Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

[oldironfarmer]

Glad you had an interesting day, and no one was hurt.

The bent wheel, that wasn't cast aluminum by any chance...

 

[1/2 Cup]

Bob you have had enough excitement for a while now an as Andy said no one was hurt.

 

[Grizz1963]

Bob you have had enough excitement for a while now an as Andy said no one was hurt.

Steve,

I don’t think what Andy said had anything to do with the luckless driver, but rather another alloy wheel to turn into something useful or interesting.

 

[dlcwent]

Driving in high heels! No wonder.

Probably applying eye shadow at the time.

The excitement never ends does it?

That was quite a tree you had removed. I'm glad the trees don't get that big here.

 

[Bears Fan]

That girl was lucky she didn't hit that shredder square on

 

[shortykorte]

Did some say stilettos? Something about an accident? I’m thinking I need to investigate! Nobody gets injured on my watch.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[driftpin]

Probably applying eye shadow at the time.

The excitement never ends does it?

That was quite a tree you had removed. I'm glad the trees don't get that big here.

I was stopped at a red light for the cross-street on a major SE Florida arterial road, several cars back. A middle-aged female rear-ended my GMC pick-up hard-enough to do >$1K in damage which isn't that much, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for it!

She told the accident investigator, "hey, I was applying my make-up!" as-if that's a legitimate excuse to hit another vehicle.

 

[jimreed2160]

Bob, those human termites sure earned their payday working on that tree. What a mess!

 

[patlun]

That was a large chunk of wood you had there. Seems like a good decision to let the pros do the work. And then some excitement on the road outside. Great that only dead things was hurt.

And blackberry jam I would save that to eat with some Swedish cheesecake (ostkaka) and whipped cream.

 

[Bob Heine]

Wow your right she rally nailed that chipper. not texting or speeding yeah right lol

Hi JC, a Dodge RAM gave the Cruiser a rear-end love tap a decade ago and he wasn't on his phone either. Obviously the statistics are made up. You can see the stoplight at the next intersection from my house (a quarter mile ahead) so burnouts begin when it turns green.

I'm sitting here enjoying the comments and photos from your Garage Gathering. Looks like it was a great day.

Wow Bob you do know how to throw a party! Glad it didn't end up worse for all involved.

JB

JB, this was over the top for our more recent parties. In the old days Liane answered the door when the police arrived and screamed "Oh goody, it's the Police -- I have all your albums!" Now she just says "Bob, it's for you."

Bob, it all goes on outside your house, I think you need cctv out front, it would make for some interesting videos, I trust the mail box survived.

That's a lot of work removing the tree, it looked like it needed doing,hope you don't lose to much shade.

Mmmm, raspberry jam, the jam of jams, imo.

Steve

Steve, I bought one of those little video cameras that connects to a USB port and thought of aiming it at the street but I would now have six years of video footage with five seconds of excitement. She missed the mailbox and even the orange cone. Everyone who has ever hit our mailbox has been going pretty slow, based on the damage to the thin sheet metal box. Even if you hit it at 90mph, I doubt it would make you go airborne.

Removing that tree has always looked like a big job but we recently paid way too much to have it horribly trimmed. This crew goes to all the major hurricane sites to fund expansion and upgrades to their business. They have taken two weeks to get this one down and they still have work left to do once the power company clears the branches touching the main lines.

I bought some good vanilla ice cream (frozen yogurt?) to go with the jam of jams.

Driving in high heels! No wonder.

Simon, at least she didn't hit the brakes or smear her makeup.

How high of a heel were they?

And Bob, have you not learned anything on here? What did the high heeled person look like? LOL

The important thing is no one was injured. Was the palm tree damaged by the tongue?

So how was the rest of your day?

John, I'm no expert but I'd guess five inches.

She was running around getting her stuff together while they were turning the car over and was gone by the time I got my camera. I only saw her walking away so only the heels, skinny jeans and big blouse caught my eye.

I was relieved when I learned the girl running around was the driver. The palm tree was scuffed but no serious damage. The tongue jack became the pivot point and drilled itself into the sand.

Glad you had an interesting day, and no one was hurt.

The bent wheel, that wasn't cast aluminum by any chance...

Hi Andy, about as exciting as they get for me. Pretty sure she was belted in and the air bags did their job as well.

Ah, the wheel was sadly only a mundane six lug steel wheel. My two-pound sledge straightened it up for the drive to the chipper dealer.

