Toolboxes anew and the progress so far.

First off, the shopping list for the duck is about halfway done, with fluids and a couple more filters still needing to be purchased.  Now I just need a warm day or a warm garage to get all this going.  I still have time, I just want this done and out of the way.

Speaking of getting things out of the way, I have spent almost a year trying to get a new toolbox.  The biggest problems with getting one have been about the time I have the money together, something else needs attention or the one I ultimately purchased was not in stock.

If you have ever seriously looked for a decent box, you will find that many of the higher end boxes have higher end prices.  Snap on boxes, for example, run into the thousands of dollars.  Mac is kind of expensive as well, and while Kobalt is nice, stainless steel is just not something I want to mess with trying to keep it bright and shiny.

I had specific things I was looking for, such as 100 pound drawer capacity, 41 inches wide, not some god awful color (like hot neon pink) and not so expensive as to rival the combined national debt of the European Union.  I ultimately decided on a Kodiak Pro Elite 41 inch tool chest which I bought through Home Depot.

First, their website says it will take up to two weeks plus processing time to get it shipped to my local Home Depot.  So, you can imagine my surprise when it was at the store in under a week.  The box was well packaged, wrapped in plastic over cardboard and had a pallet thing under it for ease of loading with a forklift.  The friendly folks at home depot were kind enough to send a couple of guys to help me get it into the duck.  I strapped it down and was on my way.

In between excitement of finally getting the box I have wanted for awhile, parking my truck on a public street, worrying about the local riff raff trying to steal it and it being about zero degrees with snow on the way, not much sleep was to be had for me.  I think I must have checked on the box a couple dozen times before I went to sleep.

Morning comes and the box is still there, so off to work I go.  After working my shift I unloaded the new toolbox, with the help of my boss (something that would NEVER happen at my last job) and got to work setting it up.  There was a hole in the cardboard, and I thought for a moment that it would totally suck if I had to take this heavy thing back, but after unbolting the pallet and removing the coverings, no damage was found.

I am not going to bore you with the details of loading the box with my tools, but I will say the smart individual reads the instructions for assembly, is grateful the casters are preinstalled, and loads the box from the bottom drawers up, with the heaviest items in the bottom so the box is not likely to tip over.

I also learned that when you place items in a box that is the same size as the old one, and you go to place the tools in the new box in a neat manner, you find that the top box is looking like a good option, one I will be taking in the near future.

Some customization ideas...since I have to do some repairs as it is...

So I was thinking that after I get the maintenance all squared away that I could start making some changes to the duck, and one of them is going to be replacing a slightly dented fender, which got dented when someone in the employ of the previous owner hit something and caved in the front bumper a little bit.  The other is replacing the front bumper, but I was thinking about doing something a little different that you don't see a whole lot these days, a shaved bumper.

So, what is a shaved bumper?

Shaving a bumper is the process of making it look like it is one solid piece of steel. There are bumper covers that are made out of fiberglass that frankly try to make this happen, but as it is they are plastic, and plastic does not look right on a truck.  What you would do is weld the mounting bolts to the bumper from the backside, then grind the heads off of the bolts from the face of the bumper, fill in the holes for the license plate (not a big deal since we are not required to run a front plate here), prime paint install enjoy.

I have also been toying with the idea of installing a set of actual driving lights in the truck.  Not those cheap LED lights found at walmart, but actual white light, driving light, lights as they are supposed to be.

Pictures will be found here when this is done.

The introductions...

Hello reader! My name is Dale (but not Dale D. Mechanic) and I live with my girlfriend in a nice little house in an ok (usually) borough in Southeast Pennsylvania.  Please forgive my non-specifics on these matters, I do this out of habit.  I'm in my early 40s, am trying to quit smoking, lead a somewhat normal life...

I am a mechanic by trade, something that it could be said I entered later in life. After working in the green industry for almost 15 years, I realized that there was nothing new under the sun, or whatever weather I was stuck working in, usually for 12 hours a day, ten months or better out of the year.  I suppose I would still be working in that green industry if the company I had given ten years of my life to had not decided to outsource my position.  Such is life.

After a short time working for the company my position was outsourced to, I found myself working as a fleet mechanic again in the green industry, mostly tree care, then taking a job with a fleet in Philadelphia, then getting sacked so that they could hire a drug dependent loser that thought he could do the job for half the pay, and who incidentially no longer works there either. 

So these days I work for a small equipment repair shop.  Honestly, it took me some time to shed the fleet maintenance mentality of "just make it work" and adopt the "fix it proper and ship it out" code of ethics.

You probably noticed that the name of the blog is "The Dakota Files".  So I would like to introduce the "angry duck."

The "duck" is a 1996 Dodge Dakota Sport.  It sports a 2.5 liter inline four cylinder engine, five speed manual transmission, standard cab, short bed, Chrysler corporate 8.25 rear end with a 3.55 gear ratio.  It started life as a red truck but since it was part of a fleet they decided to paint it yellow.  It currently has 225,000 miles on it, but runs reliably.

Besides the non factory paint, about the only enhancements that have been done are an aftermarket cd player (that refuses to play cds) and a hurst "T" handle shift lever.  I have also painted the wheels a graphite color and clear coated them, had a set of new tires installed (pro tip: paint wheels AFTER tire installation).  Maintenance items that have been done are oil changes, repairing a burnt wire that while in two pieces refused to let the truck start, installing a new starter and replacing the battery terminals because the old ones were crap.  I also have replaced the battery.

This brings us to the list of maintenance items that I need to do, preferably before the inspection runs out. (Yes, we have yearly vehicle inspections, safety and emissions, that pack a hefty fine if you are caught driving without a valid one.)  They are:

1.) Full tune up (cap, rotor, wires, plugs)
2.) Find and fix reason the check engine light comes on intermittently.
3.) Repair the parking brake cable and anchor/pivot point.
4.) Replace the serpentine belt.
5.) Change transmission fluid. (probably has never been done)
6.) Change differential fluid (also has probably never been done)

And some modifications, which are:
1.) Replace right inner door panel to match left inner door panel.
2.) Replace right mirror.
3.) Repaint rear bumper (and maybe get rid of plastic step cover?)
4.) Repair rust on rocker panels under door.
5.) Install bucket seats.
6.) Install radio that plays Cds.
7.) Clean up interior, especially the carpet.
8.) Find where the water leak is coming into the cabin.