6.5L Turbo Diesel Blazer Project

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One tool for the tool box IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE

15mm Gear wrench ratcheting box open end with flex head... clip

Thx... Took your advice! Who doesn't like more tools! These are so slick... I bought a set in SAE too - both from Harbor Freight. Says "Pro" right on them, so they have to be the good stuff!

[56pan]

"I bought a set in SAE too - both from Harbor Freight. Says "Pro" right on them, so they have to be the good stuff!" This was supposed to be a joke, right?

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"I bought a set in SAE too - both from Harbor Freight. Says "Pro" right on them, so they have to be the good stuff!" This was supposed to be a joke, right?

Of course... They are actually pretty good tools though.

[Robyn]

I have both the SAE and Metric sets......Been trying to find a reason NOT TO LIKE THEM...TRIED TO BREAK ONE.....They are good wrenches....The flex head units are the Catsazz....Getting the top two bell housing bolts off of a 6.5 yesssssssssssssssss...the 15mm will gitterdone right nicely

I have several tools from the Harbor....ALL GOOD...I will NOT buy their screw drivers....

I have two sets of impact sockets that I bought from them back when they were mail order only and it was HARBOR FREIGHT SALVAGE....

I have beat these sockets without mercy....they are still holding up after 40 years...

I only buy my impact tools from the Harbor.....Beat them until they puke and then go get another one.....

I have had the big name brand stuff....Not worth the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$....

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I have both the SAE and Metric sets......Been trying to find a reason NOT TO LIKE THEM...TRIED TO BREAK ONE.....They are good wrenches....The flex head units are the Catsazz....Getting the top two bell housing bolts off of a 6.5 yesssssssssssssssss...the 15mm will gitterdone right nicely

I have several tools from the Harbor....ALL GOOD...I will NOT buy their screw drivers....

I have two sets of impact sockets that I bought from them back when they were mail order only and it was HARBOR FREIGHT SALVAGE....

I have beat these sockets without mercy....they are still holding up after 40 years...

I only buy my impact tools from the Harbor.....Beat them until they puke and then go get another one.....

I have had the big name brand stuff....Not worth the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$....

I watched a Youtube video a couple of months ago about these HF flex head ratchet wrenches, only they tested the larger versions - a couple of them to destruction. They could take way more torque than anyone would ever attempt to put on them... For example, the 15mm went to 225 ft-lbs before it bent the shank of the wrench. Normally, a 15mm hex fastener is torqued to 37 ft-lbs.

[Robyn]

A LITTLE SIDE STORY ABOUT TORQUE ON WRENCHES......

YEARS AGO.....
I was working on a D9 Cat dozer for a fella and we had a large nut in the track frame assembly (Too many years ago to be specific) It was in the large 3" plus size

The nut was being stubborn .....WE HAD A 1" DRIVE BAR ON IT AND A CHUNK OF PIPE ABOUT 4 FEET LONG WITH A LOOP ON THE END......

Two of us reefing on that bad boy could not budge it....

Then someone we all know well got the grand idea of hooking the Truck to the loop on the bar and giving it a go.....

The truck went Ommmmmph....The bar flexed a lot and the socket went BANG....Pieces flew....
We scrounged up most of the carnage .....Hmmmm NAPA lifetime guarantee.....
Took it back to the NAPA store.....Fella stared at the broken pieces...."I do not want to know what the !@#$ you were doing when this let go"


The socket was replaced....The nut succumb to the persuasion of the HOT WRENCH....


Anything can be destroyed with a little bit too much help....

Yup..The HF wrenches are pretty good stuff....

[DieselDavy]

I've been using more and more HF stuff over the years. They've really improved the quality and most of the stuff I've purchased has more than met my expectations.

[Robyn]

Yesssss.

HF has stepped into the front row as far as most of their tools go.
Here a year or so ago my air compressor started making a strange noise.....by the time I got over to it ....it was shedding pieces...

I grabbed an upright unit from HF....I wanted a 240 Volt.....But the stores close by did not have any in stock.....Soooo...needing a compressor NOW I grabbed the 120 volt 29 gallon unit they had...

Been great....Much quieter than my old unit........

The pump is not as big (CFM) but the large tank sort of makes up for it....

The things I have stayed away from are screw drivers and band saw blades....

I recently bought a hand held band saw for the project.....Works great....

