kippieland
Well-known member
Looks great! Love the new desk.
Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The 12-Gauge Garage
- Thread starter Jack Olsen
- Start date
Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
OP
Nothing like the smell of Rustoleum in the morning. I was able to slide the other handles off on the Craftsman box. We'll see how the ones painted that way hold up to the ones painted on the box.
And now the faces of the bench drawers match the faces of the Craftsman drawers.
Here's the 'before' with the boxes mismatched:
And here are pictures from a few minutes ago.
And an art shot:
And now the faces of the bench drawers match the faces of the Craftsman drawers.
Here's the 'before' with the boxes mismatched:
And here are pictures from a few minutes ago.
And an art shot:
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Tripp P.
Well-known member
Looks good! I really like the red trim on the bench.
smsteve
Well-known member
So much for re-sale.
Hah, I bet now that your Craftsman box is Jack Olsen modified it would garner a bit better than new resale. Toss on one of those "Jack Olsen's 12 Gauge Gararge" badges and you'll have them fighting for a piece of history!
OP
That's a good point, smsteve. If I were a more ambitious man, maybe I'd find a way to 'brand' the garage and the sutff I've made for it.
But I'm not. I'm a pretty lazy guy, honestly. So today when a morning call got pushed to the afternoon, I faced a choice between coming up with some new work to fill my time -- or going out to the garage.
The garage won.
I had a long list of little things for the car. None of it was rocket surgery, as they say. I unbolted and stowed the aero pieces, made an adjustment to the front swaybar, checked brake wear front and rear, added the missing heat duct (that had left me in the cold for the 20° track morning), pulled the passenger-side heat booster blower (saved weight), trouble-shot a flatlining CHT gauge, and re-wired power for the data logger and cameras (I wanted the power to those items switched, but not affected by the car being on or off.)
The heating duct work led to cleaning out the greasy residue of an old CV joint explosion. I hate the smell of Simple Green, but it does cut through the nasty stuff.
Every time I do work on the car, I'm reminded again that the lift is the best tool I own. Cleaning the underbelly of a car with jack stands is a real headache. With the lift, it's not bad at all. To troubleshoot two sticking heater valves, I had to move back and forth between the cabin levers and the valves underneath. It's great to be able to just raise and lower as necessary.
In fact, every single thing on my to-do list was made easier because of the lift.
I finally pulled the car out and did a quick test drive. Ten minutes ended up turning into an hour. I went through the local car wash to get the oil a Formula Mazda had sprayed all over me on the last track day. I parked the car outside so I could clean up the extra grease and brake dust off of the tiles. The car's paint is chipped from too many track days, but it's like looking at the woman you married 30 years ago -- uou will always see the thing you fell in love with. And this little 40-year-old still has a nice look to it -- in this owner's opinion.
But I'm not. I'm a pretty lazy guy, honestly. So today when a morning call got pushed to the afternoon, I faced a choice between coming up with some new work to fill my time -- or going out to the garage.
The garage won.
I had a long list of little things for the car. None of it was rocket surgery, as they say. I unbolted and stowed the aero pieces, made an adjustment to the front swaybar, checked brake wear front and rear, added the missing heat duct (that had left me in the cold for the 20° track morning), pulled the passenger-side heat booster blower (saved weight), trouble-shot a flatlining CHT gauge, and re-wired power for the data logger and cameras (I wanted the power to those items switched, but not affected by the car being on or off.)
The heating duct work led to cleaning out the greasy residue of an old CV joint explosion. I hate the smell of Simple Green, but it does cut through the nasty stuff.
Every time I do work on the car, I'm reminded again that the lift is the best tool I own. Cleaning the underbelly of a car with jack stands is a real headache. With the lift, it's not bad at all. To troubleshoot two sticking heater valves, I had to move back and forth between the cabin levers and the valves underneath. It's great to be able to just raise and lower as necessary.
In fact, every single thing on my to-do list was made easier because of the lift.
I finally pulled the car out and did a quick test drive. Ten minutes ended up turning into an hour. I went through the local car wash to get the oil a Formula Mazda had sprayed all over me on the last track day. I parked the car outside so I could clean up the extra grease and brake dust off of the tiles. The car's paint is chipped from too many track days, but it's like looking at the woman you married 30 years ago -- uou will always see the thing you fell in love with. And this little 40-year-old still has a nice look to it -- in this owner's opinion.
