Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The Garage / Shop / House Thread - Motivation

[ctandc72]

Used to peruse this forum a lot. Forgot how motivating, and humbling, it can be watching other people get things done. So here's hoping this keeps me motivated. Lots of things to do - just got to eat the elephant. One bite at a time.

Have wrenched on vehicles and worked on just about everything (to broke, stubborn, cheap etc to pay someone else to do something I can do, or learn to do myself) for the last 35 years. For YEARS I made do with working in other peoples' shops / garages or working in my driveway.

My ex and I bought our first house back in '97. I was still getting paid (barely) by Uncle Sugar at that point. $69K for a 1000 sq/ft place to raise the rug rat. It had a backyard and a SHED! I was moving up.

No pics from then - Then the market went kind of nuts. Early '07. Guess we got lucky. That $69K place sold for $150k in day. Nuts. Bought a bigger place, end of a quiet cul-de-sac, almost an acre lot and wait for it....a garage. An actual garage. Wasn't big, but it was mine.

Started riding motorcycles again. They fit better in the little garage than actual cars.

But that shed? It was maybe 8x10? When we moved into the bigger house (across town) I swear it was so packed, I kept finding stuff / tools / parts I'd long since bought replacements for.

Kid grew up. Went to college. Divorce (honestly the best thing - sometimes that's just the way it is). Met a woman, sure wasn't looking, - she wasn't either. Some things are meant to be I guess, at least that's what she tells me.

Remember that comment about the real estate market? Sold that house in '18 for a bit more than I paid in '07. Luckier than a lot of people. Got married again. It's funny, people who don't know us think we've been married for YEARS. I got lucky. Married WAY up. I secretly blame her reluctance to wear her glasses.

She had gotten divorced, and moved back to VA. She always wanted to fix up an old Victorian house. So she did. Did I mention she's worse than me about tools? Good problem to have. Problem with that house? It was in the city. It wasn't even on the market and she got an offer. Even with all she put it in - she got out relatively unscathed. Did I mention it was in the city?

We hadn't been together long - but sometimes you just know. So we started just looking at places, not all that serious - but we both wanted to be relatively close stores etc - but wanted privacy. I wanted a shop / garage. So did she. We HAD to have high speed internet or the ability to get it. She worked from home a good bit even before COVID. Randomly found this place:



The faded shutters are a great touch. Custom built colonial, on a PRIVATE piece of land. All our neighbors are related, just not to us. We got lucky - they're great.

The worst before pic?



Still have nightmares about that color and that mirror.

Best before pic?

 

[ctandc72]

Those pics were circa 2018. I need to take some more pics, but here a few crappy drone pics of a bit of our property from Dec 2019



The big, new shed was supposed to be my wife "Bit%& Barn" (her name for it not mine - she said 'she shed' was boring). Going to run electrical, drywall etc. Problem is we ended up emptying out THREE storage units she was paying rental on - so it's full.

The crappy Gazebo has been replaced. The fence was me - just big enough to let the mutts go outside to do their thing without getting lost in the woods (ain't none of them all that bright).



No living person / house etc for almost 2 miles that way. And it can't be developed.
The blue truck is my wife's '84 GMC K1500 shortbed. The two Broncos were parts trucks for the 95 Bronco I built for my son to drive, that got sold this year.

The building with the one garage door is my shop. The actual 2 car garage - it's now furniture and equipment storage central. I really want to build a BIG shop behind the current one.



Summer of '20. I built some shutters from scratch (Cedar Fence pickets) and my wife and I stained 'em. The White wash was my wife's idea. Found a website of a guy who restores LEGIT Colonials in the NE. Paint was expensive to make / buy back in the day.

Hydrated Lime, Table Salt, and Water. Once it dries? The only way you're getting it off, is wish a pressure washer.
Couple hundred to do the whole place. That includes extension poles etc etc.

The trim around the doorway is what was there it's plastic. My wife played around with different combinations of paint etc to make it look like stained wood.

 

[captain14]

Those pics were circa 2018. I need to take some more pics, but here a few crappy drone pics of a bit of our property from Dec 2019



The big, new shed was supposed to be my wife "Bit%& Barn" (her name for it not mine - she said 'she shed' was boring). Going to run electrical, drywall etc. Problem is we ended up emptying out THREE storage units she was paying rental on - so it's full.

The crappy Gazebo has been replaced. The fence was me - just big enough to let the mutts go outside to do their thing without getting lost in the woods (ain't none of them all that bright).



No living person / house etc for almost 2 miles that way. And it can't be developed.
The blue truck is my wife's '84 GMC K1500 shortbed. The two Broncos were parts trucks for the 95 Bronco I built for my son to drive, that got sold this year.

The building with the one garage door is my shop. The actual 2 car garage - it's now furniture and equipment storage central. I really want to build a BIG shop behind the current one.



Summer of '20. I built some shutters from scratch (Cedar Fence pickets) and my wife and I stained 'em. The White wash was my wife's idea. Found a website of a guy who restores LEGIT Colonials in the NE. Paint was expensive to make / buy back in the day.

Hydrated Lime, Table Salt, and Water. Once it dries? The only way you're getting it off, is wish a pressure washer.
Couple hundred to do the whole place. That includes extension poles etc etc.

