Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Today's progress... Not very exciting.
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Word of the day... Ugh.


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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Today was hectic. Overslept thanks to too much coffee in night school and not getting to sleep until almost 4. Woke up with a list of stuff, some of it "honey-do". Managed to get the fuel filler lines on the Jeep swapped so now they won't leak when I fill up. Got some stuff staged for loading in the morning and then tried, in vain, to get where I could at least have 2 speakers. No joy.
I'm one of those folks who hate half assing something only to have to go back and do it right the second time. Grates on me.
I got the first fiberglass speaker pod cleaned up and pulled from the mold. It looks good so far. The second got two coats of glass and mesh and was left to cure. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to run door wires, install the amp, and get it working so I called it a wash. As it was getting late I made a run to storage instead so I wouldn't have to do it in the morning. Thankfully I had already staged most of that stuff and all I had to do was cram it in the waggy. Even still I was still about 15 minutes late for class. But at least I can just load up, walk the dogs, and hit the road tomorrow. Going to try and keep track of the fuel usage so I can see what the mpgs with the fuel injection look like. Walter seems to be running ok. Steering is still a little janky but livable. I'll deal with that when I get home... Along with the bazillion other unfinished projects. Looking forward to being on the road... Hopefully I can sleep tonight. Image

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csuengr
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Re: Wife's Waggy

Post by csuengr »

It is interesting what people are comfortable working with. My flush mount sub box that fits in the rear right is made of MDF. My fan shroud is welded aluminum. I can't work with fiberglass without getting resin on everything. Does a good job of sticking your hair together.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Well this is disappointing and proof I'm an idiot. Made both fiberglass enclosures for the front doors. They don't fit.
Didn't realize there was a big bulge at the front of the doors. Crap.
Sooo... Now I'll have to cut it all down, remake that portion of a mold, and make new ones. Learn from my failures... It's all I can do.


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SJTD
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Re: Wife's Waggy

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Thought you were going to say you made two lefts or something like that.
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'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

SJTD wrote:Thought you were going to say you made two lefts or something like that.
May as well have. Image
I do think I can salvage the effort so far. Unlike the first try of the radiator shroud, these just need to be cut down and rebuilt a little. I think. Image


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66stepside
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Re: Wife's Waggy

Post by 66stepside »

Nice work on the fiberglass!
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

66stepside wrote:Nice work on the fiberglass!
Thanks man! I'm learning... Slowly.
I only had a little work today with mixed results.
While drinking my coffee I pondered how to fix this. Made some guide lines with a sharpie and cut the "nose" off it. Allowed one section to remain attached and tried to fold it over. Tape wouldn't hold it so I tried hot glue. That held for a minute or so before pulling apart. I need to hold the shape or the new 'glass won't form right. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the new shape glassed and then Thursday see how it fits.
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

So my back injections give me a dose of insomnia. I laid in bed most of the night trying to sleep but didn't doze off until the sun was up. Slept a bit then made a little more progress on the door speaker enclosures. The new, smaller version 2.0
Image

Will do a test fit tomorrow after the cure. Hopefully these are better.


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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

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Warning... Rant coming!

This has been a 1st class shity day ever since I got up.
Back injections still have me kind of an insomniac soon only got a couple hours of sleep.
Wife found some deal for the doggie daycare next to her work. Kind of a trial deal, free half day of dog watching. She thought they'd enjoy it so she drops them off before going to work. Deal was I had to pick them up by noon. Ok, no biggie, right?
Wake up, empty the rest of the stuff from Walter and drive over there. As I'm turning into the parking lot there I hear a rush of air and feel the right rear begin to sink. Flat tire. Image
Pull the rest of the way into the parking lot and try to see what caused it. No nails or anything else to be seen. I look at the valve stem and there's the issue. Bad stem... Or so it seems.
Since I had nothing in the Jeep for tools or even a jack I had to walk over and get the wife's car. Load up the dogs, take em home, grab my impact and head back to see about pulling the tire. On the way some guy almost takes off the passenger side mirror of the wife's car because he's doing over 80, splitting lanes on his crotch rocket. Holy crap! As I see him accelerate and disappear over the next hill I see him take his hands off the bars and wave em over his head like he's so happy to be free and riding. He was probably doing over 100 at that point and I think "that idiot is gonna die!"
Takes me a bit to reach the hill as it was a mile or so but as soon as I crest the hill I see I was right. Guys bike is laying in the road where he t-boned a car. He went flying and landed about 100 yards down the road. Being a combat lifesaver I'm used to seeing a mess, this guy was lucky. No helmet, shorts, and a light jacket. Obvious concussion and a handful of scrapes and bruises. I end up holding his neck stable (C spine) for almost a half hour when fire rescue arrives and takes over. Forgot how combative some injured people can be.
Anyway, get back in the car and head to deal with the tire. End up having to use the jack from the wife's car but got it off. Take it to the nearest tire place and the guy says he can handle putting in a new valve. Cool.
20 minutes later he comes out and says "Sorry, your tire is shot".
What? It's got less than 2k miles on it.
"Yeah, but you drove on it flat".
15 feet, tops! I've gone further with less air on a trail over rocks. There's nothing wrong with the tire. They refuse to put it back on the wheel so I grab it and leave.
Head back to the wife's work to pick her up.
Had to go down to ft Carson to remount and balance it.
Get done and go back to put it on Walter just as a thunderstorm rolls in. By the time I'm done the rain stops so we head home. Pull in the apartment complex and as I'm parking the wife says do you see that? What? Your left front tire is going flat!
You have GOT to be shitting me!!!
Go look and sure as anything, it's half flat. Touch the valve stem and get a blast of air.

