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Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
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86turbodsl

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No leaks. It had power getting better every time i ran it last night with the reservoir hooked up. I took off the extra one this morning and had nothing no matter what i did.

I really don't see how it sitting overnight could result in enough air to have ZERO power.
 
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bimmer1980

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With the extra reservoir hooked up, did you turn the steering wheel full lock left and right? Multiple times?

Did the fluid level go down in the reservoir?

My guess is that you still have air in the system.
 
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86turbodsl

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Ok, i worked myself into the oil burner corner. Cleaned up as much of the stuff as i could, scraped the floor down, started pulling the oil tank apart. Salvage as much as possible. Anyone got good ideas to chemical clean the oil soaked floor?

Going to need something very very good. It's bad.
 

racer-john

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Ok, i worked myself into the oil burner corner. Cleaned up as much of the stuff as i could, scraped the floor down, started pulling the oil tank apart. Salvage as much as possible. Anyone got good ideas to chemical clean the oil soaked floor?

Going to need something very very good. It's bad.
TSP?
 

kent_323is

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I have had hydraulic oil spills on concrete floor, (I hate hydraulic oil!) and I have had very good luck with first going with floor dry on any standing oil, let it absorb for a few mins, turn it and wait, then scoop it all up. Once it's down to bare floor and as minimal oil as possible, the lay down a clean layer of floor dry. This layer needs to stay there for as long as possible, a week or more is best. Then do a sweep and it will be almost completely gone!

That is puzzling with the power steering.... I'm wondering if you don't have a weak or shot pump. Do you have a known good pump that could be swapped on there? With no leaks after sitting, that would point to a bad pump rather than a leaking hose or pump seal. By raising the reservoir, you helped increase the head pressure, so that helped compensate for the poor pump, and made it "work".
I've had some old vehicles with very leaky pumps/hoses, and for the value of the vehicle, it was cheaper to put in power steering oil than fix it. It never lost power steering, and there were times the reservoir was almost empty. Top it off with oil and good to go! (Note, I sold that vehicle for a tidy profit, so not my concern anymore!)
 
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86turbodsl

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I have had hydraulic oil spills on concrete floor, (I hate hydraulic oil!) and I have had very good luck with first going with floor dry on any standing oil, let it absorb for a few mins, turn it and wait, then scoop it all up. Once it's down to bare floor and as minimal oil as possible, the lay down a clean layer of floor dry. This layer needs to stay there for as long as possible, a week or more is best. Then do a sweep and it will be almost completely gone!

That is puzzling with the power steering.... I'm wondering if you don't have a weak or shot pump. Do you have a known good pump that could be swapped on there? With no leaks after sitting, that would point to a bad pump rather than a leaking hose or pump seal. By raising the reservoir, you helped increase the head pressure, so that helped compensate for the poor pump, and made it "work".
I've had some old vehicles with very leaky pumps/hoses, and for the value of the vehicle, it was cheaper to put in power steering oil than fix it. It never lost power steering, and there were times the reservoir was almost empty. Top it off with oil and good to go! (Note, I sold that vehicle for a tidy profit, so not my concern anymore!)
With the inlet of the pump being the highest point in the system I think weak pump or shaft seal is likely. The elevated inlet as you say fixes the pump temporarily. I do not have a known good spare.
 
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86turbodsl

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There's so much oil on the floor it's beyond normal spills. I need something to draw it out of the concrete. Solvents or enzymes are my thoughts.
 

bimmer1980

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Progress in the shop is good.

Do you have a next action/step for the car? Do you drive it to work tomorrow or is it still a truck for transportation?
 
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86turbodsl

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Got some significant cleaning done yesterday.


2023-12-11-12-50-03-534.jpg

That area right around the lift was the biggest portion. amazing how much decluttering affects how it feels.

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an elevated view or two helps to get the scale.

2023-12-11-12-50-37-448.jpg


2023-12-11-12-50-45-056.jpg

A continual problem is the back corner and the mess. I've been working on ways to address this. The kitty litter went down yesterday, followed by a lot of paint thinner on top. It got absorbed nearly immediately. I'm going to leave this for a while.

2023-12-11-12-53-04-988.jpg

I am trying to come up with a better placement for the oil barrel and containment. I am thinking that the water tank would be better placed outside the pallet racking, and the oil barrel and containment turned 90 degrees with the barrel under the water trap, so i can put that drain straight into the oil barrel. Then i don't need to catch it with anything else. Trying to think closed loop as much as possible. I only need to get past it to place the new boiler on top of the bathroom. And the containment could always be moved if i need to get in there again with the forklift.

