What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[dwasifar]

Last time I changed the oil on my wife's Forester, I discovered the oil filter had failed. The filter media had torn away from the end caps due to bad pleat spacing and inadequate glue. I got a dozen of these from RockAuto.

It's been a few hundred miles since then, and I decided to pull the filter and inspect it. In that short time, it had failed in exactly the same way, for the same reason.

Here are pictures:


You can see the glue line where it was attached, and how the pleat flattened out against the inner core.


This is the other end, and it's a lot worse. When the glue failed on one end and pushed the pleat flat against the core, the other end simply tore and left a big hole.

I wrote to RockAuto, but it's past the 30 day return and warranty period so I doubt they'll do anything. Though I did point out that 30 days is not enough time to use 12 filters and find the flaws in them.

They were listed as private-branded Pro-Tec by Wix filters, and they came with AutoExtra branding. Caveat emptor.

 

[bmwrd0]

Still shuffling stuff around the tiny shop, AKA The Hole. Should be in a good spot tomorrow to get it all wrapped up by Monday. Then it is time for cleaning/tossing.

 

[M.Brane]

Made numerous trips for various tools, PPE, and beer. Working in the yard before the weather turns to 5h1t. We've had it too good for too long, but that's about to change.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Made numerous trips for various tools, PPE, and beer. Working in the yard before the weather turns to 5h1t. We've had it too good for too long, but that's about to change.

Trade ya. Beer'll freeze in the can while you're raking the snowdrifts.

Yes, even the Ice Princess is tired of winter.

 

[Motorman55]

I'm getting closer to the final finishing of the 7' common bench.

After trying different layouts of the bench top, I decided I would set the top even with the back legs, allowing the front to extend 1-3/4" from the frame and added back and side stops.

Also installed the big chrome 4-drawer box into the right side. I allowed about a 3/8" clearance on the sides. There's about an 1-1/2' clearance on the top of the 4- drawer box. I did that in anticipation of possibly adding a slide out extension board later on down the road.

Things I still need to do before its finished. (1.) Add lower sides and back panels. (2.) Add 3/8" ply for the bottom shelf. (3.) Add new doors, possibly 2 or 3 sliding doors, on the lower left hand side, (haven't decided yet.) (3.) Add some edging to the top. (4.) Seal the top, possible light stain too (5.) Also, thinking of painting the lower frame section black (maybe).

Oh yeah, also added some black metal drawer pulls to the HF wood bench. NOTE: The TV will be mounted on a shelf over the bench.

Here's couple pics...

 

[Mike65]

Not today but yesterday we moved around stuff in the garage/shop so my wife could get her trike out & go for a ride now that the snow for the most part is gone & yesterday was mild. Moved my mountain bike back out so I could start riding again. We also set up the sawhorses & a sheet of plywood to make a temp table to cut up all of our acquired cardboard to get it ready to go to recycling.

 

[stewarkj]

This was yesterday, engine swap and new clutch...burning and leaking a quart of oil a week, it's my daily and 40+MPG I like it.

 

[PhantomEB]

Moving stuff around and vacuuming, patio first though.

Daytona 500 today so might just bleed brakes too.

 

[Notgrownup]

Cut,sanded and attached a maple butcher block top to a medical cart and covered it with Watch walnut Danish oil. To make it a new addition to my storage solution.

 

[413dan]

cheap brake hardware kit replaced with quality stuff. the cheapies were from Napa and were scratching as they weren't quite manufactured to spec. My thought is likely because they fit a few different vehicles. the replacements I got from rock auto were cheaper, albeit I had to wait for them but well worth it even with shipping. I grabbed a few other odds and ends to make it worthwhile. the replacements from rock auto were twice as thick. Took it for a test drive and all is well with the world again. the screeching scratching sound it was making was driving me insane.

Just finished reading some forums about another mystery noise while turning the wheel. Commenters with similar problems were stating the rubber boot where the steering column goes through the firewall could just use a spot of grease, especially in colder weather. Gonna go see if that'll do the trick. Feeling nice to be outside again. It's still cold at 38 degrees F, but as it's been in the single digits the past month this, along with the sunshine is quite refreshing. Bring on spring here in the northern hemisphere, I'm ready!

 

[niget2002]

Worked on the laser.



Finished the model.

