As of January of the year 2011, I could sing my woe as a country song.

I’ll post some excerpts from  my newsletters here as an update

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BMN More Trouble than a Barrel of Monkeys

http://outfitnm.com/2010/12/14

Good Morning
Yesterday seemed like a fine day, I worked in the Bank of Las Vegas all day. It was tough work, but good old fashioned hard work just the same. In fact this was the second full day I spent pulling network cable, the other was Friday at Desertgate, when I singlehandedly pulled several runs of Cat 7 network cable and I’m here to tell you that stuff is big and heavy.

Anyway, I digress, although this may be a defensive mechanism on my part, on the way home from this satisfying day of work in the historic bank hovering gracefully over the desks of countless bankers, my Trooper lost power and basically died, although at the time I didn’t suspect the level of damage. Having spent the last few days in dark attics I’ve utilized a LED head lamp.  Suited up with the LED on my rear facing Superman ball cap, I  carefully opened the hood, from under which spewed steam, but in the headlights looked a lot like smoke.

I called Nell to come and bring water to cool the engine off. I was off the road a mile maybe two north of Storie Lake. I found a radiator hose with scary steam stream shooting out the side. I made a plan employing a hose clamp and some tape, and began to see how difficult it was going to be to reach the busted hose.  It was then that I spun the fan out of the way noticing that it moved too easy.
Crap! The fan belt was off!
Crap! All the belts were off!
Crap! Where the heck did the bottom pulley go?
With a sinking sensation I realized that the lower pulley falling off was the problem with the first 1986 Trooper we bought. The pulley is called a harmonic balancer.
Bottom line, right now, having not gone out to look at my beloved Isuzu Trooper, parked where Nell towed it with her little PUP,  is that problem may be unresolvable.
Crap!
This morning I am scrambling to make a new plan.
Looking on Craigslist, for anything diesel, not having much luck.
Ebay has some interesting diesel vehicles. Diesel SUVs are notoriously expensive. Nevertheless, this is what I am looking at, although the price and complexity bothers me
Jeep Liberty CRD (common rail diesel)

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Brian’s Morning Newsletter

Friday, January 21st 2011

Ace Ventura

Good Morning

I guess your wondering what ol’ Ace Ventura has to do with my newsletter this morning. Funny story I think.
It goes something like this: We slept-in this morning a little bit. It is 7:30, we made very strong coffee as usual, that’s the way we like it. It is sorta working. I’m beginning to think of topics, remembering that I had taken a series of pictures of the project in the shop, my mind began threading ideas around the images. Right, right, so where does Ace come in?

As I worked on the pictures trying to shrink them and deciding how small, I thought, nobody cares about detail in pictures of my mechanical projects. If there were some people in the photos then yeah, make them clear and detailed. This is when Ace Ventura popped into my head. It was a scene in the first movie, Ace was explaining to his dog that in order to buy dog food they needed a dolphin, and he didn’t see any dolphin… yadda yadda ya

Oookaaay.

I’m certain that explained nothing, but if you’ll bear with me a moment more I’ll give this one more shot.
In the brief moments when I am not working or caring for my family I am focused on getting me a diesel as lickity-split as I can, for my whole persona as bioman is at stake. In my mind I see my cape with the big letter “B” fading. My whistle, no matter how hard I blow, makes very little sound.

Still kind of vague?

The quick fix to my bio-fuel problem went up in smoke when the Credit Union would not back my ultra-green lifestyle and let the Diesel Jeep get away. I’m instead forced into stretching my attention probably beyond my limits and build a friggin diesel utility vehicle because this country has its head so far up its own rear, few exist, making those that do outrageously valued.

Soooo, here I am explaining that I have to fix Clara’s beloved Blazer which the insurance company spat on and said, we don’t fix no broken wheels no more, go buy yourself another stupid car.” Well in effect that’s what they said. I see mom’s sadness at losing that car, I see how very simple the repair is. The bottom line is none of these companies gives a crap about what we say or do.

Still, I’ve got to fix this car and fix it well enough so my mother can feel safe driving it. Once she is satisfied, and it may be a while before she can drive, then I’ll take over the red Blazer, you know the car the insurance company paid for. This is only a half dozen “ifs” up until the point when I am actually able to drive a vehicle which isn’t a “Pile,” as Joe Dirt called his car.

