summerinmaine

Though started in Tech, this thread pretty quickly veered into Pub territory, so I'm gonna treat it as such. I think it's important to enlighten folks about the "RULES" so that they make conscious choices as to how they use depictions of our flag. Otherwise you get displays of disrespect due to carelessness or ignorance, such as: and The whole concept of turning a depiction of our flag into a "doormat" is beyond stupid, and to do it for a public function? Incredible!!! :mad: BTW everyone does know that we have a flag smilie, right? :USAflag: Respectful or no?

I've always been kinda on the fence about this. I believe in respect for our country, but also feel that the flag is simply a symbol, and thus is a totem for freedom of expression. No matter what viewpoint you wish to express about our country, a depiction of our flag can be an important part of that. And if the freedoms of our country mean anything, then they must be more important that a "sacred" image. Besides, I'm not sure I'd want to live in a country where this is considered disrespectful:

Thanks. My thoughts precisely. BTW I always use copper wiring (typically 14 gauge or larger), butt connectors (or soldered) and heat shrink tubing. I only use wire nuts to set up and test the circuit, then re-do it for a permanent set-up. Tho I confess that my distaste for chassis grounds probably developed from the two Lotus Elans I currently own. Fibreglass bodies definitely limit one's grounding options.

I've got some equipment to wire up inside the cab, and want to do it a bit better than the PO had done (hot leads for various equipment like CB radio and stereo are just wedged into the blade receptacles in the stock fuse block). I plan to clean up prior wiring efforts as well. So I got a BUSS fuse block that has a common lug to take power from the battery, and 10 fused output blades. Each circuit can then have a different ATC fuse. I plan to mount this inside, on the passenger side. It occurs to me that a similar, albeit fuseless, block or collector would be a nice way to ground the new circuits back to the battery. Anyone hear of something similar? I could just wire a lug back to the negative pole, and simply collect ground wires there, rather than chassis grounds. Is there any reason I shouldn't ground radios, GPS devices, etc. in this manner? Seems to me that its better this way than the often dodgy grounding through the chassis.

Here's a 2WD one near me that just appeared on CL. Not much detail, but: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/878144923.html

I'm down in San Diego area. Not many Comanches down here however, so they tend to be pricey.

Doesn't the link work for you? It should open the RENIX manual in PDF, then just save a copy to your local drive. That is too good... He didn't mean that literally...it's a quote from a very funny movie called Office Space (I believe is the name). Yeah, sorry about that. My sense of humor occasionally takes a sharp turn.

If you could just shoot that TPS Report right over to me, that would be great! :brows:

Is SoCal part of the Southwest? If so, I don't understand your question.

They Started It!!!! Nyah, Nyah, Nyah . . . :brows:

That's probably a good price. As a point of reference, my daughter just bought the same year, mileage, color, features etc. etc. but without the body damage. Cost her $3K.

That should buff right out! :brows:

Ditto. Except for the loss-of-use part. I'd like to get my oil pressure up a bit, but doubt that it would stop at bearings. My experience is that once you start trying to cure a problem on an old system (like my 300K miles engine), then either you break other worn parts as you proceed (like I just did on a fix I tried on the old camper), or you simply transfer the strain to the next weakest link.

Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind. BTW are your halogen lamps? Is heat any issue?

Thanks! I wasn't worried about the aim, as I know that is determined by the bulb fitting into the mounting pod. And the clips aren't really bending much; its the ring that is torqued out of shape somewhat where it passes over the clip. But the poor fit of the retaining ring with the clips in place looks "unsanitary" (to use the old custom car phrase).

Inspired by this thread in Classifieds: http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11876 I ordered up a set of stone guards, and started the install last night. They appear reasonably well made BTW. Finding that one headlight retaining ring was only held on by two screws (and thus only two clips could be fitted) I'll be delayed until I have a chance to find a couple of replacement machine screws (plus a few others for the trim screws that inevitably broke rather than coming loose). The guards won't install securely unless all four clips are in place. But, based on the poor blurry image on the back of the stone guard package, it appears that the clips should be installed under the retaining ring so that they protrude from between the headlight bulb and the retaining ring. Is this correct? The written instructions are silent on this point. If I install them that way, the straight portion of the clip doesn't conform to the right angle of the retaining ring (where it wraps around the bulb), and thus the ring is torqued out of shape and the ring-to-bulb fitting is very poor. Is it possible that the clips should instead protrude out above and below the ring? This would cure the torquing problem, but doesn't appear correct from the drawing. Anyone have a pic showing a proper install? Thanks

That's funny, cause that's just what I tell the guy that I work the Baja races with: And the fact is, it's true. His bumper, winch and HID lights cost more than my entire rig.

And I recall reading a study that reported that 85% of the people polled considered themselves to be a "better than average" driver. Our capacity for self-delusion knows no bounds. :brows:

Of course, that simply follows the time-honored principle: Nolite id cogere, cape malleum majorem I know there's a formal translation, but I always like to think of it as: "If In Doubt...Hit It With a Hammer, If Still In Doubt... Find a Bigger Hammer. ... "

Pretty much. I've heard the recommendation that you run the motor at a constant 2,500rpm or so (to avoid stalling). Not too much water, of course, just a spray every 15 secs or so. I've done it on carbs, never on FI so YMMV.

If done improperly, yes! :D But if done properly, just think of it as waterboarding for automobiles. ;) It's a shade tree mechanic's way of burning the carbon buildup off of the piston and valves/seats.

Unless you had the engine warm and the throttle wide open, the absolute numbers are relatively meaningless, but the differential for cyl #1 is problematic. But until you do a leakdown test, or at least the oil trick, you can't tell where the trouble lies. If you think about it, that kind of differential ring wear in 62K miles is strange, and I'd be more inclined to suspect the head or the valves. It could be as simple as a bit of crud stuck on the valve seat. Have you tried the water cure? :brows:

Thanks for all the great replies. Very valuable! There's nothing wrong with my existing footpedal, and I'm not particularly looking to change the console unless i must, so I'm going to weigh your comments carefully (and probably wait until some brave soul does the job, and is then willing to share the experience).

Has anyone converted the footbrake pedal to a hand lever for the parking brake? Maybe it's just the vehicles I grew up on, but I find a hand lever far more useful than a foot pedal, particularly with a manual transmission.

I had a similar issue (of course with 300K on the motor that shouldn't be surprising). I threw in a can of Lucas Oil Treatment, and that was good for ~10#s across the rev range. Now it's 8-10# at idle and 20-25# at cruising speed (2,500rpm).