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OilyRascal
Well-known member
That car still has an amazing look...........and the garage 
Thanks for documenting the work you've done and sharing it in this thread. It is amazing what you've done. Actually, I'm a bit at a loss for more words so I'm just going to crawl in my hole and aspire to be more like you
Thanks for documenting the work you've done and sharing it in this thread. It is amazing what you've done. Actually, I'm a bit at a loss for more words so I'm just going to crawl in my hole and aspire to be more like you
Jim Richards
Active member
Jack, what brand/model is your lift? I'm eventually going to need to install a lift in the garage of my SoCal house, and I don't have the ceiling height for a 2-post lift. Thanks.
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kippieland
Well-known member
I used Simple Green a lot to clean my MX bike after riding. I have switched to Spray and Wash or Shout laundry stain remover. It lifts grease right off and has nice clean smell. Leave it on for 5 minutes and whip or wash off and it will look as good as new. If its real bad it will take a couple of tries. Does work real well in the cold...but you don't have to worry about that down there....it never gets "really cold!"
Thanks.
And even though no one could argue this garage needs more exposure, it's on the Hemmings Blog today.
Not to mention it made #7 on the list of Hemmings top 10 for 2011.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/12/30/the-top-10-hemmings-blog-posts-of-2011/
Congrats Jack. Well deserved.
-Jeff
1Garageman
Well-known member
The car, the life, the garage, and the man behind it all, simply amazing! I couldn't imagine what it's like Jack to have a garage like that, with the vehicle no-how that you have, and not the mention the awesome vehicle to drive!
I love this post!
Keep it up
I love this post!
Keep it up
Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
A little "Bro-mance" forming here? "Not that there's anything wrong with it..."zip95864
Well-known member
JERRY
you know, I think George has a non ****** crush on him
ELAINE
I think he does too
JERRY
I mean, every time I see him, it's Tony this, Tony that. George is like a school girl around him.
you know, I think George has a non ****** crush on him
ELAINE
I think he does too
JERRY
I mean, every time I see him, it's Tony this, Tony that. George is like a school girl around him.
GirlnAgarage
Well-known member
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Resale value? Those kinds of Craftsman tool chests? Aw, c'mon, you just bought those to put tools in. The world doesn't clamor for them, never will. Not that they're not perfectly cromulent chests! They hold the tools, and they're not junky.
Great value. I've got a stack of CM Griplatch from Craigslist, slightly used, half price, similar deal. Not superluxe, but such a value!
Great value. I've got a stack of CM Griplatch from Craigslist, slightly used, half price, similar deal. Not superluxe, but such a value!
red
Well-known member
Jack, you're a writer now too?
Very eloquent. Reminded me of my first truck.
Yes, that's how he makes his living writing . . .
GirlnAgarage
Well-known member
OP
But I try to keep all the good grammar and nice spelling of my day job far, far away from my posts here on the Journal.
Mr onetwo
Well-known member
Hey Jack, I just love the green that you chose for your garage!
Although I feel no guilt for poaching some of your very clever ideas, I cannot, in good conscience steal your paint color! I think I will paint the lower 4 ft of my walls and all my equipment with a hammer finish enamel by Masterchem(the Kilz people)It is called Rust Cap and I love Mid Green.I used to be a machine mechanic in a knitting mill years ago and all the Swiss machines were painted with this stuff.What do you guys think?http://www.masterchem.com/masterchem/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=abbfe31ef7ba0210VgnVCM1000008c05d103RCRD
Although I feel no guilt for poaching some of your very clever ideas, I cannot, in good conscience steal your paint color! I think I will paint the lower 4 ft of my walls and all my equipment with a hammer finish enamel by Masterchem(the Kilz people)It is called Rust Cap and I love Mid Green.I used to be a machine mechanic in a knitting mill years ago and all the Swiss machines were painted with this stuff.What do you guys think?http://www.masterchem.com/masterchem/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=abbfe31ef7ba0210VgnVCM1000008c05d103RCRDAttachments
Jack (and others who have recently redone a garage):
In looking back on the various "builds" in your garage - let me ask you some questions:
1. What would you have "NOT" done? What did you do that you wish you had not done?
2. If you had a bigger budget - what additional work would you have done?
In looking back on the various "builds" in your garage - let me ask you some questions:
1. What would you have "NOT" done? What did you do that you wish you had not done?
2. If you had a bigger budget - what additional work would you have done?
morfmedia
Well-known member
Jack: I think your stone chips will compare very well to this guys lucky escape... Saw the track name and made me think of you. Hope the Porsche lives on for many more years...
