Are walmart batteries typically this crap? I bought one 17 months ago and it's dying already. (Checked alternator and checked for current draws, car is an 8th gen civic driven on 1hr commute 4 days/week)

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>>29131738

>>29126109
>pulled windshield, addressed rust in preparation for a new windshield
Safelite was supposed to come today.

>>29126114
I've had terrible experiences with the everstarts.

>>29126114
It's Walmart? What did you expect?

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>>29126109
Been doing work at my rental property. Sanded down these cabinets, 1 coat of stain, and 3 coats of polyurethane. It'd look better with more coats of polyurethane, but I've already put it too many hours, so I'm calling it good.

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>>29128895

i have been cooped up in my apartment bored out of my mind for so long that i'm genuinely considering calling up a friend of my grandma's and offering to "fiddle with" his car that's been parked halfway under a tree on his property for a dozen years while also having exactly zero mechanical experience.
if there were literally any jobs within walking distance that would hire me other than retail cashier i would be working one of those right now instead of even humoring this idea.

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>>29126951 >>29126971

It's so over...

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>>29126972

>>29126844
What happened? Did the HG fail here and that area is warped now?

Gotta replace this (and the other half of it) with the new guy.

Any tips for the nuts threading it onto the studs at the exhaust manifold?

I got a 6 point socket, an impact, a breaker bar and I'm marinating it in pb blaster as we speak.

Those fuckers were tight enough I was sure that the stud was gonna let go, so I quit, sprayed it down and have proceeded to wait.

I also have a propane torch.

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I'm retarded
>>29126956

>>29126114
In my experience?
-In the past 15 to 20 years, "cheap" batteries have gotten much worse, middle of the road stuff is where cheap used to be, and "premium" is on the way out.
Cheap batteries in the U.S. market were often made in Mexico, some parts of Eastern Europe, or Southeast Asia. They were usually "good enough" for around three to five years of common use before they'd drop a cell or short out.
Now it's all made in China or India, and they're just unpredictable. Some will almost be as good as the old stuff, some will fucking die in a week.

>>29126844
Grim. How deep in the hole are you already?

>>29126951
It's eroded from combustion heat and pressure moving between the two jugs.

>>29126956
Heat, PB, take a small hammer and a punch and tap on it. If you're not in a hurry, give the penetrant time to work and apply it often.
You can use a drop light with an incandescent bulb or heat bulb to keep that area warm and help it seep.
The impact is probably going to break shit.
Judging by that downpipe, you're going to be dealing with broken studs anyhow.

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>>29127052 >>29127141 >>29131738

>>29126976
I'll hose em down some more and get to tappin.

Honestly I think they might come off

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>>29127141 >>29127756 >>29127806

>>29126984
Spoke Too Soon Edition

>>29126984
>>29127052
Fire is always the answer. A blow torch and an impact is the best way, and if it snaps off with that combo, then you had no chance anyway.

>>29126114
Project Farm did a battery test like 3 months ago. Todd concluded that WALMART batteries suck.

>>29127161
Sad it only covers Oreilly and Walmart. I just bought an Autozone one. Hope it lasts.

>>29126971
Not at all, the HG blew and I've just pulled and disassembled the engine yesterday. Now I'm debating whether to buy a new head from aliexpress for around 350 euro or get a machine shop to weld and machine it for unknown amount of money.

>>29127052
Sorry to see bud.
Well, hope you're up on broken fasten extraction.
Good LH drill bits are your friend.

>>29127052
well... it came off

>>29127756
>>29127756
I have the nastiest jury-rig imaginable going on right now but the exhaust system is sealed(ish) and quiet.

Gonna get some map gas for the manifold and have a buddy weld on a big nut.
We'll get her done.

If you learn a little something, did you really fuck up *that* much?

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>>29129132

>>29126518
>decide to look into the paperwork side of it
>realize that for either of us to legally do anything with the car beyond make it start and run in his driveway i'd need to somehow get him out of his "conservatorship" he's got himself into that is practically trying to unperson him and steal all that he owns
all this for a chevy celebrity that's nearing 40 by the way

>>29126969
It's not just the cheap ones. Some recent Toyotas in Europe shipped with a Varta branded battery that was probably made in a sweatshop in Turkey or India.
For a while, Toyota topped the vehicle unreliability charts, basically entirely due to 12 V batteries that die with no warning after a couple years. No other problems with the cars, it's just that they won't go anywhere if the 12 V battery has dead cells and can't even power the dashboard.

Think they at least changed the supplier after that.

>>29128895
>chevy celebrity
I think these had a transverse v6 that put the spark plugs right up against the firewall, and there's not enough room for tools. I think it's one of the worst cars you could possibly choose to work on.

get one of those mechanic simulator games, or my summer car or something

>>29129132
i looked it up earlier and they can have those or a 2.5l i4, and i'm like 99% sure that his has the i4. i'll be over at his place either later this week or the next to see for myself and if it does have the v6 i'll probably throw in the towel
>get one of those mechanic simulator games, or my summer car or something
like 75% of the reason i'm considering doing this isn't to have a car, but just to have something to do outside of my bedroom. i spent all summer cooped up in here being a lazy piece of shit playing vidya and jacking off and i want to change that in a way that won't result in me being stuck in a checkout kiosk interacting with middle aged single mothers for 8 hours a day, the car is just a bonus

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>>29129657 >>29131863

What say you, guys. Is it screwed big time?

