Remote Transmission Dip Stick Aftermarket Support?

[Msfitoy]

Up two...109

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[Blue Streak]

Just saw this thread - I'm definitely in for grabbing one of these if there are enough made. Hope I'm not too late! Fantastic work, Fitz!

I'm with you I am still going thru it all.

 

[subquark]

Thank you, I sure hope it's worth more than a $100, I'm almost in that in materials, labor aside.

Good point. I was thinking of larger scale home production, as in buying in large quantities, but I doubt you'd have the volume here for that (thinking on the order of over 1000 units).

We make little games, in our basement, and will order 50,000 dice at one time. And that's the hat I had on when I responded.

However, now with another perspective. Yours is worth more than B&M because the quality of your materials are higher. They probably have $30 in each max (including labor).

And someone mentioned an LLC, which is a good idea and can be done by yourself (your state will have online forms and instructions). Ours cost $100 per year BUT while it limits your liability, it doesn't protect you from having to defend against a lawsuit. You could be found innocent and sue for your defense costs but that's true for all of us and someone suing any of us for tripping in your yard.

If you made this for forum members, then doing it as a friend and then your friend decides to send you $175 via PayPal as a thank you, that would help remove some of this liability.

In my world, people mark their games as for 12 and older because they think it can remove some liability, but it doesn't because they can't physically prevent an 8-year old from playing their game (and choking on a dice).

All that to say, you'd be similar to the WolfHaus guy - his electrical adapter plugs into a Ford plug and there's no guarantee it won't blow up the truck. I suppose the same for a remote start, and ignition bezel, or even a ODB=powered dash cam.

And the most sacred thing of scared things - the damper! Talk about a lawsuit-flaunting thing (and Dave for being the cult leader for that!). =D

So I hope you do make some for those of us who would be thrilled to have something made by a forum member and made to excellent standards! =)

It's awesome work that you're doing and just seeing your thought going into it and all your photos is valuable and well appreciated.

 

[Fitzmotor]

Thank you for the input, I hope to move up to larger quantities, this first batch will be the decider, I see that the number of people who clicked "want one" is over a hundred, I don't expect that when it comes time to sell them.

I will continue to say that the feedback here is great motivation.

I'm off to pull the factory bracket off the engine to verify exact hole placement in the dipstick bracket, this is very important as it dictates the angle of the hose coming up the back of the engine, the register must be tight up against the bracket, then off to get another hose made, hopefully the final length, scrapped two of them so far.

 

[Big Blue]

Thank you, I sure hope it's worth more than a $100, I'm almost in that in materials, labor aside.

Even if it costs as much as the B&M stick, and I hope it doesn't. I would rather give my money to a forum member for a better thought out design more specific to my truck, than a faceless big company for a generic design.

@Fitzmotor, you are doing great work. And I'm sure there are many forum members watching this thread as closely as I am. We are just waiting for you to finish it up to your high standards and tell us how much and where to send the money.

 

[Fitzmotor]

Damn, thanks!

 

[TJC]

For all those who complained about the B&M dipstick costing so much... maybe, just maybe their price was justifiable.

FWIW, inflation is here and it is only going to get much much worse... and sooner rather than later.

We lived through this in the 1970's through the early 1980's... this time around is going to be more difficult. The US government is now paying more to service the debt than our Military budget. And as interest rates creep up that bill only gets larger.

 

[Msfitoy]

Bump for update...

 

[Superspirit]

Can I order one yet?????????

 

[Fitzmotor]

Drawing is done except for the final 6mm mounting hole placement, hopefully I will have a printed version in hand soon to finalize that.

I have added heat shrink at the bottom to curve it away from the firewall, and at the top with a firm rubber pad to protect it as it goes across the back of the motor.

I am determined to keep it off of the firewall, the variance in the hose length from the mfg, has made this interesting, (turns out, it's up to 3/8" plus/minus) that's why the heat shrink had to be added.

This is still in the development phase, please hold off on any criticisms until I have the final version, as what you see now may be different then.

A hose that is exact to my required length is fine, clears everything, a hose 1/4"-3/8" longer touches the firewall, one 1/4"-3/8" shorter leans on the back of the engine, so I made my spec 1/4" longer and added the heat shrink, so now I can fit the different lengths properly.

