Working On The M561 Gama Goat

If you need a riv-nut tool and inserts I can send mine to borrow. When you mix steel/aluminum that sort of thing is quite common.

m38inmaine said:

If you need a riv-nut tool and inserts I can send mine to borrow. When you mix steel/aluminum that sort of thing is quite common.

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Thanks! I wasn't quite sure how we were going to set them without buying something I'd probably never use again.

I've set Rivnuts without a special tool. Used an aluminum bar, toothed washer, threaded rod, greased washers and a nut. Works like a champ.

Harbor Freight has a cheap riv nut tool set that actually works OK.

mkcoen said:

My biggest issue is the spots they missed that should have been gotten and the time it took them to get it done. Also the price came in 30% higher than he quoted. I got a lot of excuses about having to pull wheels and covering non-blast areas, etc and then sick employees for the delay. A lot of CYA for not meeting expectations. Like I said, I doubt I'll get anything this large blasted again so water under the Goat at this point.

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Hey, but it looks really good. That's nice.

While the Goat was still on the trailer I decided to power wash the underside to get as much of the NC clay off of it that I could. I took some photos of it's condition before and thought I'd put my phone on the seat of my pickup. I found out after I was drenched from low crawling under the Goat to wash it that I'd put my phone in my back pocket. Everything worked fine on it other than connecting to my wifi so I shut it down and put it in a bag of rice to dry it out. This morning it won't restart so I'm guessing it's dead and the before photos are gone. Guess it's time for an upgrade.

I left mine in a bag for about a week after I forgot about it there, powered up and worked like a champ.

I can send you my Mil Spec Rivet nut tool, along with your other parts. I have a box of 5/16-18 nuts if you can use them.

Warthog said:

I can send you my Mil Spec Rivet nut tool, along with your other parts. I have a box of 5/16-18 nuts if you can use them.

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Thanks but m38inmaine has me covered at this point. Besides, you want to trust me with a tool when I can't even take care of a phone?

Rice is a WIMPY desiccant. Even if you bake it dry at 250 F for a day. I'll bring over my can of 3 Angstrom pore molecular sieves for the ultimate dry.

Silica gel requires a 225 F oven for a few hours to recharge. Molecular sieves require a 460 F oven for 6 hours to recharge. Quite a bit more powerful.

Keith_J said:

Rice is a WIMPY desiccant. Even if you bake it dry at 250 F for a day. I'll bring over my can of 3 Angstrom pore molecular sieves for the ultimate dry.

Silica gel requires a 225 F oven for a few hours to recharge. Molecular sieves require a 460 F oven for 6 hours to recharge. Quite a bit more powerful.

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Still won't turn on after 2 days so I'm going to call it "toast" for now. Of course it had to happen on Easter Weekend so no one was open to try and get it resolved yesterday. Local AT&T store doesn't open until 10 this morning so I'll try and get started on the Goat before having to stop and handle the phone. I have a funeral tomorrow and get fitted for a shock collar for my leg (nerve stimulater to help with walking) on Wed so the 11 days to get this thing in shape is slipping away pretty quick.

Keith_J said:

Rice is a WIMPY desiccant. Even if you bake it dry at 250 F for a day. I'll bring over my can of 3 Angstrom pore molecular sieves for the ultimate dry.

Silica gel requires a 225 F oven for a few hours to recharge. Molecular sieves require a 460 F oven for 6 hours to recharge. Quite a bit more powerful.

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Never heard of these, Keith_J:

- Where do you pick up this kind of item?

Another Ahab said:

Never heard of these, Keith_J:

- Where do you pick up this kind of item?

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online, a place called sorbent systems. Quite handy to have on hand.

mkcoen said:

Still won't turn on after 2 days so I'm going to call it "toast" for now. Of course it had to happen on Easter Weekend so no one was open to try and get it resolved yesterday. Local AT&T store doesn't open until 10 this morning so I'll try and get started on the Goat before having to stop and handle the phone. I have a funeral tomorrow and get fitted for a shock collar for my leg (nerve stimulater to help with walking) on Wed so the 11 days to get this thing in shape is slipping away pretty quick.

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I am sorry to hear about the death, mkcoen; and also the shock collar sounds pretty radical, but I sure hope it helps you a lot with your walking.

Another Ahab said:

I am sorry to hear about the death, mkcoen; and also the shock collar sounds pretty radical, but I sure hope it helps you a lot with your walking.

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The funeral is for a friend's mom. She was 93 so had a pretty good run. Her husband is a WWII B26 pilot. He's still going strong but will be tough on him as they just celebrated their 76th anniversary.

The nerve stim is just a test to see if it's going to do any good. I should have listened more when my mom told me to pick up my feet when walking.

Just got back from AT&T. Apparently they've gone away from the "free upgrade" with a contract extension and now it's a flat monthly fee when you get a new phone (in my case $27). They also said that backing my phone up to my computer wasn't sufficient. If I didn't back up to their Cloud then all of my contacts were gone. The day just gets better and better.

mkcoen said:

Just got back from AT&T. Apparently they've gone away from the "free upgrade" with a contract extension and now it's a flat monthly fee when you get a new phone (in my case $27). They also said that backing my phone up to my computer wasn't sufficient. If I didn't back up to their Cloud then all of my contacts were gone. The day just gets better and better.

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Sometimes it seems like it's all going to H*** in a pot. Some days are just a real drag, I hear you. But a better day is coming, you'll see. That's what I'm wishing for you.

If you phone was smart & had a sim card. Your contacts could be on it, and retrievable if your new phone uses a sim. Just swap the card and copy them into the new memory.

Keith_J was over today and we got a little body work done. First thing was to weld up a broken seam on the driver's side under the fuel tank. The large piece of angle aluminum that acts as a step is missing here and the weld adjacent to that was broken. Only real issue was having to take the front tire off so he could get full access. Then the engine cover had a nasty twist in it. He got it a lot closer than it ever was but it's still out of alignment a bit. It's close enough that I'll live with it. Last on the Goat itself was a spot where something had hit the seam on the front above the winch right where the top and bottom come together. A piece of bar stock and a huge crescent wrench and it's all pretty again. Sorry no pics as I have no phone and haven't owned a camera in years.

The other thing we did was put the M37 on a set of skates and move it toward the middle of the shop (other side is crammed full) then hung plastic around the perimeter of that bay. Looks like I won't be painting in the driveway after all.

Warthog said:

I can send you my Mil Spec Rivet nut tool, along with your other parts. I have a box of 5/16-18 nuts if you can use them.

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Mark may not remember this, but he actually loaned me his rivet nut tool set. It's still in my garage, I think.

Oh, and the Goat is looking good. Going over to an air conditioning guy's shop tomorrow to get some of my aluminum sheets cut on his sheer for the data/display plate stuff.

I ace tomorrow off, I could prep and mask. Still some rubber, tires and data plates. Plus wires and the like.
but until the weekend, I'll be busy.

Found my A tool bag, it was left on the bumper of the 1031 and luckily, it dropped off inside the gate. Spilled tools but no biggie there, I need to be more careful. Then again, working until dark last night on the civy motor pool tends to make me go stir crazy. No alcohol involved..or was that the problem?