What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[Beerhippie]

Not my garage, but as a result of what I did in my garage. My Mount Washington car on the dyno getting tuned yesterday.

Here's one for you: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=766259&highlight=honda

Guy swapped a Honda K24 into a Syncro (4WD) Vanagon Westfalia camper!

You'd probably take it to Pike's.... What's the record for a campervan?

 

[Outlawmws]

Got the new pole chain saw (battery powered) in on Wed.


I have to say I'm very impressed so far with this 8" long 3mm saw! It cuts the limbs like butter, faster than a much bigger saw. (I think the narrow blade helps with that), and is super fast cutting. With the battery its under 4 lbs, only 2-1/2 without and the battery acts as a counterweight on the bottom end of the pole. One handed use without the pole. Already cut a bunch of oak, maple and poplar branches.

My only gripe so far is there was a video posted in the Azon ad that claimed the batteries were DeWalt compatible. They are not..

 

[Beerhippie]

8" long 3mm

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

 

[CoogarXR]

I'm standing "in" the carport of my existing garage, watching the new 30x50 being put up:






Not bad for only about 6 hours worth of work this morning/afternoon. They only had one screw-up so far; they had the man-door in the wrong place. Luckily I happened to be leaving and I walked by and saw it. So it wasn't a big deal to move it. I double-checked their understanding of the window placement while I was at it. I think everything else should be routine stuff for them at this point. Hopefully I don't need to talk to them much anymore, the language barrier is pretty difficult to overcome. They understand me grunting and pointing at a blueprint, I guess that's all that matters, lol.

 

[Outlawmws]

8" long 3mm saw!

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

3mm wide chain (very narrow) and an 8" long blade. I credit the 3MM width to its speed of cut.

 

[Beerhippie]

3mm wide chain (very narrow) and an 8" long blade. I credit the 3MM width to its speed of cut.

Shouldn't it be a 200 X 3mm saw then?

I hate mixed units almost as much as I hate mixed unit fasteners.

[/pedantry]

 

[Old Man Roger]

The nicest way to lift is two jacks under the same axle, straight up, no need for the lift to travel.

I’d probably feel a little safer like that, but still a small eye twitch here and there.lol

 

[rharman]

< snip >

Not bad for only about 6 hours worth of work this morning/afternoon. They only had one screw-up so far; they had the man-door in the wrong place. Luckily I happened to be leaving and I walked by and saw it. So it wasn't a big deal to move it. I double-checked their understanding of the window placement while I was at it. I think everything else should be routine stuff for them at this point. Hopefully I don't need to talk to them much anymore, the language barrier is pretty difficult to overcome. They understand me grunting and pointing at a blueprint, I guess that's all that matters, lol.

< /snip >

Google translate on your phone can be a big help. That's what I used for our tile guy last year.

 

[CoogarXR]

Google translate on your phone can be a big help. That's what I used for our tile guy last year.

Yeah, that's how the lead guy was speaking to me. I didn't have anything complex to convey so I didn't think I needed it. But I also didn't know he wasn't understanding me, lol. He just kept saying "Ok sir!" Lol

 

[rharman]

I haven't tried it but Android and iPhone offer live translate so it'll send your English text message in Spanish. That would let you keep a record of it too.

 

[Outlawmws]

Shouldn't it be a 200 X 3mm saw then?

I hate mixed units almost as much as I hate mixed unit fasteners.

[/pedantry]

Probably, but that's what the ad and docs said so...

 

[Beerhippie]

Mow, mow, mow the lawns....

Got out the OPE yesterday and gave it a good exercise since. Got off work yesterday and went home--to mow.

Trim, mow, blow... I gotta go do some more mowing... after a smoke and a beer.

I did take a little break from mowing to spray herbicides on a thick lawn of Kochia I came across in the back forty.

 

[Beerhippie]

Screw it! No mo' mow for Timm today!

BEER THIRTY!

 

[bmwrd0]

A screw was really fighting me, but I won in the end.

I always do.


(if you look closely, you can see the screw head on the tip of the bit)

 

[kaymccampbell]

Dragged the pool cover out to look for the number tag. Dragged it back inside without finding it. Searched the files for the pool cover paperwork. Still had the mfg, part and serial nos.

 

[Beerhippie]

A screw was really fighting me, but I won in the end.

