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Sunny and 45°, not bad for the end of December. Mike, they went over very well. I received several compliments. Went out to dinner with friends last night. we then gathered at one couples house, talked about nonsense that we got into in our youth, current events, and our aches and pains. Got home about 1am. A good night I'd say. Being lazy today, didn't work for a change.A little vacuuming and wrapping presents later. I can work through the holidays if I want, but I am keeping it to Thurs & Friday of the next two weeks. Plenty of O.T. pay. Norm, I have a question for ya, as you seem to be computer savvy. Microsoft keeps telling me that they will not support Windows 7 after Jan 20th. 2020. They say that I have to get a new computer. Why can't I just up grade my software?
Sunny and 45°, not bad for the end of December. Mike, they went over very well. I received several compliments. Went out to dinner with friends last night. we then gathered at one couples house, talked about nonsense that we got into in our youth, current events, and our aches and pains. Got home about 1am. A good night I'd say. Being lazy today, didn't work for a change.A little vacuuming and wrapping presents later. I can work through the holidays if I want, but I am keeping it to Thurs & Friday of the next two weeks. Plenty of O.T. pay. Norm, I have a question for ya, as you seem to be computer savvy. Microsoft keeps telling me that they will not support Windows 7 after Jan 20th. 2020. They say that I have to get a new computer. Why can't I just up grade my software?
They are NOT telling you that you need a new computer. They ARE telling you they won't support Windows 7. Some people have been offered a free upgrade to Windows 10, I am among them. You can also buy "upgrade" to Windows 10 software. I think it might be over $100. Windows 10 will NOT look like the Windows 7 you are using now. I didn't take the upgrade because it may screw up stuff and I would have to learn a whole new Operating System.
Hey Dan - I’m cleaning that driver side UCA. I’ll respond later this evening when I get a moment. The support for Windows 7 will definitely end. Regarding your ability to upgrade to the latest Windows 10 you may need to upgrade your computer but we can discuss. Your current computer’s hardware may not be capable of supporting Windows 10 in terms of motherboard, hard disk drive, RAM, network card, sound card, video, etc. We can discuss later. There is a basic tool you can employ which will check your hardware compatibility to run Windows 10 if you want to look for it online. We’ll discuss when I’m not full of NaOH and grease.
Executive decision number 2. Not going to Lowes. It's dreary and cold and rainy, and I have no desire to go out into it. I really was wise doing my shopping yesterday. Haven't had a day like this in a long time.
Norm, since you're the go-to guy today, and a bit of a structural expert, I've had my queen size waterbed set up on the second floor of my house for 14 years. Never noticed any bending of the floor joist when downstairs. I'm about to rebuild the frame with heavier wood(upgrading from the pressed fiberboard it was originally) and get a big headboard, so I'm guessing the total weight(with me in it) will be pushing 2000lbs. Do I need to put any support under the floor because of the added weight? Feel free to ponder this whilst thinking over Dan's question and working on the car... Something else I just thought of, if the floor were indeed to give way, would it be an all of a sudden thing, like the bathtub falling through the floor in the movies, or would it be gradual, noticeable bending of beams, etc?
Jamesbo if your lake ever goes away, consider moving south. We have a nice lake here, and no one has a massive, ornate boat house. Of course it would be detrimental to weight loss.
Perhaps the dismal weather outside is amplified by my non-desire to go out into it. Gonna crank up the wood stove and take a nap. Heh, less than 5 hours to bed time anyway.
Edit. Since I took 30 minutes to write that, Jamesbo what is Mast General store?
Mike - There are many variables involved in your question/answer e.g. size of the floor joists (2nd floor), span of the floor joists (2nd floor), distance on center of each floor joist, load bearing wall(s) dimension(s) on 1st floor, location of weight relative to placement from load bearing walls on 1st floor. I believe the average floating (live) weight of a 2nd story floor is between roughly 40#-50#/sq. ft. Again, there are variables here which must be considered. If a queen size waterbed occupies 35 sq ft, then the nominal weight a 35 sq ft section would be capable of holding under normal/safe load resident floor construction would be ~1,400#-1,750#. Again, there are variables here which must be considered.
