SilverJimmy
Well-known member
On that coil pack diag have you ever tried using a thermal imager? If all the coils are firing they all should be the same temperature.
Above 1200 Sq/FT My new garage build! 30x50 !
- Thread starter Xti04
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
I had not thought of that. And honestly for all the amazing tools I own an infrared thermometer is one I have never purchased. Used to used them at work on exhaust manifolds for trucks to make sure each cylinder was contributing equally. That is a good thoight and there will be one going in my cart soon. Thanks for helping spend what little money I have!
Today was about as unproductive a day as I could have but in a good way. I spent thebafternoon building a wooden clock with my kid and then a trip to home depot, Harbor Freight and Aldi. He did an oil change on an Aveo for me only to find out the pan is stripped, so some repair tools will need to be grabbed to take care of that. Not sure I have a heli coil that size and I prefer time serts for oil pans.
Did a bunch of printing yesterday and made some good progress on my secondary wrench drawer.
went from this 
To this and the almost final
Still have a few more to get in here but getting really close. Bambu is having a huge black friday sale so I am gonna load up on filaments and buy some larger hot ends to experiment with. Also finally broke down and bought the rest of the mc wire to finish wiring up the shop. Have one last wall to wire up and some outside lighting to get installed. Looking forward to knocking those projects off the list. I also grabbed some boards to add some hanging wall storage. Tired of stuff on the floor. I didnt get to pick up the Jeep tub today due to scheduling conflicts so hoping to grab it tomorrow night after work. Raptor liner ordered and ready to get this stuff done.
Did a bunch of printing yesterday and made some good progress on my secondary wrench drawer.
went from this To this and the almost final
Still have a few more to get in here but getting really close. Bambu is having a huge black friday sale so I am gonna load up on filaments and buy some larger hot ends to experiment with. Also finally broke down and bought the rest of the mc wire to finish wiring up the shop. Have one last wall to wire up and some outside lighting to get installed. Looking forward to knocking those projects off the list. I also grabbed some boards to add some hanging wall storage. Tired of stuff on the floor. I didnt get to pick up the Jeep tub today due to scheduling conflicts so hoping to grab it tomorrow night after work. Raptor liner ordered and ready to get this stuff done.
Meh only took 13 months to totally rebuild this blower! After a complete new top end, I found out my issue was a sheared key for the blower fan. With replacement finally in my hands this morning I was able to get it back together 
in place reassembled and with some fresh gas she fired right up. Went out and attacked some leaves on the driveway just to verify repair and clear the exhaust of old fuel. Dove into an axle replacement for a friend who was in town from NC. Piece of tire tread took out his outer cv boot. Wrapped that up before 8 and then dove into pulling door panels in the aveo to replace an interior door handle and a rear window regulator. Only 2 more cars to get done today and hoping to pick up my tub and a new to me spring compressor this evening if I can get guy to meet me halfway
in place reassembled and with some fresh gas she fired right up. Went out and attacked some leaves on the driveway just to verify repair and clear the exhaust of old fuel. Dove into an axle replacement for a friend who was in town from NC. Piece of tire tread took out his outer cv boot. Wrapped that up before 8 and then dove into pulling door panels in the aveo to replace an interior door handle and a rear window regulator. Only 2 more cars to get done today and hoping to pick up my tub and a new to me spring compressor this evening if I can get guy to meet me halfwayBeen a while! I have been busy making improvements to the shop, working like crazy, new tools and equipment and attempting to make some storage that works for me. First up was adding some wood to be able to screw to so I could get a few items up and off the floor. Before doing that, I cleared out behind the metal I added to the walls and slid some sheet foam into the voids. With the voids filled, I gave my sone the torch and let him burn some 2x6s for me. 
after all the torch work we wire brushed the wood and hit it with some boiled linseed oil. 
got the first few pieces up on the wall and then mounted a lower piece. With those mountings setup I was finally able to get my Branick spring compressor I picked up off the floor and out of the way. This was a sweet deal for 100 bucks. Some time with a wire brush and a scuff pad got it cleaned up and ready for service 
I have yet to use it but the last 2 shops I worked in had this same model and its a fantastic tool.
after all the torch work we wire brushed the wood and hit it with some boiled linseed oil. got the first few pieces up on the wall and then mounted a lower piece. With those mountings setup I was finally able to get my Branick spring compressor I picked up off the floor and out of the way. This was a sweet deal for 100 bucks. Some time with a wire brush and a scuff pad got it cleaned up and ready for service I have yet to use it but the last 2 shops I worked in had this same model and its a fantastic tool.Attachments
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Good to see you back posting. Happy New Year!
