RowdyRebel

Module wouldn't surprise me...just replaced it about 2 weeks after getting the new motor installed. I've got 3 trains of thought on this one... 1) Go with the Holley #502-9 direct replacement TBI. Bolt it on, splice the electrical connectors onto the truck, and roll. It's designed to fit on the intake I've got, and run with the 11-12 psi the fuel pump produces. Opens it up to a 2" bore good for 670 cfm instead of the 450 or so cfm of the stock TBI. 2) Step up to the FiTech Go EFI 4 injection system, which is a stand-alone type carburetor replacement with it's own programmer and controls (basically removing GM's computer from the equation). It would require an intake manifold that would accept a 4bbl carb, and I'd have to bump my fuel pressure up to 80 psi. The Go Street EFI would work if I swapped out the distributor for one that wasn't controlled by the computer...vaccuum and springs. Then I'd only need 56 psi of fuel pressure. 3) Go the other way with it. Replace the intake manifold with the same one I'd need for the FiTech system, but put a Rochester stage 2 Quadrajet from Jet on there instead. A pressure regulator to lower the fuel pressure to the 5-6 psi it would require and then even replace the distributor with one where the timing is managed with springs and vaccuum instead of wires and computers. I'd also need to get a TPS that would work with the carburetor (US Shift has them) in order to work with the transmission controller. First things first, though, it needs to warm up a bit...17 degrees (real feel of 1) is a bit cold for me to be standing around tinkering with it. Then, I need to pull a few plugs and see what they look like, check the timing (again), and get the module tested.

So we're sitting on the side of the road...again...broke down...again. Easing our way home on icy roads and the thing backfires. Few miles later it back fires again. Few miles later, it dies. Coast off onto the shoulder to try to get it refired. After it sits a few minutes, it fires up. Put it in 4wd to get going, and it just slides straight sideways down into the ditch. Then it stalled out again and hasn't refired. Wrecker is on its way, going to get towed home, and I have zero confidence in its reliability at this point. Needless to say, it is being benched. No more road trips in this thing until I get it figured out. 2 miles from our exit, then 15 miles home. Yeah, I'm a little pissed. Poor old Dozer was supposed to be fed & get his insulin shot a couple hours ago...he's probably wondering where we are. Oh well...wrecker's on the way. Should be home soon.

So are his kids supposed to sit on their hands and be unemployed for the next 4-8 years? What about the 10's of thousands of employees...CITIZENS...who work for Trump? Are they supposed to hope the new owner of Trump Inc won't run it into the ground rendering them unemployed as well? This is far more than simply money and investments. It is far easier for a politician to liquidate his/her stocks and put the money into a blind trust that it would be for ANY businessman. I see no problem with his kids, who have been groomed to take over his business since they were old enough to work, continuing to run the business. To demand that they should lose their own livelihood just because their dad successfully ran for POTUS is absolutely ridiculous.

Well, THAT explains all the pinging after a few hours of driving on our trip north...distributor (have I mentioned how much I HATE GM for burying them at the back of the motor?) was a tad loose and the timing slipped a little TOO far advanced. I backed 'er off (probably a little too far the other way now...was where I wanted it before I tightened it down...NOT loosening it again if I don't have to. It's probably 15 degrees BTDC and I was looking for about 20 degrees, but the only timing marks I have to go by are the ones I painted on myself with white-out based upon measurements from the TDC mark on the harmonic damper. Thinking about getting the Holley #502-9 throttle body and reaming out the intake manifold opening to the 2" bore to match...670 cfm rather than the stock 450 cfm throttle body that's on there now. Perhaps once that's on, I'll tweak the timing again. At this point, though, I'd rather sacrifice a little power rather than damage the brand new engine by detonation in the cylinders.

