What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[JEFFREYWisconsin]

Not in the garage, but a garage project.

My dad passed away twenty five years ago. He had a bunch of vehicles and this old Uhaul trailer. I ended up dragging it home a parking it in the back 40. Never thought much about until my son recently brought it up in conversation.

It's a 1985 car hauler. It's probably not any good for hauling today's vehicles, but it will be a good utility trailer hauling firewood, lumber, garbage, etc.

Anyhow, twenty-five years outside in the PNW sort of took its toll on this poor trailer. Along with the old tires and scrap metal I piled in it, branches, yard debris, and weeds took it over. I spent about two and a half hours getting it unearthed and cleaning the **** out of it.

I spent some time with the wiring harness, but it's pretty much rotted away. The surge brakes are most likely needing attention as well. New tires are also on the menu. Then there's a need to sandblast the rust and repaint. At some point, a good used trailer from Craigslist might be a better option, but I don't mind a bit of a challenge.

I used a unit like that from Uhaul years ago, those things are usually built like tanks.

That thing will be cool, gotta paint it though.

Not because it's ugly, mostly because when Uhaul find out your dad never returned it, they are gonna come looking for back due rent!

 

[rd65]

Sipping on my cute vanilla iced coffee man beverage. Took care of some major battery corrosion. 3 hours worth of disassembly, heavy vinegar soaking, wire brushing, ultrasonic cleaning, rust converting, and reassembled with dielectric grease on all the corrosion-prone areas, but it’s all gone now.

I was getting some really hard sluggish starting, erratic speeds from my A/C blower, and I swear it was making my transmission act really weird although I could be making that up. In my mind, the car behaves much better now that all the corrosion is gone. It was everywhere.

which model Mazda are you tackling? We have a couple newer models, is this something I need to keep an eye on? Thanks

 

[Roger M]

I used a unit like that from Uhaul years ago, those things are usually built like tanks.

That thing will be cool, gotta paint it though.

Not because it's ugly, mostly because when Uhaul find out your dad never returned it, they are gonna come looking for back due rent!

Lol

Yeah, I should have mentioned in the original post that my dad bought it at an auto auction in 1991. Which brings up another issue. He owned a used car lot back then, so the certificate of origin(title) was never transferred. Hopefully the auto licensing agency will work with me on getting this thing licensed...

I did get a new $14 wire harness for it from the local HF. Kinda surprised how cheap it was(even for Harbor Freight).

Thanks for the comments

 

[rd65]

Lol

Yeah, I should have mentioned in the original post that my dad bought it at an auto auction in 1991. Which brings up another issue. He owned a used car lot back then, so the certificate of origin(title) was never transferred. Hopefully the auto licensing agency will work with me on getting this thing licensed...

I did get a new $14 wire harness for it from the local HF. Kinda surprised how cheap it was(even for Harbor Freight).

Thanks for the comments

Hopefully you have a good licensing place near you. Lost title work can be a pretty big hassle. State Patrol inspection will likely be required, last I heard they were weeks/months out, and a trip permit. Do you have ANY paperwork? WSP makes a big stink about things, but the inspection I had a 67 Mustang lasted less than 5 minutes. Good luck.

 

[rzims]

Spent the day yesterday on the truck. Oil change, fluids check, general cleaning....then started in on a bed and drawers for the back of the truck. Hoping to get out into the sierras here pretty soon for some fishing trips. And then in the fall will use it for hunting excursions.
Setting it up so it can be a double if the wife goes with or solo.
Also worked on a couple more knives for gifts....

 

[Blue Chips]

Our new second garage was signed off by the local code inspector last week, and we had our driveway paved a couple of days ago. I drew the layout (see below) as a guide for the paving contractor.



The pavement consists of 3 inches of coarse-graded asphalt (it required 60 yards of asphalt), laid over an 18-inch base, which is made up of layers of progressively smaller crushed stone including the fines from the crushing (no clay). The contractor compacted the living daylights out of the base material and compacted the asphalt just as diligently, so it should last for a long time without settling. The final grading was a bit tricky due to the convolutions in the lot and getting all parts of the driveway to drain correctly.





After the asphalt has cured long enough, I'll order a dump truck load of good topsoil for dressing and seeding the area around the edges.

 

[ATC]

Started working on clearing out the back of the IH, and the shelves in the back corner of the garage. ‘Bout 25 years worth of accumulation of “I’ll use it someday” (dads stuff).

Trash cans are full, and Monday (pickup day) is a holiday, so they won't get emptied until Tuesday. I might just make a pile at the road for bulk pickup. I'd hate to waste this momentum I've got going...and the beautiful weather.

