ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

I know the feeling and it's a wonderful thing!!

That it is Dan. I finally feel that there is a place for everything and everything is in its place after exactly two years of house hunting, moving, building the shop and putting in a yard.

My wife and I were sitting on the deck Sunday morning and she remembers me last spring sitting there saying how I wish everything was done and I was working in the shop. She asked me again on Sunday if I now feel like it was a good move and if I was happy.

I told here I was so happy it was hard to contain myself and so glad she prompted us to move as it was a good decision. She commented about how happy she is as well so the move was well worth it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice party your wife threw for you.
Keeping bench space is a full time project in my garage.
Love peaking at your work

Don

Thanks for stopping by Don.

Agreed, the wife threw an amazing party, something we never really did at our last home nor had the space to do.

I have about 10' more linear bench space than I had in my last shop but with a LOT of my son's parts for his Jeep project lining the one bench and the floor space just inside the doorway, I feel al bit cramped on my benches currently, but I know once the parts start going on the Jeep my available bench space will increase.

Thanks again for stopping by and checking out my projects.

 

[Finallygotit]

Mike, you and your wonderful wife have created one beautiful space. I'm glad you're both happy. You made a wise decision.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, you and your wonderful wife have created one beautiful space. I'm glad you're both happy. You made a wise decision.

Thank you Dan, I really appreciate that. I wish some of our family members could be as happy for us as most of our friends, but I don't see that happening.

Thanks again Dan.

 

[LXCam]

Mike, you and your wonderful wife have created one beautiful space. I'm glad you're both happy. You made a wise decision.

Here, here, I'll double down on that one

Thank you Dan, I really appreciate that. I wish some of our family members could be as happy for us as most of our friends, but I don't see that happening.

Thanks again Dan.

Well that's a damn shame. I luv nothing more then seeing someone succeed, specially when it's by the sweat on their own brow. Guess it just falls back on that ole saying. You can pick your friends but you're stuck with ....

Well don't feel alone Mike. Unfortunately we have the same issue with family

 

[zmotorsports]

Here, here, I'll double down on that one



Well that's a damn shame. I luv nothing more then seeing someone succeed, specially when it's by the sweat on their own brow. Guess it just falls back on that ole saying. You can pick your friends but you're stuck with ....

Well don't feel alone Mike. Unfortunately we have the same issue with family

I agree Cam. I am happy to see people succeed and have their dreams come to fruition when you can see how hard they work, but unfortunately I think there are not a lot of people like that these days. Most are so unhappy in their own lives that they hate to see someone else happy and if they see someone successful they feel they stole it or surely don't deserve it. It is very sad in fact.

My wife and I both know people that we call perpetual victims because all they ever have is setbacks and drama and NOTHING is ever their own fault. It is always someone else's fault that they got the shaft. It gets so old to listen to yet you can see each and every poor choice that has led them and will continue to lead them right where they are headed, for more disappointment.

Yet these same people think we have had life handed to us. They don't see nor have seen the long nights sweating my *** off working in the shop and 14-hour days on weekends and my wife getting home late from work then busting *** to get dinner ready and her work done around the house, all to get to this point in our lives nor do they see the choices we make not to buy a new car every other year or move every several years or have a new phone every six months, but somehow we don't deserve where we are in life.

I appreciate the sentiment and comments Cam.

 

[lowdowndodge]

i agree cam. I am happy to see people succeed and have their dreams come to fruition when you can see how hard they work, but unfortunately i think there are not a lot of people like that these days. Most are so unhappy in their own lives that they hate to see someone else happy and if they see someone successful they feel they stole it or surely don't deserve it. It is very sad in fact.

Both on mine and my wife's sides of the family we have siblings that we call perpetual victims because all they ever have is setbacks and drama and nothing is ever their own fault. It is always someone else's fault that they got the shaft. It gets so old to listen to yet you can see each and every poor choice that has led them and will continue to lead them right where they are headed, down the toilet.

Yet these same family members (again on both our sides) think we have had life handed to us. They don't see nor have seen the long nights sweating my *** off working in the shop and 14-hour days on weekends to get to this point in our lives nor do they see the choices we make not to buy a new car every other year or move every several years or have a new phone every six months, but somehow we don't deserve where we are in life.

