What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[larry4406]

MY 2009 JCW MINI Cooper rear (Boot?) badge was showing some sun damage to the red inlay paint...

Used some dental floss to saw through the adhesive tape to remove the badge


Had a bottle of Tamiya Italian Red lacquer I used for some inlay paint work...


I just realized all the black inlay paint is missing from John Cooper...
I'll need to get a bottle of black lacquer, before I can reinstall it...

I like that dental floss trick!

 

[GrayFlattop]

Sanded drawer parts and glued-up two drawers. While the glue was drying, we went for another walk. Nice weather - sweatshirt weather. We’ll have an early dinner and then I’ll go back to the shop and glue up the remaining drawer.

 

[bmwrd0]

We used the dental floss trick when removing old markings from cop cars that were being decommissioned. Works really well!

 

[niget2002]

Spent the afternoon in the shop.

Cranked up a 3d print.
Sanded and applied poly to the mahogany shelf I built for the laundry room months ago.
Turned a movie on and worked on a website I've been working on lately.
Did a little cleaning from finishing previous projects.

 

[TRWham]

Today was the last of 3 sessions I spent bead blasting Norton parts. It took about 8 hours total. To be fair, this was not done in my garage, but a friend's shop, where he has the gear.

 

[River19]

Pulled the blower, it goes on over Thanksgiving and off at Easter. While I was pulling things I greased what needs greasing, topped off the hydraulic fluid and checked the other fluids. It was real winter this year and I spent a LOT of time on this rig with the blower and back blade. Loader will go back on next week, it was pouring today and I wasn't dealing with the FEL in the rain.

 

[crewchief888]

spent 45 minutes or so searching for my tire plug kit to no avail
went to the parts store to grab a new one,
then plugged a tire on the wifes car

 

[Pexto]

Go after the sensor damage and fix it for a spare?

How about pulling the old speed sensor out and repairing it? That way when you run over your next stick or whatever, you'll have your replacement ready.

I've considered that, but the entire sensor and wiring are in a channel in the cover which is filled with goop at the factory, and then has an aluminum strip embedded in it. The goop is pretty hard and tough, so it would be a real chore to extract the sensor and wiring without causing further damage. That, and I don't need a spare (I might regret saying that). These speed sensors almost never fail - this was a real oddball case.

I seriously considered dremeling out that dented area, excavating the wires that I think are damaged, and repairing them. That would've saved $200 for the new cover. But I wasn't 100% sure that would fix it, and I'd been messing with the issue long enough that $200 didn't seem that bad anymore.

Never seen one before, but that looks like one tank of a sled.

I love my Skandic, but yeah, it's a bit of a pig at 700 pounds or so dry weight. I've learned lots of tricks for getting it unstuck, the best of which is having a buddy on another big machine to pull me out.

But there's no better machine (except maybe an Expedition, which is the same other than the suspension) for towing big loads on wilderness trips.

 

[UserNameAttempt3]

Tried cleaning and organizing, making it ready for when the kids moved out here with us. Needs space for a lot of his stuff in the interim.

 

[Beerhippie]

After successfully installing the new alternator this morning--which works very well, even if it is ugly--I thought about going for a drive this afternoon. Then I realized it was Easter Sunday and decided to take a day of rest. Didn't do diddly-squat for the rest of the day. With all the hardware and auto parts shops closed, there wasn't much else I could achieve.

Now resting with beer in hand....

 

[Mr. Tool]

Today......had to cut glass and replace one of my garage door small decorative glass panel(s) that I had broken .....when previously cleaning it!

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Did a couple of door pulls for the laundry cabinets we purchased at IKEA. Cherry and Bamboo since that is what I had. Might hit them with another coat of Poly.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Tried cleaning and organizing, making it ready for when the kids moved out here with us. Needs space for a lot of his stuff in the interim.

That looks amazingly clean, great job!

I have no idea what your situation is (none of my business and I try not to judge). I just can’t imagine opening up my garage to others. I’d love have more space to fill up!