 

[GreenIron]

What pump did you use? I know I will have to replace mine someday.

This pump.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Unloaded my corrugated solid and perforated pipe and fittings from the French Drain Man. If it’d ever stop raining and dry out I could finish my dirt work and drainage (open french drain, gutters/downspouts, floor drains, sinks and urinal).

 

[driftpin]

Nothing I did, but deserving of mention here, because this fellow was a self-trained engineer (and don't sneer at my labelling) who beat some of the best. Take a look at the picture and see if you know who it is. If you have a certain specific interest, that should help you to have a better idea who this is.

 

[rharman]

< snip >


< /snip >

I like the bollards. That's a good idea.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Nothing I did, but deserving of mention here, because this fellow was a self-trained engineer (and don't sneer at my labelling) who beat some of the best. Take a look at the picture and see if you know who it is. If you have a certain specific interest, that should help you to have a better idea who this is.

Buell?

 

[GrayFlattop]

Finally got around to taking the winter tires of of both cars and bolting up the summers. Inspected said cars and washed the one my bride drives. No surprises, but it was a full day - at least that’s all I felt like doing.

 

[KFBR392]

which model Mazda are you tackling? We have a couple newer models, is this something I need to keep an eye on? Thanks

This is the 2.5 liter Skyactiv engine. The battery is several years old so I’d say it’s exhibiting pretty normal behavior, I just let it get completely out of control. I should probably get a new one sooner rather than later.

 

[DGersic]

Packed up a small bag of tools for a U-Pull-It run. Dropped the bag of tools back in the garage, they didn’t have what I was looking for. Found a different place that their website claims they have what I need, so I’ll call tomorrow before driving out there.

 

[rd65]

Nothing I did, but deserving of mention here, because this fellow was a self-trained engineer (and don't sneer at my labelling) who beat some of the best. Take a look at the picture and see if you know who it is. If you have a certain specific interest, that should help you to have a better idea who this is.

John Britten

 

[niget2002]

Installed a little Ecowitt soil monitor. It has a little wire that needs to be mounted on the wall for the antenna. I didn't want to stick the little 3m taped mount directly to the wall, so I cut a small metal plate that I'm now mounting it too. I'll use a little hook to hang it on the wall.

The soil moisture monitor itself is stuck in my son's Lemon Tree. It seems to be working well.

One odd thing I noticed after install is the Ecowitt receiver runs the same protocol as the Ambient Weather weather station and temp probes I have around the house. My HomeAssistant setup is picking up values from both systems. The main difference is the Ambient Weather data goes out to the cloud before HA pulls it back in whereas the Ecowitt pushes directly to HA. I may switch my automation to using the locally pushed data, but the AW data has been pretty reliable.

 

[mikegt4]

Unloaded my corrugated solid and perforated pipe and fittings from the French Drain Man. If it’d ever stop raining and dry out I could finish my dirt work and drainage (open french drain, gutters/downspouts, floor drains, sinks and urinal).

I like The French Drain Man's YouTube channel, he has a lot of good information and explains why he does things in certain ways.
Good luck with your project.

 

[Outlawmws]

It has a little wire that needs to be mounted on the wall for the antenna. I didn't want to stick the little 3m taped mount directly to the wall, so I cut a small metal plate that I'm now mounting it too.

If that wire is an antenna attaching it to metal will affect its performance, possibly making it directional. You should use plastic of something..

 

[Hooked]

Radiator in my '94 F350 sprung a leak over the weekend so decided to just buy new rather than take it to a shop. Got the new one from O'Reilly on Thursday, pulled the old one this morning, all was going well. Well, until I discover the new one didn't have the heater hose fitting and the threads were different than the old fitting. O'Reilly doesn't have the part. Argh.
Did what I should have done originally, take the old one to the radiator shop where I got it 4 years ago. Hard to believe it failed in such short time. Without my truck for several days is no fun.

Well, a week later and my truck is running again. Shop had it repaired mid-day Monday but when I dropped it and went to attach the transmission cooler hoses I discovered they were too brittle for use (crumbled when trying to press them on). O'reilly's had to order a 'bulk roll' to get what I needed. However, what they list as 'bulk' turned out to be a 2' piece so I had to go searching. Due to other projects I had to stop for a couple days. Found a NAPA store on Wednesday that had plenty so Thursday I was able to replace the lines and get everything back together.
Now, I just need to make a trip to the car was to clean up the mess it made spraying coolant everywhere.

