I Got An A

Took my final last night... I had to put Piston Rings on, check end play on a crankshaft, check clearance on bearings, give the firing order for our International 345 engine, show I could look up torque specs for bolts on the engine we rebuilt, and then name a series of service parts... flex hone, ridge reamer, valve spring compressors, etc.

It was a fun semester. I have really enjoyed learning a lot more about engines and mechanical items. As a car guy I "know" a lot about specs and basics and can do brakes (thanks to Hermen) and other simple items like oil changes and what not. As an engineer I know the theory behind combustion, understand the physics of torque, chemical reactions in a motor, strength of materials... but never had a chance to apply it in such a specific field, and more importantly to a field that I enjoy.

This semester we rebuilt an International Harvester Scout. It was a fun project, I posted a lot more photos of our project in a Facebook Album ('77 Scout).

We pulled the motor, tore it down, tested it, and rebuilt it. We replaced all the bearings, honed the cylinders, rebuilt the head, valve grind, the works. Throw a little orange paint on it and got her back in the car. We hit some snags, had some fun, and it was a nice weekly time for me to take my mind off work, get dirty, and use my hands and my head to solve problems. Sometimes in a world where we work with theory, and solve problems without immediate results (ie. the future of education) I need something that we can just FIX and are done. She runs, she drives, she needs some paint...but we fixed it.

Here is a pic of a finished product: no we don't have a body shop, no this isn't our truck, but it could be! It was a really cool truck to work on, and I wish once its done I got to ride in it with the top down...