The trim around the doorway is what was there it's plastic. My wife played around with different combinations of paint etc to make it look like stained wood.

I’ll subscribe to follow your adventures.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Watching the thread. Fellow Virginia guy here haha.

 

[ctandc72]

The wife is the creative one with the vision. I just work here.

Tree stand that came with the property



I grew up hunting. Now - I just want the venison. Except for turkeys- those feathered walking rats are ridiculous. They can smell you from 3 miles off.

So straight back from our property line it's all woods, through a large creek bed until you get to a County Police rifle range. Directly across from that is / was a 1/4 mile drag strip. COVID killed it. 50+ years down the drain. On a Friday night we could sit out in the back and be serenaded by the sounds of night fire and cars and bikes going down the 1/4 mile. Wife swears I planned it.

So the first 8 months or so after we moved in, it was ridiculously hectic. Combining two households. Getting my house ready to sell. Will never forget, my wife spending all morning painting the front door on my previous house - painted it whatever color was popular. Months later every house I saw on those TV shows was using that color. It was a weird dark red for years. We never used the front door, we always came in the garage, which was around back. I rebuilt the small front porch the year before I sold it- I joked I did it for the UPS guy.

Anyway, the first week after it sold - the people who bought it painted the front door. The same color red it was before she painted it. I still rag her about that.

So the hideous colors in our new to us house? Plus... lots of hard wood trim / molding etc. My wife spent days priming / painting. I was just trying to find room the fit all the stuff I didn't realize I had plus her stuff. Then emptying out a few storage units with her Grandmother's and later her mother's stuff.

The shutters:



My 'custom' cedar shutters. Cedar fence pickets + stain. Local place wanted $200+ for 'custom' shutters. I think I spent less than $400 on everything to build / install them.

After I built the fence for the mutts - decided I hated getting the mower in and out of the small grass area - so I got the bright idea of using double layers of weed barrier and a bunch of pea gravel



So apparently weed barrier PROMOTES grass growth. It looks like 'life after people' out there right now. Think I'm going to try billboard solid vinyl as a grass barrier or just literally salt the Earth. Hard to use real weed killer with mutts and three cats who go in and out all the time.



The Winter we moved in. I hate snow.

Wife found a 'soft spot' around the guess bathroom bathtub / shower. That turned into a full floor replacement. Lovely.



Going through all these pics - apparently I did get a few things done over the years.

One bite at a time.

 

[ctandc72]

Quick and dirty flooring job. I ain't a professional, but did I mention I'm cheap and I can fake it?








Not bad. Compared to a bunch of you on here - it doesn't rank - but hey, the Wife liked it okay.



Built a barn door for our bathroom. Wife only asked about one for a year or two.



Came out okay. Sucker was heavy.

 

[craiger75]

Great share—and inspiring to see you turn that place into such a nice little sanctuary.

 

[ctandc72]

Great share—and inspiring to see you turn that place into such a nice little sanctuary.

Thanks. Lots of things I need to catch up on. The last month, it's rained more than I remember in a long time. So it's hard to find time outside of work and everything else where it's dry enough to get any landscaping done. The other day, got the tractor up and running, getting ready to move some stuff around and get some things done....POP..........tube in one of the front tires blew.

The tractor was essentially a gift from the FIL - he bought it 30+ years ago. It's still wearing the same tires. Just with vehicle maintenance, fixing this, fixing that - plus work - I just need to focus on one thing at a time and start getting things done.

 

[craiger75]

Thanks. Lots of things I need to catch up on. The last month, it's rained more than I remember in a long time. So it's hard to find time outside of work and everything else where it's dry enough to get any landscaping done. The other day, got the tractor up and running, getting ready to move some stuff around and get some things done....POP..........tube in one of the front tires blew.

The tractor was essentially a gift from the FIL - he bought it 30+ years ago. It's still wearing the same tires. Just with vehicle maintenance, fixing this, fixing that - plus work - I just need to focus on one thing at a time and start getting things done.

Here (Wisconsin) it’s the opposite—very dry and hot summer, 2nd in a row. I don’t have nearly as much project work at the moment as you do, but I can relate to the mental approach of “one thing at a time”—it’s the best way to look at life in general. I’m drinking coffee this morning browsing through all of the garage build & project info here getting the inspiration I need to start to think about building a small garage with chicken coop on the backside, tied into a raised-bed garden that also needs to be planned and built. It will be a project likely to start next spring. It’s 75% targeted toward my wife’s goals, 25% mine (I don’t need any more space to store my junk). Getting all of the ideas sorted out by looking at what guys like you have done. Good stuff.

 

[ctandc72]

Here (Wisconsin) it’s the opposite—very dry and hot summer, 2nd in a row. I don’t have nearly as much project work at the moment as you do, but I can relate to the mental approach of “one thing at a time”—it’s the best way to look at life in general. I’m drinking coffee this morning browsing through all of the garage build & project info here getting the inspiration I need to start to think about building a small garage with chicken coop on the backside, tied into a raised-bed garden that also needs to be planned and built. It will be a project likely to start next spring. It’s 75% targeted toward my wife’s goals, 25% mine (I don’t need any more space to store my junk). Getting all of the ideas sorted out by looking at what guys like you have done. Good stuff.