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BigAl62
Well-known member
OP
I like it!
1) I wish I'd done electric better before I started. That's my biggest regret -- and something I plan to address some day. 2) I missed out on a cool Buffalo drill press that I still wish I had. But I cheaped out during the bidding. Other than that, not much.
I've seen that clip. People were talking about it when I was out therein January. It's pretty scary, and a very unusual place to crash on that track.
Jack,
I know I'm a little late on this, but congrats on making Handyman! I read a while back that you were in the running for it, but completely forgot about it until I recognized it when reading the magazine. Thought I'd drop by and make it official. Good job!
I know I'm a little late on this, but congrats on making Handyman! I read a while back that you were in the running for it, but completely forgot about it until I recognized it when reading the magazine. Thought I'd drop by and make it official. Good job!
OP
Thanks, TravisT.
And A_Pmech, I agree that Strong Hold cabinets would be the perfect match for your shop. It's too bad (and I say it with mixed feelings, of course) that you don't have a huge, dying aerospace industry nearby.
I wrote post 1735 after a just-about-perfect day in the garage -- one of those afternoons where you get through everything on your list and each task takes just a little less time as you thought it would.
Sometimes, of course, things go the opposite way...
Two days after that perfect day, I went out to the garage to finish up two simple things. I wanted to do one more test to see why my Cylinder Head Temp gauge was not giving me readings all of the time. I was able to get it work by connecting it directly to the thermocouple that fits under the spark plug. But then when I tried a second time, it didn't work. And I couldn't figure out why the line running to the gauge from the engine bay was causing a problem -- my multimeter was showing the circuit was good. I finally decided to run 12V through the line to see what the multimeter would make of that, and -- naturally -- did it without disconnecting the CHT gauge, which only uses 12V for the light (the gauge itself uses no power). Now, I'm not positive if that sudden dose of electricity was what finally killed the thing or not. But it went from failing intermittently to failing 100% of the time -- dead. And the replacement was $45.
Then I moved on to something even simpler, switching the cameras around that I use for the track-day recording. The one that I attach to the base of the rear view mirror kept going off kilter. So I tightened it down -- and then saw that the neck of the mirror was moving in the base. It looked like the mirror assembly was a press fit between two piece of pot metal.
No problem, I've got a welder. And even though it's the wrong tool for this kind of crappy metal, I figured 1) it's out of sight, blocked by the mirror itself, and 2) I've got grinders and some paint. The plan was just to fuse the two pieces and then grind away the evidence.
So this day was going from merely one where things didn't go the way you'd hoped to one where I ended up wondering if maybe I was a lot less intelligent than I'd ever thought. First, I tried welding it in the car, with fiberglass blankets to protect from burns. That was stupid, and it was pretty clear pretty soon that that wasn't going to work. So I decided I'd take the mirror off and put it in a vise. It came off with the pressure from a razor blade underneath it. No problem. And I happened to have an extra pack of the rear-view mirror glue, so I was going to be able to put it back on without losing the time of a trip to the parts store.
About the time I'd welded and ground and had the fitting snap loose again for probably the third time, I made my big 'I'm such an idiot' discovery: there in the neck of the thing was the set screw that tightens the neck down into the base. Of course, by the time I discovered it there, I'd already boogered the whole assembly up with some terrible pot-metal-melting welds, but I'd also cooked the set screw so it no longer even turned.
No matter, I got it so it was stiff, at least -- just not very pretty.
Glued it on. Waited a few minutes for it to really set -- and then saw that I was right back where I started, with the camera still crooked. By this point, I guess I was getting angry -- because I 'adjusted' the clamp that holds the camera with enough force to -- you're maybe guessing it...
...crack the freakin' windshield.
Just that kind of morning.