2023-12-11-12-53-12-721.jpg


An additional question still remains, what do i do with the woodworking and steel processing? I don't really have a good spot in this space for this type of thing. I've been thinking of getting a container outside, and using that for steel storage and cutting. Since the container would be steel, i could weld right to the wall, making storage racks with minimal effort, and the big saw could be right out there. Once lengths are cut, they can come in the shop and get processed wherever. Steel storage takes up soo much room. I also thought about adding onto the shop behind, the container could be one wall of a woodshop, and it would be right next to the boiler for heat. Way down the road, but still needs to be thought about.
 

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kent_323is

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Great progress on the shop cleaning! That looks so much better, and it should also help your mental load as well as being much safer to work.
How much steel are you talking about to store and use over time? Could you put small shelf brackets on the front of your pallet racking at incremental heights and store it that way? It really depends how big of stuff you're talking, quantity, and how often you're using it.
I do a decent amount of steel and aluminum fabrication work, so I'm bringing in 20 and 24' lengths. I have a dedicated shelf arm wall for steel and aluminum. Once the lengths are less than the distance between the shelf arms, then it goes on a wire mesh shelf or stored vertically. That way I have a decent visible indicator of my short lengths to use up for little stuff, and visual cues for the long stuff for bigger projects. Most of the stuff I'm using currently is 2x2 and smaller, flat bars, and angles. Anything bigger probably requires a forklift.
I can use my forklift when necessary, but most of the time it's easier to just lift a single chunk of steel or aluminum down for cutting. I have my saw just in front of the shelf arm area, so minimal effort to bring it down for cutting.
 
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86turbodsl

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Great progress on the shop cleaning! That looks so much better, and it should also help your mental load as well as being much safer to work.
How much steel are you talking about to store and use over time? Could you put small shelf brackets on the front of your pallet racking at incremental heights and store it that way? It really depends how big of stuff you're talking, quantity, and how often you're using it.
I do a decent amount of steel and aluminum fabrication work, so I'm bringing in 20 and 24' lengths. I have a dedicated shelf arm wall for steel and aluminum. Once the lengths are less than the distance between the shelf arms, then it goes on a wire mesh shelf or stored vertically. That way I have a decent visible indicator of my short lengths to use up for little stuff, and visual cues for the long stuff for bigger projects. Most of the stuff I'm using currently is 2x2 and smaller, flat bars, and angles. Anything bigger probably requires a forklift.
I can use my forklift when necessary, but most of the time it's easier to just lift a single chunk of steel or aluminum down for cutting. I have my saw just in front of the shelf arm area, so minimal effort to bring it down for cutting.
thank you, it's going well i think. I definitely need more pallets and think that's a good sign.

I have enough steel on hand it's difficult to store. right now it's all underneath and beside the bottom fairlane on the 4 post lift.
I tend to buy a lot when i find good deals to spread the cost out over many projects.
I don't want to put it on the front of pallet racks because that will make me move it all when i want a pallet down. The main reason for a forklift in shop is so i can get pallets off the floor quickly and make them easy to get at.

The little forklift is probably too small to handle 20 and 24 footers anyway. and i would like the big bandsaw to not be in the shop taking up room which was why i thought about the container. Seems like that would be ideal storage for a lot of steel. Long and narrow, with a hard floor to roll a bandsaw around on.
 

Strouty

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The problem with a container is moisture, those things are condensation over achievers. You would need it off the ground completely, vented front and rear, and build a secondary roof over it to keep steel from rusting. If you were in a different climate, it would be a different story.
 
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86turbodsl

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The problem with a container is moisture, those things are condensation over achievers. You would need it off the ground completely, vented front and rear, and build a secondary roof over it to keep steel from rusting. If you were in a different climate, it would be a different story.
i think the roof would not be a problem. I just move the attachment point to the far side of the container and extend the roof. i still think the container is better storage than outside. and with the structure, i could use that to hold everything in place. I have to face facts, i am not going to be able to afford space in a heated area for that steel. it just takes up too much wall space. it basically ruins that entire wall for storage.
 

Strouty

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I know exactly what you mean, one of my shops has an entire wall dedicated to steel storage and it is really annoying, not to mention the fact that it is all random stuff waiting for a project.
 
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86turbodsl

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Yep, we have an entire wall in the shop at work dedicated to steel storage. There's a "bridge" built over it, that's what everybody calls it. They laugh at me since i designed it and made them install it. I spec'd it out at holding engines all the way across it with no sag. They hate it because you have to bring long sticks in from the end. I don't want that at my shop.
 

