Do it yourself

Just firing this up to hopefully fire myself up. Winter is coming, and I'm not near mentally prepared for it.

As I said in another thread, I bought a new clutch. Previous to this thread and its happenings, I wouldn't have even attempted it...



What even is that? How in Christ does it work?

As I said before, just try. You'll be amazed at what you can learn, and where this path can take you.

That up there is an ATV clutch, VERY different than a car clutch. My car clutch is but two parts, a friction plate and a pressure plate. All the springs and screws are already installed as part of the pressure plate assembly, and it's held together by pressure. This was entirely different. The pressure plate (foreground) is just a chunk of metal. The friction plateS are several, and are separated by additional steel plates. In all it was some 20+ parts, with no instruction manual, and failure means that all several thousand other parts are worthless as the machine will not function.

Folks, it was so easy. 8 bolts to remove the clutch cover and 6 (not 3 as shown) bolts to hold the clutch springs in. With spring bolts out, the springs, pressure plate, 8 friction plates, 8 steel plates, two washer rings and one spring ring came out as easy as you'd like. A simple reversal of removal, torque the spring bolts to spec, and the job was all done.

A $200 job took $50 (cost of kit) and about 40min. Didn't even have to drain the oil it went so fast! On top of it, I didn't have to rely on a dealer doing what's cheapest and easiest. I got a solid Tusk kit AND did a little modding. The kit I used wasn't for a YFZ450 (which I have) but for a YZ450F (the dirt bike). 17% stiffer springs and it eliminates the washers in favor of a 9th friction plate. My clutch now operates like a manly clutch should (no squishy lever flop) and the SOB bites so GD hard I stalled it twice before almost putting it over backwards just loading it up.

Better product, better result, at 1/4 the cost with a nice, esteem-building "I did that" buzz.

DIY is the way =)

Quote: Face

Better product, better result, at 1/4 the cost with a nice, esteem-building "I did that" buzz.
DIY is the way =)

Yes, cheaper and easier. I'd love to be able to lengthen my short circuits and inject some testosterone into my air conditioner and keep my engine coolant off the parking lot so as not to have to add a gallon or orange stuff each week. I don't know why my transmission fluid won't keep its cool, I do.

With all this yacking about Zika I added some feeder fish to a few rain barrels around the place, cept I think most died from thermal shock.

Today is national iguanna appreciation day and I've failed to celebrate it due to all my shopping and automotive chores. I mean I wish I really knew how to swing an axe or wield a screwdriver that is not in a glass.

Life would be so much easier if I could cook and repair vaccuums. Repair? Heck I'd like to know how to even assemble them in the first place.

What's the rain water for? I assume agriculture?

There's a number of assists, depending on your end usage. Feeder fish in a plain ol barrel will be dead within hours without aeration. You'd be better off using a natural remedy like lavender, lemongrass, or some teas, as it can go right into the garden or used to wash your car with no adverse effects. I reckon you could even oil the hell out of it. If your valve is on the bottom, a half gallon of soy oil will give you a nice, thick barrier across the entire surface, and assuming no drought, will never get "used up" as it'll always float to top and never reach the valve.

Vacuums are the devil's own. Smash it with a hammer and install pergo. Area rugs you can just beat out =)

Quote: Face

Previous to this thread and its happenings, I wouldn't have even attempted it...

Thanking or blaming????

Quote: AZDuffman

Thanking or blaming????

I blame in jest, because there are times I could damn the lot of you =) But seriously... it's in large part a big thanks but also a call to action. I really cannot say enough how this sort of stuff changed my life, and I had no idea it existed, was possible. Wouldn't hurt to have a try and take a whack at something.

It also makes life a lot easier, IMO. I remember once when my bike failed deep in the Alleganies. No go, like it was stuck in neutral. My buddy, now a master mechanic, knew how the tranny worked, knew it intimately from cracking them opening and working on them. Taking a shot. Because of that, he knew there was some bitty spring that acted on the shift mechanism which supplied the required pressure for the apparatus to work. Without it, the arm wouldn't engage and there was no shifting. And all because of that, we were able to figure out a way for me to find gears and get out of the woods. A total stranding and hugely difficult rescue turned into a slightly awkward ride as I had to keep pressure on the shift lever. That's a big deal to me. A big win. Especially given my lifestyle.

