Baby On The Way and Layoffs

Just a quick update.

It's that time of year, lots of work coming in. I don't have time to do everything myself.  From being online I have attracted a lot of people looking for jobs. But I also attracted an "at risk youth" employment program. That seems to be my bit of charity, and the government wants to pay some of their wages for 4 weeks.  I had a charity case, but he started dating a drug dealer/crack head and made some poor decisions,which lead to his termination.

So just trying to muster up enough work now to keep a guy busy. That's a full time job in itself.  But hey, school cutbacks, Michelle's job was eliminated for next year.  They are willing to give her another job, but she has to apply to all positions that come up. And now the problem is she is 14 months pregnant. Nobody knows, because we have made it to 12 weeks several times and it never works out.   But nobody wants to hire the pregnant woman thats going on maternity leave in December. Now she's starting to show.

So Michelle is going to work with me.  We will set up an office at the rental house where she can work her 6 hour days, like the school board. So we can hopefully keep the nanny and make more money than we did with Michelle at the school board.  That will probably kill our rental empire for a wile.  I came across another house last week which I put an offer on but couldn't pull the financing together quick enough.  I've been trying my vinyl siding skills out, never done siding before. But I'll leave a picture of the start of the garage siding, same one we raised up. It looks so much different.

Raising The Garage

The weather is nice and we are able to do fun stuff again.  This is a picture of the crappy garage, with the low doors and low ceiling.  We just decided to lift it up 3 feet last weekend.

We opted not to tear down and apply for permits to build a 2 story garage, because as a "garden suite" second story, only a single family is allowed in the house, and we are already 2 familys, going for 3 suites, 3 familys in there.  

The whole lifting process took a day with the garage. We used 6, 8 ton bottle jacks, and a lot of 4x4s and 2x4s.  We were shooting for 36 inches, but at 32" the dunnage was getting really rickety, so we built 32" walls to go under the garage. That is where we had an epic fail, and learned the importance of lifting all the jacks at once.  we were squeezing a half wall in the side, for some reason the middle was lower than the  end, but only by an inch tops, more like 3/4.  So just jack the middle jack up rite, squeek the wall in.  Wrong!  We did it and the wall kicked out and moved the whole garage a few inches out of alignment.  So because of that we also needed winches, and we winched the structure back in to place chained to the van.

We just about have the garage all sheeted with new doors and windows. Then we will vinyl side it, its too rickety for stucco, and money is a bit tight too, vinyl is cheap.

I also moved the big shed from the 94 street house finally now the snow has melted.  This is how the new truck is so awesome.  We just winch the shed on the ground level deck, truck does the rest.

The truck has been pretty high maintenance, but it makes money.  I picked up 2 basically free forklifts advertised on Kijiji for scrap, but not many trucks can pick up forklifts.  We fixed one forklift and use it in the shop.  The second one I really wanted to fix, but instead I scrapped the $6000 battery pack for $600. and it saddened me to let it go, but took the hunk of steel fork lift without its electric motors, forks, and hydraulics to the scrap yard and got $100 for it.  Thats half the usual rate because it is so thick "its more difficult to process".  But how many forklifts does a guy really need.  I will have videos soon I know these pictures are kinda lame.

Pretty Much Summer

I ordered a video camera to make some videos of our life here, but till I get it the best I can do is some pictures off the phone.  This was this afternoon, Easter Friday, hanging out in the back yard with Dade.

We have lots going on just with owning too many houses. We have a basement suite going in one house, which is so far just a bedroom.  That house basement needs a bathroom and kitchen and second bedroom, probably 4-5 weeks work if we don't drywall the ceiling outside of the bedrooms.  Then the latest house we have rented the main floor. We scabbed up a quick basement suite in 2 weeks for an existing tenant that wanted to move, but then when  she couldn't help herself to move, we decided to go back to work on it, make it nicer and charge more money.  Lots of interest in it at $1200, $300 more than she is capable of paying.  

Then that house has a great loft space which we will turn into another great apartment, with deck and stairs to access its own entrance.  The loft apartment is going to require a new roof with some magnificent dormers.  

