...sigh...

Can't win 'em all I guess. After pulling the motor apart and replacing the head gasket, and more or less rebuilding the top half, I've been struggling for the past week and a half or so to get the car to run again. Thing simply would not start without giving it gas...and if I let the RPMs drop below 1500-1000 or so, it would just stall out. It acted like a vacuum leak, and trying to find a good vacuum diagram that was easy to understand was as easy as pulling a grizzly's teeth. Finally found one, hooked up everything proper, and sill had problems. So I eliminated everything running of vacuum except that which was absolutely needed to run the car...still had problems. So, my father suggested starting from square one, getting #1 piston to TDC...it was an ugly site. My brand new oil and coolant were mixed together into a soupy mess. With a brand new head gasket, that means only one thing: cracked/warped head/block. Which means one thing: motor is shot (for me). So this weekend, out it came. Was an easy extraction, really. So all that mess about Phase 1 and Phase 2? Forgetaboutit, Phase 1 is out the window...Phase 2 is in full effect.

ouch

I'm not really sure what came over me, but I started building an extension for the peafowl pen. I'm not the best carpenter in the world...don't get me wrong I can cut, measure and do everything, but for some reason, I cannot hit a nail with a hammer. I can swing a body hammer all day and hit the exact spot the exact way, or any other hammer and hit anything else just fine....but a hammer a nail into a 2x4? Man I suck. So anyway, don't have enough boards so I'll have to wait until I get more boards. One thing I did do though is hit my ankle with the hammer. Thankfully it wasn't a proper 21oz framing hammer, but the girly 16oz general purpose claw hammer. Nevertheless, I smacked my ankle and now it hurts.

Life Lesson #504: Don't hit your ankle with a hammer.

no pics, i'm a slacker

Went ahead and put the head back onto the 240 today...went smoothly. No major hang ups or hassles. Was a bit of a hassle to get the motor in time, as the crank had to be turned just a few degrees whilst someone held the cam sprocket and timing chain; wasn't hard, just not a lot of room for that many hands. I won't know if it works or not until I can get the thing fired back up, which may happen sometime this week. I'm eliminating some of the emissions, mainly the EGR. Made a block-off plate today, I just need to find a plug to fit the exhaust manifold, or weld up the stock pipe or something. Why am I getting rid of them? 'Cause it'll make putting the motor back together easier, yeah. I'm just hoping I can find all the nuts and bolts and get all the vacuum lines right...

In other news, I made a quick line art/vexel thing last nite. It's an S13 convert, in a sorta VIP style. You can find it at my deviant art space, or a big version here in the wallpaper section. Yup. Took only a few hours to make, and I'm actually digging it.