Quick Bits

[JTSpeedDemon]

Here's a question:

Why do 2 strokes like weed whackers only go up to about 7K RPM? I don't see or hear a governor. Is it some kind of ignition rev limiter? Is 7K just the limit for the parts?
I know I sound silly saying "only 7K", but I've always wondered.

 

[Kartorbust]

https://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showthread.php/12905-average-rpm

That might help out more. Seems to be while working its about 7000, but while not cutting its higher. It's more than likely a safety feature incase say the string flies off or you have a string less cutting attachment if it flies off it wont draw blood. Probably application to application mostly.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just got back from Thanksgiving dinner!
I had such a good time catching up with cousins and such, overall a great evening.
Ate mashed potaters, lots of turkey plus a whole turkey leg, lots of family heirloom recipe bread rolls, two glass bottles of Dr Pepper, and a slice of my aunts incredible black bottom pie!
Are you drooling yet?
It was incredibly delicious!

 

[Kartorbust]

We're not having our dinner until Saturday. Snow came through Kearney and roads were still blocked. We were supposed to go down to my mother-in-law's for it today, however she had a minor heart attack the other day so she was at the hospital for a bit. Shes fine fortunately. So just waiting for my dad and brother to drive from Minnesota for it here at our apartment

 

[J.S.@SMS]

We had thanksgiving at my great uncles house. I got a better look at the truck he's going to give me. It's a 85 or 86 f150, and I'm happy, though I'm a Chevy guy myself. And the engine is a Windsor (the radiator hose was connected to the intake, not the block like clevelands) and the truck has a ford 9 inch axle. But it has a ford AOD trans (identified by the first, third, overdrive shift pattern which excludes second gear), not the C6 like I was hoping. And that sucks, since the AODs aren't nearly as reliable, and have trouble with the torque converter lock up switching between locked and slipping, as well ad hunting between 3rd and 4th gear in traffic.

Other than that, the trucks junk. It hauled shrimp, fresh from the gulf, for it's 800k mile lifetime (it's on it's third engine which is a whopping 150 hp 1978 windsor 351). So it's pretty rusty, not to mention that the brakes don't work. But the engine will fit in any ford car with a 351 or modular v8

 

[Kartorbust]

Could take the 351W and drop it into a Ford Ranger.

Unfortunately my dad and brother couldn't make it down. MNDOT missed a section of ice on I-35 south near the Iowa boarder and they hit the ice and fish tailed and hit a road sign. They are both fine, the driver door, driver rear suicide door, and driver side mirror are damaged, as well as the driver side running board. Glad he has full coverage.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

That sucks, but it could have been worse, it could have been a Chevy. But you know what they say, Fails On Rainy Days. Or in your case icy. Or maybe Full Of Repaired Dents.

And the Windsor's getting a performance rotating assembly (probably cast crank with forged rods and pistons), a cam, some head work, and a much needed 4 barrel carb, along with some other goodies. I'm thinking of finding a retired crown vic interceptor, stripping it down, and turning it into a sleeper. Though I haven't decided on the transmission. I know this AOD won't hold up to what I want, as is, there are companies that build these into street strip type, but they're a bit out of my price range. I'm thinking about the B&M street strip C6 that's good for 600hp and 550 lb/ft. And it's $600 cheaper than an AOD rated for 500hp, but at the cost of having a 1:1 direct drive instead of the AOD's .667 overdrive.

 

[anickode]

Here's a question:

Why do 2 strokes like weed whackers only go up to about 7K RPM? I don't see or hear a governor. Is it some kind of ignition rev limiter? Is 7K just the limit for the parts?
I know I sound silly saying "only 7K", but I've always wondered.

You can only suck so much volume of air through any given sized hole. When you hit that limit, your engine can't turn any faster.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

The reason for the 4 barrel or dual quads on the Windsor. The two barrel might support 200hp, which is about 350-400 shy of what I'm looking for.

