FlyB0y

Start with the shell, and make "stone soup". Show enough pics of how far you are along and say "gee, this Suboataru would REALLY be better with a 2.2 ..." and so on .. maybe enough people could donate what they have laying around to make it happen! I unfortunately no longer have room to store much of anything, so I sadly can only donate my ... enthusiasm :Flame:

Nice guide! I am curious what kind of urethane spray do you use? I might use that method rather than buying new mounts if my new ones wear-out

That's a great link, thanks 7.62 FMJ. I'm curious now to know how the HF blaster isn't a "dead man switch" for the media flow, I guess they must just have the knob to adjust it. Seems strange that they wouldn't just have an in-expensive squeeze handle like on the fire extinguisher that accomplishes the same thing (not releasing media & air flow with out someone actively holding the valve open, i.e. squeezing the fire extinguisher) I'm also curious how well my fire extinguisher's hose will hold up to the soda, good thing I can get hoses for free.

Kewl stuff, thanks for the link! I'll have to check with him and see when he gets another CO2 tank that he is willing to part with.

Each to their own, I have worked in plumbing for years, and I can say that the fittings I installed is stronger than the brass fitting of the pressure gauge. I'm not saying I would max the pressure, but I understand your wanting to be on the safe side. :cool:

Wow, never thought of that, good to know! I was looking at the HF version some more and I think the real difference is theirs allows you to adjust the flow of media & air separately. I wonder how expensive it would be to just buy their special valve too, might be $50, hey that would still be about 1/2 price.

True, but you know what is really got me thinking after my soda blaster project is getting a 10lb+ CO2 fire extinguisher from the same guy and using it to fill tires on the trail. I would just need to add fittings & hose and fill it up with liquid CO2. No fuss with all the things needed to make the compressor work. Now back on topic hehe.

I just bought mine locally from Discount Import Auto off of Mc Loughlin between Oregon City and Milwaukie OR.

Man I wish I still had the extra AC pump I got off a turbo brat a while back, would be yours free if I still had it. (No idea how good it was though) I am in a similar dilemma, I want to have my AC recharged, but I also would like the on-board air set-up. Probably going to do the on-board air thing if anything at all, good luck, sounds like a couple people here are able to help.

Right on! I'm with ya, there. Why make annother clone of something everyone else has already done?

Yeah, I think I will be more like you and bump my pressure to more like 15 - 20lb's instead of the 3 - 5lbs the manufacturer recommended, just to keep on the safe side and give me more leeway if they get low. Do you use yours on the pavement?

I just put a set of the EMPI axles on my brat and WHOA!! what a difference! No problem getting them through the hubs, not need to use my "customized" plastic pipe to get them all the way through! Just a light tap or just went home by hand. I have used mostly the off-brand remands with the lifetime warranties, but I will no longer now that I am spoiled with the EMPI's! Too bad they don't make them for the rear axles too, oh well, I have never had trouble with those wearing out anyway. :-p

The parts can be bought at any local hardware store, just write down the names of the pipe fittings and look in the plumbing department. I could have bought brass fittings for about $7 but I don't expect this to get used a lot, so I went with galvanized.

Hehe ya, official work boots for 90 DEG. weather . I have cleaned out all the ABC powder, so no real danger of getting it in the face anymore. The blast of water isn't too harsh, and once I was sure of no leaks, I relaxed my safety measures. I have set the regulator for 90 PSI, so I am well below the rated pressure, I just need to experiment now with the soda. If you look around in your area, there is bound to be someone who services fire extinguishers and might give you a similar deal. He has a lot of people who get the old tanks from him and make things like blow torch heads to attach to the sides of buses for Burning Man and the like too. We should have a "fire extinguisher" icon for the mods to use if no one else for use in the OT forum lol!

