Above 1200 Sq/FT Cody's 33'x62' Garage

[madison069]

Was able to get the wall cleared off where the new garage door will go in the future. I still need to sort through the rest of my stuff, sell off, organize, and dispose of junk if I come across it.



THe jo of trying to get that one single wire hooked up to the fuel sender unit. It was a challenge to lower the tank just enough while it was half full. My wife tried to handle the jack but it seems like what I thought her while not under the car was lost from her brain when I went under the car. None the less I was able to get the wire connected and get the tank back up in it's place. While I was under the car I also ran the wires in their proper place behind the bumper so it's not just flopping around.




Yesterday the new Vintage Air system came in through Fedex. I am at the the point that I can start assembling everything under the dash. Just need to figure out where the wirings are supposed to be routed and supported when under the dash.


While looking at old photos, I found one where the car was at a shop in Kermit that me and my uncle rented back in high school days. I believe I was working on the rear underside and getting it all ready for paint.



It was a big garage and I was able to work on a lot of stuff there. Buddies would bring their cars there and we would work on them late into the nights. THe tin building had only an extension cord to power the building. But the other cinder block building had a halfass electrical system so we had more light on that half of the property. To think, we rented that place for $100 a month, wouldn't be able to find that kind of deal in today's market.

 

[bj383ss]

Love the old photo! I have some that look just like that.

Bret

 

[madison069]

Ever buy something but didn't use it right away so you store it, but then when the time comes to install it you forgot you had it and so ordered another one? Yea I've been close to doing it a couple of time already this past weekend. Luckily, I started digging around the garage some more and find the parts before hitting submit on the order.

 

[madison069]

Nothing much to report except I’m just picking away on the camaro doors now. Been working on the driver side and learning how this jigsaw puzzle is to go back together. When I started,

After I removed the window tracks, motor, and so on, I cleaned the inside surface before applying some of the sound deaden material.


Then I cleaned the window tracks and proceeded to find new rollers which was a nightmare of their own to find. But in the end the driver side rollers were in good shape and better then what Dorman offered so I just cleaned them up and lubed them up with silicone spray.


I didn’t get pics of the new window motor installed, but those were a fun puzzle to assembled which required me finding washers and nuts in my bins of hardware. The original motors were shot so I am replacing them with newer style motors to get a faster roll up and down speed then what factory ones provide. We will see how that goes.

Then I assembled the new power lock actuators with the rods. I had 4 old actuators but out of the four only one worked and it sounded gritty. So new ones were ordered and installed.



While dealing with the wiring harness I had to remove the wires from the door boot. It requires I remove the plastic plugs from the wires to pass it through the boot. I finally got to use the special tool to get the terminal removed from the plugs.


Then I assembled the window tracks and motor assembly, ran the wiring back in place while I waited for one pigtail to come in, and prepared the glass for installation. The before photos and after photo of the door doesn’t look different huh.



I refurbished the window guides with Velcro felt, which is a common solution for these guides.





Then the new glass went in with minimal problems, and then I got the outer side of window felt installed. While holding the lock rod at the top, I can now shake the door and not hear any rattles! The sound deaden material also made the door sound more solid when it was shut.


More photos in next post.

 

[madison069]

One of the reason I had to remove the wiring harness was due to the boot looked like **** and since it’s visible I wanted to get them cleaned.

This is what I roughly started with, a surface dried, crusty feeling, with paint and grime all over the rubber.


I put it in a bowl of simple green and submerged it for a day. Then removed it and scrubbed it with a green scotch pad and toothbrush. I say it came out looking 100% better! Also saved some money by being able to restore it.


Thats it for the weekend update. I got a lot more to do before the driver side is done but by getting the driver side done first, I’m reducing the headache and hunting for parts when it comes to the passenger side so it should go faster!

 

[madison069]

Got the wiring boot installed between the door and frame. Talk about a pain, but a little silicone spray make it slip in place easier.


