So here I was with half a sensor stuck in the engine block, and now there’s nothing to grab on to in order to manipulate it out. I was half tempted to have the damned thing towed off to a professional mechanic and just pay to have him deal with it. Then I remembered that the bill for that would just piss me off more than doing it myself. I’ve built engines from the inside out. I’m not about to let a stupid plastic plug of a sensor beat me. I just needed to sleep on it and figure out a way to remove it. My Google search primarily suggested that I was going to have to drop the oil pan to push it out from the inside. I didn’t want to do that, so I decided to wait and see what ideas came forth.

My overnight brainstorm suggested that I might be able to get the Dremel in behind it with a small grinding stone and smooth out the bore so that it would come out. That didn’t work out so well. There was little room to work in there, and there was just enough of the damned sensor left that I had a hard time getting a clean shot at cleaning up the rust ridge. Next idea was to drill a hole in the center of it, run a screw into it, and pull on the screw. It sounds easier than it is, but ultimately this worked.

I had to use the Dremel to drill the hole, since there wasn’t enough room to manipulate my cordless drill in there. I ran the screw in as far as I could. What was left of the sensor started to spin, so I couldn’t get the screw very tight. I tied some twine around the head of the screw and attached the other end to a hammer. As I swung away with the hammer, the twine stretched and stretched and… SNAP! Still no good. Then I tried to double up the twine… and proceeded to snap that.

Instead of going through all the intermediate steps, I then decided to go for the gusto and try 8 strands of twine looped around a big-ass pair of vice grips. I didn’t snap that, but I still couldn’t get the sensor out with the hammer. I did manage to get it to start moving in the right direction though. It came out and got wedged on that rust ridge. I seized the opportunity to tighten the screw a couple turns, since the sensor obviously wasn’t going to spin anymore.

Next, I decided to take some advice from an old Greek friend named Archimedes. Leverage is your friend. I drilled a hole in a 2×4, ran the 8 strands of twine through it, and proceeded to use it as a lever against the frame.

When I heard that POP sound and everything went loose, I pretty much expected to see the head of the screw popped off or the vice grips slipped off or something that would piss me off even more. Instead what I saw was a hole where the sensor used to be!

No dropping of the oil pan for me. The screw in the sensor body method worked! So to anyone else out there with the same problem (and lets face it, I know this isn’t an isolated incident), you can remove what’s left of the sensor without having to get inside the engine. And to the Chrysler engineers who designed the 4.7L V8… fuck you.

I’m also investing some money in our sound system. I have plans to purchase a Peavey IPR 3000 in the near future to power our PA system. I haven’t decided if I’m going to spend the extra cash for the DSP model or not. Anyone remember those big PA speakers and subwoofers that Ben and I made for doing the sound on Centier’s parade floats way back when? Well you may see those speakers out and about again very soon! I also plan to acquire the services of a sound guy to work the mixer board while we’re performing. Gotta talk to him yet and see if he’s interested in the job. It would make a world of difference to have someone mixing the sound on the fly and adjusting.

Stay tuned… lots of cool stuff coming down the pipe.

Our first gig poster!

I’ve been playing guitar with my neighbor Ken and his friend Chuck since I moved in across the street 5 years ago. Within the past few months, we finally decided that we need to step up our efforts and go play some live shows. I convinced Tim Parish, an old friend of mine from high school, to come and play bass with us. Ken and Chuck got their friend Don to come and belt out some vocals. And voila! We had a 5 piece.

We’ve been playing every weekend for months now and our first bar gig is rapidly approaching. We’re opening up for another local band called Skurvy Dogs. Chuck was their former guitar player, and Don is their drummer presently. They’ve agreed to let us play a short set before they take the stage this Saturday night. Our name, for this gig anyway, is “Gone Shootin’.” It was chosen by Don at Random without really consulting us, so it’ll likely change by the next time we play out.

If you can make it out, we’ll be taking the stage (and I use that term loosely) at 10:00pm on Saturday night at a place called Crow Bar at 4001 East 106th Street in Chicago. (It’s on the far east side just over the border from Whiting, Indiana) I’m really looking forward to the show, as this is the first time that I’ve played out in a public place since I was in high school!

Hope to see you there!

If I eat the Easter Bunny, I will absorb his powers!

So the Empire started in Kenya?

Kate Elizabeth Isom

A big girl! Weighing in at 9 lbs 12 oz and 22″ long. Welcome Kate Elizabeth Isom.