Obama appointed college educated idiots and political hacks to fill his cabinet, and we saw how that worked out. Policies which "looked good on paper" but failed miserably in the real world...but it's OK because he's a demcrat and his INTENTIONS were good, and to the left, that's all that matters. Trump is appointing folks with real world experience and track records of overcoming whatever obstacles are in their way to get things done. He judges success by RESULTS, not by intentions. This is why the left is so scared. Intentions are meaningless if the results don't justify the actions. Intentions are even LESS meaningful when the results run counter to your intent. For example, "healthcare for all" SOUNDS great, thus we had Obamacare forced upon us. However, the result is HIGHER costs, LESS coverage, and a financial penalty for anyone who says "It just isn't a good use of my hard earned money buying into this sham." So, while there may be an increase of "insured" folks, ACCESS to care has declined because now people don't have the money to pay the high deductibles and copays after paying the ridiculous premiums. Hell, $1000/month for my wife and I to be covered...then we'd still have to fork over $6K before the insurance would start picking up PART of the tab...with a max out-of-pocket over $13K...and the policy is worthless unless we're in state when something happens! We live 15 miles from the state line. Wife works out of state. Our horses are boarded out of state, and we ride them out of state. I work in any of 6 states other than my home state. Bottom line, the policy that $1000/month would buy wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on. Prior to Obamacare, I had a $1750 deductible, $4750 max out-of-pocket, and a $65/month premium...and was valid in ANY of the 50 states. I could justify that. The $1000/month I cannot, especially when most anything that happens will be nearly 100% out of pocket anyway due to the deductible, co-pay, outrageous out-of-pocket max, and the fact that most anything we do (including medical care we may seek) is out of state. At least by NOT paying the premiums, I have an extra $12K in my budget to help cover the rare medical cost that might come up. Looked REAL good on paper, though...I mean "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor"..."If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance"...and "The average family will save $2500/year on their premiums". All BS...even though the INTENTIONS were good, the practical application is a miserable failure. That's what you get from college educated idiots and political hacks. Dad used to be a bricklayer, and complained about architects and how they could draw anything and make it look good on paper...said it ought to be a requisite that they spend at least 6 months to a year working construction before they are allowed to ever put a pencil to paper. These days, he builds and wires industrial control panels, and he's got the same complaint about the engineers who design the boxes and panels...they can make anything look good on paper, but it isn't always possible (or isn't practical) to do in the real world. So Trump is finding "doers"...people who have been there/done that and know how to achieve the goals set out for them to accomplish. They don't just come up with plans that "look good on paper" and then force them through. They base their success upon the OUTCOME of the plan, not the intentions behind it.

Sent this pic taken at the Home Depot to my mom when I was in Texas for my wedding. She had just traded her Mustang in for a minivan...(I know, right? WHY?!?!?! My brother had recently flown in with his wife & kids and my parents didn't have a big enough vehicle for both mom & dad to go pick them up at the airport...so she missed out on 30 minutes of their visit). Anyway, I told her to be careful because this is what they do to minivans in Texas! Texas, where even a minivan thinks it is a truck...

The FBI director clearly laid out where she broke the law, then followed it up by saying he wasn't going to recommend charges. He knew full well the Obama Justice Department under Loretta Lynch would never prosecute the Democratic nominee. Even NPR says it is "likely" that Hillary broke the law: http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/02/396823014/fact-check-hillary-clinton-those-emails-and-the-law ...and here's a guy who was indicted for unlawful retention of classified documents, obstruction of justice, and making false statements...ALL of which pales in comparison to that which Hillary has done: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2010/04/drake_indict/ ...and then another analysis by the NY Post: http://nypost.com/2015/09/27/yes-hillary-clinton-broke-the-law/ It isn't JUST my opinion that she broke the law. The evidence is quite voluminous against her. All that is lacking is a justice department willing to give it a serious look.