Bob you have had enough excitement for a while now an as Andy said no one was hurt.

Steve, I might say the same for you. I hope your future hospital stays are few and far between. Apparently I didn't make it clear to my invisible friend to watch over you, Sarah and JBMath's nephew. Not her fault, I dropped the ball.

Steve,

I don’t think what Andy said had anything to do with the luckless driver, but rather another alloy wheel to turn into something useful or interesting.

Rian, Andy's first concern, as always, was the human involved. Providing a good home for a crippled aluminum rim was just another example of the depth of his generosity.

Probably applying eye shadow at the time.

The excitement never ends does it?

That was quite a tree you had removed. I'm glad the trees don't get that big here.

Great to see you back Dan! I was thinking the same thing. These exciting moments remind me how fragile our lives really are -- another two inches to the right and that girl's future could have been totally different.

We've been trying to control that monster for twenty two years. It was time to end our, er, its misery. Trees can get large up there but not as fast. This tree was planted in 1968 so it's 50 years old.

That girl was lucky she didn't hit that shredder square on

BF, you are absolutely right!

Did some say stilettos? Something about an accident? I’m thinking I need to investigate! Nobody gets injured on my watch.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

Stewart, you did your job from afar -- only the machines got hurt.

I was stopped at a red light for the cross-street on a major SE Florida arterial road, several cars back. A middle-aged female rear-ended my GMC pick-up hard-enough to do >$1K in damage which isn't that much, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for it!

She told the accident investigator, "hey, I was applying my make-up!" as-if that's a legitimate excuse to hit another vehicle.

Philip, I admit to reading the newspaper paper while driving on the Long Island Expressway. In my defense, we were at a dead stop and the car was in Park. You'd be surprised how many things can be taken care of while using that road.

Bob, those human termites sure earned their payday working on that tree. What a mess!

Jim, you know they did. The owner is from Georgia and they are used to big trees needing a trim but this one was a surprise to him.

That was a large chunk of wood you had there. Seems like a good decision to let the pros do the work. And then some excitement on the road outside. Great that only dead things was hurt.

And blackberry jam I would save that to eat with some Swedish cheesecake (ostkaka) and whipped cream.

Patlun, I agree on the decision to let the pros take care of this monster. As always, my wife got advanced notice on the accident and suggested we move the chipper off the road and park it on our driveway. I get to hear another chorus of "I told you so" and the owner loses use of the chipper while it is in the shop being repaired.

I have to watch what I eat so ostkaka might be too rich. Swedish pancakes, on the other hand, will definitely be on the menu. I still have the pan my grandmother used to teach me to make them. I will be using 2% milk!

 

[Bob Heine]

I tried taking a photo from the same spot as one of the "before" photos.

Before

After

The little palm tree (to the left side of the truck) suffered some broken fronds but the main stalk is intact so it should recover just fine. They still have some cleanup to do but they may wait until the chipper is repaired.

 

[casmurbax]

Good morning Bob!,

What difference. Thanks for the update.

Hope you have a great day.

 

[oldironfarmer]

In the old days Liane answered the door when the police arrived and screamed "Oh goody, it's the Police -- I have all your albums!" Now she just says "Bob, it's for you."

My sides are hurting. Please make him stop.

 

[cbacres]

No photos of the high heeled chipper abuser?

 

[Guster]

That is not so much a tree as a micro ecosystem! Deceptive amount of wood taken out of it. Looks like a lot of extra sunlight coming into the yard now too. Did they have to cut the power to work around the powerlines like they do here?

 

[Bob Heine]

Good morning Bob!,

What difference. Thanks for the update.

Hope you have a great day.

Thank you John.

My sides are hurting. Please make him stop.

Andy, I signed up for Cranky Old Man training. Looks like I'll be spending more time in the front porch rocker with a wooden shotgun in my lap.

No photos of the high heeled chipper abuser?

Craig, I wasn't expecting that and she was really fast.

That is not so much a tree as a micro ecosystem! Deceptive amount of wood taken out of it. Looks like a lot of extra sunlight coming into the yard now too. Did they have to cut the power to work around the powerlines like they do here?

Eugene, for many years a gray fox lived in the tree and later we had a racoon family. Now we have a really pissed-off village of squirrels that I expect to invade my attic. It was definitely an interesting ecosystem but it was in a terrible location.

