Hobbies: What other Hobbies do you have?

[ritualclarity]

45 minutes ago, driftscape said:

Correct. But right now it's not registered. I bought it and just brought it home. Not like I can register it anyways because the DMV is closed. But I drove it around the neighborhood to get a feel for it and that's when I noticed the front suspension doesn't seem so good and I inspected it trying to see if the CV axles were bad, but they were fine. Then noticed that the other parts (control arm bushings, tie rods ball joints, sway bar end links) were all in bad shape. Probably never been replaced since it left the dealership. I haven't checked the rear suspension, but I haven't noticed any problems back there. Once I get the front done, I'll go ahead and check the back. Then I will proceed to do a complete fluid change for the transmission, brakes, motor (oil), and the front and rear differential.

 

I'd give a good check on the back as well to be sure all is good along with the brake (lines specifically) due to the age and apparent lack of normal maintenance of the suv.  That is before you decide to register it and start to use on any major roads, streets and such to be safe.

[endgameaddiction]

4 hours ago, ritualclarity said:

I'd give a good check on the back as well to be sure all is good along with the brake (lines specifically) due to the age and apparent lack of normal maintenance of the suv.  That is before you decide to register it and start to use on any major roads, streets and such to be safe.

I have inspected under and the break lines all seem fine. But I haven't pulled off the rear wheels to get a better view of leaf springs or the shocks. Or the rear tie rods for that matter. The catalytic converters look like they can be replaced at some point. Not anytime soon because they look like they'll hold up a for more years, but when I change out the muffler and exhaust to something more ballsy, those will get replaced too. Remember at the time I had a crapped out floor jack. I've since bought a much better one a few weeks ago. But have been waiting for these parts to come in so I haven't moved the SUV.

Edited May 17, 2020 by driftscape

[ritualclarity]

Yea, I wouldn't be concerned with the exhaust unless it was so bad you had to address it. It would be rightfully addressed once you get around to changing them out for a better set.

Once you get your new jack.. you will be so busy   In a good sense..  

it is so sad that it is taking so much time to get shipments but it is understandable. Companies had to close down (even if they didn't really have to at least not completely)  Massive increase in shipping for most things have bombed the UPS, FedEX and such so badly they are moving to the holiday metering shipping process to make sure things move in a timely manner but this slows things down. Then... you have international supplies which are almost non exsistant.  I know of some people that ordered supplies from Europe and 3 months later.. nothing.

People are protesting having their Salons open.. they need to protest getting the shipping up and running.. On that note.. some complained to me... wrong thing.. I offered to help them... I'd shave them very good... lol.  They can choose one of 3 levels (lowest levels of course! )  I'd be done before Covid can catch me!  lol... Good job as well.  If I can shave myself 100% to the point where nobody can notice.. I can do others. I have been doing this for more than 15 years. (constantly)  A friend I know at work can do the shaving and is skilled at those designs that was all popular years ago.  Of course, nobody took me up on  the offer... lol

Well I have posted here enough.  I need to give a hobby as well. Most here know I have written guides for modding!  That is one that I do off and on. I also do some light constructions. Finish work in general. Am doing that now at the place where I am at. Some sanding staining, plaster work, light finish wood work. (not as good as I'd like to be .. Crown molding is difficult requires lots of practice .. but other general work is OK... Even some non 90 degree woodwork. did some heavy construction work in my 20's.. Build out some large bay windows. Built them so fucking strong they never had an leak and on one apartment a 100 + pound "puppy" had his bed in the window for close to 5 years. People have used it to sit in as well. (or is it sit on?)  More than 20 years and no problems. In fact I will be likely doing some finish wood work after I post this and have something to eat!  Gotta do that and patch some paint and completely paint the kitchen. I guess hobbies don't have to be things you like? If so then all I got is some guides, support for mods on various sites, and chatting on Discord and sites about games. haven't even played much games recently... too busy.

