New wheels! Episode 5...

(Introduction:  .... La ta ta ta    ta DAH!...)   "Welcome back for the 5th episode of 'New Wheels', your local auto show featuring everything from fix-um-ups to the latest in style and design. This week we will be checking out the newest addition around the studios, a 2000 model Chrysler Cirrus!"

Well, that might be a good introduction for a radio show, but maybe not for a blog post... :-) I never would have guessed this morning that I would own a car tonight... It is amazing how fast life can change! Here is a picture (or a couple):

I have been looking for a good deal on a nice little car for a while, and when I came in for lunch today I had a couple extra minutes so I looked at http://www.bismanonline.com/, (our local FREE online classifieds,) and saw this car listed for $475! Why so low? Well, the transmission is bad... And it has 165,000 miles on it, but what do you get for less than $500 anymore? Sooooooooo, seeing as I know that good deals don't last very long on BisManOnline, I gave the seller a call, and we ended up going up and picking it up this afternoon. Now I just need a lot of time to take it all apart and rebuild the transmission... :-)  There are a couple other minor problems, as in the front bumper and grill are in a little tough shape, and the radio has been removed...

I am just about done with my 4-wheeler project, which is turning out quite well! I have the motor all put back together and in the quad now, and have actually had it running for a couple of minutes. I am stuck waiting for a couple of little covers that I ordered, or it would be all the way back together by now... :-) It seems to run quite well though, PTL!

Best get to bed now,
   Andrew B.

Back to work...

This has been a busy week, but I guess that is normal... :-)

 Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday found us going to Bismarck for an agricultural class, which was very interesting...

 Thursday morning we worked on getting the corn cultivator and the hay cutters ready to go in the field, then after lunch Jacob and I cut hay, while Dad started cultivating corn... We were able to get two fields of alfalfa cut down, and Dad got quite a bit of corn cultivated too!

 Friday morning we got a sprinkle of rain again, so there wasn't much field work that could be done...  Mom and I went to Bismarck to run some errands, pick up a couple of things, and I had to deliver a computer that I sold... I ended up spending about two hours running around town trying to find a specific bolt I was looking for, but finally did find one. ;-)

 Now for a couple of pictures of my latest project:

 I don't recall if I posted this or not, but I sold my other four-wheeler a couple of weeks ago... I found another one in need of repair, which I picked up pretty cheap. So now I am working on repairing this one. :-) Here is a picture of what was wrong with it:

 Apparently what happened is the piston seized in the jug, which caused the bottom of the piston to break out, then the connecting rod/wrist pin smashed into the side of the cylinder a couple of times, breaking out a piece of the cylinder wall and bending the connecting rod... It also managed to push the piston high enough that it hit the valves, causing them to bend as well...

 I bought a used crankshaft and cylinder/piston off of eBay, so I have been working on putting things back together. I am still waiting for the valves, gaskets, and some other parts I ordered, but then I should be able to get it all back together. :-)

Here you can see about half of the engine put back together with the new (used) crankshaft already installed:

Here is the other half of the main crankcase assembly:

 And a couple of pictures of assorted engine parts that need to be put on yet:

I hope to get it running next week sometime, but it might not happen if the weather is nice and we can be in the fields... :-) I am sure there will be more pictures of it here in the future...

  Andrew B.

It Works!

Yesterday morning I put the rest of the plastic back on my new four-wheeler, and then started it up and took it out for a drive... Yup, I got it fixed and back in service! None too soon either, as the weather has turned our yard and cattle pens into one big slop hole, in which our other quad would be helplessly stuck... :-) We have already been using my new one to check the cows, so it is being put to good use. Four-wheel-drive is an increadable invention!
 I got a little time this afternoon to take apart the (Bad) transmission that I had taken out of my four-wheeler, and found the following:

Here is a close up of the wrecked bearings:

 Yup, that one's a gonner...  The really stupid thing is you can't just replace the bearings as Honda doesn't sell individual parts for the transmission; You have to change the whole thing! Sooooooooooooooooo.......  $1,305 and a lot of time, and I have my four wheeler working again! Sure hope it works for a long time... ;-)

  Got to go,

    Andrew B.