I appreciate the sentiment and comments cam.

amen z..... some in every family

 

[zmotorsports]

amen z..... some in every family

It's sad isn't it? You want to tell them pull their heads out of their asses, they are not a hat, and just don't make stupid decisions and if you do own it, learn from it and move on.

 

[4 FN 27]

Not sure how I missed your birthday Mike. Happy belated 50th!!!

Looks like it was a nice party.

Both on mine and my wife's sides of the family we have siblings that we call perpetual victims because all they ever have is setbacks and drama and NOTHING is ever their own fault. It is always someone else's fault that they got the shaft. It gets so old to listen to yet you can see each and every poor choice that has led them and will continue to lead them right where they are headed, down the toilet.

Yet these same family members (again on both our sides) think we have had life handed to us. They don't see nor have seen the long nights sweating my *** off working in the shop and 14-hour days on weekends to get to this point in our lives nor do they see the choices we make not to buy a new car every other year or move every several years or have a new phone every six months, but somehow we don't deserve where we are in life.

Mike I always say you get to be a victim for the first 5 minutes after that you are a volunteer. PERIOD. I have no time for perpetual victims.

And for those who think you had everything handed to you...well in reality you did after you walked a 100 miles through broken glass barefoot and crawled through a minefield. You know what I mean...I hope.

Problem is most people think they want something but yet they never get what they want because deep down inside they down want it that bad or they would make it happen.

I never say I "have to"...no matter what. I like to say I "get to" even if it means I get to do something I don't necessarily enjoy. Dead people don't get to do anything.

My closest friends know how I got to where I am...the rest they thing it just fell from the sky. After 30 years of 80-100 hours a week I am rethinking it. I read somewhere, even saw it on GJ from time to time the old saying "I wished I had worked more." I took that to heart the 1st of the year set my resolution that I will not work more than 8 hours a day...been sticking to it 99.9% of the time...my time now...

Nothing gets built unless you pound the first nail...and for that you need a hammer...better get at it. Keep up the great work Mike...your "want" shows in a humble I got it done myself with my own two hands...keep swinging that hammer.

What others think is none of my business.

Dang now I am wound up...I better design and quote a project for a GJ member and blow off some of this "want"...LOL...

 

[zmotorsports]

Not sure how I missed your birthday Mike. Happy belated 50th!!!

Looks like it was a nice party.



Mike I always say you get to be a victim for the first 5 minutes after that you are a volunteer. PERIOD. I have no time for perpetual victims.

And for those who think you had everything handed to you...well in reality you did after you walked a 100 miles through broken glass barefoot and crawled through a minefield. You know what I mean...I hope.

Problem is most people think they want something but yet they never get what they want because deep down inside they down want it that bad or they would make it happen.

I never say I "have to"...no matter what. I like to say I "get to" even if it means I get to do something I don't necessarily enjoy. Dead people don't get to do anything.

My closest friends know how I got to where I am...the rest they thing it just fell from the sky. After 30 years of 80-100 hours a week I am rethinking it. I read somewhere, even saw it on GJ from time to time the old saying "I wished I had worked more." I took that to heart the 1st of the year set my resolution that I will not work more than 8 hours a day...been sticking to it 99.9% of the time...my time now...

Nothing gets built unless you pound the first nail...and for that you need a hammer...better get at it. Keep up the great work Mike...your "want" shows in a humble I got it done myself with my own two hands...keep swinging that hammer.

What others think is none of my business.

Dang now I am wound up...I better design and quote a project for a GJ member and blow off some of this "want"...LOL...

Thanks for taking the time to comment Pat, I really appreciate it and sorry to get you wound up. It just irks me to no end when people feel like they have to comment on the end result of where someone is at in life yet have no idea of the work or sacrifices involved. It is ALL of the work in the middle that defines us and builds our character. As you said, some people don't want to put in the hours that it takes to really achieve or acquire which means they don't want it bad enough. If they wanted it bad enough they would make it happen.

Also, thanks for the birthday wishes even though it's a bit early as my actual birthday isn't until December but I appreciate the sentiment.