There's no real silver lining to be found in breaking your own windshield. I tried to convince myself that it had two pretty gnarly stone chips and enough sand-blasting from track use to merit replacement. But still, I would have rather replaced it on my own schedule.
But I got a new one put in today. It was cheap enough that I also replaced the one in my Jeep, which I'd cracked almost 8 years ago while hauling wheels and tires for the race car. It's nice to have that fixed, finally. And to also know I really got my money's worth out of that original-to-1983 windshield.
But I'm still mad about the Porsche windshield.
But what are you going to do? After the guy put the new glass in, I cleaned it off, put on a new sun visor piece, and took it out for a spin before lunch -- with the camera finally level and where I wanted it. Here are a few still pictures I took while I was out:
You'll notice a nice and clean windshield on the thing.
And A_Pmech, I agree that Strong Hold cabinets would be the perfect match for your shop. It's too bad (and I say it with mixed feelings, of course) that you don't have a huge, dying aerospace industry nearby.
I wrote post 1735 after a just-about-perfect day in the garage -- one of those afternoons where you get through everything on your list and each task takes just a little less time as you thought it would.
Sometimes, of course, things go the opposite way...
Two days after that perfect day, I went out to the garage to finish up two simple things. I wanted to do one more test to see why my Cylinder Head Temp gauge was not giving me readings all of the time. I was able to get it work by connecting it directly to the thermocouple that fits under the spark plug. But then when I tried a second time, it didn't work. And I couldn't figure out why the line running to the gauge from the engine bay was causing a problem -- my multimeter was showing the circuit was good. I finally decided to run 12V through the line to see what the multimeter would make of that, and -- naturally -- did it without disconnecting the CHT gauge, which only uses 12V for the light (the gauge itself uses no power). Now, I'm not positive if that sudden dose of electricity was what finally killed the thing or not. But it went from failing intermittently to failing 100% of the time -- dead. And the replacement was $45.
Then I moved on to something even simpler, switching the cameras around that I use for the track-day recording. The one that I attach to the base of the rear view mirror kept going off kilter. So I tightened it down -- and then saw that the neck of the mirror was moving in the base. It looked like the mirror assembly was a press fit between two piece of pot metal.
No problem, I've got a welder. And even though it's the wrong tool for this kind of crappy metal, I figured 1) it's out of sight, blocked by the mirror itself, and 2) I've got grinders and some paint. The plan was just to fuse the two pieces and then grind away the evidence.
So this day was going from merely one where things didn't go the way you'd hoped to one where I ended up wondering if maybe I was a lot less intelligent than I'd ever thought. First, I tried welding it in the car, with fiberglass blankets to protect from burns. That was stupid, and it was pretty clear pretty soon that that wasn't going to work. So I decided I'd take the mirror off and put it in a vise. It came off with the pressure from a razor blade underneath it. No problem. And I happened to have an extra pack of the rear-view mirror glue, so I was going to be able to put it back on without losing the time of a trip to the parts store.
About the time I'd welded and ground and had the fitting snap loose again for probably the third time, I made my big 'I'm such an idiot' discovery: there in the neck of the thing was the set screw that tightens the neck down into the base. Of course, by the time I discovered it there, I'd already boogered the whole assembly up with some terrible pot-metal-melting welds, but I'd also cooked the set screw so it no longer even turned.
No matter, I got it so it was stiff, at least -- just not very pretty.
Glued it on. Waited a few minutes for it to really set -- and then saw that I was right back where I started, with the camera still crooked. By this point, I guess I was getting angry -- because I 'adjusted' the clamp that holds the camera with enough force to -- you're maybe guessing it...
...crack the freakin' windshield.
Just that kind of morning.
There's no real silver lining to be found in breaking your own windshield. I tried to convince myself that it had two pretty gnarly stone chips and enough sand-blasting from track use to merit replacement. But still, I would have rather replaced it on my own schedule.
But I got a new one put in today. It was cheap enough that I also replaced the one in my Jeep, which I'd cracked almost 8 years ago while hauling wheels and tires for the race car. It's nice to have that fixed, finally. And to also know I really got my money's worth out of that original-to-1983 windshield.
But I'm still mad about the Porsche windshield.
