What did you do to / with your XLR today?

[Gord]

I'm surprised such a thread doesn't exist, at least that I've found. (Rob, nuke this and point the way if I'm wrong please).

They're usually kind of fun for a group who share a common interest and perhaps include how a project is coming along or maybe a road trip or such? Pictures are always fun too!

Sooooo... What did you do to / with your XLR today?

 

[beaver_jd]

Gord, My day was great. We are in Palm Springs CA. and my wife and I put the top down and went for a cruise. The Palm Springs car club had a get together and we checked out all the old cars. Temperature was in the low 80's so it wasn't hard to take.
John F.

 

[rheavn]

Put new front brake pads on. Very simple procedure.

 

[Gord]

Gord, My day was great. We are in Palm Springs CA. and my wife and I put the top down and went for a cruise. The Palm Springs car club had a get together and we checked out all the old cars. Temperature was in the low 80's so it wasn't hard to take.
John F.

Hi John,
I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit envious. 18f here, (same-same in Calgary btw). Pictures perhaps, so those of us wearing tuques can live vicariously?

For myself: not much! Just cleaning up wheel hubs and replacing studs. Fortunately the garage was tolerable temp-wise. Come on springtime!

 

[beaver_jd]

Hi John,
I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit envious. 18f here, (same-same in Calgary btw). Pictures perhaps, so those of us wearing tuques can live vicariously?

For myself: not much! Just cleaning up wheel hubs and replacing studs. Fortunately the garage was tolerable temp-wise. Come on springtime!

Gord, If I new how to send a picture I would.
John F

 

[Gord]

Gord, If I new how to send a picture I would.
John F

Morning John,
Ah - I shall then attempt to be of assistance.
Easy would be, hit the 'reply with quote' and login if you're not...logged in. Hopefully that would open the 'reply to thread' page in 'advanced' mode. If it didn't, click the 'go advanced' button and that'll take you there.

You'll need to click the 'insert image' button on the toolbar.



That will open a small dialog window and ask for the path to your picture, either from your device ("From Computer") or from some other place on the web, ("From URL").

The picture above I just made, and parked it on my desktop so it was pretty easy to find by clicking the 'Choose File' button on the dialog.

What's a little less obvious is, once you've selected the file, just below the button there's a "Upload File(s)" link which you need to click. Give it a sec if the picture is a big one and voila, it should appear in-line in the reply you're making.


There is another method too which is "Manage Attachments". You would need to scroll down, still in advanced mode. Click that button and you'll get a little preview of anything you may have already uploaded, and an option button top right, to upload even more things.

I believe by default it attempts to put the uploaded file in to the post you're working on (check mark). In any event, you can play with that method sometime and when you click the 'Insert Inline' button, the file / link will end up in the reply just the same as the method above.

Click done with that dialog when you've uploaded and inserted all you want to.

Hope I didn't miss any important steps... and, Rob did mention in a post somewhere that he's canning this brand of forum software so perhaps expect a bit of a change in how to upload stuff sometime in the future. I'm sure it wouldn't be significant - all these forum software bundles tend to be more or less identical.

HTH!

Gord

 

[Vetter]

Was able to get the makeshift spray booth finished, wiped everything down on the XLR and will hopefully spray the primer tomorrow.

 

[Gord]

Zowie! That is awesome! Nice workspace for sure!

 

[long Tall Sally]

you really need to paint the bumpers off the car. you may not get enough base in and around the areas where they meet up wit the fender and !/4 and don't paint over your backup sensors or they may not work. they can only stand one painting before they loose their function.

 

[Vetter]

you really need to paint the bumpers off the car. you may not get enough base in and around the areas where they meet up wit the fender and !/4 and don't paint over your backup sensors or they may not work. they can only stand one painting before they loose their function.

I initially intended to paint the bumpers off the car, but with limited room and no good way to support them properly I decided to paint them very loosely on the car. You can't really tell from the pictures but I dont have them snugged up to the fenders, there is about a 1/4" gap between the bumper and fender and I can pull them out even further if I need to. I have taped over the sensors since that picture, I figured the metallic paint I'd be using could cause issues. The new paint I'll be using won't match perfectly, but I don't think it will be that noticeable.
Thanks for the pointers.

 

[Gord]

I got doored. Really, really doored.

Driver's door hinges. Nice fresh ones with no slack.

I'm concerned about the availability of spare parts for some reason, and even though the door was working close to fine, it had obviously been readjusted to match the wear.

Went well actually, as I have the door gutted for some other tidy-up issues. And as I didn't see any method to replace hinge pins, maybe now I can take the old set and sort a proper way to do so, so if in the future they wear again, I'll have a nice tight set all race-ready.

Interestingly, there was mention in the shop book to not lube the roller thingy that holds the door at different spots. Of course that may just be a ploy to sell...more door hinges!

So check your door hinges y'all - it is a pretty simple task to change 'em though I would recommend two people if it's all you're doing and the door is still 'full'.

 

[Vetter]

I did the worst primer job I've ever done today! Used a cheap Harbor freight gun and couldn't get the thing dialed in at all, it would even spurt primer out every once in a while. I used the same type of gun in the past and had no issues, but this one was a mess! When spraying epoxy primer they are nice to be disposable. Now I have a whole bunch of sanding to do! Oh well, trying to be cheap and it cost me a lot more work!