 

[413dan]

A small shot of silicone spray and a quick drive around the neighborhood to spread it around and in fixed the squeaky steering wheel noise that is worse in winter. It is the small things in life some days.
Now off to a nice dinner with the mrs and some friends as we have a long weekend and no work tomorrow. Thankful for the small blessings and moments to be enjoyed in life.

 

[BonzoHansen]

Got over 40* last 2 days, decided to attack the street to clean the 3'x3' wall of of ice/snow away from the curb so I can park my truck back in the street. I thought it would be softer, but that **** was still solid. I'm tired lol

 

[LeeG]

The wheels on a cabinet I built 10 ago delaminated.



I bought some steel wheels the same size and swapped them out. I did have to chuck the new spacers up in the lathe and take off about 3/32 so they’d fit in the existing frames.



They don't roll quite as well, but I only move that cabinet a few times a year, so it isn't a big deal. I've had 5 of 6 of these casters delaminate like that. All were purchased from Woodcraft.

Lee

 

[inphx]

I tried replacing batteries but the unlock code would still have you fiddling with the latch hoping it engages... sorry no pics but four torx screws and the backplate comes off. moving brass and plastic parts were gummy so I sprayed wd40 and re assembled. Back to life

"A" is the keypad module, it's attached to "B" a motor with a long spring it rotates that serves as a worm gear "C" a plastic piece riding on that worm gear injects a pin "D" engaging the door latch. Mostly the pin around D (with its spring) were physically gummy which explains hrs in direct sunlight make door work fine but when cold it doesn't engage.

The spring as a worm gear is brilliant - it allows the pin to find the keyway and also allows override from the internal knob overriding the lock.

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

A little kitchen table bench work, made a tapering jig for the legs, fitting this and that..making some progress. The tapering jig maxes out my little table saws blade height. Second rendition, first out of 3/4 ply and the blade wouldn't raise high enough. I ran the taper 1/2" over 10"s...I'd do 3/4 over 10" if I did it again. Simple jig worked great. There's an adjustable version I found on-line, I didn't have the material on hand without making a purchase. Put the drill press to work, first work since the refurbish. The table and fence combo, makes me wonder why I went so long without it, kick myself in the jimmy. Make repetitious processes so effortless. The second layer of the bench skirt is getting some mechanical fasteners and plugs to hide them..

Pics on the way..

 

[Just Puttering]

I recently made a banner, and today I hung it up in the garage.



My wife had wanted a BMW banner for her side of the garage beside her BMW 128i Cab. I thought a banner of their 1983 F1 drivers championship winning car would be fun. I couldn't find any banners online showing the BMW F1 effort, so I decided to learn some of the photo tools that came with my computer to make one.

I found an online image of Nelson Piquet's 1983 Brabham BMW F1 car, an image of the badge, and an image of the BMW "Powered by" logo. I combined them together, erased the fencing, spectators, and other blemishes, popped it onto a black background and paid $28 for one of those online outfits to print it on vinyl. Very pleased with the result, especially considering that I have zero design skills.

I always thought it was kinda cool that the F1 championship winning Brabham BMW was powered by an engine based on the same M10 engine block as the old BMW 320i that I had at the time. It was the last cast iron block to win an F1 championship title.

Really cool that they sourced numerous well used BMW 2002 and 320i blocks to build the engines. They figured the numerous heat cycles on the high mileage engines made the blocks stronger. Definitely needed as in qualifying “grenade” trim, the 1.5 litre 1,400 HP engines only lasted 2 to 3 laps at full 60 - 80 PSI of boost…Absolutely crazy!

Definitely deserving of a banner.

 

[INSP380]

Repeat after me….”I’m done lugging the shop vac around…..I’m done lugging the shop vac around….” Feel good moment here…

Steve

 

[TurnipTruck]

I salvaged a very used 8’ snow plow blade at least 20 years ago for a different project. This past week I have been fitting and fabricating scraps of steel to make myself a snow push for the tractor.
In testing it out today I think it will be five times faster than the bucket alone and 3 times faster than the rear box blade, assuming I can find some traction on the ice lurking under the snow pack.

 

[Beerhippie]

assuming I can find some traction on the ice lurking under the snow pack.

Tire chains. Diamond pattern.

 

[Metallitubby]

Installed a dozen-or-so exhaust springs on the Pikes Peak ILX, made some adjustments to the hangers, and attempted to weld the collector when my Miller welder decided to eat itself.

 

[rharman]

The wheels on a cabinet I built 10 ago delaminated.