But what are you going to do? After the guy put the new glass in, I cleaned it off, put on a new sun visor piece, and took it out for a spin before lunch -- with the camera finally level and where I wanted it. Here are a few still pictures I took while I was out:
You'll notice a nice and clean windshield on the thing.
Hey Jack, I just love the green that you chose for your garage!
The typical Swiss machine green is Ral 6011 (called Reseda Green)
Albert from Switzerland
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Mr onetwo
Well-known member
OP
I'm normally not even a fan of green. But I like it in work environments.
This is mine, called Tarragon. I'll admit, I just picked it out quickly while shopping for other stuff for the garage.
And the one Ash mentioned:
It's tricky. Not only are computer monitors inconsistent in rendering colors, but the actual paint will look different based on whatever else is around it and the color temperature of the light during the photograph.
This is mine, called Tarragon. I'll admit, I just picked it out quickly while shopping for other stuff for the garage.
And the one Ash mentioned:
It's tricky. Not only are computer monitors inconsistent in rendering colors, but the actual paint will look different based on whatever else is around it and the color temperature of the light during the photograph.
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W650Mike
Well-known member
Jack,
I’ll bet everyone here can empathize with the “day from hell” in the shop. I had one recently; started all wrong and went south. I didn’t break a windshield but the cat sensed my frustration turning to anger and fled the scene. I sat on a bucket in the middle of the shop and just marveled at the mayhem. I was too drained to cuss.
Windshield looks good!
I’ll bet everyone here can empathize with the “day from hell” in the shop. I had one recently; started all wrong and went south. I didn’t break a windshield but the cat sensed my frustration turning to anger and fled the scene. I sat on a bucket in the middle of the shop and just marveled at the mayhem. I was too drained to cuss.
Windshield looks good!
JMcFly
Well-known member
The green is awesome and I really dig the tile. It's perfect.
I'm thinking about a lift like you have for my semi far in the future garage.
I'm thinking about a lift like you have for my semi far in the future garage.
Red Leader
Well-known member
Bummer about the bad day in the shop. I've been there. It usually happens when I spend several hours on a woodworking project trying to get it perfectly right and just when everything is looking grand, I end up cutting a valuable/critical piece too short and invalidate the several hours spent earlier in the shop.
Or, yes, the sinking feeling of breaking something. Sometimes I wonder about that when I look at some of the tools in my garage...like my 1940's Atlas drill press that had a motor mounting hole in the main casting brazed back together, or the 1950 Unisaw that has its main table repaired where it met the extension, or the wood lathe that I used to have that has the gear handle and the tailstock clamp (both pieces that suspiciously stick out if the lathe were to ever be 'tipper over') somehow mysteriously broken and repaired. I look at those repairs and while I'm very grateful for the repair, I'm also grateful I wasn't there when it happened. I think about "Hmm wonder what was goin' through that guy's mind when he did that...hah, not a good feeling. But, someone did and so many others have, including me. Probably one of my biggest self-pet peeves is when I try to fix something how it shouldn't be fixed and I end up ruining it.
Sometimes I almost feel like a theme out it my shop is 'As long as you learn from it, being stupid is just fine!' ...but somehow it just doesn't have that nice ring to it.
Its nice to know we have such a high profile member in the 'learning' club I'm a very distinguished member
Or, yes, the sinking feeling of breaking something. Sometimes I wonder about that when I look at some of the tools in my garage...like my 1940's Atlas drill press that had a motor mounting hole in the main casting brazed back together, or the 1950 Unisaw that has its main table repaired where it met the extension, or the wood lathe that I used to have that has the gear handle and the tailstock clamp (both pieces that suspiciously stick out if the lathe were to ever be 'tipper over') somehow mysteriously broken and repaired. I look at those repairs and while I'm very grateful for the repair, I'm also grateful I wasn't there when it happened. I think about "Hmm wonder what was goin' through that guy's mind when he did that...hah, not a good feeling. But, someone did and so many others have, including me. Probably one of my biggest self-pet peeves is when I try to fix something how it shouldn't be fixed and I end up ruining it.
Sometimes I almost feel like a theme out it my shop is 'As long as you learn from it, being stupid is just fine!' ...but somehow it just doesn't have that nice ring to it.