The other challenge is the stick length, I had to machine up different length top fittings to keep the factory marks on the stick correct, yes, I still am trying to have a pre-marked stick, still in the plan, we will see in the end.

Thanks for the cage rattle, I've been quiet, but I'm still on it everyday, I will be off it for a few days, just got L4-L5, L5-S1 double back shots, I'm a little tender now, but they really help.

 

[Superspirit]

I'm liking what I'm seeing. No criticism here

 

[TJC]

It do look purty!

If I had my druthers, I'd rather it touch the engine over the firewall.

 

[Fitzmotor]

It do look purty!

If I had my druthers, I'd rather it touch the engine over the firewall.

Absolutely, in the tunnel area the firewall pad is that soft material, anything touching it will eventually wear right through, not to mention the NVH that something bolted to a buzzy 4 cyl will cause.

So, I have criticisms, these are from my list:

What is the temp range of the heat shrink?
How many heat cycles is it good for before it goes rock hard, or starts to degrade?
Does the pad have additional adhesive if the heat shrink tension starts to degrade?

Fortunately, I found once the hose goes through a full heat cycle and completely cools, it's set, doesn't need any heat shrink or pad at that point, you would have to forcefully straighten it, and then it would still curl back into a twisted S.

If I was only building a handful, and really didn't care about making any money in this exercise, I would make a fixture that matched the installed angles (there are 3 very specific angles) and bake every hose in a oven, ship them out in a box with preformed foam to keep shape, no heat shrink or pad needed.

I wish I had stronger buying power, the low quantities that I am initially buying at, offers little to no discounts, one US made sample top bracket is $250, China made under a hundred gets me into the $20 something range, but only if I reduce some of the angles and radius's, 500+ will get me into single digit $, or if I want brass, out of India is pretty cheap.

So it's a work in progress, both from design, fit and Mfg.

Some days I want to pull Msfitoy through a knot hole for blowing open this Rabbit hole, it worked, I went down it at full speed, I should have at least strapped a bungee cord to my A$$ to me from smacking the bottom, wait, I dont think there is a bottom. all that aside, I enjoy this kind of work, did it for years, but then I had a bunch of designers and machinist in the building with Honda's budget, all I had to do was feed them dimensions.

 

[Msfitoy]

Absolutely, in the tunnel area the firewall pad is that soft material, anything touching it will eventually wear right through, not to mention the NVH that something bolted to a buzzy 4 cyl will cause.

So, I have criticisms, these are from my list:

What is the temp range of the heat shrink?
How many heat cycles is it good for before it goes rock hard, or starts to degrade?
Does the pad have additional adhesive if the heat shrink tension starts to degrade?

Fortunately, I found once the hose goes through a full heat cycle and completely cools, it's set, doesn't need any heat shrink or pad at that point, you would have to forcefully straighten it, and then it would still curl back into a twisted S.

If I was only building a handful, and really didn't care about making any money in this exercise, I would make a fixture that matched the installed angles (there are 3 very specific angles) and bake every hose in a oven, ship them out in a box with preformed foam to keep shape, no heat shrink or pad needed.

I wish I had stronger buying power, the low quantities that I am initially buying at, offers little to no discounts, one US made sample top bracket is $250, China made under a hundred gets me into the $20 something range, but only if I reduce some of the angles and radius's, 500+ will get me into single digit $, or if I want brass, out of India is pretty cheap.

So it's a work in progress, both from design, fit and Mfg.

Some days I want to pull Msfitoy through a knot hole for blowing open this Rabbit hole, it worked, I went down it at full speed, I should have at least strapped a bungee cord to my A$$ to me from smacking the bottom, wait, I dont think there is a bottom. all that aside, I enjoy this kind of work, did it for years, but then I had a bunch of designers and machinist in the building with Honda's budget, all I had to do was feed them dimensions.

Haven't heard from Phil (Ford engineer) but these may be good questions for him...can't remember his handle this morning...trans not engaging...

 

[RedlandRanger]

Haven't heard from Phil (Ford engineer) but these may be good questions for him...can't remember his handle this morning...trans not engaging...

Paging @P. A. Schilke .... Mr P.A. Schilke.

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