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Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.

jon72vega

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Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
3,485
Location
Niles Michigan
Wow Bob,
Sounds like you've had a rough spell lately.
Roseanne Roseannadana once said: "It just goes to show you it's always something".

Seriously, I hope things get better for you, and they will.
I've had times like that, and it's always frustrating.
 
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madison069

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Nov 5, 2010
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4,211
Location
Monroeville, PA
Damn Bob, on days like that all I can do is smile and grin as I keep going. It pisses the wife off when I do that cause she likes to show her frustration at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, I've lived a long time in situations like this and I've just learned to keep going.

If the big box stores don't have your block sizes, it might be worth search facebook marketplace for someone that's getting rid of blocks like yours.
 

Ford52PU

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Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
799
Location
Coatesville PA
Bob,
Sorry for the run of foul luck. I hope you get things pointing up and going your way soon. The things you get done are amazing so relax a bit, there’s always tomorrow.
 
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Bob Heine

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Boca Raton, Florida
Oh man, it sounds like life has been dragging you through the wringer lately Bob...

What do they say about when life gives you lemons? At this point, you probably have a whole lemon tree growing out back.

Hang in there!
Rick, I cannot tell a lie -- I chopped that lemon tree down.
Bob, sounds like all the fun of a root canal. Hang in there, as you know it will improve! And take better care of Liane.
@bugnut, I am taking today off to recover a little and to avoid any additional frustration. Liane is also taking the day off.
Bob, I hope your blocks are still available cause I know that HD and Lowes in our area has changed up sizes and styles over the years. I just finished a small 2 and 5 block high wall to improve our garden space and provide more support for a slope and those are 85 pounders. I'm guessing you have the smallish 20+- pounders, but not sure how you install them having only one arm. you are the man!!!!!

good luck and hope your bride heals quickly too.
Drives, I'm going to bring one of the ones from the wall with me to compare. The width and height dimensions (11.63" W x 4" H) match but the depth seems different.
Hope your Mrs. heals quickly, quite a saga! Some days you're the bug and some days you're windshield...
Marc, it was only a scratch but small things can go bad quickly when you round the eight decade mark. I was a bug last week but didn't get completely splattered.
Wow Bob,
Sounds like you've had a rough spell lately.
Roseanne Roseannadana once said: "It just goes to show you it's always something".

Seriously, I hope things get better for you, and they will.
I've had times like that, and it's always frustrating.
Jon, thanks for the reminder -- I'm smiling.

I've had two lingering FUBARs for quite a while.

FUBAR 1 is the electronic pool pump timer I installed in February (https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/bob-heines-auto-emporium.319566/post-10559924). The timer function has never worked. It may be the Florida Power and Light "On Call" box (lets them interrupt power to the pump when needed). For the last nine months I have been flipping the circuit breaker in the garage to turn it on and off. Having thrown out the old Intermatic 220v mechanical timer and rusty case I needed to buy a new one (I know they work with the On Call box). Ordered one from Amazon for about the price of the timer alone (still almost double the price of the electronic timer).

FUBAR 2 is the Fimco indexing valve on the sprinkler system. It started hanging up on a couple of the six sections a year ago. Replaced the moving parts and added an indicator so I could see which sections were hanging up. Got all but one of the sections to work reliably and that one is driving me nuts. I've taken it apart a dozen times, de-burred the plastic wheel and cleaned all the internals with a Scotchbrite pad (super fine gray pad). My workaround is to gently tap the side of the valve with a one pound deadblow hammer so the valve is ready to cycle all the way around until it returns to that position and hang up again. I need to remember to do that the night before it starts the cycle at 4 AM.
Damn Bob, on days like that all I can do is smile and grin as I keep going. It pisses the wife off when I do that cause she likes to show her frustration at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, I've lived a long time in situations like this and I've just learned to keep going.

If the big box stores don't have your block sizes, it might be worth search facebook marketplace for someone that's getting rid of blocks like yours.
Cody, I love that Liane always has simple solutions to problems. Solution for the block wall is to pound rebar stakes in front of the blocks. I don't have that many pieces of rebar and I don't have any safety caps so I expect the future failure of the wall would involve an impaled body part. Like you, I smile and keep going. Being able to vent on the Garage Journal makes that easier.
Bob,
Sorry for the run of foul luck. I hope you get things pointing up and going your way soon. The things you get done are amazing so relax a bit, there’s always tomorrow.
Dennis, I have started a new tradition to keep my spirits up and spend time reminiscing with the family. In the past I have gone to the local Dollar Tree in January and buy birthday and anniversary cards for the year. At two cards for $1 it saved us a small fortune. In recent years the selection has dwindled and the sentiments expressed are blander than naked tofu. This year I invested in software from Hallmark/Creative Home and am making individualized cards for family and friends. The software, ream of letter size card stock and colored envelopes have probably cost me more but the family gets the kind of memories I share here. It also means I can send a 27th anniversary card instead of the generic one.
@Bob Heine your luck hasn't run out yet as you still have one arm. These past fews incidents are just small bumps in the road for you Bob. I expect to hear how well everything turned out, because @Bob Heine
Mark, for exactly one year I only had the use of 75% of that one arm. The tenth anniversary of my accident passed and we moved to Florida. Moved into our Florida home on our son's birthday so I celebrated by breaking my elbow. I shared the story with my grandchildren:
Page 1.jpg Page 2.jpg Page 3.jpg
 
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gman007

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Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
2,749
Location
West Michigan
Gee Bob, I don't know if Murphy's Law is a known phenomenon in your country, but you probably remember it from your time here. Sounds like Murf has taken up residence at your place. I know you will hang in there.
Unfortunately Murphy’s law is universally known and it knows no boundaries! It is also called life and has ups and downs!
 
