After getting ripped off by Just Brakes for a brake job
they would work for 2-3 wks and then go out again and
they would claim that another part failed. I caught them
when they claimed that a brake line was leaking, (they
had installed a bad part or they did a lousy job the fire time)
A friend urged me to try doing my own brake job, a Chilton s
and less than an hour and I did it for less than a $20.
Seeing newer cars with multiple overhead cams and the headache it is to get to them makes me appreciate that GM stuck with the single cam/push rod architecture.
Granted, I didnât truly appreciate it until I bought an old Chevy.
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Iâve been around overhead cam engines when I got into cars in the early 80s - nothing new. They pre date my tenure by decades as well. Some can be more involved than others- but that is âtechnologyâ.
one of best looking Chevy V8 engines Iâve seen is with four 48mm webers on top.
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At the risk of getting to wear the village idiot hat for a while:
I thought a flywheel is a harmonic balancer, isnât it? Like a kinematics version of a capacitor, takes noise in the input and smooths out the output power?
Trivia-night-freebie aside: unless itâs changed very recently, BMW still puts their timing chains at the front, where God intended.
Huh⌠I just swapped out my water pump, and was planning on bringing in stuff to walnut-blast my car some time next month. Deja vu. (Only difference: dealer wanted âonlyâ $1600 for the water pump and $700 for the walnut blasting.)
Then again, that stuff seems to pretty much always hit at right around the same time. That and redoing a few gaskets to get rid of oil leaks. Makes a lease a lot more compelling, when I think about it â when youâre rebuying half the car after 90-100k anyway to keep it in decent condition, may as well just amortize that cost over that period of time.
Though Iâve gotta ask: who the hell in their right mind charges $2800 for a walnut blast? Thatâs downright obscene. Half of that is pretty close to highway robbery.
What, are they loading up the media blaster with meth or something?
Flywheels are more about storing energy by virtue of mass than cancelling vibrations, but yeah, itâs kind of splitting hairs.
âHarmonic balancerâ is redneck vernacular for âwhatever goes on the front of the engine. They usually move belts and such.â In my world, those are called âfront pulliesâ, but I slipped back to my roots a bit. But thatâs why I enclosed it in quotes. 
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Seafoam irritates my diesel mechanic husband second only to the âMechanic in a CanââŚyou wanna hear a man nerd rage mention Autozone or either of those products lol
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Patching a damaged trace using 30ga Kynar. The fiberglass tape is there until the fingernail polish dries.
This is the bottom board from a 4 slot Neo Geo arcade game. The spot at the edge of the board is where the trace was damaged. I coated it to keep the exposed copper from getting further damaged. Fingernail polish works well for tacking down the wire and comes in a wide variety of colors. 
This is an example of some of the after hours projects I do for my little business and not at the Space.
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Harmonic balancers do quench undesired vibrations on a rotating component, much like a capacitor smooths out ripple on a power supply rail
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This takes the prize for flyer post of the monthâŚ
Great share!
Bear in mind, though, that article really only demonstrates one type of harmonic balancer (albeit the most often employed) and that not all front pullies are harmonic balancers. Also, partinent to my remark, the article shows the traditional mounting method of a single crank bolt through the center of the device, as opposed to the multiple bolt arrangement shown in the example âexoticâ. I assume in the specific example it really IS an âharmonic balancerâ in the traditional use of the phrase, but had I used my preferred phrase âfront pulleyâ there would be no opportunity for confusion.
As compared to what?
Granted âdealership pricingâ is often higher than independent garages (except maybe christian brothers) but unless you can provide what exactly is being done for the $2800 than what does it matter?
I would bet that $2800 is a grand total for parts, labor, shop materials, environmental fees, taxes, etc etc etc.
This Audi as in the V10 above does have the chains on the âfront of the engineâ but since it is mounted in the front of the then yes, it does appear that the chains are on the rear of the engine. Had this been in the R8 then the chains would appear to be facing forward.
The answer to your "freebie / Trivia is easy - if God intended BMW to offer a real sports car she would have had them design a mid engine car.
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This reminds me of my old old days when the proud new owner of his or her first 911 would have heart failure over the cost of an oil and filter change on say a non turbo 1980 911âŚâbut my old Chevy was $19.95 at the Sinclair Stationâ.
Well your old V8 Chevy doesât hold 10 litres of oil now does it, have multiple drain plugs etc.
True. The techs get paid the labor per hour regardless of difficulty on the job or actual time spent. Flag time is flag time.
Yes,some times it works in the techs favor but there are other times when it doesnât go well at allâŚ
Youâre not an idiot for asking !
By the way, Welcome to the VIllage Slinky - we have plenty of room for more !
A sense of humor is key
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Amen to that doing some fun things to my Toy Car this month.
New Foam Intake installed.
Supercharger Pully was reduced for higher boost pressure.
550 Fuel Injectors were installed for better metering
Computer is back from the Tuners and should be on a Dyno today to find out what change in HP I can expect with the new parts.
Hopefully your fuel pump is up to the task of providing enough fuel at higher boost.
Leaning out on a dyno is a great way to entertain your friends when the pistons melt and the engine craters
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Yep your exactly right!
I installed this a few months ago before a big track day. So I donât expect fuel starvation issues.
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