I spent some time raking litter from the grass in my yard and my neighbor's yard and I have a cherry red neck today. We don't get the needles you get from your ozone-free window in the sky but it was pretty hot.

I was surprised that this crew was able to safely cut the limbs over the small power line that leads to the pole between my house and the neighbor's. As I expected, they couldn't cut the limbs that were right next to the 13KV lines. Those have to be cut by the power company hired crew. In the past they have cut the tree without cutting the power so I'd be surprised if they do it this time. I also expect they won't cut the branch that has grown around the telephone cable. The guys I hired said they would return to cut the last trunk once the power lines were cleared. We'll see.

 

[HOTFR8]

Simon, at least she didn't hit the brakes or smear her makeup.

Did enough damage with out that .

 

[rixtrix1]

Wow, Bob, the excitement never ends in Boca Raton! And that "tree" was just crazy!

 

[qwerth]

very cool

 

[driftpin]

Banyans and ficus trees make "spooky trees," as our 6 y.o. grandson calls them. There are lots of places in Miami-Dade Co where they are prevalent. Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, same street where it crosses the city line is SW 23 St in the City of Miami, has a large median of them. They recently got around to doing some planting to repair the damage to them from Hurricane Irma. The nearby neighborhood of Shenandoah in the City of Miami, which has many, many such trees, was hard-hit by that storm, and whole trees were ripped-out of the ground and toppled, totally-obstructing roads. The University of Miami campus suffered similar damage. Massive banyans, probably close-to 100 years-old, uprooted.

 

[sawduststeve]

Bob, Just a little follow on from our recent conversation,
Four days spent in my neighbours garden, all new stair case and handrails,
all new decking, front and right hand side, and every joist and beam underneath
doubled up and bolted together.

Donkey watch all day long, especially at lunch time.

Loved it all, probably the best job I'll have all year.

Steve

 

[Bob Heine]

Did enough damage with out that .

Simon, you're right about that.

Wow, Bob, the excitement never ends in Boca Raton! And that "tree" was just crazy!

Ric, this little village in Florida has its fair share of excitement. I am a tree hugger but that "thing" was no tree. It tried to poke my eye out and it has robbed me of at least a set of aluminum heads, roller cam and fuel injection system.

very cool

Gwerth, thanks for stopping by.

Banyans and ficus trees make "spooky trees," as our 6 y.o. grandson calls them. There are lots of places in Miami-Dade Co where they are prevalent. Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, same street where it crosses the city line is SW 23 St in the City of Miami, has a large median of them. They recently got around to doing some planting to repair the damage to them from Hurricane Irma. The nearby neighborhood of Shenandoah in the City of Miami, which has many, many such trees, was hard-hit by that storm, and whole trees were ripped-out of the ground and toppled, totally-obstructing roads. The University of Miami campus suffered similar damage. Massive banyans, probably close-to 100 years-old, uprooted.

Philip, we had a lot of banyans in Boca Raton. Then we had that 2005 hurricane season with Wilma finishing off what Katrina left behind. We lost the slash pine in the back yard to Katrina and a bunch of palm trees to Wilma. That was the year we had Greek lettered storms. As the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic at the time, Wilma made a mess of things. Oddly none of the Banyans in the median on 20th street from Dixie Highway to Federal Highway fell over. Sadly, neither did ours.

Bob, Just a little follow on from our recent conversation,
Four days spent in my neighbours garden, all new stair case and handrails,
all new decking, front and right hand side, and every joist and beam underneath
doubled up and bolted together.

Donkey watch all day long, especially at lunch time.

Loved it all, probably the best job I'll have all year.

Steve

Steve, that really looks like a fun project and a beautifully executed one as well. Would you be interested in a paid vacation to Florida for some lumber and siding fun?

 

[Bob Heine]

Much as I would have liked to finish cleaning up the yard or continue work on the shed, Liane told me my highest priority project was rebuilding a bench that would reside in the new "park" she was planning. This bench had been mentioned several times and I hesitated because I didn't have the right wood scraps in my stash. I cut up one pressure-treated 1"x6" I had planned to use for door trim and only had a short scrap of wood left over.

One down and one to go. The larger second bench required cutting up the remaining two 1"x6" boards. The cast iron pieces also need to be painted but that has to wait for a trip to Home Depot.

This would have been more fun if my shed wasn't a total wreck but at least the carport provides a dry place to work.

