No, the title is about my harvesting images that relate to what's been happening in the shop lately so I can share with you an ocular feast of shitty pictures recorded by shittier camera software! Let us give thanks.
So first off, the baseplate/Helicoil situation is still awaiting resolution, and has been a real bastard every step of the way. Trying to extract the Helicoil from the other hole that needed repair took a lot of time, work, a previously-usable drill bit, and a t-handle.
I chucked an ez-out in that to extract the coil, as I had done with the other. Just using my hands resulted in one twisted-to-hell tee and an indifferent Helicoil. I eventually got it out by abusing the hell out of a drill bit and turning parts of the coil out of the threads, using a drift to hammer it in spots, and pulling it with needle nose. Here's what it looked like when it was over.
After filling that hole with alumiweld,
I got as far as getting one of the holes redrilled and the heli installed. It seemed to go well, but test fitting to verify the hole was drilled square to the surfaces turned out to be where the bad times were hiding.
After getting one of the hole to where I presumed it to be good and coiled, I threaded bolts through it and the two good holes, compared them, and found that the new hole was wonked. Somehow. I ran it on the drill press, made sure the travel of the bit was square with the table, etc., but it just wasn't enough.
If I had to guess, it looks like the drift occurred because the center point was near the edge of the alumiweld and the "whatever the hell kind of crap cast alloy" Redline uses when they half-ass these plates out. As the bit plunged the materials, a much greater portion of the flute was in the potted meat metal than it was in the alumiweld (which is a fair degree stronger and harder than the other stuff), and cut through it with less resistance than the alumiweld, causing it to drift into the softer metal. This maybe could've been prevented by feeding the bit even slower than I had been, but that's hindsight for you.
At that point, I thought I had plenty of reason to cuss. So I did. And continued to, as I removed the bolts I had threaded in, as well as one of the inserts that decided it would rather piggyback on the bolt and take a ride out of there instead of staying in its damned hole like it was supposed to. Guess the red loctite wasn't good enough reason for it to stay put. . .
So I put the baseplate aside to work on stuff that would at least drive me crazy in a different way. I guess I chose wisely when I went with the throttle cable, as I managed to get that sorted out without any real hassle to speak of.
The factory cable is fine, but there's not a lot of length to it once it passes through the firewall and into the engine bay. Since I've still got to at least dry-fit the carb to see how much length I'll need for sure, I may still end up using it. Judging by how things look already, though, I'm going to need a bit more reach. Luckily, I have a cable from a ('98, I think?) XJ that needed only a little bit of modification to act as an alternate option.
The Gremlin and XJ cables match in just about every way that's critical; firewall and throttle pedal retainers, end clips for the carb/tb linkages, and that sort of thing are all the same. The XJ cable is a slightly heavier gauge, is significantly longer, and has more substantial sleeving, though the position of the cable stops give it a longer throw. If you install it without altering it, the gas pedal will drop to the floor because of the slack in the line. Easy enough to fix, though!
All you have to do to set the length of the XJ cable to where it'll work with the Gremlin is take the stops off the pedal end, cut the cable to length, and braze a new stop to the cable. I didn't think to get a picture of removing the first stop (the one that is farther away from the cable end), but what I did was carefully cut a groove down the length of it and slowly crush it with a pair of pliers, while making sure not to pinch or bend the cable.
You pull the cable all the way out on the pedal end on both the old and new cables, compare the length, and wrap the XJ cable with tape behind the cut point. Using a cutoff wheel and the tape will prevent fraying. Slip the plastic retainer piece back on the cable as far down as you can and secure it in place. You don't want to have it get too close to the other end when you're brazing the new stop to the cable.
Once that's done, take a #10 pan head machine screw and drill a hole down the center. You want the hole to be just large enough for the cable to closely pass through, but not snug. A slight amount of extra space is needed to let flux and filler flow through when you braze the screw to the cable end act as a stop. Braze the very end to hold the stop and cable together, then do the section by the screw head. Don't use too much filler or the screw head won't seat in the plastic retainer, and don't use too little or the brazed joint could give under load. Either too much or too little may create a bend point that could cause the cable to wear and fail prematurely.
Add a note to your service and maintenance records to check that joint periodically to confirm that it's holding and that the cable isn't wearing out until you're reasonably sure that all is well. DO NOT just slap it together, install it, and forget about it.
Crimping a cable stop on is an option, provided you can find one that will fit to the plastic retainer. I couldn't find anything like that when I checked at the hardware store and didn't feel like hunting for one. Regardless of the method you use, just make sure the cable remains tightly wound, and doesn't get kinked. Both will cause weak points that will eventually work-harden and break.
For my next trick, I'll need an old oil filter, the box for a new oil filter, and a plain old, ordinary, empty 1 liter Arrowhead water bottle. Be amazed as I. . . Store the old oil filter without making it wear a nitrile glove as a hat.
Ta da.
Since you've all been good enough to read through all this mess up to this point, I'll throw in this last trick I came across when getting starting fluid on myself as I was figuring out a way to light a cigarette with a dead lighter. And a can of starting fluid. So I guess that's two tricks. I'm sure you can figure out the rest of how the cigarette one goes.
What I discovered is this: if you have jeans that are oil stained to the degree that no amount of washing will get the stains out, starting fluid will knock that dirt in the dick. Either that, or my jeans have ringworm. Check it out:
I could return these to the store for a refund and no one would ever know.
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