taumac
Well-known member
Of course, when you have everything on wheels but lack floor space, the reorg is more like a big game of tetris.![]()
Yep, you tell him Jim. Not all of us have a 24 x 60 shop with two lofts. LOL.
Of course, when you have everything on wheels but lack floor space, the reorg is more like a big game of tetris.![]()
Thank you Vieux. Every time I have a problem moving something, the wheels come out.Great idea to use the wheel.![]()
Philip, the HF dollies are great. OK, great might be a stretch but for the price they do a good job. I have an ancient dolly made with angle iron and rubber-coated steel wheels. I'm guessing it is 70- or 80-years old. It came from my aunt's barn and was used to carry the manure bucket down a guide track in the floor. I have never greased or touched the wheels or swivels and they turn like new.Hi Bob, greetings of the season, I also use the HFT furniture dollies for easier portability of equipment, and have 'borrowed' their wheels & used 5/4 PT lumber to make purpose-built frames better-suited to the job. I also found some garden dollies, round cast iron & powdecoated, on casters, which are good for Rubbermaid tubs or 5 gal buckets. I can't recall where I got them, but I recall they were v. cheap.
The Herald pic made me smile, as soon as I saw the post, I figured it must have been the early/mid-1960's. One of my high school classmates had one about '66-'67, it was slow but a Triumph, so it had some cachet, I believed. Another friend had a TR 4 not the A model w/IRS. He had a Union Jack he painted on it covering the hood. A bumbershoot donated its handle for a shift knob function. This was up by Lake Ontario in western NYS.
Been working on my new storage space, a HVHZ-rated pre-manufactured 10 X 20 X 8 ft ht. garage I had delivered. No floor, it's bolted to a slab I had poured for it. An OH gable-end garage roll-up door & a 36 X 80" impact fiberglass door I hung myself provide utility in entry. It's gonna be for storage, I wish it could have been bigger but zoning code said, "no." A variance request is $3K... . Anyway, this weekend the electrician is sending his laborer to trench for a sub-panel install. Now I am just running an extension cord, but the new service will allow 110/220 V for a variety of things. One thing at a time.
At college the other day, i saw one of my favorite car designs, whic reminds me of the Ford GT 40 'breadbox' designs. One of my fellow co-workers had a pair of performance cars from opposite ends of the spectrum, a 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT 500 convertible he bought new, and a Lotus Europa he got in the mid-1970's. He's gone now, so are the cars.
Wow, I cannot believe it! I just got my electrical permit after signing the application yesterday, having it notarized, and giving it to the master license-holder. He called me this morning, & said, " I've got your electrical permit I'm coming to your house!" As he mentioned, "that's the service you get when you have a forty-year relationship with the senior electrical plans examiner!" The city employee was his foreman when my electrical contractor was an apprentice in the union. Now he's a small business owner and runs his business as a Union shop. Being a 25+ year AFL-CIO member and now retiree (IAFF, the firefighters union) I am ok with paying for the quality of work, and the speediness of the permit issuance. Here's the master electrician, running me the permit (attachment). He said, "if FP&L cooperates (disconnect/reconnect), we should be done by next weekend."
I'm replacing the old original to the 1961 house 150 amp branch panel, outside disconnect, and meter can. I'm also getting a sub-panel in the garage, 80 amps, and 110/220 V outlets or boxes for the uses there, 220 V AC, air compressor, 220 V RA Saw, Powermatic 66 bench saw, welder, and 110V duplex outlets.
Bottom-line: this is my Christmas present. My wife helped, of course.

Bret, I thought you would like that. You have lots of wheels in your shed but I don't know if it's worth making carts for your body parts.Bob I really like your ideas of having everything mobile.
Bret
Stewart, it's good you didn't give away the secret reason for casters in Florida garages and shops. Bugs, especially Palmetto Bugs (giant cockroaches) like to hide under stuff that's real close to the floor. They seem to find even an inch of headroom to be too much.Bret, there’s two requirements to belong to the Florida chapter; know the secret handshake and have everything on casters so you can rearrange your garage weekly.
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Bobby, I like the larger size HF dollies. For some reason my small ones have casters that don't like to swivel. Maybe I just need to put heavier stuff on them.Bob I have used HF dollies to store and move Model A engines and complete rear ends. Should be some pictures around of my modifications. I will post them if I find them.
Jim, my lack of floor space means the stuff has to be on wheels. If I don't have to roll something out of the way, it's not an official project.