 

[M.Brane]

Arranged, deranged, and re-arranged stuff. Gained a little more space between. Swept up metal debris, and de-burred leftovers from my last welding project. Dumped some stuff into de-rusting solution. Made multiple trips to the beer fridge.

 

[UserNameAttempt3]

That looks amazingly clean, great job!

I have no idea what your situation is (none of my business and I try not to judge). I just can’t imagine opening up my garage to others. I’d love have more space to fill up!

No worries, we're a stopping ground. Kids moving from AZ to join us in Kentucky. We bought a small house so the oversized garage is a blessing. It'll be their storage unit for a little while till they get settled. We have a 1 bedroom ADU that they will be staying in for a while that just doesn't have enough room and isn't quite finished out enough for full time living. All in time.

 

[Outlawmws]

Replaced the DD Toy car's front brake pad's finally. In, quick replace, and out and done.

Quick test drive (no drag stopping with no hands on the wheel) and put tools away.

Yesterday in the afternoon, helped my son patch his left front tire again. This time it was a screw. (Patch not plug)
Previous patch holding up fine.

Down to my last 4 patches in a bulk box. Almost time to stock back up.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Scraped the slush from the driveway with the tractor, getting ready for the 3-4” of snow forecast for Tuesday, with more snow turning to rain the next day.
Then another GJ member texts me, he’s looking for unrounded bolts to hold his muscle car driveshaft in and he can’t find any in town or online. So I look through my small boxes of junkyard gleanings but there aren’t any boxes in the “U” section (for universal). Huh, maybe I have a big box for those on the pallet rack. Yup, haven’t opened that box this century but it does have thirty or so of genuine GM strap bolts ( and a pile of the U bolts, and some CV stuff, and some yokes, and some new-in-box ujoints, and whatever else I thought was related back when I was a broke teenager trying to keep my junk mobile.



—this is yet another episode of Encourage The Hoarder—

 

[TheClaw]

Got the track bike all buttoned up. Fashioned a new bracket boogered up the PO. Got some graphics on there. Just waiting for the weather to change.

 

[Jgaz]

Got the first two of my “new to me“ chisels squared away today.

Polished the first 3/4” of the chiesel’s back to 1500 grit.

Squared up the end, removed any nicks. if needed on the grinder.

Reground the bevel to 25 degrees on the strip sander.
These chisels needed very little work in this area. Yea!


Number three in progress on the plate glass

 

[Copymutt]

Wrapped up a decorative set of side racks. Was going w/ Mesquite till the order came to $600.00 sight unseen. Reverted to my favorite rustic furniture wood, Beetle kill pine. Enhanced the grey fungus streaks with a 40 to 1 acrylic wash then three coats of Boiled Linseed Oil Then 3 topcoats of Spar oil based Varithane to prevent UV damage.
Designed functionality into both sides to slide open to the rear & securely lock in both positions. Ended up using pin lock clothing rack material ( sliding interface of rectangular stock already clear coated). This would not have worked on a stock bed. Someone in the past replaced the angled top rails w/ flat steel and square support. Used pieces of teflon like thin cutting board for the anti friction slide pads. Pretty sure its a one off.
Also got the West Coast style side mirrors installed. Much better rear views than the F**d mirrors it came to me with. Top brackets for the mirrors are high end curtain rod material.
Next up is a front driveshaft repair. The splined slip joint is shot.

 

[Beerhippie]

@Copymutt What a beauty!

The blue-stain pine will be much lighter, and being far from the ground, it'll be fine.

 

[Mike65]

I put away the tools I took with me on my trip to Florida to work on my brother's car. I also installed new highway footpegs on my wife's trike.

 

[2001ZR2]

Friday pulled the locks from three of my Craftsman set ups. One lock was a Chicago brand Lock and the top box someone grabbed the outside with Vise Grips and broke the lock. The third was an Illinios lock no code for it $20 for new key. No thanks. Anyone have a 5/8 Craftsman lock cheap?