 

[zmotorsports]

After mowing my lawns tonight I started working on my Jeep. I have a list of items to address on the white board. Routine maintenance items being just under 90k miles such as flushing/exchanging the engine coolant, dropping the transmission pan and servicing the fluid & filter, installing the Teraflex Big Brake rotors & pads front & rear and draining/filling differentials. I also have had a noise in my power steering pump so I thought I would replace that.

The power steering pump is what I started with tonight. Airbox out of the way and ready to remove supply and pressure lines from the pump.


Pump removed and sitting on the bench. Took all of about ten minutes to get this far.


Void in the engine bay.


I was cooking right along ready to install the new pump when I noticed this.....broken exhaust manifold bolt.


Tools at the ready to drill and extract the broken bolt.


Hole drilled and extractor doing its thing. It was tight but with a little PB Blaster and some finesse it started backing out without too much resistance.


Bolt removed. Now to get a new 8 x 1.25 x 30mm exhaust manifold bolt.


That’s about it for the night.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Yarz]

That may be the first time I've seen one of those bolt extractors actually work! Usually, they snap in half, and of course are harder to drill than the original bolt.

Nice work.

 

[larry4406]

That may be the first time I've seen one of those bolt extractors actually work! Usually, they snap in half, and of course are harder to drill than the original bolt.

Nice work.

Agreed!

 

[jbmatth]

Great job on the bolt extraction Mike. I too haven't had much luck with them in the past but also don't have quite the same quality of tools in my set. Quick question for you, when you replace parts what do you do with the old one, I never really see much laying around your shop, do you sell them, sell for scrap, or just toss the old parts?

I'm younger than most on this forum but have been in my carrier for 10 years now and have to agree. I've been able to accomplish quite a bit for my age but there are plenty of others further "ahead" in life. I put in a lot of hours both at work, where I average 60 hour weeks, and probably another 20-25 at home with about half of that before the sun comes up. I've been asked where I get the time to work on so many vehicles both for myself and others and it all comes down to making the time. I always up by 4 and sometimes by 2, on weekends that gives me a good 6 hours to really knock some stuff out before making breakfast for my girls.

Basically I'm just trying to say great job to you and all the others that work very hard for what you have and there are still some of the younger crowd that have at least a similar work ethic.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

That may be the first time I've seen one of those bolt extractors actually work! Usually, they snap in half, and of course are harder to drill than the original bolt.

Nice work.

Agreed!

Thanks guys. I've actually had very good success with this style of extractor. I think the key thing is to keep the drilled hole as small as possible in relation to the bolt size. Once you start getting larger and larger and nearer to the actual bolt diameter the walls get thinner then I think they work against you and actually try to expand and bite in harder to internal threads of the parent hole. If you can keep the hole small and use a relatively small extractor it doesn't try to expand the fastener and puts the force into trying to rotate it out and just fighting the resistance to the thread contact rather than forces causing the threads to bite in harder. I hope that makes sense.

I have multiple styles of extractors and when I can keep the hole small these are my go-to extractors as they are quick, simple and I've had great success with them.

Thanks for following along guys.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great job on the bolt extraction Mike. I too haven't had much luck with them in the past but also don't have quite the same quality of tools in my set. Quick question for you, when you replace parts what do you do with the old one, I never really see much laying around your shop, do you sell them, sell for scrap, or just toss the old parts?

I'm younger than most on this forum but have been in my carrier for 10 years now and have to agree. I've been able to accomplish quite a bit for my age but there are plenty of others further "ahead" in life. I put in a lot of hours both at work, where I average 60 hour weeks, and probably another 20-25 at home with about half of that before the sun comes up. I've been asked where I get the time to work on so many vehicles both for myself and others and it all comes down to making the time. I always up by 4 and sometimes by 2, on weekends that gives me a good 6 hours to really knock some stuff out before making breakfast for my girls.

Basically I'm just trying to say great job to you and all the others that work very hard for what you have and there are still some of the younger crowd that have at least a similar work ethic.

JB

Thanks JB.

I respect your drive and ambition. I too used to put very long days in not needing much sleep. I was grateful to have not only my full-time job but also quite a bit of side work that allowed me to earn extra money and provide a better life for me and my family compared to what I would have had with just my day job.

