It's Not Really My Vehicle...

"That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms" (thatbastardkurtis5) 03/23/2016 at 14:47 • Filed to: None

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...until the first box of parts arrives in the mail.

Today I’ve got two things showing up for the F250, both of which will remedy a serious problem with the vehicle.

First is a set of Remflex exhaust manifold gaskets. My truck has a manifold leak on the passenger side, and a thing I’ve learned about the 7.3L Powerstroke is that it doesn’t have exhaust manifold gaskets. The manifolds are known to warp, and these gaskets are 1/8 inch thick made to crush down to 1/16 and fill in the warps. Pretty neat.

Second is a set of OEM carpet floor mats. My truck has these gaudy (but OEM Ford!) ‘Built Ford Tough’ floor mats that I hate, and getting nice new carpet mats in there will make me happy.

Oh, and my dad and I did the bootlegiest bootleg repair on it in the history of boots, legs, and bootleg repairs. The front right corner of the bed was sagging because of a rotted support, so we stuffed a piece of wood between the bed and frame and ran a screw through the metal into the wood to hold it in place. It isn’t sufficient for carrying any sort of load, but at least now that corner isn’t hanging down two inches. I still need to find a bed though.

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 14:58

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Sweet F250! I’ve always liked the idea of getting a 2000-ish diesel Excursion as a daily/things hauler, but those are kinda hard to find in nice condition these days...

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge 03/23/2016 at 15:01

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They really are, plus they all have a ton of miles and tend to rust like their F-series brothers. I always wanted an Excursion diesel, but the Excursion in general has held its value really well, the diesel especially so.

Meatcoma > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:07

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WHAT???? No broken bolts on the manifolds?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:08

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RedNeckiest repair ever?

My Montego came with a spare piece of wire holding the battery to the battery tray.

HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW

Meatcoma > Meatcoma 03/23/2016 at 15:11

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btw here is the gasket I found on ONE side of that repair.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 15:12

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That’s pretty good. I’ve bought cars that had bungee cords holding the battery in place, but never wire.

I’d call this my second redneckiest repair. #1 (which would be a good subject for an Oppo post) has to be when my F150's exhaust rotted and I fixed it with a soup can and a pair of hose clamps. It was, I'm not going to lie, SUPER EFFECTIVE. Thing carried on like that for another 8 months.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:14

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That’s god damn fantastic

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Meatcoma 03/23/2016 at 15:15

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That’s basically what I expect to have happen when I actually attempt the repair. I think I’ll spend a few days leading up to it just soaking it to bejesus and back with PB blaster to at least give myself a chance.

Those new headers look awesome. Who are they made by?

Meatcoma > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:20

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Gibson. They were a pain to put in, but not nearly as bad as getting the stock exhaust manifolds off.

When I started mine I couldn’t even get a socket on even one stud.

I had to cut off the bolt heads, remove the stock manifold, soak the everlivingshit out of the studs. I was able to get most out with a stud extractor but I still had to drill out about 7. Left handed drill bits are nice too. I was lucky it was not my daily and could work on it in the evenings when I felt like it. Don’t forget a propane torch to help heat em up. A cheap propane one is better than nothing.

Meatcoma > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:25

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that’s awesome. I’ve repaired a wheel hub on a boat trailer with a beer can and a hose clamp.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 15:26

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I knew I had a picture of it.

Takuro Spirit > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 15:27

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Pfft, I had a hidden crossmember nut break off in the frame rail of my Subaru when swapping the trans. I cut a hole in the side of the rail, put a wrench on the nut to bolt the crossmember back up, and a buddy and me used a torch and a coat hanger to weld the hole closed.

GOML

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Meatcoma 03/23/2016 at 15:27

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If I can’t repair it with a can and a hose clamp, then I don’t want it, haha.

I just posted a picture in my reply to MontegoMan. Knew I had it laying around here.

BigBlock440 > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:35

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I’ve done that with several aluminum cans layered for longevity. It works as long as you don’t take any longer trips. The first highway trip over a half-hour or so, it burned through all 6 cans.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:36

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This makes me happy inside

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Takuro Spirit 03/23/2016 at 15:36

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fuck

Though I will add in this -

The wire is holding up quite well after 4 years...

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:37

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I approve!!!!

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 03/23/2016 at 15:39

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My uncle did that on my mother’s first car when she was a senior in High School. I have a picture he took as proof in the attic in the bin.