Lotusnut

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Have you considered suspending your longer lengths of steel and aluminum under the bottom pallet rack level and above your machines etc. Say just 6" at the most to get it off the floor and not blocking pallets if you can afford that amount of headroom loss.
 

Strouty

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I have a super over engineered way for you to make things work, what you do is take the pallet racking and cut out the front upright, welding in steel to make a "C" where the open part is to the shop area. Then support the upright you have to cut from the ceiling, this would give you an area below the top shelf that would be for long steel storage, then make a vertical rack for the under 12' stuff (or whatever ceiling height/length you are comfortable with). This allows you to not block anything in and still get to the steel with relative ease.
 
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86turbodsl

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That might work later on, but with a 9ft max lift on the namco it work work right now. For now I can just leave steel under the car. It's not really In the way, it's just on the concrete.
 
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86turbodsl

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Well technically, that brand pallet rack, Sturdi-bilt, allows right angle beam installs. So i could whack off the end of a beam and
install it anywhere on the upright sticking out. Might not be the best plan though, that brings the center of gravity out away from the wall by quite a bit. If i did do this, i'd probably want to attach uprights to floor or wall. I seriously doubt i do this just to put some sticks up there though. I just have too many to make this an effective storage method.
 

Strouty

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The second thought would be try and sell some of the steel, cut the rest in half and just make vertical storage rack, then let the steel place store your future steel for you, the storage fee will be included in the purchase price. Man, that is really easy to say to someone other than yourself...
 
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86turbodsl

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Nope. Not happening. When i buy steel at less than half price, or surplus or whatever, i can't go to the rapists. Alro is my vendor around here. They charge at least double what the reasonable going rate is. The literal 800lb gorilla for steel in this area. I can drive an hour and a half into Detroit to get some competition, or i used to have a surplus steel place in our town. The guy was super nice, but around 70 yrs old. His kids just couldn't handle the business as he wanted to step down, so he sold everything to a company an hour west. They have great prices but i can't justify driving over there on a whim with a 14mpg dually. So when i buy, it's either a little pc in town from the rapists or drive an hour and stock up. I'm far enough out of town that it's a hassle to drive into town to buy a chunk (if they're even open) when i can just walk over to the pile and grab one and move on the project. Any time i have to go to town it's an hour.
So it's not just a pricing thing, it's also a time thing, which is getting to be scarcer and scarcer as i age out.

On a more positive note, the power steering pump showed up last night. Brand new, obvious chinesium, and hope it works ok.
I am still in cleaning mode, but hopefully by tonight or tomorrow i can get the car into the shop for the swap out.
 

Hellpig

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There's so much oil on the floor it's beyond normal spills. I need something to draw it out of the concrete. Solvents or enzymes are my thoughts.
Many decades ago, we used varnaline.
Pour on floor, scrub in with STIFF bristled broom. Wait a bit, resvrub. Repeat. Oil absorbent down heavy, for few hours, or better, overnight.
 
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86turbodsl

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Just had an interesting experience trying to purchase an engine harness for my daughter's tdi swap. Ran a want ad on a forum. Have a new member contact me by DM, saying a widow of a former member had what i needed. I text the lady, she says she has what i need, it's $350 shipped. I tell her that's too much, give her the amount i paid on the last one. I ask for part number but she has to dig for it. Ok, i get the full number, it doesn't match any documentation i have. I do some research, give her several part numbers that will work. She says she doesn't know very much about all this stuff, which would track, all the while i'm being pressured to send money via paypal, which is ok, but it has to be friends and family. I ask website contact about this, person who's brand new says she's honest and fine for friends/family. In the meantime, she's got a cousin a couple doors down who has one of the numbers i want. I tell her i will check my other harness at home later, she says ok. I get home, do dinner, family, etc. She's pressuring me for the transaction. I go check my other harness in the shop, it doesn't match ANY of the audi documentation, but the ECU bolted to it, which is original, checks out as a tdi harness and the right one. so now i'm confused about the strange numbers and tell her i need to research more, and she starts berating me about not knowing what i want, and that what she has will definitely work on any audi b6. So first you don't know much about these parts from your dead husband and now you do, and you suddenly have a cousin a couple doors over that definitely has one that will work? And all the text comms were "off" like it was a non-english speaker. Not that's a problem, but tooo many red flags. I'm thinking scam.

My spidey sense was tingling on this one. Blocked the number... don't need none of that.
 
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