I was planning for some car maintenance and purchased the parts. It was a back-burner fun thing I was going to do at my leisure. My leisure ended when Aladdin's oil lamp on the dashboard of the PT Cruiser lit up and beeping started coming from the same area. The engine wasn't making any noise so I drove it home and searched the manual -- followed by a Google search. The google search indicated the oil pressure sending unit on the engine was bad. The video showed it wasn't a difficult project but it would be helpful to have a drop light and special socket. The LED light is rechargeable using a USB port so obviously I needed another one of those outlets. I also needed a fourth storage tube for the new Milwaukee ratchet. It was a nice diversion on a rainy day.

 

[don long]

Bob
I'm really good at diversion projects I'm always starting 2 or 3 new projects before I get the main project close to the finish line. But once in a while I get the urge to finish all the projects that are close to being done and then I feel like I had a great day and start several new projects in the following days

Right now I have 5 different tables with a different project on each one and I'm sitting in the house playing on the computer with no desire to go outside

 

[zmotorsports]

Bob
I'm really good at diversion projects I'm always starting 2 or 3 new projects before I get the main project close to the finish line. But once in a while I get the urge to finish all the projects that are close to being done and then I feel like I had a great day and start several new projects in the following days

Right now I have 5 different tables with a different project on each one and I'm sitting in the house playing on the computer with no desire to go outside

Agreed Don, but I call it "project creep" or "scope creep", where one projects starts to creep and grow beyond its original scope or bleeds over into multiple other projects. Unfortunately I too and guilty of it.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob
I'm really good at diversion projects I'm always starting 2 or 3 new projects before I get the main project close to the finish line. But once in a while I get the urge to finish all the projects that are close to being done and then I feel like I had a great day and start several new projects in the following days

Right now I have 5 different tables with a different project on each one and I'm sitting in the house playing on the computer with no desire to go outside

Agreed Don, but I call it "project creep" or "scope creep", where one projects starts to creep and grow beyond its original scope or bleeds over into multiple other projects. Unfortunately I too and guilty of it.

Don and Mike, I feel so much better knowing I'm not alone. Liane would prefer I never start another project -- until she has an idea for one. I, on the other hand, have several thousand projects in my head that will never happen.

 

[Bob Heine]

Yesterday's forecast was for cloudy skies and the occasional shower so it seemed like a perfect day to play with the PT Cruiser. Once I had it jacked up high enough to work underneath (jackstands on notch 4), I checked out my previous work. From the day we bought this car 14 years ago, there was always a little oil under the engine, mostly around the turbo oil cooler. It looks like the replacement unit is doing its job as designed.

The first order of business was to find the oil sending unit and it was right where the guy in the video said it would be, hiding under a heat shield. I doubt I would have found it as quickly just going by the shop manual.

The failure mode on these sensors is leaking. Sure enough, there is oil in the connector. It hasn't leaked enough to leave drops on the driveway (the light came on Monday).

It was a good thing I bought the socket to do this job. It says it's a 1-1/16" socket but the one I have is a 12-point and it was a really sloppy fit on the sensor. The one on the left is designed to remove these sensors. The manufacturer also thought it was a good idea to put "Do not use while engine is running." Hadn't ever thought of putting those beans up my nose.

I managed to break the sensor free with a swivel head long handle 3/8" ratchet but I couldn't get more than two clicks so I tried my new Milwaukee M12 ratchet. With a universal adapter It worked great!

The other thing that worked great was my new LED work light. It's long and thin with a magnetic base so it stuck to the crossmember and was out of the way while shining great light on the work area. I didn't want to spring for the brand name one but this $16 light is already a winner for me. I wasn't sure about the dimmer switch but it really was too bright turned all the way up.

As a final step in the process, I wiped off all the oil from the crossmembers and now I'll be able to detect a leak right away.

 

[Bob Heine]

While the car was up in the air, I decided to change the transmission filter and fluid. Like every other factory original I've ever seen, this one lacks a drain plug. This is going to make a mess.

The pan seems to have a silicone seal so I wondered how easily it would come off. I was surprised how tight the bolts were but when I checked the manual it called for 165 inch-pounds torque so I guess it should be tight.

I loosened all the bolts and the pan didn't move. I removed all but three bolts and tried using a 5-in-1 tool to pop it free. When that didn't work I tried using a flat prybar. That did the trick but to use the pry bar I had to move the drain pan out of my way. I didn't dump the whole transmission's fluid but I managed to make a mess. Looks like a few of the terry towels are going in the garbage (after they sit in the sun for a few days.