A lot of my project work is because I haven't kept up with things I should have. I spent more than a few hours in the shop today just cleaning it out, getting rid of ****, boxing up parts I know other people can use - fighting the urge to just toss it, I know hard it can be to find some of these seemingly 'small' parts. Hope to finish that in the morning, then shocks / struts on one car, replace a cracked exhaust manifold and an oil change - then tear into a carb tomorrow or after work early this coming week.

Something about having a clean, organized and orderly shop makes starting and getting things done easier for me. Spent some time weed eating as well.

 

[ctandc72]

Going back through some pictures



'95 Bronco I redid a while back for son. He daily drove it, drove it all over, out of state etc. Market for these things just blew up. He's going back on the road and neither of us wanted to see it sit, and he didn't trust being able to leave it parked on the street / surface lots. 6" lift and 35's - it didn't fit in most parking garages. This is the day I first backed it out of the shop after 6 months of work.



This is the 5.0 I went through and dropped in it.

Went through every wiring harness - LITERALLY - all of the suspension, interior , engine, etc. It had ZERO rust. Even swapped to a nice dash and went through every bit of the interior / dash wiring harness

Went from this :



To this:

 

[ctandc72]

This is another ongoing 'project'. FIL essentially dropped this off when he moved and had no place to keep it.
He bought it 30+ years ago. I went through the fuel lines, tank, changed oil that was more like chocolate pudding than oil, replaced a few busted hydraulic hoses, got in running / working. Fired it up a couple of weeks ago to move a spare front axle / suspension I have from a Bronco I tore down, and a tube on one of the horrible front tires let go. So need to get to that too.




The wife's 84 GMC k1500 shorty as well. Solid truck - needs some rocker work, but otherwise solid. The Green Bronco beside got pulled apart, body off frame and most parted out.

It's nice to see I actually DID get some things done now and again.

 

[ctandc72]

So got the shop cleaned and organized - for now. 24x24. Previous owner built it. It was bare when we moved in. Cabinets are all essentially full - got them via Craigslist a few years ago, a lot of the metal cabinets and add on toolboxes came from my FIL when he moved out of the house my wife grew up in. Detached shop - 40 years. Yeah that was interesting....

Compared to most shops around here - it ain't much, but it works for me. Before retirement I hope to build a bigger shop behind the current shop with taller walls so I can finally install a lift.







It also serves as garage parking for my wife's daily driver '13 SS Camaro ragtop - so the parking area needs to stay clear. It's also where all the work on all the vehicles happens.

I managed to essentially restore a '95 Bronco in this shop a couple of years ago. You make do with what you have. The other garage is essentially the same size, but right now one side is full of furniture, a disassembled antique pool table (the 'plan' is to turn the current shop into a gameroom / hangout once the big shop gets built), a 70s Pargo Golf cart that a friend gave me and I got working for my wife, my zero turn mower, push mower etc etc.

The 12K BTU window AC that is 20+ years old, combined with a shop fan does okay keeping temp down enough to work during VA Spring / Summer, although it has struggled lately. Will have to address that eventually as well.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Nice garage organization. I don’t see any oil stash though every car guy needs an oil stash haha . Love the old gray Craftsman stack.

 

[ctandc72]

Nice garage organization. I don’t see any oil stash though every car guy needs an oil stash haha . Love the old gray Craftsman stack.

It's not in the picture. The 1st picture, off to right side is my compressor, next to that is an old kitchen cabinet unit I pulled out when I remodeled our kitchen a while back and put a 3/4" plywood top on it. Oil, ATF, coolant, oil filter wrenches, hoses, pumps, siphons, gear oil etc.

 

[metalhead140]

Looks like an awesome place to live!

 

[ctandc72]

Looks like an awesome place to live!

Thanks - we like it.

 

[ctandc72]

So this was the kitchen when we bought the place 5 years ago.



Other than removing wallpaper border, priming / painting trim it stayed that way for a while. The open doorway in the back left, goes into a room - that we really haven't figured out yet. It's not a dining room, that's off the left. My decided to turn it into a 'keeping' room with large appliances, some furniture pieces etc. We decided that there was no real need for that doorway, and more room for the kitchen is more room.

So I closed the doorway in. Got cabinets / got them installed and added the island.



Countertops installed, more cabinet, our fridge back in place and me trying to figure out everything to install the fancy Italian oven and hood my wife bought.



Had to move some electrical around. But eventually got it work out. The floor is great - I definitely didn't do that. The pattern those guys did? I would have driven myself crazy. Ceramic that literally looks like hardwood.

Wife wanted custom tile back splash behind the oven, and tile up on the kitchen walls around the counter tops etc. She's got the taste in the family - so she picked everything out and I tried my hand at tile.



Got the oven installed. Got to admit, this thing is awesome. After everything we went through actually getting the damn thing it better be.



My wife picked out, ordered etc all the appliances. She orders this oven. (She cooks a lot and loves to cook). So she finds it at a major appliance retailer - not a big box store. They are the only place that has one in stock. It finally shows up (this is in 2020, these pics of the kitchen work were from '21). The delivery guys unload it in the detached garage, as we're still gathering everything to get this kitchen done. I of course want her to make SURE they are delivering what she wanted / ordered. So before the delivery guys leave, we unbox it.