I used to keep all kinds of parts lying around in boxes on shelves and cupboards in the event I "might" need them someday. However, I found that I reached for them very little if at all over the years. My son started nagging me about them so I started doing routine 5S events in my last shop about 12+ years ago and will continue that with my new shop. The 5S stands for Sort, Shine, Straighten, Standardize and Sustain. I would do one or two a year where I took a day or a weekend and went through the shop organizing it for workflow. Any parts I didn't need or hadn't used got tossed and I have found I don't miss them yet I relish in the tidiness of the shop not seeing a bunch of used parts sitting around.

Maybe that was too much of my father in me that didn't throw ANYTHING away but now I look at it as if it isn't worthy to be on the vehicle now, why keep it to put on something later?

Tools are a different story, once I buy a tool I will have it forever, but I don't have a problem tossing old parts once the vehicle is back together and everything running correctly. I have almost gone so far in the other direction that if a vehicle is done and out of my shop I can't look at the part sitting there any longer and it is thrown away.

I salute your work ethic JB and keep it up. Trust me it pays huge dividends down the road. I am to the point in my life that even though I could still work the long hours I find myself not working them as much as I used to. I have found that I actually enjoy relaxing a bit when I can and take the opportunity to do so. I am glad I worked as hard as I did when I was younger and paid things off as well as put money away so I don't have to kill myself working the long hours now.

With my last shop when I built it I had one goal in mind and that was making money to build a life with my wife. It got to the point where it felt awkward and unsettling if I was working in the shop on some trivial project or my personal vehicles and not having a paying job in the shop. When I built this shop I no longer had my business license and told the wife this was our forever home and I wanted this to be a much more relaxed shop where I can work and not feel like I have to be in there wrenching. So far that is exactly the way it feels and it is nice.

Thanks again for the comments and for following along. Good luck with your projects and I enjoy following along on them.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night before hitting the hay my wife and I were sitting on the deck and watched a hell of a thunder & lightning storm roll through.

Pictures looking South off our deck.

 

[mercracing]

Thanks guys. I've actually had very good success with this style of extractor. I think the key thing is to keep the drilled hole as small as possible in relation to the bolt size. Once you start getting larger and larger and nearer to the actual bolt diameter the walls get thinner then I think they work against you and actually try to expand and bite in harder to internal threads of the parent hole. If you can keep the hole small and use a relatively small extractor it doesn't try to expand the fastener and puts the force into trying to rotate it out and just fighting the resistance to the thread contact rather than forces causing the threads to bite in harder. I hope that makes sense.



I have multiple styles of extractors and when I can keep the hole small these are my go-to extractors as they are quick, simple and I've had great success with them.



Thanks for following along guys.

I’ll have to try the smaller drill approach. I usually go bigger. Not as big as I can, but a happy medium.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

Mike, thank you for the reply and detailed answer. I am sure others feel the same way I do in that you are an inspiration for not only hard work, but also financial responsibly, continual learning, and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

My hat is off to you,

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, thank you for the reply and detailed answer. I am sure others feel the same way I do in that you are an inspiration for not only hard work, but also financial responsibly, continual learning, and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

My hat is off to you,

JB

Thank you JB, I appreciate that. Most, if not all, of those attributes you mentioned seem to be a common theme here among fellow garagejournal members. Maybe that is why I like this forum so much.

 

[C_F]

That may be the first time I've seen one of those bolt extractors actually work! Usually, they snap in half, and of course are harder to drill than the original bolt.

Nice work.

Agreed!

Mike's tools wouldn't DARE fail him!

It's funny...a few years ago, after a broken bolt really kicked my ***, I bought a set of those extractors, because I thought the short design of them would probably work much better than the longer, more common ones. Ever since I bought that set, I haven't had to deal with a single broken bolt!

I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike's tools wouldn't DARE fail him!



It's funny...a few years ago, after a broken bolt really kicked my ***, I bought a set of those extractors, because I thought the short design of them would probably work much better than the longer, more common ones. Ever since I bought that set, I haven't had to deal with a single broken bolt!



I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

I’m sure you just jinx yourself now. Hell you’ll probably have a slew of broken fasteners now. [emoji23]

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[zmotorsports]

I was able to get a little work done on the Jeep tonight.