Regarding will you just drop right through all of a sudden or a gradual weakening of the floor & floor joists over time yielding to a slow giveaway? I have absolutely no clue.
Dan - I've been on Windows 10 since 2014 (Beta pre-release). I did all the OS (Operating System) Upgrades Windows 7>Windows 8.0>Windows 8.1>Windows 10 (Beta pre-release)> Windows 10 (current) Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.535).
The bare minimum hardware system requirements to install Windows 10 are as follows:
Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit / 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard drive space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS / 32 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800×600
If you don't meet the above requirements Windows 10 will not install.
If you're successfully running Windows 7 (SP1 = Service Pack 1), you shouldn't have an issue installing Windows 10.
There were (are) several pathways for determining Windows 10 compatibility checker. Each compatibility checker was bundled differently depending on which OS you were running. In general, if you were a home user w/ a home edition of Windows 7, you should have seen the Windows Update (Windows 10) icon. If you clicked on that icon, the Windows 10 compatibility checker would have run and listed the system requirements which your computer failed to meet for the basic hardware system requirements. There were several other additional pathways in which your system could have been tested with the compatibility checker, that's the most common scenario.
Are you planning to upgrade to Windows 10 on a laptop (notepad) or on a desktop PC?
Here is a fairly decent write-up I'd suggest you read:
Dan - BTW, I should point out a small caveat. Yes, Microsoft will no longer "support" Windows 7 after January 2020. This means Microsoft will no longer support updates to Windows 7, they will no longer provide fixes for known issues, etc. It does not mean you can no longer run Windows 7 on your computer. You can continue to run Windows 7 until you're blue in the face, but be aware, hardware and software vendors will provide no further updates, fixes for Windows 7.
In the long run what this often means is this. Hardware and Software vendors will no longer supply updates to their hardware and/or software for computers running Windows 7. Therefore, if a user elects to install recent software on their computer which is running Windows 7, but the computer crashes, takes a big fat ***** and you can't recover - well, after January 20, 2020 Microsoft will not provide support for Windows 7.
Thanks for the info Norm. When windows came out, everyone it seemed was saying "don't upgrade to Windows 10, it's a pain in the a$$" so I never did. Oldster ralph, yes know that they will not support Windows 7, they also specifically told me to replace my computer.
Hi Dan - I have not done a complete & thorough dive into each of your components and I obviously do not know which drivers you have loaded onto your Dell Inspiron 560s - the drivers are obviously written for the Windows 7 64-bit OS. While you meet the minimum (basic) requirements (as identified on your posted image), you may run into some issues running Windows 10 which may need to be upgraded.
After having reviewed several websites of people upgraded from Windows 7>Windows 10 (64-bit) some experienced sluggish boots, others had no issues, and some upgraded some of their hardware.
It appears your BIOS will not support BIOS versions greater than A06 as the latest BIOS version for the Inspiron 560s is A06 - so I would suggest you don't attempt to upgrade your BIOS and leave it at A06. You may want to free-up some memory usage by upgrading your graphics card. Like I said, I didn't do a deep-dive so I'm not certain about one parameter in particular and that is your graphics.
I suspect you are using an integrated iGPU (integrated Graphics Processing Unit) G45/G43 Express Chipset. That graphics card is not supported any longer by Dell or Intel. The fact you have a desktop PC is probably going to be to your benefit if you have an open PCI port on your motherboard since you can purchase a dedicated graphics card. When I say you probably have an iGPU, this means you're using the on-board (motherboard) built-in (integrated) graphics card on the Dell Inspiron 560s on an older motherboard which has limited capabilities for successfully managing memory using the current chipset of the G45/G43 card. This is significant since it's a combination of the motherboard, the BIOS, the graphics card and the graphics card chipset to accommodate system memory and graphics memory.
Therefore, my suggestion is to upgrade your graphics from the the on-board/integrated (iGPU) G45/G43 to a newer add-on graphics card which can be loaded into one of your PCI slots. That will free up tons of better RAM memory usage so your system operates with a much better experience.It isn't so much the iGPU G45/G43 itself, but the chipset for that iGPU - it is ancient and is a memory hog because it isn't designed well enough to run on Windows 10.