Before  we tackle that project the new house has a scabby single car garage with 5'8" doorways.  Most annoying garage ever.  We can raise the garage up three and a half feet without applying for any sort of special permission, we plan to raise it three feet.  But the garage is a corner lot which means we could raise it 10' and put a full second story suite over the garage if we wanted.  I think we might just build a new garage there, I just realized that was possible.  I was thinking the rules said "only if the house is a single family dwelling" and here we have 3 apartments in the house, 3 familys. But if my memory serves me correctly that is actually just a 10 year condition on the government grant application.  So we have to spend the banks money instead of the governments.  It makes so much sense to do.  For example the "loft" loan, $35,000, approximately $500 monthly payments for 5 years.  The suite renters pay us $1200 a month , we are making $700 a month the second its finished.  Don't forget its 1% vacancy here currently.  And I am an awesome landlord, everything is rented before its even finished, everyone wants me for a landlord. Then in 5 years the loan is paid, we are making the $500 loan payment and rent is probably more so we are making more than $1200 on the one apartment.  

The garage math should work out almost the same, but maybe cost a bit more to build, tapping into city sewer and water lines is expensive. But I get the added benefit of the garage at the end of it, and it only makes sense to put a bathroom in the garage if we already have all those lines there.

So I could really keep myself busy all summer, even the next 12 months with my own projects. And I still do lots of service calls and new construction wiring..

First Post In Like 3 Years

We had some big contracts that kept us really busy the last 3 years. We were traveling all over Alberta and the Western bit of Saskatchewan, to wire up new houses.  The gig is pretty much up I think.  Pretty sure the contractor is going to go bankrupt with the mandetory new home warrenty they introduced this year.
I got a sales call to put me back on the internet, and figured I should go for it. "they have made lots of other Electricians lots of money" they must be experienced. And they charge enough, I expect I should get a lot of work from it.  Wow what a joke.  I get more calls from people that tell me I am going about advertising all wrong, but they would like to take my money and "advertise the right way for me".  I am continuing to work with a google ad company, but I can see the relationship won't continue much into the future.  So I am unearthing my electrical blog to do my own add campains and as long as I am there the old Smith Family in Alberta might as well be resurected too.
I would love it to be all about my boy but it probably won't be.  Can't have a post without so much as a picture, so here is a picture of  Dade, just over 2 years old now.  He loves doing selfies and sending them to mom at work.  This is his fake selfie smile. 

 Day care didn't really work out here for us.  We have had a nanny now for 3 weeks. Just since we purchased the our first investment property.  Which makes us extra poor currently.  Hopefully we can aquire some more financing and do the new house up right, for a beutiful transition from aged 50's to modern beuty.  I will be sure to be posting about that on here with reno pictures.  But so far there was no money to upgrade anything, just a mad rush to get the main floor rented so the mortgage didn't bounce.
I guess I need to buy a video camera, because my phone, besides not having enough memory, doesn't usually successfully plug into the computer.  So I actually have to email myself photos to put them on the computer, so low tech.

E350 appocalypse

The Saskatchewan job is killing me.
First we bought a locker rear end, because the 2 wheel drive van was really just one wheel drive, and if just one chain fell off, we were stuck.  Turned out the truck rear axle is 8 inches shorter than the van.  In a panic, not wanting to deal for hours in the middle of nowhere getting the van unstuck, I welded the rear diff in a temporary fashon.  This was done lite so it could be removed easily for the addition of a locker rear end.  Also it was done quickly, because we had to leave for Saskatchewan   It was welded outside, -25c, no preheat, and just one pass on each gear.

The Lincoln locker was brilliant.  It got us through Saskatchewan twice, we kept up with the big new 4x4 trucks.  Second trip we knew we broke a weld, changing a tire the axle was no longer solid, had some play. It was still working, we didn't do anything about it.  We got stuck briefly in Sask, hammered the throttle, spun us out of the deep snow, got us on the road, and clunk, broke the spider gear in the diff.