I've always got my eye out for an inexpensive Branick like that, so far they are either too far away or I'm 20min late!
I've always got my eye out for an inexpensive Branick like that, so far they are either too far away or I'm 20min late!
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice score on the strut compressor. You stole that Branick 7600 strut compressor. I paid full price for mine and absolutely love it each time I use it. I opted not to permanently mount mine on the wall as I didn't want to give up the real estate for something that gets used infrequently, so I fabricated a cart that is on wheels in which I mounted mine to. I then can easily roll it into place when needed and then back out of the way when not.
Is this my first you **** deal?
I saw your cart Mike a while back ,but not having the space to hide it elsewhere led to this wall mounting. Its tucked off to the side and out of the way enough that it shouldnt bother anything. I found that I can keep my pole jack inside the compressor to take up just bit less floor space.
With the sotrage roughly setup,November was a pretty busy month car wise. Lots of boring jobs in and out of the shop and with Thanksgiving looming I had to start pulling down Christmas decor for the wife. This will be my time to start getting the loft reorganized and setup for winter. Boat stuff is still all over the place up there as my season ended rather abruptly.
Finally got the Jeep body over and onto my lift after rolling it off the trailer with some pvc pipe. Found a couple of rust spots I have to take care of
this one is in a body mount, and it wraps around into the side rail 
After digging on this piece and hitting it with the wire wheel to expose all the rust I started making a game plan. I have the original tub ready to bring home, so the plan is to cit out this damaged area and graft in the piece from the wrecked body. Thay takes care of one discrepancy between this tub and the original. The second is that I have to plug a large hole in the firewall that my original tub didnt have. So I made a CAD cutout and traced that onto some 18 ga sheet. Got it cut out and fit pretty well but no way to secure it yet.....
Finally got the Jeep body over and onto my lift after rolling it off the trailer with some pvc pipe. Found a couple of rust spots I have to take care of
this one is in a body mount, and it wraps around into the side rail After digging on this piece and hitting it with the wire wheel to expose all the rust I started making a game plan. I have the original tub ready to bring home, so the plan is to cit out this damaged area and graft in the piece from the wrecked body. Thay takes care of one discrepancy between this tub and the original. The second is that I have to plug a large hole in the firewall that my original tub didnt have. So I made a CAD cutout and traced that onto some 18 ga sheet. Got it cut out and fit pretty well but no way to secure it yet.....
Attachments
Black Friday got here and sweet deals were picked up! I ordered a mig welder and a new tig welder lead from Eastwood. As much as I would love to have a new Miller or a Lincoln, the budget was tight and there werent any deals to be had for a Black Friday deal on a Miller or a Lincoln unit. I got the Eastwood 180 mig with a spool gun so I could do aluminum as well. 
Well a mig welder isnt any good without gas, so I went to my local gas supply and bought a tank of argon/ co2 for waaayy less than local airgas wanted. So with a tank in hand , I headed home to get my new welder situated.
This was the cart we threw together for the tig setup years ago. It was mostly made of scrap we had lying around our shop at the time. I grabbed some 1 inch angle and made a quick tray to hold my new welder. With a tray fabbed up I also got to practice weld some with the new welder.
It did pretty good and while Im most certainly not stackin dimes I was getting good penetration on my welds. 
With the welder setup on the cart, I could finally attack the Jeep. I got started tacking the filler plate into the firewall and then turned my kid loose tacking the plate in. 
He was enjoying the work. Gave him some scrap and let him go at it tacking parts together. Had a couple burn thru spots I went back and tacked closed. Still trying to get better as its been quite awhile since I have done any welding. I need to finish welding the plate from the inside and then knock down the welds and hit it with some seam sealer.
Well a mig welder isnt any good without gas, so I went to my local gas supply and bought a tank of argon/ co2 for waaayy less than local airgas wanted. So with a tank in hand , I headed home to get my new welder situated.
This was the cart we threw together for the tig setup years ago. It was mostly made of scrap we had lying around our shop at the time. I grabbed some 1 inch angle and made a quick tray to hold my new welder. With a tray fabbed up I also got to practice weld some with the new welder.
