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The Garage

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And the shock change is a done deal. Kinda ruff on the old body when doing the rears with a little tool seat and felt it when they were done before noon. Switched to a regular folding chair for the Fronts. Much betta for my old back and hips.
Lovin' my Quick Jack set up also.
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In this shot you can see the newly installed turn signal / daytime run lights from last months job. Installed LED's in there also with a conversion harness under the dash.
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And the 2nd rear wheel bearing went on yesterday. The right rear. Much less of a hassle than the 1st one. Learning curve. Fact , 1/3 of the time was hunting for little items put up and can't find stuff like cut down allen wrenches. And, a ball joint separator I had bought and opened it up to find the bolt was missing. Oh well, Heat gun and hammer, again. But much faster.
Next comes the front wheel bearings.
 
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Surprise Surprise Surprise. Driving along at about 60 mph , cruise on, radio/usb stick on '60's pop music, the road less traveled and all of a sudden ABS/TCS lights come up on the dash and DIC reading SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL SERVICE ABS SYSTEM . Wow! Last time I had that was 19K miles ago when I took the ECBM apart and resoldiered some contact points for a relay.
Next was turn in a gravel road to check ABS as locking up my Corvette tires on dry blacktop is something I've yet to do. Well, we slid to a stop with no ABS working.
So. Home and gonna check out the DIC to get a code in the morning. Morning arrives and off to the garage to get readings. Nothing on ABS, 1 code on TCS but no number. Hmmmm. Reset and figured to started the car and check voltage to the battery. Not gonna happen. Motor won't turn over fast enough to start. Wow! Shop Charger on Hi for 15 mins and get car started. VOM says 14V so charging system not the problem. Pull battery and to Auto Zone I go. They test battery as a have to on all core batts. Bad Bat.
$175.11 later , new Duralast battery for 03 Corvette Coupe and me on the way back to home front.
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Battery installed and put on Battery Tender to bring up to full charge.
Next day, Tender showing green light, Me and Da Car off for a 97 mile round about and all is back to normal good.
See in files that old battery was 5 yrs 1 month old installed at Goodyear in Fort Worth, Tx for 135 bucks. 1st Owner ( I'm 3rd ). So can't complain and happy camper , again.

Next, Front Wheel Bearings.


Oh, did finally get about 220 miles on the Bandit and 15 miles on the KLR this month on a rare good riding day or two.
 
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Got back on my wheel bearing change out this last weekend. Was going to go to Lake Arthur, a town 10 miles to the South and do Mardi Gras Parade pics but the rains were happening big time all about. And, didn't feel like getting myself or possible camera gear wet. So, Saturday afternoon decided to tackle the front wheel bearing change on my car.
Got the wheel off and tackled the right front first. And a couple hours later it was done.

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That was enough for Saturday evening.
Next morning, getting up at 2:30A as usual, Coffee, oatmeal, internet till about 4:30ish AM and off to the garage to finish the job. Was surprise to see stars and moon. Yes! And about 50°F. So, got all set to go to work.

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Job went a little faster than the other side as you learn a bit on one side and the knowledge carries over to the other side.
So, next was getting the wheels back to get the car back on the ground to torque the lug nuts to their desired 100 fl lbs.

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Road test later in the day with 4 runs from 60 to 120 mph showed the front vibration I was getting between 80 and 100 mph to be gone. So Far So Good.
And, at 132,266 miles on the clock. All good to go with no further projects planned for it.
Plug and Plug wire change for Da Truck is probably next as it's at 96K plus miles now.
 
Well, after dropping the Bandit the other day while attempting to fish keys out of pocket and had the side stand up, me and Bandit did end up on the ground in a parking lot. Sigh! So into a local Bar I went and got a few people I knew to help me get the bike back on it's tires. LOL! Not the first time I've done that one but this time the ball of the clutch lever went bye bye and a scrape on my knee was all the damage done.
So, Bike Bandit to the rescue and 4 days later, parts in and on. Also decided to replace old faded tankbag I swap from bike to bike. Smaller but was starting to carry too much STUFF.
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achesley said:
Well, after dropping the Bandit the other day while attempting to fish keys out of pocket and had the side stand up, me and Bandit did end up on the ground in a parking lot. Sigh! So into a local Bar I went and got a few people I knew to help me get the bike back on it's tires. LOL! Not the first time I've done that one but this time the ball of the clutch lever went bye bye and a scrape on my knee was all the damage done.
So, Bike Bandit to the rescue and 4 days later, parts in and on. Also decided to replace old faded tankbag I swap from bike to bike. Smaller but was starting to carry too much STUFF.
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Led mounted. Is that a gorilla alarm? I have one. As they say”stuff happens”.
 
Yes, I did have a Gorilla alarm on it when I was traveling. I never put it back on or got another one after I had to stop the LD traveling. But, the light remains. LOL! Also had them on my two BMW GS's and these alarms have led to some interesting events. ;-)
 
Was doing a bit of cleaning and rearranging in the shop. The metal working set up is neater now. LOL! All in one section. And of course my old KLR lives there. Along with the bike life and wine storage.
 

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So yesterday, at 92,682 miles on the clock, Suzy Da Bandit got a new front tire and brake pads. Did run about in mile around the hood braking in the new pads and hopefully, today, we can get around 100 miles on the new tire to get it broken in also.
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And now the time has come to redo the nose of the car. Rock chips, bird hits, etc does a job on the low nose of the car. So, the project of repainting began yesterday. Seems like it's going to be about an every 2 yr or so process and not going to put a lot of work into a show blending as it's not a show car but nearer to a daily ride. Was thinking about just doing the nose and headlight covers in a different color but had this kit that needs to be used for over a year now.
 

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Chevrolet wants your business. I'm sure they hate you with every maint/refurb post of this fine Corvette.
 
Ha ha ha let them get jealous. ;-) Heck newest ride I have is my '07 Bandit bought in the Summer of '08 as a left over.
But, finished with work on the Vette for awhile I hope as it's back together and on the road.
 

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You really licked that front end into shape, excellent

This is what I was fooling around with. Was working on fixing my strom fender and finally said it's too dam hot. I'm gonna do it. Took my packing blankets I had on hand, staple gun and my portable air conditioner and got to work. Need to get a bunch of huge holes and cracks plugged but I managed to drop it a few degrees today with the air just blowing out. Now I have a 10 x 11 work shop that I need to clean up in relative comfort.
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Understand what you mean by a FULL SHOP. My shop was built from scrap iron from a company I worked for in the 70's 80's as a drilling rig mechanic for land rigs. My KLR is the resident there unless the Bandit needs the lift.
 
Andy how are you liking the car lifts been thinking about getting a set for the Challenger when I do maintenance on it
 
They are better than floor jacks and jack stands when You need the whole car up in the air. I get about 22 inches from the floor to the top on the lift. But, if you have the room and height, a two post stand much better, Pert near the same cost also.
 
And now, in the shop after inspection time this afternoon and finding a flat on Suzy Da Bandit. Just did change the front last week and the back got jealous big time. So, order one today for it.
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Egads is that the tire cords showing through? I'd say you got your money's worth
 
Tis fixed now and we rolling towards that 100K mark. Mich RP 2 is the set I have on now. Used them years ago. And, Don't pay attention to all the bottles of my last batch of Kumquat wine.

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Yes! Always balance , even the KLR tires. But, the way my last tire went, thinking about a rebalance around a few thousands miles just to see the difference after the tire sets in and wears a little.
 
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