[endgameaddiction]

Don't order anything internationally and it should arrive pretty quick. My parts took less than a week. They came from Arizona, so right next door. I guess if you were to order alien sex toys, yeah, probably take you a moon light and some stars to get here.

I used to work for UPS. The driver seems to be doing fine that comes to my neighborhood. But I bet they have some extras hired for the heavy areas. They usually do extra hires right about Christmas time because it's the busiest time of the year. I helped one of my drivers once when I was a pre-loader and never did it again. Asshat made me do all the heavy work while he kicked back and grabbed the packages for me to drop off. I said no for the next 3 seasons after. We were out there till around 11 p.m. every day during Christmas season. And then I had to be in at work by 3 a.m.

Edited May 18, 2020 by driftscape

[ritualclarity]

I read somewhere where UPS and FedEx is staggering shipments due to demand... Like they do in Holidays.

I agree on not ordering internationally but... am afraid that some places don't mention they are supplied by international shipments and expect the item to be available (just in time shipping) and I would be the one hurt if I was expecting something critical even if I ordered locally. 

I can only trust companies I have a trust with AND that can assure me that something IS IN CURRENT INVENTORY and would be reserved for me once I purchase it.  Now, sometimes there are great deals from trustworthy companies that I just can't pass up.. lol  However, they usually are things I don't actually really need though.

 

[Kendo 2]

Me and my garden....

After the big rain storms in this part of the world I have a 'bug' problem; the leaf miners are back, along with the added pleasure of cabbage loopers, onion flies, and fucking flee beetles.  I really wanted to avoid pesticides but it's too late in the game for me to do fleece row covers, and the garden is too big now for that to be practical.  $200+ worth of materials and MY TIME or I break out (my now outlawed stash) of commercial-grade diazinon.  That shit is so potent birds won't land in a peach tree sprayed with it.

[Kendo 2]

Me and my garden...yet again.

Spoiler

• Bug problem resolved; 4 grams of diazinon cut with 20 gallons of water did the trick.
• Either slugs or snails ate the tender tops off of two of my ginger plants so I had to move them to a new spot.  They're doing better now anyway so moving them was a good idea.
• The first tomatoes to set are starting to ripen.
• Picked enough cucumbers to make a batch of half-sour pickles with the dill and garlic I grew myself.
• The pinto beans I planted for next year's seed have started to set pods.  They're tiny but that will change in about a month.
• The Rouge Vif D'Etampes French market pumpkins have set both male and female flowers but they're not open yet.
• The Sugar Baby mini watermelons are blooming.
• Harvested most of the radishes but I don't like radishes (grew them as a filler crop).  Probably give them away.
• Dug up one of the potato plants that was stunted and didn't blossom.  It had teeny-tiny tatters on new roots so I know the others are producing.
• Did a major thinning on the turnip greens and left maybe ten to go ahead and root out.
• All of the Kentucky Wonder green beans came up (which is a fucking miracle) and a few of them have sent out vines.  Their trellis is already up so I just need to string them as the grow.

That's it.

[Cunthunter12]

Hello I got a question about a mod. The chryslus bar and grill mod. I have them downloaded now. How do I access them?? 

[endgameaddiction]

1 hour ago, Cunthunter12 said:

Hello I got a question about a mod. The chryslus bar and grill mod. I have them downloaded now. How do I access them?? 

It's been a very long time, I don't remember the name of the location. But if you go south of Megaton, There is a garage shop/dealership at Fairfax Ruins. There's a Enclave that likes to spawn right in front of it. When you go inside, you'll see a black Corvega in prestine condition. Target it and you will wind up there.

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Car_dealership

Edited May 24, 2020 by driftscape

[endgameaddiction]

I made the mistake of buying this piece of crap. I've invested more money than I thought I would and day 2 working on suspension has been another waste of time. I'm not interested in investing in more tools for something that should've been easy to troubleshoot. I threw in a butt load of cash in parts and tools with little to no results.