Of course, when you have everything on wheels but lack floor space, the reorg is more like a big game of tetris.![]()
Gerard, I have dream lofts in my dream shop but it's hard to get stuff done when I'm asleep.Yep, you tell him Jim. Not all of us have a 24 x 60 shop with two lofts. LOL.
Stewart, in my dreams the shop is way bigger. I think Gerard's shop is 42x44 but there's a very large open-air atrium in it as I understand.Bob or Jim has that big of shop, awesome.
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Johnnie, when we moved to Australia in 1989 I left my fun cars behind and ended up driving a 1989 Toyota Camry for those two years. On a business trip back to the states I bought that video game just so I could have something fun to drive.I love the dash cluster in that car. It reminds me of everything that was great about my childhoodI remember playing a PC video game called 'Vette' around 1988, and those gauges take me back to that.
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I remember you could drive either the stock Vette, the ZR1, the "Callaway Twin Turbo" or the "Sledgehammer". I don't know what the latter meant, but I know of the rest. You would terrorize San Francisco. Simply awesome stuff.
Whatever you do, keep those gauges stock.
Now that radio is another matter.
There's a reason I chose that Pioneer head. It's the only DIN 1.5 unit I ever found. I felt it was better to fill the void with one unit rather than patching a DIN 1 in the hole. You may also note the steering wheel change. The stock leather wrapped wheel was twisted and nasty looking and since 1987 was the last year of airbag-free Corvettes, I put a wood rim Monza wheel in its place.
Bob, just want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Thanks for another year of entertaining friendship.
Bob, Toolfool said it for me. Merry Christmas.




I have a Siemens breaker panel in my house and would like to replace it with a Square D panel. The A/C compressor stopped working back in 1998 so I turned the double breaker off and turned it back on. Sparks and flames ensued so I flipped the main breaker off, went to the meter box and disconnected the whole house and removed the cover in the garage. The buss behind the breaker was vaporized and no longer connected to the breaker. Rather than call an electrician, I removed and replaced the breaker one space lower in the panel. Labeled a spare single pole breaker "BAD" and plugged it into the dead buss location. I'd like to switch from the Siemens system because their breakers are harder and harder to find around me.Your Corvette looks like a real 1980's modded car, the kind you'd see in Miami-Dade County, driven by some guy in an unconstructed white linen sports jacket, w/a pastel silk t-shirt underneath, white linen pants, and Sperry TopSiders: your basic "Crockett-Miami Vice starter kit." Extra points for the Ray-Ban 'Wayfarer' shades. I forget the current color scheme, I bet you made it something less-flashy.
Philip, I was a big fan of Miami Vice and even considered doing the Daytona conversion on my '72 Corvette -- probably would have if mine was a convertible. I actually wore a 3-piece off-white suit to IBM about the time the company was allowing "Casual Fridays" (thanks to Microsoft -- who had their employees wear clip-on ties to the meetings with us). Still wear Sperry Topsiders (without socks) and Rayban Aviators.
A good job on fixing the electrical car components. Did everything return to functionality?
I still have to install the repaired A/C Programmer box under the dash. If it fixes the problem, I'm good to go; if not, I have to repeat the resistor/capacitor work on the Controller head in the dash.
When the C-4's came-out I went to Bill Kelly Chevrolet in Hallandale to look at them. Bill Kelly always had a row of new Corvettes in the front of the store. They were asking $10,000 over MSRP for them, I decided to keep my original second-owner 1977 Hurst 'Hatch' T-top WS-6 K-code Trans Am. Yes it was the "Smokey & The Bandit" model.
Good call. I gave up buying new cars in 1971. The dealer acts like their new model is a priceless rolling miracle on wheels. You buy it and the next time you visit, even a year later, it's a defective piece of junk with less than scrap metal value on a trade-in.
The electrician's crew came Monday and installed my new house 200 amp Square D branch circuit panel. I swear the lights are brighter, and the electric hot water heater is doing a better job heating the water. I had an original-to-the-house in 1961 Federal Pacific 150 amp cartridge and screw-in fuse panel. It seemed to work OK, still, but I wanted it replaced for safety. Wednesday, they're coming to replace the outside meter can and main disconnect, and to pull the service through the buried branch line to the new detached garage. The detached garage is getting an 80-amp sub-panel, and plenty of 220 V circuits for a mini-split AC, an air compressor, circuits for my 220 V saws, and a welder. I'm going to have some exterior security lighting, LED's and motion detectors, and the next day, I'll do some trim on the exterior impact door I hung. That should get me going, to be able to insulate the interior walls.
