One man's garage project from Finland..

[JoniH]

Hi Drivesitfar, the pneumatic version works fine, just don't put any weight on the table.. I've found a full hyrdaulic set with motor, lines and ram, might place an order for it in a few days.

Good point on that pipe lenght, i think i'll cut it a bit shorter.

It's been very dry for last 2 weeks, today we finally got some rain, should do good for the grassgrowth.



Electrician was at work this morning, now the lights are working.



Edit:Resized pic..

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: your house, garage and yard are looking great. keep up the progress and looking forward to seeing more of your projects.

cheers

 

[JoniH]

Thanks, slowly but surely..

This worktable has done it's job now that the lights are installed, so it was time to get rid of it. Offered it through facebook, but no one had use for it or didn't want to pay the 40e i asked for it, so i decided to reuse it.



Cut it to pieces and time to do some welding again.





I measured the height so the motorcycle bench would fit folded under it when not in use





Painted and finished, updated pics..

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

Sharp looking table.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: very nice work re doing the big table to fit your needs. i don't have your talent to weld yet, but hope to before too long because i have been accumulating a lot of steel for those kind of projects.

grass looks good and hope you get a little more growth before it gets too cold.

have you ate any blintzes? i think they are from somewhere close to you and just had some on a mini vacation with some fresh raspberries on them. i know i'm going to have to work out more if i keep eating like this.

cheers

 

[JoniH]

Let's bump this thread up, sorry, no big updates.

Hi Drivesitfar, sorry it took so long to answer.

I prefer more the "normal" pancake, add some berries and whip cream with a big cup of coffee.. Yeah, i know what you mean.. last couple of months i gained a few kilos on the waist, but hey, the winter is coming..

Something from the past month:

Car problems..

Long story short, the car service wanted to change the whole gearbox, they were 100% sure it's a mechanical fault inside.. proved them wrong.

A electric fault kept popping up from time to time, mostly after rainy weather. I went through all connections in the engine bay. The transmission went to limp-home, only the 2nd and 5th gear worked until you reset the pending codes. A quick job to do, but annoying as hell..



Cleaned the gear position sensor, seems like it might helped a little too. This thing costs nearly 500euros, so better try to clean it first.



Not meant to be opened, rivets drilled out and changed them for some small bolts



Car has been working nice the last 3 weeks, fingers crossed.

Updating the sound system, a new Alpine head-unit with DSP, etc.. Rainbow speakers front and some sound deadening to the door panels.






Testing the Alpine-app



Should have a active front-end with amp to get the most out from all the settings in the head-unit. But i'm hoping to change the car in the spring, so this will do for now.

Father-in-laws e65 750 had a stuck cd-changer, seems to be a common fault with these. Some instructions from Youtube, and problem solved. Well, mostly. The changer doesn't work, but i got the magazine out and it stopped to keep the annoying noise.





Some shelving to the storage room..





I have been slowly buying tools for the garage and filling the drawers, not with the most expensive ones but i think they will do the job.

And finally i bought the vise. A cheap one, but better than nothing, grabbed a set of soft jaws for it too..



Bolted through the angle iron



The weather is getting slowly colder and the floor is still without paint, insulation still missing from the attic, etc.. but i'm on it, just need to gather some funds for a while.

 

[Jyzze]

Nice update JoniH! Good job for the car and fingers crossed.

 

[JoniH]

Thanks, i think i didn't have them crossed quite enough, the same fault code decided to appear again.. P1895, FFS.. traction control light goes on and a small twitch while shifting the gear up, that's it. Sometimes the engine runs like one cylinder is not firing, sometimes it's just the transmission fault that has only the 2nd and 5th gear working.

-gearbox oil changed
-turbine speed sensor changed
-maf changed for a original Bosch, it helped for a week.
-throttle body cleaned
-sparkplugs
-air cleaner
-vacuum hoses for the manifold
-all electric connections in the engine bay cleaned, excluding lambda sensors and main fuse box.

And still it keeps appearing from time to time. The local dealership was not much of a help with solving the problem..

A friend had similar issues with the same gearbox, Aisin AW 55-50. Problem was located to a faulty solenoid. I think i have to put my hands up on this, i have the number for the guy that repaired his transmission, going to give him a call tomorrow.

