Fixing Ford's 2.9: The Solid Lifter Conversion

1988 Ford Ranger Stx 4x4 2.9l V6 5 speed

I picked up this 1988 Ranger Stx 4x4 to use as a winter truck back in January of 2011 after finding it tucked away behind a small dealership. It had 260,000 miles and a misfire but I picked it up cheap, drove it home, and proceeded to tear it apart.

New Toy! Carter Trail Buster Go kart

At home in the barn

After coming back from a recent adventure I decided that my life needed a little more fun. A weekend in Atlanta and a visit to Andretti Karting led to gokarts. simple, easy to work on, and silly fun, I decided a gokart might just be what I needed. I started watching craigslist and ebay, eventually finding a decent looking off-road kart that was listed as ready to go. I called the owner and he gave me the details: 8 horsepower, new tubes in the tires, just had a tune-up. a 45 minute drive later I was climbing into the seat of something I barely fit in while the 8hp briggs chugged behind me. A short romp around his yard and I was grinning ear to ear.

Sold!

Sounds of Combustion: Engine Start Edition

Something about the sound of an engine cranking, popping, chugging, and finally roaring to life give me a chill. Old engines of a bygone era often required significant skill and talent, combined with a touch of luck, to bring them to life.

Creative fabrication project videos #1

Welcome to creative fabrication projects post #1. Theres lots of great project videos out there and I'd like to share some of the more interesting creations I've found.

I've got a soft spot for tracked vehicles and I'll probably dedicate a post solely to them at some point, but for now here's one of my favorites:



Project crankenstein is a standard off-road go kart that many of us remember from our childhood, except its been fitted with 40 horsepower TT600 engine. Fast, loud, and a little scary. My kind of project!



Burning Man attendees produce some awesome creations, and this giant walking spider-car is no exception:



This fella swapped a turbocharged Renault drivetrain into...a camper?



And finally, a ridiculous bicycle made with car tires:

Videos of the weekend

Wild quadrotor control systems

Stunning.

Post #1

The first post of a new blog is always the slowest, but hopefully before long things will be up and moving here!

I'll go ahead and state my goal up front: I aim to share my interests and passions with other folks around the world. Topics you should expect to see include home repair, automotive, travel, and what I'm reading, listening to, and watching. Expect updates every few days, although sometimes I may go a while between posts.

Hang around, I'm just getting started!