Gizmosrcool
04-24-2023, 08:07 PM
Hey Everyone
The month has zipped by and work progressing bit by bit. A few observations.
Appreciation. All I can say is “wow” and Thank You. Looking back at many years of watching the forum site, wanting to do something, I fully appreciate all the folks who pitch in and help. This community makes it possible. It would be much harder, or even impossible, without the support of everyone. At least for me.
Build it your own way. I seem to spend too much time on very small things. Most items no one will see. And that is ok with me. I am learning and go slow to be sure I don’t mess up too many parts and I want to be sure I really like what I am turning out. Right now its getting the hang of it and gaining experience.
Build School. I did not attend. I had too many escuses. If I could do it again. I would.
Go with the flow. My lower control arms front mount were different from side to side. The same with the rears. Two required using washers as spacers. The manual says no spacer. I did not want pull the tab in that much and had to improvise. One spacer I had a hard time finding in the correct thickness. That means the M16-20-110mm bolt is too short. No 120mm locally. Oh well. Order online. Bolt in and move on. Just took extra time.
Honor mistakes. This is all new and I am prone to mistakes. Especially at the beginning. If I goofed up, I need to decide to accept it, or do it over. Right now I am going with the flow and making it my own and I fret on making it right. So I do it over. Even through it makes me feel like I am not moving along too fast.
Learning New Stuff. I am learning something almost every day or each time in the garage along with improving some type of skill. It is funny what pops in my head that came from a build thread and I remember and use it.
Fasteners. I find my local Ace much better than Lowe’s or Home Depot. I learned to get extras and also buy a few sizes up and down and build up stock. I have ordered from boltdepot.com, boltsandnuts.com, and McMaster.com. I am building a fastener inventory with every week that goes by.
Prep time. Some work takes extra prep time. The IRS is an example. Prepping the components, painting the diff, rear lug nuts, all done before popping in the diff and hanging the suspension. The same with the front. Trimming the adjusters took 5X more time than putting in the upper control arms.
Manual. Read the manual over and over and over and over and over and over.... The read it some more.
Nothing is dumb. Ask any question. We all have different levels of experience. Learn from the community.
I have a few favorite tools.
Rockwell Jawhorse. I have had for a few years and it is awesome. It is a 2nd pair of hands and is a work bench, vice, and press all in one.
Drill press. Drilling panels and helping to square up drilling.
Hydraulic press. Lug nuts and anything needing a squeeze
Digital caliper. Minimum 0-6”. Maybe a 10-12” one. I use the small caliper a lot
Bench belt and disc sander. Very handy and I use a lot. More than I thought when originally purchased
Right angle grinder with sanding disc. Great for tuning on panels
I am enjoying the experience and I like the time doing something different than my 9-5. I typically get off work and some days I am in the garage an hour or 2. Some days none. Other days I am searching for a fastener or trying to figure something out. The weekends I get a few more hours in unless we have the grandkids over.
Tom
The month has zipped by and work progressing bit by bit. A few observations.
Appreciation. All I can say is “wow” and Thank You. Looking back at many years of watching the forum site, wanting to do something, I fully appreciate all the folks who pitch in and help. This community makes it possible. It would be much harder, or even impossible, without the support of everyone. At least for me.
Build it your own way. I seem to spend too much time on very small things. Most items no one will see. And that is ok with me. I am learning and go slow to be sure I don’t mess up too many parts and I want to be sure I really like what I am turning out. Right now its getting the hang of it and gaining experience.
Build School. I did not attend. I had too many escuses. If I could do it again. I would.
Go with the flow. My lower control arms front mount were different from side to side. The same with the rears. Two required using washers as spacers. The manual says no spacer. I did not want pull the tab in that much and had to improvise. One spacer I had a hard time finding in the correct thickness. That means the M16-20-110mm bolt is too short. No 120mm locally. Oh well. Order online. Bolt in and move on. Just took extra time.
Honor mistakes. This is all new and I am prone to mistakes. Especially at the beginning. If I goofed up, I need to decide to accept it, or do it over. Right now I am going with the flow and making it my own and I fret on making it right. So I do it over. Even through it makes me feel like I am not moving along too fast.
Learning New Stuff. I am learning something almost every day or each time in the garage along with improving some type of skill. It is funny what pops in my head that came from a build thread and I remember and use it.
Fasteners. I find my local Ace much better than Lowe’s or Home Depot. I learned to get extras and also buy a few sizes up and down and build up stock. I have ordered from boltdepot.com, boltsandnuts.com, and McMaster.com. I am building a fastener inventory with every week that goes by.
Prep time. Some work takes extra prep time. The IRS is an example. Prepping the components, painting the diff, rear lug nuts, all done before popping in the diff and hanging the suspension. The same with the front. Trimming the adjusters took 5X more time than putting in the upper control arms.
Manual. Read the manual over and over and over and over and over and over.... The read it some more.
Nothing is dumb. Ask any question. We all have different levels of experience. Learn from the community.
I have a few favorite tools.
Rockwell Jawhorse. I have had for a few years and it is awesome. It is a 2nd pair of hands and is a work bench, vice, and press all in one.
Drill press. Drilling panels and helping to square up drilling.
Hydraulic press. Lug nuts and anything needing a squeeze
Digital caliper. Minimum 0-6”. Maybe a 10-12” one. I use the small caliper a lot
Bench belt and disc sander. Very handy and I use a lot. More than I thought when originally purchased
Right angle grinder with sanding disc. Great for tuning on panels
I am enjoying the experience and I like the time doing something different than my 9-5. I typically get off work and some days I am in the garage an hour or 2. Some days none. Other days I am searching for a fastener or trying to figure something out. The weekends I get a few more hours in unless we have the grandkids over.
Tom