This argument on your part is almost as pathetic as your accusations of "third-world dictatorship tactics" when Trump was putting forth the notion of prosecuting Hillary for actual crimes committed...which happens in a "law and order" society with regularity. It wasn't because of political differences (which WOULD be 3rd-worldish in nature), but because she ACTUALLY broke the law. Speaking of presidents past, though, George W kept quiet and didn't respond to the criticism, allowing the left's warped perception of events to evolve into what was widely believed to be true by the dumb masses who get their news through ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/AP/etc. I don't fault Trump the least bit for learning from his predecessor's mistakes. If you're going to attack him, especially with dishonest accusations, EXPECT to be put in your place. I see nothing wrong with that at all.

After 8 years of Obama, along with the implementation of Obamacare, the average life expectancy for a person born today is shorter than it has been in years past. This marks the first decline in life expectancy since 1993.

So the new gauges went in...then back out...and in again. Seems the speedometer wasn't getting a signal from the factory wire, so I ran a wire from the aux speedo output on the transmission controller to get a signal to the new speedometer. The tach had to be reprogrammed as it was reading twice the RPM it should have as it seemed to have been set to a 4 cylinder engine at the factory. The speedometer was also WAY off...pegging itself every time the truck started to move. Default signal it was looking for was 8,000 ppm. Set it to 40,000 ppm and it was still reading WAY fast. Set it to manually count the pulses as we drove a mile, and noticed it was about 10,000 pulses per 1/10 mile...so when it showed "error" after about 7/10 of a mile, I decided to just manually set it for 100,000 ppm. That got the speedometer accurate...until we hit 60-65 mph, at which point the needle fluttered a bit before dropping to 0. I guess 100,000 ppm @ 65 mph it just got to be where the pulses were coming too fast to differentiate. So, into the transmission controller programming we went to change that to a ratio so that it'd be sending the 8000 ppm the speedometer kept resetting itself to every time the truck was shut off (which got rather tedious resetting the ppm we needed it to look for EVERY time we fired it back up). So now the speedometer works. Only other issue we've got right now is the fuel gauge. Used to be, we'd fill up and after about 80-100 miles, it would move off of "Full" and start showing the declining fuel level, and would be very near "Empty" when we needed fuel. Wife said she had just fueled up the day before we parked it to work on it, so I figured we were good to go for at least 200 or so miles. Did some running around town, then left on our trip. 170 miles later...11 miles short of where I had intended to fuel...fuel gauge still showing 5/16 of a tank...we hit a dip in the road and the truck shut off. I was thinking ignition module, fuel pump, ANYTHING but out of fuel, because we HADN'T driven very far, and the gauge still showed plenty of fuel. One or two bounces on the trailer hitch while the wife listened for sloshing in the tank quickly left me positive it was a fuel (or lack thereof) issue. 2 hours later, help shows up with 5 gallons of gas. Cycle the key a few times to fill the lines with gas and she fired right up. Paid the guy far more than it would've cost to fill the tank, and proceeded those 11 miles to a gas station. 38 gallons later, we were full and back on the road. Even if we had topped off before leaving, we still would've been stuck though. We're used to getting 350-375 miles per tank, and when we short-fueled later after only 212 miles and did the math, we were only getting 6.5 mpg! We might have made it 250-275 miles with the gauge showing 5/16 thinking everything looks like it ought to and bam...out of gas. I've played with the transmission controller programming a little during the trip and I think I've got the mileage back up into the ballpark where it was BEFORE we lost the odometer and parked it for a few weeks...but it's still a few mpg's short of where I feel it ought to be. I need to get that fuel gauge figured out, though...running out SUCKS!

Yeah, I had some of that heated gear...loved it, too...but got to where I didn't fit what I had anymore and gave it to my little brother who had just dropped off his truck at home and was getting ready to ride his motorcycle back to base (in Montana) before deploying. I just haven't replaced it yet, even though that was probably 10-12 years ago.

Seems to me the SEVEN Hillary defectors is bigger news than the ONE Trump defector...but the only way to know that was to read. A person just skimming headlines would miss it. The article was 14 paragraphs long. 1 mentioned 7 other defectors. Another stated those 7 others were Democrats. The Republican defector was mentioned in 10 paragraphs. Your "news" is more than a little biased.

