One man's garage project from Finland..

[JoniH]

Been struggling to keep away from the couch, not an easy task with this ****** weather.. Feels like i'm tired constantly. That's what you get for skipping gym and running. Like for the past whole year.. Who's fault is that? That's right..

So, been relaxing at the garage, started yesterday on fixing the rotten door. Today i fabbed the missing pieces for the outside skin, inner side will need two or three small patces and then it's finished. After that, sanding and the cab should be ready for epoxy primer.

 

[Grizz1963]

Couches....

Enemy of many projects.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: I've actually had the same feelings about being lazy just cause it's crummy weather. I'm thinking it's cause i've been eating sugar loaded breakfasts with plenty of syrup and homemade jam on my pancakes, but maybe it's cause i hate cold, wet weather and the fact it gets dark at 4 and now 5:00. with all the sweet stuff made in Finland i bet you have a sweet tooth like I do so maybe that's part of your couch time just recovering from all the goodies?

are you in a part of Finland where it's dark 24/7 cause that might keep me inside?

WOW your little girl is 6 already?? how time flies, but as i'm typing my little girl is 29.

looks like the truck is coming along nicely and while you've been sitting around on the couch doing your research on that cool build you are planning is not time wasted so best of luck with that.

your place has also come a long way in the past few years so you do deserve a little rest while you get back in gear.

cheers

 

[JoniH]

drives Been trying to avoid those sweets, but it's hard sometimes Last week i started to do some walking, around 8km on that route. Today was the fourth time, soon i can change over to running.. Damn i miss that, something to looking forward to.

Also went to the gym for the first time this year. Slowly getting back to the routine, already feeling a bit more lively

Well, the days are getting longer, almost 9h daylight and it's growing every day. We did get some snow yesterday, so that brings even more light. But today it changed over for rain again, i think our winter is broken here..

A bit of garage time today, lubrication for the handbrake lever since it started to getting a bit stuck sometimes. And some paddle shifter extensions.. Yeah, i know, they don't add any power for the Polo, but i like the looks on those.

Also founf some more rust on the Datsun door, not a big surprise there. Time to grab the grinder out, again..

Got the outside done, it's not pretty and will need bondo, but atleast it's not rusty anymore. For how long, that is a different story..

 

[Matias]

Good work on starting the walking and working out. I also feel it's a little bit easier now as we get more light.

The polo looks good! And the Datsun is again one step closer to being finished. Just keep at it!

 

[drivesitfar]

JONI: best of luck finishing up your old pick up and i bet it will be better than a new one when you are finished.

staying fit (healthy) is as much MENTAL as it is physical so do the best you can. if you'd like to join our GJ Get Healthy thread just to check in and maybe mention what are your challenges or how you beat the depression or dark days when your part of the world seems to not have much daylight please do.

we've got one member that is very active and consistent about getting to his gym at 4-5am every day, but even he says he can improve his eating.

how are you liking your home as you keep making improvements?

stay warm!!

 

[JoniH]

Thanks, drives got the passengers door finished finally. Had to do some filling welds to match the gap better with the fenderline, not perfect but it will do.

Took the mini down from the stands so i'll be able to push it out and start sanding the rest of the body for epoxy. And change the leafsprings for 4wd ones. That should give a bit more drop on the frame. Bought new harder bolts and tar-spray to complete the job with new poly-bushings.

The engine bay might get a small fix on the inner fender, just cleaning up some cuts i made for routing the cooler piping. Since then the engine option has been changed, so it's not going to be used anyway.

Just have to decide a good colour to hide all the imperfections..

I wouldn't call it depression, it's not that bad, just pisses me off sometimes. But it's the weather, there's not that much you can do about it, other than complain.

I have many plans and projects regarding the house and yard, but i'm happy on how it looks even now.

Can't get it all done at the same time, slow progress. Most important & next project at the house will be starting on a loft bed build for the daughter. The lack of a towing hook is slowing it down a bit, but luckily the better half has one on her car..

 

[drivesitfar]

I know a lift isn't cheap, but have you considered buying one with all the work you do? since you are in Finland i'm not sure what your choices are, but several members here with smallish garages like the MAX JAX cause they can either use it like a mobile type jack or make it more permanent.

I do like your wood sections that you made to get your little truck off the ground, but wondering if there were any close calls with it going off the sides of them cause it seems to me it would be hard to steer and use the chain with your set up.

good to hear you have projects cause the plan is for all of us to die with a TO DO LIST cause it's good to have dreams and things to do.

cheers and hope you are getting some sun.

 

[JoniH]

Hi drives

The truck is quite lightweight to move around, i had the chainhoist only so long on that i got the rear off the ramps. Some 2x4 behind the front wheel coming down and job done. There's actually a hole in the floor for a cissor-lift, so i can get it flush mounted, but for now those ramps will do. You can buy new lifts from 1500€ here, a two post takes too much space, so i made a option for the cissor.

But like usually, things don't always go as planned. Blew the cash for that in a calculating error with the floor concrete amount, or more like the fellow who counted it. Bu, the lift is on the bucket list too.

Some woodworking for a change. The movieroom has a nearly empty wall behind the sofa, it could use some shelving, etc.

Flicking through ideas i found these honeycomb-style shelves. Had some leftover wood lying around, so.. They are two separate units to ease the mounting, made some spacing between them with bits of hard plastic sheet. Yet again, those were left from the snowmobile project for the daughter. Looks like it's worth saving (nearly) everything..

Got those painted today, might require one more layer of paint.

And, while searching ideas for those shelves, found tutorials on making roses from sheet metal. Another small project there for the better half coming up.

