Wow, that's scary. It reminds me of The Wrath of Khan.

OEM part should be here sometime this weekend. I noted oil around the top after a few spirited drives with the short one. The oil leakage may stop once enough leaks out, so my fear would really be: if oil gets out, dirt and dust could get in.

What's the name of your show? I'm dating a Turkish girl here in Italy, and I want to show her my knowledge of Turkish culture... Which just consists of you at this point...

Su Savaşları / Water Walk
First episode is on YT.

Just purchased my first MIG welder. Lincoln Electric Handy MIG. Not a very powerful unit, but it works on 120V (20 amp breaker), and it was less than 300 bucks.

Now to find a decent self-darkening helmet for a decent price.

In all seriousness, the ones that HF sells for cheap under the Chicago Electric brand are relatively decent. Not the sturdiest units, but they work well and I can mostly still see out of my good eye.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...68eb3f999f.png

The only think that sorta sucks about them is replacing the batteries - they lasted 2-ish years. Soldered in some wires to a coin cell battery holder, should last another 2 pretty easily.

I have that welder. I also have some little bottles of gas for play time. I've successfully welded mild steel, stainless, and aluminum with it (you can reverse the polarity--and be wise and get a dedicated liner for the aluminum wire). The biggest problem I've had is dialing in the heat range with the available rockers.

It did build at least 3 miata exhausts, so there's that.

Oh and I have the HF auto-darkening helmet.

and a SHIT TON of 3M flap wheels for the angle grinder.

I need to do a head gasket job on a friend's car.
I am pulling the engine and trans out.

Would you?

First 5 years of my welding was done with a HF auto-darkening mask. I upgraded to a Lincoln mask about 2 years back, but that was more because I wanted a bigger viewing area.

I have only done 1 head gasket on an engine that was in a car at the time, but it was fairly easy.

I left the intake and exhaust (turbo) manifolds attached, and used them as lifting points. I initially had to encourage the head to break free from the block (I did this by placing a long piece of wood between the bottom of the exhaust manifold and the shop floor, and then slowly lowering the jack so that the weight of the car popped the head free), and then with the help of a friend, we lifted the head up and out by hand.

If the engine has head studs, rather than the OEM-style head bolts, then this technique won't work (unless you can get the studs out beforehand), as the head needs to slide forward as it comes out in order to clear the lip on the firewall. I found this out when re-assembling the head with ARP studs. Had to remove the studs, put the head into place, and then re-install the studs as though they were bolts.

There's enough room (on an NB at least) to get the head on/off over the studs if you take the coils off.

--Ian

No need at all to pull engine and transmission for a head removal. That's lots of extra work. I would definitely recommend putting the car up on jackstands to save your back from some of the bending over. It makes it much nicer. ;)

Interesting.

This was on a 1.6 NA, and I can't recall exactly what was bumping. It might have been the CAS, as I think I still had one back when I did that swap. But then I'd have thought I'd have removed it if that were the case...

Anyway, to re-state, definitely no need to yank the engine out for a head gasket. That's the hard way.

I talked to several people at the family reunion this weekend, some of which weld for a living. They all told me the same thing. Get the HF, upgrade later on if you need/want to.

I guess I'm going to Harbor Freight tomorrow.

Thanks, guys.

I enden up pulling the engine+trans from the car.
Good thing I did. There's a ton of stuff that had been begging for attention for a while, in the form of leaks, corrosion, rust, broken wiring, gunk and assorted nastiness.

This is a friend's '93. He knew it was not the perfect car when he bought it, and this is a chance to freshen up a few things in there.

https://meaww.com/amp/disney-does-no...atives-ask-why

Disney moves workers in the Bahamas to storm shelters instead of evacuating them as hurricane Dorian makes landfall

A Disney spokesperson said they had closed down the island for guests but there was no need to evacuate its staffers as there was a hurricane shelter on the property itself.

By Pritha Paul
Updated On : 09:53 PST, Sep 2, 2019

Dozens of Disney workers are still on one of the islands of the Bahamas even as the authorities had asked people on the path of the Category 5 hurricane, Dorian, to evacuate. The workers were still in the danger zone even as the deadly hurricane made landfall, battering the area with 185 mph winds.

Marsh Harbour in the Abaco Islands, which was in the path of the hurricane, was 40 miles north of Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Despite being in harm's way, the company's island was not fully evacuated by September 1, leaving relatives of the workers still "stranded" in the region, worried.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Dorian would pass north of the Abacos as a Category 4 but it could increase in strength and shift in track.
A company spokesperson for Disney confirmed that they had closed down the island for guests but there was no need to evacuate its staffers as there was a hurricane shelter on the property itself which was built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. The relatives were also informed that the workers had been moved to the shelter, which was well-stocked with food and water.

Meg Green, whose sister was stuck on the island, took to Twitter and expressed her anguish in a now-deleted tweet. "My sister is stuck in the middle of a Cat 5 hurricane. We were told they would evacuate and they didn't. Left them behind!! Why?? Remember that time Disney Cruise left 97 employees on a tiny island in a Category 5 hurricane? I do. They took shelter around 3 pm. They shouldn't be in that situation," she wrote.

Sympathizing with her sentiments, Kim Prunty, Disney's vice president of communications and public affairs, replied to Green's tweet, trying to calm her down.

"I understand your concern, as they are our co-workers. Castaway is south of the more significant weather. [Disney Cruise Lines] is in regular contact with island leadership and all are safe. Forecast calls for tropical-storm-force winds, which is what is there now. There are extensive measures in place to keep crew safe. A shelter on the island houses all crew and is stocked with a plentiful supply of food and water," Prunty wrote, reported Miami Herald. reported.

I ignored the first PM I received from Tessie Tan but now that I've received a second one a few days later I decided share the fun with the rest of you. I'm sure I'm not alone.

What to do?

Gents, I do not have a water pump gasket.
Would it be OK to use grey silicone and no paper gasket to install the WP?

I was thinking I could to a thin layer, wait for about 30 minutes to let it skin, and then bolt it in...

How much time and grief would be lost in getting a gasket? As I recall, the water pump was the most annoying part of the whole TB/pump/seals job. Unfortunately, you won’t find out that the silicone didn’t work until you get everything back together and start it up. When I did mine, I got a bad water pump(in the Mazda Genuine Parts box) - made a sound like a $20 supercharger. Having to redo it a few days later was an unhappy experience.