Vieux, thank you sir. You are the reason I gave it a try!Beautiful car!
And great job on the repair .![]()
Johnnie, before we moved to Australia for my two-year assignment, I had to set up automatic payments for all the utilities, the mortgage and the pool and lawn services. Only one bank in our area provided that service and when we came back to Florida I kept the lawn service ($50 a month). I took back responsibility for maintaining the in-ground automatic sprinkler system so the placement of the car on the lawn involved a great deal of care.Bob - that story is so awesome... as per usual. I can't believe you played that game too! I think my love affair with GM sports cars started when I got that game. I held on to the box for many years as well. There was pride that came with owning the box for the software. I miss those simpler times.
I remember trying to drive the car down the "crookedest street in the world". I've since visited that street (and a lot of other streets). Kinda cool thinking back.
That Sledgehammer is legit. 900HP is crazy even by today's Corvette standards. But I think I'll spend my pseudo millions on other things.
ps - I love how you just parked the Vette on the lawn![]()
Philip, I suspect your new service is indeed providing much cleaner (and safer) power to the electric stuff in your house and new building. Of course you should be aware that my cars run better with new oil and filters and my mileage improves when I wash the car.Florida Power & Light just restored my power. I have a new 200 amp branch circuit panel, for the single family detached dwelling, I got a new combination meter can & main disconnect/breaker box, they eliminated my separate 30 amp AC disconnect that was next-to the meter can, for a circuit breaker in the new outside main disconnect & circuit breaker box. Next is the below-grade service to the detached garage, pvc conduit is already laid, they have to feed the service wire, hang the inside branch circuit panel, and connect to the service cable that was pulled. Then there are the branch circuits in the garage for the 240V outlets, I already have four duplex outlets hung, all on GFCI. Gonna get some Costco LED lamps, the rectangular ones for outside perimeter security. I already hung the Costco LED 4 ft lamps inside, they work great.
I'm pretty-excited about getting this work done, I'll have a secure storage space. The building is engineered to withstand winds just-below the takeoff speed of a 747.
I had a visitor to the jobsite, a very colorful one, and his presence was closely-monitored by my Head of Security, who paid-attention to the interloper in dogged fashion.
Johnnie, I just did a Google search and it looks like Crutchfield has one 1.5 DIN head unit for GM (it didn't show up when I searched the site).You're right about that 1.5 DIN. I didn't think of that. My 1991 Lumina had the same curse. At least GM has finally figured it out and moved to a true double DIN. I took a scan on Crutchfield (which is a pretty impressive site) and it looks like 1.5 DIN still hasn't made a comeback.
Bret, thanks for posting and that wood dash does bring back memories. This dash was real rosewood veneer but started delaminating years ago. I still have the original pieces and I hope to use them as templates for some new pieces. Having a hard time finding rosewood veneer or plywood. The pieces I did find were $$$$$.Bob great update. That wood trim on your dash looks just like what my FIL's 95 Chevy Coach customs truck has.
I had a game on the PC in 95' Need for speed that had the 92 ZR1 Vette in it. I remember that damn digital speedo. Isn't it funny how that trend didn't last long. All the new Camaro's and Corvettes have gauges just like the 60's versions. Although the Vette does have a digital display in the middle you can put whatever on. I think it is cool your gauges can be changed with the flip of a switch. And I really dislike the double din and 1/2 din. My Camaro has the double din and I have a single din Kenwood in an adapter and all that space wasted.
Bret
John, thank you so much for taking time to stop by and for the good wishes. I hope you and yours have a wonderful time this holiday season.Bob, just want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Thanks for another year of entertaining friendship.
Merry Christmas Dan!Bob, Toolfool said it for me. Merry Christmas.
Steve, you do the same and I am thrilled to read about your progress. I can't believe how fast you went from ICU to lawn mowing.
Bob, and likewise. Enjoy the day..
Hi Craig! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me and my casters. Stop by when you're passing through. I rarely leave home so your chances of finding me here are pretty good.Hi Bob, seen you stopped by.
I see that our shops here in Fl are caster shops.
You have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year also.
