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Brad Clayton

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Everything posted by Brad Clayton

  1. Not that I am aware of, the engineers did a pretty good job of stapling the clamps in about the best spot possible.
  2. I know we all make mistakes from time to time or forget something here and there, but this truck has enough tech induced issues to take care of a couple of years worth of fuck ups. I only gave this thing a quick once over (re once'd over it with camera, no one would believe it if I didn't). The cab was just off for a set of turbos, simple enough right? CAC tubes, clamp orientation or boot fitment isn't important on a setup that can make 50 pounds of boost, eh? Proper battery cable and a/c routing. Lets not forget why its here in the first place, turbos, however no one said anything about having to reuse that pesky heat shield. That little hose that goes into that little hole...... not needed on this application. This is just fancy here. Let's reroute this hood safety latch cable in the most awkward and difficult way possible. And this brings us to why the truck was brought to us.... I was having a bitch of a time getting that fuel cooler system filled back up and bled with the radiator sitting on the hot hose. Of course it was super easy to jack that corner of the body up and free the trapped hoses cause this body bolt was never put back in.
  3. Lets just run these power wires for the winch right here, out of the way.
  4. That's what I thought it was........figured you would want to sort it out for yourself though.
  5. No air conditioning, would be a gravy ckp sensor, eh?
  6. It's quite alright, I know what you were getting at. No apology necessary my friend. Don't worry about digging any holes around here, we're all big boys and I myself have pretty broad shoulders.
  7. It's funny but I was thinking about this topic just the other day. I was seeing some real rolling wrecks come in the dealer and thinking why are they even here. Then I started part time at an Indy and holy shit.......never have I seen such atrocities performed on poor automobiles. Just as described in the start of this thread, I have slowly interjected the way I like to fix cars and why they need this and not "can I get by without it? we always have in the past" type of mentality.
  8. Allow me to expound on this. First and foremost, yes people should handle their shit properly, however there are some things that are out of our control. I am speaking about the price of gasoline. I drive a pretty fuel efficient 4 cylinder vehicle to begin with so that helps a little. Unfortunately this is offset by the fact that I have to commute about an hour a day back and forth to work. Now if gas jumps from 3 bucks to 4 bucks a gallon, then seeing how I still have to drive the same distance to get to work, I have to re-appropriate money from somewhere else to pay for this gas with which I had not budgeted for just the week before. My vehicle needs a radiator that is leaking and needs new belts and hoses. Right now this repair is on hold and I am just monitoring the coolant level and topping off as needed. If it were announced tomorrow that the price of gas was going to be lowered in an effort to boost the publics motoring interests, then I would fix my vehicle in a heartbeat. I would be willing to bet that QCM sheets would be a much easier sell, the family vacation, pilling everybody in the war wagon and heading off to Wally World would easier to stomach, new (ridiculously over priced) car sales might be a little higher, ect. Not trying to get political, because that is a no-no on here, just stating how gas prices directly effect my spending habits.
  9. Had a nice little parcel waiting on me when I got home today, just in time for Father's Day!. I would like to do a product review but broken manifold bolts are slim around here (I know.....bummer) bahahahahahaha. In fact I have only ran into 2 jobs in the past year and a half as opposed to the 3 or 4 a month in VT. I took advantage of the generous discount and ordered the whole shootin match. It's all I will ever need to fix the Ford's I work on. Thanks for an incredibly well though out and executed product!
  10. I feel that if the friggin gas companies would just ease up a bit on the price of gasoline, people might be willing to spend more on their cars and upkeep.
  11. Indy I work for uses Dorman stuff. They put 4 degas bottles on a 6.0 Liter. It came back leaking again (split in the seam). I told them to call the parts store and get there money back and buy a Ford unit. Truck has been fixed ever since.
  12. After I relocated I got a better feel for how a light duty diesel tech's position plays out in the grand scheme of a dealerships overhaul well being. I have always known that we were under appreciated and definitely under paid. Most dealers in the day clung to the idea that we were a dime a dozen mechanics and could be replaced by the end of the day if we walked off the job at lunch. I left a dealer in South Carolina and I was one of 2 diesel guys. Shortly after leaving Ford mandated only trained diesel techs for diesel repairs. This became an issue for any dealer with only 1 guy. If he took a vacation, got sick, or whatever then the diesel game was put on hold. Most places couldn't even fudge the paperwork with the certified guys number because most non diesel guys will not crossover. I went to a dealer in Vermont and eventually settled in to be one of 4 diesel techs. The shop only had 14 techs and this was quite an incredible ratio in my opinion. Of those we had 5 senior masters, and 3 masters in various capacities, another astounding ratio. The shop was also grandfathered in when blue oval cert came about and they were exempt from all the prior approval silliness. This was quite amazing to me. Even more amazing was the way the techs were looked upon as numbers. This was a very small dealership in a small town, not a conglomerate. I often told the higher ups, hey you better count your fucking blessings, cause this could all change in the blink of an eye. Well, 1 guy moved that left 3 diesel guys, then 1 guy opened his own shop and we were down to 2 guys. Then 1 guy got a better offer at another dealer and it was left to me. Then I moved and they were left with the prospect of sending diesel work to competing dealers. A year and a half later, and they still have not found a diesel guy that can pull his weight. I look at the want ads from time to time and see loads of dealers trying to find diesel guys. I think it's time for me to remind my dealer that a blessing count is in order.
  13. Excellent presentation, I have never considered the miles to hours calculations before but will use them in the future for sure!
  14. Every 6.4, no matter what it's in for (even a nail in the tire) gets the oil level checked, coolant level checked, and belt tensioner checked.
  15. Very ingenuitive. Is that the car that was packed in mud? It cleaned up nice. We don't have any lifts that were manufactured after 1965.
  16. Had one a couple of years ago with a rough idle that smoothed out while driving.......ended up being an overfilled crankcase.
  17. Looks like the stars and moons aligned just right for that repair!
  18. Just placed an order and saved quite a bit with that discount!!!! I waited too late to get these, I just spent about 3 nights after hours dinkin around with a broken bolt in a 64, it involved a plasma cutter if anyone wants to gage how long a job it turned out to be.
  19. 6.7 day today. 1 with egr cooler and radiator, 1 with egr cooler and turbo coolant fitting, and 1 with primary water pump. After hours it was a 6.4 with a broken bolt in the left manifold that ended up going south quick and turned out to be a late night cab removal. That friggin thing is in a million pieces at the moment.
  20. I finally got me Mustang engine, so I'll be putting that in tomorrow (shootin for 2 pm done time). After work I have to finish up a 7.3 install, and gotta start on a left exhaust manifold with only 7 bolts retaining said manifold on a 64. She sings a bit going down the road.
  21. I have always called em H manuals, Of course I started in the 80's and that's what we called em. Kinda like I still call myself a mechanic.
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