What did you do today

[twisted lines]

Turned the heater up a bit (Teen's) this morning

[dbhosttexas]

Washed, dried, and applied NuFinish to the drivers side hood on my truck. I am trying to get rid of dull black stains on the paint...

It's in a bad way, but getting better. Basically all the horizontal surfaces collected black sooty dust, pollen etc... and then rain, folllowed by drying / sun baking. So this is going to take time. A combination of Dawn dishwashing detergent, elbow grease, Turtle Wax car wash, followed by NuFinish, and another treatment if it isn't gone after the first go around. So far I have an 18"x18" section of hood that shines like new paint, the rest of the half of the hood is about 75% and I don't want to spend all day on it...

[dbhosttexas]

A not camping / camper project I am working on is a motorized camera slider. The commercial ones are either too small, or stupid expensive. Aside from the motorized part, I have less than $30.00 in the build so far, including the flat black paint, and bearings / rollers.

I need longer screws, and a stack of washers to make the rollers fit, and to build an adjustable tension roller mount / camera mount plate.

I am combining designs from serveral youtube builds, HOWEVER the basic build is a 10' joint of 3/4" EMT cut in half, couplers, boxes, rollers to keep it smooth. The rollers are there to insure no jerky motion of the camera s it moves along the track.

The camera mount plate will be hinged, with a locking adjustment to allow the slider to be used at an incline, but I am using a different method by using a pivoting camera adapter rig from my bits and pieces from my action cam.

Pics and sample video are pending...

[MickinOz]

I changed the oil and filter in the ute.
If I could change one thing on the best little truck I've ever owned, it would the oil filter location.
It's in behind the turbo, and I struggle to reach it from the top and the bottom.
If I put it on a hoist or over my inspection pit I struggle to reach the thing,
If I go at it from the top I have to stand on something and it's a struggle to get it out after I've screwed it off.
And putting it back on! I used to pre-prime my filters. Not this one. I'd just end up pouring the priming oil on the ground.
Good thing this little truck pumps up pressure almost instantly.
Might look at remote locating the filter.

[dbhosttexas]

I changed the oil and filter in the ute.
If I could change one thing on the best little truck I've ever owned, it would the oil filter location.
It's in behind the turbo, and I struggle to reach it from the top and the bottom.
If I put it on a hoist or over my inspection pit I struggle to reach the thing,
If I go at it from the top I have to stand on something and it's a struggle to get it out after I've screwed it off.
And putting it back on! I used to pre-prime my filters. Not this one. I'd just end up pouring the priming oil on the ground.
Good thing this little truck pumps up pressure almost instantly.
Might look at remote locating the filter.

Could I trouble you for some Aussie to Texan English translation? What is a ute? You mention truck, but from what i have heard a ute is a different thing. Isn't it short for coupe utility?

There have been some, but they were never a huge thing here in the states. The Chevrolet El Camino is probably the one most people remember.



Although Ford sold a version called the Ranchero.



And of course tiny front wheel drive versions based off of economy cars were tried like the VW Rabbit Pickup, which I believe in other markets is called the Volkswagen Caddy, although here in the US Caddy is short for Caddilac.



So uh... did I get it right?

[MickinOz]

Ah.........where do I start?

The conventional wisdom over here is that Ford Australia invented the ute around 1932-34 in response to a 1932 letter from a farmer's wife who wanted "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays".

As you say, a coupe utility. I.e. a hybrid cargo tub and passenger compartment body based off a passenger car.
There is one of the first ones on display at the Birdwood motor museum in South Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup%C3%A ... tility.jpg

A gorgeous (hot-rodded, but still) classic if ever I saw one.

Things took off from there and there have been utes for every generation of Ford and Holden cars all the way to the late 2010's when production ceased.
Though by the 2000's the ute tub was separate from the body, as seen in this 2010 Ford Ba ute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Falcon_(BA)#/media/File:2004_Ford_Falcon_(BA)_XR6_Turbo_utility_(2010-07-08)_02.jpg
Still essentially a passenger car with a cargo tub, but not one piece anymore.

