Chris the Chimney Sweep

 I am not sure the last time I swept the chimney so I did it this morning while watching some football.  Pretty glad I did since there was quite a bit of build up.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture while it was piled in the fireplace, but here is a (reused) gallon ziplock that I fill up.

Redo the Pontoon

The carpet and the sliding on the pontoon was looking pretty tired, so we decided to freshen it up.  We had to take off the rails and edge trim, put on the new carpet then put the rails back on.  You can see the old white and red fence (we called her the speckled queen).

We put new vinyl on the pedestal as well.  I have been working on the new blue fence over the summer, the girls aren't thrilled with the results, but I think it looks pretty good.  I was trying to use the old holes in the rails, so there are a couple wavy spots.

I was able to complete the simple fences over the summer, but the fence that curves up I need something to cut it with easier.  

Sonic Engine

We started in earnest end of July.  It took us most of August to get down the head gasket.  I am not sure why it took so long to take it apart, but it went together much quicker.  Our favorite bolt is the banjo bolt, we had so much trouble with that!

We also had to redo the timing chain 5 times till we figured out the trick, you have to do one of the cams first then the other.

This is the head with the valve cover off, Nick is taking apart the timing chain here (I think).

Here is the block with the head off, kind of dirty.  The head looked like that as well for the most part...

We took the head in to a machine shop to check compression and make sure the surface is flat.  D&D auto did a great job.

We also replaced the turbo because the impeller was no longer attached.  The coolant was running a bit hot when we got it all back together, so we did some reading and found that people had purchased a thermostat and replaced the existing one by taking the old one apart...  I ordered a new metal one (as suggested) and found out that the thermostat didn't fit in the new hosing.

So I just put in the new metal housing and thermostat and it seemed to help keep the temp down pretty well, so we are happy with that.

Then I noticed that some coolant was leaking near the water outlet, so I ordered the metal water outlet and when I put that in I saw that the old plastic one was all broken, so that was a good fix as well.

Initially, we had some white smoke, but it cleared and I haven't seen a lot of it since.  I am planning to get the PCV kit and put that in, since I see a bit of oil on the valve cover.  Also, the value cover I ordered had a flat oil cap, which leaked, so I put in the original one I had which seemed to resolve the issue. 

Costs:

Sonic Engine Timing Tool Kit: 27

Fuel Line Disconnect Tool Set: 6

Torx Bit and Socket set: 17

1/4 Torque: 13

Feeler Gauage Set: 5

OBD II Scanner: 16

-- $84

Head Bolt Set: 23

Engine Gasket Replacement Set: 43

Gasket Maker: 6

Serpentine Belt: 20

5 Oil Filters: 16

Turbo: 200

Coolant Return Line: 25

Oil Return/Feed Pipes: 27

Exhaust Manifold Nuts: 19

Valve Cover/Gaskets: 37

Coolant Thermostat Housing: 23

Coolant Housing Water Outlet: 23

-- $462 + $280 for machine work on head.