Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

[shopnut]

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SAILBOAT… (Part 4 of 20)…

LET’S SEE IF THIS OUTBOARD STARTS

Since the outboard engine is probably the single most pricy part of the boat, I decided to see if I could get it running. I took the cowling off and carefully knocked off the mud-dabber (wasp) nests and vacuumed out the dirt.

Next was putting a new primer on the fuel tank and adding a gallon of fresh ethanol-free gas. Of course the oil level and condition was checked just to avoid major damage.

With full choke applied, it started on the third pull. Three pulls after 20 years of sitting idle!!! Unbelieveable!! It was smoking pretty badly initially, but I attributed that to me pumping the primer bulb just a bit too many times and flooding the carb.



Knowing I had a working motor, complete with spark, I decided to give it a little attention to get it reliable.

The water pump has rubber vanes and that got replaced. Here is the lower unit removed to access it.







I also removed the carb and gave it a full cleaning. I didn’t bother giving it a dip in the ultrasonic cleaner because honestly, it didn’t look too bad. Just new gaskets were all that I installed, and I probably could have even skipped that because the original gaskets seemed fine.





I also cleaned out the fuel pump and installed a new diaphragm just to be safe.



The other thing that probably should have been done with an engine this old is replace the timing belt. But it looked pretty good and figured I would warn the new owner about it and let them decide if it should be done.

 

[drivesitfar]

sounds like a long (good) story with a happy ending. sorry to hear your first marriage didn't work out, but sounds like your second one it going strong so best of luck with that. i'm still on my first marriage that's been over 30 years now and it seems to get better daily, but there are always those days when it's not great (and I'd like to say F it and run) you just have to push thru to the other side and keep working on it (she was married to her ex for 13 years before she married me and came with her two 10 & 12 year old sons so she was somewhat more experienced with living with other people).

boat stories are great so feel free to share what you wish and I'm happy for you it's gone and maybe a couple kayaks or a small motor boat is in your future now.

cheers

 

[Vernmotor]

Well that not no car you are working on But getting closer !! LOL Yea I still hanging out keeping a eye on ya !

 

[shopnut]

sounds like a long (good) story with a happy ending. sorry to hear your first marriage didn't work out, but sounds like your second one it going strong so best of luck with that. i'm still on my first marriage that's been over 30 years now and it seems to get better daily, but there are always those days when it's not great (and I'd like to say F it and run) you just have to push thru to the other side and keep working on it (she was married to her ex for 13 years before she married me and came with her two 10 & 12 year old sons so she was somewhat more experienced with living with other people).

boat stories are great so feel free to share what you wish and I'm happy for you it's gone and maybe a couple kayaks or a small motor boat is in your future now.

cheers

Happy ending indeed. Actually, I couldn't be more happy with how easy it was to sell that boat. I don't want to get ahead of my self though, so I'll save the details for later.

Congrats on the 30+ years of marriage. I know what you mean about the rough days and all you can hope for are many, many good days to overshadow them. I bet getting to know the boys at 10 and 12 years old was fun and possibly challenging at times. Certainly there must have been plenty of interests/hobbies to share in and support between the two of them as they grew up. Kids and teenagers sure can make you feel young again.

Well that not no car you are working on But getting closer !! LOL Yea I still hanging out keeping a eye on ya !

Yeah, but its still a "vehicle" right? LOL. The Chevelle is very close to getting some TLC in the form of brake and fuel system work and I hope to get started on that this summer yet now that some big projects are out of the way. Nothing major, but the new master cylinder needs to be installed and the rest of the system flushed real good. I also need to get the fuel sender working again (really hate not knowing how much fuel is in there!). And while I'm messing with that, I thought it would be a good idea to install that new SS fuel line I bought 10 years ago (I guess it's not technically new anymore, huh?)

The goal is just some quick things to get it back on the road again. then we will see what happens after that.

I appreciate you still following along after all these years. Things happen sort of slow in the ASYLUM, but they do eventually happen! My 5 year plan for finishing this place off is now over 15. Haha.