The Japanese came along and offered competition, though their offerings were not usually directly derived from their passenger cars.
These were still called utes. I own a 1989/90 Mitsubishi Triton ute. It was sold in the states as Mitsubishi Mighty Max and a Dodge Ram 50.

Then the trend to ever bigger and bigger 2 and 4 door 4x4 utes took off.
These are still "utes".

But, we sometimes call 'em trucks or even Tonka Trucks. You might say, over a few sherbets at a barbie, "Yeah mate, I'm pretty happy with me little Tonka Truck," and the average Aussie bloke will know what you are probably driving - a Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Mazda Bravo, Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger or Holden Colorado. (Not to be confused with a Chev Colorado.) VW and Mercedes are staring to make in-roads into the market now.
By the way, no one of a certain vintage says "Chevvy" over here - its Chev or Chevrolet.

I believe a South African, of whom we have a few, would call all these vehicles "bakkies". They of course are in love with VW Amoroks, which just goes to show them Saffers never did have any sense.

Rams, Silverados and F-Trucks have been here for a long time. Ford used to assemble F-trucks here in right hand drive, at which time F-trucks with tubs were "utes" and F-trucks with flat bed trays were "trucks".

Of course, all the "Yank Tanks" are imported by smaller firms and converted here these days. This leaves these vehicles only available to people with more money than commonsense. About the cheapest 2021 Silverado you can buy is $120,00. The cheapest 2021 F-150 advertised on carsales.com.au is $149,000

So, we don't have a lot of American "trucks" running around. They exist, of course, but bloody expensive. If that American truck has a tub on the back, rather than a flat bed tray, it's a ute.

But, we do some times refer to our body-and-tub-on-chassis 4wd utes as "trucks"

Of course, if an Aussie at the aforementioned barbie was to say "I drive trucks", this is what would spring to mind:
https://westernstar.com.au/western-star-6900-fxc/

Hope all this clears it up for ya.

[MickinOz]

P.S., I'm not sure when exactly the American toy brand Tonka started selling its toy trucks in Oz, but I played with them when I was a kid in the '60's, my kids played with them (theirs are still out in my garden shed), and they are still available at the toy shops now. Hence every Aussie boy knows you drive some sort of tough truck if you say "I love my little Tonka Truck."

[twisted lines]

Utes
My current daily;
10 years ago while finishing, Now its got new tread and powder coated wheels, no Hitch

old.JPG (111.17 KiB) Viewed 600 times

And my new Utes tail looks like this, but a thumping 454

I think that's why I don't finish one, I don't want to pull anything with what I own

[dbhosttexas]

Ah.........where do I start?

The conventional wisdom over here is that Ford Australia invented the ute around 1932-34 in response to a 1932 letter from a farmer's wife who wanted "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays".

As you say, a coupe utility. I.e. a hybrid cargo tub and passenger compartment body based off a passenger car.
There is one of the first ones on display at the Birdwood motor museum in South Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup%C3%A ... tility.jpg

A gorgeous (hot-rodded, but still) classic if ever I saw one.

Things took off from there and there have been utes for every generation of Ford and Holden cars all the way to the late 2010's when production ceased.
Though by the 2000's the ute tub was separate from the body, as seen in this 2010 Ford Ba ute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Falcon_(BA)#/media/File:2004_Ford_Falcon_(BA)_XR6_Turbo_utility_(2010-07-08)_02.jpg
Still essentially a passenger car with a cargo tub, but not one piece anymore.

The Japanese came along and offered competition, though their offerings were not usually directly derived from their passenger cars.
These were still called utes. I own a 1989/90 Mitsubishi Triton ute. It was sold in the states as Mitsubishi Mighty Max and a Dodge Ram 50.

Then the trend to ever bigger and bigger 2 and 4 door 4x4 utes took off.
These are still "utes".

