mjeff87

I scored a humongous whole bone-in ham for Easter. Way too much for just me and my wife, so i cut it in half via sawzall yesterday morning (the look on my wife's face was priceless when I came in from the garage with the saw). Cooked half, had a great dinner. Today I took a chunk of the cooked half, cut the bone out and made Senate bean soup with it for dinner tonight, along with some sammiches. 1 lb dried navy beans, picked over 1 hunk of cooked ham with bone (or a couple smoked hocks if you don't have leftover ham) 1 white onion, chopped 1 large rib of celery, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, to taste, minced 2-3 dried bay leaves 1 cup instant mashed potato flakes 1 quart water, plus any leftover water from cooking ham Cover beans with cold water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for 2 hours. Drain beans, add quart of water, ham jus, and ham/bone (or hocks if using). Add vegetables and bay leaves and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours. Remove ham/bone/hocks, let cool slightly, shred meat and return to soup. Stir in potato flakes, then mash up some of the beans with a hand-potato masher (you can strain some beans out and blend them in a blender or food processor and return them to the pot, but I like the texture better when hand-mashing them). Stir and cover soup and simmer another 30-45 minutes until thickened to your desired consistency. Remove bay leaves and serve.

You'd be surprised (or maybe not, lol) just how handy a hi-lift Jack comes in handy for ALL sorts of things. I don't wheel anymore but I still carry a 48" one in the KJ. I think I've used it for more stuff now than I ever did on the trail.

Wow buddy....glad it wasn't worse for you. Be well, and don't hesitate to ask for help, with anything, if you feel the need.

Oooops, that stinks. I've not had the pleasure of the lock actuators (yet), but I did have to replace the passenger side window motor assembly. Twice. First time I did it and got it all back together, I guess I didn't seat the little clips that hold the glass to the track just right, and the whole glass popped out of place the next day when my wife tried to roll down the window. So I had to rip it all apart again and reseat the clips/fasteners. I feel your pain....

Thanks. There's a pretty steep learning curve with the equipment from what I've seen/been reading. I don't want to throw good money after bad if I decide to get into it.

I'm trying to refi our house now with the credit union. Went from a 30 note to a 15 with them about 4 years ago and dropped darn near a full point of interest. I'm trying to rewrite the note again at a 7 or 10 year note and capitalize on close to 2% (or less). I applaud your moxie. Something good has to come from all this mess.

I'm not, but have always had a passing interest in it. Problem is I don't need another $$$ hobby right now LOL. If you had to ballpark it, about how much would it cost a guy to get into a decent setup? Nothing NASA quality, but not cheap junk either.

It could be hydrolocked if the gasket leak is internal. Pull the plugs, then try to spin the engine with a socket/breaker bar on the nut holding the harmonic balancer on. I doubt you need a whole new engine, but it's too bad you're so far away. I've got a perfectly good 87 2.5L sitting in a barn up in PA you could have for free.

I've got a good collection of RA magnets on the garage fridge (they toss at least one in with every order they ship). Overall very positive, but you have to watch what you order....they have cheap crap parts listed along with the premium ones. Just depends on what you need/want. I will also plug 1A auto^^^^ I've ordered from them numerous times, and the how-to videos come in handy sometimes. Excellent customer service if you have a problem (I've never interacted with RA customer service so I can't comment one way or the other).

See my Focus thread in the projects forum. I'm also bootlegging supplies to local restaraunts who are all doing takeout only. They need consumable supplies to keep afloat, and I have ghost inventory to help them. I'm also trying to get my buddy a job with the State now, in light of all the chaos going on. He has a skill set in logistics/emergency services that is DESPERATELY needed right now.

Pro tip when working alone.....always keep your cell phone within arms reach. Never know when you might need it. When I chopped my toe off in the garage by myself, I was all alone. Wife was at work, none of my neighbors were outside. I walked (hobbled) right past my cell sitting on the chest freezer looking for it because I forgot where I put it. Including 2 trips up the couple steps into my kitchen and back.....dripping blood all over everywhere LOL. I finally grabbed the house phone in the garage to call 911. As soon as I hung up, I looked down to find my cell phone sitting right in front of me. I also use double jackstands under anything I lift up, plus keep the jack in position too. Can't be too careful when underneath 2 tons of automobile.

