The FJ80 was running hot (lean mixture) and the idle had suddenly gone low and rough. A quick check of the intake revealed a crack in the rubber astronaut-arm runner that connects the throttle body with the AFM. Being as this was 18:00 last evening, a repair to make it drivable to Toyota Parts today was in order. Thankfully the tube hadn’t torn completely – the split was maybe about halfway around. I cut a piece of bicycle innertube that would go about 1.25 times around the intake flex tube and split it so it would lay flat as a sheet. After cleaning the intake tube and washing all the talcum off the innertube section, I slathered everything with Rubatex and tightly wrapped the innertube around the intake tube. Some zip-ties helped ensure an airtight seal and hold everything in place until the glue dried. Continue reading ‘Field-expedient repair’
Monthly Archive for July, 2007
Page 3 of 3
The 17-year-old shocks in the FJ80 were long overdue for replacement, but something got it in my head to replace them this past Saturday – maybe it was the swervy, edge-of-the-envelope, Caddy-like ride. Went by Car Quest and got the appropriate KYB (Kayaba) units on Friday. At one time I was considering upgrading to something like Edelbrock IAS’s, but since the FJ80 may be retired soon, I just went with the direct OEM replacement. Continue reading ‘Gasdruck stossdampfer’
On Sunday, not having an operational car, I skipped SCCA autocross, and instead got roused out of bed at 10 by a call to go on over to Musso Kustoms to help with them work on Tracey’s new old Dodge Royal(e). By the time I got there, Chuck and Jay had pretty much taken care of the bulk of work bleeding the brakes & pulling coolant hoses off. 
Not finding a close enough fit for the water housing, Jay cuts off the offending rusty end. Considering this was probably an original piece, it’s still in pretty good shape once the end is trimmed off.
Went to the McBike bike department bonus dinner last night at the Shogun Restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel. Buffet style. Main line was quite pedestrain, with the exception for the presence of goya champuru and shoyu pork. The champuru was looking a little grey, so it didn’t make it onto my plate. The little pitchers that held the soba tsuyu were empty, so my soba sucked even more. There was crab… the smooth one… is that Snow crab? Not the pokey Alaska King crab… Sushi selection was fairly good and quality was not unacceptable. Didn’t try the prime rib or tempura. Continue reading ‘What the hell is this cr@p?’