Aside from this one issue, I think the most difficult issue(s) you'll face are the drivers which you will need to update correctly e.g. printer drivers can be the worst most often, since printing spools must coordinate with the BIOS, the graphics card, and the Windows 10 OS. Other drivers will most likely work, but may not be optimal e.g. select applications you have running with drivers designed for Windows 7 which do not have drivers for Windows 10. I can't speak to any of those, since I don't know what applications you are running. You appear rather savvy yourself, so I'm thinking you know how to update drivers and the like to facilitate any future issue(s).
Get all the latest and greatest updates to your entire Inspiron 560s before you do the Windows 10 installation.
You're currently running the 64-bit Windows 7 OS. It's your call if you elect to run Windows 10 64-bit OS or the Windows 10 32-bit OS. You 'should' be fine with Windows 10 64-bit as a 64-bit OS employs better block (memory) usage than a 32-bit OS. However, many manufacturers load 32-bit drivers which run in the 64-bit OS space and some drivers may not be optimal. These are the little annoyances of running 32-bit drivers in the 64-bit OS space. However, with that said - these are not issues which I would suggest should stop you from loading Windows 10 in either the 32-bit OS version or the 64-bit OS version.
Dan - I'll explain something (in particular) which I believe you will find easy to consume and that is the usage of computer resources. In this case, let's consider using the analogy of a simple dairy farm and liken the dairy farm to computer resources.
When a computer powers ON, the very first thing which enumerates is the system (computer) hardware i.e. the on-board clock, the BIOS, the motherboard, the CPU, graphics card, keyboard, mouse, etc. and all hardware attached to the motherboard - note I stated hardware. This is important because it is hardware which initially starts and which reserves addressable memory usage on a PC. Important hardware utilizes reserved addressable memory - not volatile memory. Therefore, your computer's most important hardware runs on a chipset for these important hardware devices - it reserves addressable memory which cannot be used by other systems. Think of a dairy barn with 10 entrance doors for dairy cattle and 10 exit doors w/ 5 dairy milkman. In a perfect system, the doors would all be open and the dairy milkmen all milking and cows leaving as the milking was accomplished. The doors are reserved for entrance and exit and the milkmen are dedicated to milking.
Now, imagine only 3 entrance doors are open, but all 10 exit doors are open. Or, imagine 10 entrance doors are open, but only 3 exit doors are open. This is reserved addressable memory. At startup and during the entire time the PC is running, each chipset (graphics card, cpu, BIOS version, motherboard) have dedicated reserved addressable memory for each of these devices. If the chipset is only capable of allowing 3 doors to be open, but there are ten doors available, the bottleneck ensues and very limited milking gets done despite the fact there are 10 entrance doors available. Or the converse, only 3 exit doors are open while all 10 entrance doors are open. Liken this to a PC which is not capable of utilizing dedicated reserved addressable memory - it's a bottleneck, it hinders the entire system from operating efficiently because the chipset employed to run the device (graphics card) is incapable of reserving dedicated addressable memory. So, memory is wasted (can't be used) and what memory is available cannot be used efficiently. I hope this helps to a modest degree. It's this dedicated reserved addressable memory which is the most important factor in determining how well (supported or not supported) a system will run on any OS - Mac, UNIX, Windows, Linux, etc. Have a great day.
It's raining here as well, but only lightly. No golf today for me, as well. Still vacuuming - which is getting old really fast. About time to launch myself into the man-cave and finish cleaning up that UCA. I removed all the old grease & paint - time to burnish off the rust and get a couple coats of undercarriage undercoat applied. Again, maybe I'll see about getting into the passenger side fender well to remove that UCA. It got a little chilly yesterday so I called it quits earlier than anticipated.
Norm, I really appreciate the time that you took with your response to my computer specs post. I'll have to decide whether to update my system or replace it altogether. Once again thanks. Warm day here, 44° it's supposed to be warm through Thursday, before returning to winter temps.
I’ll have a look later this evening regarding your PC - if it has an available PCI slot. It most likely does. If that is the case, purchasing a separate graphics card will save you big $$. It’s a simple deal to install a graphics card. They aren’t expensive.
