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Area51 - Ronnie's Misc Projects 2018:
Like everyone else in our crew Ronnie spends a fair bit of time out in the garage working on a little bit of everything from woodworking, automotive repairs, motorcycle/dirt bike maintenance & repairs to washing/cleaning his vehicles.
In January Ronnie and AJ set up their Yamaha YZ250 dirt bikes for winter riding, particularly for the Annual Winter Trip to Sooley's Cabin. This started out with studding tires on both bikes, setting up the carburetors for winter temperatures and installing headlights as winter days are short and night riding is inevitable. Full story on tire studding & winter prep can be found HERE.
A very important step in winter prep is making sure the jetting is a little more rich for the colder denser winter air.
Correct needle height is equally important for the same reason.
Lastly Ronnie upgraded the stock silencer and pipe for a new Ceramic Coated pipe and FMF Shorty silencer which will really wake up the two stroke beast.
Last year the boys installed LED lights on their dirt bikes for the cabin trip which worked well with a completely independent wiring harness & battery but needed a better mounting solution.
Ronnie fabbed up new mounts from angle iron which will bolt the light to the front fender right at the fender bolts for a much more secure set up.
Springtime clean time, and reorganizing the garage. Keeping a working/storage garage organized can be a task of finding balance in having space to store stuff while leaving space open to work on a bike or vehicle. Some new ceiling height shelves and milk crates on this old shelving unit keep products within easy reach while neatly stowed away.
Same story for your toolbox, it's nice having tools organized so they are easy to find, and easy to spot a missing piece.
Ronnie's stubby wrenches were currently stored loose so he came up with this solution to keep them together.
Another day another project, this time transforming a princess electric car into a Batmobile for the youngest Power, little Ashton!
A few coats of paint, pinstripes & decals and Ron has one very happy young fella!
In June Ron's son AJ sold his old Ford 2wd Ranger and upgraded to a 2008 Silverado 4x4 Pickup! After getting the truck inspected and repaired at a local shop it was soon back home for a full detail to make it look as good as new inside and out.
The truck spent many years going from construction site to construction site so the interior needed a good scrubbing.
The boys even managed to get the seats looking good as new!
Like many older vehicles the headlights were faded from UV rays and many years of highway driving.
Some work with the polisher & polishing compound had them looking new as well.
Mid summer driveway maintenance definitely extends the life of expensive driveway asphalt.
With the back tire of the Vmax at the end of it's life, Ronnie decided to make sure he got every cents worth out of the old tire on the last evening before having a new one installed!
Like the rest of the Power family Ashton also loves riding dirt bike. Ronnie & AJ have been riding & racing their YZ 250s for quite a few years, Amber is currently riding and racing her TTR50, while Ashton loves his little PW50, even though it gives his parents quite a workout to follow him!
In July Amber graduated from her auto clutch Yamaha TTR50 to a race ready, manual clutch equipped KTM-65 which is quite a step up from her old bike!
Amber's first test ride in the Goulds went well so they soon loaded up the bikes for a practice session at our local Motocross Track. The original plan was for her to finish the race season on her TTR50 while learning to ride the new bike in practice, but after Amber's first practice lap there was no looking back at the old bike. Amber finished 3rd out of 5 racers in her first race on the new bike and is loving the new whip!
Like AJ, Amber also spends time in the Garage with dad learning important skills in bike maintenance and repairs.
Although Ronnie is well known to keep his vehicles clean he is never afraid to use them for which they are designed and get them dirty, truck included!
In August we were noticed that the two front side axels in AJ's 2008 Silverado had split boots and leaked out most of the grease. Replacement parts were ordered, and since he wanted to install a levelling kit at some point they decided to order it to install at the same time.
This Rough Country levelling kit should raise the front of the truck about 1.5 to 2"
Saturday evening Ronnie, AJ & I started in replacing the axels and installing the levelling kit.
The job went surprisingly well considering it's a 10 year old Newfoundland truck! First removed was the hub cap and sway bar end link which would be replaced new due to age and rust. The top 3 & lower 2 bolts were removed from the strut which was then completely removed from the truck.
Next the large 36mm axel nut was removed, followed by 6 bolts attaching the inner side axel to the differential. With these bolts removed the axel was easily removed from the vehicle without having to remove any of the brake components.
All mating surfaces were cleaned and coated in Fluid Film prior to installing the new axel to make sure the new parts fit tight and true.
The levelling kit spacers bolted under the strut with two new bottom bolts supplied in the kit. To create room to install the spacer we had to loosen and pop the upper ball joint from its tapered mount. One of the new bolts ended up directly under the axel so it cant be installed from the top down, and was a little too long installing from bottom up. We opted to install a few washers under the bolt head so there was no chance of contact with the axel once torqued to spec.
Before and After, eventually the truck will see a new set of slightly larger tires, but the difference in height and appearance is already quite clear. Now the truck looks like a proper 4wd pickup!
Also in August Ronnie tackled the dirty job of replacing the front brakes on his Dodge RAM pickup. The full story and pics can be found HERE in the How To's section.
September found Ronnie at his Father's new home which is under construction in Portugal Cove. This week's project was building a backyard deck
Ronnie installed the deck boards on the short length so there would be no joins, picture framed the outer edge to hide the ends of the boards which made for a very clean & tidy finished product.
6x6 Posts were notched and bolted to the frame with carriage bolts and provide structure for a very sturdy hand rail.
September 29th: Work continued at Ronnie's father's house building steps at the front and side doors. The frame was built from pressure treated lumber and supported by proper concrete blocks.
The framework was covered in 5/4 pressure treated deck boards. Ronnie used a nice 45 degree angel on the steps for a clean tidy finished product.
Cheers, MIKE
Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith
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