I always do.


(if you look closely, you can see the screw head on the tip of the bit)

Now you just have to match the German Guild double-super-secret threads!

 

[Ultradog MN]

Did a Two Bit tractor fix
The flair fitting on the return line on my power steering pump was leaking. Tightening it didn't help. Grrr.
So I melted some lead solder into a puddle and when it cooled I pounded it so it was flat.
I used a big center drill and drilled a hole in a piece of aluminum on the lathe then pushed a live center into the piece to form a cup.
Timmed the excess off and did a bit of cleanup with a hand file.
I put it between the flair fitting and nut and tightened it down.
Ran the tractor for about 4 hours yesterday.
No leak.
Estimated cost:
Solder - 3₵
Mapp gas - 4₵
Electricity - 17₵
------------------------
Total - 25₵

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

She runs, she drives, and she pulls, yet again! I really love stuff like this that predates safety, no kill-switches on the seat so I can run back and steer the car while the tractor does its thing.
(This car is waiting for me to put its rod bearings back in, but it was in my way for now.)

Ran out of daylight before I could put the mower on it and cut grass though. But I still need to tweak the carb a bit too, I think.

 

[Ultradog MN]

She runs, she drives, and she pulls, yet again! I really love stuff like this that predates safety, no kill-switches on the seat so I can run back and steer the car while the tractor does its thing.
(This car is waiting for me to put its rod bearings back in, but it was in my way for now.)

Ran out of daylight before I could put the mower on it and cut grass though. But I still need to tweak the carb a bit too, I think.

Dittos on the no safety ****!

 

[PhantomEB]

Organized my wiring drawer, put crimpables into a tackle box. Almost can see all three tables Instead of piled up with tools and parts.

today is a beer and yard work kinda day.

 

[ctandc72]

Finally tore apart the original (spare now) alternator from my 04 Mustang GT. Voltage regulator brushes are worn, and the slip ring shaft (that the brushes ride on) is grooved - so new slip ring. Checking the rectifier part numbers - it's a rebuilder number, in a Motorcraft / Ford stamped correct case with an OEM regulator. I'm guessing somewhere along the line the dealer replaced the alternator with a Motorcraft rebuild.

Already have bearings. Need a new voltage regulator $50, new slip ring $20) need to test the rectifier. Not even sure the juice is worth the squeeze. But if you just need to replace the internal voltage regulator (common) or do the bearings? It's easy to do even with the later model alternators. No special tools required.

 

[Beerhippie]

What did they use for brushes? Silicon carbide?

 

[Beerhippie]

I've been wanting to take one of the rear-facing jump seats (nausea seating) from the Brick and mount it in the rear as a front-facing seat. I might just want to take two friends for a ride sometimes.

First, make the mounts for the bottom of the legs:





I rooted through the boneyard and turned up a piece of 1" sq. tube that is exactly the right length. It was meant to be.

The original mounts are tubular bosses welded to the floor of the rig. I'm leaving those in place. Since I'm reusing the original upper mounts, the seat will still be easy to remove when I don't need a third seat.

Test fit and mark some lay-outs:



I'll get the lower mount finished and painted and then install the mounts when I'm back from lunch.

 

[SweetD]

New trailer hub, inner bearing grenaded on the old one and the hub was in rough shape anyway. Paid $96 for a complete hub, assembled and greased. Re-packed the other side as it looked to be in better shape. This is on my boat trailer which only gets used a couple times and a few miles per year...not pretty but effective. Finally some nice weather here!

 

[Beerhippie]

Lower mount mounted:



Honest, I'll take it out and paint it... eventually. It fits like it was made to go there.

Seat test fitted and test sitted in prep for figuring out how to make the upper mounts:



Now to pull some **** out of the wayback so I can get in and figure out that part.

Fun trying to work on this between snow squalls. FFS, it's mid-May!

 

[Beerhippie]

I have three seats in the Brick! At least, when I want to.






The seat bottom folds up to make more room and better access to stuff under the bed.



and comes right out with a single spring-loaded knob.



The upper mount is secured with a cobbled-together bunch of L-brackets, but it's strong enough. For now, those are anchored to the Van with 5/16" sheet-metal screws, which will be replaced with through-bolts when I have another set of hands to help with it.

I'll use those brackets for a template to weld up something more secure when my metal supply place opens up again.