 

[Gord]

I did the worst primer job I've ever done today!...

Well that sort of sucks.

On the bright side, it's just primer, right? Probably best to find out the gun was sour earlier than later. You could do a bit of sanding and tweak things just so, and ponder getting a different spray gun? It wasn't the final coat or anything like that which would be really upsetting!

Spray on!

 

[Vetter]

Well that sort of sucks.

On the bright side, it's just primer, right? Probably best to find out the gun was sour earlier than later. You could do a bit of sanding and tweak things just so, and ponder getting a different spray gun? It wasn't the final coat or anything like that which would be really upsetting!

Spray on!

Yeah, just a lot of manual sanding.
I already have a base coat clear coat gun I use, I just won't spray primer through my good gun so that's why I buy the cheap Harbor Freight guns. Now I'm going to find a decent primer gun, not going to rely on the HFs anymore.

 

[Gord]

Tiny bubbles...make me happy...make me feel fine... And how about some paint?!

I received a nice new engine cover just a couple weeks ago. Brilliant. Shipped with nothing in the box but the plastic bag it came in...go figure.




So no probs, the seller said it would be replaced at no cost, even shipped the carnage back at his expense.

The replacement:



Beautiful! Intact (why it was shipped with a little bubble-wrap)! One piece - no shrapnel!
Hey, wait a sec... WTF?! This is brand new from the factory!

I won't go for a third. I don't even want to think what I might find in the box!

 

[beaver_jd]

Gord, So today was another big one in Palm Springs. It was the yearly Dr. George car show, over a 1000 cars and trucks, primarily 50 and 60's stuff. Really cool. I will try and figure out from your notes how to send pictures. One thing that's really noticeable is no gravel chips. The fronts are perfect, not a mark. Our cars get really beat up with road rash.
John F.

 

[long Tall Sally]

did the second one also have damage? I wondered why you mentioned a third? Gm parts from warehouse to dealer are handled pretty well. Its when they don't repack and ship as received by fedex etc that they get damaged. Drivers door hinges are available and will most likely be for a while as they are the same as vette. Not much way to rebuild them. They are pressed together and parts that some sell on ebay to repair don't come close to actually fitting. I had to repair a set once as I was down ,door off and needed to get car out of the shop. Not fun. I just happen to have a box assortment from back in the day when they had bronze bushings and the pins could be just driven out. I used pieces from 2-3 different cars. I am uncertain as to why they say not to oil them. they are metal to metal. The oil should not be allowed to get on the indents or the outside of the roller as that can let the door shut easier by the wind or if parked on a hill. also oil/grease attracts dirt and will cause faster wear. I soak them down with lube and just wipe off the detent bar

 

[Gord]

Morning!

Wow, that's quite the car show, John! I googled it by name so as to educate myself a bit. Guess you might need to go back for a second day with that many cars to see? Understood with the road-rash from Alberta - one step better than the salt used here though. Countless vehicles here simply do not exist at all now.

L.T.S.: Okay, look closely at the 'Northstar VVT' on both sides of the cover. I'll guess the bell went off for coffee break, so he dropped his paintbrush and...forgot. No biggy as I have plans for it, but what if... what if I was a purist or a customer without the will to 'bend' a bit?

The first one getting shattered and without proper packaging - tough to say if it was like that right from the factory sub-supplier or maybe the GM dealer fiddled with it. Shame, as at least the painter was paying attention that day.

The hinges are indeed pre-oiled - one had a tag on it saying so. 100%, exactly as you mentioned - they don't want folks getting oil on the detent bar or collecting additional dirt I'd imagine.

Ah, the era of brass bushings, wow. There's something kind of gone in today's fast-paced manufacturing world.

Well, the car is just about 17 and the old hinges looked very original, so if I can get another 17 years out of this set, I'll never have to resort to reworking the old ones - I will keep them around though...just in case. (Thinking about it honestly, I don't think I'll get another 17 years out of myself)!

Vetter is probably still sanding - hope that's going okay. I didn't even look at my car yesterday...snow clearing and fixing belligerent snowblowers instead. (Stop laughing John.) There was a pretty good snowstorm in this region and out where I live, the wind loves to pile up drifts so tall that ultimately I should really have a tractor, but I'd never maintain it so there's no point.

Maybe today I'll get back to some tinkering with the XLR - sore back permitting!

Gord

 

[Gord]

Fluffy white stuff burns my thrusters!

Well I guess winter finally decided to really dump on my region. What did I do to the XLR today would be a rather unfortunate -nothing-.

That was the better part of the weekend and this morning clearing two significant snow falls, and the balance of time resting a somewhat irritated back. Dagnabit, this getting older bit really sucKS!

Picture for those of you in the south, so you may please taunt said snow-bound XLR owner... perhaps with pictures of nice beaches and lovely ladies in bikinis?



Gord

 

[Gord]

A wheely big show...

Advancement! Singular.

Fitting and sizing up wheel. (Singular). Comments welcome as long as they're polite. And positive. Okay, negative too, but polite.




Vetter! Still sanding?

Gord