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gman007

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May 17, 2017
Messages
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West Michigan
Bob
Sorry to hear about all of your recent troubles! But honestly in grand scheme of things the most important thing is that Liane was not too seriously hurt. As for the rest of the issues, one way or another, they can be taken care of!
Keep your spirits up!
 
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Squankum

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Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,847
Location
Southeast
Gee Bob, I don't know if Murphy's Law is a known phenomenon in your country, but you probably remember it from your time here. Sounds like Murf has taken up residence at your place. I know you will hang in there.

Murphy was an American aerospace engineer, and as usual, the quote we all know turns out to have a long, tortuous history!

 
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Squankum

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Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,847
Location
Southeast
Waiting in line to get prescriptions filled is taking longer that waiting to see the doctor who calls them in. Best part is trying to determine if the prescription has been called in, is approved by insurance and is ready to be picked up. Getting through the automated call system to actually speak to a human at the pharmacy is frustrating but having the pharmacy phone ring eight times and return to the "Please enter your prescription number" automated Karen results in a wasted trip to the store to learn the prescription renewal hasn't been approved by all 33 members of the 'We don't give a $hit board.'
Bob, one lesson I've learned with Rx drugs is: no Wal-Mart pharmacy! Just not very good employees. I hardly ever see the same clerks twice at Walgreens, but they're pretty good. (I've since stumbled across another chain whose pharmacy crew have top notch attitudes, while searching for vaccine shot this summer, and might have to do more business with them.) Of course, insurance poo bahs stroking their chin about whether this is a truly justifiable refill -- for pills I've taken for more than a decade and am scheduled to take forever... are ludicrous.

Moons ago I ordered oil and filters for the three vehicles. Decided Saturday was a good day to tackle the PT Cruiser. ...

Got the car jacked up and resting on jackstands, drained the oil and opened the fresh jug of Mobil 1 (5W-30). Dipped a clean finger in the clean oil and lubed the o-ring on the new filter. Went out to the car and removed the oil filter. Our PT Cruiser has the Turbo engine and takes a different filter from the NA engine. I had been dumb enough to order the wrong one when Amazon told me the right one didn't fit my car.

I'm generally an Amazon fiend, but know this: their filter is poo. When in doubt, look for parts numbers at Rock Auto, then go back to Amazon and start comparing prices.

Sorry if my "Wot? No OIL in my shop?" incident cursed you. Now the prophesy has been fulfilled. Next, somebody we know is going to be unable to get their filler cap off after draining.

Ordered and paid online for the correct filter at my local A$$vance Auto store. Changed some of my dirty clothes, put on shoes and drove the Cadillac to said store after they notified me it would be ready when I arrived. It appeared I was the only customer in the store but the three children running the place had not yet retrieved my filter.
I have been a mailorder fiend since long before there was an internet, and I don't buy many auto parts at the brick and mortar stores, but lately I feel like I've got to buy something when I take my used oil there! Just to do my part to keep them in business!

As usual, Liane walked the manse this morning. After picking the last three dragon fruit of the season she went to retrieve a palm frond that had fallen into the garden behind the pool enclosure. She stepped on one of the cement blocks and it rolled out from under her. About 15 years ago I built the walls to prevent the hillside from washing away and undermining the pool patio. T

At least you staggered each course of blocks! My neighbor has built a few planters for her backyard garden with smaller landscaping bricks and it's three layers, just one, two, three, stacked, then another column, one, two, three... oh dear... this violates ancient stonework and masonry principles! (I'd tell her more, but she doesn't know the secret handshake.) She (or her man, who is actually a tradesman who should know better) also built one of these things on a slope and the blocks are parallel to the slope, not perpendicular to the earth's gravity.


Ordered new low beam LEDs for the PT Cruiser because one of them died. A little disappointed that the one only lasted 29 months.

Are these the newfangled, brighter brights, whiter light type bulbs? Because lifespan is not their bag, baby. Also, this time of year when cold temperatures first come back is also, for some reason, when such things die but... yeah, you don't have that kind of cold.
 
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Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
Hang in there Bob - bit of a bad run of late!! :(
Jeff, the bad fortune events remind me how far my life scale tilts to the good fortune side. If I didn't vent here I'd have to vent to the girl I love and she doesn't deserve that.
Gee Bob, I don't know if Murphy's Law is a known phenomenon in your country, but you probably remember it from your time here. Sounds like Murf has taken up residence at your place. I know you will hang in there.
Geoff, a few generations back, Murphy was our patriarch.
Unfortunately Murphy’s law is universally known and it knows no boundaries! It is also called life and has ups and downs!
@gman007, if you don't drag it behind you and climb the hill, you don't get to ride the sled down.
Bob
Sorry to hear about all of your recent troubles! But honestly in grand scheme of things the most important thing is that Liane was not too seriously hurt. As for the rest of the issues, one way or another, they can be taken care of!
Keep your spirits up!
I went out to the garage today and organized the most annoying drawer in my tool storage units. The "Miscellaneous Wrench" drawer is also a catch-all for the tools that come with tools. They are the stamped steel things that manufacturers provide, assuming the buyers don't own any other tools. I thought about making a shallow cardboard box but remembered I had some empty Schaller bins.
Before:
Drawer 7 Top 2024-6.jpg
After:
Drawer 7 Top 2024-11.jpg

I hung the wrenches for the electric Buffing tools on the wooden cabinet next to each one. It wasn't a huge accomplishment but it lifted my spirits.
Murphy was an American aerospace engineer, and as usual, the quote we all know turns out to have a long, tortuous history!

