Previous owners and their "Fixes"

[manoa matt]

I'm going through a friends car to clean things up, make sure everything works, and is properly serviced prior to him selling the car. One item that needed attention was the brake booster. A while ago the diaphragm busted and I plugged the hose until I had a chance to switch out the booster.

Well, a previous owner apparently had the dreaded firewall flex from the clutch cable and decided to weld it up to strengthen it. They sure did weld it, and they sure did strengthen it, but a little too much for my taste. http://www.flickr.com/photos/71782262@N ... hotostream

They ended up welding the brake booster backing plate to the firewall. I now must perform delicate surgery with the dremel and a cutoff wheel to cut the weld without cutting through the firewall. I know there must be other issues I'll find elseware as I go through the car.

[rlux4]

Just when you think you've seen it all.
Bummer. I can hear the PO saying "it ain't my problem" when he did that.
Have fun Matt.
Ron

[manoa matt]

Well, a 4 1/2" angle grinder can get in there to cut that weld and the dremel is at a funny angle and cumbersome. So tonight on the way home I'll pick up a dremel right angle attachment that I think will put the cutting wheel at the proper position to cut where I want. $20 online, and $33 in the stores, I can't wait so I gues I have to pay more.

[124JOE]

hey matt good luck and best wishes at that job

[manoa matt]

Just an update. I finally got the booster out. I got the Dremel right angle attachement and it allowed me the proper access to where I wanted to cut. It was a bear of a job. I like the reinforced metal cut off wheels as they dont explode if the wheel catches, however the diameter was just a bit too big. I had to grind on a spare hunk of metal to reduce the diameter of the cut off wheel before I could get it in there to cut the weld. After burning through a 5 pack of the reinforced wheels I had to switch to the unreinforced ones, and went through about a dozen in 5 min. At some point midway my dremel overheated and burned up, so I borrowed boogiedude's dremel and finished the job.

$20 used booster
$30 shipping
$8 (5) pack of cutoff wheels
$33 Dremel right angle attachement
$50-60 for a new dremel to replace my old one.

And I thought it would be just 4 nuts and remove the brake pedal return spring pivot.

[spidernut]

Glad to hear that you at least made some positive progress. I once had a 1975 Ford that the clutch cable pulled through the firewall. I fixed it by removing the clutch cable and inserting a large and very thick washer on the engine compartment side of the firewall, feeding the clutch cable through the hole in the washer. The washer was held in place by the clutch cable...no welding required. 10 years later, it was still holding strong with no issues.

[Fiat88]

Good job Matt!

[124JOE]

yes lets see more pics "after/during"

that fish has more teeth than me!!

[manoa matt]

As I logged in this morning I realized I should have taken an after picture as I also cleaned up the engine bay, I'll take one tonight and post it.

Joe, you saw my photostream. Yep that fish is called a "Mu" or a "porgy" or a "Big eye Emperor" Its a form of snapper and its primary diet consists of shrimp and crabs, hence the molars needed to crunch up the shells. The meat has a hint of crab/shrimp/lobster taste, trust me its good. That one was just under 5 3/4 pounds which is a good size for that species. They are smart and one of the hardest fish to shoot, but I got lucky. I made those spearguns too. When I'm not working on Fiats or working around the house or building spearguns I'm spearfishing/freediving on Sat or Sun mornings. No tanks, just a wetsuit, snorkle, mask, weights, fins, and a spear gun. Breethe up, dive down, stay still and wait for the fish to come close. My breath hold is around 1:40 and usually in the 30-40 foot depth range, but some of the pros can stay down for 4 minutes and dive to 100 feet. I've been doing it for about 3 years now, its like hunting, fishing, and snorkling all at the same time.

[124JOE]

man thats cool
in my spare time on here and shovling snow very soon
the rivers around here is siained brown from leaves and around 15 foot deep
thats where our snappers are there turtles,man dont piss one off,i seen one with a 20"shell and his neck was 5"thick aporx70lbs,we have carp that look like that porgy it has lips and only opens its mouth 2" no teeth tho
the pit has cear water,its always cold 40 ft deepest but no swimming
theres a natural lake 9 miles north nice bass nothernpike and bluegills 50 ft deepest


heres a pic of a pike i caught 2 years ago on my b day, 26"long
thanks photobucket

[dmwhiteoak]

Why is he still in the water Joe? He looks like he's dead.

[124JOE]

my hands were full pole/camera
he did die shortly after