Hope to see you soon. Well, I almost got to see you Tuesday, but you don't live in Merrit Island. Inside joke![]()
Andy, thanks for stopping by and I've got a cold Coke waiting for you. We have the guest room ready for you and Sharon so just let us know when to expect you.Merry Christmas Bob!!
I kept hitting the back button because it seemed I was getting onto Vladimir's thread doing circuit board repair.
But it was you. Impressive.
No wonder mom liked you best.
Great picture of you guys in front of the 'Vette, by the way.
Enjoy this season with the family you like best, and try to remember me...
Robey5, thanks for visiting my thread. I joined the Corvette Forum in 2010 (same handle) and contributed to the C3 and C4 forums for quite a while. There seemed to be a lot of drama, with people I liked and respected either getting banned or getting fed up and leaving.Love that you're into the Atari dash of that C4. You are really impressing me with the level of work you've done/are doing, this fix is no different.
Regarding the Corvette forum: I've been a member since (circa) 2000, about 7 months after purchasing the 93. Nice place to dig into the various projects corvette related, ... and get lost on various project posts.
My only beef with GM and corvettes: they make toooooooooooo many of them. There is no reason to have 30k+ per year of these cars on the road, and then have a "specified dealer" have about 20 of them sitting there. I think that 25k per year should be the MAXXXXX production of these cars because it would make them a bit more special, right?????
Guster, Merry Christmas you you and yours and thank you for stopping by and posting. I wouldn't mind those film circuits if they held together. Then again, it's my fault for having a 30-year-old vehicle.That is some ooooold looking auto electronics! Glad they don't use those film circuits and film harnesses anymore. Stuff was so hard to fix!
Merry Christmas Bob!
Hope the weather keeps well and you don't have to break out the socks and trousers this year!
Bobby, thank you so much. I hope you and Ginny and Sarah have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.Merry Christmas Bob to you and yours. Bobby
Lyndon, I hope you and Irene and all the rest of the family have a wonderful holiday time!Bob
I think (if I remember correctly - and a lot of the time that's a challenge) - I have the plate from that 'Vette in my garage, don't I???
Lyndon, I think your plate came off my '72 Corvette. That plate was oooold, because I haven't registered that car since the early '80s.
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I would go out to have a look, but it's like 400 degrees celcius outside ATM, and I'm hiding in the air-conditioning.
Anyold how - I hope you and Liane, and the whole Heine collective, have a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year.
Lyndon
My turn to do the rounds......![]()
Jon, thank you and I hope your family does the same.Bob,
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and your family!
Don, I really do appreciate you stopping by. Your thread is such a treat because you have lots of amazing stuff going on and still find time to share it with us. You and Ann are a true Garage Journal Treasure!Well Bob
It's been a very enjoyable year following your thread and the stories you have to tell Thank you
I want to wish you and your family a very Merry and safe Christmas.
Looking forward to learning more about you next year (LET"S DO IT)
Don
and terrific 2018! Chris, thank you for stopping by and for the kind words. I hope you and Jen have a healthy and wonderful 2018. Looks like you are having warmer weather than the folks east of you.Bob,
The stories never cease to entertain. All the best to you and the family for a wonderfuland terrific 2018!
Cheers,
Chris
Drives, so kind of you to stop by. One of these days you need to start a home base thread. You have started lots and lots of threads but I could keep up with your adventures if I could subscribe to a "Drives' Home Garage" thread.BOB: i need to find more time to read your thread cause I ALWAYS ENJOY YOUR STORIES!!
that said have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and here's to another year above dirt for both of us in 2018.
cheers
Rian, we have been having a number of celebrations this December. The month started off with a "Gender Reveal Party" for our first great-grandson (due April 20), followed by our oldest grandson's 26th birthday, our son's 27th anniversary and my wife's alleged birthday (she denies having them). An almost-Christmas brunch at our son's house on Saturday and brunch at our daughter's house Christmas morning (I don't drive at night so celebrations happen earlier than they used to).Still Christmas Day for a while.
I trust,you are having and will continue to have an awesome daymBob.
Thanks for the stories this year.
A merry Christmas and especially a great new year.
Philip, I expect your final inspection will go smooth and you can proceed to make that garage a great place to work. Might also be a good hurricane shelter.I have to admit, your patience and good humor in collectively and individually responding to your friends' postings is an impressive accomplishment. Reading the traffic on this post is one of those things that has become one of my routines, and I consider that to be a good thing.
Thank you Philip.