A few years back I was doing a bit of Home improvement and needed a Double miter saw and grabbed the 12" from HF.....One Bad Azz unit.....

The only thing I say about many of their power tools.....TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT AND CARE and they will gitterdone and last.

Many of the adjustment handles are plastic...and if ya get rough with them.....They could break.....

At the time I got the saw ...the portable tables for the saws were absolute garbage.....

I picked up a tubular type folding unit for the Miter saw from Lowes......It was their store brand.....Been sweet...

HF has definitely improved over the years.....Their prices have stepped up too......$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

One thing about HF...THEY ARE A ONE SHOP STOP FOR TOOLS.....
I recently replaced my ancient Airco Oxy Acet. Torch rig.....The gauges were very old and the diaphragm broke on the Oxy side.....

Grabbed a complete set from HF.... My old set was Airco....The HF stuff uses the VICTOR style tips......
I have a lot of each style that have accumulated over the years....No worries....

Are these industrial grade NO....But they work fine for the small shop.....

My old stuff was from the 1950's and just used up.....I was going to get them rebuilt.....Waaaaaay too $$$$$$$$$$$$

I did keep my old Airco cutting torch.....A beast....

I really would like to have a track turtle.....But these are just too spendy and the times I need one are seldom.....

Ahhhh yesss....Tools.....can't have too many.

Garage sales yield some great finds from time to time.
Buckets of used tools can be had dirt cheap....Always good to have extra stuff to hack up and make that special tool to get at a bolt or nut that is nearly impossible to reach.....

[trbankii]

HF has definitely been stepping up their game lately. They still have some absolute junk, but that seems to be the trend everywhere depending on what you're looking at.

Their tool storage in particular is very nice. I recently upgraded to one of their 56" roller bases. For the money, it's really nice. Is it as nice as a similar Snap-On cabinet? No. Certainly not. But considering that it is a quarter (at least) of the price of the Snap-On cabinet, I'd say that it is much better than a quarter of the quality of the Snap-On - and more than enough to suit my needs.

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...I recently upgraded to one of their 56" roller bases. For the money, it's really nice. Is it as nice as a similar Snap-On cabinet? No. Certainly not. But considering that it is a quarter (at least) of the price of the Snap-On cabinet, I'd say that it is much better than a quarter of the quality of the Snap-On - and more than enough to suit my needs.

I got one of their roller bases/tool chest for Christmas last year. It's as good as what I bought 25 years ago from Sears. Rolls nice...

[Robyn]

IMHO.....For what ever it's worth....Snap-On are good tools.....Highly over rated and waaaaay over priced.

I have a selection of Snap-On tools that I have picked up at garage sales over the years.....
All good stuff....And far less expensive after someone else used them for a few years.

The various RollAway boxes that HF offers are pretty good stuff.....Again.....ITS A TOOL BOX NOT a Concourse d' Elegance ready show car...

Granted....The big name boxes are nice....BUT the tariff on those bad boys is steep.

A few years ago i grabbed a big double wide double stack NAPA rollaway at the local store..

Kids unloading the box with a fork lift managed to put a dent in one end....The Boss was Livid..
I was just getting there when that happened....I looked at the dent....SMALL DENT
Told the boss....Make me a deal and I will take it....He sold it to me at cost and everybody was happy.....DENT is still there too....Box is jammed chuck full of tools and is doing fine....

Bought a Husky double stack at the Depot ..Has a scratch on one end.....The crew carved the cardboard box off with a hooked box knife....SCRAAAAAAPE.....Manager made me a super deal on it....Again...full of stuff....Still works perfect.

I often wonder if the mechanic with a "Show Piece" tool box, filled with the fancy big name tools is trying to make a fashion statement ????? Or ???? The big $$$$ spent on the tool box and it's contents likely not going to gitterdone any better than the Box and tools that cost half the $$$$$

Yesssssssssss...Some tools are a bit better....Top name screw drivers are usually better.....

After they get used for a pry bar and clubbed with a hammer a few time....all bets are off on any brand.....

Last summer I was tearing apart one of the tracks on the Snow cat...I needed an 11/16" 6 point box end wrench that would fit in the grouser so I could get the bolts out....

GEARWRENCH (Brand) had what was needed.....Great stuff....Good tool....I bought several of the 11/16" 6 point wrenches figuring they would get destroyed.....After one entire track was apart.....Wrench in great shape.......