Funny how the 7 Democrat electors from states won by Hillary who have said they will not vote for her is buried in the article while the main focus is the 1 Trump elector who will vote for somebody who wasn't even on the ballot. Funny thing is, even if enough electors defect so that Trump does not reach the required 50% + 1, Hillary won't get there, either. Then, the election goes to the newly elected House of Representatives for the President, and to the Senate for the Vice President. The Republicans have a majority in both, so who do you suppose they will choose? Trump will be our next President. The sooner the left accepts that simple fact and moves on, the better off they'll be.

I love the snow...have no use for the cold unless it's snowing. It isn't the first time I've ridden in the snow...19 years now riding that ride...1st Sunday in December...in Chicago. It's only weather...keeps life interesting.

Made it back safe & sound...

Chicagoland Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade

I'd be inclined to set up a shooting range facing in their general direction...and then, rather than aiming at the targets, send rounds whizzing through the tree tops above their heads...or into the engine compartment of their cars...or anywhere else where I wouldn't hit them but they'd be scared they might get hit. If the law showed up, you just say "This is my firing range, which I set up shooting in a safe direction, where all rounds fired would stay on my property where nobody else has any legal right to be. If there are people on my property without my permission, they are trespassing and you need to arrest them." Or, it's hunting season. Call the game warden and report that you found a group of people that you suspect are illegally hunting on your property...

I'm not saying you're wrong about feeling as strongly as you do about the flag. I'm not saying those who disrespect that flag aren't idiots who don't realize that in the vast majority of countries in the world, they'd be incarcerated, tortured, or even executed for such an act of defiance against the country...that the flag they burn to many symbolizes the very freedom and liberty they are exercising in their ridiculous little protest. But, freedom is what it is, and they have the right to be ignorant just as I have the right to ignore them.

Did you swear an oath to defend the flag? Or the Constitution? Did you fight for a piece of cloth? Or for the freedom it represents to you? In the "land of the free", shouldn't people be free to decide what that piece of cloth means to them? Hell, take the Confederate battle flag for example. To some, it is a symbol of racism and bigotry. To others, a symbol of pride or signifying the desire for the sovereignty of the states to win out over over an overbearing federal government. In a free society, each side is justified in their view of the flag. Yes, seeing the flag desecrated evokes strong emotions in those who love this country, the principals upon which it was built, and the symbols associated with it. However, just as you have the right to feel as you do, the flag burner has the right to feel as they do. Unfortunately, flag burning is NOT a justifiable reason for assault. You go to jail, you forfeit your gun rights, and get to carry a criminal record and for what? Everybody who saw that @$$hole burning the flag knew they were an idiot BEFORE you clocked them. Better to just ignore them. Don't watch news coverage of it. Don't buy newspapers with it on the front page. Make it unprofitable for the media to report on such displays of ignorance and they will stop getting the attention they crave. They burn the flag because they know it gets under your skin. THAT is their ultimate goal. So don't let it. Ignore them. When they realize nobody cares about their silly little protest, they won't do it anymore.

That isn't the least bit what I said. You fail to differentiate the way a person feels about something and the actions they may take as a result. I don't have to LIKE something in order to defend YOUR right to do it...just like you don't have to like what I do, so long as you respect my right to do it. Once you decide you are NOT going to respect another person's right to do something that does not harm you or anyone else in the least little bit, then what ground do you have to stand on when somebody else doesn't like something YOU are doing? The left likes to call drug crimes "victimless", despite addiction leading to theft, burglary, murder, etc...crimes with very real victims. Joe goes to Walmart and spends $12 to buy a flag and some matches. He spends another $2 for a gallon of gas. He goes out into his back yard, pulls out his phone and opens the facebook app to start live streaming. He pours the gas on the flag and lights it as he talks about how he's fed up with some random policy the federal government has implemented. Who got hurt? Nobody. Who's property did Joe destroy? His own. What did Joe prove? That he's an idiot. However, he has the right to be an idiot. His actions aren't going to compel him to commit other crimes, as a drug addiction will. So who gets hurt? NOBODY! So what difference does it make TO YOU whether he burned a flag or a bed sheet in his back yard? As long as his actions do not and will not infringe upon the life, liberty, or property rights of another, it is beyond the scope of what the government ought to be able to criminalize.