 

[racer-john]

Scope creep. Lol

 

[shopnut]

Scope creep. Lol

LOL. Yeah, the ASYLUM is the DEFINITION of scope creep! But at least it has kept me out of trouble all these years. Well, excluding that broken heal anyway!

 

[cbacres]

You’ve got a lot done. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we’ve been by.

 

[shopnut]

You’ve got a lot done. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we’ve been by.

Wow a year! Your last visit actually inspired me to finish the main workbench area and I started it a week or two after you left. You need to stop by again to get me going on the next big project!

 

[shopnut]

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SAILBOAT… Part 5 of 20)…

OUTBOARD (continued)

Now that the outboard was running good, it had its fluids changed.



I also bought one of these things so I didn’t have to drag the garbage can over and fill it up with water every time I wanted to start it.



I had the pressure washer out one day and decided to hit the outboard lid with it because the paint was flaking off anyway. When I was done, all the paint stripped off clear down to the white plastic and this is what I was left with. Miraculously, the decals were still intact and actually looked pretty good yet.

 

[shopnut]

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SAILBOAT… Part 6 of 20)…

OUTBOARD (continued)

I thought the motor looked okay in white, but I had some extra time one day and was in the painting mood, so I decided to spruce it up a little bit and bring it back to OEM condition.

First, the original decals were masked off.



And then I tried 3 different shades of silver I had on hand before finding the one that matched the lower half of the motor. Turns out it was the same metallic paint I used for the parking meter restoration out front.



I was extremely happy with the results.





Now that the outboard looked close to new again, I decided to paint the aged lock that keeps it from getting stolen.





Check the engine off the list!!
.
.

 

[shopnut]

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SAILBOAT… (Part 7 of 20)…

TRAILER

The trailer was in need of quite a bit of work. The galvanizing on the frame had done a good job of protecting the metal from corrosion over the years, but brakes where is sad shape and of course tires don’t last forever.

I first tackled the brakes. Structurally, the hitch coupler would have been fine with a simple re-paint. But this is a “surge brake” coupler with integral master brake cylinder, a master cylinder that basically had gone obsolete over the years.





Sure, suppliers still had some master cylinders available, but they were priced higher than I could buy the whole coupler for. So I opted to replace the whole thing for a new one I found on Ebay from someone who had bought it and didn’t end up using it. It was perfectly fine and half the cost of new.



The hoses didn’t look good and those were replaced too. I have the tools to rebuild wheel cylinders, but I found out it’s the same price to buy completely new units as buying a rebuild kit, so why bother.



I ended up just pulling the hubs off the axle because it was hard to get to one of the wheel cylinder bolts.



Here it is with the new wheel cylinder in place and ready to go back on. Repeat on other side.

 

[shortykorte]

See you should have used these pictures for the ad. It would still be advertised.

 

[shopnut]

See you should have used these pictures for the ad. It would still be advertised.

I got a little interest for the boat before I started working on it, but offers were nothing I would accept. Glad I didn't!!

 

[shopnut]

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SAILBOAT… (Part 8 of 20)…

TRAILER (continued)

I rode the cycle out to the ASYLUM the day I wanted to test the trailer lighting, so I couldn’t connect the harness. So I used my 12V power supply to test each circuit one by one. That was easy enough and no problems were found.



The tire sidewalls actually had holes in them and were shot, so I priced out replacements. It turned out for just a few bucks more, I could get two new tires on galvanized rims on Amazon, shipped to my door. They almost looked like chrome and I was thrilled with the purchase. Hubs were painted black later on to give a new look to the entire area.



There was some rust forming on various bits up front, so I spent an afternoon tearing that apart, repainting and re-assembling.





The winch was sorry and functioned even worse than it looked, so it was torn down and re painted. It’s a amazing what a little paint and grease can do.





The strap was also replaced.



Check the trailer off the list too!!

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 7 of ?)…

SOME WELDING ACCESSORIES.