And of course there's the financial. I need a new desk for the dual screen setup I'm working on, and I don't really wanna go all dorm room and just get a folding table. The type of table I'm looking for, even going the cheap Walmart/Target route, is close to a grand. OR, I can just do what I already tried, take $150 and about 20hrs, and have the exact table I want.

It's a game changer. I can't help but champion it. Even evangelize a little =)

Quote: Face

I blame in jest, because there are times I could damn the lot of you =) But seriously... it's in large part a big thanks but also a call to action. I really cannot say enough how this sort of stuff changed my life, and I had no idea it existed, was possible. Wouldn't hurt to have a try and take a whack at something.

Of course it has and of course I was breaking balls. This thread has been neat in a few ways. What you learn may be direct or indirect. See someone else post something nice and you half just want to contribute and half want to join the alpha males and show just what you can do when you turn off the GD cable TV and do anything constructive.

>>>>>>What's the rain water for? I assume agriculture?
Nah, one is for the feral cats, the others are accumulations of trash cans and stuff that no one hauls away.

I'd add olive oil on top but there is no drain or anything and I guess I'm too lazy to actually do it, though I've often thought of it. One bag of feeder fish apparently did die of thermal shock at the worst trash can the yard workers left upright, but one bag seems to have survived at the cats orange bucket.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Vacuums are the devil's own. Smash it with a hammer and install pergo. Area rugs you can just beat out =)
After buying them I should smash them at the 90 percent assembled mark??

>>>>>>>>>install pergo
What is pergo?

>>>>>>>> beat out area rugs?
How do you do that without bending to pick them up off the floor??



ON EDIT:
The thermal shock garbage can just got some olive oil poured into it. The fish all died at the "bottom" (top) of an overturned garbage can, perhaps one inch of water is too shallow for them.

Quote: AZDuffman

As do I, soon as I finish a half a dozen other projects. Too bad we cannot do a build-off like on TV. Mine will be 2x4 mostly, you?

It's pretty much going to mirror my last, which I think had a 1x4 frame. But I've still got to figure out the top thickness to allow attachment of a racing wheel, and it's gotta be smooth enough to allow for mouse use. "Pieces", whether x4, x8, or x12, I don't think are gonna work.

Can't say what I'm gonna do because I don't really know what's out there. Pretty much same as last time lol. I'd reckon a top of actual wood would be pretty expensive, but maybe I'm wrong. Either way, the top must be solid and smooth.

Could just wait until the arena suffers damage and snag an old acrylic pane. Can have it wrapped or dipped any ol way I can imagine. Who knows?

Quote: Face

It's pretty much going to mirror my last, which I think had a 1x4 frame. But I've still got to figure out the top thickness to allow attachment of a racing wheel, and it's gotta be smooth enough to allow for mouse use. "Pieces", whether x4, x8, or x12, I don't think are gonna work.

Can't say what I'm gonna do because I don't really know what's out there. Pretty much same as last time lol. I'd reckon a top of actual wood would be pretty expensive, but maybe I'm wrong. Either way, the top must be solid and smooth.

Could just wait until the arena suffers damage and snag an old acrylic pane. Can have it wrapped or dipped any ol way I can imagine. Who knows?

Isn't there a very large, incomplete, fish tank frame that you can re-purpose?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Isn't there a very large, incomplete, fish tank frame that you can re-purpose?

A pox on you!

I haven't thought of that thing all summer. Until literally like last week. Winter's coming, and I'm a bit desperate to get my mind right for it. Talking about this table is a result of thinking about that damn tank XD

The proper answer is "Can't repurpose because I'm going to finish it" =)

The other answer is there's nothing to repurpose. All I got for that was 2x4, some 4x8 sheets of rough plywood, and a bunch of fibreglass. I don't need / can't use any of that for the computer desk. Well, I mean I could, but I quite liked my last one. Don't see a reason to use bulky 2x4.