Builds Shipwreck (4 Viewers)

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Versus my Golden who is a PITA and dumb.

Glad you got your brakes bled OK. Mine are still squishy. One more item on my to-do list.

SuperBuickGuy said:
I call her Mrs. Persnickety because she's a total persnick - but from what I understand from lots of other "red" owners is that they are a PITA and breathtakingly smart.
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SBG, as far as I'm concerned a smart dog for a pet is a good thing as it makes life with them interesting. You just have to know how to outsmart them. Jasper (the bigger one in my avatar pic) taught himself how to open chainlink fence gates (this is the very short version of this story), so now the latch has to be higher than he can reach, or have a spring loaded clip on it. Also, how to open the fridge on the back porch, bungee cord time. And, since I'm basically lazy I have a habit of, when I'm going back through the gate right away, not tightly latching the gate. He will wait until i'm not paying attention and, since the gate at that moment is just using gravity to stay shut, will pick that time to use his nose to pull the gate open and enjoy a bit of freedom.

Does this get frustrating? Yes, but I can only blame myself for any of his escapades on me not paying attention.

Don
 
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My dog has learned similar ways to roam the neighborhood. He learned if he jumped against the gate hard enough it would bounce the latch open. It was fun un-jamming it once when his 80 lbs broke the latch off and pushed the gate out until it hit a down spout. At least he didn't get out. Usually he just waits behind us as we open doors then runs past us to get out. We usually end up on the floor or dropping groceries, etc. Then he loves to play tag as we run after him with the leash. Dogs, sheesh. Now back to our regular programming.

What are you using for horns? My Toyota ones were shot so I bought aftermarket ones, one low pitch and one high pitch. I don't like the sound too much, too wimpy.
 
I could tell stories for hours.... but I seriously think that she is self-aware.

She can open: sliding doors, door knobs (not handles, knobs), fasteners, bi-fold doors, and has been known to create structures (pulling chairs to the counter) so that she can get whatever is on the counter.

Where most dogs (and both other dogs in residence) feel bad after they do wrong. She couldn't care less and if she thinks you're going on a bit much will grumble or even growl at you to get you to stop...

The problem is she's absolutely one of the best trailing dogs in the US and possibly the world. When you train dogs you need to find what motivates them then mold that into the desired behavior. Labs like people (which make them pretty easy to train), German shepards love a good play - again, making them easy to train. She loves trailing. She hates people, and would be totally happy if the person she was trailing was dead at the end. Honestly, I've seen thousands of trailing dogs and she's unique in this trait. Since she's a complete sociopath, you can punish her into learned helplessness - but you'll never get the behavior to stop and if you do... you lose her ability to trail.

Add to this - she calculates her trails. She is supposed to follow foot-fall (so that you not just find the person, but anything they may have dropped), she won't. She air scents and if that fails she will calculate the likely path then follow it. Given her 10x better than any other dog ability to smell (bloodhounds are, depending on the calculation 10x to 100x more sensitive to scent then other dogs because of the number of receptors) - she is really successful at it. Example, on a trail she didn't want to go by a dog she was concerned about so she went completely off-trail (perhaps edge of the scent pool but that's a stretch) and then reconnected with the trail afterwards. She also remembers her trails from years before and will, if you go on a walk across or on the trail she did before will take you back on that trail without any coaching.

Of course, that does create a flaw for her - if she gets out, I simply put her back in the yard then watch where she goes.. she immediately goes back to her last path and then I can fix whatever failed.

I dunno, I think she's unique and was created for a purpose. To me it's the wonder of watching and seeing what God has planned for her - not to say she hasn't done some amazing things; but I think they're just opening acts.
 
srgould41 said:
What are you using for horns? My Toyota ones were shot so I bought aftermarket ones, one low pitch and one high pitch. I don't like the sound too much, too wimpy.
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I don't know - I've been looking but haven't come up with a plan b. plan a is use the existing horns until I figure out a plan b. Problem with plan a is I'm not sure I know where those horns are. There is an evil part of me that is considering train horns with 2 buttons - traffic toot and stop your blasted texting and drive once you've cleaned your shorts toot.
 
I like your plan B. I originally wanted to find a horn that had a European blare. I think I heard some BMW's that had the sound I wanted. I just don't know what model had the sound I liked so I just went with a hi/low pair from AutoZone. I could always change it later on.
 
Where did you score your 350? I am still saving for a replacement. I have no desire to purchase another flat tappet motor. I want a newer roller cam/1 piece rear main engine. Low miles or rebuilt if possible. I hope to find one with the harness and computer as well as the stock accy's. That would make it much easier to transplant. I don't really want to go through the process to custom tune the computer again. That was a PITA. Most engines on CL are in Mill Creek at a wrecking yard that advertises there. I think certain car engines have better performance numbers than the truck engines did, but I don't want to add performance parts as that will make ECU programming required again.
 