I started by installing the new exhaust manifold bolt and torqued it to proper specifications.


Next I pressed the new pulley on the new pump.




Installed the pump assembly on the engine and removed the reservoir and lines in order to clean them in the solvent tank.


I decided to pull the pump apart and see if anything jumped out at me.


Bingo. If you look closely in the area I circled you can see one of the worn spots in the pump body. There were several of these on each side which I believe were causing the chattering noise.


I then moved on to the cooling system and dumped all of the coolant and replaced the thermostat.


Lastly while I was working on my Jeep my son started disassembling his newly acquired rear axle that will go in his WJ. The axle stand I built a while back works out pretty well.

 

[Finallygotit]

Mike, what are you using for a solvent in your tank? I got some water soluble stuff from McMaster that works kinda OK but it doesn't seem to be the best.

 

[shortykorte]

Mike, what are you using for a solvent in your tank? I got some water soluble stuff from McMaster that works kinda OK but it doesn't seem to be the best.

Ha, I have the same question. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[muduck18]

Lastly while I was working on my Jeep my son started disassembling his newly acquired rear axle that will go in his WJ. The axle stand I built a while back works out pretty well.

Oh I like that axle stand!

Nearly sheared my wedding ring finger off once while trying to move an axle around and it turned off the stand and a bracket caught my wedding band.

I think I’m gonna copy that idea!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, what are you using for a solvent in your tank? I got some water soluble stuff from McMaster that works kinda OK but it doesn't seem to be the best.

Ha, I have the same question. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use Zep's Dyna143 solvent. I have had great results with it and have been using it for nearly 20 years now. Has a high flash point and doesn't evaporate out at nearly the rate some do. My ZEP solvent tank also has an external filter as well as a media filtration system that I run it through once a month or so to clean the solvent.

I am also somewhat **** about my solvent tank, unlike the ones we have at work where the guys will remove a greasy grimy component and into the solvent tank it goes, I actually scrape as much as the big stuff or gunk off and into paper towels and garbage before it ever touches the solvent tank. I generally only tear my solvent tank down and replace the solvent about every 5-7 years or so this way. I can usually tell when it starts getting to the point that it needs to be removed, recycled, cleaned and re-filled with fresh solvent.

I have not been impressed with any of the water based solvents that we have tried at work so I have just stuck with this at both work and home shop.

 

[zmotorsports]

Oh I like that axle stand!

Nearly sheared my wedding ring finger off once while trying to move an axle around and it turned off the stand and a bracket caught my wedding band.

I think I’m gonna copy that idea!

Feel free to copy it. I've wanted one for many years now but really could have used it back when I was racing. I don't have nearly as much use for it these days but finally took the time to build it.

If you want to see more detailed fabrication pictures you can look back in this thread to around page 21 as I shared information while I was building it.

Thanks for stopping by my projects thread.

 

[Rag Roc]

Gents, FWIW about once a year I dump a bottle of Lysol concentrated disinfectant into my solvent tank. Learned this from an old machinist who would do the same with cutting lube sumps. Had a friend get a bacterial infection, and they thought the cause was an old crusty solvent tank.

 

[Finallygotit]

Gents, FWIW about once a year I dump a bottle of Lysol concentrated disinfectant into my solvent tank. Learned this from an old machinist who would do the same with cutting lube sumps. Had a friend get a bacterial infection, and they thought the cause was an old crusty solvent tank.

Good to know! Thanks!


We occasionally had bacterial issues with the sumps on our CNC's. Coming back to work after a weekend and walking into the shop in the morning would sometimes not be too pleasant. One of the guys got nail fungus which was not fun for him. We recently found a biocide that works wonders in there.

 

[zmotorsports]

Gents, FWIW about once a year I dump a bottle of Lysol concentrated disinfectant into my solvent tank. Learned this from an old machinist who would do the same with cutting lube sumps. Had a friend get a bacterial infection, and they thought the cause was an old crusty solvent tank.

Good to know! Thanks!


We occasionally had bacterial issues with the sumps on our CNC's. Coming back to work after a weekend and walking into the shop in the morning would sometimes not be too pleasant. One of the guys got nail fungus which was not fun for him. We recently found a biocide that works wonders in there.

Good info. Thanks guys.