Now to put everything back where it goes... after I get a beer.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here's where the two jump seats originally mounted:



Imagine sitting facing backwards with me driving on a winding mountain road... I'd need a barf bag dispenser back there.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Built a small planter to hang from the deck railing for our kitchen herbs. Not perfect but I finally used up a 3-board section of cedar fence leftover from last year, and it's nice and easy to grab some herbs while making dinner.

 

[Outlawmws]

Earlier I was going to ask about a seat belt. I see you got it handled! Job well done Timm!

 

[nadogail]

Cut some more boards into pieces to assemble into legs for the boxes currently in production.

 

[Beerhippie]

Earlier I was going to ask about a seat belt. I see you got it handled! Job well done Timm!

The rear-facing seats had lap belts. I'll probably end up using one of those as the seat sits far enough forward of the original bench that the shoulder belt barely fits me--like an inch of slack--and I ain't all that big around. There's a mount for the old bench seat/bed that's located just right to mount the lap belt on.

 

[niget2002]

Burned paintbrushes with the laser for the wife's student's awards.

 

[Itinerant]

Flattened boxes. Looked at the small box of hand tools I was going to yard sale and decided it isn’t worth the time, found a place for them to live.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Been working in the garden the last several days us, but this morning it was cooler in the garage. I wanted to glue-up some MDF with solid maple edge banding so that gave me the chance to use the new to me Makita biscuit joiner with the recently purchased vacuum adapter.

I’ve had plate joiners for years, but my 42 year old Elu had poor dust collection. No, it was an absolute sawdust generator. As loud as can be - even with hearing protection. It turns out that I bought the makita 11 years ago and it sat - NIB until today. I’ve been using the old one in the interim. What a dummy.

No surprise that the makita is smoother, quieter, and far more user friendly. The vacuum adapter fit perfectly and worked great. Virtually dust free - didn’t even smell the MDF dust. I can’t believe I waited this long to use it, but the vac adapter was a recent purchase. I haven’t been this happy about a tool purchase in a long time.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Well, I can't do this project IN my garage...
6' Bush Hog® rotary mower. Weighs about 1300 lbs.
I attemted this project last fall but could not get the stump jumper off (big round disc underneath that spins the blades) without destroying it.
But it MUST come off to replace the lower oil seal which is leaking badly. So I ordered a new stump jumper and am finally getting back to the project.
I had to use the sky hook and break out the smoke wrench to cut it off.
Of course there's always mission creep so now I'm thinking I'll get it sand blasted and repaint it.

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

She runs, she drives, and she pulls, yet again! I really love stuff like this that predates safety, no kill-switches on the seat so I can run back and steer the car while the tractor does its thing.
(This car is waiting for me to put its rod bearings back in, but it was in my way for now.)

Ran out of daylight before I could put the mower on it and cut grass though. But I still need to tweak the carb a bit too, I think.

Well I tweaked the carb and threw the mower deck under it and cut the grass.
Well, almost all the grass…
It spat the PTO belt out four times on the last patch in the back before I gave up.
Overall it cuts not bad for a 50 year old machine with worn blades.
Then I pulled the deck back off and removed the spindles. I knew the bearings on at least two were in bad shape, but I needed to get ahead of the grass growth before replacing them.

 

[DGersic]

Pulled in and parked, after a two day ~550 mile road trip through the back roads of south west Wisconsin.

My intermittent hot no start issue I was working on last year is now a permanent no start issue. I think I’ve narrowed it down to the wire between the transmission neutral safety switch and the starter “S” terminal. Getting only ~6.5v at the starter “S”. Bypassing the wire with a different one, starter works fine.

Had fun starting the car with a prybar, shorting the battery lug to “S”.

 

[ctandc72]

What did they use for brushes? Silicon carbide?

LOL
To be fair, I've seen heavy wear like this before and it's normally after one of the bearings has started to go.

 

[landrover bodger]

cleared the top of my workbench i can now see the top. sorted the **** that had built up on it into keep or dump piles and binned the dump pile.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I consulted with my shop interior decorator (me) and changed out a few small ugly trash cans and a well worn waste oil can for something a bit more color coordinated. Rustoleum sunburst yellow matches the plastic color well to cover the printed label on the tubs. Retired people get to do things like this just because.