The outside of the box has all the right part numbers / model / color etc. The oven inside the box? Not so much. Wrong color. They leave it, note all this in their system, call the warehouse etc. My says she handle it - okay. Weeks pass. Finally she asks for my help (she's WAY TOO NICE most times). Sends me all the email exchanges with the company. Did I mention the same company sent a refrigerator to us after this?

NOTE: We didn't order a refrigerator - from them or anyone else.

So I get involved. I find that people like email because they can put you off indefinitely. I find a phone number. I make a few 'exploratory' calls and get a hold of a VP of something or other. We have a talk. Turns out he's ex-Army too. We have some things in common. I tell him the entire, by this time LONG saga of the Italian oven my wife bought than apparently she can't get. He especially liked the part where they delivered us a $5K appliance we didn't even order and I had to literally argue with the delivery guys that they were not leaving something we didn't order / purchase at my house. He gets my info and asks for a day.

Bright and early the next morning he calls my office. There is ONE of these ovens (model/size/color) that he can find in the country. Verona says 18 months minimum if we have to wait on another from the manufacturer. He said it was on the way to us and would likely be on a truck that day. He said if the oven didn't show up the following day to call him directly. It showed up.

Apparently there is a better quality of delivery driver / logistics people that show up to solve issues. These guys were great. I told them the entire story and they proceeded to tell me some CRAZY stories about mistakes because - get this - apparently they replaced the warehouse software / program and also the entire warehouse inventory / logistics setup (dozens of them across the country) at the same time and they hired in people to do it. Those contractors did it - then left. Then COVID happened. The system was never right. These guys had worked for this company for a long time. They said it was so bad now, they would verify what got loaded on their truck, versus what was on their paperwork AND they'd call the customer to verify what they were expecting. The DELIVERY drivers were doing this. Fun part? Their company was a separate company that just does the delivery / logistics for the appliance reseller.

But hey the stove is bad ***. And my wife even customized it by changing the control knobs.



Adventures in learning to tile V2

 

[ctandc72]

I got better as I went. My wife is happy with it, so that's all that matter to me.

After way too much time cleaning up grout and everything else, the wife hit up the restaurant supply store and got some shelves and other things she wanted, lights etc - I finally got them installed



I can see every imperfection in the work I did. Still a few things in here I went back and corrected etc. My wife has a saying 'imperfectly perfect'. She might be just saying that to make me feel better. But she did marry me, so maybe imperfect is her thing LOL.

People are constantly asking my wife to recommend colors / decorate etc - she seems to see things others don't. More than a few times she would try to explain an idea and I would wonder how it would look. Now I just shut up and tell her to do her thing, I'm just the dumb hired help. She ain't been wrong yet. So one day we're driving and she notices a mailbox someone had built. It gives her an idea about replacing these stone pillars that bordered our driveway entrance. Big flag stones. The previous owner, who built the place, literally just cut open a back of quikrete and stacked these stones and used construction adhesive. No pictures of me using the tractor to demolish them. I still have all the stones. The amount of adhesive he used annoyed me so bad I stacked the stones where I can't easily see them. Did I mention the pillars were crooked as hell?

Again, her vision - so got some concrete (After digging up the old stuff) prepped the site, 4x4's and some cedar fence pickets.



Closed them in, stained them and topped them with some marble slabs my wife found and added some solar lights



They don't look level - but they are. I triple-checked everything. I hate when level doesn't look level.

 

[ctandc72]

Apologize for the bad grammar / typing. I tried my best to cut the tip of my right index off two weeks ago - typing without using it is an adventure.

 

[captain14]

So while the cabinets and appliances were out, what did you do for a functioning kitchen? The new setup looks great.

 

[ctandc72]

So while the cabinets and appliances were out, what did you do for a functioning kitchen? The new setup looks great.

Thanks. We like it.
I removed the over the stove full size microwave during the remodel - we used it on top of a table we had, along with one of those Ninja Air Fryer / cooker things. I had already redone the downstairs half bath - I cut a piece of butcher block my wife ordered, stained it and used it as the countertop and it had one of those really deep porcelain sinks that essentially sits on top of the vanity. So that served for a functioning sink (we used paper plates 99% of the time).

 

[ctandc72]

Pulled the '03 Mustang (V6) into the shop after work yesterday. It's going to serve temporary daily driver duty while my son he's back on the road playing ball. The previous owner - a grown man, well into his 40s - decided to 'customize' this thing for his high school / college age son. Don't get me wrong - I'm okay with the car and the price I paid. Zero rot, the paint is 8/10, the interior is mint, and everything works like it should. But apparently this guy is an "old school" hot rodder.

He cut the factory coil springs to give it a "nice stance" - his words. Fine, I figured I would replace the springs and struts / shocks since the OEM stuff would be shot from his "suspension mods". Not to mention the front tires I knew would need replacing from the stupid amount of negative camber because of the ghetto lowering job.

I also had to grab a replacement LH exhaust manifold from the local junkyard. It's got a small crack. Only leaks on cold start, within a minute or so - it expands - no leak. Common on these cars. Fine. He met me at neutral location with the car near his house - and WALKED home after I bought it. Seriously man? I always figure the common problems on used vehicles will need fixed.

