Recent content by mwbailey

WOW!!

The Element is still not "roadworthy" but I found a 1991 Miata Special Edition on BringATrailer for $14,000. I figured it was time to get mine OUT of the real elements! Looks like it needs a waxing to get the BRG back to looking good. . . . Hope the lift doesn't fall o_O

Been awhile since I've messed around in Garage Gallery, but great to see your "barn" in VA. You mentioned you liked for the wood siding to show a little age, which I do also. Although I did use a couple of coats of Sikken over the dozen years or so of aging. What's nice, in my opinion, is the...

Well, dang! Nobody told us the trans NEEDED custom ventilation. My son got a junk yard transmission that was "working when the car came in". . . yeah, yeah, we'll see about that. With a good bit of labor, the replacement transmission is in the car, but there are still a number of connections...

Oh, and a few wood blocks, etc. Yep, that's a transfer case that we removed, also. . . .

A continuing saga: My son, recently past 51 yo, has a Honda Element that his younger daughter was driving when she left the road. There was a bit of body damage as well as suspension destruction. He gathered up body parts from here and there and had a body shop put them on. Then the body...

Hmm, not sure all of this is "Garage Gallery" stuff, but it's pretty funny. My dad used a DRY straw of grass or weed, xtremek. He would lick the end he put on the wire -- not sure why -- then slide the straw toward the wire until he felt a jolt. I'm not sure if the method was really all that...

Only you would ask, xtremek!! Actually, I have this 4-foot fluorescent light bulb with a couple of feet of wire attached at one end. I stripped a couple of inches of insulation from the "free end" and buried them in the ground. Then I touch the two terminals on the other end to the electric...

Well, here's a little work that is actually. . . nearly . . . on the garage/workshop. It's about time to get The Wife's vegetable garden started but the electric fence suffered a bit of damage over the winter. Part of the damage was due to wild animals running through the wires; installed new...

Who'd "athunk" that a 1976 Ford F-100 pickup with 300 ci six would have two different starters -- one for manual and one for automatic?! Not me and apparently not the parts place! Got ready to load up trimmings from out of control Loropetalum bush pruning and couldn't get the pickup to start...

Washers positioned and bolts tightened on exhaust manifolds. On to distributor and manual steering box. Tried to clean up the distributor shaft a bit -- first Dremel tool with abrasive pad, then with small wire brush but not much progress. Got out 3/8" drill and wire brush which seemed to...

Took a while. Couldn't find exhaust manifold bolts. Decided it might be better to use new ones anyway looking at my "original" '67 442 and all the rust and corrosion in the area of the manifolds!! Got the bolts yesterday and started to work on installation this afternoon. Engine was mounted...

Sandblasting helped get rid of the silver paint and spraying with graphite gave a better look; blasted on left: The online instructions suggested "burnishing" the graphite by rubbing with a cloth. I might have preferred that more graphite remained on manifolds, but I'm good with results at...

Well, I was pretty sure I had sorta responded to a couple of comments but maybe I didn't "Post reply"! I actually did try heat on the first manifold, but I was using a propane tank with nozzle. Pretty sure I didn't get it hot enough. If the nut and bolt approach doesn't look OK, I might try...

Whoa, maybe this is progress on the barn, itself -- landscaping? Seems The Wife gave me an anniversary present. She said she would buy the crushed rock to "pave" the entrance to the barn. I had to spread it. . . whaaaaa?! AND, I couldn't have a truckload of 57 delivered because she didn't...