I bought some steel wheels the same size and swapped them out. I did have to chuck the new spacers up in the lathe and take off about 3/32 so they’d fit in the existing frames.



They don't roll quite as well, but I only move that cabinet a few times a year, so it isn't a big deal. I've had 5 of 6 of these casters delaminate like that. All were purchased from Woodcraft.

Lee

I used to buy those red wheels regularly on sale from Woodcraft. Always had a delamination on one or more after installation. I'd tell my wife that another caster "got a flat tire". Didn't matter if the weight was light or heavy. Eventually, I moved on to another brand but I still have some of those. I'll probably use them on a couple of upcoming projects just to use up the inventory but knowing full well that I'll be replacing them down the road. I'd say you were lucky to get 10 years out of them.

 

[lowbucktruck]

Well, this happened outside of my garage and equipment shed... but heck, the sun was out!
Rewired the harness on a second-hand Kawasaki Mule 600 (with known electrical issues)... so new regulator/rectifier, new battery and replacement fuses and pigtails to keep the currents flowing. Now back into service.
Already changed the oil and filters. No, I have not cleaned this machine. She be dirty, and likely will stay that way.

 

[bulletpruf]

Finished up rebuilding a close ratio T10 trans for my '72 AMC Javelin budget road racer. I built a backup trans a few weeks ago; this will be the primary.



And since I had all my snap ring pliers out, I figured I might as well rebuild the 3.03 3 speed trans for my '69 Bronco project. Got it mostly disassembled and got the case painted. Hope to finish disassembly (just the cluster gear left to go) and reassembly tomorrow.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Designed, burned, assembled, installed and populated some sandpaper disc boxes. One more overflowing box of **** dealt with.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Tire chains. Diamond pattern.

 

[2001ZR2]

I spent some more time on clean up the Hanta Hilton stack and finally got the last of the adhesive and carpet scraps out of the box.

I also spent so time wiping it down both inside and out so it's much cleaner but most importantly you can no longer smell it from 10+ feet away. Worked on one of the bent drawers and began formulating a plant to pull all the drawers and straighten them as needed and begin the process of prepping them for paint. As I would work on one and say this is ok then the next was bad peeling paint with rust...There are only 22 drawers on this stack with 10 upper and 12 lower so a bit unusual stack.

 

[Beerhippie]

Perfect! They even have the V-bars, which I forgot--essential for ice. A little spendy....

Many years ago, a partner and I found a rubber-tire skidder that someone drove off a canyon cliff--I'm assuming they survived, as I never heard about it. Anyhow, it was upside-down in some brush. It had chains like that on it and we decided that it might well be worth hauling those chains up and out of the canyon--we were about 400' down from the rim. We managed to get one off and the answer was just NOPE. 60" X 30" tires have heavy chains! It would take a helicopter to rescue those.

 

[dwasifar]

Spruced up a cheap Strat copy gratis for a local open mic coffeeshop.

They have instruments for the customers to play, and this "Vinci" branded Strat copy had a lot of electronic crackling. Someone had told the owner it needed the wiring fixed, so I took it home and checked it out. Turned out the electronic problems were just dirty contacts, easily fixed with deoxit, but it was in pretty neglected shape, so I performed the following other services:

• Cleaned and polished body and pickguard
• Chased out cruddy nut slots
• Wire wheel and cold bluing on rusty pickguard screws
• Polished frets
• Oiled fretboard
• Replaced saddles and knobs
• New strings
• Truss rod adjustment and full setup and intonation

It's as good as it's going to get now. Plays pretty well; not Fender or G&L quality, but good enough for amateurs or intermediate players to bang on. It could really use a fret leveling and fret dress, but I don't have the tools for that, and the instrument isn't worth paying a pro tech to do fretwork.

 

[Motorman55]

Set up a newer TV and our old VHS tape player and tested. Played several of our old movies while working on the new hobby/craft room. That's an old Mystic Seaport Museum VHS video, narrated by Walter Cronkite, playing on the TV.

Today I cleaned the two windows inside and out before painting the trim. Once the paint was dried I hung up the curtain toppers the wife wanted to use. Then it was back to some more trim painting and trying to organize the mess I created. Tomorrow I'll finish painting the doors and the rest of the trim with the creamy tan color paint. Its hard to tell by the pics, but the new trim color looks much better with the brown blinds and tones down the bright white color its replacing.

