Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[Turdle]

Made a little progress on dis assembly today. 1st step was to remove the front skid plate. Got the fan , shroud , air box and radiator out. I still cannot lay down , and I still feel things moving around in my chest so I feel this was good enough and called it a day. But, I did something and I feel good about it.

 

[gmanpaint]

Man I feel terrible not being able to get over to help out.

Please don't over do it. Them ribs need to heal. Has to be somebody closer to you than me, to lend a hand. :scratch:

 

[CDW6212R]

Man I feel terrible not being able to get over to help out.

Please don't over do it. Them ribs need to heal. Has to be somebody closer to you than me, to lend a hand. :scratch:

Me too, take it slow on the chest stretching motions. If you were closer to me I'd say bring it and we'll stick it on my lift(but that needs a seal kit in one cylinder now).

I hope your air conditioner is running well, Summer started weeks ago here.

 

[Turdle]

Thanks guys. I am purposely taking my time and doing things slow. Air tools really help too.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

dont make me jump back into my truck and drive there!!!!!

 

[Turdle]

dont make me jump back into my truck and drive there!!!!!

Wonders what it would take-:scratch:

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Wonders what it would take-:scratch:

not much if you bugger yourself even worst then you are now.

 

[rizzjc]

Yeah, I think you are supposed to give them some time to heal. Can't wrap yourself up or anything?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Yeah, I think you are supposed to give them some time to heal. Can't wrap yourself up or anything?

Bacon. Bacon wrapped ribs sound mighty tasty

 

[rizzjc]

Bacon. Bacon wrapped ribs sound mighty tasty

Everything is better with bacon!

 

[Turdle]

I can't wrap myself with bacon, because then I would want to eat myself.

 

[Turdle]

Did a few things to the replacement engine today. Pulled the old water pump, scraped some gaskets and encountered a broken intake bolt in the bank 2 cylinder head. I will attack it shortly. Not dead yet

 

[Turdle]

Let's attack this stupid broken intake manifold bolt.

I cleaned out the "hole" area with a wire brush and dentist pick

And am treating it with alternating heat to the surrounding head material, and drops of acetone mixed with trans fluid from a syringe

After a few of these cycles I think I am going to weld another bolt to the remaining stud

I tried dry fitting a nut on, however there doesn't appear to be enough stud for this to work. In order to get the nut down far enough it will run into the head when turned-as the surface has a steep angle.

Another thing I was told by a machinist, was I will have the best luck with a cold bolt and hot hole. Cold makes metal shrink, (bolt) heat makes metal expand (hole). So, after welding the bolt on, it should cool , then apply heat to the head material around the hole.

Oh, this hole does go all the way through so I applied some of the acetone mix from beneath also.

 

[CDW6212R]

Best of luck with that, I hope it comes out well.

The material left is decently flat on top, I would use a set punch and drill it out. Any method is a pain to do, something with that access space/angle is good for drilling. At least you can get to it.

 

[Turdle]

Best of luck with that, I hope it comes out well.

The material left is decently flat on top, I would use a set punch and drill it out. Any method is a pain to do, something with that access space/angle is good for drilling. At least you can get to it.

Yep, at least this engine is sitting in an engine cradle in the garage. I do have easy access.

So, I can get a nut on this far

Do you suppose, if welding skills allow it, I can plug weld it from the top, then a small bead (1/3 around) from underneath the nut also?

 

[Maniak]

I've welded nuts onto bolts that were broken flush and got them out. It took 4 tries on the flush broken bolt but I just welded it from the inside, built it up and made it one with the nut. I used my miller 135 gmaw with the hood taken off the tip set a max amperage (like I"d set it for 3/8 metal). The hardest part was getting the nut almost centered over the bolt. Since the head was Cast (was working on an Izuzu NPR) the weld didn't stick to the head, just the bolt and nut.

I've also done this on bolts sticking out and I did the the same way.. Weld only from the inside and try to melt the bolt/nut together all the way up.

Since I've only done it 3 times total (all within the last few years) It must not be that hard since I got it to work... Well it took 3+ times on each one, but I got it.

 

[CDW6212R]

You can grind the bottom nut corners a bit and get the nut to go on at least one more thread, before the welding.

 

[Turdle]

I've welded nuts onto bolts that were broken flush and got them out. It took 4 tries on the flush broken bolt but I just welded it from the inside, built it up and made it one with the nut. I used my miller 135 gmaw with the hood taken off the tip set a max amperage (like I"d set it for 3/8 metal). The hardest part was getting the nut almost centered over the bolt. Since the head was Cast (was working on an Izuzu NPR) the weld didn't stick to the head, just the bolt and nut.

I've also done this on bolts sticking out and I did the the same way.. Weld only from the inside and try to melt the bolt/nut together all the way up.

Since I've only done it 3 times total (all within the last few years) It must not be that hard since I got it to work... Well it took 3+ times on each one, but I got it.

You can grind the bottom nut corners a bit and get the nut to go on at least one more thread, before the welding.

Well, there you go. See, that's why you guys are around. Don that is a good suggestion and I will do just that.

Mark, removing the gas hood is a great idea since I planned to use flux core wire. I was not aware I could do that.
My welder is a 180 with 3 "temperature" settings and wire speed rotary (1-10) control. Should I use max heat and medium ( usually 4.5 or so) wire speed as usual, or should I use the medium heat setting? I have welded things together before but not without asking you guys how to do it first.

PS. I happen to be multi tasking right now, powdercoating some table legs.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i have seen guys at work weld on top of the broken bolt to raise it up, then slip a nut onto it, then weld it to the stud

 

[Maniak]

<snip>
My welder is a 180 with 3 "temperature" settings and wire speed rotary (1-10) control. Should I use max heat and medium ( usually 4.5 or so) wire speed as usual, or should I use the medium heat setting? I have welded things together before but not without asking you guys how to do it first.

Does your welder have a chart on the side of the door to show you how they "suggest" you set your welder for different metal/wire size?

I set mine like I was welding 3/8+ steel with .030 wire (what I had in the welder at the time)..

For 3/8" steel mine is at 135 amps (max setting) and just over half for the speed. So, extrapolating with what your has.. I'd start with Medum heat and about 2/3rd wire speed. If you aren't getting good penetration (nut comes off bolt) a few times then try more heat.

Since you can get a few threads of the nut onto the bolt you may not have as much trouble getting them to weld/hold. In all 3 of my cases the nut was bigger than the broken bolt (or no bolt) so the weld was the only thing holding stuff together.

~Mark