Then I installed the right pigtail for the window motor and was able to roll the window up for the first time in 20 years. Glass still needs some adjustment but I had to take a few minutes to marvel at how it looked with door glass in the up position.

 

[madison069]

Damn it man, right over the old cut from working in the door. This time I smacked the door edge while pulling a old harness clip and when it finally pulled out I hit the edge of the opening of the door for the gut. I was bleeding like a stuck pig, blood over the floor and car. I had to get some paper towels and electrical tape to put pressure on it and eventually it stopped bleeding. Cleaned the wound and applied anti-bacteria meds on it. Hand moves freely and no nerve issues. I’ll keep it clean and keep an eye on it for now.

 

[madison069]

So on other updates, I was able to get the passenger side door partly together. Main goal was to get the glass out of the way in the garage along with getting the part shelves cleared up some.

So here is the new window motor installed for the passenger side. The old ones were locked up, to the point that my test leads started glowing red from what ever short that’s going on in the motors. I might disassemble them later just to see if I can find the root cause of the failure.



Got the handle and lock installed on the passenger side also.



Check out that glass in the up position! Haven’t seen that sight in a long time!


While figuring out the wirings, I’ve found that when the blue wire is on the positive side of the battery, the window would go up. Then when the brown wire was on the positive, the window would go down. So to remember that, I would tell myself blue is up to the sky while brown is flush it down. Weird? Yea it is. But I later thought why not down to the brown dirt but that just adds more words to the halfway acrostic…..


Either way, it works for me.


So anyway, I started figuring out the top half of the door and determine I need to get all of these trims and gasket rails cleaned and painted. Gonna paint them all gloss black to go with the pattern for the car.



Also, looking at the trim around the window, I decided to install the roof trim cause I think it completes the trim that has to go on the door anyway. What do y’all think?

With the trim?


Without the trim?



Keep in mind I’ll be painting it all gloss black cause the trims are not perfect but spending $800 on new trim just don’t sit well for me. I’m also debating on painting the door handle and lock black too. But then thought that a little bit of chrome would be fine. End goal is the car is to be mostly black and red on the outside with a black and tan interior combo. The rims will be black or gunmetal color, still deciding on that one also.

Either way, that’s the update for the past week for the car. Now to go back to the garage and keep sanding the trims.

 

[gearhead1960]

My vote is to keep the chrome trim all the way around.

 

[madison069]

My vote is to keep the chrome trim all the way around.

That seems to be the general consensus, so the trim is gonna go back on the car. Now if i could just finish repairing them, sanding them, and get to painting them I would get the top half of the door done. But Tax time is requesting my afternoon along with a painting project with the youngest one.

 

[Robey5]

I “like” the idea of making all of that trim black - however, if you’re going for period correct, stock is chrome (even though I have never been a lover of the abundance of chrome some OEMs chose to use over the years). In the end here, the $800 gift tax for new chrome trim would make me PC it black (along with the other chrome stuff).

Just my $0.02, but I love the attention to detail you have in this project.

 

[madison069]

I “like” the idea of making all of that trim black - however, if you’re going for period correct, stock is chrome (even though I have never been a lover of the abundance of chrome some OEMs chose to use over the years). In the end here, the $800 gift tax for new chrome trim would make me PC it black (along with the other chrome stuff).

Just my $0.02, but I love the attention to detail you have in this project.

Oh, originality went out the door a long time ago, lol

If I was to repaint this car to its original paint job, it would have been the 1979 RS Camaro paint style with black on top and silver on bottom. Perfect example below.


As much as I did like the original, I just dislike certain details of how it ended at the back of the door glass. But none the less I'm more happy with the classic red with black stripes in the center look even though it was never an option for this car. I also agree with how OEM used the chrome on these cars. If this was an all metal car with a huge metal chrome front end, I would have restored the chrome to it's original glory.