 

[niget2002]

If that wire is an antenna attaching it to metal will affect its performance, possibly making it directional. You should use plastic of something..

Right now it's laying across the top of a metal networking rack. My assumption is the small mount I made should affect it less than the large plate it's currently sitting on. But If I have issues, I can try something else.

 

[afinepoint]

Replaced fuel oil pump in my 7.3L.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Put the Burg on the lift. Pulled the wheels and loaded them in the car.

 

[larry4406]

Put the Burg on the lift. Pulled the wheels and loaded them in the car.

Burg = Scooter

I understand now.

Still more to learn.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Burg = Scooter

I understand now.

Still more to learn.

Burg=650cc scooter.

You stop learning, you die.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Burg=650cc scooter.

You stop learning, you die.

I replaced the rear tire on my Helix. Those little scooter tires are a pain in the ***. You pay someone to change them Kay?

 

[kaymccampbell]

I replaced the rear tire on my Helix. Those little scooter tires are a pain in the ***. You pay someone to change them Kay?

Oh yeah. You don't wanna be caught dead trying to squeeze on those 14-15 inch fatty tubeless radials. The beads don't stretch or flex at all. I let the tire shop do them. They charge out the *** for it, too. I'll stick to the mechanicals.

 

[larry4406]

Burg = Scooter

I understand now.

Still more to learn.

Burg=650cc scooter.

You stop learning, you die.

I am still learning Kay-speak...

 

[kaymccampbell]

I am still learning Kay-speak...

Good puppy.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I am still learning Kay-speak...

We all are. Add Strouty to that and you'll be trilingual.

 

[LeonardY]

Wandered in and wandered out. Took a few measurements and made a template of the router base.
Pushed the go button on the printer.

 

[welder4956]

Did annual maintenance on the mower - changed oil and filter, replaced air filter and prefilter, replaced spark plug. Not to sure about the new plug I bought though. Old and new are Champion RC12YC, but the electrode tip is much smaller on the new one I bought yesterday at Lowes. Wondering if the new one is counterfeit. I mowed the yard after I finished and it seems to run fine.

 

[ATC]

Making a little progress…

 

[jimkinney]

This pump.

Looks good, Thanks,

 

[XJSuperman]

Cleaned up, put away tools, and blew out the gutters on the garage.

 

[JEFFREYWisconsin]

Had a little time today got the new radiator in, I will finish it up over the weekend, get if filled up and get this rig back on the road!

 

[Magnum440d100]

Got a mower from the neighbor. He said it ran. Played with it, and sho ‘nuff it ran.


Messing with it, and the throttle cable was falling apart, and the linkages on the Honda engine were near seized.

So I ordered a throttle


And soaked the linkages until the throttle arrived.


I’m sure I could have just ordered the cable. But the throttle was hard to push/pull, even when no cable was hooked to it, and I didn’t want a repeat of the cable stretching/fraying.

Anyway, the new throttle arrived the other day ago. I finally got the time to install it. The linkages move freely, it chokes when choked. Throttles down when throttled down. Carb needs cleaned but that’s another project for another day.

 

[DGersic]

Had a good day today. The weather finally got nice, 70s and sunny, after days of gloom, cold, and rain.

Mowed the lawn this morning. The slick coating seems to have worked more or less as advertised. Not much of anything stuck under there after mowing.




Took my bag of tools to a different junkyard. Found most of what I was looking for / wanted.



Two Dakota / Durango body computers, the small “deflector” for the Camry to replace the one that went missing, and a good Camry trunk chrome trim to replace the one I have that is peeling.

Best part, walked up to check out, and the guy waved me through with a “happy Friday, have a good weekend”, so free parts.

One of the computers had silt in it, so likely a flood victim. That one got washed and dried. Hopefully one of them is good.

 

[M.Brane]

So happy I no longer own a mower.

Was gonna swap the rear shocks on the Tool Box Truck, but they sent me the wrong ones. 4.5" too long. Why is it so hard to get rears for a dually?

Burgs are badass scoots. A good rider can give a sportbike a run for it's money.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Did annual maintenance on the mower - changed oil and filter, replaced air filter and prefilter, replaced spark plug. Not to sure about the new plug I bought though. Old and new are Champion RC12YC, but the electrode tip is much smaller on the new one I bought yesterday at Lowes. Wondering if the new one is counterfeit. I mowed the yard after I finished and it seems to run fine.

I think you got snookered. All the RC12YC plugs I have are ribbed, full size copper core, and have CHAMPION in letters only, no symbol. That looks more like an iridium plug. But most of the champion iridiums I've seen have a two color logo and the word iridium.