 

[Kartorbust]

You could get a built C6 and look around for a used Gear Vendors Over/underdrive gearbox. When I had thought about doing a Ranger V8 swap, I was going with an NP435 3 speed with granny low and a Gear Vendors. But never had to funds for it. But I remembered the unit. https://www.gearvendors.com/f2wd3s.html

Another one that use to exist but probably can find used is from Advanced Adaptors Ranger. Difference is the AA Ranger is a manual shift vs the GV being electronic shift.
https://www.advanceadapters.com/categories/complete-units/91/

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Yeah, I was hoping the truck had a c6, those things are tough. Instead it has a 800k mile AOD. I might do a little test to see how many neutral drops the aod can handle. So I'll be ordering a C6, B&M makes one that's rated for 650hp, that runs $1400, so I might get that one. And I was thinking about an OD gearbox, depending on how much power they can handle.

And I just checked the emissions requirements in Florida and it turns out there are none, and there's no emissions check. So I'm in the clear for whatever I build, which is good since I'm thinking about picking up a 3rd gen camaro to drop the 454 out of my grandpas rv in.

 

[Kartorbust]

Just had an interesting experience. Some guy at the apartment complex I live at ordered Chinese food for delivery. So the delivery guy came to my apartment because the apartment number is the same, however the building number was different. So the real interesting part is that the delivery guy has a very limited English vocabulary. I tried to explain to him that the apartment building he wants is down the road. Well after struggle bussing with this guy, he calls up the customer (thinking he only knew English and not Chinese), I explained to the guy the situation and he asked if the phone I was talking to him was my own and I said no, it was the delivery guy's and it is on speaker. Eventually the guy was able to tell the delivery driver that it's just a bit further in Chinese. Sometimes I wish I was bilingual, but not in Chinese, I'd choose German and Norwegian (I use to know some of both, but it's been a while since I knew either).

 

[J.S.@SMS]

I know gooder nuff English, ha ha. But I'm taking a high school French course. Might take Spanish next year. And I wouldn't put it past some of those delivery guys to act like they don't speak English, as an inside joke.

In the mean time, just got done ordering some parts. Got a 72t sprocket, new tav belt, and a new rear fender for the Warrior. It should do 45, not 58 now (I wanted more off roading capability) It was quite the waiting game, since I wanted a matching fender and I couldn't find any of the camo fenders. So no more wet dirt getting thrown up my shirt . Also got a new belt for the Streaker. And I got a seatbelt, brake cable, brake cable mount tabs and tires for the drifter. And last and least, I got a muffler and yerf dog style jackshaft for the manco. Along with a head gasket for the OHH60 I've been working on, and a rebuild kit for a clone carb in my parts pile.

And you don't want to know the pricetag, so don't ask. Good news is that I have a job.

 

[Kartorbust]

So I'm having one heckuva a time trying to figure something out. So currently I have CV axles for a 1977 VW Bug that I want to use on my project. However trying to find hubs to mate them to a live axle spool is very difficult, seems like they only sell the hubs for Porsche 930 CV axles, so I'd have to have them custom machined which isnt a big deal. However I was thinking since the axles are only about 17" end to end, each side would be about 24" from the wheel hub to wheel hub. So I was thinking maybe doing 1" or 1.25" ujoints instead, however they are only rated at 1000 rpm. What I'm struggling to find out is, with a 9:1 gear ratio minus the 0.82:1 (18%) overdrive of a 94c/90D Duster and 6500rpm engine speed, I'm not sure how many RPM the spool live axle will spin. Rather not shatter Ujoints because of too much RPM. It's easier to run ujoints for the lack of fabrication needed, but I may not if it wont hold up. I could start another thread on this but, its doubtful anyone would find it to be remotely useful.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