Still happy with the deal and car. It's clean enough I may end up making it LS or Coyote Swap fodder when my son is done with it.

It's so low right now, I had to drive it up on 2x4's to even get my low profile floor jack under it. It's got an oil leak (it's got 150K on it, I assumed it would have multiple oil leaks). It's not leaking enough to drip on the ground, just gathering on the bottom of the transmission (auto) bellhousing. We've had it 2 months, we've put maybe 500 miles on it. It's about a 1/2 quart low. Worst case it's the rear main. That would be a pain, but not hard. I hope it's not the rear main, because odds are I'd just burn a weekend pulling the engine (lots of room with the 3.8 in there compared to a 4.6) and replacing timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front seal, rear seal etc. Not expensive, not hard, but I know myself - I need to fight project creep here.

Went ahead and ordered a few things. New serpentine belt, new PCV valve and grommet (it's losing some oil there). Valve cover gaskets, new spark plugs etc. The front BMR coil springs should be here Thursday, I already have the rears, and I have KYB struts and shocks sitting in the shop already. So I'm just getting up on jack stands to get a look at it.

It's got red caliper covers on it. These things costs as much as lowering springs almost. Priorities I guess. Someone painted the calipers, they look newer. Ball joints, tie rods all look okay. But get this - when the guy cut the springs he spray painted just the OUTSIDE of the factory strut black. After that, I pulled it out of the shop and went inside. I'll attack the exhaust manifold tonight hopefully.

Obligatory picture

 

[Graham08]

The kitchen is impressive! The Japanese refer to perfectly imperfect as "Wabi Sabi". I'm going to get the learning to tile experience before too long with my project.

 

[ctandc72]

The kitchen is impressive! The Japanese refer to perfectly imperfect as "Wabi Sabi". I'm going to get the learning to tile experience before too long with my project.

Thanks. I mentioned 'wabi sabi' to my wife.

While I'm waiting on parts for the '03 Mustang, I put in a few hours after work staining the ceiling on our recently built front porch addition. I've tried brush, foam, a 'special' staining pad on an extension pole, and a staining pad on handle type deal. This is very thin oil based stain. Same color as our shutters and other projects we've done.

I have decided that their is no clean, easy way to do this ceiling.

 

[littlebean]

house (and everything else) looks great

 

[ctandc72]

house (and everything else) looks great

Thanks - it's still a work in progress.

 

[ctandc72]

The wife is a convertible person. Has been since before I met her (6 years). She had a little Lexus hardtop convertible when we met. Damn that thing was loud inside, even with the top up. Anyway, I ended up with a new '17 V6 / 6spd Mustang while we were dating. Needed a new daily driver after someone decided to pull out in front of me. We drove that car down to FL for a weekend music festival, and she couldn't get over how comfortable it was for a long drive. So when we got back, I was browsing used Mustang convertibles, found one down the road - wanted her to drive it to make sure she liked it - she did.

Ended up finding a used '17 Mustang EB 2.3 convertible. That was her daily for 3-4 years. She doesn't even drive that much to be honest. She worked from home a lot BEFORE all the COVID stuff went down. Now she goes into the office twice a week normally. Honestly I wish she went into the office more, as we converted a spare bedroom into her office, and I swear she ends up working MORE hours being her office is at home, than if she went into the office everyday. Then she saw a new Bronco, drove one finally, ordered one 12/21, got it 5/22 and just recently sold it. It was a 2dr, even with the addition of the soft top I installed, it was a struggle for her to get the top up and down by herself. Being able to just hop in, put the top down and go for a ride - it's a big relief valve for her from work.

Randomly found this, when my wife spotted a picture of it on my laptop when I was looking at random convertibles to replace the Bronco as her daily driver





2013 Camaro SS. Random weirdness - we got to let her test drive it at the dealer. As she's adjusting the seat / mirrors before the test drive, I'm looking through the glovebox. Find the original window sticker, manuals, and a registration from the previous owner. I read the name out loud - and my wife turns and gives me a WEIRD look. "Read that name again."

Turns out my wife knows the woman who owned / drove this car for the last 7 years. She's talked to her about the car. Anyway '22 Bronco sold, picked this up after some back and forth at the dealer. It was nice knowing about the RH front fender and hood that was replaced / repaired from a small encounter with a small deer the previous owner had (and told my wife about) Accident was never reported either LOL. Body shop did a decent job.

This car has every factory option available it appears from '13. The original owner but the most expensive Borla stainless cat back exhaust on it, and a K&N 'cold' air intake. That's the only mods. Then it was traded, then it looks like a dealer bought it and I'm guessing some exec / mgr / owner drove it and put some miles on it, before the previous owner bought it. It had 25K on it when she bought it. 7 years and she put on @ 50k miles. It has 78K on it now. Runs drives great, wife loves it (that's what really matters). First thing I did was order a SCTx4 tuner just to turn off the AFM that cuts fuel to certain cylinders on the 6.2 engine (Gotta love CAFE). MUCH BETTER.

