About thehackmechanic

thehackmechanic · ‎11-05-2022

Aw, thanks!

thehackmechanic · ‎11-05-2022

I assume your wife wasn't still in them.

thehackmechanic · ‎09-05-2022

Wow. Local intel!

thehackmechanic · ‎14-04-2022

Center Street in Newton?! That's like two miles from me. But you probably already know that. I have very few secrets these days :^)

thehackmechanic · ‎14-04-2022

Well played, Tinkerah. Well played.

thehackmechanic · ‎01-04-2022

Congrats. That's pretty subtle.

thehackmechanic · ‎01-04-2022

Thanks!

thehackmechanic · ‎22-03-2022

I think I can guarantee you that every 6-cylinder head with thermal reactors cracked.

thehackmechanic · ‎18-03-2022

There is also no shame in selling a car if it doesn't bring you joy.

thehackmechanic · ‎07-03-2022

You know that the acronym for Cable Of Extreme Danger is COED, right? (something also generally of extreme danger :^)

thehackmechanic · ‎01-03-2022

I was going by the statement on the Wikipedia page that says "The car was manufactured by Fiat (with a Pininfarina body) in Turin until October 1981, when Pininfarina took over manufacture in their San Giorgio Canavese plant." If it is in error, my apologies.

thehackmechanic · ‎28-02-2022

Yeah, it's a tough call. I made it one way and now I regret it. Of course, had I bought it, I'd probably have the "what the hell did I just do" kind of regret.

thehackmechanic · ‎23-02-2022

So sorry to hear that! Glad you survived!

thehackmechanic · ‎23-02-2022

I did not know that about Triumphs. I have no recollection of it on my GT6, but that was 47 years ago. Thanks.

thehackmechanic · ‎07-02-2022

No. I had the title from the car's previous owner. The reason for using "the Vermont loophole" was that the windshield was cracked and no replacements were available, making the car un-inspectable in Massachusetts. At long last, I have sourced a new windshield. I hope to put it in over the winter. When it's done, I'll transfer the registration to Massachusetts.

thehackmechanic · ‎01-02-2022

Thanks. I believe that that crept in as an editing error.

thehackmechanic · ‎01-02-2022

Nice hack!

thehackmechanic · ‎18-01-2022

We love what we love. Besides, if I had one "really top notch" car, I'd have nothing to write about!

thehackmechanic · ‎03-01-2022

My mistake. Thanks for correcting me.

thehackmechanic · ‎21-12-2021

Jay, some of that was the editor :^)

thehackmechanic · ‎21-12-2021

Fastcamaro, I swear it's all true.

thehackmechanic · ‎20-12-2021

Thanks Chris. My mistake.

thehackmechanic · ‎20-12-2021

Yeah, I'm kind of an idiot that way, but with thirteen vehicles, I need to be relentlessly cost-conscious. Sometimes, however, it WILL reach the point where I hit the "buy" button just so I can be done with it, close all the browser windows, and move on to something else.

thehackmechanic · ‎15-12-2021

"What’s the cost of a commercial building lease?" Waaaaay more than the 5 x $75/mo I currently pay.

thehackmechanic · ‎15-12-2021

Oh, I tried :^)

thehackmechanic · ‎08-12-2021

Marv, I looked at that wand. It seemed too thick and stiff to me to be able to do what I needed.

thehackmechanic · ‎26-11-2021

Probably, but the corrections to the suspension that need to be made, and then the alignment for those corrections, are probably larger than the effect of a body in the seat.

thehackmechanic · ‎23-11-2021

Yeah, that was my fault. Thanks.

thehackmechanic · ‎23-11-2021

Whoops! Blame the editor!

thehackmechanic · ‎17-11-2021

Years back, I worked for a guy who, like me, had three sons. He said he told all of them "Here's the deal. I buy your first car. It'll be a sh*tbox. You'll pay for all the upkeep." I really liked his clear no-nonsense approach. Unfortunately, in practice, it was usually more difficult than that.

thehackmechanic · ‎17-11-2021

There's no shame in bailing out of a car that doesn't do it for you.

thehackmechanic · ‎17-11-2021

Driver17, yes, there is a distinction between a wet strut that it actually bathed in oil in the strut tube and uses it as a reservoir, versus a sealed strut cartridge that is surrounded in a little oil to help it with cooling. The original 2002 strut cartridges were the former. You can go down the rabbit hole and look at the latter issue of using oil to surround a sealed strut, or at least a little oil at the bottom to prevent it from rusting itself there after decades. Interestingly, the instructions for using Bilstein struts, at least in vintage BMWs, specify to drain any oil and insert them dry.

thehackmechanic · ‎15-11-2021

Joey, no. I'll be holding onto the car.

thehackmechanic · ‎12-11-2021

Great story, Jeff!

thehackmechanic · ‎09-11-2021

I totally agree about early 60's American dashboards with their great swoopy chrome forms.

thehackmechanic · ‎09-11-2021

Her spare parts are a lot prettier than mine. Smell a lot better too.

thehackmechanic · ‎09-11-2021

Beautifully put.

thehackmechanic · ‎02-11-2021

Absolutely true.

thehackmechanic · ‎05-10-2021

My secret is out!

thehackmechanic · ‎04-10-2021

I did not.

thehackmechanic · ‎14-07-2021

Not yet, but it's been raining almost non-stop since I wrote that. I WILL get back there.