Saw on Marketplace that a very nice 1/3 Craftsman grinder was for sale for $10. The couple was selling their house and wife was gleefully selling her husband's tools. Whatever he did think I shouldn't do that or my tools might wind up for sale. . They were downsizing so selling off things in actuality.

During the weekend tools were sourced from the garage to do small things around the house. Things like hang picture and replace a curtain rod and more. In a move that might get me banned from here tools were put back afterwards.

Yesterday used the new battery tester to determine the dead battery in fact needed to be charged. Applied charger but battery still failed after...

 

[Radio Flyer]

All the chargers were piled on the shelf. Set up a charging station.

 

[bmwrd0]

Finally got the spindle in, turning smooth, and on to the next stage of the project.

ended up having to re-contour one of the dust shields, clean up the slot on the bull gear with needle files, stone the sides of the key to remove any burrs that formed over the last who knows how many decades, use bearing grease as a sort of glue to hold the woodruff in position, and baby the movement through the dust shield and into the bull gear. Took half a dozen tries before moving as smooth as if there was never a problem. Then used my homemade bearing installer to pull it all together.


First time a chuck has been on there in probably 50 years. Still work to do on it before I fire her up and make chips, but I am pleased as punch.

 

[larry4406]

Finally got the spindle in, turning smooth, and on to the next stage of the project.

ended up having to re-contour one of the dust shields, clean up the slot on the bull gear with needle files, stone the sides of the key to remove any burrs that formed over the last who knows how many decades, use bearing grease as a sort of glue to hold the woodruff in position, and baby the movement through the dust shield and into the bull gear. Took half a dozen tries before moving as smooth as if there was never a problem. Then used my homemade bearing installer to pull it all together.


First time a chuck has been on there in probably 50 years. Still work to do on it before I fire her up and make chips, but I am pleased as punch.

Shouldn't you have looped the belt around the pulley before fully assembling the spindle? Or are you going with a link belt? The limited reading I have done indicates that link belts are not happy if you run them in reverse.

 

[Jakeweldsalittle]

Poured some concrete countertops for my slight kitchen remodel. We had an old wall oven and bare bones fridge that we bought when we first got married and had no money ha. My wife wanted an upgrade so I tore in. Had to replace the cabinetry to get everything where we wanted it, so I talked her into letting me try concrete for the two small 12x24 cabinets. I still have to tile the backsplash, but it's coming along. Concrete turned out decent. Just gotta fill some pinholes this week, then start polishing.

 

[bmwrd0]

Shouldn't you have looped the belt around the pulley before fully assembling the spindle? Or are you going with a link belt? The limited reading I have done indicates that link belts are not happy if you run them in reverse.

The belts aren't the link type used on drill presses and such, but they do have a stapled section to take them apart. Like this.

 

[Jay__Dub]

Going to finish cleaning the carb for my tractor, and get it back on, and see if old Lucifer will start for me.

 

[Skyman]

Love this truck!

 

[Outlawmws]

Love this truck!

Me too, My fav Chevy body style, and 4x4 to boot!

 

[Hooked]

I got the power windows of the Brick working again! I took everything apart and tested everything and determined there was nothing wrong. Put it back together and tried the windows: Nope. Took everything apart again, re-tested: still nothing wrong. Try the windows again...

THEY WORK!

I hate power windows.

Now I have to stuff all this ****



back into the tiny space where it lives.

I had a similar problem on my wife's Sequoia, wouldn't work but tested fine when apart but no joy when assembled. I 'think' the problem was the motor was twisted/turned slightly under pressure when closed. Same result as you, worked fine after a couple of attempts.

 

[PhantomEB]

Dialing in the pulleys even more today on the bronco. Second AGM in on the charger in case I need it in place for wiring up a Second battery in the back.

 

[rollinlower]

oh happy day i have room in my garage again lol

 

[pancholasvegas]

Carrying on work on the Econoline Trailer:

I had pulled the wheel wells earlier on in the project.