>>29129639
Nah, that'll clean up fine.

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Decided to fix the trans leak on the ambulance.
>I've been ignoring it for months after seeing the massive puddle it left.
>Mishimoto deep pan was ~5qts low
I think I'm going to fix the couple minor issues it has and sell it.
>>29126170
>new Kerma smic, charge pipes
>new brembo pads/rotors, soft lines, 1 new hard line, pressure bled
>stops great
Should've replaced the soft lines years ago. What a difference.
>pedal now feels incredible
>>29126984
The hotrod Induction heater has been one of my favorite Amazon purchases. Makes situations like that an absolute breeze.

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>>29131847 >>29131849

I am going to lap valves for the first time and I am nervous.

>>29131839
Why? You can't really fuck it up if you're doing it by hand with paste

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>>29131863

>>29131839
Oof, I offer you luck. Try to reapply the paste semi-frequently as it will naturally push out to the edges of the valve, creating a convex/concave hotspot if lapped for too long. Other than that, it's a pretty easy, if monumentally boring job...

>>29131847
Because it is a teeny 14mm valve so it might be easy to overdo it. I decided to replace the valve >>29129639 since it was only 30 dollars. I'm thinking of leaving the intake alone since it still seals fine.

>>29131849
So about every other time stop grinding?

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>>29131918

>>29131863
>So about every other time stop grinding?
When the sound changes is when the paste has evened out, and 10 or so seconds of back and forth and up and down after the sound change is when I like to reorganise the paste. If your valves are brand new, then you don't really need to lap them for very long, maybe a minute or so with a fine paste. I like to reassemble the valve and spring, then spray some brake clean on the back of the valve to see if it leaks after. If you're lazy, then you can also just pull the valve shut, shine a light through the port, and see if there are any gaps on the head / face of the valve, but the brake clean is a little more reliable in my eyes as it's quite thin and will weep through easily. Oh, and remember to oil the valve stem every time you reorganise the paste, it'll you chewing up your stem seal.

>>29131915
>it'll you chewing up your stem seal.
It'll *stop* you chewing up your stem seal.

Has anyone ever replaced the rear springs in a w123 wagon with the hydraulic suspension? Is it any worse than the front?

I'm switching from rubber to silicone coolant hoses. Should I stick with spring clamps like it came from the factory?, or should I switch to worm/T-bolt or some other kind?

>>29133147
>silicone coolant hoses
Keep in mind that silicone hoses are very slightly permeable and the water in the system will slowly wick out over time. Not an issue if you check your coolant every few months, but it's just something to keep in mind if you see the level drop with no obvious signs of a leak.

Anyway, If they still fit, I'd stick to spring clamps. If there are plastic lines you're connecting to, the spring clamps will *in theory* allow the plastic some degree of expansion as the coolant heats up, preventing the plastic from cracking under the pressure of the clamp. Worm/t-bolt clamps obviously don't allow for this, though admittedly I have yet to see a failure because of it.

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Lapping is finally tackled. You can't see it but there is rubbing alcohol in there and hasn't budged :)

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>>29139399

>>29129132
>>29129140
haven't been able to get over to his place because we've both been busy but i just got confirmation that it has the i4 AND that he'll give it to me fully in my name as a gift and i won't have to pay him a cent
on the legal/paperwork side, we're gonna have to go down to the local DOL together and get a new title and try to get that new title in my name, because he forfeited the original title to his insurance company but kept the car, and apparently state laws let you retitle a vehicle after you do that, but some people online say doing that requires an inspection while others online say they didn't need to when they had it done, AND he might have lost the insurance paperwork about him giving up the title but keeping the car, so we might need to get THAT reprinted too
honestly when i was first thinking about this project i expected to be spending more time cleaning out rat nests and less time trying to understand the law around this extremely fringe case i've gotten myself into

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>>29137278
>got over to his place finally
>surface rust on roof
>think "ok thats fine"
>rear driver-side door is dented in and won't open
>think "ok i already knew that"
>this has caused the driver door to become jammed shut as well
>think "well at least the passenger-side doors still work"
>the passenger side is currently functioning as a structural support for his fence that's collapsing onto it and as such cannot be easily accessed
>AND he forgot to find the key before i came over
>think "maybe this car wasn't the best idea"
>look closer at the interior through the window
>steering wheel and rear footwells are covered in mold
>mfw
i think i'm gonna spend a few days looking on facebook marketplace and see if i can find a shitbox for under like $1.2k or something before i think about going down to the DOL to try and work out how to get this fucking mess a title, i would probably see all of these issues as just fine if it was just this and not this plus a paperwork headache