Edited May 31, 2020 by driftscape

[ritualclarity]

3 hours ago, driftscape said:

I made the mistake of buying this piece of crap. I've invested more money than I thought I would and day 2 working on suspension has been another waste of time. I'm not interested in investing in more tools for something that should've been easy to troubleshoot. I threw in a butt load of cash in parts and tools with little to no results.

sorry to hear this... working on old trucks are difficult and so many things can go wrong.

[endgameaddiction]

14 hours ago, ritualclarity said:

sorry to hear this... working on old trucks are difficult and so many things can go wrong.

Don't mind me. I've just been having a few frustrating days with it. I just needed to vent.

[ritualclarity]

2 hours ago, driftscape said:

Don't mind me. I've just been having a few frustrating days with it. I just needed to vent.

Very understandable. I tried to (and succeeded to some degree) with an old car and had serious problems from time to time and still even when I got rid of it. Eventually it became too much for me to be able to deal with... however, likely not the same situation as it was the first car  (old car close to 20 years old and meant to only be used for a couple of years.)  It was a blast to own and I enjoyed it and learned so much as a result.  I suspect your SUV is much better condition At least it isn't  at risk of having large objects fall out of the trunk! 

Vent all you need to. Hobbies can be frustrating from time to time.

[endgameaddiction]

This is the problem that I'm having.

I've tried this method and 4 others and none of them work. I've also tried two other methods from tips on guys who work on the same vehicle on another forum and nothing. The ball joint is just stuck to the knuckle and I can't even get it to slightly break free.

Spoiler

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by driftscape

[endgameaddiction]

Finally got the son of a bitch off.

Spoiler

 

All thanks to my roommate for helping. No way I could've done it alone.

[vancleef]

It's Pulp Action week at my worktable!
Flash Gordon and Friends:

Doc Savage and Conan:

Spoiler

All miniatures "Heroic" 28mm scale, about 1 1/4"  high. excellent detail on all the minis. Something fun to paint for a change.

[Kendo 2]

My Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins have set a few female flowers with fruit and they actually opened!  The bees were doing their thing; buzzing from male flowers to females and back and forth.  Hopefully I'll get pumpkins and they won't die back.

[endgameaddiction]

Well, I haven't kept up-to-date, but I've been done with the front suspension for over a month now. Definitely much better, but it needs an alignment. However, there's a possible chance I might just end up selling this one. I also have up for sell an imported Nissan engine (SR20DET) because I have no plans to put that engine in my car so if I can sell that for the amount I'm asking for, there's a high chance I am also just going to sell the Xterra. Selling both will give me enough to buy a pretty nice 2nd gen Xterra 4wd. If not, I'll get another 1st gen but in much better condition. Or even better, one with a solid axle swap in the front.

Right now for the past few weeks I've been working on getting my F-150 back up and running. It's been sitting there for a long time. I was a complete dumbass years ago and I started it up with old gas and I wasn't aware (at the time) that old gas becomes bad and creates varnish. So when I had cranked it, it was idling very bad. Under 500 rpm. Back then my dad and I changed out the fuel pump, and that didn't help. It wasn't until I had a mechanic look at it and told me about the old fuel. So we both dropped the tank and cleaned it out as best as possible and filled it with new fuel. Same issue was going on. So he told me that more than likely my fuel injectors and fuel rail are clogged because of the varnish. So I was like meh... and let it sit ther for more years until I decided that I would just stop being lazy and get it back up and running. So I've removed the manifold to get to the fuel rails and remove the injectors. Sure enough they look like they are clogged because of the varnish. I haven't taken off the fule rail because there's two fuel lines connected to it and I haven't been thoroughly looked enough to see how they disconnect. Iv'e dropped the tank and spent the last 2 days in over 100 degrees cleaning it, but no matter how much varnish I've been able to get off, there is too much of it stuck to the walls of the tank. I think it's better to play it safe and buy a new tank along with a fuel pump, fuel filter, possibly fuel lines and fuel rails, and the fuel injectors.