I've stated before that I find the act repulsive. In fact, I'd LIKE to take a 2x4 and hit them upside the head with it when I see them burning the flag. However, just as I have the right to exercise MY right to free speech even when it might offend some pantywaste liberal in search of a "safe space", so does the flag burner. What right do YOU have to speak YOUR mind when you so readily seek to prohibit somebody else from doing the same? If you are pro-freedom and pro-liberty, you MUST allow those who disagree with you the same rights...AND FIGHT FOR their right to do so. Otherwise, where does the line get drawn? This infringement is OK because I agree with what they are saying...but that one isn't because I'm opposed to their message. Bull$#!+. ANY infringement IS NOT OK, so long as by exercising their right they are not causing injury to any person or damaging property belonging to anybody else. Of course if their speech creates a real public hazard (i.e. yelling "FIRE" in a crowded movie theater) or infringing upon another's property rights (i.e. smashing windows & looting), then it is no longer an exercise in free speech and has crossed a line to infringe upon the life/liberty/property rights of another. So long as the flag being burned was bought and paid for by the person burning it (not stolen property), and they are in a location where it would be perfectly legal to burn anything else (T-shirt, bed sheet, etc), and nobody gets hurt in the process and no property is destroyed, then THEY HAVE THE RIGHT to be ignorant, disrespectful, and repulsive. I disagree with everything the KKK stands for, too, but will argue until I'm blue in the face that they have the right to hold their rallies to put their ignorance on display for the world to see. Unlike YOU, I don't have to like or agree with somebody else in order to defend their right to act, do, or say the things they do. I don't expect everyone else to agree with me, either. However, once you start attempting to limit the freedoms of others, you lose all credibility in the fight to preserve your own liberties.

I support LIBERTY, and I defend the CONSTITUTION. Nothing about either should be troubling to you, unless you seek to limit liberty and trample upon the Constitution. Or perhaps you're just a typical liberal hypocrite, where only people who agree with you are permitted to exercise the same liberties you claim for yourself? Like any president we've had, I'll agree with Trump when he's on the side of liberty and the Constitution, and I'll oppose him when he's not.

What's your point? Scalia felt the same way...that if he were King, it would be illegal to burn the flag...but when Texas v Johnson came up at the Supreme Court, Scalia was one of the justices who voted in favor of free speech. It's called the Constitution. You're free to feel whatever you want to feel about what somebody else might be doing...and so is Trump. Once he swears that oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, his actions may need to differ greatly from his personal feelings on such matters.

Nobody has any more or less "say" than anybody else in their state. Each state's influence over the election is equal to their representation in the federal government thereby ensuring that the people of each state get to have their "say", too. How many "battleground" states were there this election? 10? 15? If we were a democracy and the results of the popular vote mattered, the candidates would have spent 95% of their time in NYC & LA...and ignored the rest of the country. As it was, Trump won decisively in a large number of counties across the nation. I didn't sit there counting, but it even appears he won more counties with +80% of the vote than what Hillary won by ANY margin. I am glad our founders had the insight and foresight to create the great REPUBLIC that we live in, NOT a democracy. Doing so has ensured that the voices of ALL of the people can be heard.

One word: TEDIOUS Got the warning lights and speedo/tach reset buttons installed, then wired up the dash tonight. Now, just need to solder the other half of all of the plugs into the proper circuits in the Suburban and take 'er for a test drive. That'll have to wait for another day...