So with an engine rpm of 6500, and a .82 od, the jackshaft speed should be around 7925 rpm. With a gear ratio of 9:1 and that jackshaft speed the axle speed should be around 880 rpm. So I think you'll be fine with the 1000 rpm ujoints.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Finally fixed a mysterious issue with my BMX bike today.
What would happen, is I would pedal, and then let it freewheel, and it would make a clicking sound and try to turn the pedals. I had previously tracked down the issue to the rear hub, and working a bunch of WD-40 in there seemed to help.
Then I got a flat tire from overinflating the rearoops, so the bike just sat.
Today I figured I needed to change the flat tube, so, you know how it is, I just had to disassmble the rear hub while I was out there!
You other garage junkies can relate, the infamous "While I'm out here syndrome" had struck again!
So I disassembled the hub, not knowing what to expect, and once I had taken it apart and couldn't find any visual problems, I just kinda figured out how it was put together.
Incredbly, I got it right and reinstalled everything, and it rides perfectly now!
All I really did was disassemble/reassemble it and drip some oil in there, and all of the problems before are gone!
I'm very happy, since I thought this bike was just beat to pieces and worn out, but I'm glad I can get some more life out of it!

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Yeah, I've had my fair share of those moments (mostly involving engines and governor systems). I've also crashed my bicycles more than the average person. Just last April I pulled a late april fools prank on myself, by breaking my collar bone. Lang story short, I crashed hard being stupid (the usual issue), and thought I maybe knocked the air out of myself. I jumped up and walked around for about 10 seconds, then had to lay back down because the adrenalin wore off. Then I got up, straightened out the handle bars and rode home. It wasn't till about 30 minutes later that I realized that my bone was broken (it didn't line up properly). So my advice is, whatever you do, don't crash. And be smart, Don't be stupid or reckless like I am. Also, having good tires with plenty of tread helps.

And on a similar topic, I was going around my figure 8 bike track earlier and almost hit a tree.

 

[Kartorbust]

I've ridden my bike and hit head first I to a mailbox. I rode a friend's mountain bike and hit the front brakes going down hill and flipped forward off the bike. Then when I was 8, my brother had adjusted the front brakes on my bike and tightened the nut and jamb nut hard. Next day I went out for a ride after helping my dad organize his toolbox, went up a grassy hill near our house a twice and on my way back up the driveway after the second ride, the front brakes fell off, jammed right into the spokes of the bike, I go flying over the handlebars and land on my chin hard. Chipped one front tooth, broke the other front tooth next to it in half, cut my upper lip, split my chin good, and broke my jaw all at once. Had my trap wired shut for 8+ weeks. I was on a dairy diet for a bit, then my aunt had the great idea of just blending my foods. Since I couldn't use a straw at all. So I was on a blended up pork n beans diet for the remaining time. Every bike accident I've had, I've worn a helmet. But that doesn't help with landing on your chin. Still have a slight overbite and crooked jaw for almost 20 years now.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

Haven't hit a mailbox yet, but I have gone over the handlebars multiple times (how I broke my collar bone). Usually my tires slide because I'm A, trying to turn too fast, B, I land wrong after a jump (especially painful if your foot slips off the pedal and you land on the center bar), or C, I run over something that looks solid, but isn't, like gravel. I also went backwards off the bike doing a wheelie once, hit the back brake, and had the seat hit me pretty good in the place that hurts the most. Haven't broken my jaw yet, but I'm sure I'm going to break something else in my lifetime. I also crashed my Warrior (my Yamaha Warrior 350, not my Baja Warrior 200) and broke my wrist. Kept on riding for the rest of the day too, again thinking I just sprained it.

 

[Kartorbust]

Funny little tidbit...back in the late 1990s when I was maybe 5 years old, a friend of my brother's came over in a car with a manual transmission. His friend's girlfriend was in the passenger seat windows down. He went inside the house to grab some stuff. For whatever reason, I decided to reach into the car and release the handbrake. The girlfriend freaked out as the car rolled down the driveway and took out our neighbor's across the street mailbox out. Broke the pole in half. As she freaked out, she didn't even bother to grab the handbrake, just the steering wheel and turned the car into the mailbox instead of aiming for their driveway.

Glad I got most of the stupid out of me when I was younger.