You have to use a puller for the driverside axleshaft, because the input is recessed into the trans housing. You can't just yank on the end, because you will end up separating the CV joint and trashing the whole shaft (mine self-detached on it's own while I was pulling the LCA...it was shot to begin with). Pics are the recessed input, the rental tool that is "supposed" to work but didn't, the slide hammer/hook tool I codged up that actually worked perfectly, and the whole thing all put back together again. Last pic was dinner

Then I moved onto the axleshaft. Pics are pretty self-explanatory.....old one out, the broken CV joint, and a shot of the old versus new shafts.

Ended up not replacing the rack, but I did swap in new inner and outer tie rods, boots, and a driverside axleshaft. The inner tie rods were a PITA as they were factory The ends don't have flats on them to get a wrench on to break them free from the rack like aftermarket ones do.....I had to end up disconnecting the LCA's on both sides so I could get a pipe wrench on them. Getting the zipties over the inner boots and tightening them up was a whole new exercise in body contortionism, too. I didn't know it, but when I was working on the driverside, the whole axleshaft separated at the tri-ball. It was so loose I can't imagine how it held together for as long as it did, so I pulled it yesterday and put a new one in. Surprisingly, I didn't have a single problem swapping it, except for the puller tool I rented from O'Riley's that was supposed to work but failed miserably. I'm happy I only rented it and didn't buy it, it was a pile of crap. I ended up rigging up a body dent puller/slide hammer with a hook of sorts on the end which worked perfectly, after I smashed my thumb with it on the first pull. Got it all put back together yesterday morning, then ran it up to the local Firestone for an alignment. Went back home, cracked (another) beer, and cooked us some sirloin steaks on the charcoal for dinner. It was a fine day. Few pics.....new tie rods installed on both sides, and the SHOT old boots.

^^^^that's alot to process in my brain this early in the morning. LOL.

Sweet. You can surprise yourself by what you can get done alone

^^^^

Frame rust....check above the rear axle carefully. Otherwise, that looks like a darn clean rig.

There are rumors going around here that beer distributors are shutting down. Some convenience stores (if they are still open) are hearing they are not getting any more orders shipped to them after what orders they have in already are delivered. Dun dun DUN......

One of my local supermarkets (Lidl) had Bud Light cases on sale the week before last. I knew what was coming, and bought 4 cases. I lived through hurricane Isabel here back in the early 2000's.....within a couple days, ANY kind of beer was universally unavailable. If this truly becomes TEOTHWAKI, I can at least use cans of it as bartering chips.

Anyone seen the Muppet murder movie? There's a scene in there about Goofer and a BJ......I can't help thinking about that watching that clip^^^^ On a different note, so much for small businesses. Lifeblood of our economy. They are well and truly screwed with these "new normal" edicts being declared. Talk about doublespeak.

Our governor just closed all schools in VA (public and private) for the rest of the school year. Yet, our ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) stores remain open. For those that don't know, you can't buy hard liquor in VA without going to an ABC store......which are a state agency.

Think I finally fixed it, lol. Took the VC off yesterday and it looks like the gasket slipped out of it's groove right where it was leaking from. Spent about an hour cleaning everything up, then put it all back together with a small smear of RTV black in a couple key places. Let it sit overnight to seal up tight and drove it to work this morning. So far, I can't see any leaks. Yay. Now onto the steering rack. The inner tie rod boots are full of fluid and are dripping. The driverside TR needs to be replaced, but I think I'm just going to pull and replace the whole rack.

Yanked the valve cover back off the Focus to diagnose/fix the oil leak. It looks like the gasket got out of place behind the rear (intake) cam valley, right where it was leaking. Spent an hour getting everything squeaky clean again, reseated the gasket and added a dab of RTV black and put it all together. I'll drive it to work in the morning and see if it's still leaking or not. I also sewed my tomato seeds in individual little cups with some potting soil. I'm going to try to get them in the ground earlier this year, hopefully in about 25-30 days from now.