I've never had any issues with odors or anything like that but a "citris-y" aroma may not be a bad thing from some Lysol.

My new shop doesn't have a specific smell yet. I kind of miss my last shop that smelled like a machine shop with a hint of race fuel. LOVED that smell. I wish I could have bottled it and brought it with me.

 

[Firstram]

I kind of miss my last shop that smelled like a machine shop with a hint of race fuel. LOVED that smell. I wish I could have bottled it and brought it with me.

Isn't it amazing how a faint whif of a familiar odor will momentarily transport you back to a time or place from the past.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Isn't it amazing how a faint whif of a familiar odor will momentarily transport you back to a time or place from the past.

Man, there are times I walk into a shop that smells like my grandfather's did and it brings me back to the best times of my life. It's amazing 30yrs later that smell is still identifiable.

 

[zmotorsports]

Isn't it amazing how a faint whif of a familiar odor will momentarily transport you back to a time or place from the past.

Man, there are times I walk into a shop that smells like my grandfather's did and it brings me back to the best times of my life. It's amazing 30yrs later that smell is still identifiable.

Agreed guys. I agree that smells can really trigger fond memories of places. I wish I could get my new shop to smell like my old one but I don't recall my old one getting any special aroma therapy, just 25+ years of work.

 

[Finallygotit]

Mmmmmmmmmmm.......nitromethane!

 

[C_F]

Agreed guys. I agree that smells can really trigger fond memories of places. I wish I could get my new shop to smell like my old one but I don't recall my old one getting any special aroma therapy, just 25+ years of work.

Well...if you would spill some fluids (old 90wt and burnt ATF for example) on the floor & not wipe up immediately, you would probably have that place smelling like a machine shop in no time.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well...if you would spill some fluids (old 90wt and burnt ATF for example) on the floor & not wipe up immediately, you would probably have that place smelling like a machine shop in no time.

True. I guess that will just come about naturally over the years so I'll wait rather than speed up the process.

Although I did spill some coolant on the shop floor Saturday morning. I was getting ready to put things back together and after I had already pulled a vacuum and filled the cooling system I was putting the belt back on and grabbed the pulley on the water pump. I was able to get some play out of it and noticed a slight trace of coolant crusted out of the weep hole. ****, dump the coolant and replace the water pump while I'm right there. Wouldn't you know it, I was able to contain everything on the first drain of the coolant but the second one got the better of me and splashed outside of the drain bucket onto the floor.

Oh well, I guess that's what the shop was built for, to work in.

 

[zmotorsports]

Lost Another Friend

Been kind of a ****** weekend. Found out Saturday that a very good friend from my high school and post high school days passed away on Friday from what I'm being told was a massive heart attack.

We hung out in high school a lot, were on the high school automotive team together, drug the boulevard, drag raced and duned together well into the mid-90's before life got hectic and we drifted apart. Hell my wife introduced him to his wife as we spent so much time together after high school. He and his wife and me and my wife spent a lot of time together duning and racing and was constantly at either his shop or mine wrenching on something. I'm pissed at myself for letting life get so crazy busy that we drifted apart as he was a great guy.

I found it hard to work in the shop on Saturday morning or yesterday afternoon as he and his wife and daughter were all I kept thinking about. I am also friends with his older brother and I talked to him a bit over the weekend which made me feel even worse and think about his family more.

I'm too young to start having friends pass away and I seem to have lost a few over the past couple of years. I need to be a better friend to the few I have left and make more of an effort to stay in touch with them.

 

[iajonesy]

Mike, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Old friends are great treasures and it hurts to lose one, I know. I'll say a prayer for you and your pal's family. Keep your chin up and hold on to your memories.

Mike

 

[LXCam]

I'm so sorry to hear this Mike. It's a unfortunate and often times unexplainable series of circumstances that have long term endearing friendships lose contact over time. Sadly it happens to most all of us. Everyone will tell you to focus on the good times you all spent together as you should but it still doesn't help with that overwhelming feeling of guilt you're dealing with right now. You two grew up together and as long as you're alive recounting those memories he'll still live on. I've lost a few very close friends but I'm not certain that death is that finite line that ends those relationships spiritually.

My deepest condolences to his family and to you and your wife my friend.