 

[Jyzze]

Any update JoniH?

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: I agree with all the things you seem to do i'm wondering if maybe you are taking a rest with it being dark 24/7. or do you have a few feet of snow too?

we had lefsa for Christmas. do you eat that with butter and brown sugar or at all?

are you where you can see any of the Northern Lights or have any pictures to share?

cheers and hope you have a great 2016

 

[JoniH]

It's been a while from the last post. I have been visiting a few times on the forum but haven't posted anything, because there's not much to update. Some minor projects, added a reverse-light for the trailer and that's about all..

I took the power to the reverse light from the fog light and added a switch between them if i need to use the fog light in traffic. Should have done this years ago, it helps a lot in the dark. Just push the rear fog light on from the dashboard, no need to hop out. It's a normal halogen work light, at first i bought two led versions, but forgot the issues with the can-system. So i had a couple of strobe lights behind my trailer..



That's about all, been taking time off from the garage, mostly because the lack of money to make progress with the build, and probably a bit fed up with it..

It's been some cold days here, down to -29c, and i still haven't got any heat in the garage. Been waiting a call from the air-to-air heat pump guy, he promised to call me back in a couple of hours. Well, that was over a week ago..

Been spending more time with photographing, i guess you could say a old hobby i quit for awhile, trying to learn to use the editing programs and just burning wood in the fireplace.. Had to spend some euros on equipment i sold years ago, but it's been fun again shooting pics.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: nice to see you are still alive. it's a common problem lack of funds with cool and in your case new garages. i'm sure it isn't great to work in an unheated garage at -30 because i rarely work in mine at 0 (32 degrees for us here). play with your daughter and make plans and when the weather and sun comes back you'll be ready to go.

those lights on the back of the trailer look great.

 

[JoniH]

Thanks Drivesitfar, you won't get rid of me that easily.. The garage seems to stay 10c warmer than the outside temp, but still a bit too cold. But more time to plan future projects with her. Today we went ice-skating for the first time, she's 2 years 3 months old now, that was a sight.. Like i did it any better, it's been at least 20 years since my last time.. i think i'll need a helmet too..

 

[JoniH]

Well, today has been a busy day in the garage attic..

A friend is building a house near us, and was getting it insulated yesterday while i visited his construction site. So i called the company and asked quotation for the insulation for the garage, might get it cheaper while they are working in the neighbourhood.. The price was good and a half hour later i find out they are coming to do the job on friday. Time to put some working clothes on..

The *thing* (don't know what it's called in english, windguide? ) that prevents the wind from blowing the insulation out from the corners was still missing, partly because the building inspector had a opinion there was no need for it.

Talked with the insulation crew, and they highly recommended installing them. So today i have been climbing and laying between the trusses, cutting pieces of leftover roof underlayment and fastened the pieces with a stapler.

Not a very pleasant job, but now that it's done i'm quite happy i did it, the airflow will now be guided upwards from the insulation.



So getting the insulation done tomorrow, i might add some heat to the garage this weekend..

 

[JoniH]

Photobucket works again, so a couple of pics:



700kg:s of insulation, 30cm thick.

 

[JoniH]

A little bump for this thread..

We got some snow about a week ago, before that the grass was visible on the yard.. 24 h between these pics, had already rained for a day when i took the first one. The temperature was near 0 celsius, so the snow was quite heavy. We among a few thousand other houses had some power failures, luckily in our area the electricity went off only in the night.

Edit: Well, i bought a GoPro 4, been messing around with it, so why not post a quick video from removing the snow by the garage with my daughter. Apologies in advance, created with free youtube music library and windows movie maker, my old computer just can't handle the GoPro editing software without crashing..

Visited Ikea again on our way home from a cruise, bought these shoe racks (?) for storing rags in the garage. At the old place they were stuffed in plastic bags, not a nice sight..

