Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

[bulletpruf]

Aaaaand the hits just keep on coming.... my kid just quit his job. His direct-hire date was tomorrow. He already filled out the paperwork. "I feel like i'm going to pass out, it's so hot in there..." People just don't want to work anymore... UGH.

What was he doing? Desk job? Manual labor?

 

[86turbodsl]

Desk job.. haha funny. He was working in an injection molding factory. It's hot, i grant you, but when you don't have many options...

 

[86turbodsl]

Actually i am impressed by the kid. I went to his room, told him that he's an idiot for quitting one day before permanent hire day, and it's going to be 20 degrees colder tomorrow. Left, went back to my office. He leaves, and doesn't come back. Turns out he went back to the shop, walked up to the supervisor, told her he was an idiot, and asked to go back on the line. She said, get your sh*t together it gets hot here, go back where you were, and announces - The kid is back! Kids these days, they give up too easy.

 

[86turbodsl]

It's getting nutty out there. Gas prices up near $5/gal. Neighbors just got all vehicles siphoned. We checked, nothing taken so far. I think it's probably time for cameras and motion lights. Ugh.

 

[bimmer1980]

Yeah, Life is a roller coaster....

Just an observation, but it sounds as if one of the ways of dealing with your kid is to give him a heads up and expectation to what you want. Then give him time to think about it and process it.

i.e. if you want his help in the shop, spell out your expectation, when you plan to do it, write it on a sticky note and give it to him a day in advance. Even if the the plan is for him to be a gopher or a cleaner while you work, maybe he just needs to understand what you expect. Not that it is my business, but do you have him on a "paying rent" plan if he lives at home? Or the idea of phasing in some type of plan? Even if it is not a specific payment, but rather a 5 hours or 10 hours per week or month of labor to help you. Just spit balling ideas where he would have a reason to help you....

I'm glad he figured out how to go ask for his job back. That probably took a lot to own up to that. Does his employer understand his situation?

I will say that my nephews have no interest in fixing or mechanical stuff. They are all about the electronics. But then, their parents use the electronics as babysitting tools, so no surprise. And the parents are not mechanically inclined. I've had to retool my expectations.....

Gas here in York, PA is $4.75 for 87 and $6.19 for diesel the last I saw....

 

[86turbodsl]

We've tried several different times to get him to help in the shop. He just won't engage his brain or is unwilling to. Drives me so crazy i ask him to leave. He just doesn't get it. He pays rent. Token amount, but at least it's something. I am planning on him paying for his own A/C repairs on the truck. I have the tools, licenses, and know how to fix it. But if he takes me for granted, then i have no use for him. Let him understand, PAINFULLY, why i learned to do what i can do.

I have no idea if the employer gets him or not. The last one did and gave him a year of rope to hang himself. This one has enough trouble keeping people in that environment, i expect as long as he shows up breathing every day he can keep it. For $15/hr probably the best he can expect. He's had this harebrained idea that because he can drive a Windows pc like a pro, he can get a computer job. Sorry bub, everybody can do that now, you need a skill that's marketable. Certs, programming skills, networking, something. Otherwise maybe try for Best buy. A 1.2 GPA in high school doesn't get you very far it turns out.

 

[Strouty]

He needs a challenge, there is something out there that he will find interesting, it just needs to be found.

Can he navigate with a phone app? Maybe have him try delivery? I had a friend that didn't sleep hardly ever, he ended up doing the delivery stuff long before it was an app. Is he aware of his surroundings enough to drive a truck?

 

[86turbodsl]

Barely. We just had a blowout and i kicked him out because he was ranting about his truck not being done yet. Fricking drama queen. Said he was going to go kill himself. (he's not) He says that all the time. I'm done working on his truck. He can go write the $1000 check for his stuff for a pro. My life is too short.

 

[86turbodsl]

When i say i kicked him out, it's "go away, i can't stand this right now, go outside and walk around" He called his mom, said he was walking to the town work is in and will find a place to sleep. 10 minutes later, he's sitting in the kitchen saying he doesn't know why he thinks the way he does. He wants to get some counseling to find out why he feels angry all the time. EVERYBODY i/we have talked to, and we agree, said that he has it very very good and he shouldn't have any complaints. His ONLY chores are take out the garbage and empty the dishwasher. Everything else is fed/clothed, pickup insured, room and board, covered. He pays a token rent to feel like he's contributing. Engineer dad is covering all his repairs/modifications. I am *NOT* cheap by any means, paying my hourly rate. He was bitching about his A/C on his truck not working, he can cover that himself.

