Random pic thread.

Before Maddi got sick, my parents gave us some leftover tile flooring and we bought a few boxes that matched to redo our dining room. Finally getting around to it this week while Daddy is on vacation and I'm still out of work. It's not perfect, but the price was right and the quality time with the old man is fun.

20201227_204426.jpg


Duane
 
Day 6 of my 13 days of Christmas (vacation):
I swore i was gonna be productive today. And I swore i would be in bed by midnight. The timestamp tells you how well that worked out.

At least I finished up some rewiring on the house. I started last night and had @Ron come over today to help me work through a couple places where my electrical skills came up short :lol:
IMG_20201228_021155.jpg


Also did a little work on the jeep. Finished putting together the Dana 300 I took apart 2 months ago. Enlisted the help of @Andy J. to wrassle it into place. Only to find out it wouldn't work how it was clocked. Pulled the studs out of the clocking ring, rotated to the right spot, and tried to put it back in, only to realize the clocking ring had the non-symmetric D300 pattern and my NV4500 has the symmetric NP231 pattern. Doh! No worries, I've had a D300 behind this tranny before, so just pull the clocking ring off! Except its the JB Conversions clocking ring and seal retainer, which requires you to pull the input also. No biggie, except the case has Lomax 4:1 gears that require you to pull the intermediate gear in order to make clearance to slide the input out. Ok done disassembling, and fortunately I had my old input retainer, so we went to put that on, but there were no bolts because the integrated clocking ring replaced them. No fear! I have the proper 1" long 1/4-20 socket head cap screws! Get everything together, button it up, go back under the jeep and realize that the dang cable shifters won't work in that position. Crap. Gotta undo everything we just did to get back to where we were. :kaioken:

It's after midnight, so I tell Andy to head out because he is a peasant that must go to work tomorrow. I was gonna call it a night too, but sometimes frustration is one of my greatest motivators. And the RTV wasn't dry yet.

Ripped it all apart, pulled the intermediate gear, swapped input bearings, moved the studs for a third time, buttoned it up, and threw the dang thing under the jeep one last time. It may not be perfect, but its in there! And its heavy.
20201228_005808.jpg
20201228_005840.jpg


Once I got back to the house and got in the shower I realized at some point I lost my wedding ring. It may be laying down by the handwash station at the shop, but there's a really good chance its laying it the bottom of this D300 from when I dropped an intermediate gear thrust washer and had to fish it out from the bottom of the gear oil filled case :shaking::lol::(
 
jeepinmatt said:
Once I got back to the house and got in the shower I realized at some point I lost my wedding ring. It may be laying down by the handwash station at the shop, but there's a really good chance its laying it the bottom of this D300 from when I dropped an intermediate gear thrust washer and had to fish it out from the bottom of the gear oil filled case :shaking::lol::(
Click to expand...

Next time I won't leave you without supervision. :shaking: :lol:
 
jeepinmatt said:
Day 6 of my 13 days of Christmas (vacation):
I swore i was gonna be productive today. And I swore i would be in bed by midnight. The timestamp tells you how well that worked out.

At least I finished up some rewiring on the house. I started last night and had @Ron come over today to help me work through a couple places where my electrical skills came up short :lol:
View attachment 334225

Also did a little work on the jeep. Finished putting together the Dana 300 I took apart 2 months ago. Enlisted the help of @Andy J. to wrassle it into place. Only to find out it wouldn't work how it was clocked. Pulled the studs out of the clocking ring, rotated to the right spot, and tried to put it back in, only to realize the clocking ring had the non-symmetric D300 pattern and my NV4500 has the symmetric NP231 pattern. Doh! No worries, I've had a D300 behind this tranny before, so just pull the clocking ring off! Except its the JB Conversions clocking ring and seal retainer, which requires you to pull the input also. No biggie, except the case has Lomax 4:1 gears that require you to pull the intermediate gear in order to make clearance to slide the input out. Ok done disassembling, and fortunately I had my old input retainer, so we went to put that on, but there were no bolts because the integrated clocking ring replaced them. No fear! I have the proper 1" long 1/4-20 socket head cap screws! Get everything together, button it up, go back under the jeep and realize that the dang cable shifters won't work in that position. Crap. Gotta undo everything we just did to get back to where we were. :kaioken:

It's after midnight, so I tell Andy to head out because he is a peasant that must go to work tomorrow. I was gonna call it a night too, but sometimes frustration is one of my greatest motivators. And the RTV wasn't dry yet.

