

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for giggles, after watching TFL trucks torture test on the dodge to mt. evans

I found I can shave off 102 miles if I cut through canada to head west.



interesting.
To go to chicago etc...
I better get my passport.

detroit is 848 miles... less than 1000.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I don't shortcut through Canada because their Mounties are adzholes...

[Barry Donovan]

I don't shortcut through Canada because their Mounties are adzholes...

I had heard the legends of the mounties.
I actually got a ticket in a tom hiltons once, thought it was a bar...took my beer in with me.
oh wait.. tim hortons.
I nver did pay it, but did make a phone call to square up some years later.
they said they had no record of it, don't worry about it.




today I swapped a belt.. it had the "8 foot chirp".. this is one little area on the belt, which is 8 feet long causing a chirp.
I got to looking at it, and am impressed. it gathered a sheen of metal and you can just start to see the rib lines.
still worked great, but response to thermals was going away and I don't want any noise at all.
this has been on the truck since I owned it.

was not new when I bought it either.
back to super quiet.

[Barry Donovan]

industrial reign

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autumn has gone by, blizzards in coming days.
30 below is hours away.

speaking of metal under my belt..
the rain is drenching now. nothing of nature growing wants much.
went for a ride with the wipers working exactly as intended by GM.

I figure its the cleanest rain in the world.. the storms that send a straight line north from the atlantic east of the pig states.

a time to clean off the flux in gods way
the summer welds becoming cold steel
Should do good for yet another round of winter.

a power problem at the garage I go to, leaves me with the plasma cutter sitting here. I hope its fixed soon. I need to get two new bolts in the old hangers just to respect that much more.