 

[Jyzze]

Good thought to use leftover wood. Nice jod!

 

[JoniH]

Thanks Jyzze

Second coat painted, it seems to dry fast so i might get to hang it up tomorrow.

While waiting for that, thought to give a try on the sheet metal rose. Turned out pretty decent for a first try

1.5mm sheetmetal and, again, some leftover rods from a Datsun head liner. Some hammer, pliers and heat got me this. Fun stuff, nearly forgot to take pics while working, def going to make more of these.

 

[drivesitfar]

JONI: i'm sure you'll have a nice lift in your garage if you want one some day. one way to save is just throw your change or a few dollars in a jar or do a side job for a client or friend that will pay for it.

AWESOME LOOKING METAL FLOWER and hard to believe that was your first try at making one.

have a great weekend.

 

[JoniH]

So, what´s up GJ? It´s been awhile since the last post.. Looks like the site got an update since my last visit. I'm on my vacation now so i'll try to post some done projects in a few days.

 

[JoniH]

Ok, so it's been how long... over two and a half years now.. Like i remember even half of the stuff i did last week. But, let's give it a try. Since my last post with the sheetmetal rose, i have:

Built a treehouse. It was used maybe for two months..


Trying on building some tables, shelvings etc.





A bed for my daughter.




...and some more, too much photos.

For cars, i had a Civic Tourer, a GT Polo TSi, V60 D5.. miss the Volvo, 260hp/550nm.

For the past 9 months i've had a -11 2.2 D CR V. Not anything like the V60, but last winter we had so much snow that it wouldn't had a chance getting out from the yard..

Quite happy with the Honda, i updated the sounds, some minor changes on the outside..

This might be enough for one day, i'll try to continue on the update tomorrow.

 

[Bempa]

The bed for your daughter turned out really great

 

[JoniH]

Thanks, she has been very proud of it, glad she liked it. Maybe a bit overbuilt, but safety first here..


What else?.. Some minor updates in the garage, added space since i bought a 20ft container for storage use. Got all the engines and other parts out from the garage. Was way cheaper this way, maybe next summer i'll build some shelter for wood on the right side of it and add a roof over them.




Plenty of room left.


This was a fun project, a bit challenging thou. A friend requested a wooden horse for her daughters, came out better than i expected.


Updated the sounds on the CR V, sound dampened the doors, trunk.. Lost about two inches of room in the trunk, not bad. Two amps, one for the front, other one bridged for the 12".




I'll try to post more recent done projects next..

Also got back to photography last year. My daughter started playing football and the team was searching someone to take pictures for them. Since there was not that much interest from others, i volunteered for it. And if it keeps me out from baking anything for the games, i think it's a win win for everyone..

That was a good excuse finally to buy a new camera because i'm not doing that with a phone.. last weekend we had a two day tournament, shot about 1800 pics and got maybe 350 decent ones to edit. But it's been nice getting back to taking pics, i might not be that good but sure keeps me busy some days.

This post ended up being a bit out of the garage..

 

[JoniH]

..continues.


Stealthy and still good for carrying stuff when needed.

On to more recent things, the hall table i mentioned at Show your welding projects.

Made out of spruce, carved out the middle section for more convenient handling. Side measures in cm @ 25 x 25, that's heavy to handle.

Draw the lines where to cut, did the first ones with a sircular saw and moved on to the chainsaw. Don't know what went wrong, but it sat square and level on the first try. Added some adjustable legs, just in case. Turnes out better than i expected. A coat of Osmo woodwax in ash-colour and done.







Like all other tables and level surfaces, they start gathering things on them. This morning while having my coffee i flicked trough that damn Pinterest. That lead to this, a lamp for the corner.



A bit of old chain, some sprockets etc. Started with cleaning the grease off, sanded most of the rust from the surfaces out. Painted it with a coat of flat laquer, didn't bother to make it too new looking.

 

[Matias]

Nice work! The bed is great, and I do like how the lamp turned out. Might have to steal the idea... Is the bulb a battery operated led lamp?

BTW, also nice work on those audio installs. I know you can't see it and it takes effort, but the sound deadening does make a difference.

 

[JoniH]

Thanks! Had that lamp idea popping up occasionally, stumbled up on those parts just perfectly. Wired with a normal power cord & E27 lamp base.

That was my firs full-active setup, just 2-way speakers up front and the 12"sub, but a fair bit of wiring since i wanted everything installed in the back.

A bit of work still left, the headunit suffers from poweloss sometimes, yesterday was the fourt time.. not that often, but since it wipes out settings partially, i haven't bothered to mess around with the dsp still.

The Alpine reseller was very nice with the troubleshooting when i called them. He suggested that i would check the aftermarket steering-controll-adapter, i'll just have to pull the unit out.. not on the top of my list just now.

 

[JoniH]

Whoops.. seems that some time has gone since my last post..

Thought i'd give a update; long story short. Listed the house for sale last august and two days ago finally sold it.

So for now, no posts anymore from the garage, atleast from the one in this topic. Time to start emptying everything.

I'll still be lurking here from time to time.

 

[Bob Heine]

@JoniH, good to see you post again. House move is a big deal so take care, don't stress too much and drop by to let us know what your new living arrangement is like.

 

[JoniH]

@Bob Heine thanks, i'll post something when things are starting to settle.. It's not the house i'm stressed to empty, but the garage.. But i'm satisfied with the situation, cuts half off my work commute and costs overall.

Big changes, but a waited and wanted new start. Not to mention, i'll need to buy a different bike, been looking on a BMW S1000R..