@Squankum, Murphy's Laws include corollaries as well:

Murphy's 4th Law: If you play with anything long enough, it will break. Corollary to Murphy's 4th Law: It will always break when you need it the most. Murphy's 5th Law: Left to themselves, things go from bad to worse.
Bob, one lesson I've learned with Rx drugs is: no Wal-Mart pharmacy! Just not very good employees. I hardly ever see the same clerks twice at Walgreens, but they're pretty good. (I've since stumbled across another chain whose pharmacy crew have top notch attitudes, while searching for vaccine shot this summer, and might have to do more business with them.) Of course, insurance poo bahs stroking their chin about whether this is a truly justifiable refill -- for pills I've taken for more than a decade and am scheduled to take forever... are ludicrous.

I'm generally an Amazon fiend, but know this: their filter is poo. When in doubt, look for parts numbers at Rock Auto, then go back to Amazon and start comparing prices.

Sorry if my "Wot? No OIL in my shop?" incident cursed you. Now the prophesy has been fulfilled. Next, somebody we know is going to be unable to get their filler cap off after draining.

I have been a mailorder fiend since long before there was an internet, and I don't buy many auto parts at the brick and mortar stores, but lately I feel like I've got to buy something when I take my used oil there! Just to do my part to keep them in business!

At least you staggered each course of blocks! My neighbor has built a few planters for her backyard garden with smaller landscaping bricks and it's three layers, just one, two, three, stacked, then another column, one, two, three... oh dear... this violates ancient stonework and masonry principles! (I'd tell her more, but she doesn't know the secret handshake.) She (or her man, who is actually a tradesman who should know better) also built one of these things on a slope and the blocks are parallel to the slope, not perpendicular to the earth's gravity.


Are these the newfangled, brighter brights, whiter light type bulbs? Because lifespan is not their bag, baby. Also, this time of year when cold temperatures first come back is also, for some reason, when such things die but... yeah, you don't have that kind of cold.
We stopped switching pharmacies about a decade ago. We settled on Walgreens because their screw-up rate was lower than any of the others. Using their website works well enough but the phone access *****. On the bright side, they all know us on sight and I do my best to have fun with them. When there's no line I always ask if I'm in the wrong place and when there is a line I start a conversation with the most miserable customer near me.

I use K&N Performance filters so I go to their site and verify which filter fits. This time I ordered a new, correct filter from Amazon for the next oil change in three years. I printed out a white-on-clear "PT Cruiser" label and stuck it on the black section of the filter's box.

I am pretty sure I started staggering wooden blocks before I could speak. When I decided to tile the living, dining, kitchen and family room floors in our first Florida home I did the living and dining spaces with the standard checkerboard layout. Took this photo in the early '90s with a lot of '80s decorating (wood/mirror and grass cloth wall coverings).
Pantry Removal 5.jpg
I staggered the identical tiles in the kitchen and family rooms. I found this picture of my work online when the subsequent owners got divorced and listed the home. I changed the wall coverings before I sold the house to them.
Photo 3 800.jpg
From their photos, which were taken in 2019, nothing was changed inside or out in those 20 years. It appears the husband kept the house, based on the motorcycle parked in the otherwise unchanged garage.

I switched all the incandescent and most of the fluorescent bulbs in the house to LED so I thought I'd do the same when a couple of bulbs burned out on the PT Cruiser. The LED headlight bulb died when the fan in its base stopped working. Call me unimpressed.
I missed that routine but it's classic Norm Macdonald.
Bob, sorry to hear of the run of bad luck, but keep your head up and press on my friend, it will get better.
Mike, you are so right. Every day is a gift -- even when it seems like a flaming bag of poop.
 

Squankum

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Southeast
I missed that routine but it's classic Norm Macdonald.

That's from his last years. He kept his very slow death from cancer a secret for about ten years, I believe. Many hints are in his work throughout that period.

For his late work, check Netflix for "Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery." He also had a bare bones, low-effort talk show in his last years, also on streaming.
 
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Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
That's from his last years. He kept his very slow death from cancer a secret for about ten years, I believe. Many hints are in his work throughout that period.

For his late work, check Netflix for "Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery." He also had a bare bones, low-effort talk show in his last years, also on streaming.
Norm will be the therapist for my slightly fractured funny bone.
 
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Bob Heine

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Boca Raton, Florida
Simple headlight LED replacement quickly escalated. I didn't bother taking the old one out so the one I received from Bezos River wouldn't work. It was designed for the PT Cruiser's fog light housing. The headlight LED needs to have a straight rather than 90° socket. Initiated a return. Second try has a dongle socket but the unit has the wrong tabs on the unit. Initiated a second return. Third one arrived last night and it appears to be correct on both counts.