I had purchased this cube van because business is getting to that point, I need a shop, or storage locker, or hey cube van can park rite outside my house.  Insurance costs less than a storage locker.  This one had the 7.3 diesel which really sold me on it.  The cube had some issues, I never intended to drive it, until I blew the rear diff in my work van.  I am so impressed with the pulling power of the 7.3L, I have to put that engine in my work van now.

Anyway, I drove to Sask w the cube and car dolly, wouldn't you know the van didn't fit the car dolly, so I put dually rims on the front to make it narrow enough, and it just blew both car dolly tires rite away.  Back to AB I go, and purchase a tow bar.  I plasma cut neat plates to bolt to the bumper mounts, and  off I go to Sask again.  That 7.3L and those duallys on the cube did amazing.  One hair pin turn in deep snow we couldnt make, and the 7.3 hauled the van rite through the ditch.  Then we spun out on some ice, and hauled the van out of the ditch again.  That last ditch was the end of the transmission.  I believe it died of overheating, blew the front pump seal.  Hence my hate for Automatics.

This left me now with 2 E350s stuck in apx Bonnyville AB.  Rite away I got my poor pregnant wife coming out with a case of transmission fluid, and I called a tow truck.  Well it was the hollidays and I couldnt get a tow truck.  This was because the only tow company open, had the police contract essentially, and I would bring them too far out of town for their in town call.  Even though I expect the police would eventually hire them to get rid of my two vans where they sat.  So new plan, rent a one ton to tow the work van, and get a guy from Andrew to come out and tow the cube.  12 hours later I got both vans in my driveway in Andrew.  Now the dually conversion begins.

New A-Team Van

I bought a far from new bucket truck.  I love my equipment, not only does it make me money, but it makes day to day life chores easier.  This van is dubbed the A-team van, because its 80's, and black.  It isn't a Chevy like the A-team van, and it won't ever get the same wing, but we will paint a red stripe like the A-team van.

I  have been looking at bucket trucks for a couple of years now.  Ever since I did a shop w 20' ceilings, and basically needed to rent a scissor lift.  I found the first one at a dealership, $12000, second one was a private sale for $7000.  The A-team van was the third bucket truck I looked at for half the price of the private sale.  The generator/hydraulic power pack wouldn't start when I went to look at the A-team van.  That saved me $1000.  It didn't really even matter, I have a dozen generators, and the bucket still lifts, extends, rotates and all with the "back up" electric hydraulic power pack.  I don't even really see a use for the gasser power pack.

I was going to park this van on the farm, until it warms up and I can fix the suspension.  The rear springs are shot, maybe broken.  But I got work for it the second day I owned it.  So if it continues to pay for its insurance, and make money every month I will keep it insured for the rest of its life.

I am almost sure I will need an employee to run my second van full time in the spring. actually that would be the third van and employee.  The Astro is still in service at whats currently my biggest job.

I expect in the spring the bucket truck will be my third van in full time service.  I run the 96 E350, I drop an employee off at the job site with the ATV/Astro van on site, and I will have another employee to run the bucket truck. Until then its the two E350's don't get used at the same time.

Before the comments start, I don't really like ford.  Ford is probably my least favorite car manufacturer, but there is a lot of them out there, and they are cheap.  That makes them good work trucks.

Prepping For Saskatchewan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQUQjK-R5us
Picked up lil over 100 basements to wire on a Saskatchewan, on a first nations reserve.  They maintain their own roads, so we had to take a few precautions.

There was the seasonal snow threat, and the all year threat of loose livestock, or "livestock at large" as the signs say.  Also excessive wild and loose dogs, moose, and more dear than I have seen in the last decade.

I actually purchased a real limited slip differential, after the final failure of the Astro van lincoln locker.  But we had to install it and go to Saskatchewan the next day, and it was in the form of a full axle off a dually cube van.  I need to deal with brake lines, change out the brake shoes, add leaf springs wile that is all getting installed.  Then there are the duallys, I need dually rims, tires, and fenders. Not happening in an afternoon.  So Lincoln Locker it is.  This proved to be a GREAT idea.