It did pretty good and while Im most certainly not stackin dimes I was getting good penetration on my welds. With the welder setup on the cart, I could finally attack the Jeep. I got started tacking the filler plate into the firewall and then turned my kid loose tacking the plate in. He was enjoying the work. Gave him some scrap and let him go at it tacking parts together. Had a couple burn thru spots I went back and tacked closed. Still trying to get better as its been quite awhile since I have done any welding. I need to finish welding the plate from the inside and then knock down the welds and hit it with some seam sealer.Some of my other Black Friday deals included several new shop lights from good ol Harbor Freight,and a bunch of new dewalt batteries as 1 of my oldest ones literally fell apart after 12 years of hard service. 
lowes had a deal on a 2 pack of 8 ah batteries so I grabbed those and then hot up Home depot for a 4 and 6 ah set with a free tool. Got the angle grinder to try out. Its been nice so far. When combined with a 6 or 8 ah battery it does great. Burns thru my 4 and 5 ah batteries pretty fast though. New batteries meant I needed more battery holder so a quick click and a set of new holders was sent to the printer. 
with those printed out, I was almost readyto install them onto the wall but another email of sweet deals popped up and stopped me from mounting these yet. Harbor Freight once again sensing my weakness sent me a sweet deal for another side cabinet for my tool box. For 299 it was too good to pass up. So with another cabinet on the way and some shop rearranging to do I held off on mounting the new stuff.
With Christmas just around the corner I turned my focus to pounding out some cars, this job was nice and the owner who "was gonna do it , but its cold outside" was glad he left it to me after I showed him the tools required to do it correctly. Inner tie rod end tool at work here
I also got to use my ball joint removal tool. I like how these make breaking the taper so easy. Got these control arms and tie rod ends knocked out in a couple of hours and saved this guy more time than he realizes rolling around in his driveway.
Our 3d printer has been busy his past month. With my walls insulated and my shop bar now at the correct height, I wanted some coasters because I hate the thought of water marks on my bar. 2 hours later we had some of these ready to go
Along with making coasters while glancing thru shop items on Bambu hand y app I saw these grinder holders and liked that solution far better than my repurposed french cleat.
3 of these were printed and now the grinders feel much more secure. 
lowes had a deal on a 2 pack of 8 ah batteries so I grabbed those and then hot up Home depot for a 4 and 6 ah set with a free tool. Got the angle grinder to try out. Its been nice so far. When combined with a 6 or 8 ah battery it does great. Burns thru my 4 and 5 ah batteries pretty fast though. New batteries meant I needed more battery holder so a quick click and a set of new holders was sent to the printer. with those printed out, I was almost readyto install them onto the wall but another email of sweet deals popped up and stopped me from mounting these yet. Harbor Freight once again sensing my weakness sent me a sweet deal for another side cabinet for my tool box. For 299 it was too good to pass up. So with another cabinet on the way and some shop rearranging to do I held off on mounting the new stuff.With Christmas just around the corner I turned my focus to pounding out some cars, this job was nice and the owner who "was gonna do it , but its cold outside" was glad he left it to me after I showed him the tools required to do it correctly. Inner tie rod end tool at work here
I also got to use my ball joint removal tool. I like how these make breaking the taper so easy. Got these control arms and tie rod ends knocked out in a couple of hours and saved this guy more time than he realizes rolling around in his driveway.
Our 3d printer has been busy his past month. With my walls insulated and my shop bar now at the correct height, I wanted some coasters because I hate the thought of water marks on my bar. 2 hours later we had some of these ready to go
Along with making coasters while glancing thru shop items on Bambu hand y app I saw these grinder holders and liked that solution far better than my repurposed french cleat.
3 of these were printed and now the grinders feel much more secure. With Christmas come and past, I have been working on finishing out the year in the shop. The days post Christmas were slammed with small jobs trying to squeeze them in before New Years. One of my last jobs of the year was a valve adjustment on a honda crv. Valve adjustments were one of the first tasks I was taught as a " boy" in the Honda shop I worked at in Texas. With the valve cover popped off and engine on TDC number 1 I immediately noticed some damage on the top end. 
The intake cam was dark from heat and looking at the sides of the bearing caps it appeared there was bearing material coming out from the caps. I pulled a cap and saw the worst case scenario
The cam caps are trashed along with the intake cam.
My initial thought is someone ran this thing waaaayyyy over on oil changes. Or ran it with no oil at all. With no major leaks the first one seems more plausible. Guy just bought this car used without an inspection. This was the first work I had done for him. With the cam cap torqued back to spec I went ahead and completed.the valve adjustment. I let him know what we were looking at to repair the car and he seemed kinda bummed its in such poor shape. Car only has 119k on it. Shame people cant take better care of such expensive items.
My last offical job of the year was using the parts shotgun.
Buddys Maserati has had an ABS light on for several months that an ABS wheel speed sensor didnt repair. I told him since I could watch it read and intermittently cut out I thought it was either in the wiring or the hub assembly. He declined paying 7500 for the yearly access to the Maserati tech network so I could have wiring info. He decided it was cheaper to throw parts at it than pay the fee for diagnostic info. So I installed a front wheel hub and low and behold took care of the issue! Felt good to fix it even though I was just throwing parts at it per his request. Not my typical way of going about repairs but in his mind its a win so I let him be happy.
