Past FX Work

Published on July 4, 2007 in car by taro. Closed

I’m going to catch up on past work I’ve done to the FX so I have documentation of what was done when. Between the time I started working on this post and now, the point has almost become moot, but it’s interesting to remember the history.

October 2006

Took delivery of the new FX and picked it up from Pasha Hawaii. Minor adventure. Needed a jump start, clutch was tricky, steering felt wierd, mother is loud. Drive carefully home, feel very self conscious as there are no plates. I stop at the satelite city hall in Hawaii Kai to take care of reg, then take it straight home. Continue reading ‘Past FX Work’

Field-expedient repair

Published on July 3, 2007 in car by risu. Closed

intake_1213a.JPGThe 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’

Gasdruck stossdampfer

Published on July 3, 2007 in car by risu. Closed

kyb_1211a.jpgThe 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’

Royal

Published on July 2, 2007 in car by taro. Closed

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. Cut! 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.

Continue reading ‘Royal’

What the hell is this cr@p?

Published on July 2, 2007 in Food, rant and Review by risu. Closed

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?’

Chase Halsall

Published on June 28, 2007 in bike by risu. Closed

Chase HalsallYesterday (27 June 2007) at 07:53, Chris and Tanya Halsall became the proud parents of a baby boy.  <5lbs. More details as they become available.   

Tweaked and spikeless

Published on June 28, 2007 in bike by risu. Closed

While out for a spin yesterday, I discovered that other than gashing one knee and bruising the other, I also tweaked my rear wheel in the crash on “That ride“. It’s got a good wave in it – about 4mm left and 6mm right. Hopefully I can get that straightened out… I was going to do it today, but I forgot the bike at home.

While taking a break after some mild climbs, I noticed my left shoe would rock over to the outside if I toed-down while in the saddle. Getting off the bike revealed that the outer spike had come unscrewed at some point along “That ride” and fell out. Must have been toward the end, since there isn’t any dirt inside the threaded hole. On cursory inspection, the threads appeared to be undamaged, so the spike didn’t yank out or get torqued out. Stopped by Sports Authority today to see if they had some alternative to the Sidi spikes, but the football cleats they had were too large in diameter.

6.65-miles, 38-minutes, Vavr = 10.4 mph

New SPD’s

Published on June 27, 2007 in bike and Review by risu. Closed

PD-M970 XTR SPD pedalsJarrel brought in a set of Shimano PD-M970’s XTR pedals for me two weeks ago. Put them on last week. Tested them out on “That ride“. They are pretty. They work great. They’re the same as the PD-M959’s that they replace, except for the color, the label, and about 20-grams. Mud will be no problem with these, like their predecessors. The 959’s will move over to the cyclocross bike, and I’ll finally ditch the first generation SPD’s that are on there now.

About $160

10 out of 10

Car-ma, Intermezzo

Published on June 25, 2007 in car by taro. Closed

Got home, inspected FX. It’s not good. Seam Look carefully and you can see where seams are seperating on this section of the lower uni-body where the A-arm mounts. There isn’t enough deforming to be obvious, but it’s there. Turning the wheel to full lock it now rubs.  Rub This clinches it, I’m retiring this FX. I know there are cars running out there in worse condition, it’s even probably possible to fix this so it’ll be within reasonable spec, but I know it’ll never be right. I was hoping to get this car in really good running shape, but I’ve never been quite happy with it. The boys have discussed making a frankenFX by choping the front cut of original FX and grafting it onto this one. The original FX is actually very straight, no signs of any repair work, but it really is rusting badly. It might be a fun excercise. But no, I don’t intend to keep running this FX. Oh, and the door doesn’t close tight now and the rear door edge to frame gap has widened.

I’ve got a line on another one, so maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

Her insurance adjuster is coming down tomorrow to check it out, we’ll see what they say and what the outcome of this is.

“That ride”: Wailuna mystery hills to Waimano

Published on June 25, 2007 in bike by risu. Closed

Ugh.

Well, it is possible – Chris and I proved it.  We followed the trail that Jeff and I saw last time that leads from the fenceline on the third ridge.  After cresting a small knoll, the trail gently ascended a wide ferny ridgetop between two ravines.  The course was very evident ahead, and the trail was wide and clear here.  Climbing the first hill as a contour along the left, the ferns began closing in.  The initial euphoria and giddyness of finding new territory slowly eroded as the trail narrowed, but was bouyed when the trail became clear again. Continue reading ‘“That ride”: Wailuna mystery hills to Waimano’