Chrysler decided to save some money on the dual horn setup that came with the 200-2003 PT Cruisers. The single horn Is about as effective as a bicycle horn so I upgraded to the dual horn setup. I thought my hearing was deteriorating because the horn was back to it's weak sound. Turns out the second horn mounting nut came off and while dangling in front of the tire, one of the wires was torn out of the socket. I pulled the assembly out and the watertight connector crumbled when I disconnected the horns. Ordered a new pair of horns for $15 and tried to get a new male connector. Only correct connectors I could find were on evilBay but they were used and in really bad shape. The cheapest one was $20. My PT Cruiser will have another non-stock item because I have all the Weatherpak parts and accessories to make a new connector setup.

Started by soldering some spliced cables with spade connectors for the horn ends. I used non-insulated spade connectors and added shrink tubing (color matched to the original wiring. Using my recently acquired Klein stripper I managed to prep the wire ends without a single blood blister. Used gray seals for the 18-gauge wires.
Repair 1.jpg
Years ago I bit the bullet and purchased the Weatherpak crimper that makes the two crimps at the same time (one crimp for the seal and one for the wire).
Repair 2.jpg
Put the two pins in the male housing and put a piece of split braided cover over the two wires.
Repair 3.jpg
Pulled the original horn wire connector out so I could work on the repair while lying down.
Repair 4.jpg
Fed the wire through the air scoop next to the fog lights and picked the smallest seals I had.
Repair 5.jpg
Crimp the female pins and insert into connector. Close the latch and test the horns.
Repair 6.jpg
I disconnected the horn and fed the wire back into the wheel well area. While doing so, I had gently pushed the fog light housing and it flopped into a new position...

[To be continued.]
 

Squankum

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While doing so, I had gently pushed the fog light housing and it flopped into a new position...

Ooh, sounds familiar to our 2000 Durango. It was a mild shock to discover how little goes into mounting the fog light!

I can't bring myself to buy the fancy wire strippers, but with your hand tally, sure, go for it!


1732206391104.jpeg
Don Ho was a famous Hawaiian singer of native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent. While he achieved fame nationwide on the mainland, few have heard of the impressive horse-breeder-accounting career of his brother, Tally.
 
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Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
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Boca Raton, Florida
Ooh, sounds familiar to our 2000 Durango. It was a mild shock to discover how little goes into mounting the fog light!

I can't bring myself to buy the fancy wire strippers, but with your hand tally, sure, go for it!


1732206391104.jpeg
Don Ho was a famous Hawaiian singer of native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent. While he achieved fame nationwide on the mainland, few have heard of the impressive horse-breeder-accounting career of his brother, Tally.
@Squankum, the problem is the alignment mechanism is gone. Not sure how or when but this is the third bumper cover on this car. Had someone paint the first one but I decided I had enough equipment to do it myself for the next two.

I can't go searching for that information. It's very hard explaining that you are searching online for Ho's.
 
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Bob Heine

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[Continued]
I extracted the floppy fog light from the front bumper cover but it was a fight. The floppy one on the left has no adjustment mechanism. I was unable to find one online so I ended up buying a pair of new housings.
Repair 1.jpg
I expected to have to remove the bumper cover to get the new housing but figured I'd try just loosening the two nuts that hold the side of the bumper cover to the fender. Sure enough, just enough room to slip it in.
Repair 2.jpg
Horns and lights are fixed and functioning.
Repair 3.jpg
Tightened up the nuts on the bumper cover and re-installed the wheel. The alignment pin makes the job of putting the wheel back on so much easier I wondered how I've lived without these.
Repair 4.jpg
 
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Bob Heine

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Not sure how but my pool seems to have gotten in touch with Kay's (@kaymccampbell) pool. I've been fighting algae for a couple of weeks and decided to buy a new automatic [suction] pool cleaner. I've used Kreepy Krauly products for decades but I've rebuilt the Great White Shark model three times and it just doesn't do the job. The new one has external tracks so maybe I'll be better able to watch it work (and eventually fall apart).
Zodiac MX6.jpg
It was under $400 so that helped make the decision. I was able to put the hose sections together (they have twist locks) and get the cleaner connected and installed in the pool. There's a fidgity process of adjusting the flow through the cleaner. You watch the yellow triangle in that one wheel rotate and count the seconds it takes to rotate ten times. If it takes 10-19 seconds you have to decrease the flow and if it's 26-50 seconds you have to increase the flow. The instructions say to shut off the floor intake and adjust the skimmer intake to increase or decrease the flow to the suction line in the side of the pool. Took a couple of tries but I got it to 22 seconds for 10 rotations (20-25 is the sweet spot).

As I was stuffing the old pool cleaner into garbage bags I heard the dreaded sound of the skimmer sucking air. The hose had moved in front of the skimmer intake and blocked the water going over the weir valve. I looked online for a solution and apparently this is a known problem. I found a Zodiac Hose Deflector on the Bezos River but I couldn't believe the price: $19.99 (and that includes the $0.55 Amazon discount).
Zodiac Hose Deflector.jpg
Went back to the Dark Web and searched for that item and In the Swim Pool Supplies and Equipment has them for $5.99 each and free shipping. Splurged and bought four of them. Only problem is the free shipping is not overnight, more like overweek.