Shop content: I got the steering column finished, bolted in shifter, finished carpet install. Shifts nice, looks factory. I'm slowly drowning in tall grass, so i think once it moves, it needs to go outside so i can work on the mower. Once that's done, i can bring it back in for muffler/exhaust.

 

[83VillageRepair]

When i say i kicked him out, it's "go away, i can't stand this right now, go outside and walk around" He called his mom, said he was walking to the town work is in and will find a place to sleep. 10 minutes later, he's sitting in the kitchen saying he doesn't know why he thinks the way he does. He wants to get some counseling to find out why he feels angry all the time. EVERYBODY i/we have talked to, and we agree, said that he has it very very good and he shouldn't have any complaints. His ONLY chores are take out the garbage and empty the dishwasher. Everything else is fed/clothed, pickup insured, room and board, covered. He pays a token rent to feel like he's contributing. Engineer dad is covering all his repairs/modifications. I am *NOT* cheap by any means, paying my hourly rate. He was bitching about his A/C on his truck not working, he can cover that himself.

Shop content: I got the steering column finished, bolted in shifter, finished carpet install. Shifts nice, looks factory. I'm slowly drowning in tall grass, so i think once it moves, it needs to go outside so i can work on the mower. Once that's done, i can bring it back in for muffler/exhaust.

We are in a drought this year so the grass mowing 3 times a week of last year has completely gone away. I have only mowed once this year.

 

[racer-john]

When i say i kicked him out, it's "go away, i can't stand this right now, go outside and walk around" He called his mom, said he was walking to the town work is in and will find a place to sleep. 10 minutes later, he's sitting in the kitchen saying he doesn't know why he thinks the way he does. He wants to get some counseling to find out why he feels angry all the time. EVERYBODY i/we have talked to, and we agree, said that he has it very very good and he shouldn't have any complaints. His ONLY chores are take out the garbage and empty the dishwasher. Everything else is fed/clothed, pickup insured, room and board, covered. He pays a token rent to feel like he's contributing. Engineer dad is covering all his repairs/modifications. I am *NOT* cheap by any means, paying my hourly rate. He was bitching about his A/C on his truck not working, he can cover that himself.

Shop content: I got the steering column finished, bolted in shifter, finished carpet install. Shifts nice, looks factory. I'm slowly drowning in tall grass, so i think once it moves, it needs to go outside so i can work on the mower. Once that's done, i can bring it back in for muffler/exhaust.

Can I be your adopted son, I'm a good mechanic\machinist, fair welder, a bit older and can take criticisms fairly well?

 

[86turbodsl]

Sure, we can trade. The kid thinks he can do better anyway.

 

[86turbodsl]

We are in a drought this year so the grass mowing 3 times a week of last year has completely gone away. I have only mowed once this year.

Must be nice. It rains here often. The grass at the shop is near my head height.

 

[86turbodsl]

LOTS going on lately. I picked up a 3d printer yesterday, it's a ender 3 pro, with a few upgrades. It's not what i had settled on for a printer, but like a lot of these deals, it's a printer that will print parts for the printer i want. And it's already assembled and ready to go. So excited to get started on that journey. And today, i went and got a big pile of sheet metal. I saw an ad on FB marketplace selling cheap (VERY) cheap aluminum diamond plate. Since i have several projects that need completed that can use that, i drove 45mins to see the supplier. Ended up buying more than i intended. BUT, i needed everything to continue ongoing projects. I have enough plate now to finish my new boiler, and the motorcycle lift dealio for the pallet rack mezzanine. That should clear a LOT of floor. Also got stuff to make the adapter for my barrel grabber. So that will clean up the yard a bunch. Also found out the place i went bought out my local surplus steel vendor, so the only place left in town is the *ss raper Alro steel. My supplier of LAST resort. Small world when i mentioned to them that i used to buy steel from where they bought him out. Oh well, the guy was 70 and wanted to retire. His kid was useless and didn't want to run his business. So he sold out.
Now i get to drive 45 mins for cheap steel. Yay. I guess it will be bigger, more spaced out visits. Ugh.
Also picked up a 2nd argon cylinder at an auction. $17. 280cf. Yeah i stole it. Last cert date is ~ 86. The lease company is long gone. Think i'm in the clear on that one.