Our brand new tire chains broke almost every time we used them, 3 times a day,  so most of the time we only had one chain on one wheel, which worked surprisingly well, as seen in the video.

After rain, all the roads iced over, and we lost steerability in the van, so we put a chain on the front and one on the back.  That worked awesome that day, till the back one broke, we had to put the front one on the back.  Next trip, we pack more chains, small shackles to repair the chains, more bungie cords to keep broken chains away from the brake lines, and more beer.

Furnace Troubles

I love that the old furnaces are so simple.  Sure they are not 100% efficient, our house isn't insulated either.  We saved 50% on our energy bills just turning the furnace down wile we sleep and go to work.  In our 2 years with a forced air gas furnace, we've had some problems with it.  This fall it only worked for a  few hours.  Made a quick vid of the fun repairing it, its very rare that I get explosions on video, so this one is worthy of youtube.  Part 1 and 2.
Furnace Trouble Shooting

Furnace Repair

Bi-law Enforcement

Piece Officer Animal Enforcement unit was by the house.  Chickens are restricted animals in the city of Edmonton.  $500 daily fine for having chickens.  I took the two hens out to Andrew, with the other 14 baby chicks.  A dog got in killed the two big hens and 5 little hens.  Left us with 1 baby hen and 8 baby roosters.  After all that hatching nonsense we have less chickens than we started with.

Bilaw didn't stop there, separate issue which I am totally aware of and take full responsibility for, I am not allowed to use my front yard as a work shop.  So I had to clean that up.  That was a good thing, I needed a good kick in the ass to clean it up when I get home from work at 11pm.  Also the neighbors house burned down and they are like, "can we just put some stuff in your yard". Normally I would say "yeh for sure, pile your stinky black smoke stained garbage in my front yard, just pick it up when you get your new place."  That never works out well, usually ends with me taking it to the dump when its not picked up.

We did however agree to take the neighbors parrot, until they get a place.  The parrot is lots of fun.  We secretly hope they never pick him up, but hope they do pick him up at the same time.
They had a lot of animals that didn't make it out.  Someone managed to carry the parrot cage out.
The fire was started deep frying french fries in a pan on the stove, then "going outside for a smoke" but leaving the burner on.  Oil reached its flash point temperature, then there's no putting it out.

A quick vid Michelle did of the parrot trying to drink my coffee in the morning.

parrot drinking coffee

New "Job"

The other day, I just decided I have to make a thousand dollars a day as an electrician, or its just not worth it, I'll join my budy, playing in the dirt with the skid steer, making $1000 a day.  I should have been more specific in my decision making.  8 hour days, 100 days a year, I don't know.

Shortly after I get the phone call.  50 houses to wire, all identical, back to back and framed up.  I never thought I could compete in the new construction cookie cutter mass production market.  Two weeks of fine tuning my game, 16 hour days, and getting covered in mud.  I can do a house a day.  One house, one day.  Now he wants 8 wired this week.  Thats more than one a day, just saying.

50, turned into 150, in two weeks.  What does that mean.  There is no light at the end of the tunel, its getting further away.  In two weeks, 14 days, I have wired 10 homes, and I still have other comitments I do at night and the odd day.  Instead of just 36 homes left to wire, there is now 136 homes left to wire.  I feel like I just got myself a "job"  I have four and a half months work if I work every day, 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.  But I have no doubt the number will get bigger again, and I will have work all year, which is good I guess.  No need to dream up interesting things to do in the winter.  I can just work like every one else.

I have lots of video and stories about the jobsite, but it all requires editing.  I just got one clip today that I'm not going to ediit, but rather upload as it is and goto sleep.   This is just a video of the Zoom Boom on site, put in the ditch.  Its pretty awesome to look at.