With the outboard and trailer tasks complete, I’ll take a short intermission from the sailboat story to update you on other things going on at the ASYLUM.

Harbor Freight occasionally does their “30% Items Under $10” sale and that seemed like a good time to pick up a few welding odds and ends. Besides some welding vise grip pliers, I grabbed these other things.

I’m sure these magnetic holders will come in handy sometime. These are the small version.



I plan to cut off the old mig gun holder loop that’s welded on my table, so I thought one of these would work nicely (jumping ahead… it worked great for my particular gun!).



I saw these and bought them not really knowing if people like using them or not.



I later read many people prefer these pens over the soapstone, so I bought these on Amazon to try too. I think I will prefer the finer line that doesn’t need to be sharpened.



Another tip was this anti-splatter spray.



And some nozzle dip. This big tub should last a lifetime!

 

[cbacres]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 7 of ?)…

SOME WELDING ACCESSORIES.

With the outboard and trailer tasks complete, I’ll take a short intermission from the sailboat story to update you on other things going on at the ASYLUM.

Harbor Freight occasionally does their “30% Items Under $10” sale and that seemed like a good time to pick up a few welding odds and ends. Besides some welding vise grip pliers, I grabbed these other things.

I’m sure these magnetic holders will come in handy sometime. These are the small version.



I plan to cut off the old mig gun holder loop that’s welded on my table, so I thought one of these would work nicely (jumping ahead… it worked great for my particular gun!).



I saw these and bought them not really knowing if people like using them or not.



I later read many people prefer these pens over the soapstone, so I bought these on Amazon to try too. I think I will prefer the finer line that doesn’t need to be sharpened.



Another tip was this anti-splatter spray.



And some nozzle dip. This big tub should last a lifetime!

Mark, your getting geared up! Be careful with the anti splatter spray, too much and your weld won’t stick.

 

[shortykorte]

Mark, I just picked up the regular Silver Streak and really like it. Thanks for posting the leads, I have a bunch of those lead holders.


so that’s why my welds aren’t sticking.

 

[jbmatth]

Nice setup there @shopnut, I do use soapstone from time to time on a few projects but prefer to use something a little more accurate at times as well. For that I pick up some tungsten carbide scribes like these:
Tungsten Carbide Scribe LINK

Of course there is the old reliable sharpie as well, and the magnets come in handy but @Bob Heine turned me onto these adjustable magnetic clamps:
Adjustable Magnetic Welding Clamp LINK

Helping to spend other peoples money anyway I can.

JB

 

[harley jim]

Mark, being a fab shop supervisor I feel I need to share my welding shop expertise with you.
Stand back a couple of feet hold up your dominate thumb, make a squinkey eye to help with focus and pull the trigger. Lol, I had a whole shop full of guys that did it that way.

I need to shop for a new hood mine quit yesterday. I'm thinking about biting the bullet and getting a Lincoln 3350 but I'm still looking.

 

[shopnut]

Mark, your getting geared up! Be careful with the anti splatter spray, too much and your weld won’t stick.

Yep, and it's been fun too! I finally had a chance to get my weld booth set up. Good tip on the splatter spray... I haven't tried it yet, and I guess i was only planning to use it on the jobs that need to be "pretty" or where weld clean up would be difficult. Sounds like its best to use it sparingly.

Mark, I just picked up the regular Silver Streak and really like it. Thanks for posting the leads, I have a bunch of those lead holders.


so that’s why my welds aren’t sticking.

Good to know. I haven't tried it yet, but the general reviews were good too.

Nice setup there @shopnut, I do use soapstone from time to time on a few projects but prefer to use something a little more accurate at times as well. For that I pick up some tungsten carbide scribes like these:
Tungsten Carbide Scribe LINK

Of course there is the old reliable sharpie as well, and the magnets come in handy but @Bob Heine turned me onto these adjustable magnetic clamps:
Adjustable Magnetic Welding Clamp LINK

Helping to spend other peoples money anyway I can.

