What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Yes, you have to put it where the oil pump noise won't get into the cab. I rode in a first gen Dodge with an dual-filter setup, and Holy Schamoly it was noisy! You had to talk loudly to be heard.

 

tires on the car were 14 years old and quite hard; put new white walls on ; I like the look of them much better as well

 

Suburban:

Drilled the frame, put an extension on the bracket and put the bypass mount on the extended bracket. A few things remain to be finished before I'm satisfied. Yes, I'm using Loctite.

 

Installed the remaining hardware to the frame, sealed the 90° oil cooler line fittings to the engine block and measured how much hose I'll need.

 

Measurement: "A s#!tload"

 

Suburban:

Torqued the adapter to the engine block;
Sealed the last of the fittings and cut hose to 66 inches (longer than needed);
Put fittings on one end of each hose;
Put oil in each filter and installed them to the mount;
Noticed very infrequent antifreeze drips near the front of the engine;
Saw the harmonic balancer pulley looks a bit old;
Used zipties to hold up oil cooler lines.

Now I need to wait until Monday to cut the hoses down to size, wrap them to prevent chafing and support them. I'm still not sure how I'll have them supported but I have ideas, the best probably involving long-reaching "arms" from the frame.

 

Whatever you do, you can protect them with sections of scrap hose so that the way they're held doesn't cut into the hoses themselves.

 

I had the vehicle on yesterday. There was only one leak which I then tightened the fitting for. Now I have to replace the front U joint, QuickGlo the bumper and spray Fluid Film inside it, modify my air dam once the bumper's on and reassemble the front end. I was thinking of adding a bug screen to the grille too.

 

Long story short, the Suburban's running and mostly roadworthy. I didn't buy a new U joint but I sprayed the inside of the bumper with Fluid Film and now I have to work on a few small oil leaks and put the air dam back on after I improve it.

I also added a few fuel additives, "Opti-Lube Boost" and "Opti-Lube XL". Don't know how well they'll work but the engine's noticeably quieter.

 

Funny how you have to add a lubricating oil to fuel oil to make a diesel quieter.

 

I bought the 60 Parkwood for XMas. (Sold one of my vettes) New shocks, gauges, radiator, radio, carpet, headliner, tires, weather strip, wheels, A/C, Repainted dash, gonna get new door panels before it goes to the paint shop. Trying to have it completed for my birthday in June.

 

It's how it is in America; we have 40 Cetane Minimum from the pump, Britain gets at least 50 though they pay more. That's not speaking for the lack of lubricity in ULSD.

Sounds nice.

 

Right, the cetane rating. I need to do a refresher on diesels--it's been a while.

 

I looked at the T.V. Cable Grommet area on the Mercury Wagon today and found it was already replaced then I reassembled the air system and drove a couple miles. For a short while it felt like the car kept surging mildly but the last time I drove it I noticed "Hey, the engine's acting up. Looks like the gas is old."

40 Cetane = Detonates later, 50 Cetane = Detonates sooner, hence the quieter engine. To a point, increasing the rating can improve MPGs slightly which is why I bought it in the first place.

 

I'm in the throes of a complete front suspension rebuild... I just finished the passenger side control arms and springs, which has been an utter bear on a large station wagon. Painted everything all nice and pretty too. If it can stop raining I'll finish the driver's side and the steering linkages and get her back on the road...