March 2008 Tech Day

What a great Tech Day! If you missed it, you were the minority. We ran a full house from 9:00 until 6:00 and then a few people hung around until after 7:00. At least the weather waited until about 8:00 – what a blessing. Even a couple wives stopped by for a couple minutes but we couldn’t convince them to get greasy, wonder why?
We had a waiting line for the pit at times, but there sure was a lot accomplished. Here’s what we did(and I could have missed some – let me know if I did):

Doug B – Chevy truck – Doug brought his nephew Brandon to help out. They replaced his water pump, replaced rotors and pads and did an oil change (without the pit since it was busy). Brandon also was quite willing to help others in their projects.
Brandon J – Chrysler mini-van – replaced the front valve cover gasket on his v6. Was going to do both but ran out of time. Some of that due to the parts store giving him the wrong part. Wouldn’t be so bad except last week they gave him the wrong starter for the same motor. They should pay him back for labor and gas, don’t you think?
Ted – Subaru – replaced passenger side front axle. Ted replaced the driver side a while back so this one was a breeze….almost.
Chad – Suburban – Changed the oil and did a parts run for others. We also noticed his suburban was broken since the rear tires turned from side to side when the front tires were turned – like a monster truck. I offered to weld them solid but he didn’t take me up on that. He said it was supposed to be that way…hmmm…
Andrew - s10 – Brake inspection and got the brakes to quit squealing.

1972 Nova

Larry – didn’t bring a car, but worked with Andrew on the s10 and Nova.
Dale – 72 GTO – Replaced front wheel cylinders, brake hoses and brake shoes. Not quite as simple as a disc brake job. Still need to do the same in the rear and replace the shocks.
Len – Cordoba – didn’t have time to do the work he wanted, but did confirm steel wool will remove 99% of the rust on the chrome wheels.
Tim – Cherokee – Welded his door hinge back to the body. This door was close to falling off. He did take it off and almost decided to leave it off for that rugged off-road look…but….to keep in good standing with his wife he put it back on. It only took Tim 5 minutes to re-install the door (about 8 times).
Tony – Manly Dodge Ram - helped Brandon J and Doug B on their projects.
Doug L – new Xterra – Doug traded his Volvo in on an Xterra. Nice SUV!. He changed the oil. He wasn’t too excited about cutting and welding on the exhaust yet…but I’m sure he’ll soften up over time. He does have plans for a pre-built custom exhaust and bigger tires. That’s a good thing!
Glenn – MR2 – Sandblasted and powder coated a pile of parts black. They didn’t come out as good as he planned since the oven started melting parts!
Lance – 4runner (sorry, no Vette today) – oil change and helped others out as needed. He does plan new wheels and/or tires for the Vette. Lance also just bought a new supercharged Mini! Now, what can we talk him into buying for that.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, worked on their projects, helped others, and were patient waiting for a spot to work.

Brandon's Valve cover replacement