I decided to try a free fix. We have quite a few 5-gallon buckets (mostly from pool chlorine tablets). I cut the rim off one of the really old ones (the garden mistress covets the newish ones).
McGiver Hose Deflector 1.jpg
Cut about half of the bucket away and drilled three 3.75" holes Where the waterline is in the pool. As I was cutting the old plastic I noticed it was very brittle and easy to crack so I added some duct tape for reinforcement. A leftover Travertine stone will hold the McGyver hose deflector down.
McGiver Hose Deflector 2.jpg
Made a couple of notches in the bucket so it would fit flush with the wall. Tested the contraption and it seems to work. I feel like it will do the job until those professional hose deflectors arrive.
McGiver Hose Deflector 3.jpg
I still have a little manual wall sweeping to do but it already looks better.
 
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PugetDude

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Not sure how but my pool seems to have gotten in touch with Kay's (@kaymccampbell) pool. I've been fighting algae for a couple of weeks and decided to buy a new automatic [suction] pool cleaner. I've used Kreepy Krauly products for decades but I've rebuilt the Great White Shark model three times and it just doesn't do the job. The new one has external tracks so maybe I'll be better able to watch it work (and eventually fall apart).
Zodiac MX6.jpg
It was under $400 so that helped make the decision. I was able to put the hose sections together (they have twist locks) and get the cleaner connected and installed in the pool. There's a fidgity process of adjusting the flow through the cleaner. You watch the yellow triangle in that one wheel rotate and count the seconds it takes to rotate ten times. If it takes 10-19 seconds you have to decrease the flow and if it's 26-50 seconds you have to increase the flow. The instructions say to shut off the floor intake and adjust the skimmer intake to increase or decrease the flow to the suction line in the side of the pool. Took a couple of tries but I got it to 22 seconds for 10 rotations (20-25 is the sweet spot).

As I was stuffing the old pool cleaner into garbage bags I heard the dreaded sound of the skimmer sucking air. The hose had moved in front of the skimmer intake and blocked the water going over the weir valve. I looked online for a solution and apparently this is a known problem. I found a Zodiac Hose Deflector on the Bezos River but I couldn't believe the price: $19.99 (and that includes the $0.55 Amazon discount).
Zodiac Hose Deflector.jpg
Went back to the Dark Web and searched for that item and In the Swim Pool Supplies and Equipment has them for $5.99 each and free shipping. Splurged and bought four of them. Only problem is the free shipping is not overnight, more like overweek.

I decided to try a free fix. We have quite a few 5-gallon buckets (mostly from pool chlorine tablets). I cut the rim off one of the really old ones (the garden mistress covets the newish ones).
McGiver Hose Deflector 1.jpg
Cut about half of the bucket away and drilled three 3.75" holes Where the waterline is in the pool. As I was cutting the old plastic I noticed it was very brittle and easy to crack so I added some duct tape for reinforcement. A leftover Travertine stone will hold the McGyver hose deflector down.
McGiver Hose Deflector 2.jpg
Made a couple of notches in the bucket so it would fit flush with the wall. Tested the contraption and it seems to work. I feel like it will do the job until those professional hose deflectors arrive.
McGiver Hose Deflector 3.jpg
I still have a little manual wall sweeping to do but it already looks better.
Excellent, Bob!
Bonus points for the duct tape. ;)
 
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Bob Heine

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Messages
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Bob
Great job (as per usual) with the car and pool. You are definitely a man of many talents!
@gman007, by now you've probably figured out that I don't have the sense to pay people to screw up what I can screw up for free. OK, maybe it's rarely free but it does give me a chance to learn the wrong way and sometimes the right way. This site is a big help tipping me toward the right side.
Bob and all the guests here

Happy thanksgiving!
Thank you and I hope you and everyone on the [US] GJ had a Happy Thanksgiving. Our son and his wife invited the family and a few friends over. I took the obligatory group shot and although I made it into the frame, I was a "Blinded by the Light." [I'm only old on the outside].
2024 Heine Thanksgiving 2- Cropped.JPG
I don’t look in for a bit and the world is out to get you.

Need to check in on you more often.
Rian, it's a ripple in the pond. I'm enjoying family time and focusing on things one at a time. Maybe focus is the wrong word. I met with our lawyer to update our will (the one in force was written when we had two children and my mother was named executor). Finished with him and went to two different grocery stores -- Publix for food -- Whole Foods for an Amazon return. Got home and Liane immediately asked why my fly was open. Sure glad I didn't do that search for Ho's.
Excellent, Bob!
Bonus points for the duct tape. ;)
Scott, I was halfway to the pool when I realized my mistake. Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.
 

PugetDude

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Superstition Mountains, AZ
@gman007, by now you've probably figured out that I don't have the sense to pay people to screw up what I can screw up for free. OK, maybe it's rarely free but it does give me a chance to learn the wrong way and sometimes the right way. This site is a big help tipping me toward the right side.

