been a busy couple days.
a long non truck warning, skip this paragraph if you dont like complaining. home warranties are not what they once were. when we had it at the old house it was amazing, water heater went out the first week and new water heater installed and brought up to code the next day, all free beyond the 40 dollar service charge and the 30 dollar monthly fee. stove and microwave went out, NEW stainless jenn air stove and microwave installed, $40. dishwasher, ceiling fan, even the AC, all repaired ASAP, $40. we got the new place and.. monthly fee started going up over the years. now the monthly fee is $75, and the service charge is also $75. and they dont replace anything any more. we have had them out 7 times for the dishwasher, still hand washing dishes. 4 times for the exact same problem with the washing machine, thats $300 we have spent in service charges and the same part keeps going bad. AC, they dont cover freon any more. so $250 in freon last trip. now the water heater went out, rusted. simple right? no, the plumber wants $990 beyond the water heater and install cost to "bring the install up to code". Well I have had only about 6 home inspections in the last 8 years and nothing was out of code. I ask him to break it down in parts and labor, he cant. only chunks. need a pan under it (no you dont, its in a machine room with a concrete floor sloping to a sump). $79 for the pan and $141 to install the drain line. its 3 feet to the sump hole, and what could possibly cost $79 for a $7 drain pan from any hardware store? "we have to install it". you mean PLACE IT UNDER THE HOT WATER TANK?. $275 for new flue piping and install. its 3ft. last I looked 3 ft of b vent is $12. the rest is "miscellaneous work". So I call the office and tell them work will not progress till they break down the quote in parts and labor. they tell me, and I am not making this up "IT COSTS WHAT IT COSTS for us to do it! You just have to agree to it". so I got more quotes. a plumber came out yesterday and installed a new 9 year warranty water heater with a permit for 2/3rd of their EXTRA work quote. I expect to get a further 2/3rd of that back from the home warranty cash out, so in total I will have spent about $200, not $990. the original plumber doesnt know the work has already been done. Their comment to me on Friday was "well we will have to see how long it takes to break this invoice down, might be sometime after the first of the week, and there is a holiday wednesday too." the implication was clear. I told them that a) running water was a necessity but heated water was a luxury, and I did not care how long it took to get the breakdown, 3 days, 6 days, two weeks. they were not getting the ok until they did it, and b) they were not the only plumber in the world or even the city. Thieving crooks.
so after the SATURDAY INSTALL no extra charge (my new plumber for life) I delivered the CRV and picked up my flatbed, then delivered that 41 cab to andy. remember andy? for guys who never followed my 41 build he had the datsun powered 46 panel truck.
IMG_9670 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
well he wants the 41 cab for the chassis that his panel is on right now. when I dropped off the cab he showed me the NEW chassis for the panel, and so the cab I sold him will go on the datsun powered chassis. he let me take a few snaps of his new chassis, all jag running gear including the v12.
IMG_0218 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
I am staggered by his work. turns out he is a retired import mechanic, which explains all the weirdy powertrains. I would drive em in a heartbeat though.
today I cleaned up the garage, it was a clusterfreak from the teardown. got everything organized, took the shackle mounts off the bottom of the cab (old dog learning from last time), took the e brake pedal and bracket off. both of these were super easy and safe using the forklift, no more balanced cab on a cherry picker or rolled on its back. after that I plopped the cab on the mounts.
55216780568__40B35528-26EA-43B4-8AAE-311F69171016.JPG by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
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Joe Doh, on Flickr
mounts all line right up. still 1/2 low in the back because the s10 bushings are not on yet, I have to trim the shackle bracket. but looks great. I will pull the cab back off and move the motor back tomorrow.
for guys who want to know how far you can move the V6 back, its <9"
IMG_0236 by
Joe Doh, on Flickr
I have some scrap to take away, I need to work on that this evening, cutting up the s10 cab leftovers and moving that 41 frame stub to the front to load on the flatbed. but should work all three days of the holiday. especially now that I can take a hot shower. I cant wait to hear their response when I tell them the work has been done already hahahahahaha