I sprung for a new transmission pan with a drain plug. $25 seemed like a fair price to pay to avoid the mess next time. I'm also happy not to have to scrape off all the old silicone and gasket material from the OEM pan.

Following Mike's (zmotorsports) lead, I scraped the bulk of the silicone from the transmission case with a razor blade and scrubbed the residue using a piece of gray Scotchbrite. Here it's about 1/3 finished.

The shop manual called for a simple 1/8" bead of silicone but I opted for a gasket with a thin coat of silicone on both sides. I've driven the car a few miles and there's no sign of a leak anywhere.

Now I have to be careful if I ever have the urge to take the car in for an oil change. I am 100% sure they will have that drain plug out in a Jiffy and the crankcase topped off with an extra five quarts of oil. Either paint it red or buy a tag to mount on one of the bolts (the rear end on my '72 Corvette has a tag warning about the posi fluid requirement.

 

[njhoudini]

Bob, sorry to see that the project creep while fixing your oil sending unit ended up with the mess on your floor. Hope there's enough time in the year when the benches are in a comfortable temperature to use.

When I was in high school, I used to be an EMT and we showed up to a call where a woman driving a tiny sports car managed to flip her car over because her little teacup dog jumped out the window and she stopped paying attention to the road. This was way before cell phones were common. She managed to crawl out without a scratch and was just glad her dog was fine. Hard to believe how easy people flip cars on residential streets, but it must be pretty easy.

 

[sawduststeve]

Bob,great work on the Cruiser, I'm amazed at how clean it is
underneath, where is all the rust, crud and muck thats under mine.

It makes me smile that you have a workshop in pieces but the bench gets done first, I've a list as long as my arm, but i've already been told I'm building raised beds out of the railway sleepers that turned up the other week.

My other list of projects are paying customers, so they are kept under control.

Steve

Ps, Get the kettle on,typed on way to the airport with Mjolnir, Earl Grey and some cash to pay for bed and board.

 

[driftpin]

Are you going to send the oil pan to OK for being melted, and turned into something-else?

You are a wise man to assign priority to Lianne's bench project. You reap goodwill and matrimonial harmony.

Here is a pic from SW 23 St in Miami, east of Douglas Rd (SW 36 Ave) and as you see, it's a huge banyan. I bet it's 15 ft from one side to the other, of the trunk. I bet you're glad this wasn't in your backyard!

 

[cbacres]

Bob, is that bench and park going to be in the footprint of that new shop I keep hearing about ?

I still think you could just ad or front of garage

 

[oldironfarmer]

Wow! Where to begin. You've been busy.

First off, you are blessed that you don't have to worry and stew over your priorities. Life must be really easy.

I had the same thought, now it's going to take a Right of Eminent Domain action to get space for your new shop. Personally I think the park is just a diversionary tactic to limit progress. Better get your legal team in touch with hers. You might consider sleeping with one eye open until things have settled down.

Are you scheduling Sawdust Steve for a winter project? I would consider a work share arrangement. Suppose we can get him a green card? I guess the predominant work visa these days is called an F-2.

Great work on the PT Cruiser! Are you going to retorque the pan after a few heating cycles?

I had my hand out but that looks like a steel pan.

If it gets too hot in the kitchen come on out for a Busman's Holiday and lend me a hand. Maybe we could cast aspersions while forging a friendship. Oh brother.

 

[shortykorte]

Glad you were able to get the sender replaced. Kinda surprised you don’t have that socket already. It was probably my first speciality I owned.
Park? As in a place to park a Vette? Sounds about right to me. lol


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[1/2 Cup]

Bob, busy is right but I will bet hat you enjoyed every minute of it. Great work on the PT like you I do the odd spill as well.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, sorry to see that the project creep while fixing your oil sending unit ended up with the mess on your floor. Hope there's enough time in the year when the benches are in a comfortable temperature to use.

When I was in high school, I used to be an EMT and we showed up to a call where a woman driving a tiny sports car managed to flip her car over because her little teacup dog jumped out the window and she stopped paying attention to the road. This was way before cell phones were common. She managed to crawl out without a scratch and was just glad her dog was fine. Hard to believe how easy people flip cars on residential streets, but it must be pretty easy.