The intake cam was dark from heat and looking at the sides of the bearing caps it appeared there was bearing material coming out from the caps. I pulled a cap and saw the worst case scenario
The cam caps are trashed along with the intake cam.My initial thought is someone ran this thing waaaayyyy over on oil changes. Or ran it with no oil at all. With no major leaks the first one seems more plausible. Guy just bought this car used without an inspection. This was the first work I had done for him. With the cam cap torqued back to spec I went ahead and completed.the valve adjustment. I let him know what we were looking at to repair the car and he seemed kinda bummed its in such poor shape. Car only has 119k on it. Shame people cant take better care of such expensive items.
My last offical job of the year was using the parts shotgun.
Buddys Maserati has had an ABS light on for several months that an ABS wheel speed sensor didnt repair. I told him since I could watch it read and intermittently cut out I thought it was either in the wiring or the hub assembly. He declined paying 7500 for the yearly access to the Maserati tech network so I could have wiring info. He decided it was cheaper to throw parts at it than pay the fee for diagnostic info. So I installed a front wheel hub and low and behold took care of the issue! Felt good to fix it even though I was just throwing parts at it per his request. Not my typical way of going about repairs but in his mind its a win so I let him be happy.
Attachments
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Keep us posted on how the conversation goes with the owner of the Honda. I'd be interested to see where you steer him for the long term fix.
Looks like you were able to quite a lot of work completed over the past week or so. Nice job.
Looks like you were able to quite a lot of work completed over the past week or so. Nice job.
Mike, my initial plan for the long term fix was a new or reman cylinder head and all new timing chain components as they are known to be affected by low oil levels. Never seen one of these heads this bad. That also led to the next concern for me which was main and rod bearings. The Honda 2.4 is a super tough engine and they can hold a ton of power on the bottom end, but if its damaged the bearings from low oil then a new head is a waste. So I think my suggestion would be an oil analysis, pull pan and check bearings and if they look ok ( I suspect they will engine is dead quiet and runs perfect) then replace head and timing chain components. Wont be the cheapest route but would give some piece of mind to the owner and to the guy working on it.
Thanks! Tools were all needed, so I was happy to grab them for a deal. One last tool I got was a new welding helmet. I got it from a girl I work with. She won it in a welding competition and I picked it up new in box for 30 dollars. Its auto darkening and has a grinding mode. My tool guy was selling these a few years ago and my buddy loved his so I grabbed one
My other black friday deals were some sweet bottles I picked up this past month.
This Old Forester is a really nice tasting bottle but quite a bit of proof at 132.4
I picked up this Evan Williams Single barrel as they used to be a Kentucky only bottle. I have another older bottle thats pretty good so this was a backup or a gift possibly. 
These were some of the other bottles I found at the store where I got the Evan Williams . Some hard to find bottles on that top shelf. Too bad they are charging secondary or better on them. Last couple bottles I got were in exchange for installing a front air dam on a Tahoe. The Blantons will be sold off , and the Weller is amazing.
And lastly was this Weller special reserve I grabbed for msrp. Havent opened it yet , but I hear its good.
Most of the fun in all the bourbon is the hunt. And for some reason the hunt is the part I am getting good at. Most of the stuff I buy goes to friends who cant find it, and the ones I keep for myself are either really tasty or hard to get ones I can treat my friends with.
Attachments
Old Forester is one of my personal favorites. Their 100 proof rye is a fantastic pour. I have a 1910 thats a double barreled bourbon that is excellent once the bottle opens up.
My collection blew up this yesr thanks to a guy I do work for. He loves to pay in hard to find bourbons so I take full advantage of that. Since he charges me secondary prices for them, I just mark every job up to match. More often than not he swongs by with some oddball quickie or a busted marker light I swap out in 15 minutes for a 50 dollar bottle. Its been a pretty good deal for me. The Blantons and other nice bottles that are hard to come by thay Im not interested in typically get sold to recoup any money I put into his jobs.
With the weekend upon us its time to make some coin. Checked out a f150 last night for valve cover gaskets and an oil pan thats leaking. He approved the pan so its on order. Looks like the diff has to drop to squeeze it out according to Alldata. Todays fun includes a discovery sport blower motor which is buried deep and high inside the dash. With temps at a brisk 30 degrees outside my r2d2 kerosene hester will be close at hand as well as the electric pocket handwarmers my wife got me for Christmas. Have not found a solid way to heat my massive amount of space short of a kerosene jet heater.