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: sorry i haven't been bumping your thread up as you post more great improvements to your garage. i turned 60 a few weeks ago and if you get to our side of the world my wife and i spent a week in a condo about 10 feet from the ocean while it was stormy on the Oregon Coast. here's a few pictures so you can put to memory in case you ever are over this direction. how about some pictures of your Cruise if you have any?

now back to the garage. it might not have been easy or a fun job, but i AGREE that those improvements you made to keep the insulation from moving around and letting the air flow into your attic are AWESOME.

so it looks like you probably already had the minimum insulation before having more blown in. how is the heat in the garage now? i bet a lot better. yes??

thanks for sharing and always nice to see what you've been up to. your little girl still helping in the garage?

cheers

 

[JoniH]

Hi drivesitfar, first; congratulations on your birthday and don't worry, it's not like i have been very active updating this either..

Been doing this and that, but nothing much worth mentioning about.

Sorry, no special pics, this week the family had winter vacation, so we went on a 24h cruise. Just spending quality time with the family..

I'm glad i added those strips between the trusses, we have had some good windy days and the insulation seems to hold it's place. The attic has now 100 mm glass wool at the bottom and 30 cm blown on the top. I've been warming the garage with a 5kW construction heater, it's been set almost to lowest power and it kept the temp around 7´C. while the outside was at -8´C

Still need to buy some electric radiators and a air-to-air heat pump, fix waterlines, etc.

Yep, she is eager to enter the garage, but after 5 minutes she want's back to the yard. Probably if we had something to fix, she would stay there longer. Now we have mostly been driving rc-cars and flying helicopters there..

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: I forgot to add the pictures of the Oregon Coast and can't from this laptop until I transfer pictures from my other one. maybe Google Lincoln City, Oregon or Cannon Beach, Oregon for some good pictures and i'll add mine later.

one thing I used to do with my daughter when she was just turning 2 that made her feel important was I bought her a TV/VCR that she could put in her favorite Disney movies. she learned all the buttons and loved Jessica in Roger Rabbit. I'm not sure you've heard of those movies and VCR's are like dinasaurs now, but I still own several and have one of the TV/VCR's in my shop so I can pop in a movie to mostly listen to while i'm out there.

happy to hear the insulation is working and if my #'s are correct is that a 30 degree change for the positive?

cheers

 

[JoniH]

Sure i have heard, Who framed Roger Rabbit was a favorite, might have something to do with Jessica..
Yes, she's been a big help, here she is changing the inner tie rod..



A week ago i bought an old snowmobile, well more like half of it, the other half belongs to my uncle. So today when the weather was near 0 C and a bit rainy, i mocked up a lift for it from the lift table leftover parts.





I was cutting pieces to fill up the tube ends, i had the finished shaft part next to the others. Guess from which one i cut the pieces.. So i improvised with the handle part, made it a bit narrower than the rest, now it looks like i meant it to be like that..

The locking pin is just for safety reasons, i had luck with the angles(?). When the rear is lifted up, the handle still stays down on with the snowmobile weight on it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: you are probably young enough that Roger Rabbit was a movie you watched as a kid so yes i'm sure Jessica had some appeal to you. i know it did me and she sort of resembled my wife at the time.

great picture of your assistant.

is the snowmobile lift just for maintenance??

here's a few pictures of the Oregon Coast and we found a room where the Pacific Ocean came up to about 10 feet from our room and we were luckily on the second floor. i saw a nice lady that was staying in room below us and she was terrified the ocean or a log was going to come into her condo while we were just watching in wonder and having a great time. i threw some bread out to a couple seagulls that were looking like they needed something and in about 2 minutes i had to go back in off the deck because seagulls were flying within arms reach of me wanting more.

cheers and i'll try to send some heat and sun your way.

 

[JoniH]

So, here's something i started last week.. this will be for my daughter, likely more for next winter.

*Drum roll*



I was wandering around Youtube and came across this:

I already have some parts for attaching the bearings and sprockets fabricated at the local school that teaches milling, etc. A 40-50cc engine probably from a strimmer, the track will be made from angled iron pieces attached to motorcycle chain. Things got a little bit out of hand, but i figured that better to build it a bit too good than to repair it constantly.. The track tunnel will be covered with aluminium plating, no risk getting your pants caught somewhere.

The frame will have to get some minor changes, mostly for needed space for the tracks and while at it, i think i'll lift the seat a bit higher up to match the handlebar height. The old gear changing system in the handlebar will work as rolling gas handle.

As for myself, this would be something id like to have.

A different bike, but a good video.