Whats New

Chickens

We have 2 chickens living in our front yard.  Everybody walking by is very entertained by them.  Our mail man, who has been trying for 2 years to NOT deliver our mail, got us written up by the Canada Post.  The official letter stated that our mail has become undeliverable, because we have lose chickens in the yard that might escape.  Thats bullshit cause they were flying out of the yard and back in on their own the week we got the letter.  They have never gone through the gate nor have they tried.
But you know before that it was the dogs, then it was some dog poop, then an extention cord was left out he was afraid he would slip or trip on it.  Or the snow wasn't shoveled enough for him.  Our mail man is just a dick.  We don't want to push the chicken issue, we feel lucky enough that everyone loves them, even our racist neighbor that doesn't like black people, loves our black chickens.  Truth is we don't know if we are allowed to have chickens in the city or not.  There is lots online about trying to approve 2 chickens per house, but nothing saying it has been approved.  So we keep 14 chickens out in Andrew, and 2 in the city.

Vehicles

Got a new van, big ol long Ford Econoline Club Wagon.  Seats have all gone in the garbage, and its filled w tools and wire.
The Astro is going good w its new trans, and Lincoln locker.   Really looking forward to driving that next winter in the snow, like four wheel drive, all at the back tires.
Nobody wants to buy my motorbike for cash.  Lots of people want to trade something, not even a phone call from someone with cash.
The old dodge is done.  I am going to take my many accessories off it and scrap the rest this summer.  The motor has troubles, the brakes have had troubles since the trailer brakes failed in the mexico mountains.  I did replace the pads, but rotors and god knows what else needs replacing now too.  This spring I did have a little fun with the dodge.  I was going to set it up for advertising, make it a real head turner, and decal it out.  Nothing show quality, just a WTF quality.  but I realized how unsafe and underpowered it is since I got the 1 ton Huderite van (Ford Econoline)  Here is a vid of the cold air intake I put on the dodge this spring.

http://youtu.be/UhHHEWhoOwY

Equiptment

I haven't got the Ditchwitch mini skid steer running on both cylinders yet, dispite lots of work done to it.  Amazingly it still managed to lift the 700lb 6.2 diesel into the back of the 1 ton, with a 200lb bucket on it.  I should have got video of that but didn't have a camera guy.

I did find a 1974 ish ditch witch for sale at a garage sale.  I purchased that for cheep, then I will remove the bar and reduction gears and put it on my skid steer.  that will be a real money maker.  I'll have a video up the motor from that sometime soon.  It is an amazingly huge and heavy 12hp Wisconsin engine.  I actually just like having it sit in my shop to look at it, its a nice looking old engine.

Work

I'm busy with work, as I am every summer.  We are thinking of buying another place this winter to renovate over the winter, wile things are slow.   I have guy that is a pro at flipping houses that wants to partner up on a home.  I have lots I want to learn from him.  Not so much how he does it but how he does it so fast.  He will replace every thing, make the place beautiful, in a month, working weekends and evenings after his full time job.

Babies

No babies yet, besides the 14 chicks we hatched this spring.  Michelle is destressing about kids in Germany rite now with her long time friend from Toronto.

Zombie Apocalypse

The Zombie Apocalypse as I like to refer to it, other wise known as the end of the myan calendar, dooms day, what ever.  Having our furnace go out a couple of times last year, and having a water pipe freeze and explode really made us aware how reliant we are on electricity and such in the winter months.  No electricity, no heat.  No heat no water.  So we have some solar panels and batteries, for the basement.  I am getting a pellet stove, just for the ease of installation.  I would like a wood stove, but its going in the basement and the pipe will then have to be vented 3 stories up.  Don't know if you have ever bought three stories of zero clearance pipe before, but it costs more than the stove.  Pellet stove goes rite out the side of the house like a new style furnace.  Also we don't own this house, and you know insurance won't even pay for the fire truck if  "they didn't approve" your wood stove installation.

Bobcat is Gone

I got my new skid steer, sold the old one.  Turned out to be sorta serious problems w the new skid steer 24hp motor.  I tore it down and took the head in for servicing, but nobody can get to it for 2 weeks.  Its very tempting to buy a brand new electronic fuel injection 28 hp, just cause we have work to do with it.
Video Of The Bobcat Tow Away


Funny after searching so long for a decent motor to put in the old 632 bobcat, found nothing.  I take my 24hp motor in they say buy this new 28hp for $2000.  Anyway would have had motors for both skid steers but my 632 is gone, I just have the SK500 now

It was a scrapper guy that hauled the bobcat away, but he had no intention of scrapping it,  he intended to put one of his scrap motors in and use it for his scrapping business.  Pretty cool tow truck he has, thing is worth $70,000.