Finally, I have had to grow up as a man and started tracking my expenses as responsible adult. Last year was the first time I have been diligent about tracking my shop money. I started with a book and a quick description of job total, parts total and labor. I smeared parts profit and labor together which I decided last month I dont like. So since I was on the last page of my notebook any how, I made a google sheet to track each months progress. Broke each job down into labor time, labor cost, parts cost and profit, shop expenses, paid tickets, and a few other things. The goal for each month is set and based on paying off the building in next 4 years. Anything above that amount gets saved for any unforseen or expensive shop purchases. I am seeing progress towards my goal but still have a long way to go. The sheet and the whiteboard in the shop are a big help so I dont forget anybody and end up trying to scramble to fit them in. Also helps to ensure I am paid as I have a couple who I let pay when they can for repairs.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
@Xti04, you knew this was coming: YOU ****!
I used the bolts with hooks for decades before YouTube.
My self-preservation instinct told me to buy a Branick but my fear of homelessness forced me to buy a compromise for $99.99 back in 2017. It's still a bit scary but at least my face is far away from the spring that wants to kill me.
[EDIT: Like Mike, I put casters on mine so I could move it to a spot close to my 15-ton press on wheels. Nice to have my ankle gashers closer together.]
Last edited:
@Bob Heine I have a set or 2 of the bolt type spring compressors in my shop. When I lifted the acty and installed new springs there was no way to get those compressors on the new springs. I took them to my old shop and used the Branick to install them. When I found this one it was right after Hurricane Helene and I had just happened on it while looking for cast iron or something stupid like that on Craigslist. This guy had been displaced by the hurricane and had all kinds of stuff he was getting rid of. I offered to pay more for him to meet me halfway but he ended up bringing it and meeting me right near my house which was even better. Had to knock some light rust off the adjustment screws but other than that its in great shape. Lot of energy stored in those springs, best to have a solid way to keep them secured !
Todays work has been a hell of a job. I have replaced tons of blower motors and resistors and this has been the worst one I have ever seen. This landrover blower motor is completely inaccessible. I started by removing lower coversunder both sides of the dash. With the lower dash and glovebox out I found the blower was still not accessible.
So I just kept pushing thru and after an hour or so I had the dash pad ready to come out.
at this point I still couldnt access the blower motor so I pressed on 
With the dash bracing loosened I was finally able to see how this mess was constructed. The blower doesnt bolt in like most. It comes thru from the inside of the heater box and then locks in place. The one screw that is supposed to secure the blower in place was missing and had allowed this blower to rub on the fresh air inlet housing.
I took a razor knife and cleaned up all the frayed edges of this housing so there wouldnt be any noise. With everything now ready to go I swapped out the blower motor resistor and then put it all back together. With the blower in I started bolting the dash brace back together. This has been a back breaking job. The angles I have had to contort into to get a few of the fasteners Is making my back scream right now. Tomorrow we are expecting some terribly cold weather so I will be back on the shop trying to get this mess back together the rest of the way.
So I just kept pushing thru and after an hour or so I had the dash pad ready to come out. at this point I still couldnt access the blower motor so I pressed on With the dash bracing loosened I was finally able to see how this mess was constructed. The blower doesnt bolt in like most. It comes thru from the inside of the heater box and then locks in place. The one screw that is supposed to secure the blower in place was missing and had allowed this blower to rub on the fresh air inlet housing.
I took a razor knife and cleaned up all the frayed edges of this housing so there wouldnt be any noise. With everything now ready to go I swapped out the blower motor resistor and then put it all back together. With the blower in I started bolting the dash brace back together. This has been a back breaking job. The angles I have had to contort into to get a few of the fasteners Is making my back scream right now. Tomorrow we are expecting some terribly cold weather so I will be back on the shop trying to get this mess back together the rest of the way.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
@Xti04, I feel like we are living parallel lives. My first welder was a HF Chicago Elecxtric $80 flux wire. First welding cart was a plastic sawhorse. I needed header adapter pipes for my big block Corvette.
Decided to make a complete stainless exhaust and after local welder wanted $500 just for those two pipes in stainless, I bought an Eastwood MIG 175 for $499 and put it and the flux wire welder on HF's cheapest cart. Got a small tank of 98%02 /2%AR and made my own franken-system. Pair of 3" Header pipes that necked down to a 2.5" Magnaflow system with two mufflers and I had so much fun I cut the system up and made a quad center outlet exhaust with a single muffler with dual 2.5"-inlets, an X-crossover inside and dual 2.5"-outlets. Fearing it would be too quiet I added a pair of electric cutouts that exit under the differential.
Had the crazy idea to try fusion welding and bought an Eastwood 200DC TIG (also $499) and put it on the bottom shelf of a second cheapest HF cart with the Eastwood MIG on top. Now that I have two welders requiring gas tanks (100%AR for the TIG) Iwelded a steel screwed together a wooden extension box for the two tanks on the skinny cart.