Soooooooooooooooooooo, Last minute Super model ax me this mawn'in if I would mind making cornbread dressing for her family get together [ picture the Cast of Spartacus]
WTF she didn't ax me to do this when I had time [and a much nicer kitchen] in the mountains beats me
Anywho 10 cooked chicken thighs shredded, 2 skillets of corn bread [well dried out] 2 onions and a stalk of celery diced and cooked in 1/2 lb of butter.4 eggs [ ya need to cool everything before ya add the eggs or you'll end up with scrambled eggs. ] Chicken stock and a BIG turkey pan to put it all in. Bake until medium firm
I finished cleaning up the driver side front UCA & applied two light coats of 3M 08881 followed up with two light coats of 3M 08882. The adherence to metal w/ 08881 is unbelievable - great stuff, but it is not paintable. 08882 is paintable. Tomorrow I'll apply two top coats of VHT Epoxy All Weather Gloss Black Paint for the finish. I didn't get around to examining the passenger side front UCA center shaft - tough ****! Hopefully I can get 18 in tomorrow - we'll see.
Good day at work. My wall guy this week is quick and efficient, and doesn't miss anything. Same goes for my robot guy. Instead of coming up short like I did every day last week, today we went a few over for our personal number. I was really pleased.
Tomorrow we have a very reduced number and we're gone when we reach it. Also the lead is bringing in biscuits for breakfast. Since it's Christmas, and Merry Christmas to me, I'm having a cheeseburger and drinking Coke at the Awful house after work. I've not had those things for a couple weeks now, in trying to not be such a fat ***.
Norm your work on the suspension is excellent. It will ride like a Cadillac when you're done. Which really doesn't say much because I think an Oldsmobile's ride is on par with a Cadillac anyway.
A little blue circle follows my cursor as I type. Odd. Wonder what its purpose is. Must be another "improvement" on the site.
Jamesbo it's a good thing I live so far away from you. I'd be as big as a barn. Good luck with the cast of Sparticus. You can meet me at the Awful house if things get out of hand.
Okay gonna wind down for the evening and then hit the sack. I didn't sleep to well last night. No wonder, since I slept most of the afternoon yesterday. Oh but it was such fun.
Dan - You have several options available to you. You have time to consider these options. You meet the minimum hardware requirements to run Windows 10 and I've identified for you the weak link - your video/graphics card. You have several PCI expansion slots available on your Inspiron 560s. I obtained this information direct from Dell when I downloaded their complete specifications for the Insipiron 560s.
Expansion Slots PCI
Connectors one
Connector size 124-pin
Connector data width (maximum) 32 bit
Bus speed 33 MHz
PCI Express x1
Connectors two
Connector size 36-pin
Connector data width (maximum) 1 PCI Express lane
Bus speed 500 MB/s (bi-directional)
PCI one 124-pin connector
PCI Express x1 two 36-pin connectors
PCI Express x16 one 164-pin connector
There are many graphics/video cards which fit your system (price range $30 up to ~$500). If you're going to upgrade your video card (my suggestion) purchase a PCI Express x16 video card. The PCI Express x16 expansion slot is the fastest on your computer and will allow you to get the best graphics card you want to buy. It will far exceed the integrated (on the motherboard) graphics you are currently using. Really, it's a matter of just how fast, and how excellent you want the video card to be. If it's basic computing with no gaming, then go the inexpensive route or a moderately priced video card (price range $50-$75). If you want to get a very fast video card with great processing and dedicated large amounts of RAM (on the video card), then consider spending $100 upwards to $500. At first you might consider who the hell spends $500 for a video card? Well, tons of people and even $500 is in the inexpensive range for many gamers and certainly not even close to the amount you'd spend if you were a graphics designer or running a CAD graphics program. Top of the line video graphics cards for graphics designers and/or CAD programs range between $1,000 to $10,000. Yes, you read that correctly - $10,000!
Anyways, you have some options.
You have a 250W PSU (Power Supply Unit). That's essentially the basic amount required to run your system and it will run fine with a new basic video card. Should you choose to get a big & beefy video card, you might consider installing a 300W or 500W PSU. This would be optimal for your system. Even a new PSU is reasonably priced - anywhere from $50-$100.
