Vanlife to rock bottom | Page 2 | Squat the Planet

Vanlife to rock bottom

D

Deleted member 27969

Guest
If jiggling the battery before worked, he's right- coulda just fried commutator in starter. She's a woman and can do any damn thing a man can, so if you can get someone to loan you tools, before junking it, you may decide to look under the vehicle, the engine terminates into the transmission. A battery cable should run down to the starter. That's going to be simplest way to see "Hey, this is starter".

Last thing I worked on was a tractor, but I've never seen more than 6 bolts, and less than 3 hold a starter on. Getting a commutator turned at a machine shop is about $40 in WB. Maybe less if you bring some scrap.

Getting rid of old baggage is your business though, and if you want to junk it, junk it. Just call and make sure you have an agreement on price towed. Look up your VIN, then see if there's not a listing for curb weight. Ask the JY if they're going to try to screw you on it having fluids(anti-freeze, oil, gasoline) in it, what are they taking out of weight for the tow. Tell them you want cash, no checks. If they know you're living out of it, whether you have title or not, they'll sometimes screw you by cancelling the check. If they say state law find a place that will play ball to your satisfaction.

In Baltimore, with the ECP problem, there are so many scrap yards there, it is a Mecca for scrap.

Still, you'll be lucky to get $200 at a scrap yard right now. That's only reason I was suggesting keeping it, other than a way to get down the road.

If you don't want to end up with tickets for no tag or insurance, or if you don't have any paperwork on the van, there's that too. You take what you can get, if you have to take a check, tell them only so long as they drop you during business hours at the bank the check was issued at. Bank will probably take 3% or so. Factor that in.

Lovely world we live when you're down. That's why I don't care if someone screws a corporation anymore, the corporations raise prices whether they get screwed or not, so do what's best for you. The corporate mindset is we have 330million other people within US borders we can screw, so we don't care if we lose your business. So do what cha hafta.

-Broken down old biker wishing you and stfu.
 
D

Deleted member 24782

Guest
If jiggling the battery before worked, he's right- coulda just fried commutator in starter. She's a woman and can do any damn thing a man can, so if you can get someone to loan you tools, before junking it, you may decide to look under the vehicle, the engine terminates into the transmission. A battery cable should run down to the starter. That's going to be simplest way to see "Hey, this is starter".

Last thing I worked on was a tractor, but I've never seen more than 6 bolts, and less than 3 hold a starter on. Getting a commutator turned at a machine shop is about $40 in WB. Maybe less if you bring some scrap.

Getting rid of old baggage is your business though, and if you want to junk it, junk it. Just call and make sure you have an agreement on price towed. Look up your VIN, then see if there's not a listing for curb weight. Ask the JY if they're going to try to screw you on it having fluids(anti-freeze, oil, gasoline) in it, what are they taking out of weight for the tow. Tell them you want cash, no checks. If they know you're living out of it, whether you have title or not, they'll sometimes screw you by cancelling the check. If they say state law find a place that will play ball to your satisfaction.

In Baltimore, with the ECP problem, there are so many scrap yards there, it is a Mecca for scrap.

Still, you'll be lucky to get $200 at a scrap yard right now. That's only reason I was suggesting keeping it, other than a way to get down the road.

If you don't want to end up with tickets for no tag or insurance, or if you don't have any paperwork on the van, there's that too. You take what you can get, if you have to take a check, tell them only so long as they drop you during business hours at the bank the check was issued at. Bank will probably take 3% or so. Factor that in.

Lovely world we live when you're down. That's why I don't care if someone screws a corporation anymore, the corporations raise prices whether they get screwed or not, so do what's best for you. The corporate mindset is we have 330million other people within US borders we can screw, so we don't care if we lose your business. So do what cha hafta.

-Broken down old biker wishing you and stfu.

It's pretty uncommon to rebuild starters anymore, let alone turn the commutator haha, WTF.
 
D

Deleted member 27969

Guest
It's pretty uncommon to rebuild starters anymore, let alone turn the commutator haha, WTF.

I'm 40. I'm not from a city. There are 2 other small businesses that specialize in repairing starters. I do the commutators on my lathe for both places.

Like I said the last one I did was a tractor- it has a Turkish diesel engine in with a 6 bolt starter.

It may seem strange to you but they pay their people 7 dollars an hour, and so long as there isn't catastrophic damage internally- they bring a crate a crate for anywhere from $10-$15 a commutator and I do those once a month.

We also probably do something else you don't do. Rebuild radiators. There are enough brass radiators in equipment, saw mills, gen sets, etc that when I was in my early 20's I got a tinker who didn't speak english(I didn't speak Romany) to show me how he repaired buckets they used.

Same skillset in repairing the brass radiators used until 80 or on most passenger cars.

Where I live, the places that "rebuild" a starter will make $40-$60. I make $10- $15. I buy used HSS and grind my own bits for lathe work.

For most people here it is a service as there is no industry and paying DB Electrical $130-150 for something that can be repaired makes sense. I don't have any nationalistic reasons for denying someone in Pakistan or China the $130-$150 for a starter, it's more a case what I do is cleaner for the planet.

One day you may be old and do things strange to others as well.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 24782

Guest
I'm 40. I'm not from a city. There are 2 other small businesses that specialize in repairing starters. I do the commutators on my lathe for both places.

Like I said the last one I did was a tractor- it has a Turkish diesel engine in with a 6 bolt starter.

It may seem strange to you but they pay their people 7 dollars an hour, and so long as there isn't catastrophic damage internally- they bring a crate a crate for anywhere from $10-$15 a commutator and I do those once a month.

We also probably do something else you don't do. Rebuild radiators. There are enough brass radiators in equipment, saw mills, gen sets, etc that when I was in my early 20's I got a tinker who didn't speak english(I didn't speak Romany) to show me how he repaired buckets they used.

Same skillset in repairing the brass radiators used until 80 or on most passenger cars.

Where I live, the places that "rebuild" a starter will make $40-$60. I make $10- $15. I buy used HSS and grind my own bits for lathe work.

For most people here it is a service as there is no industry and paying DB Electrical $130-150 for something that can be repaired makes sense. I don't have any nationalistic reasons for denying someone in Pakistan or China the $130-$150 for a starter, it's more a case what I do is cleaner for the planet.

One day you may be old and do things strange to others as well.

I'm familiar with all these practices, I'm a diesel mechanic/machinist by trade. I guess I was implying that telling this lady, who owns no tools, and no ability to work on her own car, to simply drop the starter and get the commutator turned is not practical advice.
 
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Jimmy Beans

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-Broken down old biker wishing you and stfu.

Broken down old biker wishing you and shut the fuck up.

Hmmm...

Are you just not familiar with that acronym but figured what the hell, I'm gonna use it anyway? Or are you intentionally telling OP to shut the fuck up? I'm a little cornfused.
 
D

Deleted member 27969

Guest
Broken down old biker wishing you and shut the fuck up.

Hmmm...

Are you just not familiar with that acronym but figured what the hell, I'm gonna use it anyway? Or are you intentionally telling OP to shut the fuck up? I'm a little cornfused.

Probably no more than I was. Head injuries and old laptops mean I occasionally leave out words such as "well and I will stf".
 

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