 

[madison069]

So it’s been awhile. Let’s take a journey down the photo album of the phone shale we?


Oh look, I took the ol blue chainsaw out of the bucket that I was holding all of the parts in since I took it apart back in 2021. This chainsaw was the one my dad bought used when I was a young teenager. We cut a lot of firewood with this chainsaw and cut trees down for our customers as we did yard work on the side when he was home.


We will come back to it later as it was a project I kept putting off so let’s give it the same treatments on the thread shale we?


Oh yes, the leaking water solenoids on the washer. It was a rather tight place to work on it but I was able to put a $15 valve setup on the washer and it was back in business. Easy job I’ll shale say!


Decided to teach the youngest on some basic gun safety and shooting a bb pistol. Here we are watching her load some bb’s in the pistol.


Then I got the trims from around the camaro windows painted after straightening them as best as I could before a little filler and high build primer went on it.



Birthday gifts included Lego sets and needless to say it was a hit! She put the last one together by herself with minor issues. We’re currently putting a knockoff brand together but more on that later.



Oh geez, hit my photo limit, let me start a new page.

 

[madison069]

Oh the boat!!

Remember it still had a leak that I couldn’t exactly find. Well I decided to make sure these holes from the transducer mounting wouldn’t be the culprit.


Some good ol 3M 5200 adhesive/sealant and a piece of HDPE plate with copus amount of sealant on the plate after being roughed up with a wire wheel and we sealed that whole area off.



I also named the boat.





While that cured, me and the youngest started on some Lego kits we go from Temu. They were cheaper for a reason. Still a nice set but damn those pieces are small! Currently working on a titanic kit but this is the coffee shop she recently finished.



Went to see the Oak Ridge Boys, anyone else like their music? Better go see them soon cause they are in their 70’s and 80’s.


After the sealant dried, I painted it with some gray I had and let it cure before I put the transducer on it.

 

[madison069]

So why was the chainsaw apart?

Well as long as I could remember, this saw wouldn't idle to save its life. Once it was cranked it would run like a champ! Just don’t let off the throttle too long. Old man who repaired small engines in Kermit said the crankcase was leaking and wasn’t worth repairing it.

Well I decided sentimental reasons and with the internet, it was worth fixing right. So after tearing it apart, ordering parts, and break the saw down 2 times to fix things after the fact. I was able to get it back together.

The main culprit was this gasket between the crankcase sections. Wasn’t much left of it.





Back together with new crankcase gasket, new crankshaft seals, rebuilt carb, bigger piston and cylinder(original was 1 3/4” and now it’s 1 13/16”), new pull rope, new chain drive flywheel, and new fuel line plus filter. Old bar was worn out but good enough to test it before I buy a new bar and chain. Now it starts easily and will idle for hours. I’ll be cutting some firewood with it soon.

Oh and here it is with a new bar and chain.


So now that it’s done, let’s work on the camaro trim. Needed some rubber gasket for these window channels that hold the window glass seal. I used some toolbox liner material I already had. Just had to cut strips off the bulk stuff.


Alittle gorilla snot and the seal held in place while I installed it.




Now all installed. Need to adjust the door glass still and glue the glass seal in place.

 

[madison069]

So, did some cleaning and decided I needed to dispose of the 11 years old tires from the f250 I was holding on. I got rid of the tire, but kept the rims so I need to find a place to store them now.

The welder fits under the bench now, just sticks out a foot but better then being out in the open.

The other tires are spares for the trailers and 2 of them are boat tires I’m trying to sell since they are still good tires, just not for long distance is all.

Finally painted the camaro dash. Cleaned and scuff the pad, repaired the small cracks and sprayed it with plastic adhesive promotor.






I’ll give it a clear coat when a couple of days have passed.

Oh and as I said, we are working on a titanic kit, small pieces!!

 

[madison069]

Tonight’s progress on the titanic.

She picks all of the pieces needed for the step and then we both install the pieces.