 

[Pressingonward]

That's rough with your kid. I haven't heard of Sotos Syndrome before, but my wife has autism and it's not easy to deal with. We thought identifying the problem would help, but understanding the source of the meltdowns hasn't really helped avoid them unfortunately. I feel like I would need to be perfect to remember and avoid every little nuance that triggers her...and that's what she's decided the only solution is.

...nephew has autism, he is 12, my parents honestly still haven't figured out/accepted that he is the way he is...<snip>...One tough thing my brother and family deal with is my nephew looks normal, but isn't so the general public can be mean at times expecting him to act normal. If he was in a wheelchair etc he would be given grace and some understanding, people just have a hard time grasping that he's different.

This is so true. My wife's family refuses to accept that she has Autism and get all upset at her rather than trying to work with her needs at all.

I wish I had something more productive to post than my own family issues. Don't mean to derail the thread, just provide a little commiseration. Will keep your family in our prayers.

Glad your son humbled himself and got his job back - shows good character for sure.

 

[86turbodsl]

Thanks Pressing, i appreciate the data point. I can't even imagine being married to an autistic person. You have my respect!

My kid does have some good points, and one of them is perseverance. He's had a very stacked deck in his life and he keeps at it, i have to give him that. No worries about derailing threads, i derail it regularly.

I started swapping ujoints on the truck yesterday, quickly learned the kid got the wrong ujoints from napa. I don't think the napa guy realized they were different between ends. And the new setup is same each end, but different than what he got. Oh well, amazon to the rescue. I'm spending all my time on this stuff. And i haven't even touched the garden yet. Might be a lean year...

 

[86turbodsl]

And in other news - I had another patent granted. You gotta take the good with the bad right?

It poured rain here all day yesterday and today, so didn't make it to the shop. I took the opportunity to clean up the kitchen. Also came home early (lunchtime) due to my back pain flaring up. Spent like 1/2 hour on the inversion table. Amazing how that thing can get the kinks out so easily. The ujoints showed up from amazon, they are even spicer! But sadly, no grease zerts. I think the jury is out how much advantage those are. Oh well, not my problem after it runs and moves. It's all on the kid. Tough love.

 

[jbmatth]

Congrats on the patent, can you share what it was for? I'm starting to go more to non-greaseable u-joints, since they don't have the grease passages in them they are supposed to be stronger, and the life is long enough I've never had to replace one a second time.
JB

 

[Strouty]

It isn't like most people grease things these days, I am even guilty of that.

 

[86turbodsl]

Congrats on the patent, can you share what it was for? I'm starting to go more to non-greaseable u-joints, since they don't have the grease passages in them they are supposed to be stronger, and the life is long enough I've never had to replace one a second time.
JB

Thank you. I'd rather not share on a public forum, that would link me forever to an identity. I'll tell you privately if you want. Good to know on the grease able joints. I hemmed about it for a minute, price was double. I tend to grease things, but i live in the antique world, so it just goes with the territory.

 

[rattle_snake]

I avoid greaseable u-joints for reasons above, spicer only for me.
Congrats on the patent. I've got a few more in process myself.

I have a friend who has a son with autism. He is 18 now. I've invited them on camping trips at the lake for a few years now. My hunting partner was along on one, after a few meltdowns he told the father 'you are the most patient man on the planet'.

 

[zanyad]

And in other news - I had another patent granted.

Congrats!

 

[86turbodsl]

Thank you. I got the driveshaft rebuilt and installed last night, then started back up on the wiring harness. Good tape makes all the difference. I've got tonight and tomorrow then i'll be on the road. Going to get my daughter from her failed away from home experiment. It'll be good to have her home. Missed that kid. I should be able to spend significant time on the truck this weekend, and hopefully get that thing OUT OF MY SHOP!!!! We shall see.

 

[Pressingonward]

Congrats on the patent! I've got a few but nothing recently...hard to innovate when 80% of my time is spent herding cats and powerpoint engineering. Hopefully our new, completely unrealistic development schedule will reduce some of the beurocratic red tape and waffling from the decision makers...I miss when we were a small private company. We got acquired by a fortune 500 back in 2016 and it's been downhill since.

 

[86turbodsl]

Seems like that's the way most companies that are successful go. The bigger they get, the more inefficient they get. I'd like to start a small company myself, but with the state of the world and costs of insurance, probably never able to do so. Oh well.

 

[Johanfpa]

Congratulations on your patent, 86turbodsl, never went through the process but heard it can be testing and longwinded.
Are these patents you get for something you do at your workplace or does the company has the intellectual property for anything you do on their dime?

