Peter's Eagle SS

[Peter]

Well, Tuesday went to Wednesday which is now Friday as the ONE belt and ONE cable on the Zforce 550 4x4s evolved into THREE belts, a throttle cable (which entails dropping the undertray), broken exhaust header to change and on the small GS Moon 260s,a carburettor change, broken front upper ball joint, broken steering arm to weld, , none starter, (motor)

So today is a bank holiday (3 Kings, epiphany), so Thursday I now have to sort out the none starter, possibly the oxygen sensor as I have spark and fuel pressure and no doubt there will be something else break or go wrong on tour.

Problem is getting youngsters interested in getting away from their computers and getting their hands dirty Brett.

By the hour for sure David, been caught out with doing a quote before and doing stuff for peanuts because of problems and going hours over , an estimate is better as it is not binding like a quote is. Currently working on a trust deal, I get the jobs to do, I do them and charge 15€ an hour, he pays or TRUST ME there will be no more jobs done.

Employers are as a rule reluctant to pay much above minimum for the job for anyone, even when in demand, $8 to $10 an hour for a car mechanic was quite normal up until a few years ago and now it is only $15 when it should be nearer $20-$30 for basic skills.

Also the number of people with old school skills and knowledge are disappearing fast so not so many to teach which means it is all from a book, (or video).

I wrote on Facebook that as well as rightfully respecting the health workers, emergency workers etc, the "front line " in the Corvid war, respect your mechanics because without them keeping the ambulances, fire trucks, delivery trucks and vans running and the equipment and machines going, the whole thing would grind to a halt. No matter how advanced technology becomes, there will always be a need for 'fixers' to keep things going, if not more so.

[Brett]

Employers are as a rule reluctant to pay much above minimum for the job for anyone, even when in demand, $8 to $10 an hour for a car mechanic was quite normal up until a few years ago and now it is only $15 when it should be nearer $20-$30 for basic skills.

I never cared how car dealers treated their mechanics.
Here they(the shop) charges a rediculas labor fee per hour and the mechanics get only 13% of that(maybe, it might be less. I found this out by talking to an employee). The rest the shop gets. Yet the mechanics have to buy their own tools pay for their certifications and schooling and the motorcycle and ATV dealers are following this trend.

[Peter]

Almost hesitant to say I will be back in the shed Tuesday but I said that last time and ended up working most of last week or recovering from working. 'Just' a plug and cap to fit Monday and then I should be free but with Covid-19 killing over a thousand a day in Spain and things not getting any better we never know.


This retiring and not working, isn't working.

[Spacenut]

Covid-19 killing over a thousand a day in Spain and things not getting any better

Indeed

Stay safe Peter.

[Peter]

Indeed

Stay safe Peter.

Doing my best Lauren, the alternative is really bad.

Yeasterday a little more done, got the broken LEDs in the armrest to show the 'display' LEDs are on as two broke on disassembly and to stop that happening again I installed a 4 way Tyco connector. seems I have a LOT more connector blocks than connectors, I wonder why? Also cut an access hole to the four heavy fuses for the amps etc as I had to remove the whole armrest before, now it's just a covered panel in the bottom of the box.

Finally got the darn gear rod connected but had to rescue the square headed bolt thread as it was damaged somehow coming apart but all good now and back to a nice hard, firm change. made a few improvements along the way and now ready to install the arm rest but still have the problem of the chassis number being hidden so i need to sort that out now. Just thought that if I make the whole rear panel tip forward, amps, speakers wiring an' all, I should be able to see the number below the front of the fuel tank, couple of twist fasteners should do the trick, need to tidy up all the loose wiring in that case.

Hopefully back tomorrow for few more hours and start on the consul improvements and reinstallation..

[Peter]

Finally fixed all the people with dead buggys and quads and got to the shed, unfortunately it will be the last time for 14 days, -again- as the Andalusian government have closed the border between municipalities as infections have exceeded 500 per100,000 in Malaga and Estepona.

I did manage to get the door buttons rewired with some phone cable which is a lot smaller and placing the transmitter on a longer lead so I can change the batteries (2016) from under the dash, I had thought to use a 4 x AA battery pack to make the 6V required and that's too big so I will just stick with the button cells and just made them easier to change. I also covered the soldered connections with powder and superglue so they will not come adrift.

Surprising that although the #2016 buttons still show 3.2V they will not operate the remotes , I have a pair of new ones and they do power the remotes so it's not the hardware, new batteries, again, problem with things standing so long, corrosion, damp, etc.

After many weeks of silence I have finally had an email from Jose Miguel de Linaras in Northern Malaga, he has had the Covid-19 virus and not very well for a month but getting over it now but as he says, it's not so much the first stage that is bad, although I an sure gasping for breath is not nice, it is getting over the side effects afterwards, Anyway, we are planning to meet up after the travel ban and for me to see his 'F40 style' SS. He drove from Madrid to Malaga (520Km) straight off after buying it untested, as seen, , brave man.

Cut%20out.jpg

[Peter]

Little job popped up just to keep me busy while I can't get to the shed. Mother in laws 1988 Honda Civic 1.4TC broke its cam belt, nuff said.

[BlueNova]

Little job popped up just to keep me busy while I can't get to the shed. Mother in laws 1988 Honda Civic 1.4TC broke its cam belt, nuff said.

That’s only ever happened to me once ... fortunately just as I was reversing into my driveway. Needless to say, my car went back out of the driveway on the back of a breakers lorry ....

[Phill]

My cambelt went on my Capri a few years ago. Fortunately the 2.0 pinto engine is non interference which means the pistons and valves never occupy the same space so there was no engine damage (unlike the 1.6 pinto and most other engines). I don't understand why they don't engineer all engines as non interference then there would be far fewer wrecked motors?

[Peter]

I turned to engine over this morning and it seems not to have hit the valves, using a bore scope was useless as it is too close to the valves to focus. replaced all the perished (original ) fuel lies while waiting for the new belt to arrive in the morning.