Dune Buggy Race Track

I proved myself last weekend.  Everyone said there wasn't enough space in the back yard, in Andrew, to make a buggy track.  Without even using all the available space I made a short oval track, and it was a lot of fun for everybody.  It was much like the Speeders Electric Kart track we have in Edmonton, only we don't have to pay $20 a piece to rip around on it for 6 laps.

The 250's are perfect, just nuff power to spin the back end around on the hair pin and get enough speed on the strait to be slamming the brakes on in terror as you come in to the corner too hot.  This is also really great, giving Michelle some twisties fish tailing experience, to help her deal with icy roads when she drives.  I pretty much yanked her off public transit, gave her keys and told her to drive in Alberta winters, and she has had some nasty experiences since then, without ever getting a second chance.  "well maybe if I turn into the skid I could regain control" She'll never know until today.

New skid steer should be here Friday.  You know the buggy track is getting a tunnel, jump, velodrome style hair pin wall, and what ever else we can come up with.  The original 632 bobcat is for sale cheep.  I just don't have time.  My winter fun time is over, booked solid for a week in advance.  There really is something to my favorite contractor that goes to Arizona from Nov to May.  It is unbelievable, like someone flipped a switch may first and filled my calendar.  I still did little stuff all winter but was worried if we winter down south my contractors would find another Electrician.  This winter that wouldn't have been the case.
Check out the Dune Buggy accident video.

Equipment Upgrade

A couple of weeks ago I met a 23 year old that is excessively motivated to succeed.  I don't know if its just Alberta, or that generation of kids, we call "the generation of entitlement" because they, generally speaking, have no motivation and think they are entitled to success.

This young man, Justin, contacted me looking for some joint ventures in business.  He runs a part time earth works company, wile he is a full time heavy duty mechanic.  His earth works company runs into a lot of electrical over lap with trenching and new construction work.

At 23 Justin owns $60,000 in equipment, with no dept, and he keeps it busy.  But his equipment, and how he gets it is what really sparked my interest.  He runs the mini skid steer primarily, a $25,000 machine brand new. I call these mini skid steers the future of urban development, because they are only 36" wide they get into back yard gates, and through home doors.

I searched Canada for a used machine.  I was able to spend the $12000 people were asking, but they sold quicker than I could get to them.  Or in one case, the owner actually decided not to sell it, as if the earth just thawed, and he was reminded how useful it is.  So like Justin, I turned to searching the states.  Used equipment in the states seems to be virtually worthless.

South Dakota I found an SK500, a middle weight mini skid steer, for $3900.  That is less than I paid for my handle bar walk behind trencher in Canada.  Granted I still need to buy a trencher bar for the skid steer at $5000, but it will make my trenching and back filling life so much easier.  My handlebar machine really tries to kill you with big trenches, and then you have to back fill them after the machine beet the crap out of you

This is a picture of my machine, I should get late next week.

Attachments are expensive, but I can actually cut down the buckets for my full size bobcat, and save some coin there.  I can also make pallet forks, make buckets, my trailer able back hoe could end up going on this for back hoe work as an attachment.   For this machine I can buy post hole driller, trencher, anything the bigger skid steers use, but what really excites me is the Roto Witch.

Directional drills weigh in at 10,000lb +, and cost $100,000+.  I'm just not interested in spending that and hauling it around.  Ditch witch has made a roto witch, which is just a 30' drill bit that can connect your two trenches on either side of your driveway.  No more jack hammering drive ways and side walks, and doing scabby concrete repairs.

I'm sure I will make a video of the SK500 unloading. next week.  The next challenge will be transporting it.  The 500 only weighs 2200lb so hauling it without a one ton is very achievable.