 

[86turbodsl]

Johan,

These patents are related to my profession. Any patents i generate while employed there belong to my company.
this is standard in my industry. If i come up with something unrelated, i can try to ask for release, but it's never really given
if it's a good idea. So if i come up with something really good and want to make money on it, i need to quit.

 

[Johanfpa]

Ok, thanks for your explanations, would be the same here for everything one does on the company time.
Nevertheless a still a great achievement because of all the energy, effort, dedication and your clearly great skillset, all required to get a patent!

 

[86turbodsl]

Thanks Johanfpa!

 

[Strouty]

Apparently you haven't come up with anything really good yet...




I couldn't resist. You could also save a good idea in hopes that it is still viable after you leave.

 

[86turbodsl]

Haha!

I've had a few ideas for things for when i leave. Unfortunately it's quite expensive to patent something on your own. There's fleets of lawyers that handle it for my company. I really need to get my shingle hung out and get started on stuff. I'm not getting any younger.

 

[Strouty]

It can be done without an army of lawyers, but I get your point. There would need to be a substantial financial reason to do one on your own.

 

[Ralf99]

Patents don’t count for a lot unless you’re prepared to defend them by prosecuting infringements - that’s where the herd of lawyers really comes to the fore.

 

[86turbodsl]

True enough. If you can get a patent done and make a product that is desirable, the infringement starts and you need to defend. Not a lot of fun, but at least you have a leg up legally.
As far as patents, it's just a metric for the yearly goals, and a feather in my CV. Nothing more.

 

[86turbodsl]

Went to put the starter in my boy's truck, found the block plate we bought from Jeff's bronco graveyard has starter pocket holes too small to pass the bolt. Good job guys. Who let that past QC? Idiots. So there i am trying to drill holes with a right angle drill and a step bit. Geez, what a pain.

 

[86turbodsl]

Got it drilled out (carefully) and bolted the starter in. Not only that, but the BRAND NEW aftermarket starter had one of the bolt holes too small to pass the bolt. You'd think if you design a starter for a specific application, you would at least make sure it BOLTS ON. Geez the state of the aftermarket these days is atrocious. Got the wiring harness wrapped and installed, next step is battery cables, and reassemble the rest of the engine accessories. Might be into first start mid week, depending on work schedule. I have visitors in from Germany, so the schedule is a little variable right now, including needing to be onsite all week. Also working on getting a garden planted, and the rototiller carb throttle shaft was so loose in the bore that it essentially did nothing, so a new carb shows up today.

Retrieved my daughter from Wisconsin on Friday and she's busy setting up her room again and it's looking like a pretty busy week and all with 95+ degree temps too!

 

[86turbodsl]

Well some of the pressure on getting this truck done is off, my boy got laid off yesterday, along with all the temps and part timers. Until July 11. I guess production demand is down, it's automotive related, so that is a bit of a warning sign that sales are slowing down, so right on time, get ready for a recession. I'll withhold the usual rant about government this time.

In other news, it really stormed last night, at least three systems moved through. About 3am, my bedroom light snapped on full brightness, and i couldn't turn it off. Our lights are run by a lighting controller, and it had lost it's mind. Probably storm inductive surge. I had to unscrew the bulb for the rest of the night, when i got up to go to work, i went down and rebooted the controller. Glad that thing is robust, the company that made it is out of business and repairs would ******.

Tonight is a bit of a wash, going to pickup a new dresser for the missus, and at work for the next two weeks at least, so no opportunity to really keep projects rolling during lunchtime or breaks.

 

[Strouty]

Don't do what I do, keep at the truck and get it out of the shop, otherwise we will be talking about tripping over it getting ready for snow.

 

[86turbodsl]

Yeah for sure. I have it mostly back together, there are a few little things left, and the exhaust. THAT will be slow, as it's custom cut/fit/weld. But i don't want to ever touch it again, so that's the cost. AFTER that, since it's been emission stripped, it'll probably need a chip and a little bit of tuning to shut things off. I don't think there were ever any 3.08 / MT combos, so there's no ECU out there that would fix it.

 

[86turbodsl]

We got the missus' dresser last night, it fit perfect in the space we have. I didn't get anything else done, it was too late. Today i have dentist at 2 and then back home to finish my day and that will help, and Friday i am going to WFH i think, so that will help also. I'd like to fire the truck by Friday night. If i can at least move it around, i can probably pull it out and clean up the shop some. Then maybe hit it hard again on the weekend.

I also got my credit card stolen again. Some dirtbags in california. Fun... i get to call everybody again and swap credit cards.