thehackmechanic · ‎30-06-2021

Yes, I'd never do it without doing that. See https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/the-hack-mechanic/safety-requirements-not-tips-when-using-floor-jacks-and-jack-stands/.

thehackmechanic · ‎21-06-2021

@DUB6, I didn't really state things as well as I should've. My enthusiast cars are generally immune to this kind of calculation. I mean, I have a brown Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special with a highly-distressed original paint job that I just keep dumping money into, way in excess of what the car's worth, because I love the car. The vintage BMWs that I keep for years don't really see an upside calculation. But the E39 530i, as much as I like it, is just a commodity daily driver. The issue isn't dropping a new fuel pump into it. I'm perfectly willing to do that. The issue is more that, because of the complexities of modern cars, it's very difficult to parts-replace your way to erasing the 200k on the odometer and come out of it with a car that you feel is dependable enough to drive anywhere the way you do with a 50k to 100k car. For example, I could drop in the standard cooling system replacement parts of expansion tank, radiator, water pump, thermostat, and hoses, but then there are two hard plastic hoses that run beneath the intake manifold that are a bear to replace. I've replaced them on other E39s, only to have other parts break and strand me. Even if I prophylactically replaced the alternator, I'm still not sure I'd drive the car from Boston down to New Jersey and back instead of borrowing my wife's 40k-mile Honda Fit, as I did last weekend.

thehackmechanic · ‎21-06-2021

Agree with @DUB6; vapor lock is much more likely a problem on cars with low-pressure fuel pumps and no return line.

thehackmechanic · ‎21-06-2021

@Smithsonite, yeah... in truth, I have a Winnebago Rialta (a VW Eurovan with a Winnebago camper body) that, every spring, "just needs a recharge." I've never been able to find the leak, I top it up, it lasts all summer. But, in general, when someone is trying to sell a car with non-functional a/c and says that it "just needs a recharge," that's almost never true. If it did, they'd "just" top it up and sell it with working a/c.

thehackmechanic · ‎16-06-2021

Yes. I'd add that upgrading to a heavier-duty radiator is almost always a good idea even if you're NOT retrofitting a/c. I'd also add that, when you install a big honking fan that draws 15 amps on a big honking condenser, you may need to upgrade the alternator.

thehackmechanic · ‎16-06-2021

TG, I'm posting the same response to several people about refrigerants, oils, and flushing. When I rejuvenate a system, it's because it's a) old and b) long dead, in which case the only component I reuse is the evaporator assembly. I always (well, almost always) like to start with a known-clean system, and that means removing the evaporator assembly, taking out the expansion valve, and flushing the evaporator core. My perspective is: Why would I want to leave a question about the cleanliness of the only component that I'm reusing? If, on the other hand, you're converting a system without replacing the compressor, condenser, and hoses, I can appreciate how the perspective is different. If your experience is that you don't need to flush the entire system before converting unless you see contamination, and you've had good results, I can't contradict you. Put another way, you're correct that I don't know for a fact that removing all traces of the R12-specific mineral oil is absolutely essential. My routine of flushing has more to do with being absolutely certain that I'm starting with a known-clean system.

thehackmechanic · ‎16-06-2021

DougL, I'm posting the same response to several people about refrigerants, oils, and flushing. When I rejuvenate a system, it's because it's a) old and b) long dead, in which case the only component I reuse is the evaporator assembly. I always (well, almost always) like to start with a known-clean system, and that means removing the evaporator assembly, taking out the expansion valve, and flushing the evaporator core. My perspective is: Why would I want to leave a question about the cleanliness of the only component that I'm reusing? If, on the other hand, you're converting a system without replacing the compressor, condenser, and hoses, I can appreciate how the perspective is different. If your experience is that you don't need to flush the entire system before converting unless you see contamination, and you've had good results, I can't contradict you. Put another way, you're correct that I don't know for a fact that removing all traces of the R12-specific mineral oil is absolutely essential. My routine of flushing has more to do with being absolutely certain that I'm starting with a known-clean system.

thehackmechanic · ‎16-06-2021

I'm posting the same response to several people about refrigerants, oils, and flushing. When I rejuvenate a system, it's because it's a) old and b) long dead, in which case the only component I reuse is the evaporator assembly. I always (well, almost always) like to start with a known-clean system, and that means removing the evaporator assembly, taking out the expansion valve, and flushing the evaporator core. My perspective is: Why would I want to leave a question about the cleanliness of the only component that I'm reusing? If, on the other hand, you're converting a system without replacing the compressor, condenser, and hoses, I can appreciate how the perspective is different. If your experience is that you don't need to flush the entire system before converting unless you see contamination, and you've had good results, I can't contradict you. Put another way, you're correct that I don't know for a fact that removing all traces of the R12-specific mineral oil is absolutely essential. My routine of flushing has more to do with being absolutely certain that I'm starting with a known-clean system.

thehackmechanic · ‎16-06-2021

If the compressor locked up, there's the possibility that it shed metal or other particulate matter such as shredded seals into the system. I'd strongly recommend that the entire system be flushed out. At a minimum, when you disconnect the hoses from the compressor, examine them for contamination. If they look clean, you could take your chances, but if you see goo or particulate matter, it may well have found its way into the evaporator and expansion valve. I always (well, almost always) disassemble and flush systems to be certain. What else you do depends on the car and your level of expectation. If the rest of the system is tight as verified by pressure-testing, and you were happy with its performance with R12, you can save yourself a lot of work by recharging it with R12 and not upgrading anything, but as I said, as time goes by, I'm less and less sanguine about it.