Thank you and I hope you and everyone on the [US] GJ had a Happy Thanksgiving. Our son and his wife invited the family and a few friends over. I took the obligatory group shot and although I made it into the frame, I was a "Blinded by the Light." [I'm only old on the outside].
2024 Heine Thanksgiving 2- Cropped.JPG

Rian, it's a ripple in the pond. I'm enjoying family time and focusing on things one at a time. Maybe focus is the wrong word. I met with our lawyer to update our will (the one in force was written when we had two children and my mother was named executor). Finished with him and went to two different grocery stores -- Publix for food -- Whole Foods for an Amazon return. Got home and Liane immediately asked why my fly was open. Sure glad I didn't do that search for Ho's.

Scott, I was halfway to the pool when I realized my mistake. Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.
You really only need two things to maintain a home or vehicle.
Duct tape if it moves and it's not supposed to.
WD-40 if it doesn't move and it's supposed to.
 

Denwood

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Joined
Sep 22, 2014
Messages
4,202
Location
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Rian, ..... Got home and Liane immediately asked why my fly was open. Sure glad I didn't do that search for Ho's.

Spit out my coffee on that one :) Someone needs to write a "Bob's Treatise on Life Anthology" as a compilation of these pieces of gold.

Also, maybe have some sensitivity on the pool pics ;) We're freezing our keesters up here...:confused:

There's a whole lot of awesomeness in that family pic. I see no evidence of fisticuffs, so evidently this pic was taken before the talk on politics. They must find you rather entertaining too.
 

driftpin

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Dec 22, 2016
Messages
11,304
Location
Miami-Dade/Broward Co. Florida
Happy belated Thanksgiving to your family, your friends, and to you. I hope that you had shifts of people to do the dinner clean-up, that's a big group.

A good job on the pool aid. maybe a company from 'elsewhere' will start production of your item. No royalties, unfortunately.

We added a salt system to our pool and it's easier than doing the chlorine way. I have to say, the salt system controls algae much-better than using chlorine liquid and tablets. It's easier to keep in-balance also. A very worthwhile change-over from the 'old way.'

For a pool robot, we have used a Hayward Navigator, which like the Great White Shark, has pieces which periodically need to be replaced. I need to finish reassembling my newest one and to put it into the pool.
 

Squankum

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Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,847
Location
Southeast
Zodiac Hose Deflector.jpg

1732903548026.png
 

Squankum

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Tightened up the nuts on the bumper cover and re-installed the wheel. The alignment pin makes the job of putting the wheel back on so much easier I wondered how I've lived without these.
Repair 4.jpg

Bob, I used to have an entire sermon about "There is no problem with lug bolts!" Basic themes included "What did you go buy non-hubcentric wheels for, silly? The Germans gave this thing hubcentric wheels for a reason, just hang it on the lip" and mostly, my success with them involved my having a more orangutan approach: three hands! **** on milk crate stool ( wooden top, Squankum Industries, Inc.) right foot for steadying on the ground, and swing tire into place with two hands, steady it while it hangs on hubcenter using left foot, heel on ground, touching sidewall, use hands to get power drill (weak variety) and lug bolts from old Gatorade container and go to town installing lug bolts. Changing tires twice a day in a parking lot all season long makes you want to streamline the process.

But that was my autox days. Things changed when I wound up in a more cramped shop without a lot of room on the sides of the vehicle, and hoo boy, did wheels and tires got heavier when the woman came into my life with giant Detroit dinosaur vehicles, which, while they had wheel studs, were still a challenge sometimes. Things also changed when I got the old Benz -- parking brake/park position of transmision immobilzed the rear wheels, but the fronts can always turn. On my old VW, parking brake did the rear, transmission immobilized the front hubs. The old Benz also came with a guide stud like you show above, which got me paying attention to that sort of thing (and snatching up another at the junkyard.)

Anyway, you're down a hand, so I'm sure this takes a bit more brain and planning, especially on the Corvettes! Have you tried propping a tire on top of a car dolly?

One more autox tale of yore: buddy of mine asked that we transport some tires/wheels for his Boxster down to an event in the Atlanta area, inside our tow vehicle. (Or maybe our race car, which was much taller and capacious than any other at such events, it's a danged box! Bicycles? Sure!) Having to carry one tire/wheel for a Boxster made me realizd I'd been living in toy car land for a long time. I swear I once carried three 13" x 5.5" alloy wheels with Hoosier dirt tires about 40 yards in my hands/arms to our spot on the race grid once, not a problem. That one Porsche whee/tire? Giant and heavy.
 
Last edited:
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Bob Heine

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
You really only need two things to maintain a home or vehicle.
Duct tape if it moves and it's not supposed to.
WD-40 if it doesn't move and it's supposed to.
Scott, I have a large classic WD-40 spray can in a cabinet in the garage near the door into the house, another in a cabinet at the opposite corner of the garage and a third can in the workshop. I put that $hit on everything. I also have a few cans of the WD-40 White Lithium I'm having a bit of a panic attack because I'm down to one roll of gray duct tape. Liane used up the last of my other roll preventing my lips from moving.
Spit out my coffee on that one :) Someone needs to write a "Bob's Treatise on Life Anthology" as a compilation of these pieces of gold.