This stuff in easy peasy simple to install. You open the case, insert the card and you're done. You might need to upgrade the driver, but that's it - you're done. Installing a new PSU is about the same. Unscrew the current PSU, install the new PSU and you're done. This is one advantage of owning a desktop PC over a laptop/notepad. You can always upgrade your $HIT. You have a ATX form-factor motherboard. Hell, Dan - you have a computer case - the rest is just chicken liver and gizzards. You can upgrade your motherboard, upgrade your cpu, upgrade your network card, upgrade your RAM, upgrade your video card, upgrade your hard disk drives, etc. Essentially, you can build a new computer every so often.
Let me know if you have questions. Have a good day.
Mike - I was watching some stuff on YouTube last night. On average, when a jet liner touches down, the tire goes from normal ambient temperature (~59*F) to 700*F in ~5 seconds. It takes my oven 10 minutes to get to 450*F. Someone is bringing biscuits? Is someone else bringing gravy for those biscuits? Thanks for the accolades on the suspension. I really have huge expectations on the ride and stability of the suspension & steering when it's finished. It's a matter of being patient and methodical and doing it correctly - which takes time. The little blue circle following your mouse isn't because of the CO site - it's because your mouse (somehow) turned on a trailing feature. How'd you do that Mike? It's easy to fix if you don't want it on. My blood sugar was little high on my last HbA1c lab result so I'm going on a sardines, herring & salmon meat diet for the next three months and eating as few carbohydrates as I can possibly consume - boring. That leaves Reubens off the table, no cheesecake, no muffins, no ice cream, nothing that's really tasty and enjoyable to eat! Oh yeah, going to start cooking w/ Shirataki noodles from now on.
Damn! Thanks for your help. Just finished wrapping a few gifts, I'll poke around on the computer a bit before hitting the hay. Merry Christmas everyone.
Norm, My dear departed mother used to say, "It's not what you eat between Thanksgiving and New Years day, It's what you eat between New Years day and Thanksgiving"
That said, My father ate [not most sundae nights] EVERY Sunday night a can of sardines a can of anchovies, sweet pickles and soda crackers. He smoked and drank and almost made 90.I like his program.
Mike, I wish I could avoid the festivities and have sum scattered covered and smothered at The Aweful House with you but duty calls. Let;s jes pray there's not a family killing
James - Good advice from your Mother. Was your Father in the Navy? Aside from the anchovies, my Dad had a similar plan. Speaking of sardines & soda crackers. While growing up, everywhere we'd travel, we generally did not stop to eat lunch at a restaurant when traveling. Instead, Mom & Dad would whip into one of those historical roadside marker turnouts (I recall how we'd actually look for them along the highway so we could stop), pile out of the car, rush to the wooden picnic table and religiously produce cans of sardines & soda crackers for lunch.
Windy here today, but temperatures are enjoyable. Winds are a steady 16mph gusting to 22mph highs in the 50's. I'll pass on golf until tomorrow morning and spend time working on the Cutlass.
I think we were done by 8 this morning. Some guys stayed over yesterday to turn out extra wheels and we ended up with more than half what we needed. Left about 930. These are biscuits like at Chick Fil A. Chicken biscuits, mine was steak/egg/cheese, there's all sorts. Huge. Yummy.
Norm I'd never go so far as to say information on the internet is false, but 700* sounds a bit high. As well as 59*. The air is frigid at altitude and the wheel well isn't heated. I don't think the hot hydraulic fluid warms things all that much. Not sure how much the tires warm up when the gear is extended before landing. I'm sure all that information is listed somewhere, I'm going to look it up.
My Dad's thing was Spam. That and SOS. Now I love me some SOS, Mom used to make that for our dinner. The Spam, not so much. I haven't had it since I was but a wee one, maybe I'd like it now. Maybe not.
Jamesbo when the police are called just say you were in the bathroom. Hope your shindig doesn't draw blood.
Well I have the whole afternoon to get started on my wall project. Got all the stuff yesterday and it's beautiful out and sunny and 60*. Wish me luck. The rain we've had has brought the lake up and I don't think they're going to drain any more, so time is of the essence. It will be up too high for me by the weekend.
Have a Happy afternoon everyone. I hear the reindeer are tuned up and ready to hit it.