It's also got a WEIRD problem with the passenger door / handle / lock going on. After doing my normal 3 day subscription (ACDelco / Motorcraft Service etc) to save a bunch of the OEM shop manual to PDF, I found an internal tech bulletin about the door issue. So I ordered a new door cable ($25). Haven't gotten to it yet. I think it's the factory adjustment on the clip that holds the lock and interacts with the cable. Lock the doors. Unlock the doors. Door will not open with inside door handle (it's not broken). Use the outside latch, on the 2nd/3rd try door opens fine - every time. After that - UNTIL the door is locked again - door opens normally from inside / outside handles.

It's also got a very slight water leak, only when it sits in HEAVY rain. It does not leak into the interior that I can find, just a small trickle out of what's called the water management bag for the top. It trickles into the truck, goes down into the spare tire well (where the battery is installed) - there's already a grommet / drain for the battery from the factory, I modified that for now. It will rarely be parked outside, and it didn't show any leakage when driving in hard rain at all - just parked. I did a bunch of research on these convertibles before we bought it. I've got the internal GM docs on repairing any leaks if it comes to that.

Last night my FIL dropped off his '08 Silverado. 4.8 / 4x4. 200K miles or somewhere around there. The truck is a sentimental thing to him I think (It was his sister's husband's truck - who passed years ago). I have a feeling it'll end up at our place for good before too long. Listen my Father in Law is a GREAT GUY. But when it comes to machine / vehicle maintenance?

Put it this way - the 80s JD 750 Tractor he gave me? The first time I picked it up, just to borrow it, I mentioned I'd change the oil in it and do some maintenance while I had it. He gives me a weird look. Turns out the oil had never been changed. He's had it for 30+ years. Granted it's rarely used - but still.

The silverado runs great.....even better since I'm betting it's on the original spark plugs. I replaced / reset a bad airbag sensor a while back for him (Shop wanted to charge something like $500). The part was cheap and took me 30 minutes - just had to use my scanner to find which sensor and reset the code. But he mentioned the air conditioning isn't blowing cold anymore. So he's paying for me to replace my AC gauges and get another vacuum pump / dye kit. I also noticed the RF wheel is making some noise. Betting it's the hub / wheel bearing. It was riding really rough too - he just put tires on it. Almost 50psi in every tire. That'll do it. Then I noticed him listening to the radio and I could barely hear it. Turns out ONE speaker works...so I ordered him some door speakers.

Front springs for the 03 Mustang should be here today. And I still need to finish staining the front porch. Never ends.

 

[ctandc72]

Got a few minutes - put the scanner on the Silverado. Looks like one up the upstream O2 sensors is bad (last 220k miles) couple of random misfire codes. Ordered plugs, wires, air filter, oil filter, and an O2 sensor. Then I need to order some more AC gauges - might even spring for a leak detector and vacuum pump - so I can troubleshoot his AC - need to get time to check that RF wheel bearing....a new hub is less than $100 so shouldn't be horrible. Luckily truck isn't rusted so I hopefully won't have to fight it too much.

 

[runit]

looking forward to more updates!

 

[ctandc72]

Got the '03 Mustang pulled into the shop late last night



Lowering vehicles a bit - fine. But cutting springs, leaving worn out OEM struts / shocks on - low enough I need to drive the thing up on 2x4's to get my jack under it is too much.



LF came apart without a lot of drama. Underside is actually pretty clean.



New BMR spring / old cut worn out spring. The front struts were BLOWN. Compress them, no rebound. Lovely



KYB strut and new spring installed. I opted to leave the lower isolator out. They were in rough shape. Upper was okay. I went with Fox Body Mustang struts - since they are identical to SN95 struts just a bit shorter. In fact, some of the suspension parts suppliers actually recommend going with Fox Body struts on lowered SN95s.



This is the result of the stupid amount of negative camber from the shortcut lowering job. I figured as much. Some people shouldn't be allowed to work on cars.

Both side fronts are done. Rears are done. Going back out in a bit to replace the LH exhaust manifold which has a crack in it. Then change the oil, need to pick up a new drain plug / gasket, it's got a leak from there, and there seems to be a leak from somewhere else. It doesn't look to be the rear main seal - the access hole for the torque converter was dry. There doesn't seem to be oil coming down from the seal area. I've got new valve cover gaskets to put on as well.

 

[ctandc72]

Wrapped up the suspension, got the LH exhaust manifold replaced, spark plugs swapped out, cleaned the throttle body - still need to do the IAC valve, oil change. Test drive went well. Much improved ride and handling, no massive negative camber either.

 

[ctandc72]

So after randomly ending up with the 03 V6 Mustang for a temp DD for my son, I ran across this last month:



I always loved that Comp Orange color. Anyway, an ad on FB marketplace randomly popped up one day. The ad? A cell phone picture of one of those PRINTED flyers with a couple pics of the car - you know the kind where there are tear offs to get their phone number?

PO owned it for 15 years. Health issues forced the sale - he couldn't drive anymore. He never modified anything, but the original owner who bought it did. It had a Vortec SC on it at one time. (Oil feed line to the pan that's now blocked off). Bassani mid length headers, Bassani catted x pipe and Bassani cat back. Sounds epic.