To save me the hassle of changing the MIG setup from stainless to carbon steel I bought a HF Chicago Electric MIG 170 and another tank with 75/25 gas. I mean, I had another cart...
...and I know the pain you went through to replace that blower motor. I replaced the evaporator in our PT Cruiser.
Decided to make a complete stainless exhaust and after local welder wanted $500 just for those two pipes in stainless, I bought an Eastwood MIG 175 for $499 and put it and the flux wire welder on HF's cheapest cart. Got a small tank of 98%02 /2%AR and made my own franken-system. Pair of 3" Header pipes that necked down to a 2.5" Magnaflow system with two mufflers and I had so much fun I cut the system up and made a quad center outlet exhaust with a single muffler with dual 2.5"-inlets, an X-crossover inside and dual 2.5"-outlets. Fearing it would be too quiet I added a pair of electric cutouts that exit under the differential.
Had the crazy idea to try fusion welding and bought an Eastwood 200DC TIG (also $499) and put it on the bottom shelf of a second cheapest HF cart with the Eastwood MIG on top. Now that I have two welders requiring gas tanks (100%AR for the TIG) I
To save me the hassle of changing the MIG setup from stainless to carbon steel I bought a HF Chicago Electric MIG 170 and another tank with 75/25 gas. I mean, I had another cart...
...and I know the pain you went through to replace that blower motor. I replaced the evaporator in our PT Cruiser.
@Bob Heine there is no job I dread more than a dash removal. Worst oart is I have another one to do. Mercedes GL 450 needs a heater core. I guess it sprung a leak and someone cut the hoses and spliced them together to by pass the core.
With the welders I have to say the tig 200 hasnt been great for me. Its an on off for power and not being able to change the amperage with the pedal typically means stopping before you get to an edge and then restarting so you dont blow out the metal. I am really liking the mig setup so far though. Its also giving me the opportunity to teach my youngest to weld. He is wanting to tack stuff together and even made my buddy a decorative H for his last name out of bolts he cut up. As he tells me " Im a pretty good welder for a 9 year old"
With the welders I have to say the tig 200 hasnt been great for me. Its an on off for power and not being able to change the amperage with the pedal typically means stopping before you get to an edge and then restarting so you dont blow out the metal. I am really liking the mig setup so far though. Its also giving me the opportunity to teach my youngest to weld. He is wanting to tack stuff together and even made my buddy a decorative H for his last name out of bolts he cut up. As he tells me " Im a pretty good welder for a 9 year old"
rixtrix1
Well-known member
Xti04, I'd give you a "You ****" for that Branick deal and all those other acquisitions, If I hadn't ended up in a similar fashion for Christmas. I loved using the Branick at the commercial shops I worked at. Haven't ever seen a used one since moving to Phoenix, but I'm usually the "I just sold it" guy when it comes to finding good deals.
I had a customer a couple or three decades ago who used to tip with expensive whiskies and really spoiled me. I love sipping the "good" stuff, but JD or Beam taste just fine at times, too.
I had a customer a couple or three decades ago who used to tip with expensive whiskies and really spoiled me. I love sipping the "good" stuff, but JD or Beam taste just fine at times, too.
Last job of the night was retrieving the keys my son locked in this BMW X 3. Yes you can lock keys in a modern car but it takes some work to do it. Unfortunately this car doesnt have the touch to unlock like our Mercedes of the same era. I tried to find a big easy tool locally at 7pm on a Sunday night it wasnt happening. So I ran to Home Depot and grabbed a 1/4 in steel rod and came home. First attempt was to push unlock button which is center of dash. Just a hair too short to reach. So after a couple of quick bends I caught the handle and with a pair of vise grips applied to the rod I was able to double pull the handle and open the door. 
I had also tried using my fish rods but they were to flexible. With this handled I loaded up the shop with vehicles to keep dry for the night in case it iced over and called it a day. Busy weekend and busier week ahead!
I had also tried using my fish rods but they were to flexible. With this handled I loaded up the shop with vehicles to keep dry for the night in case it iced over and called it a day. Busy weekend and busier week ahead!cccoltsicehockey
Well-known member
Those are some nice bottle pickups. As a big single barrel fan I have been trying to find that Old Forester for a while but have yet to find a bottle of it.Thanks! Tools were all needed, so I was happy to grab them for a deal. One last tool I got was a new welding helmet. I got it from a girl I work with. She won it in a welding competition and I picked it up new in box for 30 dollars. Its auto darkening and has a grinding mode. My tool guy was selling these a few years ago and my buddy loved his so I grabbed one
My other black friday deals were some sweet bottles I picked up this past month.
