Continued...
The eyesore across the street from us sold last year and they are tearing it down, to be replaced with a McMansion.
I used to have a large bull terrier that loved to join me working under the car. Usually right in my face which hampered work quite a bit. Trained him to stay down by my feet and as long as I was rubbing him with my foot, usually pinned to the back of a wheel, he was happy and out of my way. Makes for some awkward evolution. Petting the dog while ratcheting. Steve, thanks for the compliment. I think I might enjoy working on wiring that is at table height. Wiring under the car or dashboard and in the confines of the engine isn't as much fun when you get older.
Terrick, thank you and I do enjoy taking on new challenges. I'm not always successful but I'd much rather try and fail. Although it is sometimes embarrassing to take the failure to a professional and admit the disaster is of my own making.
Andy, when we moved in, that house had just been renovated by a young man who made it very nice, inside and out.
Andy, I'll see your skill and cunning and raise you my shame and embarrassment.
JB, you are so right about the T-12 tool. I started with a pair of needle nose pliers trying to crimp a repair on a connector. Talk about epic fail -- I couldn't even get the mangled mess back together. The cheap crimper did a better job but I couldn't get all the strands of wire inside the crimp. You are welcome to follow along but your teacher (master
) is just sharing and learning right along with you.Guster, good to hear from you. I am guilty of turning many fairly simple repairs into huge projects. I guess it's just an unintended consequence of having three running cars and not needing any of them to get to work.So frustrating when you take on one already frustrating job and then have to add a few more just because it needs to be done and needs doing right. You did good Bob!
Hehe… fancy footwork! Being pedidextrous definitely makes up for not being ambidextrous. Though with use of the nose I guess it makes you more omnidextrous or is it paradextrous.
Sub, I will keep you all posted on the new construction. I am hoping this isn't one of those "unintended consequences" stories. I try not to annoy my neighbors with late night grinding and hammering. I'm going to try to make friends with the new owners but you never know. I'll be spraying some primer in my garage and eventually may be spraying base and clear coat after that. Filters help but it's hard to completely eliminate the smell. Maybe I'll rent a booth on a weekend.
Jason, thanks for posting and the kind words. Most of the paint I spray isn't real sensitive to pressure and volume but SPI Epoxy Primer and Universal Clear certainly are. According to the company owner/chemist/guru you can have problems if the pressure in the line from the compressor is below 120 PSI and you need to regulate down to 10 to 25 PSI at or very close to the gun for best results. In the past I have always done it the way you describe (I hate adding weight at the working end). I'm just trying to eliminate as many potential problem areas as possible.
Andy, that very common around here. This particular section of our street has unusually deep lots for downtown. You can put a pretty big house on these lots and because of their elevation, some of the homes have basements -- unheard of in South Florida.
classes this past November.
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[FONT="]JB, great stories. As I said, I don't get the auto A/C shops. Ripping customers off is a bad word-of-mouth strategy and makes sure there's almost zero return business.
I inherited a second car when my father died in 1968. A 1963 Triumph Herald convertible. It was a tiny car with an unbelievable turning radius (I could make a no-reversing U-turn in a 2-car wide driveway). I had snow tires for the car and in a 14-inch blizzard with the county plows called off, we drove 30 miles home with no problem. In the rear view mirror I could see we were plowing the top six inches of snow and I couldn't make headway in 4th gear but it got us home. The one time I got stuck in the Herald, I lifted the rear end and moved it onto fresh snow.
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Andy, I have the same feeling about the self-driving cars. I will be that geezer hitting the accelerator instead of the brake and a dozen nearby Google cars will explode.
I'm wondering if the new Dodge Challenger GT AWD is going to be a big seller. A 4-wheel drive ponycar from the manufacturer, what will they think of next.
Rod, I like it -- I always turn the car around in the driveway to avoid backing onto the roadway. Sometimes I go a bit too far on the K-turn and put a tire on the lawn. Maybe I should invest in studded tires!
Looking forward to it Andy!
The eyesore across the street from us sold last year and they are tearing it down, to be replaced with a McMansion.
Monday morning we were greeted with the sound of heavy equipment and backup beepers.
By Wednesday afternoon things got quiet again.
All that sand is tempting. Maybe I'll rent a 4-wheeler and tear it up.
Thanks for dropping by Steve and thanks for the compliment!Bob, top job..
Regards
Hello Kyle, glad you like the mods on the old Vette. I am pleased every time I go out and see the yard lit up. I finished the back yard and have been playing with different LED bulbs. I'll post some more about that shortly.Hello Bob,
It's been awhile since I took a good look at your thread. I wanted to say I like the modifications you made to the older vette (exhaust/body work), the lighting you did to your place (you know I'm big into yard/gardening) and of course the brake line project (Wow!)..