Building instructions and measurements for parts are all available from this guys topic. Sadly i don't have the skills or equipment for such a fantastic build. So i'm trying to figure out something easier to work on, a simpler construction, maybe tracks from a snowmobile could work. Also i would need a bike to attach that track, so that might be the first place to start..

 

[Denwood]

Super cool. Kind of makes a lot of sense on snow to be honest as it's much lighter than a full blown snow machine. I would wonder how stable it will be without the gyroscopic stabilization of the rotating wheels?

 

[JoniH]

The track system is quite simple, at least when you look at it. But when it's time to start looking a bit deeper into the suspension system and angles, and getting everything to work.. just some pulleys, a diskbrake, some chains and sprockets. I think i could make one, a bit rougher in looks, not that precice in measurements and heavier, but getting the track to withstand my abuse, that's what i'm pondering.

 

[JoniH]

Today i got started on the parts for the Stiga track, bought 18 m of u-beam and started cutting it to 25 cm long pieces. The track will have 60 pieces of those, that equals as 15 m.. that's a lot to cut.

So, time to make a jig for speeding things up:



Pieces cut and grinded, next step to make some measurements and start drilling holes.. 30 pieces with one in the middle and 30 pieces with holes at the ends.



Hopefully this idea will give it a bit more traction



Another jig to drill the plastic parts, this helped a lot.



Track parts here waiting for paint, got that finished today. Still need to drill the holes for bolting them to the chains, but i'll have to wait for parts so i can figure out the right distance between.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: that little snow bike for your daughter looks very cute. I bet it will get up and go so make sure that she has a good helmet, chest pads and maybe some heavy duty clothing to protect her. I hope she respects it and learns what it can do so she has the fun you are intending.

I've been watching some shows on the Science channel and they have had several daredevils on the show from Finland. one guy flipped a car over a jump, another jumped off a ramp in a motorcycle 130 feet above a river and parachuted off it and another guy ran his car inside a round cage.

are all Finnish people a bit of a daredevil? maybe it's the all the saunas and jumping in the snow or ice lakes that get's them needing the adrenalin rush.

 

[JoniH]

Daredevils, i think they exist everywhere, in all of us. Someone gets the rush from jumping out of a perfectly working airplane, i get mine from driving a different route to work.. I've done my share of stupid things in the past, but haven't we all..

Yesterday i got the parts from the school for the daughters snowmobile. I'm very pleased of how they turned out, better than i expected, considering my drawings..

The larger parts with the removable top is meant for the front, they will have two bearings inside each for the free rotation on the axle. The smaller ones are for the drive-end that moves the track.



Planning the order for the parts on the axle, a bushing is still missing that separates the sprockets and keeps the gap aligned with the chain.





Hopefully i'll have time during this weekend to build the frame and tracks, now that i can measure the right distance for the chain width, etc. But it's been raining partially for the past two days, so the remaining snow seems to melt in a hurry.

 

[drivesitfar]

Joni: did you run out of snow for the season or get more time to finish your daughter's new ride?

i'm guessing you are getting a little more sunshine now so hope that helps.

 

[Denwood]

Wow...fabrication from pretty much bare metal! I'll be following along with interest. So far the part set looks very nice

 

[JoniH]

drivesitfar, yep, snow is gone for now, but that gives me more time to get the thing finished properly. I've been a bit busy elsewhere, working and my daughter had high fever for almost two weeks, but she's been healthy for a week now. Didn't get much sleep for those weeks.. But, here's a few pics of the sled:





And while the summer is arriving, time to get some things done outside the garage. Main thing was to build a playhouse with a sandbox attached and a small terrace over it to give some cover from the sunshine. So where to start?.. Well, first you'll have to order 90t of 0-32 gravel to get the base done for the playhouse.. actually, i wanted to get the garage front finished at the same, so here's a few pics.

The first 45 tons..


While at it, i added a rainwater drain (?) because in the spring the melting waters will run down from the driveway. I borrowed a small excavator, i could just dig holes for hours..



Filled..



Spreading the gravel.. the playhouse should rise on the right, partially on the grass.




And while having a coffee break, i had an idea.. so a side project started:

A seesaw. You got to have one of those, right? Handles made from leftover parts of the lift-table nr.1, the small wheelbarrow tires still needs to be attached below the seesaw.