This Old Forester is a really nice tasting bottle but quite a bit of proof at 132.4
These were some of the other bottles I found at the store where I got the Evan Williams . Some hard to find bottles on that top shelf. Too bad they are charging secondary or better on them. Last couple bottles I got were in exchange for installing a front air dam on a Tahoe. The Blantons will be sold off , and the Weller is amazing.
And lastly was this Weller special reserve I grabbed for msrp. Havent opened it yet , but I hear its good.
Most of the fun in all the bourbon is the hunt. And for some reason the hunt is the part I am getting good at. Most of the stuff I buy goes to friends who cant find it, and the ones I keep for myself are either really tasty or hard to get ones I can treat my friends with.
The Evan Williams Single barrel is actually the first bourbon I got started on back when it was like $28 a bottle. Are you saying it is no longer a Kentucky only bourbon again? I was able to regularly get it here in NC back when I started. Would get 3-4 bottles of it a year. Then just before COVID it disappeared when it was made Kentucky only and I was really disappointed. I am going to have to stop by a couple local stores now and see if we got any in the area.
My first Evan Williams I picked up was in Kentucky, but I got the last one locally. If you want an old Forester single barrel barrel proof I can make it happen. Just pm me.
cccoltsicehockey
Well-known member
I really appreciate that. Might just take you up on that.
My wife is the queen of finding things to make her life easier, while simultaneously adding more work to my plate. Tonights honey do was going to be a new kitchen faucet, but instead ended up being a rotating work table for her salon. The table and its arm attach the the lift cylinder of her salon chair and articulate around the chair. Pretty simple design and a nice beefy mount.
Went together quick and she was thrilled. She also got some magnetic color bowls to prevent an accident with color spilling. Not the worst thing shes had me assemble for her.
Went together quick and she was thrilled. She also got some magnetic color bowls to prevent an accident with color spilling. Not the worst thing shes had me assemble for her.
I am saving the faucet for tomorrow night. Apparently there is a matching garbage disposal air switch and a soap dispenser coming tomorrow as well. Just what every guy wants to come home and do after a 13 hour day. Crawl up under a sink and spend an hour replacing a faucet and ancillary components.I'd take that over a faucet anyday, LOL....for some reason water works always seem to end up requiring multiple big box store trips
iced98lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The hardest working people end up working the least on their own stuff it seems!
I'm sure she'll be thrilled with the new faucet and extras to go with it!
I'm sure she'll be thrilled with the new faucet and extras to go with it!
Preach brotha!
Got off work last night and stopped by to pickup my latest addition to the shop on the way home. 
The girl at Harbor freight laughed when I told her im here for the yellow cabinet. She said thats not a very popular color. I dont care since it matches my 20 year old Mac box pretty well. With this piece home and slid into the shop I didnt have any time to waste on it. I had a Toyota needing work done so I pulled it in and got after it. Atf drained and rear diff draining as well. Plugs reinstalled and torqued. I got a tube of torque check a mo th or so ago and have been loving it. A great, quick visual reminder that items are properly torqued.
This morning after thawing out some Toyota Workd standard Atf and heating up some gear lube I filled the fluids amd took it for a spin. Truck drove great and should keep my frined moving the rest of the way through med school. With that truck done and while waiting on my next one to show up I jumped into unloading my new cabinet. I pulled my cart out of the way and removed the handle and stickers from my side of my box.
After a quick wipe down I got the packaging off the outside of the cabinet to inspect for damage
With no damage found I went ahead and repositioned the cabinet upright and slid it over the the box I went ahead and pulled the lower drawer to be able to lift the top box slightly to catch the lip on the cabinet. It went into place easily and with the door removed so it could be flipped over I was almost ready to use it.
Not quite sure what will be going into this cabinet. I have some tools I would like to put into it, but not quite sure how they will fit.
The girl at Harbor freight laughed when I told her im here for the yellow cabinet. She said thats not a very popular color. I dont care since it matches my 20 year old Mac box pretty well. With this piece home and slid into the shop I didnt have any time to waste on it. I had a Toyota needing work done so I pulled it in and got after it. Atf drained and rear diff draining as well. Plugs reinstalled and torqued. I got a tube of torque check a mo th or so ago and have been loving it. A great, quick visual reminder that items are properly torqued.
This morning after thawing out some Toyota Workd standard Atf and heating up some gear lube I filled the fluids amd took it for a spin. Truck drove great and should keep my frined moving the rest of the way through med school. With that truck done and while waiting on my next one to show up I jumped into unloading my new cabinet. I pulled my cart out of the way and removed the handle and stickers from my side of my box.