JB

Oooo... that tunsten scribe looks really nice! And the price isn't bad right now either.

The adjustable mag clamps look really handy too and its nice to know they work well too.

I now know what I'm doing with that Amazon gift card received on Father's Day! LOL Thanks for spending my money!!

Mark, being a fab shop supervisor I feel I need to share my welding shop expertise with you.
Stand back a couple of feet hold up your dominate thumb, make a squinkey eye to help with focus and pull the trigger. Lol, I had a whole shop full of guys that did it that way.

I need to shop for a new hood mine quit yesterday. I'm thinking about biting the bullet and getting a Lincoln 3350 but I'm still looking.

LOL. Too funny.

Yeah, lots of hoods out there and lots of differing reviews too. Its hard to choose sometimes. On the HF versions, I heard the batteries give out after 8-10 years or so, but some have figured out how to change them out.

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 8 of ?)…

WELDING TABLE/BOOTH (Continued).

Then came the fun part… setting up the welding table! I wanted to practice some more welding so I quickly took the old fiberglass panels I rigged up originally for the WorkMate and adapted them for on this steel table. I still plan to update them one more time before considering it done.



The old vise got bolted down as well. I will rig something up soon so those studs (which originally held the drill press on) can be used to hold fab parts down.



Before seeking out a different welding helmet, I thought I would try a couple tips I read online to increase visibility. One tip I found said to shine a bright light on the workpiece. I had my doubts because the arc is so bright as it is, but I thought I would give it a try anyway.

I didn’t even get to try it because the halogen bulb was messing with my auto-dimming feature of the helmet. When near the bulb, the helmet would dim and brighten in a slow sequence. At first, I thought maybe my helmet battery needed a charge or something. But as soon as I turned off the light, it worked fine. So the helmet just wasn’t playing well with the halogen spotlight for some reason, even when it was facing the light. I can only guess the reflection was even enough to trigger auto-dimming. Perhaps LED would work, but I didn’t have anything handy to try.

I also didn’t try adjusting the knobs in the helmet to see if I could mask the halogen somehow. I noticed afterwards that my “sensitivity” adjustment was set nearly at maximum, so I may try again someday.



What DID help, however, was a tip about magnifying lenses in the helmet. I bought a 1.5X because I didn’t want to go initially overboard and I believe it made an improvement. I might even try a 2.0X next because the 1.5X didn’t magnify things nearly as much as I thought it would.



The brand I bought on Amazon fit perfectly into the HF helmet.



I wanted to have a power strip on the welding table so I could plug in the spotlight (if it ends up working) and all the various grinders I might have someday. Originally I had an old metal one mounted on this table and I would like to reuse it, but the cord was shedding its skin faster than the snakes around here.



Ten minutes later, I had a fresh cord soldered in place and ready to go.

 

[Bob Heine]

Mark, if you need a few dozen more computer/printer power cords, I have them in a box. I gave a box full to Restore but apparently they reproduce when you aren't watching.

 

[zanyad]

Mark, if you need a few dozen more computer/printer power cords, I have them in a box. I gave a box full to Restore but apparently they reproduce when you aren't watching.

Don't stick them in a drawer or a box. They only seem to reproduce in the dark.

 

[shopnut]

Mark, if you need a few dozen more computer/printer power cords, I have them in a box. I gave a box full to Restore but apparently they reproduce when you aren't watching.

Don't stick them in a drawer or a box. They only seem to reproduce in the dark.

Funny guys! My average usage on those cords is about 2-3 per year, so my supply is slowly dwindling down. There was a point where I was using them as leads to fluorescent fixtures that were bought without cords, but now all my fixtures get recessed and hardwired. My supply is a little low right now, so maybe I need to place them somewhere where they can have a little privacy! LOL

I did notice that many of the computer cords with those unique female ends have atypical color coding for the wires. Instead of the common black (hot), white (neutral) and green (ground) wires, you might find other wire colors in them and then you need to verify continuity inside the cable before using them as replace cord on a tool or appliance or something. Sort of a pain. It pays to have a properly color-coded male plug cord handy for comparison.

