Ontopic The new car-seching thread

thats mostly the varying tax credits starting to expire, not them raising the price
Tesla has expired their tax benefits back in 2018. I think the prices going up reflects the hope that if the spending bill passes, it would reinstate the $7500 credit back for Tesla.

Or to tap into the massive market because now they are sold out until October 2022 and have no reason to charge less.
 
Wouldn't a Chevy Bolt fit your ask?
Yes. That's why I bought one in the first place. Sold it because of what they were doing with the battery replacement garbage (got what I paid for it a year after buying it, so I didn't lose money on the sale). I am still looking into it, but GM pisses me off from top to bottom.
 
Nissan LEAF is pretty much the only other option right
Yup, except for the dying form factor of their DC charging (ChAdMo vs CCS) and the much lower range and that their batteries are not liquid cooled, leaving to even shorter range in hot climates like Texas.
 
Put a new reservoir on the shitty saginaw power steering pump in the GTO. Hoping that ends the fucking constant leak from it.

Of course, I went to drop the core back off at the parts store and no sooner had I pulled in had it started dribbling again, but I think that might just be the system burping the air out. I degreased the driver side of the car and put it away, so I'll see what the floor looks like in an hour or so when we take the daughter out for noodles for her birthday.
 
Tackling the Corolla again. It's been a year and kind of embarassing, but the clutch failing in the Fit gave me a good kick in the ass.

Had a good day at it. Got taller jackstands so I've got more room to work under the thing. Got the driveshafts out, next step is to hang the engine, pull the transmission mounts and drop the transmission. Everything's soaking in penetrating oil, rusty fasteners have been kicking my ass in this whole process, fingers crossed all that goes smoothly.
 
Engine hung.
Front transmission mount out.
Rear transmission mount.... well, it looks like this:


And of course, the fucking inserts in the bottom are spinning when I attempt to undo the nuts. And the nuts are inside the front subframe so I can't grind them off. And I can't easily get at the top, but that's probably gonna be my best bet.
 
Engine hung.
Front transmission mount out.
Rear transmission mount.... well, it looks like this:


And of course, the fucking inserts in the bottom are spinning when I attempt to undo the nuts. And the nuts are inside the front subframe so I can't grind them off. And I can't easily get at the top, but that's probably gonna be my best bet.
Get your fluxcore welder and zap the inserts in place so that they can't spin?
 
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Engine hung.
Front transmission mount out.
Rear transmission mount.... well, it looks like this:


And of course, the fucking inserts in the bottom are spinning when I attempt to undo the nuts. And the nuts are inside the front subframe so I can't grind them off. And I can't easily get at the top, but that's probably gonna be my best bet.
I just got done welding a new plate with nuts for the rearward front lower control arm mount onto a guy's 2nd gen Pathfinder.
 
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Get your fluxcore welder and zap the inserts in place so that they can't spin?
Seems like the best plan.

I don't have a flux core welder.

Thanks to this dumb project I've bought an engine hoist, transmission jack, better air impact gun, air ratchet and a bunch of other shit... might as well add a welder to the pile.

Gonna see if I can borrow one first.
 
My Buick luxury car did a 2-day marathon last weekend Austin to Nashville on Sunday and back again on Monday with just a short sleep/long nap in between, flawlessly. Averaged 26.4 mpg running between 80 and 90 miles an hour most of the way in luxurious comfort.
It's like driving your favorite chair.
 
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Seems like the best plan.

I don't have a flux core welder.

Thanks to this dumb project I've bought an engine hoist, transmission jack, better air impact gun, air ratchet and a bunch of other shit... might as well add a welder to the pile.

Gonna see if I can borrow one first.
Fluxcore welders are generally shit. You can probably find a Princess Auto special on kjikji for cheap as shit. A Chicago Electric one costs about $150ish new.

If you do decide to get one, get some good Lincoln or Miller wire for it and spend some time dialing the various tensions in and it will actually work pretty decently.
 
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Most MIG boxes can run fluxcore just fine, but trying to add MIG(gas) to a fluxcore is a PITA. Spend a few hundred more and go MIG. If it's a really tight spot and all you need is a dab, regular stick might be easier to get in there. Length matters :happy:
 
Co-worker loaned me his Decastar 135E MIG, with flux core wire in it. I'm sure flux core is horrible and all but this doesn't need to be pretty.
Fluxcore isn’t bad on its own, its that the people that use it don't have a damned clue how to set it up and dial it in. They also don't prep the surfaces. You won't be able to prep, but you should be able to set it up beforehand

Looking online, two switches with 1-2 and Min-Max?

I'd be tempted to flip all the settings to max amperage and just blast the bastard in place. If its as tight as it sounds you don't wanna do multiple passes at varying temps as that won't get you a good strong weld.
 
Fluxcore isn’t bad on its own, its that the people that use it don't have a damned clue how to set it up and dial it in. They also don't prep the surfaces. You won't be able to prep, but you should be able to set it up beforehand

Looking online, two switches with 1-2 and Min-Max?

I'd be tempted to flip all the settings to max amperage and just blast the bastard in place. If its as tight as it sounds you don't wanna do multiple passes at varying temps as that won't get you a good strong weld.
I'll get in with a wire wheel and remove as muich rust as I can off the thing so I can get a good tack, maybe grind a bit of paint off the mount so I can get the ground clamp onto it good, but yeah all I want is the damn stud to stay in place on the mount and a big ugly blob from the flux core machine should suffice. Odds are I'm not gonna be reusing the mount once it comes out.

Gonna borrow some scrap steel and some random nuts and shit from the fab shop to practice and set the machine up before I do it proper.
 
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Fuck yeah I can weld. Got the machine and settings and shit dialed in.

Flip up welding helmets fucking suck and I should splurge on an auto darkening one. Oh and I did this bare handed and my hands are stinging, apparently welding gloves are kinda necessary. Oops.

Gonna tool up tomorrow and attempt the engine mount.