Ok, I realize it's been a crappy day of bad luck but I'm having a hard time believing that two valve stems go bad at the same time. I'm seriously wondering if someone did something to them. Tires have less than 2k miles on them and had new stems when we did them. Tomorrow I'll check the other two tires and hopefully don't find any signs of tampering. If I do, I'm gonna be hot. Like nuclear.
Since I just did Ouray with no issue it could only have been messed with here at the apartment complex or at school. My gut is telling me it was at school. Can't prove it but if I find cut marks tomorrow I will have a good idea.
There's a kid in class that has a drinking problem. Told him Thursday to stay away from me because I won't work in a shop next to someone who's drinking. He shrugged and walked away. That was it. Later I found out the instructor smelled him and his coffee cup full of liquor and sent him home. When I went to leave he was still sitting in the parking lot an hour later. God help him if I find out he slashed my stems...
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Nikkormat
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Re: Wife's Waggy

Post by Nikkormat »

People Beeping Suck man.

The guy on the bike sounds like a BEEP wad but at least you were there to stabilize him. Hopefully he learns his lesson.

As for the valve stems, if he cut your valve stems save them as proof and let the instructor know. That BEEP is not ok! But the whole tire shop debacle doesn't surprise me at all. Sadly that's the business nowadays. Our local BigO tried to tell my mother she needed 4 new tires after her tpms went off. And she is a close personal friend of the owner. Sad state of affairs.

Hang in there man.
Gabe, "reformed" Jeep hoarder.
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Thanks man. I'm forcing myself to stay inside, relax, not let my mind get rolling. Tomorrow I'll go inspect everything and see about how I can fix the front. Hopefully the other two don't need it.


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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

So I got the front tire off today and took it to the tire place up the street. They are the ones that did the suburban tires and were happy to replace the valve stem. Even managed to get it out without destroying it. Can't tell anything from looking at it other than it doesn't show any weird wear or stuff. Maybe two at once was just a fluke.
I did happen to run into the rental cop that works at school in Walmart. Told him about my concern and he said to call him Monday and he will look over the cameras. I really hope it doesn't show the guy I think it could be doing this. I take stuff like that very seriously. Messing with my car? What if my wife was driving and the tire went? Best hope is this was just some weird jeep oddity. I don't want to think about the alternative.


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44bz
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Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by 44bz »

Valve stems are a weird thing to mess with. I'd think most people would just cut the tire if they wanted. Anyway, go for steel stems and be done with it


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SJTD
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Re: Wife's Waggy

Post by SJTD »

Yeahbut, a rock or branch that'll just tweak a rubber stem can snap off a metal one.
Sic friatur crustulum

'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.
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66stepside
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Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by 66stepside »

Whoa, that's a crazy day. Glad it's behind you!


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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

66stepside wrote:Whoa, that's a crazy day. Glad it's behind you!


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Me too man... Me too!
Today I'm messing with the door speaker enclosures. Again. Still having FITment issues. Ugh.


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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Well... I guess no news/proof is better than being shown to be right. Sat down with the head of the automotive program (who is also our fill-in instructor) and we talked about what happened to me and if it could have been done by a student. He empathized with me but we both agreed there isn't any proof. He told me the cameras haven't worked in a few years () and even if they did, wouldn't help because they point at the doors and not the parking lot. So no evidence, no proof that my valve stems were sabotaged. He did say that he had a sit down with the drinking kid and wrote him a warning. One more appearance to class drinking and he's gone. I have no doubt he will ignore the second chance. I can't (and won't) push the issue because all I have is a suspicion and the fact that his body language is saying he did it. He normally sits in front of me, runs his mouth non-stop, and turns around to offer comments to me I could care less about. Tonight he didn't look at me once, went out of his way to avoid eye contact, and generally changed his behavior pattern significantly. Guess I'll just see what happens.

On a different note, I think my waggy has been possessed. Several times over the last week I've gone to get something out of it only to find the doors unlocked. I'm pretty adamant about locking them so I was surprised and concerned. Tonight I get home and go to get out and the lock button doesn't work. Have to pull up the lock by hand and then the lock button works again. Open the door and hear the actuator clunk, locking the doors again.
So I'm wondering... Can the Jeep unlock itself? Is this a known oddity??


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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

So yesterday I broke out the angle grinder with a sanding disc and made an initial pass on the sub box. What a MESS!! Lol. Took about an hour to clean the patio enough to keep momma from killing me. Image
Today I dragged the box out for the first of probably many test fittings. Not horrible but definitely needs some more effort before I can think about making it pretty and functional.
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