The room is really beginning to come together. Still have some work to do on the common bench before I can call it done plus I have to get the shelving figured out and up on the wall, make doors for the left side of the common bench, paint the wifes' old white cabinet her favorite color of leaf green, frame more artwork and pics fr the walls and etc, etc.

Here's a couple pics....

 

[LeonardY]

Figured out a pouring lip for the resin tray on the printer. Hoping it the resin pours out of the tray without wrapping around the edge.


Put an air disconnect on the overhead reel. Then attached a ten foot hose I had to the reel. I'll do a better job of running the hose to the compressor. But for now, it works. Not always having to coil up an air hose is going to be nice.

 

[Beerhippie]

Fiddled with the Brick some more. Moved all my stored gear out of my old Vanagon, Ol' Blue, and got it to the storage unit. Salvaged the no-longer-made window screens for the side sliders and put them on the new Van--the Brick.



Those are the first holes I've drilled in the body of the new rig... no going back now!

I also moved the awning back about a foot to better cover the sliding door--after I took the picture.

 

[Prospecter]

I salvaged a very used 8’ snow plow blade at least 20 years ago for a different project. This past week I have been fitting and fabricating scraps of steel to make myself a snow push for the tractor.
In testing it out today I think it will be five times faster than the bucket alone and 3 times faster than the rear box blade, assuming I can find some traction on the ice lurking under the snow pack.

When we plow in The County, we use the rototiller on the back for weight on the back of the 3038. Much heavier than the weighted block.
Nice set up with the FEL quick mount.

 

[racecougar]

Saturday was "make a 2004 Mustang radiator fan fit a 1973 Mustang radiator" day.





Between other tasks, Sunday was "make a radiator cover" day. Just like the '65 C10 build, even though we're in a hurry to get this car built, it doesn't mean we're going to cut any corners. The top of the radiator needed some dressing up. Dad will get it painted this week and we'll hopefully do the final install of the radiator next weekend.

This started out as a pallet rack brace. A little choppy chop, weld, rotabroach, and dimple die later, we've got a radiator cover.

 

[DGersic]

Saturday was "make a 2004 Mustang radiator fan fit a 1973 Mustang radiator" day.





Between other tasks, Sunday was "make a radiator cover" day. Just like the '65 C10 build, even though we're in a hurry to get this car built, it doesn't mean we're going to cut any corners. The top of the radiator needed some dressing up. Dad will get it painted this week and we'll hopefully do the final install of the radiator next weekend.

This started out as a pallet rack brace. A little choppy chop, weld, rotabroach, and dimple die later, we've got a radiator cover.

Are you going to build a shroud for it, too?

 

[Skyman]

This started out as a pallet rack brace. A little choppy chop, weld, rotabroach, and dimple die later, we've got a radiator cover.

That's some damned fine fabrication work. Well done.

 

[Hooked]

Trade ya. Beer'll freeze in the can while you're raking the snowdrifts.

Yes, even the Ice Princess is tired of winter.

We don't get anywhere near your temps and I've been tired of winter for several months.

 

[Hooked]

The wheels on a cabinet I built 10 ago delaminated.



I bought some steel wheels the same size and swapped them out. I did have to chuck the new spacers up in the lathe and take off about 3/32 so they’d fit in the existing frames.



They don't roll quite as well, but I only move that cabinet a few times a year, so it isn't a big deal. I've had 5 of 6 of these casters delaminate like that. All were purchased from Woodcraft.

Lee

I did the same thing when the wheels on my HF work cart toolbox delaminated. I may do the same for the small rubber wheels on my old government issue desk chair since they are getting chips our of them.

 

[Hooked]

For a couple months I've had a suspicion the vacuum pump on my '94 F350 7.3 was getting weak and Friday was the day it was confirmed. Had to make a sudden stop (fortunately slow speed) and no power brake.
I had purchased the pump but being the procrastinator I am, never replaced it. Until Saturday. Test drive provided assurance that was the problem.
Now to either pull the oil cooler and repair it or take it to the shop.

 

[racecougar]

Are you going to build a shroud for it, too?

Nope. It'll have no issue cooling this 347 as-is. I've used it in similar applications without issue, and Ford used it to cool the Terminator in the same fashion (note that it isn't shrouded from the factory). It pulls WAY more air than any of the aftermarket offerings.

That's some damned fine fabrication work. Well done.

Thanks!