Ripped it all apart, pulled the intermediate gear, swapped input bearings, moved the studs for a third time, buttoned it up, and threw the dang thing under the jeep one last time. It may not be perfect, but its in there! And its heavy.
View attachment 334226 View attachment 334227

Once I got back to the house and got in the shower I realized at some point I lost my wedding ring. It may be laying down by the handwash station at the shop, but there's a really good chance its laying it the bottom of this D300 from when I dropped an intermediate gear thrust washer and had to fish it out from the bottom of the gear oil filled case :shaking::lol::(
Click to expand...
Silicone rings. Let that D300 eat. Oddly enough I was wrestling my case back on the works yesterday as well. Went way smoother than your fiasco. Should have called a brotha. I was bored after doing mine.
Screenshot_2020-12-28-08-51-14.png
 
Last edited:
jeepinmatt said:
Once I got back to the house and got in the shower I realized at some point I lost my wedding ring. It may be laying down by the handwash station at the shop, but there's a really good chance its laying it the bottom of this D300 from when I dropped an intermediate gear thrust washer and had to fish it out from the bottom of the gear oil filled case :shaking::lol::(
Click to expand...

That's a good one. I'll remember it and use it as necessary.
(Says the guy who hasnt worn a wedding ring in 15 years)
 
jeepinmatt said:
Once I got back to the house and got in the shower I realized at some point I lost my wedding ring. It may be laying down by the handwash station at the shop, but there's a really good chance its laying it the bottom of this D300 from when I dropped an intermediate gear thrust washer and had to fish it out from the bottom of the gear oil filled case :shaking::lol::(
Click to expand...
Well. Not sure if its good news or its bad news, but I guess I'm still married...
20201228_124052.jpg

It was right there in the paper towel I wiped my oily hand off with. Of course I found it AFTER I rifled through the ones in the trash. :shaking::lol::(
 
jeepinmatt said:
Well. Not sure if its good news or its bad news, but I guess I'm still married...
View attachment 334279
It was right there in the paper towel I wiped my oily hand off with. Of course I found it AFTER I rifled through the ones in the trash. :shaking::lol::(
Click to expand...
Didya tell yer wife yet?
This may be your out.
 
Health dept inspector asked if we could make a footbridge for him to be able to cross the creek to get to the pits with his equipment for the septic perk test.

663FA893-447F-49A7-99EA-723BABF2B78D.jpeg


My wife had some photoshop fun with our niece crossing that she wanted me to email to the inspector to let him know the bridge was done.

D6C1AB95-1C96-4C7A-9232-89D195405FAC.jpeg
 
I just made some from the 10 lbs of mashed taters from Christmas.
 
Day 7 of my 13 days of Christmas (vacation):
I guess I've officially hit and then crossed the halfway point.

Today definitely got off to a late start after my 2am shenanigans of the night before. Quoted some skidsteer work in the morning then came home and worked on the jeep a bit. Got the skidplate in and front driveshaft on. Rear is too short, so just used the front to drive it out of the shop. Definitely gonna have to add a position to the clocking ring because the options are too far down and the shifters hit the tranny, or too far up (where it currently is) and the driveshaft rubs the body :eek: But it was good enough to move it. Also had the car pulled around back to make space for VIP visitor parking in front of the house, so I actually had my entire fleet in one camera shot for maybe the first time ever.
20201228_142240.jpg

Then i went up and hung out with the kids and ate lunch. It was at this point that the young, wise one illustrated why it was called "elbow macaroni!" :lol:
20201228_150933.jpg


Next on the list was to make a pig fly. It was a success!
20201228_172638.jpg

On the agenda was to change the fuel and oil filters and just generally check everything out since it was the first time on the lift. Tidied up a few things but overall it looks good. But the dang oil filter was a bitch to get off. Here's some proof of how ridiculously tight it was. I would guess about 125ft-lbs to finally get it moving.
20201228_222133.jpg


Once that was finally done, it was time to start the big project of my 13 days: pull the aluminum bed, and swap in a steel bed and dump cylinder. Major props to my neighbor for coming over and helping grind (crappy) welds off the frame to get this thing loose. Took about 2-3 hours, but its dismounted and ready for a new home.
20201228_230618.jpg


Now progress will slow to a crawl. :gitrdun:
 
Back
Top