Also, maybe have some sensitivity on the pool pics ;) We're freezing our keesters up here...:confused:

There's a whole lot of awesomeness in that family pic. I see no evidence of fisticuffs, so evidently this pic was taken before the talk on politics. They must find you rather entertaining too.
Thank you Dennis. My mishap was completely avoidable. I saw myself in the mirror and my shirt needed to be adjusted so I loosened my belt, unbuttoned my pants and unzipped my fly. I noticed the time and had to get a couple of folders for the legal papers and my dusty laptop bag. I was being reminded of the list of things needed to pick up at Publix so I was on overload. I might put a tiny Fly decal on the inside of my sunglasses (out of the line of sight).

We moved south from snow country 49 years ago so I forget that white stuff isn't from a dumped bale of cocaine dropped from a drug runner's plane.

The gentleman in the blue polo shirt is our son and the young lady in black next to him is our daughter-in-law. He just earned his Florida General Contractor license and recently turned 61. His wife just got punished with a managing nurse "promotion" ($3 more per hour but no overtime pay). Those two, their three daughters and youngest son (21) cooked, served and cleaned up. They set up a 10'x20' canopy with a 20-foot dining table in the back yard (out of frame on the left). Our son spent a fair bit of his youth working in restaurants so he cooked the three turkeys (one oven roasted, one deep fried and one smoked). There was also the ham, mashed white potatoes, mashed red potatoes, brussels sprout, green beans, creamed pearl onions, a couple of veggie trays that were gone by my turn at the table and of course pitchers of gravy and a bucket of cranberry sauce. There was a table of appetizers in the kitchen as well as a tray of decadent mini-cakes (chocolate covered key lime pie among them) and two different trays of macaroni and cheese (one mild with sharp cheddar cheese and one spicy habanero/jalapeno cheese [Cabot brand]). You can't tell from the size of my gut but I can't eat anywhere near what I did when I was younger.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to your family, your friends, and to you. I hope that you had shifts of people to do the dinner clean-up, that's a big group.

A good job on the pool aid. maybe a company from 'elsewhere' will start production of your item. No royalties, unfortunately.

We added a salt system to our pool and it's easier than doing the chlorine way. I have to say, the salt system controls algae much-better than using chlorine liquid and tablets. It's easier to keep in-balance also. A very worthwhile change-over from the 'old way.'

For a pool robot, we have used a Hayward Navigator, which like the Great White Shark, has pieces which periodically need to be replaced. I need to finish reassembling my newest one and to put it into the pool.
Philip, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well. The family shoos us out when we try to help with the cleanup. It isn't as bad as you might think because the silver tone plastic forks, knives and spoons don't get re-used and neither do the silver rimmed plastic plates.

It isn't precisely true but I hum "We Didn't Start the Fire" whenever we all get together. I admit to being involved in the start but dear God, we started with one little girl and stopped after one little boy. The little boy was involved in seven of the nine people in the third generation and that generation has gotten a pretty good start on the fourth.
First Anniversary 800.jpg
I looked at the salt system but another electrical item in the system doesn't appeal to me. It also brings back bad memories of the water softener system we had in our Hudson Valley home. Until the old robot stopped working I have had zero issues with chlorine tablets. I haven't taken the time to check the water lately. Pretty sure the rainy spell we had a while back has changed it and because a 5-gallon bucket of tablets lasts a year or more, I haven't brought the water to Pinch-A-Penny to be tested. I'm down to the last five tablets in the current bucket so a test and four 2.5 gallon jugs of liquid should have it back to adding tablets to the floater twice a month.
@Squankum, I had no idea what I needed or what was available or what it looked like but apparently Google's AI search engine has implanted something at the end of my colon because it definitely pulled that thing out of my ***.
Bob, I used to have an entire sermon about "There is no problem with lug bolts!" Basic themes included "What did you go buy non-hubcentric wheels for, silly? The Germans gave this thing hubcentric wheels for a reason, just hang it on the lip" and mostly, my success with them involved my having a more orangutan approach: three hands! **** on milk crate stool ( wooden top, Squankum Industries, Inc.) right foot for steadying on the ground, and swing tire into place with two hands, steady it while it hangs on hubcenter using left foot, heel on ground, touching sidewall, use hands to get power drill (weak variety) and lug bolts from old Gatorade container and go to town installing lug bolts. Changing tires twice a day in a parking lot all season long makes you want to streamline the process.

But that was my autox days. Things changed when I wound up in a more cramped shop without a lot of room on the sides of the vehicle, and hoo boy, did wheels and tires got heavier when the woman came into my life with giant Detroit dinosaur vehicles, which, while they had wheel studs, were still a challenge sometimes. Things also changed when I got the old Benz -- parking brake/park position of transmision immobilzed the rear wheels, but the fronts can always turn. On my old VW, parking brake did the rear, transmission immobilized the front hubs. The old Benz also came with a guide stud like you show above, which got me paying attention to that sort of thing (and snatching up another at the junkyard.)

Anyway, you're down a hand, so I'm sure this takes a bit more brain and planning, especially on the Corvettes! Have you tried propping a tire on top of a car dolly?

One more autox tale of yore: buddy of mine asked that we transport some tires/wheels for his Boxster down to an event in the Atlanta area, inside our tow vehicle. (Or maybe our race car, which was much taller and capacious than any other at such events, it's a danged box! Bicycles? Sure!) Having to carry one tire/wheel for a Boxster made me realizd I'd been living in toy car land for a long time. I swear I once carried three 13" x 5.5" alloy wheels with Hoosier dirt tires about 40 yards in my hands/arms to our spot on the race grid once, not a problem. That one Porsche whee/tire? Giant and heavy.
@Squankum, it wasn't that long ago that I sat on the driveway or my Griot's rolling wheel flossing stool and used my feet to lift the tire/wheel into position near the studs. These days my jumping up off the ground or even standing up from the stool are very slow, painful and risky. The 'lift with your legs, not your back' has turned into 'what will hurt the least when I'm done?' My back is winning at the moment.