After a quick wipe down I got the packaging off the outside of the cabinet to inspect for damage
With no damage found I went ahead and repositioned the cabinet upright and slid it over the the box I went ahead and pulled the lower drawer to be able to lift the top box slightly to catch the lip on the cabinet. It went into place easily and with the door removed so it could be flipped over I was almost ready to use it.
Not quite sure what will be going into this cabinet. I have some tools I would like to put into it, but not quite sure how they will fit.
Attachments
Thanks Mike. The cart has to be moved tomorrow to finish everything over there, but it was workable for the day. And with the Toyota done my next job of the day showed up for a new oil pan. I got it inside and got on it. 
This pan had heat warped or so it seems amd was leaking pretty good. Rather than try to reseal it I just got a new Motorcraft pan
Even had new bolts in it. Nice touch Ford.
The big part of this job was that you had to drop the diff to remove the oil pan. It sounded intimidating when I was reading through the service instructions but ended up being 2 bolts and a pole jack to lower it a bit. With it dropped down I was able to slide the pan out.
I used a razor blade scraper and a piece of scuff pad to remove the old sealant, applied new sealant to the pan and slid it back in place.
Pan got torqued to spec with my new 1/4 torque wrench . I was really hesitant to buy one online but my wife said I can get a snap on if it doesnt work out. She was of the opinion that a 35 dollar tool with 19000 5 star reviews had to be at least decent.
Truck buttoned up and oil added and test driven. No leaks and back to the owner.
With that mess handled I jumped into my all afternoon plumb a thon for the wife. I picked the low hanging fruit to start. The push button air switch was swapped in about 2 minutes easy peasy. Next up was the soap dispener. Got it in and filled. Moved onto the faucet which wasnt terrible just not great access due to the slide out trays we installed under the sink. Managed to get it all installed and stepped back to admire my handiwork. Thats when I noticed the finish on the soap dispenser. It didnt match the rest even though the box color said it did.
So now I get to message the seller andnsee what happened and try to get the correct one out here. But the rest is in and wife is otherwise happy. Got paid for all my jobs and was able to get my diesel truck fired up while it sits at my neighbors house which is a nightmare. Prepping for snow tomorrow here which means I am making beef stroganoff, makimgnsure everything has plenty of fuel and heaters are good to go.
This pan had heat warped or so it seems amd was leaking pretty good. Rather than try to reseal it I just got a new Motorcraft pan
Even had new bolts in it. Nice touch Ford.
The big part of this job was that you had to drop the diff to remove the oil pan. It sounded intimidating when I was reading through the service instructions but ended up being 2 bolts and a pole jack to lower it a bit. With it dropped down I was able to slide the pan out.
I used a razor blade scraper and a piece of scuff pad to remove the old sealant, applied new sealant to the pan and slid it back in place.
Pan got torqued to spec with my new 1/4 torque wrench . I was really hesitant to buy one online but my wife said I can get a snap on if it doesnt work out. She was of the opinion that a 35 dollar tool with 19000 5 star reviews had to be at least decent.
Truck buttoned up and oil added and test driven. No leaks and back to the owner.
With that mess handled I jumped into my all afternoon plumb a thon for the wife. I picked the low hanging fruit to start. The push button air switch was swapped in about 2 minutes easy peasy. Next up was the soap dispener. Got it in and filled. Moved onto the faucet which wasnt terrible just not great access due to the slide out trays we installed under the sink. Managed to get it all installed and stepped back to admire my handiwork. Thats when I noticed the finish on the soap dispenser. It didnt match the rest even though the box color said it did.
So now I get to message the seller andnsee what happened and try to get the correct one out here. But the rest is in and wife is otherwise happy. Got paid for all my jobs and was able to get my diesel truck fired up while it sits at my neighbors house which is a nightmare. Prepping for snow tomorrow here which means I am making beef stroganoff, makimgnsure everything has plenty of fuel and heaters are good to go.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice work. I use various markers for torqued fasteners as well. Mainly suspension and brake fasteners get an application of Torque Seal (or Cross Check), but I use a paint pen when running overheads to mark which ones are complete. The client who just picked up the Dana 60 from me asked about the markings on the carrier bolts and pinion nut and I explained what they meant. Over all the years I've been marking fasteners I have found it not all that common but maybe it's just a carryover from my racing days. Glad to see I'm not alone in using them though.
The side locker looks like a pretty good match for a 20-year old box.
The side locker looks like a pretty good match for a 20-year old box.
kj_mustang
Well-known member
Man I can't believe you sell off the Blanton's. For my taste, it is probably my favorite bourbon.