Welcome back Eugene! The mess on the driveway was completely expected. The silicone let loose but as soon as I removed the prybar, the flood stopped. I was able to get the majority in the drain pan. According to the shop manual I drained 4.4 quarts of fluid (some was left in the undisturbed torque converter). When I poured the drain pan into into a 5 quart jug, it filled to overflowing. Must have been a mistake in the manual because after 4 quarts I ran the engine to heat the fluid and it didn't register on the dipstick. It took another quart to fill. I did this once before when I pulled the TurboHydro 400 transmission on the old Corvette. I neglected to put anything in the tailshaft opening and dumped a huge pool of fresh B&M Trick Shift fluid on the garage floor. At least this stuff was the 46K mile OE fluid.

I seem to remember a daredevil show on TV that indicated 40 mph was required to run up a ramp to get a car on two wheels. I am guessing she hit the ramp a little faster than that to go completely airborne and land on the roof.

Bob,great work on the Cruiser, I'm amazed at how clean it is
underneath, where is all the rust, crud and muck thats under mine.

It makes me smile that you have a workshop in pieces but the bench gets done first, I've a list as long as my arm, but i've already been told I'm building raised beds out of the railway sleepers that turned up the other week.

My other list of projects are paying customers, so they are kept under control.

Steve

Ps, Get the kettle on,typed on way to the airport with Mjolnir, Earl Grey and some cash to pay for bed and board.

Steve, the clean undercarriage is one of the benefits of living in Florida. There's a bit of salt in the air on windy days but none on the roads. We also get rain falling in barrels that rinses the dust off the road. The only bad time we get is when a light rain falls after a dry spell. Every intersection has a little oil slick on it and if you're not prepared, stopping can be real exciting.

I really can't complain because I get to work on my stuff most of the time. Every once in a while I get the stink eye and I know there is something important that I'm missing.

I know where the kettle is but may need help using it. Be careful about mentioning paying for bed and board -- Liane is a little cheap and a lot greedy. If you offer cash right away, there's a good chance she'll refuse it.

Are you going to send the oil pan to OK for being melted, and turned into something-else?

You are a wise man to assign priority to Lianne's bench project. You reap goodwill and matrimonial harmony.

Here is a pic from SW 23 St in Miami, east of Douglas Rd (SW 36 Ave) and as you see, it's a huge banyan. I bet it's 15 ft from one side to the other, of the trunk. I bet you're glad this wasn't in your backyard!

Philip, the pan is steel so OK is probably not OK with me dumping it there. We do have a nice man who comes by to pick up even small bits of scrap metal. I need to find his card -- I have some struts that need a decent burial.

If you pay careful attention to the signals, a pleasant life continues. Missing those signals can be very painful and missing too many can have expensive legal consequences.

I'll have to measure the main trunk when we get the mess cleared up.

Bob, is that bench and park going to be in the footprint of that new shop I keep hearing about ?

I still think you could just ad or front of garage

Craig, I may put a few stakes in the ground to see if there's a chance. Liane did mention how the carport would be the perfect place to store the '72 Vette while it is waiting my attention. She even hinted at one of those steel building ads. My worry is the cost. Not the cost of the structure, the cost of the payback. Do the words "Remember that building I let you have...." ring a bell?

Wow! Where to begin. You've been busy.

First off, you are blessed that you don't have to worry and stew over your priorities. Life must be really easy.

I had the same thought, now it's going to take a Right of Eminent Domain action to get space for your new shop. Personally I think the park is just a diversionary tactic to limit progress. Better get your legal team in touch with hers. You might consider sleeping with one eye open until things have settled down.

Are you scheduling Sawdust Steve for a winter project? I would consider a work share arrangement. Suppose we can get him a green card? I guess the predominant work visa these days is called an F-2.

Great work on the PT Cruiser! Are you going to retorque the pan after a few heating cycles?

I had my hand out but that looks like a steel pan.

If it gets too hot in the kitchen come on out for a Busman's Holiday and lend me a hand. Maybe we could cast aspersions while forging a friendship. Oh brother.

Dear brother Andy, you always see the bright side of things. I have many relaxing days when the "What are you planning to do today?" question brings it to a screeching halt and my answer always is "Nothing much". The next words I hear may be trivial, like "Can you glue my shoes back together?" but sometimes it's "The patio, walkways, sidewalk and road need a good pressure cleaning (she believes the road is ours to keep neat and clean).