Good afternoon guys....Its been a while since I have been on this site. Glad to see all you guys are still here. My 55 Olds 98 is nearing completion. Just need to find some parts and she will be done. Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and hopefully none of you guys procrastinated on getting those last minute gifts. I was told the lines at the stores are ridiculous.
Finished painting the driver side UCA. Removed the passenger side UCA. Much easier than I expected. Unlike the driver side where the steering column shaft hinders the ability to remove the UCA separately from the center shaft (the center shaft bolts need to be removed - unless of course you unbuckle the column from the rag joint), the passenger side was much easier. After removing the nuts on the center shaft, the UCA slid right out. This UCA was by far the worst of the four front control arms. Doubtful any of the front control arm bushings had ever been changed.
RF UCA Ft Inside RF UCA Ft Outside
Last edited by Vintage Chief; December 24th, 2019 at 05:57 PM.
Reason: doh!
Norm, that bushing was completely shot! When you get all done and are ready for alignment, look on the site for alignment specs. There was a thread awhile back that Joe piped up on about using more caster to make car drive better w/radials. When both the Olds' I did were done I just took them in to a tire shop for a "alignment". They set them using the original specs. Both cars drove fine, but still like a old car- loose compared to newer ones.- well it will never drive like a newer car rack & pinion car. I painted the Cutlass parts with a satin black spray bomb, I painted the Vista with POR15 using a brush. I am interested in the stuff you're using- never heard of it.
Good Morning, Greg. Yeah, the rubber inside that bushing was completely gone on one side and the center shaft up against the bushing steel sleeve! Thanks for reminding me regarding the thread on +camber. I noted both Joe & Eric had posted similar information regarding alignment specs. Speaking of tires, I'm going to take a close look at the dates on the tires currently on the car. I think they may be quite new, but I'm going to validate once I get this job completed. I've looked at the wear and wear pattern (when I purchased the car and since then) and there's plenty of tread life remaining. Still, my preference is to mount red-stripe bias ply. Well, maybe not red-stripe, but definitely bias ply. My '67 442 came w/ red-stripe bias ply (OEM), I think my '72 442 may have come w/ raised letter or white stripe radial (OEM). I recall it was about that time period when radial was replacing bias ply. Even w/ replacing the alignment shims into the exact locations on the center shafts from which I removed them, I'll bet an alignment was performed on the car with those shot UCA bushings so the alignment is going to be off. I'm going to perform a basic/rudimentary alignment the old-fashioned manner when I get it all put back together (front to back tires outside distance measured and aligned both sides) and front left to front right distances measured on the front & back of both tires. That will get me well within a good ballpark range before taking it to my alignment shop.
VHT is a division of Dupli-Color - Dupli-Color is a business unit of Sherwin-Williams.
3M 08881 (non-paintable) has fantastic adherence (rubberized) and the coverage is great. I suspect I might have been able to get away with using only the 3M 08882, but when I first purchased the 3M 08881, I was so impressed with the adherence capabilities, I elected to make the first coat 3M 08881 on all the control arms & follow-up w/ the 3M 08882 (paintable). The resulting finish w/ 3M 08882 was like a soft powder-coat matte finish which would have been fine, but I wanted a little more shine to the finish so I decided to try out an epoxy paint which led me to the VHT Epoxy Paint Gloss Black.
While I'm detailing this last UCA, I'll take pictures during the process and post so you can see in more detail each finish along the way.
Awful house wasn't too busy when we got there around 8 but soon was packed. Saw some people I haven't seen in awhile so it was a nice time. Got plenty of turkey lunch meat for sandwiches for the big holiday dinner so we're all set.
Did plenty of work at the lake yesterday. Didn't finish because it got dark, but once it warms up a little more I'll go out to finish. Boy I tell you I'm weak. I used to be able to move construction stuff like nothing, now even a 50 pound bag of quick crete kicks my ***. Of course where I was working was nowhere near where the supplies were. Eh, it gets done.
Sunny out and gonna warm up nice. I think that lasts through at least the weekend. This could be our winter I wouldn't mind.
Cleaned. Awaiting burnishing. Bushing bore holes cleaned & sanded. I like my bore holes clean, tight & smooth. I am experiencing serious GOLF withdrawal symptoms. I'm in need of a fix - hopefully tomorrow.
December 22nd, 2019, 10:51 AM
