Make It Aluminum They Said - This is It

It dawned on me while I was working on the Grand Marquis yesterday that I hadn't posted a picture of the repair kit I was using.  Let me remedy that now.

You can see the tap in the top slot of the case. Right below that is the bore that hogs out the original hole, and there were still four of the eight threaded sleeves in the case when I snapped this pic.  All eight are now installed in the engine.  Also there's a guide (somehow I missed it in the picture) that slides into the spark plug hole in the head. It's entire reason for being is to keep the bore and the tap in proper alignment while they are doing their jobs. 

There's a step using a rubber stopper and compressed air to ensure that the valves are closed to keep the shavings in the cylinder. Once the boring and tapping were done, I spent about 5 minutes blowing compressed air into the cylinder to clear all of the aluminum shavings. At least I hope I got them all, or at least 99.99% of them.  

Anyway, all 8 cylinders now have threaded steel sleeves with full contact with all the threads on the plugs instead of the 2 or 3 threads from the original design.  If it throws a plug now, that will be the least of my troubles at that point.  

Next time it breaks it's either going to the junk yard or being sold for parts.

Until next time, be good, and if you can't be good, be sneaky.

Wayne

Make It Aluminum They Said - The Return

 I was heading out of town on my way to work. The radio (my phone playing Sirius through my ear buds) was blasting. I rolled up to a stop sign, and when I stepped on the gas to take off, I thought I'd been shot at. Then there was the familiar rhythmic popping of a cylinder that had yeeted its sparkplug out of the cylinder head. The previous repair on cylinder four is still solid. This time it was cylinder one that had decided to get spicy.  ***sigh***

Luckily the repair kit I bought came with 8 repair sleeves. As I reflect it occurs to me that there might be a reason for that.  I'm guessing that once the Ford 4.6 starts ejecting sparkplugs, it'll eventually get around to them all. If I'm gonna keep driving this thing, I guess I'm gonna have to just do the other seven cylinders just out of an overabundance of precaution. Luckily, it's not a difficult thing to do.  It just involves being outside, in Texas, in June.  It's hot.  I'll get it done eventually.

Pray for me to whatever deity or deities you follow, and if you don't follow any, good thoughts will always be welcome as well.  I'm gonna need it. 

As always, be good, and if you can't be good, be sneaky.

Wayne

**edit**

If your deity of choice happens to be Loki, kindly refrain from mentioning me to him.  Thanks.

He's a Good Boy

 So yesterday I gained knowledge I never wanted. I now know the signs of a stroke in a dog. Over the weekend my oldest pup, Koda, who I inherited from my dad, started falling a lot and quit eating. I noticed when he did walk he would drift to his right and that side of his body wasn't as strong as the left. His right ear doesn't perk up as high as the left. 

We went to the vet yesterday to get him checked out and once an ear infection was eliminated the vet said that it looks like a mild stroke. Apparently when our furry, four-legged friends have strokes it tends to hit the balance center of their brain. Koda's stroke appears to be mild and he should mostly recover. Steroids help but mostly it's just time for his brain to reroute the info around any damaged areas.

Today, I am dealing with the stress of unwinding all the tension I built up preparing to have to say goodbye to him.  He's 15, but I'm not quite ready for that just yet. Very grateful that he gets to stick around a while longer yet.

Y'all be good and if you can't be good, be sneaky.

Wayne