Its nice to know we have such a high profile member in the 'learning' club
I'm a very distinguished member
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tinbender 66
Well-known member
Well that ***** Jack! I can certainly empathize though. I had a brand new windshield for the '66 Nova stored safely (I thought) away. When I finished the storage above the office I thought I would put it up there. When I went to put it away I noticed it was cracked all the way from top to bottom. I never even got to install it. That's just one of many things...............
. That's just one of many things...............
OP
Thanks, guys. The way I see it is that there are days you make progress, and days you slide back. You want to have more of the former than the latter.
Today I got to enjoy the new windshield on the Jeep (cracked for seven years -- now perfect!) while I drove out to pick up the new project for the left side of the new bench. I missed out on a cool Buffalo 15" drill press awhile back. (I still wish I'd been willing to pay more.) But now I've got a pretty nice 1973 Rockwell Delta that I'm going to clean up and put to good use.
Anyone in the market for a 12" Craftsman drill press? I've got one that's ready for a new home.
Here's the logo plate:
It kind of looks like a restaurant mixer, all hunkered down for travel. Not as pretty looking as the Buffalo, in my opinion. But not bad:
The main reason to replace the Craftsman was to get a drill press with a little more mass and heft to it. As far as looks go, I'd love to get one of those deco Cutler Hammer switches for it. And I'm also on the hunt for a three spoke wheel instead of the stock sliding-arm handle.
Since it's going to go on a benchtop, that steel column is going to get cut down to a much shorter length. In this picture, you can see how tall the thing was.
I also got a few minutes last night to put another coat of varnish on the bench. Here it is still wet and kind of pretty:
Edit: The portaband made short work of the column. Here's the old guy and the new (actually, older) one side by side.
The model is a Delta-Rockwell 15-017. The serial number (1573878) is what makes me think it was built in 1973 -- which is about the same age as the vise I'm putting on the other side of the bench.
I've just got to decide how to paint it, now.
Today I got to enjoy the new windshield on the Jeep (cracked for seven years -- now perfect!) while I drove out to pick up the new project for the left side of the new bench. I missed out on a cool Buffalo 15" drill press awhile back. (I still wish I'd been willing to pay more.) But now I've got a pretty nice 1973 Rockwell Delta that I'm going to clean up and put to good use.
Anyone in the market for a 12" Craftsman drill press? I've got one that's ready for a new home.
Here's the logo plate:
It kind of looks like a restaurant mixer, all hunkered down for travel. Not as pretty looking as the Buffalo, in my opinion. But not bad:
The main reason to replace the Craftsman was to get a drill press with a little more mass and heft to it. As far as looks go, I'd love to get one of those deco Cutler Hammer switches for it. And I'm also on the hunt for a three spoke wheel instead of the stock sliding-arm handle.
Since it's going to go on a benchtop, that steel column is going to get cut down to a much shorter length. In this picture, you can see how tall the thing was.
I also got a few minutes last night to put another coat of varnish on the bench. Here it is still wet and kind of pretty:
Edit: The portaband made short work of the column. Here's the old guy and the new (actually, older) one side by side.
The model is a Delta-Rockwell 15-017. The serial number (1573878) is what makes me think it was built in 1973 -- which is about the same age as the vise I'm putting on the other side of the bench.
I've just got to decide how to paint it, now.
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Red Leader
Well-known member
The logo, switch and overall style all say 1970s to me, but I'm not much of a Rockwell/Delta expert.
Nice find nonetheless
Nice find nonetheless
RobSmith
Banned
Jack this is really late info but you could have just beaten the aluminium over the forms without cutting the metal...I've formed some pretty nice things by just softening the aluminum and hitting it with a block covered with a strip of thick leather. Try it !Ha!
I'll tell you, working with this foam insulation stuff is a LOT easier than what I did with the previous wing. It was my first metal fabrication ever, pretty much. I was in way over my head, without any kind of model or instructions. But finally got it finished -- and it still works, five years later.
I started with a wooden buck I made from a print-out of the airfoil I wanted to use.
On the topic of garages, you'll see that five years ago I just had to set up a little temporary bench next to the car under its canopy. At the time, the garage was so stuffed with storage and other **** that there was no room at all to work in it (much less park a car).
bad_idea
Well-known member
other than conserving floor space, what benefit does cutting that press down to bench height have?