 

[Bob Heine]

Mark, I have added to my suppy by buying short leads so there isn't a coil jammed behind the kitchen TV. I used up a couple to make custom length cords to help my mild case of OCD. When we bought this house it had three 1/4hp garage door openers with the original wires wrapped around the mounting strap.

When I had to replace two of them I made up power cords to avoid the coil.

 

[shopnut]

Nice Bob, it looks much better that way. No one likes their cord all tangled up in a knot!

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 9 of ?)…

WELDING TABLE/BOOTH (Continued).

Here is the table equipped with the accessories I’ve acquired thus far. The effort was an epic fail, however, according to the safety committee… no fire extinguisher close at hand! So I will need to add that somewhere on the cart, and preferably where it is protected.



The welder fit nicely down on the caster support channel and in this position, I can easily reach the voltage and wire speed knobs from where I will be standing while welding. It should be fairly protected from weld splatter and grinding debris under there too





I added 2 screws to hang my chipping hammer.



And a spot to hang my helmet. I found out very quickly that I needed a hanger on the other side as well for my grinding shield. So that will be added.



I simply laid the power strip down on the lower shelf for now until it gets mounted at the top of the red table again.



I will probably secure the welder to the black channel somehow so it doesn’t take a tumble as I’m going over the door threshold bump. I forgot all about it just resting there, but it hung on going over the bump twice and I’m sure I won’t get lucky a third time.

 

[harley jim]

Looks like a good set up Mark.

 

[shopnut]

Looks like a good set up Mark.

Thanks. It was fun getting it set up and I think with some enhancements, will work nicely for my needs.

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 10 of ?)…

WELDING PRACTICE.

Here is the booth rolled outside for a little welding practice. Note the side panels had not been trimmed off yet. I wish I had done it earlier because there was a decent breeze off the lake that could have cooled me off that hot day. I left the vertical poles long because I know all that is changing soon and I might as well leave them full length for the next project.



The first bit of practice was some short fillet welds. One of those little magnets came in handy right away.



A few tacks.



And then 2 welds. I probably should have done it all in one continuous bead wrapping around the corner. It looks like I need to work on ending my beads. The little welder had good penetration, I thought. I believe I had it set up for 1/8” material at this point which matched the angle iron.



Two more beads on the back side. I couldn’t get in there very well with my grinder so I used the chipping hammer. I always go overboard with that thing and it probably sounds like a steel-beaked woodpecker to the neighbors. Just a few taps is all it needs, not 50. LOL Again, more practice is needed on my welds, but structurally, I think it would hold okay.

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 11 of ?)…

WELDING PRACTICE (Continued).

After posting the first set of practice pieces in Part 4, I remember getting the assignment of filling the holes in my test piece. I don’t know if they were just yanking my chain, but I decided to try it nevertheless. I found it sort of fun. The 1/4” holes could be filled up with one continuous bead spiraling around. For the larger 3/8” holes, it took about 4 beads to fill them up. It will take a little practice before whatever hole I’m patching would actually hold water, but I’ll get there.



Here is the backside.



I tried adjusting voltage and speed, without much effect on the upper row of holes.



So it was on to something that I wanted to repair, a fuel tank bracket that had developed cracks in the corner.



Not great welds, but satisfactory enough I believe. If the new application for this bracket calls for extra strength, I will cut a 3/8” strip to fill that gap. I looked for a piece of flat stock that day, but couldn’t find any handy, otherwise I would have just done it.



The narrow tip on this gun was nice for getting into tight places. Although I didn’t clean off the slag, the weld goes in there about 3/4”



I was having a great time trying different things out, but the thermometer hit about 90F and my playing time was done. I’m already looking forward to the next time I can fire the welder up. And I already have a couple enhancements in mind for the table.
.
.

 

[harley jim]

Welding is a sickness akin to crack!
Once I get in the shop I can find so many things to weld, some dont need welding but I do anyway.

