Did a good days work today

[Lippyp]

As I have some guys in plastering my hallway, stairs and landing this week today I couldn't do anything in the house and as it was a nice day decided to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in to my truck.

I dropped the troublesome new starter motor off again and added a shim, hopefully that will cure some of the problems I've been having with it as I don't think it's been engaging properly.

I finally fitted the new (to me) 1 1/4" front sway bar. Starting from scratch as my truck left the factory without one, it took me about an hour and a half to fit from start to finish. The bar came off a 78 C30 camper that someone over here was breaking, a few eeks ago I degreased it, wire brushed it and gave it a coat of my favourite Finnegans No 1 anti-rust primer and several coats of bright red smooth finish Hammerite anti-rust paint to match the other suspension and steering components. I invested in a set of new ECE lowered brackets as the old ones had been welded a couple of times and new energy suspension poly bushes and all new mounting hardware.

Everything went surprisingly smoothly, rivets drilled out easily and it all went together fine apart from the last bolt which required a little persuading from my favourite pry bar (actually an old heavy duty truck tyre lever) to move it into position over the hole, its all torqued down and ready to roll, although I can't test it as the plasters van is blocking me in!

If my starter is finally sorted now I can get the two crusty rear exhaust sections replaced just in time for it's annual inspection.

Thanks to TX Firefighter for his great sway bar article in the FAQ's it sure made it a lot easier to do.

[dtlilly]

Congrats on the job well done Lippy. While the starter was off the truck, did you run jumper wires to it so you could "bench test it"? That would tell you if the selenoid is properly working. All and all good post, except, where's the pictures!

[toms68cst]

Hey Lippy, Are you working on your vacation home too?

I think it was you who mentioned buying one recently in France.

[Lippyp]

Yep, bench tested it before it went on as the first "new" one didn't work at all, not a whirr or a click! This one turns over fine but didn't seem to engage with the flexplate when hot and looking at some marks on the teeth I have concluded it was only engaging with the very edge of the teeth so hopefully a shim will help, it turns over/starts fine when cold, I just need to take it out for a test run now.

Yes it was me with the vacation home in France, we went over for two weeks in mid August to finalise the purchase and do some work. Dealt with lots of French bureaucracy (it's no surprise that the word itself is based on a French word!) at the Mairie (town hall), met the Mayor, insured it, and did some work to secure it and make it a little more weathertight before the winter. The house is at about 2000 feet above sea level so even though it is a fair way south they do get some snow in the winter. Repaired some fences to keep the neighbouring cows out. We made some useful contacts, construction companies, plumbers, electricians etc, including our nearest neighbour Maurice the farmer, whose barn we drive past on our access track. He very conveniently has a fridge full of cold beer in his barn and invites stray sweaty filthy English people in for a drink after they've been toiling all day!

Heres a new picture of the house in its setting. The second pic is the top floor which will become one large and one small bedroom and a toilet. It's on three floors each measuring 5Mx8M, has no windows, no stairs, no plumbing or electricity, and needs the roof finishing but hey it's our little piece (including 2 1/4 acres) of paradise!

[krue]

Sounds like a good day! Tell me one thing though, do the working class French people really hate Americans? Or is it just the government? Just idle curiousity.

[Lippyp]

Working class French people hate germans (still!) Never really picked up an anti-american vibe over there, I think it's just your governments policies and approach they disagree with rtaher than American people. I've always found the French to be pretty agreeable people, as long as you're prepared to make an effort to speak the language and understand a little of their culture. We certainly feel we've been made welcome where our house is.