Anywho, if you are still with me, I’ll explain that the work on Clara’s white Blazer is coming along well. One of the parts I bought online, called an upper control arm was for the other side and did not fit, we had to send it back. Instead I replaced just the ball joints. Everything looks fine with the right front wheel. It’ll need an alignment of course, but I don’t foresee any problems other than the car isn’t currently registered.

Claras-Blazer, shown here minus the fender (both inner and outer are off.) Looking at the hyper-complexness of what is behind the fender makes me seriously question whether I want to perform an engine swap on a newer vehicle. I mean dammit look at all that crap. I’m sure I can figure out what everything does, and either bypass, or incorporate it into the diesel setup, but really, I’d rather spend my time doing something a little more, I don’t know, creatively artistic.

Anyway, what you may be able to make out in the above photo are three pairs of Vicegrip pliers clamped to the bottom edge of the door where the other vehicle accordioned the metal.  Now I’ve done this before, many years ago, on the Merchevy. Then I had my tractor parked outside my shop down the hill, with hydraulic lines snaking in the door. Somehow, I vaguely recall, I clamped the tin so it wouldn’t rip apart, and I set up a hydraulic cylinder on the car and pulled the sheet metal back into position.Well I don’t have the time I once had, this time I hung a massive steel bar out the walk-in door of the shop, hooking  one end of the chain hoist there, and wrapping the other end precariously around the sets of Vicegrips. Indeed when I stretched the Merchevy it was quite the sight. I used the three point hitch on the tractor to pull against, and under full power the hydraulics lifted the Mercedes off the ground and shook it like a rag doll. Whatever system I came up with back then held well. No metal tore. This quick fix wasn’t nearly as effective, but it did pull that metal out a little.

Why am I bothering trying, probably in vain, to fix the door instead of replacing it? We are back to the multitude of “Ifs” involved in this project. The big one is “if” I drive this car out of the shop, manage to get it into town for a front end alignment, and the technician doesn’t say  something like, “your frame is all boogered,” and I feel the car is sound enough for mom to drive, then I will go to a junk yard and find a door.

So do we see the dolphin?

There are the three Vicegrips though, that ought to count for somethin.

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Thursday, January 20th 2011

http://outfitnm.com/2011/01/20/bmn-new-mexico-modder-wants-more-info

Good morning
I hope you might be interested in my thoughts and a letter I sent to a kit maker for installing Isuzu NPR (delivery trucks we see em everywhere) in SUVs and PUs.
I managed to sleep in to the most reasonable hour of 6:00AM and now Nell is off to work and it is time to go over to my parents. The nurse has mom checking blood sugar every morning before she eats, and writing down what she eats, frankly it is a little more than she can handle on her own, so I really hope this letter suffices, and perhaps it will help display the Brianization perseverance we have all come to know and love.

Howdy, I saw your link (http://www.isuzudieselswapper.com/)on the 4BTswap forum, I am desperate to get back into a diesel, my 1986 Trooper TD threw a vibration Dampener a few weeks ago. I’ve been making biodiesel since 2005, first our Peugeot, went south, then a Rabbit or two, now my work vehicle, the only thing I have left to run my fuel in is my 92 Dodge dually.

In desperation I was trying t figure out what I could fairly easily install a 4BT,  which I might be able to buy off a buddy, but that was looking like more work and I don’t have that much time right now.

Your site is inspiring, thanks. I’ve done one engine swap, I know how much effort it can take. Oddly that was back in a time before I knew the value of a diesel engine: I installed a 4.3ci EFI auto tranny in a 84 240D. Funny where life takes us, now it looks like I might be looking for a vehicle, (SUV) that had a 4.3ci engine .

I was looking at the Jeep Liberty, but the cargo area is small, I am a rural (mountain) and urban wireless Internet installer, I carry two to three hundred pounds of tools and gear, and in the warmer months 30 gallons of WVO.

I am probably being naive, but this engine will mate with a tranny plus a transfer case right?