But, we sometimes call 'em trucks or even Tonka Trucks. You might say, over a few sherbets at a barbie, "Yeah mate, I'm pretty happy with me little Tonka Truck," and the average Aussie bloke will know what you are probably driving - a Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Mazda Bravo, Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger or Holden Colorado. (Not to be confused with a Chev Colorado.) VW and Mercedes are staring to make in-roads into the market now.
By the way, no one of a certain vintage says "Chevvy" over here - its Chev or Chevrolet.

I believe a South African, of whom we have a few, would call all these vehicles "bakkies". They of course are in love with VW Amoroks, which just goes to show them Saffers never did have any sense.

Rams, Silverados and F-Trucks have been here for a long time. Ford used to assemble F-trucks here in right hand drive, at which time F-trucks with tubs were "utes" and F-trucks with flat bed trays were "trucks".

Of course, all the "Yank Tanks" are imported by smaller firms and converted here these days. This leaves these vehicles only available to people with more money than commonsense. About the cheapest 2021 Silverado you can buy is $120,00. The cheapest 2021 F-150 advertised on carsales.com.au is $149,000

So, we don't have a lot of American "trucks" running around. They exist, of course, but bloody expensive. If that American truck has a tub on the back, rather than a flat bed tray, it's a ute.

But, we do some times refer to our body-and-tub-on-chassis 4wd utes as "trucks"

Of course, if an Aussie at the aforementioned barbie was to say "I drive trucks", this is what would spring to mind:
https://westernstar.com.au/western-star-6900-fxc/

Hope all this clears it up for ya.

It seems every sort of light duty truck with a cargo bed, whether based on a passenger car, or designed as a truck from the get go is called a ute down there?

Yes, I heard the story about the Ford church lady pig farmer. I think everyone that ever tries to explain the Ford Ranchero / CHevy El Camino talks about that...

Here generally speaking coupe utilities are considered to be, well... cars with a truck bed, and distinctly different from trucks, even tiny ones.

So for example the Dodge Ram 50, Mitsubishi Mighty Max, those were sold here as well and are just considered pickup trucks.

Generally speaking but not 100%, if the cab, and bed are separate they are pickup trucks, but if the bed and cab are all part of a continuous body then they are coupe utilities.

Of course Ford being Ford, confuses this. Once in the 1960s with the F100 Unibody, and starting this year, the Maverick, not to be confused with the 1970s Maverick which was a basic rugged car.

Sorry about the questions. I am kind of a linguistics / automobile / camping fan, and when you combine all three I tend to geek out...

[MickinOz]

I'm a bit of a language nerd myself.
Since we've been conversing I've been looking into this a bit.
Seems it goes like this.
Some people here use the American terminology. For them a Ford F-truck is a truck, and that is it, though they may use the term pickup truck if it has a tub rather than a flatbed.

No-one over here uses the expression coupe utility.
Maybe this was American terminology coined to explain the El Camino and the Ranchero? Or perhaps used to explain the very first Ford utes. In any case, never heard it used in everyday conversation in my 60+ years.

Some use the word utility, most don't even do that.

For a large portion of the population, your take on it works. If it's got a tub (cargo bed?), it's a ute:

Ute.JPG (23.78 KiB) Viewed 563 times

If it's got a flatbed tray, it's a truck:

truck.JPG (24.17 KiB) Viewed 563 times

Even a F650 with a tub will likely be called a ute, or in this case a utility:

F650 Ute.JPG (71.24 KiB) Viewed 563 times

[MickinOz]

Then, of course, there are Tonka Trucks.
These toys have been played with by generations of Aussie kids.

Tonka Truck 1.JPG (41.99 KiB) Viewed 563 times

So if you have a 2004 Ford Courier XLT 4WD ute like I have, with its tiny 2.5L 120 HP diesel engine, and factory fitted 10 x 30 wheels and tyres, you may say you've got a Tonka Truck.
A toy (small) truck. Geddit?

Courier.JPG (19.73 KiB) Viewed 563 times

[DrewsBrews]

pic came out looking like some napalm tanks in a zombie flick.. The stenciled numbers, flaking paint and perfect amount of rust really sells it!