Very cool stuff, I like that you fixed many other (discovered) issues as you went along (and of course polished the aluminum steering shaft and paint the steel rag joint)
I very much enjoyed your attention to detail, the new crimpers and how nice those connectors turned out.
Kenny, my kids may benefit from our house appreciating. For me it's a paid-off place with fairly low taxes ($3.2K).
Hi Stewart! You are right that he lucked out -- I didn't think he would break even! Unfortunately my house isn't an investment -- it's a place to live. If I were to sell it and buy a place in Florida for a whole lot less, I'd probably be stuck with higher taxes or monthly maintenance fees (fees that grow faster than a Ficus tree).Great story on the neighbor's house history. I guess the young fellow got some city **** relief when he made a profit. At 260k for a lot, you have a nice retirement investment in your property.
Man, you could be a millionaire right now if you started your coping
Andy, I'm pretty sure my oldest grandson took that first driveway at about 60 mph in his lifted RAM diesel pickup. That would explain the toe-out on his front end. The second one looks like a typical driveway pour on a Florida tract home.The driveway I was thinking about. The picture does not do it justice. Shadow was just in the wrong place. The car is parked at the road out of necessity.
This one's not as bad
Of course the advantage of both driveways is you cannot see the house from the road.
Vieux, it has been a typical winter here. Winter is a very confusing season in South Florida. The maple tree lost its leaves a week or two ago...
Kirk, I know what you mean about life side tracking our leisure activities.
Matt, I live by the "ask for forgiveness rather than permission" rule when dealing with my neighbors' problems. I often fix broken sprinklers before the neighbor gets the $500 water bill -- I have a rather large collection of sprinkler repair parts.
Steve, I would love to put up metal or some other more durable fencing. I have 300 feet (91.4 meters) of fencing on the north and south sides of my property under my control. Another 75 feet (23 meters) on the east side belongs to one neighbor and the 25 feet on that side that has started falling down belongs to another. I could put up better fencing but I'd still have the two neighbors' wood fencing. Neither of them seem to have money to spend on sprucing up there homes but both have open pools in their back yards (no screened enclosure) so they have to have a fenced yard by code.Bob, now that is a top repair job..
We are fortunate that all our permitter fences have all been replaced in recent years and are all steel colour bond.
Regards
Simon, I have used wire coat hangers to tie things up, secure loose exhaust pipes and hang items to be spray painted. I was intrigued by Shopnut's use of swaged eyes on his cables and thought this would be a good place to try it out. I'm very happy with the result and I know it was 'GJ overkill' aka the least I could do.
Andy, bless you my friend. I was a little worried about Googling a Molly Hogan so I made sure my wife wasn't lurking nearby. I was still worried when I opened a YouTube video with a trucker sitting in his cab with a laptop and a piece of wire. What a relief to see him twist a loop in the cable.
Rick, it's funny you mention marine stuff. When we lived close to the Hudson River and were into boating, it was always hard to put the boat up for the winter. When it snowed we went sledding and when it was cold we went ice skating. When it was sleeting or freezing rain, we hunkered down indoors. That's when I got out the lines for the boat and put eye splices in all the ends. I liked being able to quickly connect two lines and not have to check for granny knots. Most of the lines went with the boat when I sold it but I kept a 50-footer and use it to tie off or guide trees when I fell them. A neighbor bought me a new rope when he misunderstood my advise on pulling a palm tree off his roof after hurricane Wilna (forgot to tell him to take the slack out before driving away). I re-did the missing eye splice and then did the new line as well.
Stewart, I'm with you!
Matt, I live by the "ask for forgiveness rather than permission" rule when dealing with my neighbors' problems. I often fix broken sprinklers before the neighbor gets the $500 water bill -- I have a rather large collection of sprinkler repair parts.
You're a Prince. But then we all knew that
Steve, I would love to put up metal or some other more durable fencing. I have 300 feet (91.4 meters) of fencing on the north and south sides of my property under my control. Another 75 feet (23 meters) on the east side belongs to one neighbor and the 25 feet on that side that has started falling down belongs to another.
I sort of feel your pain, I have 10 1/2 miles of barbed wire fencing from ten years old to 75 years old and I'm cleaning my shop
Simon, I have used wire coat hangers to tie things up, secure loose exhaust pipes and hang items to be spray painted. I was intrigued by Shopnut's use of swaged eyes on his cables and thought this would be a good place to try it out. I'm very happy with the result and I know it was 'GJ overkill' aka the least I could do.
I truly pity poor people who don't have a stash of baling wire. Beats coat hangers by 1.61.clicks. I need to learn how to put on swages.
Andy, bless you my friend. I was a little worried about Googling a Molly Hogan so I made sure my wife wasn't lurking nearby. I was still worried when I opened a YouTube video with a trucker sitting in his cab with a laptop and a piece of wire. What a relief to see him twist a loop in the cable.