Not to worry, he hydro tests them the only reason these tanks are not in service is their age and the extra stringent requirements for keeping them in service as a fire extinguisher. I am also purposefully not running them even at their designed service pressure to keep an extra safety margin. Anyhow, I got a pic of the set-up and of me blasting water out of one w00t! (cleaning them out before I get the soda) And here is a pic of what parts needed to hook-up the air fittings: What you see is a 1/8" pipe nipple (same size as the gauge removed) a 1/8" to 1/4" pipe bell reducer, and a the male air fitting. Cost me just under $4.

I'm guessing the littler tank is stronger since it's smaller? Would make sense if the walls of the tanks are the same thickness. Anyhow, it's 92 DEG. outside, so I will have to take pics when it cools off a bit. :-p My project is complete with just $4 of pipe fittings, now just need to find a cheap source of baking soda. I can get it for $ 0.77 per lb. from HF, but I don't want to buy a 50lb. bag. or spend $35 but it might end up being the best deal. I'm going to try and see if I can buy some in bulk at the near-by United Grocer's warehouse. Not sure if it will be possible to reuse.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the board!

Yes, that is the stuff, you might have to get a second gallon can too fit all the parts, it's a tight squeeze to get the carb submerged, IIRC, I had to split mine (top and bottom halves) and put one in ea can. That or just soak each half over-night (just be sure to get a good blow-up view, usually included in a rebuild kit and get all the plastic parts out, if your in doubt check it in an hour of soaking and flush it clean with water and some parts might be easier to see, some plastic parts can melt in the solvent) in turn, and I think I had to rotate them to get full coverage. And if you have a gas torch tip cleaning kit (the little tin with small wire like probes) use that to make sure all the passageways are clear. zzz You can get away with just a can of spray carb cleaner & compressed air, but IMHO it's better to just do it once and not have to tear it appart again when it still isn't right. The cans usually cost about $20 a gallon, but well worth the piece of mind. Also I agree your going to have some wear in the carb, but I know of several people who were able to clean their hitachi and get it on the road. I had more trouble getting the electric choke solenoid replaced than anything else. However after you get the carb good and clean, and it still has alot of trouble running correctly, in the long run replacement is going to be cheaper than trying to rebuild. I like messing with carbs, but hey, I was a motorcycle mechanic for a few years, and have worked on my own stuff ever since. For me it's the FI systems that are more hassle.

Here's my new free extinguishers to play with! zzz And here's a pic of the max tested pressure rating. (top right of label says 525 PSI tested max pressure, the smaller one is rated 585 PSI) And I tried to get more of the label but it was just too fine, it says on both that it has a working charged pressure of 175 PSI, so my 130 PSI air compressor isn't ever going to be able to over-pressurize it. The guy I got them from suggested I try pressurizing through the pressure gauge, and I tried that with my rubber cone tipped air gun, and it worked great! I just had to prime it by opening the top and letting a little water come through. Annother note, any fire extinguisher will work, no matter if it is designed for dry chem, water or CO2 (the CO2 ones are the highest pressure and are ideal for an emergency air tank for flats, just charge it, and leave it in the spare tire area ready to be used when needed.) just make sure it's in reasonably good condition, and use your common sense and be safe. I use safety goggles and I made sure I got what was left of the dry chem after he emptied it with water. Most ABC fire extinguishers will have amonium nitrate based powder, so don't get that in your eyes. I plan on finding some kind of a connector to fit the guage hole, and I am going to check the local United Grocer's warehouse for bulk baking soda (or calicium bicarbonate as it's technicly called) and I am set! I will try and get some video if it discharging with water, but not sure how to work the video mode on my cannon SD300 yet or how to host it but I will at least get some stills of it.

SCORE!! I'm heading to the shop of a guy that refills fire extinguishers for a living and he is going to GIVE me a suitable steel tanked extinguisher (I'll see if he can let me have 2-3 so I have some to experiment on).