Fun fact - it had 96k on it when I bought it. Turns out it has 4.10 gears in it. They were in there when the PO bought it (he still had a print out of the carfax when he bought it in '08). He never had it corrected. I'm guessing when the original owner removed the Vortec SC, he also removed the tune correcting for the gears. PO bought it with 50k on it. So actually it had @ 85K on it when I bought it.

I replaced the Steeda Tri Ax and pro 5.0 stick with a MGW with the 'comfort' handle - now I can scoot the seat back where I'm comfortable and still bang gears without leaning forward or reaching. Swapped out the fluid in the TR3650 while I was there.

Only thing I've done so far is replace ball joints, out tie rods and front brake calipers, rotors, pads and bled / flushed the system - and an oil change. Oh yeah - added a Carplay radio. And a new clutch cable. **** - I guess I've done more than I thought.

Did I mention it had EVERY factory option including the MACH 1000 stereo system - that works???



I'm going to pull it all out and find someone who can put it to use. I need trunk space.

Short term plans for the '04, prep and paint the front and rear bumpers, maybe some 17x9 Bullitts with a square 275/40/17 setup, and drive it as I get other projects done.

Parts started rolling in for FIL's '08 Silverado. Plugs, wires, air filter, oil changes, O2 sensor (code), and just ordered a RF hub. That 4.8 has 220K, but actually runs good. I have a feeling it'll end up "parked at my place" like the tractor - so mine as well get it straight now.

Need to pick up another set of AC gauges and a vacuum pump so I can get his AC straight. Also got him some speakers, since he has ONE working speaker right now.

And then of course I STILL need to rebuild the Edelbrock 1407 for the wife's '85 GMC so I can get that thing registered and moving under it's own power again since I sold the '12 F150.

 

[ctandc72]

Spent two hours in the living room pre-assembling the wiring harness for the Carplay upgrade I am doing to my wife’s 2013 Camaro SS. Will be installing the iDatalink dash kit and iDatalink Maestro plus a JVC wireless CarPlay stereo. This will allow me to retain all the options linked to the crappy GM MyLink or whatever they call it, add real time gauges, retain steering wheel controls etc.

 

[ctandc72]

Last night I needed to make a Harbor Freight run after work. My wife considers a Harbor Freight trip like a 'date' night (her words) - she loves tools. Yeah I got lucky. Hell, one year on Valentine's day I bought her a tool box cart for her home office - she LOVES that thing.

I needed to pick of some AC gauges, a can tap, a vacuum pump and some odds and ends (it IS harbor freight). Of course they were out of AC gauges. Supposed to get some in late this afternoon when the truck comes. So got home, decided to wrap up the harness for the Carplay receiver, iDatalink dash kit and Maestro install for my wife's '13 SS Camaro.





I know a lot of people don't like the male / female crimp on connectors. I really like them for large / intricate stereo harnesses. Lets me test the operation of everything, easily unplug, plug back up individual wires when routing / placing the harness in the dash etc. When testing is good and routing is solid, I wrap the entire harness in cloth harness tape. These aren't high voltage, stressed or exposed connections - so that's they way I do it.

I've done a bunch of installs, never had an issue yet. I actually kind of like wiring harness work, when it's not performed laying on my back tucked under a dash or sitting inside an engine bay. To me it's kind of oddly relaxing. I rewired my share of factory GM TPI and LSx and other harnesses to integrate into swap vehicles in the past. As long as you have the actual factory Electrical manuals, it's just details and figuring out what you need vs what you don't. Again, not laying my big *** inside a car with my head trying to tuck under the dash while trying to fit my arms so I can reach something.

Hope to get it installed tonight. The setup seems complicated, but it's the best solution for the '13 Camaro. Adds better sound to the decent Boston amp OEM speakers / amps, adds Carplay, and adds vehicle gauges and data that currently I can't display without using my scanner or a 3rd party program.

 

[ctandc72]

Of course when we went to Harbor Freight on Tuesday, they didn't have the AC gauges I needed. They did tell me a truck would be coming in Wednesday and they were supposed to get 30 or so sets of them. Okay. Then I got a 25% coupon in my email so that works. Went there after work yesterday. Truck was there, but wasn't unloaded yet. I'll try again after work today.

Got a late start, but decided to try and get the new stereo setup installed. Ended up having to disassemble the driver's a-pillar trim and another piece to cleanly route the new GPS (for wireless Carplay) and the new microphone. That went fine. Tested, everything was working.



Lots of wires. Surprisingly there is a good amount of room in this dash.



Got it installed - but left it here. I want to receiver to sit flush with the new dash piece. The mounting brackets have a huge range of adjustment (depth and tilt) so after work I'll pop it back out and adjust the brackets. Sound is a TON better than the factory stereo - the factory Amps / speakers sound A LOT better with this setup.



The gauges and being able to see TPMS values etc on a button push is a nice side benefit too.

 

[ctandc72]

A couple weird things with the iDatalink install. Everything works great. The added, customizable gauges? Great. Being able to see TPMS values? Good. But the OEM rear camera is weird. All the wiring is correct - you engage Reverse, the right screen comes up - but you have to hit a button to get the camera to display - which it does. Spoke with Crutchfield support - shout out to those guys - live, actual human being on the phone at 10am on a Saturday? All the options were set correctly, I'd already tried a factory reset of the JVC receiver - within 10 minutes he's like "Sounds like an issue with the receiver, we can send another out right now."

