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#540
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 08 Jul, 2011 12:04
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ARB knows his welds are not pretty, he will be the first to tell you..
atleast he tries..
not everyone was brought up in an aluminum fab shop next to a millermatic 250 like i was..
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#541
by
8v-of-fury
on 08 Jul, 2011 12:07
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When a person fabs ALL their own ***.. I don't think it matters if the welds are pretty, if they work who cares?
Kevin, some childhood eh? If only we were all so fortunate!
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#542
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 08 Jul, 2011 12:22
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When a person fabs ALL their own ***.. I don't think it matters if the welds are pretty, if they work who cares?
Kevin, some childhood eh? If only we were all so fortunate!
pfft, you should see some of the welds ive done on exhaust systems over the years.. i mean HIDEOUS looking welds.. but they worked, and didnt leak.. thank god there under the car, out of sight..
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#543
by
vanbcguy
on 10 Jul, 2011 23:16
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Go scrappy!!
I have a buddy who welds together his own bikes (as in pedal bikes) - crazy choppers. His welds SUCK. But after a few years they keep getting better and better. In the end he's the only one that shows up for a ride on a bike that he built himself from chunks of metal, and in the end I can't say I've done that. I also can't say I've tucked a VW engine into a Dodge Caravan.
We all have our own ways of doing things within the skills we've managed to pick up along the way. I don't weld for a living, nor do I wrench for a living. I don't go in to people's homes and bash them for the way that things are maintained or whatever, thankfully I picked up some civilization amongst those skills I've learned.
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#544
by
dieselweasel
on 12 Jul, 2011 18:13
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And your point is???
why don't you read the URLs out loud and then get back to me 
The guys above me said it all...we don't need your negativity.
Now lets get this thread back on track...
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#545
by
madmedix
on 03 Aug, 2011 18:43
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Aye. I just appreciate the fact that arb takes the time to document and share. He certainly doesn't have to; but he does. As soon as that donate-a-beer version of paypal gets up and running....
...I'll be sending some.
Andy
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#546
by
arb
on 03 Aug, 2011 19:23
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Yeah, you guys said it, most of my welds look like Kakashka (Russian for excrement) but they all survive diesel viboration stress. Some look great for an inch or so, but I am self taught on welding. If a weld does not look like it will hold for years, I spend the time and money to replace it. So far, knock on wood, none of my welds in this or my aluminum utility trailer has failed including the engine mounts I welded.
Now, last problem I had was the RT front tire was rotten and one of the lugs I installed was a standard nut for a steel wheel and I could not get it off. I tried everything including heat and pounding a 6 point deep well socket on it slightly smaller. So, I finally used a hole saw to cut the nut...
Next I had to remove the nut's core.
next I chased the threads with a die.
So, a quick check of the block waiting its new head -
Now back to chopping and selling the fake land rover in the way of repairs -
Thanks for the kind words all !!
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#547
by
NintendoKD
on 28 Dec, 2011 02:30
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ARB, you are awesome, keep up the good work man.
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#548
by
arb
on 08 May, 2012 19:33
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Head replacement to restart with new blood.... my 15 year old son wants to buy the car from me as I will not "give" him a car even if I win the Lotto (every kid I've seen who gets one w/o skin in the game trashes it)... and besides, I just traded my wife's Smart car for a new TDI - WOW, huge car with a real 50.4 mpg....
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#549
by
theman53
on 08 May, 2012 20:24
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sweet. Glad you still are keeping it going.
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#550
by
billybobf
on 09 May, 2012 00:15
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I must say, other then if parking is limited, I always thought the smart car would have been better named the dumb car. poor mileage, awkward lug pattern, no space. Whats so smart about it?
give me a 3cyl vw tdi hybrid and 4x100 wheels ANY day.
shoot if vw made the smart car even with its small interior room it might have been cool to see in the states, two seats, 150mpg, and could park anywhere?
even better would be a multi fuel setup where it could run on just about anything you put in the tank, wvo wmo, gas, kerosene, or a mixture of any of those, or a propane bottle for kicks
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#551
by
Wayland
on 09 May, 2012 10:03
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Yes, I always thought it was funny that in 1976 when Vw came out with the diesel option for Rabbits it was rated at something like 60 mp(imperial)g here in Canada. Granted, it was abit slow, but it would carry four people and their luggage in relative comfort. 25 years later the "Smart" car was introduced, rated at 70mpg but only carrying two and maybe a briefcase. You'd think automotive engineering would have come a little further in 25 years. ARB, keep us posted on your progress w/ the van. This is one of the most interesting threads on here!
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#552
by
arb
on 10 May, 2012 04:39
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The Smart diesel we could only see across the river in Canada was not too bad - 75 mpg (us) and faster than the gas version we had (40 mpg US.) Both are actually rather roomy inside. More than a for Festia or the like, but only 40 mpg on a 1.0L ? Yeah, the Festia with twice the room got that and cost about the same. Only got the Smart because my Ukrainian wife wanted it. That was good enough for me ;-)
Started back on the head replacement - looks like I'll have to finish making a valve compression tool as I could not find one on Prothe's collection of tools. Does anyone know where I can just buy the tool these days? Maybe MAC or Snap-on? I need this ride back in service.
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#553
by
92EcoDiesel Jetta
on 10 May, 2012 08:03
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The Smart diesel we could only see across the river in Canada was not too bad - 75 mpg (us) and faster than the gas version we had (40 mpg US.) Both are actually rather roomy inside. More than a for Festia or the like, but only 40 mpg on a 1.0L ? Yeah, the Festia with twice the room got that and cost about the same. Only got the Smart because my Ukrainian wife wanted it. That was good enough for me ;-)
Started back on the head replacement - looks like I'll have to finish making a valve compression tool as I could not find one on Prothe's collection of tools. Does anyone know where I can just buy the tool these days? Maybe MAC or Snap-on? I need this ride back in service.
It's easy to make if you have a woodworkers bar/pipe clamp. Glue a washer to one end (same size as the valve face), and tack weld a slotted tube to the other end of the clamp.
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#554
by
arb
on 10 May, 2012 12:28
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Yeah, I started to build one, but at this point if I can just buy one, that works for me.