 

[shopnut]

Welding is a sickness akin to crack!
Once I get in the shop I can find so many things to weld, some dont need welding but I do anyway.

Yeah, it certainly does open up the possibilities. I don't see myself doing it every day, but at least one a month or so. I have some repairs to do and a couple fab ideas in mind currently. I'm sure the list will keep growing!

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 12 of ?)…

WELDING TABLE/BOOTH.

This table was included for free when I purchased a second hand drill press years ago. A couple years after getting it, I repainted it red and black to match my Craftsman themed garage at the time, but didn’t bother to clean up all the weld splatter and practice beads on it.

This is one of the few things in the Asylum that I don’t really care if it matches properly because it’s going to get beaten up pretty bad with just general intended use. But I still decided to make it look a little better by removing the MIG gun loop and getting surfaces smooth again.

This is what I started with.





The MIG gun loop got cut off first.



And quite a bit of grinding later, all the weld beads were removed.





I wanted to protect the raw metal, but unfortunately I didn’t have any matching Regal Red paint on hand that I used to paint everything with back then. So it got sprayed with some safety red which was a couple shades brighter.





Next, I installed the power strip in it original and permanent spot.



I also drilled a couple holes so I could add some retainer angles for the welder. Some 5/8” heater hose I had on hand will protect the welder finish and also “grab” it snugly.



Welder in place. The only thing that concerns me a bit is that the strain relief built into the wire feed hose is somewhat rendered useless due to the table leg being right there. All bending in the hose will occur beyond the relief. I guess it will still be effective in the vertical direction.

 

[cbacres]

Mark, we were yanking your chain! Come on guys, let’s see what we can get Mark to do next.

Looking good, looks like you fell right back into it.

Now.......... betcha you can’t weld the gap in your truck doors.

 

[shopnut]

Now.......... betcha you can’t weld the gap in your truck doors.

Dukes of Hazzard style!! And then I'll be jumping in through the window.

 

[shopnut]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 13 of ?)…

WELDING TABLE/BOOTH.

To finish up the weld table, I refined the side shields. I wanted it to be sturdy, yet pop off if I had something larger to weld.

Here is the three sided booth.



And on the table. Note that it now fits on the inside of the table lip. I found in my short use in the temporary location outside the lip, grinding debris hit the shield and fell down in the gaps between the lip and shield. That proved hard to clean without a vacuum. So now the debris should just collect on the main table surface.



Here are some final pictures with all the equipment back in place. Welding helmet and grinding shield hang outside the barrier so they are protected when not in use.







I figured I might as well look around and see if I had anything on hand to utilize those studs on the table surface as hold downs. If I look long enough, I can find just about anything in the Asylum and some alternator brackets seem to work nicely for the purpose. They will be adjusted, bent or modified as needed when jobs come along.



I received an Amazon gift card for Father’s Day so I used some of it for more welding accessories. I couldn’t resist getting a set of these magnetic holders as suggested by member jbmatth and ultimately Bob Heine.



Although not needed, I decided one of these welding pliers will make certain things easier. And now it can just stay on the weld table. It came with a nice thickness gauge.



I also bought the 2.0X magnification lens for the welding helmet. We will “see” if it works better than the 1.5X.

 

[shortykorte]

Clever use of those posts.

 

[bugnut]

Mark the welding station looks great. When I store my helmet I put it in an old pillowcase, so its fresh and clean for the next use. PS keep lots of batteries on hand for it also!

 

[zanyad]

RE-LEARNING AN OLD SKILL OF MINE - WELDING! (Part 13 of ?)…

WELDING TABLE/BOOTH.

<snip>

Here are some final pictures with all the equipment back in place. Welding helmet and grinding shield hang outside the barrier so they are protected when not in use.

Mark the welding station looks great. When I store my helmet I put it in an old pillowcase, so its fresh and clean for the next use. PS keep lots of batteries on hand for it also!

I was told to keep helmets stored away from light when not in use, to prevent running down the battery. YMMV