Before we start legal proceedings, I may sketch up a shop with a porch. Liane likes porches and we have a couple of benches. If that doesn't go over well, I may have to lengthen the bench and make a waterproof cover to keep the rain off me when I sleep.

I think a workshare would be great. Our best chance getting Steve a work permit would be to apply through Norway. I hear those folks are in demand.

It has only been a year or two that I've owned a 1/4-inch torque wrench with inch pound settings. Sounds like a great idea to use it again after a few heat cycles. Wouldn't want that pan popping off while driving down the road. I saw your hand and forgot to let you know it's a steel pan -- it even has a magnet inside (only residue was black that wiped right off so probably just clutch dust).

If Steve and I are careful, we might get kicked out and be forced to make a run for it. Oklahoma seems like a safe distance.

Glad you were able to get the sender replaced. Kinda surprised you don’t have that socket already. It was probably my first speciality I owned.
Park? As in a place to park a Vette? Sounds about right to me. lol


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Stewart, without the Internet, I have no clue which special tools I need. Used to be I would go to Sears or the auto supply store and look around. I do miss those Sears catalogs.

Bob, busy is right but I will bet hat you enjoyed every minute of it. Great work on the PT like you I do the odd spill as well.

Steve your are spot on but I don't want to let Liane know. She loves sending me into the briar patch. If I work on the car without spilling something, bad things are sure to happen.

 

[Grizz1963]

Bob, Just a little follow on from our recent conversation,
Four days spent in my neighbours garden, all new stair case and handrails,
all new decking, front and right hand side, and every joist and beam underneath
doubled up and bolted together.

Donkey watch all day long, especially at lunch time.

Loved it all, probably the best job I'll have all year.

Steve

Donkey Scan.


Not quite a cat scan, but certain they kept an eye on you Steve.


It’s great getting jobs that break the routine.

 

[Finallygotit]

Bob, had I known you were going to replace the trans pan, I would have suggested drilling a small hole in the side of the pan near the bottom to let the fluid drain out. Helps avoid the mess that you know is going to come.

 

[drivesitfar]

Bob: I can't even fathom how fast that gal must have been driving to FLIP HER CAR after hitting the chipper. OMG WTF??

AND she said she wasn't on the phone or texting or putting on lipstick?

glad to hear she's ok, but DAMN. i bet your workers have a good story to tell for years now.

sorry it has delayed your tree chipping/cutting, but i'm sure they'll be back to finish up soon.

enjoy your sunny spring while I try to get organized while it's raining more than not this week here in the PNW.

cheers

 

[Bob Heine]

Donkey Scan.

Not quite a cat scan, but certain they kept an eye on you Steve.

It’s great getting jobs that break the routine.

Rian, those Donkeys were just watching, unlikie Harley, who appears to offer advice. She's an amazing animal and I often wonder if she's really a cat. For certain, Harley doesn't know she's a cat.

It's funny you say that because almost every job I do breaks the routine of writing stuff at a keyboard.

Bob, had I known you were going to replace the trans pan, I would have suggested drilling a small hole in the side of the pan near the bottom to let the fluid drain out. Helps avoid the mess that you know is going to come.

Dan, I'm going to file that away for the future (writing it down -- not relying on questionable brain cells). Probably a good idea to use a sharp, 1/4" bit.

Bob: I can't even fathom how fast that gal must have been driving to FLIP HER CAR after hitting the chipper. OMG WTF??

AND she said she wasn't on the phone or texting or putting on lipstick?

glad to hear she's ok, but DAMN. i bet your workers have a good story to tell for years now.

sorry it has delayed your tree chipping/cutting, but i'm sure they'll be back to finish up soon.

enjoy your sunny spring while I try to get organized while it's raining more than not this week here in the PNW.

cheers

Drives, I don't think she was going much faster than the car in this video because she didn't slide very far on the roof.

I mentioned that my tree is cursed. It tried to poke my eye out and was partially successful. Yesterday the arborist's young partner came to the house to let me know they hadn't forgotten me. The owner/arborist (a young man about the age of my oldest grandchild) has had a cardiac event and is in the hospital headed for surgery. His partner did not know exactly what the event was.

Their truck also broke down but made it to their storage facility. It is still full of chunks of my tree so it has to be fixed and emptied before they can use it on my cleanup. I had already cleaned up my neighbor's yard enough so he could mow and my yard enough so my lawn service can mow. Told the 'kid' not to worry about my place -- take care of his friend and partner.