I bought a motor from a 97 Tahoe that had a spun bearing. I (hmmm, this I'm not sure about) had a 93 motor from a truck with a good crank but it wasn't a roller motor. I'm fairly certain the 93 motor was something I had hanging around. I put the rotating assembly from the 93 truck in the 97 block with a new set of rings. I had Vortec heads on my Corvette - which were great heads, but they weren't the aluminum heads I put on it... I may still have the Vortec heads from the 97 motor... hmmm, or I sold them or traded them.... the 93 motor I got for free, the 97 I paid $100 for and it came with the outside accessories...

the 97 bit and the 93 bit I'm fairly sure about... the rest.... *shrug*

that said, I'd look for a 97 up tahoe motor.... because GM had oil coolers on the motor they usually have very little wear in the bores. What you do need to be careful of is any motor that used orange coolant. If it wasn't changed, it will plug up the rear of the motor, over heat the motor, and render it junk.... spun bearing is good, overheat is bad.

now I'm wondering where those heads are because I have a use for them on my pickup... hmmmm....

one note, though, 97 motors are generally 2 bolt mains. Not that it makes a lick of difference in a FJ40 making the power levels we are... but it helps get the price down because most hot rodders don't want 2 bolt main motors.
 
ozcrusier said:
Nice 40 mate well done hope you link the SuperBuick build to mud when the engine comes home. :)
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The sledanette? the engine is home, I just need to get this hunk out of the 'build' position in the shop. It baffles me, but the closer a vehicle is to finished, the more space of the shop it takes...
for those who don't know.... a brief commercial break

believe it or not, at this point there were several hundred hours in it
and it will look like this

only white and with Buick power.... which is what I had been waiting 3 years for completion... the motor is a twin turbo, aluminum head, sleeved to 430 ci 455 Buick... expected hp is 700 and the ability to tune to 900 hp for those angry days when 700 just isn't enough.
what's funny is this car is one of the ones that got me in trouble on Pirate - people think I'm a car guy, I'm really not but these tend to make me a lot of money... heck, the '40 build is financed, in part, by a couple prior builds.... anyway, back to 4x4s.
 
I have been watching for the '86-'94 TBI models since those are roller cam and will bolt right up without any changes other than the computer. Lots of ads out there, but few include the computers. Or else they are asking double the worth of the motor.

SuperBuickGuy said:
buy this
1996-2000 Chevy GMC vortec 350 5.7L Engine

do a re-ring, new oil pump, new water pump and call it a day....
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and the other issue is the pre-96 motors have "ramp heads" on them. They don't flow well at all because GM, prior to the Vortec, cast little ramps in the intake port to get the fuel to swirl and give a good burn... TBI on a Vortec... with that said, there are lots of companies out there that build stand-alone harnesses for the 96-00 motors. I like the TBI because I can bolt a carb directly to it and make it run... but for most, that benefit really isn't a benefit at all when compared to having port injection.
 
I know about the swirl port heads. Good for fuel economy, not power. However they did have the advantage of moving the power band lower in the RPM range which is good on a 4x4.

I did not know the '86-'94 blocks didn't all come with roller lifters. I thought that was the major turning point.

SuperBuickGuy said:
and the other issue is the pre-96 motors have "ramp heads" on them. They don't flow well at all because GM, prior to the Vortec, cast little ramps in the intake port to get the fuel to swirl and give a good burn... TBI on a Vortec... with that said, there are lots of companies out there that build stand-alone harnesses for the 96-00 motors. I like the TBI because I can bolt a carb directly to it and make it run... but for most, that benefit really isn't a benefit at all when compared to having port injection.
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to be honest, I didn't either until I got this motor. I owned the truck it came out of, sold it to my dad, replaced the motor and somehow ended up with it back. All the way until I had mentioned I needed a crank, I had no idea that GM had gone backwards and made some motors non-roller. I replaced the motor because it had a valve tick that was tricking the knock sensor into fully retarding the timing. Had I know it was just a collapsed lifter, I would have replaced the lifter - but I presumed it was a roller motor so that would normally mean something else was wrong...

with that said, if you find the grail motor - the 4 bolt main 350 with a drilled fuel pump hole and roller cam.... save it, they're gold to the stock-class racers.

and I add this - the reason these roller motors are so cool. You can retro fit just about anything to roller cam and lifter - but the cost is generally prohibitive. GM started producing these roller lifters in 1986, and still produce them to this day for the LS motors. Means they're cheap and really easy to get.... cams are still pretty expensive, though. A non-roller plus lifters can be got for as little as $120, the cam alone is $400 for a roller motor.
 
Holy cow I didn't think of that. I have not been seeing the performance or fuel economy I have been expecting since I first programmed the engine. I have lifter noise now that I hope is just a need to adjust them after about 5k miles. They were new when I built the engine. Either that or I am flattening cam lobes which I don't doubt since I goofed on the break in.

SuperBuickGuy said:
to be honest, I didn't either until I got this motor. I owned the truck it came out of, sold it to my dad, replaced the motor and somehow ended up with it back. All the way until I had mentioned I needed a crank, I had no idea that GM had gone backwards and made some motors non-roller. I replaced the motor because it had a valve tick that was tricking the knock sensor into fully retarding the timing. Had I know it was just a collapsed lifter, I would have replaced the lifter - but I presumed it was a roller motor so that would normally mean something else was wrong...

with that said, if you find the grail motor - the 4 bolt main 350 with a drilled fuel pump hole and roller cam.... save it, they're gold to the stock-class racers.

and I add this - the reason these roller motors are so cool. You can retro fit just about anything to roller cam and lifter - but the cost is generally prohibitive. GM started producing these roller lifters in 1986, and still produce them to this day for the LS motors. Means they're cheap and really easy to get.... cams are still pretty expensive, though. A non-roller plus lifters can be got for as little as $120, the cam alone is $400 for a roller motor.
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