The box for reference.

 

[madison069]

Yesterday and today I worked on the steering column. Due to the grey section, I wanted to go ahead and disassemble it to paint the individual sections better. Also I plan to replace the turn signal harness, ignition cylinder and ignition switch. Overall, the steering column is tight and no concerns with the unit. So I figured I won’t tear it down completely and just remove a few of the tilt column bolts that are prone to backing out and put a couple drops of red loctite on them since I have easy access. So here it is in its glory, just looking rough and dirty.



There is one issue and that’s the collar over the turn signal cam and ignition cylinder has a damage area where the tilt handle resides.


So I put some masking tape on the inside after I roughed up the damaged area some. Mixed some JB Weld to recreate the missing piece.


After the JB cured over night, I sanded the JB down and used a little filler to fill in the low spots.


Then shot some high build primer on it.


Sanded the primer down and then cleaned everything to be painted with the SEM black paint I have so it’s not glossy and will match the sheen of the dash.





I’ll let the paint cure a few days while a couple of more small parts come in for the steering column.

 

[jblnut]

You've got more patience than I do !! Everything you post about that beauty of a car is well done !!

That black paint looks amazing. I gotta remember that when I tackle the dash and all it's various pieces in my truck. It's the perfect color. Any idea how it'll hold up in sunlight on a dash ?

 

[madison069]

You've got more patience than I do !! Everything you post about that beauty of a car is well done !!

That black paint looks amazing. I gotta remember that when I tackle the dash and all it's various pieces in my truck. It's the perfect color. Any idea how it'll hold up in sunlight on a dash ?

Thanks for the kind words!

I don’t have any first hand experience with the SEM paint, but it’s got a very good reputation for holding up well. As long as the prep work is done and plastic adhesive promoter is used it’s suppose to handle the environment. I am also spray a low luster clear coat on it for extra protection.

Today I was mocking up ac delete plates and determined the fancy one I ordered is the wrong one. So, I’ll be using the one that came with the vintage air kit it looks like. Down the road if I ever pull the engine out, I’ll be cleaning up the firewall to eliminate all of the small holes on the firewall. But for now I just want to get it presentable and keep making progress.

 

[madison069]

Saturday I started installing the Vintage Air system in the Camaro. I had to remove the passenger side inner fender to gain access to the firewall. The firewall is still dirty from bodywork and of course has several holes that needs to be filled now that I have gotten all of the block off plate installed. I would still like to place a cover over all of this side of the firewall to clean it up until the day I can weld a complete firewall plate on it. But I am just going to **** it up and let it be for now as I want to keep moving on the progress.

The firewall in all of it's glory.



Firewall with all of the block off plate installed. I had to stop here cause I needed to buy heater hose since the kit didn't include any hose.








I'm also working up to cutting my new kick panels as there is a plate that needs to be installed in the fresh air vent port here. I don't feel all warm and fuzzy after paying $100 a piece for these kick panels and now having to cut them.





I pulled some more trims off the shelf to clean and determine what kind of repairs I need to do to them. The long skinny trims looked good, but those sail panels are rough. I'm gonna see how it turns out after sanding and spraying them with texture paint but I might just order new ones.



Long trims are painted with the same black as the dash pad.




I also installed the ignition cylinder that I removed after I had cleaned up the chrome. It does look really good, but I need a new key for it as the old one is worn out. I will stop at an locksmith and see what he can do for me on the key front.



Sunday I went over to the in-laws and cut up some fallen logs. Took the Homelite and it did really good, I ran 2 tank of fuel through it and was able to cut up a good bit of wood. I'll do a little adjusting on the tune but overall I think it's good as it is.



So that's pretty much it for the weekend minus cleaning and spending time with the family.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Looks like a busy weekend!

 

[madison069]

Just a few things since Monday.