LOL! ya just tell the officer it's going to a good cause, I am sure he'll understand I was wrong, it's actually a little better, it's rated 6 CFM at 90 PSI. CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute, and HF should say on the website how many CFM at what PSI it will require. Just look on the compressor somewhere it will list the CFM's at what pressure it can maintain, just be sure your seeing the WORKING CFM's not just looking at the peak. It might be listed in the "fine print". Ususally what they show in big letters/numbers is just the peak so cut that down 50% and should be close, and make sure you give the compressor a break, if you have it running constantly, it might over-heat and wear out prematurely.

You should snag one! The average pressure is 175 PSI, so my compressor will be the weak link if anything, it can only put out 3CFM at 90 or something working pressure (not peak). I know a place that recharges them, I'll run the idea past him and maybe get one from him that still functions but isn't up to code anymore for dirt cheap. Oh I looked closer at your post, I will be attaching a connector to the body of the extinguisher and pressurizing it with my air compressor. If anything, the struggle might be keeping up with the flow rate needed to be effective.

Yeah, that is the one I have my eye on too .... I'm going to look into getting an old fire extinguisher (the medium size ones that have the hose like this one ) that is the type that uses baking soda, find out how much pressure it needs to run, and use a dryer /regulator to keep the pressure right and I should be set : )

As many of you know, I have been testing out using ATV tires for off-road applications on my brat. When we had the major snow storm in the Portland area this past winter, I put on my tires and went for a few trips to play! I have had some trouble though with the JY rims rusting and leaking at the bead. (next time I will just pay the extra $20 ea for the rims and buy new white spokes ) I don't drive faster than 25 mph on these tires, and I was using the back-roads but I checked on one at a gas station after someone was pointing to it and getting my attention. I discovered the tire was down to 1.5 PSI and was rolling back on it's rim a bit . Fortunately it didn't get driven more than a mile or so this way and I was able to fill it up although it continued to leak slowly. (around the bead) I took my ATV tires in for the annual bead cleaning and have them checked for leaks at Schwab. And this is what they found: This damage on the inside of the sidewall on only one side of the tire really got my attention! The belts are Kevlar, so no sharp jagged steel belts, but this patch is about 1 1/2" long by 1/2" or so high, and I have about 10 spots around the diameter. Here is the damage on the outside: (Kinda hard to see, but just below the lettering you can see where the rubber got hot on the side wall rubbing against the rim) The damage isn't impossible to repair, but if this was a road tire that I would use at any speed, I would NOT use it on the street and would replace it. I had talked to a local ATV shop in OR City, Apex Motorsports and he agreed since it's only into the first layer of the 6-ply, he wouldn't be too concerned about putting a tube inside and using it. He also told me about a Yamaha product for beading and sealing the bead of ATV tires, gonna get some from him soon! This product is in an aerosol can, sprays on in a slippery goo to help lubricate to slip the bead over the rim, but then drys to a glue, and he swears by it's ability to seal even the roughest rim! I'm going to spray some of this stuff on the damaged areas of my sidewall and then use it to bead-up the tire myself since Schwab can't due to liability concerns. But I will most likely put a tube in there too if it still has trouble. I also wanted to note since I use the narrower "front tire" side ATV tires, it's really not that hard to do yourself, nothing like the monster 12" wide ones that can be a real bear to bead up. That being said, unless your used to using tire irons to mount up a wheel, be extra careful not to scratch your rims and if your really having a hard time getting the bead over the rim, your probably trying to move too much or it at once. If you put a bad gouge in the bead surface of the rim (real easy to do on aluminum) you might prevent it sealing, and if your too hard on the tire's bead, it might cut or stretch too much also causing a leak. I like to use 3 tire irons at once and use dish soap & water to get them on. NEVER use any kind of grease/tire lube meant for ATV's to mount a street tire, you run the risk of the tire coming off the rim on the road. I use a little dish soap in water just to make it slippery enough to ease it on but it doesn't stay slippery after the water evaporates. A spray bottle works great. *** DISCLAIMER *** I don't recommend ATV tires for any use at speed, and I don't want this to turn into a "to use ATV tires or not to use ATV tires please" . This information is use at your own risk, just sharing my experiences for you to make your own decision.