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by driftscape

[ritualclarity]

shame on the xterra but .... if it works in the end.. great

F 150s can pretty much do almost anything you want to do in off road... I don't understand why you are more interested in the Xterra for this. I am sure you have your reasons.  My father had a inline 6 2 wheel drive truck and it lasted for more than 20 years until he passed. Still would crank. (he didn't drive it for the last 8 years of his life. ) I believe he had it (using it regularly ) for 30 years.  More miles than I can count... maybe 400,000 or a  bit more and still had its original engine!  At least from what I was told. He had to replace the transmission (manual) due to being stupid and dragging a overweight trailer with it. Still... lasted the full 1200 miles with a bit of care given at the lasst 100 miles. Impressive none the less.

When he passed it was partially repaired and would cost too much to transport it /repair it to a state that was good enough to travel 1200 miles back home where I live. It hasn't had any emission testing or tags for years. That was something else that needed to be done to drive cross country.  However, I now wish I did put the effort in to get it. I have went through 2 cars since then. I mean, went THROUGH to cars... to a point they would cost more to bring up than worth it.  Had I had that.... a little bit of $$$$ each year and likely still be kicking...

I believe there are swaps for the axles to pretty much anything you want. In fact, you can pretty much swap out whatever you need to make it a monster off roader. 

[endgameaddiction]

For what I want to do, my truck isn't capable of doing. But I've had this truck since I was 19 so it hold a lot of sentimental value apart from it having only 89k miles for a 1997 truck. I can't let it go because eventually I want to get into welding and I will need something to haul scrap metal.

[vancleef]

28mm Weird West minis for a customer. Probably some of the best work I've ever done:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[ritualclarity]

Looks pretty good to me.

[vancleef]

Happy Halloween, everyone!

[Kendo 2]

Doing the garden thing again this year.

Spoiler

 

The Texas freeze killed all of my perennial herbs so I had to restart everything but the native chili piquin bush that popped up on its own next to my compost piles.  It's the only plant that survived.  And I screwed up my seed saving somehow and the only things to come up from my seeds are red beans and sugar baby watermelons.

Starting over from scratch; a cascading variety of Roma paste tomatoes, beefsteak slicing tomatoes, white onions and sweet yellow onions.  Locally sourced potatoes (don't know the variety), straight neck yellow squash, pickling cucumbers (because they taste better), garlic, small fingerling okra, ichiban eggplants, dill, sage and cilantro.

I also bought 7 runt steer rejects from the sale barn for $152 a head.  They're on hay and forage right now but come August I'll start them on syrup and cotton seed to give them some nice winter fat.  By late December they'll be fat enough to flip or barter.  I already have a deal in the works to trade two of them for 6 round bails.  That's enough hay to feed the other 5 until spring forage comes back.

 

 

[vancleef]

2 hours ago, Kendo 2 said:

Doing the garden thing again this year.

  Hide contents

 

The Texas freeze killed all of my perennial herbs so I had to restart everything but the native chili piquin bush that popped up on its own next to my compost piles.  It's the only plant that survived.  And I screwed up my seed saving somehow and the only things to come up from my seeds are red beans and sugar baby watermelons.

Starting over from scratch; a cascading variety of Roma paste tomatoes, beefsteak slicing tomatoes, white onions and sweet yellow onions.  Locally sourced potatoes (don't know the variety), straight neck yellow squash, pickling cucumbers (because they taste better), garlic, small fingerling okra, ichiban eggplants, dill, sage and cilantro.

I also bought 7 runt steer rejects from the sale barn for $152 a head.  They're on hay and forage right now but come August I'll start them on syrup and cotton seed to give them some nice winter fat.  By late December they'll be fat enough to flip or barter.  I already have a deal in the works to trade two of them for 6 round bails.  That's enough hay to feed the other 5 until spring forage comes back.

 

 

Cowpoke Kendo. I like that image, you riding the range wearing an impossibly huge hat.