I made the cut on my new kick panel with a dremel and a grinding disc. Maybe I melted the plastic more then cutting but it still did the job. Test fitted the plate and it looks good. I think I’ll paint this panel with the SEM paint to keep the sheen of black the same through out.



Notice the AC was not working in the Subaru, so I threw the gauges on and saw it had Opsi. Thought that was odd so I put some Freon in and got it up to pressure as required. Temp in the center vent seems to be reading right and pressure looks good at 1500rpm.


In-law lost power all day and so I pull the generator out and took it over there for them to keep the fridge cold. It was working like a charm when I left, we will see how it goes for it’s first run.


Then came home and fired up the boat. Planning to go fishing Saturday morning so wanted to be sure everything was working fine on the boat.


If the Subaru looses the Freon again, which I expect to happen, I’ll start digging in it more. But initial scanning with the eyes didn’t reveal any oily spots like a fast leak would of shown. None the less, it got me to thinking what’s the best way to find a leak without dye? Maybe I should look for a sniffer?

 

[bj383ss]

They have freon that has dye in it. And if you don't have one they sell cheap Blacklight flashlights on Amazon you can use to find the leak.

I really need to buy myself a generator. The power goes out way too much these days.

Bret

 

[madison069]

They have freon that has dye in it. And if you don't have one they sell cheap Blacklight flashlights on Amazon you can use to find the leak.

I really need to buy myself a generator. The power goes out way too much these days.

Bret

Is there any issues with the dye when it comes to reclaim process? I know some shops refuse to touch systems that had stop leak put in the ac. Just wondering if the dye is the same way.

Either way, I did order a Freon sniffer last night, figured as many cars I got with AC I’m sure I could use it.

 

[bj383ss]

I'm not totally sure but most modern cars already have the dye in them. I know the Camaro does and I never put it in there. And it has never had any AC work done to it til I did last year.

Bret

 

[madison069]

Sounds like I need to bust out the black light and see if Subaru put dye in their Freon!

 

[madison069]

As predicted, the Freon leaked out within 6 days. Of course the Freon detector came in the mail right when the a. System was empty again. So added some Freon to do a leak test and of course it had to be the evaporator base on the leak detector finding. Only other place I found the detector to go off was at the ac valves and the can of Freon that was spent but must of had residue left.

 

[Bob Heine]

Cody, I would take some kind of tranquilizer before starting the evaporator replacement job. If a Subaru is built like most modern vehicles, the evaporator is the first item installed in the naked shell. Our PT Cruiser evaporator was a good example. Factory Shop Manual instructions were very complicated but could have been simplified to"

1. Sit in car and remove everything between you and the windshield.
2. Replace evaporator.
3. Put everything back.

1. 2. 3.

 

[madison069]

Well, initial reading of service manual shows just the glovebox assembly comes out. Then the blower assembly is removed, which provides access to a cover over the evaporator. Once the cover is removed and the adjoining pipe/tubing removed then the evaporator can be pulled out.

This could change once I dive into the job this weekend, but it doesn’t seem as extreme as my 2012 F250 is which I just sourced out due to time issue.

I got all of the parts and some pag oil ordered to come in tomorrow. I’ll pick up some Freon at advance auto since they had cans at $12.

Since I have an upcoming trip to the south, I’d like to get this fixed for the trip so hopefully after I complete the job it’s back together and working!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Walmart generally has cans of 134a on the cheap as well.

 

[madison069]

Walmart generally has cans of 134a on the cheap as well.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve had issues with the super tech cans of 134a not discharging properly and so I have to open and close the valve on the can to get it to release the freon. It was very weird how it acted, but other brands had no issues.

 

[madison069]

I learned something today and figured I’d pass it on. Apparently the new R-134a cans are self sealing. Therefore your normal can piercing valve will not able to dispense the Freon from the can. Hence why I found out I was having trouble with the super tech cans of R-134a, no where did it say it was self sealing so when I unscrewed the piercing piece it would discharge some but not freely. Then when I unscrewed it completely it just sealed shut. That’s what the little red thing in the middle of the ****** is, the self sealing port.