Decided to hold on that. I'm waiting on an additional powered antenna adapter that should arrive tonight. Since I have to pull it out to install that, I'm going to to double-check all wiring and reflash the firmware on the idatalink Maestro.

This morning started knocking things out on my FIL's '08 Silverado. 4.8. 220K. Installed new plugs and AC Delco wires. I am almost positive that the plugs and wires on it were OEM. Can't believe it ran - and it ran pretty good. That #8 plug was a *****. Not so much the plug itself as the wire with the OEM metal heat shield. Even laying in the engine bay, couldn't get leverage or the room to get that plug loose. I have spark plug wire pliers somewhere - couldn't find 'em. Said screw it, took 5 minutes and removed the RH wheel well liner. That made that entire side of plugs ridiculously easy.

Got codes for a bad Bank 1 sensor 1 O2 sensor. Got the OEM sensor out - put the new one in - and yeah so male plugs don't normally plug into male harnesses. Turns out I ordered a downstream sensor instead of a upstream. Lovely. Ordered the correct sensor, it'll be here tomorrow.

So hopefully tomorrow I'll knock out the O2 sensor, the oil change and start on the RH hub. Also noticed the CV is leaking on the LH side. He JUST paid money to a local shop for brand new tires, and they didn't bother to mention the grease being slung everywhere by the split boot??

 

[ctandc72]

Also ordered a new AC / heat window unit for the shop. Looked at mini splits, but the current 12K BTU window unit has done a great job until recently. Granted it is over 20 years old. My wife gets reward 'points' through work which she can swap dollar for dollar for gift cards so it cost us nothing.

Ordered a 18K BTU LG window unit. Gets here Tuesday.

 

[ctandc72]

Love it - the minute I decide to replace the aging AC unit in my shop, the forecast is for much less humidity and cooler temps. LOL. Ordered tractor tires for the front. I am totally looking forward to wrestling those things on and off with tire irons.

 

[ctandc72]

At least I got a few things done in the shop yesterday evening.

Pulled the radio and entire harness back out of the wife's Camaro. Everything looked like it was still wired up fine and was getting ready to flash Maestro module again, when I bumped the harness and the Reverse wire connection came apart. WTF? I used these insulated, crimped on terminals I've used before. Same brand. Apparently the most recent batch of them are somehow different and total ****. Checked all the connections, several were iffy. Well that'll teach me.

Pulled it all back apart, untaped the entire harness, cut and redid all the connections with the soldered / heat shrinked connectors I've used in the past. Tape it all back up, tested before final install and everything works perfectly. Got everything installed, still good to go.

Got my FIL's Silverado pulled back in the shop, swapped out the new O2 sensor for the correct sensor. Fired up the truck. All the misfire and O2 sensor codes are now gone. It's still throwing a P0449 'Evap Solenoid circuit'. I'll check that later this week. Got the oil changed. Truck runs great. Went to swap out the air filter. Apparently somewhere along the line someone swapped in a stock replacement K&N filter. It was FILTHY. I swapped in a new paper filter, I'll clean, and oil the K&N - I'm not a big fan of oiled air filters. Need to replace the RF hub and deal with the AC and install the speakers I got him.

Went out to meet a guy to buy a part for my '04 GT. Rant time.

It's an Accufab throttle body and C&L plenum. Seems to be in good shape. So the guy had posted several ads on FB marketplace with a bunch of 99-04 Mustang parts. I think he works or has access to a place that parts them out. Anyway, nice enough guy. Get there, we talk cars for a few minutes. He had advertised (turns out he had SEVERAL different ads with these parts listed) the two parts in question together for $170 SHIPPED. It was already in a box, wrapped up etc. I offered him $160 - since I know it would cost AT LEAST $10 to ship. I SHOW him HIS ad on my phone where it says $170 SHIPPED. He immediately agrees. Heck, I even had to go in the store we met at and get change. He never says a word.

As I'm driving home, he messages me through FB "The base price was $175, shipping was extra. I don't know if that was some last minute lowball technique. Enjoy your deal buddy!" WTF? I literally keyword search FB marketplace, find HIS exact ad with the exact parts and it says $170 SHIPPED. I try to send him a screenshot of that ad and tell him that I will gladly send him $15 via Paypal. $15 ain't worth hard feelings etc.

He blocked me on Facebook. WTF? I don't know why but it just pissed me off. He could have said "No, I won't take $160, it's $175." In person. Sure I could have shown him his AD - apparently he had posted it so many times, with so many other parts, he couldn't keep track of the price - but he responds AFTER he takes the cash in person and blocks me?

People are weird.

Oh, and my new window AC unit shows up. I had checked the specs and measurements compared to my old one, so I'm still pretty sure it'll work just fine, but apparently it's a bit longer than my current unit and apparently rather heavy. Wife calls while I'm driving (to meet the guy with the Mustang parts) and says the Fedex guy just essentially left the thing in our driveway. WTF? Granted even my son couldn't pick it up by himself either - but just unload it in the gravel drive by the house? My son grabbed the appliance hand truck from the shop and got it moved into the shop at least. I mostly unboxed it for the room, I'll take a look after work tonight and hopefully get it installed in the next few days.