RobSmith
Banned
You can't go wrong with that Porsche for pictures.. it fits all the boxes. Nice shapes/curves. Wheels that fit correctly into their guards and wheels that have a decent 'dish'...the ride height is also to correct proportions. It's a Porsche but it sits at the stance all decent cars should. good one!Thanks, TravisT.
And A_Pmech, I agree that Strong Hold cabinets would be the perfect match for your shop. It's too bad (and I say it with mixed feelings, of course) that you don't have a huge, dying aerospace industry nearby.
I wrote post 1735 after a just-about-perfect day in the garage -- one of those afternoons where you get through everything on your list and each task takes just a little less time as you thought it would.
Sometimes, of course, things go the opposite way...
Two days after that perfect day, I went out to the garage to finish up two simple things. I wanted to do one more test to see why my Cylinder Head Temp gauge was not giving me readings all of the time. I was able to get it work by connecting it directly to the thermocouple that fits under the spark plug. But then when I tried a second time, it didn't work. And I couldn't figure out why the line running to the gauge from the engine bay was causing a problem -- my multimeter was showing the circuit was good. I finally decided to run 12V through the line to see what the multimeter would make of that, and -- naturally -- did it without disconnecting the CHT gauge, which only uses 12V for the light (the gauge itself uses no power). Now, I'm not positive if that sudden dose of electricity was what finally killed the thing or not. But it went from failing intermittently to failing 100% of the time -- dead. And the replacement was $45.
Then I moved on to something even simpler, switching the cameras around that I use for the track-day recording. The one that I attach to the base of the rear view mirror kept going off kilter. So I tightened it down -- and then saw that the neck of the mirror was moving in the base. It looked like the mirror assembly was a press fit between two piece of pot metal.
No problem, I've got a welder. And even though it's the wrong tool for this kind of crappy metal, I figured 1) it's out of sight, blocked by the mirror itself, and 2) I've got grinders and some paint. The plan was just to fuse the two pieces and then grind away the evidence.
So this day was going from merely one where things didn't go the way you'd hoped to one where I ended up wondering if maybe I was a lot less intelligent than I'd ever thought. First, I tried welding it in the car, with fiberglass blankets to protect from burns. That was stupid, and it was pretty clear pretty soon that that wasn't going to work. So I decided I'd take the mirror off and put it in a vise. It came off with the pressure from a razor blade underneath it. No problem. And I happened to have an extra pack of the rear-view mirror glue, so I was going to be able to put it back on without losing the time of a trip to the parts store.
About the time I'd welded and ground and had the fitting snap loose again for probably the third time, I made my big 'I'm such an idiot' discovery: there in the neck of the thing was the set screw that tightens the neck down into the base. Of course, by the time I discovered it there, I'd already boogered the whole assembly up with some terrible pot-metal-melting welds, but I'd also cooked the set screw so it no longer even turned.
No matter, I got it so it was stiff, at least -- just not very pretty.
Glued it on. Waited a few minutes for it to really set -- and then saw that I was right back where I started, with the camera still crooked. By this point, I guess I was getting angry -- because I 'adjusted' the clamp that holds the camera with enough force to -- you're maybe guessing it...
...crack the freakin' windshield.
Just that kind of morning.
There's no real silver lining to be found in breaking your own windshield. I tried to convince myself that it had two pretty gnarly stone chips and enough sand-blasting from track use to merit replacement. But still, I would have rather replaced it on my own schedule.
But I got a new one put in today. It was cheap enough that I also replaced the one in my Jeep, which I'd cracked almost 8 years ago while hauling wheels and tires for the race car. It's nice to have that fixed, finally. And to also know I really got my money's worth out of that original-to-1983 windshield.
But I'm still mad about the Porsche windshield.
But what are you going to do? After the guy put the new glass in, I cleaned it off, put on a new sun visor piece, and took it out for a spin before lunch -- with the camera finally level and where I wanted it. Here are a few still pictures I took while I was out:
You'll notice a nice and clean windshield on the thing.
bacarl
Well-known member
Hey Rob, do us all a favor and don't quote back these long posts full of pictures! It's not necessary for your response and it makes for a lot of unnecessary scrolling. Just a pet peeve, TIA.
It's not necessary for your response and it makes for a lot of unnecessary scrolling. Just a pet peeve, TIA.
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