While at the part store I was looking at a can of r-134a and it said self sealing. Talking to the manager he said “oh yea they close up when you remove the valve.” When I told him my dilemma he said “yea you need an adaptor now.”

So this is the adaptor to use for self sealing cans.



Here I was using up old sealed cans of Freon I found at estate sales and I was left behind in the new cans design.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Not all heros wear capes! Thanks for passing this along

 

[madison069]

Further digging in the history of r-134a small cans, it appears to be a EPA mandatory beginning January 2018. So any old non sealing cans are manufactured before January 2018.

Of course there’s the new R-1234yf refrigerant that’s supposed to replace r-134a, luckily the Subaru was one of the last years with R-134a as Subaru made the switch in 2019 to 1234yf. I’ll have to do some research on this new refrigerant and if I need new tools for it and what’s the procedure/spec for this new refrigerant.

 

[bj383ss]

Well damn I could have helped with that. I went through that last year with the Camaro. I wasn't paying attention to your post. I was using dad's old trusty valve for piercing cans and having the same issue.

Bret

 

[madison069]

Well damn I could have helped with that. I went through that last year with the Camaro. I wasn't paying attention to your post. I was using dad's old trusty valve for piercing cans and having the same issue.

Bret

No worries! Sometimes lesson learned the hard way are best kept lessons!


On a side note, I’m now wondering if the leak detector gave me a false reading. Cause now I have access to the evaporator after an hour of disassembling and the detector doesn’t detect any 134 at the evaporator. But the valves is giving off positive reading for 134.

Looking at the pictures of the evaporator still in the casing doesn’t reveal a oily stain or anything. But if I touch the foam with the detector it will go off. Is it dirty, yea but that’s west Texas Clechie dirt for ya. I don’t know.

 

[madison069]

I figured I’d pull a vacuum and within 20 mins the vacuum was dropping, so I knew there was a leak still. I went ahead and replaced the evaporator since I was there. Maybe it did have a leak at this corner? Other side looked clean compare to this side.



Once I finished changing o-rings and added alittle pag oil, I pulled a vacuum to 29Hg for 30 mins and shut the valves. It held for an hour before I decided to call it good.

Put the recommended 15.5oz of refrigerant and took it for a drive after reinstalling all the parts and trim. It’s blowing cold for now.

Getting to the evaporator wasn’t hard and was a 40mins job. Putting it back together proved to be a pain in the *** getting the top cover of the evaporator case back in place.

 

[madison069]

So let's do a little catch up shale we!

So after getting the AC back together, it was time to pack up the car for the trip to Alabama.



We left early and was able to make it to Alabama by 6pm that night, so a nice 13 hrs drive.




Day after arriving we had the picnic with cousin and aunt, and uncle. It was good to talk to them and hear some of the stories of my parents. Then the next day I got the rental boat and went out to the river to take my parents to their final resting place. It was a nice day for it.



Afterward me and my youngest went sight seeing and we went to the Children Harbor on Wind Creek Lake, this was a project that my grandpa was involved in as he help build this light tower.



Then on the way back home I made a small detour to take my youngest to see the Titanic museum as she's a huge fan of the history of the Titanic. This was a nice break in the middle of the 13 hrs drive back home.



And so after 5 days away from home, we made it back to PA late that night and I'm happy to report that the AC was working like a charm and it's still working as I type this today.

That gets us caught up to around the end of April.

 

[madison069]

So, starting with the beginning of May, me and the youngest got the titanic lego knockoff set built. Needless to say it tested my patience. But it did come out nicely!



Then it became lawnmower servicing time.


I did paint the kick panels for the camaro and got them installed.






Then i installed the AC and Heater dash assembly in it's place, this was a minor pain to deal with since the hoses didn't slide very easily in those grommets.