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 15:43

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Oh, I can beat that. In high school a buddy of mine got swindled out of three grand buying a rusty bondo bucket of a ‘78 CJ-7, with a 360 swap. It had a Meyers plow on it. He gave the plow away just to get rid of it, and when he went to take the plow frame off of the Jeep it was held on with ... you guessed it ... electrical wire!

He bought that pile of crap from the owner of an actual repair shop. Like the kind that charged people money to fix stuff. Just deplorable stuff they did.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/23/2016 at 16:08

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did he buy it un-seen? how do you not at least peak under the truck? Wow

good thing he didnt try and plow anything!

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 16:32

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While he did not try and plow anything, he DID take it out on the interstate with the plow attached to get home. He about shit a brick when he realized how lucky he was.

No, he didn’t buy it sight unseen. He had a teeny bit of knowledge from a year of autoshop in which he didn’t pay much attention. That combined with the general arrogance of any teenage boy, made him think he knew what he was doing. Which, of course, he did not. It’s also quite possible he was stoned when he purchased it ... actually I take that back, he was almost certainly stoned for that entire year.

It’s amazing to watch people change and grow up. He BARELY graduated high school, and now he’s a Major in the Army.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/23/2016 at 16:36

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WOW

I bet he has access to much better off road vehicles these days lol

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 16:43

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No doubt about it!

Now I’m reminiscing about working on all the Jeeps my high school friends bought. They were always trying to get me to buy one too, telling me how tough and awesome they were ... while we were working on these broken down bondo-filled piles of crap that were more “Jeep-like-substance” than they were actual Jeeps. Those guys all dumped thousands into those things, before they finally gave up and sold them for next to nothing, or in the case of that plow Jeep just plain given away. Good times :)

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/23/2016 at 16:45

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hahaha

there’s 1 thing in common between all Jeep owners. they love Jeep more than life. It’s obscene. Jeep once jeep forever.

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/23/2016 at 17:24

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Not for the Major! He hasn’t had one since. Although I think you can blame that on the new ‘99 Dakota he replaced that Jeep with. He babied that thing, and it fell right apart at about 45k miles.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/24/2016 at 09:39

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jeeez 45k?

Sounds like he’s not being from a chrysler/dodge/jeep dealer anytime soon

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/24/2016 at 10:11

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Yep, it was only 5 years old too. Between 43-48ish thousand miles he had to put all new front control arms, bushings, ball joints, spindles, calipers, caliper mounts, u-joints, and that’s just what I remember 12 years later. It also shot two spark plugs out along the way. He dropped something like $5k into it over the course of maybe 9 months. Like I said, he babied this truck, never took it off road (it was a 4x4). He even used to sand prime and paint the INSIDE of the bed whenever the paint got scratched, so it wouldn’t rust.

The final straw was when it left his wife stranded twice while he was deployed in Iraq (fortunately I was able to rescue her both times). When he was home on this two weeks R&R, they traded it in on a used Grand Am that he kept for years and drove the wheels off of.

Since then, they’ve had that Pontiac, a Jetta wagon, a Ford Freestyle, a Sienna, a couple Subarus, and now they’ve got a Silverado and a Tahoe, Not a Mopar in the lot.

He does talk about buying another CJ someday though ...

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/24/2016 at 11:39

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WOW

That’s the worst Dakota I’ve EVER heard of. What engine was it, the V6 or V8? That’s all crazy

I’m doing all new control arms/ ball joints/shocks/struts/tie rod ends on the Milan tomorrow and my total part cost was $630 before I get my 75$ rebate from Monroe

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/24/2016 at 13:30

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It was a V6/auto, and the thing was just a complete pile. The column shift linkage had lost all definition of what gear was what by 30k miles. Having to count gears on a vehicle that new was pretty pathetic. The work was all done at dealers, so that’s why the spend was so high, but can you imagine having to do everything you’re doing to the Milan right after you bought it?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/24/2016 at 13:51

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No I’d be losing my shit.

It’s justified giving I’ve driven it for 60k miles and it’s at 103k miles total now.

If I bought it new I’d be punching people at the dealership

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/24/2016 at 14:00

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Hahaha! Sounds about right to me :)

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher 03/24/2016 at 14:58

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And giving I live in Michigan I’d have Steve Lehto on the phone!

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/24/2016 at 15:02

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If it was used, he couldn’t do much for you :)

I was just listening to a few episodes of his podcast on my lunch break.