The bolts are 7/16" grade 8 fine thread with the crimped head style locking nuts.....And RUSTED.....Stick the wrench down in the grouser, clamp with a vice tong and then hit the bolt with the 3/4" drive impact and beat on these bad boys.

Gearwrench....good stuff.

[JohnC]

There's Snap-on and Harbor Freight. Pretty much everything else is Danaher.

30-40 years ago I bought a lot of Kobalt tools from Lowes. Rumor was they were made by Snap-on. Who knows. Today, Lowes sells Kobalt and Craftsman.

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Years ago I bought a great engine hoist from Costco. Still works perfectly, and have R&R'ed quite a few engines with it in the 23 years since I bought it (quite a few for me anyway.. ), and I've loaned it out a couple of times. I also bought an HD floor jack from Costco around the same time... It's awful. Way too heavy, hard to work the open/close valve and it leaks down over 10-15 minutes, so I have to re-jack unless I'm fast - like when changing/rotating tires. Thinking about one of HF's HD floor jacks with better, easier to use features...

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Daughter and I went camping/kayaking this past weekend. This time to a high mountain lake about 30 miles from a small town called Wisdom, MT. This photo was snapped just after arriving at the campground. Nice campground! There were 17 developed spaces which shared 3 separate nicely kept restroom facilities. Cost was $7/day. The 12 mile gravel road going in is very rough though. Not a good place to go with a large RV or RV trailer. I hadn't been there in over a decade, and was surprised at the how the campground had grown. The CG was filled by Friday evening.



We got there about mid afternoon, so decided to just set up camp and not fish. Without a fish to fry we harvested what's called a Ball Park tube steak. Went well with the fried potatoes!



Sarah snapped the following sunset photo that first evening.



The mountains in the background comprise a portion of the Continental Divide, with Idaho just over those mountains.





We did manage to catch a few fish. Here, I netted a Lake Trout that Sarah coaxed into biting her Mepps spinner. We caught a couple more Cutthroat Trout in the 14-16" range not long after this fish was netted. Needed a boat to catch fish... They were near the center of the lake in deeper water. Note to self... When getting a bite, don't set the hook too aggressively - while sitting in a kayak... It was close..



The 6.5 now has about 1100 miles on it since the rebuild. It runs great, starts great, and powers up the hills without a problem. This is what the oil looks like after 1100 miles. None has been added since the initial fill.

We had a great time. Met some nice people and swatted a few mosquitoes.
Jim

[Robyn]

Looks great.....And a fun trip too

[DieselDavy]

That sounds like one of those well kept secret places we all look for!
Glad you had such a good time Jim!
d

[Yukon6.2]

I do have patience...
Thank You for the link.

[arveetek]

The 6.5 now has about 1100 miles on it since the rebuild. It runs great, starts great, and powers up the hills without a problem. This is what the oil looks like after 1100 miles. None has been added since the initial fill.

You got your engine back on the road before I did, but I've got you beat in miles and oil changes! I just changed the oil this past Saturday for the 3rd time, and have around 7000 miles on my new engine. I changed the oil at 700 miles, and then around 3500 and again at near 7000.

Of course, my rig is a daily driver, with a 45 mile round trip to work each day....

Casey

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You got your engine back on the road before I did, but I've got you beat in miles and oil changes! I just changed the oil this past Saturday for the 3rd time, and have around 7000 miles on my new engine. I changed the oil at 700 miles, and then around 3500 and again at near 7000.

Of course, my rig is a daily driver, with a 45 mile round trip to work each day....

Casey

Yes, you got us beat in miles but what about camping trips?

Not sure at this point though, what Sarah's plan is for the Blazer this winter. I suspect we'll change the oil soon. It would be nice to get some new tires with a better winter grip. The ones on it now have more miles left on them, but they aren't the best for icy/slick roads - a little too highway oriented...

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The A/C compressor had been flopped over onto the inner fender for most of the 11+ years it sat in our garage. This kinked the large A/C hose and even caused some cracking in the rubber outer layer at the kink. I never imagined it would hold refrigerant once we tried to get the A/C working again.

Lo and behold... The system just needed a low side port cleaning (someone had squirted silicone caulking into the fitting ) and then add a can of R-134a refrigerant. It's worked just fine all summer, without an apparent loss in refrigerant. You need to be either "good" or "lucky" to get by in life. Some say it's better to be lucky...