I do know some stuff, even if it's not very useful. But a good Molly Hogan is useful and does not require prying the rope open.
I didn't use very big hardware on the fence repair. It's #14 screw eyes and 1/8-inch cable with a small stainless turnbuckle. I decided to put the screws in shear rather than tension so maybe it will take a little longer to fail.
I think you misunderstood me, your repair is so good, I expect the fence to rot apart and fall down with your eye still holding on the the last piece of fence.
Rick, it's funny you mention marine stuff. When we lived close to the Hudson River and were into boating, it was always hard to put the boat up for the winter. When it snowed we went sledding and when it was cold we went ice skating. When it was sleeting or freezing rain, we hunkered down indoors. That's when I got out the lines for the boat and put eye splices in all the ends. I liked being able to quickly connect two lines and not have to check for granny knots. Most of the lines went with the boat when I sold it but I kept a 50-footer and use it to tie off or guide trees when I fell them. A neighbor bought me a new rope when he misunderstood my advise on pulling a palm tree off his roof after hurricane Wilna (forgot to tell him to take the slack out before driving away). I re-did the missing eye splice and then did the new line as well.
Great Boy Scout splices
I try to be a good neighbor but I expect few to reciprocate. It's always a pleasant surprise when one does. Being retired also helps my attitude. I have the time to take care of things that other people ignore.
Your wisdom is showing
Now how much is your sanity worth?: Most of that kind of stuff is plated. Did you grind the plating off? Sorry if I'm stating the obvious. Nice recovery plan.
What Dulux here calls "Florida pink".
You just gave me a bit of deja vu Bob!
Colour aside, I was pottering around with pretty similar fixtures on Monday evening. Kids want study lamps and I refuse to spend what my wife had in mind on some new angle-poise lamps. I had replaced some of these old 3-way lamps a few years ago and currently being scavenged to make desk lamps out of them. Then realised I already have angle-poise lamps over some machines that are better suited for desk lamps. So while I clean those up for requisition to the house I am making some new machine lamp brackets for the scavenged light fixtures instead. Thus summing up my merry-go-round!
My dog ate it.
Actually I think Lyndon is keeping score for us on how many times it's been inquired about.
Last few months I've been spending all my spare time over weekends working outside on the front deck and entertainment area of the house. Just doesn't seem right to start a thread about "nothing to do with my workshop"
Thanks Andy! The Professor is a patient and thoughtful person with an amazing eye for photography. I am proud to consider him a friend and mentor, even if it's just through the Internet tubes.
Steve, it's funny that I look at every broken thing I come across a little differently. Before I throw it in the trash, I think "What would Vieux do?Bob ( aka Vieux ) done well..
It is great to see that we have a little of Vieux in each of us.
Regards
Bobby, in ancient times, scribes didn't use punctuation or even spaces between words. Apparently paper was expensive and hard to come by. I appreciate the comma and I believe my sanity is worth a colon, OK, probably a semi-colon.Bob, looks good. Oops! Had to go back and put the comma in otherwise it read Bob looks good.
Kirk, that's the same pink as my Utah arm and I was told that thing goes with everything!Does that pink go better with your outfit or mine?
Zeke, thanks for that and you are right, that is a hickey. Our anniversary is coming up so maybe I can give my wife one without getting smacked around. I was very Un-MacGyver buying the new sockets (with hickeys) and $4 seemed like a fair deal -- the wires are riveted to the socket.
Guster, that's the curse/blessing of the GJ world: re-purpose something you already have. That or it's my big box store Agoraphobia.What Dulux here calls "Florida pink".
You just gave me a bit of deja vu Bob!
Colour aside, I was pottering around with pretty similar fixtures on Monday evening. Kids want study lamps and I refuse to spend what my wife had in mind on some new angle-poise lamps. I had replaced some of these old 3-way lamps a few years ago and currently being scavenged to make desk lamps out of them. Then realised I already have angle-poise lamps over some machines that are better suited for desk lamps. So while I clean those up for requisition to the house I am making some new machine lamp brackets for the scavenged light fixtures instead. Thus summing up my merry-go-round!
Andy, like New Zealand, it's well hidden.
Guster, I'm already having a hard time keeping up with all the great threads on here, yours would **** up the last little bit of free time I have left. If you think these "friends" of ours are cruel now, go ahead and start your own thread. Regret doesn't come close to describing the aftermath.My dog ate it.
Actually I think Lyndon is keeping score for us on how many times it's been inquired about.
Last few months I've been spending all my spare time over weekends working outside on the front deck and entertainment area of the house. Just doesn't seem right to start a thread about "nothing to do with my workshop"
Andy, we should all be gentle with Lyndon right now. The pressure of finding a place Irene likes is tough but nothing compared to finding one that we all like.
Lyndon?