I never had a problem with the Fiat X1/9 wheels. Even when I switched from 4.5" aluminum rims with 145/R13 tires to 7.5" steel rims with 235/50R13 tires (215/50R13 up front) I coult get them on the hub and rotate the wheel to align the bolt holes.

The PT Cruiser has 225/50R16 tires on aluminum rims but for some reason I have had a hard time with them. The '87 Corvette has 255/50R16 tires on aluminum rims but I can get them on and off easier than the PT. The Cadillac has 285/35ZR19's on the rear and 255/40ZR19's on the front and they are harder to handle than the Corvette but still easier than the PT. What is this dolly of which you speak?

I once tried rolling two of the Corvette's tires across the tire shop parking lot at the same time. We handicapped sure are fun to watch.
 
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Bob Heine

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Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
Bob…..how the hell have I not seen this thread Until now?

I will need to reread some of the last page or two when I am ready to steal your wiring tips!
@PhantomEB, you may regret seeing it very soon. It's a long and winding one. Back in the last century (1957) I believe my family passed through Medicine Hat on the way to Alaska. We stopped in Edmunton and Grande Prairie so my mother could see the places she spent several years of her childhood in the 1920s. My grandparents were from Scandinavia so they were used to the cold. I believe this was taken on a sunny fall day in their Edmunton home.
Grande Prarie 1920-1.jpg
Grande Prairie was a bit cooler and grandpa had upgraded to a bearskin coat.
Grande Prairie 1920-3.jpg
When we visited in 1957 they still had wooden slat sidewalks.
Grande Prairie 1957-1.jpg
 

Squankum

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Joined
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Messages
7,847
Location
Southeast
I never had a problem with the Fiat X1/9 wheels. Even when I switched from 4.5" aluminum rims with 145/R13 tires

Tee hee! I think that's even smaller than Rabbit diesel specs, which were 13 x 5 wheels, 155mm wide tires.

I see you joined the evolution out of the primoridal ooze with bigger tires and wheels after that. With that car, I'm sure it worked very well. More grip than power?

I've been maybe 15 years since I wandered away from the sport, but last I heard, my friend's VW had 13" x 10" wheels and 255/40-13 tires.
 

Squankum

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Joined
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Messages
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Grande Prairie was a bit cooler and grandpa had upgraded to a bearskin coat.

I bet that was a pretty warm jacket! He would have used a buffalo robe but bison kinda barely existed in those days. Here's a pic from one of Ted Turner's bison ranches. This one is near Big Sky and has about 5,000 head, similar in size to Yellowstone National Park's herd.

1732942815334.png



Prices for a jacket made by an experienced buffalo hide craftsman will have you looking for a bear to shoot.

 

Squankum

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Joined
Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,847
Location
Southeast
The PT Cruiser has 225/50R16 tires on aluminum rims but for some reason I have had a hard time with them. The '87 Corvette has 255/50R16 tires on aluminum rims but I can get them on and off easier than the PT. The Cadillac has 285/35ZR19's on the rear and 255/40ZR19's on the front and they are harder to handle than the Corvette but still easier than the PT. What is this dolly of which you speak?

My scheme was to stand a tire on one of these, then roll it into position, then readjust height of car as need be and wheel it forward again to see how that worked. I have done that, IIRC, on the Durango, when I have the room in the narrow shop.

1732943125340.png

Thinking about it tonight, I could have just gone with a $12.99 HF furniture dolly:


The Econoline is easier because it has steel wheels. The Durango has aluminum wheels but there are pockets in the casting on the back side between the stud holes, so it's not just go/no go/rotate wheel some/go, it's go/go too far/hung up/awkwardness.

Someday I'll have a roller stool like a proper fancy lad but I can't justify the shop space, and can get 80% of the way there with my milk crate with wooden top. Also, it's not an option for driveway car cleaning, because that's too narrow (wall on one side, too) and also, steep.
 

PhantomEB

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Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
6,817
Location
Medicine Hat, AB, Canuckistan
@PhantomEB, you may regret seeing it very soon. It's a long and winding one. Back in the last century (1957) I believe my family passed through Medicine Hat on the way to Alaska. We stopped in Edmunton and Grande Prairie so my mother could see the places she spent several years of her childhood in the 1920s. My grandparents were from Scandinavia so they were used to the cold. I believe this was taken on a sunny fall day in their Edmunton home.
Grande Prarie 1920-1.jpg
Grande Prairie was a bit cooler and grandpa had upgraded to a bearskin coat.
Grande Prairie 1920-3.jpg
When we visited in 1957 they still had wooden slat sidewalks.
Grande Prairie 1957-1.jpg
Thats outright damn cool history!
 

Squankum

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Joined
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Messages
7,847
Location
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Bob, I just found out that Harry Epstein's has been sitting on a cache of second-rate stump stockings. I have no idea if your climate or today's prosthetics ever involve these things.

 
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