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Bator

Well we went to a friends house to buy 12 fertilized chicken eggs, cause our baby chick from last year turned out to be a rooster, and we only have 2 hens.  I was surprised fertilized eggs are worth $10 and up a dozen.  But somehow we ended up leaving with 48 fertilized eggs for free, of varying age.  Like 2 weeks later, we get around to dealing with them.

I took 24 to the hatchery to hatch, cause we don't know what we'r doing.  Then in another week we got our bator together, got a cooler, hot water thermostat, computer fan.  The hot water thermostat only went down to 110 deg.  I think I need 100 ish deg.  So I simply dialed the stat down to 110, then pulled its nob off and reinstalled the nob at 120 and dialed it down to 110 again.  That gives me a theoretical 100 deg.

It seemed to hold within 5 deg, and our chickens are definitely developing.  So its looking like we will have some 40 odd chickens.  If any body wants any, let us know.  We have a mix of bantams, blue eggs, I don't even know.  The bantams will make some nice city birds, cause they are small.

Video of the home made incubator:


Video of candling eggs day 10:

Possum VS Cricket

A quick vid of our sugar glider stalking and attacking its prey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ1YZjHvmkY

Seating Tires

I have never had this problem before, but I got these sexy Corvette wheels, and the 235 tires that came on them rubbed bad on the slightest corner.  I really enjoyed this video, and trying to seat the tire, I am glad it worked out.

The Astro Van Diesel

This is the diesel I got for the Astro van, basically free, with the 700R4 transmission.  Which ironically turned out to be a great transmission, the only one of three that has a good fourth gear, but I rebuilt it anyway.  Who knew a 30 year old automatic could still be sweet inside.

I have unsiezed  this diesel engine like this three times now.  It obviously has some internal problems.  So its on the list to get a tear down and rebuild, right after the Ranger is back together.  It takes about an hour or more to get this motor turning over 360 deg.  Then it won't quite fire, but makes little smoke puffs.

The starter in the 6.2 diesel has some serious torque, sucks the battery voltage down and makes a tremendous amount of heat.  It still takes an hour of cranking an eighth of an inch at a time.

Torque Converter Myth

I got my new built transmission in my van.  Haven't done all the tests yet, but it worked sweet around the block.  Everything is as expected, shift points are perhaps a tad higher.  It slams into gear, to get rid of the "slush box" automatic feel, and make me more aware of what gear I'm in.

I was actually looking forward to cutting my original torque converter open, to see how burnt up it is.  It is my theory that most of the heat on the highway was coming from the torque converter.  My testing proved it did not lock up as it should have.  When I told the transmission shop I was going to open the old converter, they were taken aback, "oooh, you have a metal lathe?" they said.  I was like "no I'm just going to open it w a grinder".  And they told me its so thick, like 1/4" thats a lot of work, and waste of time.  I actually listened to them and didn't open it up, for a few days.  Then I remembered I own a plasma cutter.

I was totally disappointed in the results.  It seemed to me like there was nothing in the torque converter to wear out.  Maybe it is a steel clutch of sorts that doesn't have the strength to lock up under the load I put on it, I may never know, but I have put the question out there.

http://youtu.be/qY3PThQszTE

700R4 upgrades

I've learned a lot over the winter rebuilding my Chevy automatic transmissions.  Thanks a bunch to Michelle for letting me take over the basement all winter and putting up with the musk of burnt tranny fluid.  I feel much better about my automatic Astro van now, knowing I can fix the transmission, should I burn it out.  Before it was like "when's this trans going to go?" and I would always be on the look out for a new van, or have a back up truck ready to go.  Now I will have a back up automatic transmission built and ready to install.

I didn't really film the rebuilding, cause honestly I didn't know what I was doing, and it took about 6 months, hour here, hour there.  Next one I will film, with short cuts, to show what you most likely get with a $800 rebuild.

I did a few mods to the automatic transmission to make it hold up better towing the 4500lb electrical trailer.  Those mods are going to cost me more work on the install, because I will have to mess about pulling the governor, and modifying the governor, to get the shift rpms back to where they were before the higher pressures and bigger valves.  I have 2 videos covering the mods I did here.