I’m helping take care of my elderly parents living next door which is putting a damper on my time in my shop, so I’m looking for a SUV which will require the least amount of mods to work with the diesel. For example I’m not now a pro mechanic, but when I was, my specialty was electronics, I later did a stint at our local university and studied electronics further, so  dealing with electro-mechanical issues is a breeze, I can weld and fabricate, but I have this time constraint.

It just so happens I have a 2000 Blazer (4.3), but my plan is to sell it to buy what I want. The size is fine, I can no doubt find one with a bad engine, if the Isuzu NPR engine will generally fit, by this I mean it was a lot of work getting the 4.3 in the Benz, I had to  change the steering to rack and pinion, I definitely do not have tome for that kind that much modding right now.

So my question is if the Blazer is a good enough fit and a 223t Isuzu was adequate before can you say which body would suffice?

Above is I must say, a really beautiful Isuzu NPR engine.

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Wednesday, January 19th 2011

http://outfitnm.com/2011/01/19/bmn-moving-on
Good Morning
Alrighty then, my Credit Union decided I wasn’t reporting all of my income on my taxes, and denied my loan request. If I could have explained, which wasn’t in the end possible, because my request was sent to the Santa Fe office, I would have shown them that in the first years of working for Desertgate as a sub-contractor I worked two days per week, now I am working three days per week. Our tax reporting was correct, we really did subsist on poverty level income.

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http://outfitnm.com/2011/01/14/bmn-right-hand-drive

Good Morning
Pretty exciting day here yesterday. We’re essentially dropping back into society by applying for a loan to buy a vehicle, or at least this is what we’re attempting to do. Paul from New Zealand suggested as a comment to yesterday’s newsletter that it may be possible to buy a imported Japanese diesel. I have considered this, but the down side for me would be the right hand drive. I’d have to relearn how to shift with my left hand. You know old dogs don’t learn new tricks well.  Nell and I were discussing the Liberty this morning. I could live without a Jeep, and a vehicle made in 2005, but after looking, I see no other alternative with my criteria: four wheel drive, diesel, a wagon size cargo area, and a roof capable of hauling my Little Giant ladder.

I would not mind terribly owning an American vehicle, but from what I have seen American vehicle manufacturers have their collective heads tucked neatly where the sun don’t shine.

Case in point
The Ford Excursion

I’m sorry I don’t plan on losing all of my hippie (down to Earth) integrity all at once. I just need a vehicle to get to work in and I don’t want to drive a asphalt barge around to do it.

…. January 3rd  http://outfitnm.com/2011/01/03/bmn-jeep-liberty-crd-maybe

Nell, bless her heart, made a lovely turkey dinner Sunday and worked on our budget over the weekend, illuminating my spirits that the 2005 or 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD (common rail diesel) should be within our grasp. I filled out a loan application at my Credit Union and talked to them in person last week and they’ll will loan us the money, with a stipulation that we pay off a NM tax lien, of $900. I don’t hate much, but the NM tax cartel really pisses me off, yet even them we’ve worked out how we’ll pay off.

Part of the emotional roller coaster ride is looking at our budget, and how much it costs to live the humblest existence.

The Jeep isn’t perfect, we’ve lived for 20 years without credit, but life offers what it offers, there aren’t a lot of choices for home-use scale biodiesel processors such as myself, especially in a four cylinder diesel engine utility vehicle.
America is so totally hung-up on super-sizing everything, it actually makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Nevertheless, while I am stressed and saddened by the events next door, my mood is somehow lightened by the prospect that my future may not have me covered in grease attempting to keep 25 year old service vehicle running, so I can earn a living with it.

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I don’t really know what will be the best way to show off my ever increasing fleet of four banger diesel powered vehicles.

I like the color of this little 1984 VW Rabbit. This one still needs work, but I’ll make her sing again.

Whether it will work in my Trooper or I have to change to a dodge body I haven’t decided yet.
This means I may be interested in selling off my two Trooper diesel vehicles, I have no idea what they are worth, only what I have into them, $800.00 on the white low mileage Trooper and $1000.00 for the one I have been using for work, both need engine work now, one has a very clean body.

Here is the latest issue I’m dealing with the Isuzu diedel turocharger

This one has a busted axle shaft

This one I just sent off to supernaturalturbo.com

Hope for the best