And a final pic where i finished today's work, and a bonus time lapse, just for fun..

I almost forgot. As i don't seem to have enough thing to do, i ordered the build plans for this: Edge Piranha buggy. It's going to be a slow project (yeah, right...)

Pic borrowed from google results:

So time to invest in some fabrication tools during this summer, mainly a pipe bender and a metal cutting band-saw..

 

[JoniH]

The yard is finished for now, time to focus on the playhouse. And other tasks.. And since the snow has melted and the snowmobile project is pushed aside for now, i needed something else for my daughter.

And here we have it: a 1990 model Suzuki lt 50.



Been looking from time to time on one of these, but the price/condition have been mostly far away from each.. I almost bought her a newer, electric model, but my uncle found the for sale-ad on the net. It was close and had just been listed for an half hour ago. Called the seller immediately.. Bought this form a guy that owned it for the last 10 years, it's in pretty good condition considering the age of it.

Not much has been done to it after the purchase, i gave it a wash, changed the gearbox oil and spark plug, new handlebar grips and made some foot plates out of aluminium.







Time to go shopping for a helmet..

 

[Matias]

There is a certain urge to get things done outside while there is no snow Love the seesaw, will be definetely doing that also, thanks for the tip And that sukisuki seems nice also!

 

[JoniH]

Let's bump this up a notch..

Playhouse mostly finished on the outside, the grey parts need to be painted once more and i'll have to add a light or two, those will be connected with the garage lights. On the inside the floor is mounted, to do-list is paint, lights, sockets and ceiling panels, will probably get those done this week.



As for the garage, i emptied it, vacuumed the floor and washed it. Let it dry for a day, bought a small can of yellow road paint and 10l of anti-dust solution. The price was quite reasonable compared to floor paint (270 euros for 19 litres..) , a 5 liter can cost 31 euros.

Lines painted and the solution added the next day.



The workbench got some grey paint too, first i was going to cover the top with a metal sheet, but this will do for now.

 

[drivesitfar]

JONI: i guesss you Finnish guys don't let sunny days get by without getting a lot done. OMG all the stuff you do in a day are you working a regular job for 8 hours and coming home and working 16 more? i know you have the land of NO SUN and the 24 HOUR SUN, but when it's the 24 HOUR SUN you sure get a lot done.

i can't say i've ever seen a swing like that before. is it sort or a trampoline or do you sit on it? also are you planning on putting something a little softer under neath it in case your little girl or her friends fall off? i bet with all those cool toys you are making and buying your little gal she is going to be a daddy's girl and will be telling you how to fix and make things before too long.

WELL DONE and keep on posting pictures of all your work as you have time.

 

[JoniH]

I've been on my summer vacation, so things have been a bit slow on the projects, focusing more on the family.. but i have managed to get something done.

The swing is called spider swing, it's pretty solid, even holds me. How do i know? Well.. anyway, i thought i'd make a border out of 6" plank, make a slope on the outside so there's no edge to tip over and fill the inside of it with the same sand that's in the sandbox.

She is starting to get a bit stubborn now and then, i wonder from who she learned that..

 

[drivesitfar]

JONI: looks like you are enjoying the great ride in life called parenting. good luck and just remember your little girl and any more kids you have are who they hang out with so get her with a good group of friends. good to hear she likes copying you already and just keep giving her your best.

anything new??

cheers

 

[JoniH]

Bumping thread up..

Oh how the day's seem short after the vacation..

Anyway, i had this idea in my head for few day's. I want a porch swing for the terrace. Something to sit in and have a cup of coffee or even lay down for a while, like i ever would do that.. Fired up the old Google pictures and got some ideas gathered.

A few pics from the process, it actually turned out pretty good in my opinion, considering that i'm not that keen on building any furniture.





Trying to measure the right spots for the chains







I think it won't bend..





And in place. The excessive chains need to be cut and the padding (?) part is still missing, but that's a task for the woman in the house..

 

[Jyzze]

Swing looks great, summer can come!

 

[Mike.ASC]

Just read thru your thread , nice work all around.

 

[Cris B]

Great work on that bench swing. Looks fantastic!