Picked up three old 100lb propane tanks for a reasonable price... he just charged what it would cost him to have em tested (probably would have had to be re-valved too)

I guess making that little 20lb tank chiminea just stoked my fire! ! Gonna make these into stand up chimineas with two openings (one above the other).. top is the fire box and bottom for keeping rain off of some ready-to-use wood. Keep one and divvy out to friends/family I suppose.

[edit] just sent the pic to a friend and he already claimed one lol. Might make a day of it.. both of us with angel grinders making sparks fly

[MickinOz]

I hope them there 100 pounders have been open to atmosphere for a long time.
My father in law went to the great workshop in the sky when one of those exploded.
Wasn't quite the same situation - some sort of flashback on a gas welding set, but I was stunned how much grunt there is in a 100 pounder.

[DrewsBrews]

I hope them there 100 pounders have been open to atmosphere for a long time.
My father in law went to the great workshop in the sky when one of those exploded.
Wasn't quite the same situation - some sort of flashback on a gas welding set, but I was stunned how much grunt there is in a 100 pounder.

I took the valves off yesterday and set them on their sides, then at an angle. After a few hours.. Ive got a spot where I can flip one upside down with the opening still clear. Once done, Ill screw the valves back on hand tight to keep rain out until Im ready to proceed. Then fill them with hose water just before I do my first cuts.


I wonder how the situation occurred with your father in law.. I didnt think propane had capability to self oxidize (typical hydrocarbon with no oxygen in the molecule). Perhaps the tank was previously filled with oxidizer, then filled with propane? Or maybe a different gas he was using. In the US I think they have completely different threads/fittings on different gas types to prevent accidentally mixing fuel/oxidizer, but I really don't know for sure.


Ive actually seen the aftermath of a propane tank caught in a structure fire. The pressure relief valve opened and would have been quite a show for a while until it was empty. But no explosion. As long as no oxidizer made it into the tank, It is rather difficult to get them to explode without blocking off all venting methods. When the tank is pretty much empty (no pressure) and the valve removed, I doubt combustion pressure could build up enough to rupture. I suppose the situation could change if the integrity of the tank is compromised by cutting into it. So I take the above precautions to keep from testing my theories.

[dbhosttexas]

I hope them there 100 pounders have been open to atmosphere for a long time.
My father in law went to the great workshop in the sky when one of those exploded.
Wasn't quite the same situation - some sort of flashback on a gas welding set, but I was stunned how much grunt there is in a 100 pounder.

I took the valves off yesterday and set them on their sides, then at an angle. After a few hours.. Ive got a spot where I can flip one upside down with the opening still clear. Once done, Ill screw the valves back on hand tight to keep rain out until Im ready to proceed. Then fill them with hose water just before I do my first cuts.


I wonder how the situation occurred with your father in law.. I didnt think propane had capability to self oxidize (typical hydrocarbon with no oxygen in the molecule). Perhaps the tank was previously filled with oxidizer, then filled with propane? Or maybe a different gas he was using. In the US I think they have completely different threads/fittings on different gas types to prevent accidentally mixing fuel/oxidizer, but I really don't know for sure.


Ive actually seen the aftermath of a propane tank caught in a structure fire. The pressure relief valve opened and would have been quite a show for a while until it was empty. But no explosion. As long as no oxidizer made it into the tank, It is rather difficult to get them to explode without blocking off all venting methods. When the tank is pretty much empty (no pressure) and the valve removed, I doubt combustion pressure could build up enough to rupture. I suppose the situation could change if the integrity of the tank is compromised by cutting into it. So I take the above precautions to keep from testing my theories.

My late BIL used to take expired and no longer certifiable BBQ tanks and convert them into charcoal grills. Oh and FWIW, the late was due to cancer, not propane explosion...

The method I have seen used is remove the valve, fill the vessel with water, and let rest. THEN proceed to do the cutting operation. Once opened up, washed out, aired out remaining shaping and welding operations can continue safely.