I like the pic of the 'flying-buttress' 1968-early 1970's Corvette, madras clothing is the perfect south Florida style. You were 'the dude!'
I did my best to "dress to embarrass" my wife and children. Early in my psychological recovery I discovered my missing limb attracted attention. Giving folks something else to stare at was a fun revenge.
When I was a kid, one of the field trips we took was to the Bausch & Lomb factory, where we were allowed to be present on the factory floor, as the incandescent-orange sheet glass, in its 'plastic' state, would bathe you in radiant heat, as it rolled-past. I'm sure that in these days, you'd have to watch a video in an office somewhere on the factory grounds, because it is 'too-dangerous' to allow pedestrians to have that close access to the materials. There was also a GE manufacturing factory we toured, they made small appliances, and one of the souvenirs I got was a defective armature for some small motor, I held-onto that for many years afterwards. Again, the fan of the armature probably had edges on it that would cause a product-liability attorney to 'rule-out' dispensing such souvenirs to the youth of today.
My wife's uncle worked for Weksler Thermometer so a visit to his home always included a puddle of mercury. Always put a nice shine on a coin.
Another factory we toured was Gerber's, and we got to take-home some baby preserves, who didn't like eating the peaches puree' well-past the infant stage?
Speaking about the Ferrari Daytona GTB-4/Corvette kits, I know where there are the actual kit pieces for the ones they used in the 'Miami Vice' TV show here. A person I knew bought all the pieces that the builder was using, but the original builder ran-afoul of the Ferrari factory and was prevented from any further manufacturing. The plugs/molds for the body parts, and bare Corvette chassis stacked-up on on-top of another are in storage locally, and I've seen them, covered by nearly 30 years of dust and grime.
Because of Ferrari's suit and a fire at the original builder's shop, those parts are more than rare. In the mid-1980s we were active in our Corvette club and attended a lot of events in Florida. I took these pictures of Don Johnson and the Corvette/Daytona at the May 1986 West Palm Beach Grand Prix.
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And finally, my humble one-car garage had its final inspection for the electric work done, and also the service replacement for the power service to the single-family dwelling, and a new branch panel inside the house. The electrical inspector said, "a good job," looking at the collective work, as he exited the new one-car detached garage. I have one last final on the garage installation.
Good for you for giving them a second chance. And you probably did better not oversupervising them.
Steve, thanks for visiting! I was very happy with the roof repair. It's impossible to tell they repaired it except for the replaced tile and the fresh mortar. I'm happy I didn't have to climb on the roof. I have worked on the roof most of my life and I'm not really worried about falling. My wife, on the other hand is extremely afraid I will fall off the roof (or ladder). My real fear is falling and surviving. I'm pretty sure SWMBO will beat me to death for not listening. Or worse, never let me forget she is always right.Bob, it would be nice to get the roof repair out of the way.
Your a smart man avoiding the shopper mayhem. I tend to get in and out early to miss all that. It makes shopping a breeze..
Just a note on your GFCI trip. Out here our earthing conductors ( grounds ) are all insulated which is a godsend in term of a short circuit.
Regards
......I have never understood the logic of a bare ground wire in our Romex wiring....
That's why I always wrap the switch or outlet with electrical tape before stuffing it all back in the box. 
Bret, I took this picture to see if the difference is noticeable. Each troffer has four 4-foot T8 bulbs. I think these particular LED bulbs on the left are a tad dimmer than the fluorescent bulbs on the right.Bob do you have before and after pics of the light difference with the LED's?
Bret
Andy, as always you are right. As you can see in the above post, the ones I bought are 1500 lumens. They are also a warmer color but I don't see a big difference.Glad to see you dipped your foot into the 4 ft LED. Looks like you bought 1,500 lumen bulbs, so they probably are dimmer. I've been using 22w at 2,900 lumens. They have the same light output as my flourescents. Bought mine from LED My Place.Com Funky name but they offer free shipping on orders over $49. LED My Place
That worked for me because I wanted several and I got them on sale for about $6 each delivered.
I think LED's are all the same, it's the number in the tube that changes the wattage and lumens although there seems to be some deviation from 100 lumens/w.
Sounds like the two roof cleaners did a better job at repairGood for you for giving them a second chance. And you probably did better not oversupervising them.
I know mom liked you best, that's why I had to live in the basement. But you look pretty good next to the Corvette, what happened?
Hope the entire Heine clan has a GREAT 2018!!
I'll be back...