I had sent the pair off to the sandblaster for stripping and to see how bad they are.

As it turns out - they’re both very bad.








No matter - we will rebuild them.

This section had the offending rust holes and pits cut out and removed, patch panel applied.



This was TIG welded into place, and then the side folded to match the flange.






Next up was the other wheel well - this was a larger patch as the putting was pretty bad on this section, thinned quite a bit.



Sharpie was applied to some 19GA scrap, scribe line struck and trimmed. TIG welded into place.


These wheel wells required some work but will fit back in per factory - makes less work when we put everything back together for the last time.

More rust repair - This rear section where the truck bed corner wraps around to the Roll-Pan / bumper section had a rust hole popping through.



Let’s see what’s inside - I carefully peeled / cut the outer skin off.



Just as I thought - more bad news. And it gets worse…

We will address this in the next post.

 

[pancholasvegas]

Now that we’ve seen what’s underneath and waiting in store for us - the only way out is through.

The below photos show the extent of the rot. Both the outer truck bed skin is rusted, as well as the internal structure piece that is is connected to.





In order to properly address this - I started by removing the inner structure. The spot welded sections were rotted and broke apart easily, however I did have take a large cut into the main structure higher up.



This cut went through both the outer skin & the inner structural member. With the inner structure removed, I began to fabricate a replacement. I started with measurements on a piece of 18GA cold roll.



A couple folds later and we’re sneaking up on the rough dimensions.



A bit more tweaking, hammering and swearing and we ended up with a piece that will work.



Clamping into place to verify fitment.


That should work out fine. Now we need to jump onto the outer skin that will get hemmed to this inner structure.

First we mark the cut line -

There’s some pretty thin steel in there, so kept the patch large enough to tie into good steel, but as small as I could.

Then I moved over to the sandbag to start shaping up some steel to put into place.



Starting to take some form - through it threw the wheel a couple of times to add a small amount of shape and take some of the hammer marks out.



Next up was quite of trimming, measuring, etc and tacking into place before finish welding.


More to come…

 

[rd65]

Over the weekend - adjusted air pressure on riding mower front tires, still holding air so the slime did its job. Fetched water and beer from the fridge. Checked fluids and air pressures on the Miata, took it for a drive and moved it to the garage from the shop.

 

[pancholasvegas]

Now that our rough shape for our patch was taken out - we spent time trimming and putting into place before welding in the patch. The patch was left long on the side to be hemmed.



I did this so that I would make sure to have enough steel to flange it - it will be cut down before finalizing. This was also left unflanged at this time so that I could finish the buttweld on the inner struture.



The flanges were dressed with SPI epoxy primer before being folded into one another for corrosion protection.



At the point, we finished the hem - next will be a few holes drilled for plug welding the skin onto the inner, and that should be nearly all of the rust repair.

 

[niget2002]

borked the linux kernel on the shop laptop and didn't know it until the battery died forcing a reboot (didn't get to the power supply in time).

booted previous kernel and re-ran update/upgrade on the current kernel. Looks like the additional hardware modules package didn't install correctly for the latest kernel during my last update over the weekend. Everything's fine now.

To be fair. I think this was a 'me' issue and not a linux issue. I was chasing a weird Nvidia driver problem.

 

[rcktpwrd]

A while back the high beam dimmer switch went bad in the wife's wagon, headlights work but when you click high beam the lights turn off. Attempted to replace the switch today but was not prepared to have to disassemble half the dash to actually be able to get to the damn switch! So that will be a project for another time...

While poking around originally to see what was going on with the headlights I discovered the car has a dealer installed remote entry system!
We never got remotes when we bought the car. We bought the car from an old lady, it was her husbands car and he had passed about 14 years prior.
In searching for info about the system and to see if remotes were still available I found someone selling a complete new in box system, only one remote but otherwise complete with all wiring and paperwork. I did find a remote or two on eBay but for really stupid money!


Today I was able to pair the 'new' remote with the system in the car and new we have remote lock/unlock!