Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[Strouty]

I think the rear is plugged up with rust, but probably has a leak somewhere as well, caused by the rust. It was pretty gross, the only issue with the cascade is that you don't get to choose how many times you flush it, you have to keep doing it until all the suds are gone. This makes me think I am just not going to do it, I will just do a good flush and then add coolant to the system so that it won't freeze or rust even more. It isn't like I care about the engine anyways, between the oil pressure being 3 PSI at idle and 250k on the clock it isn''t going to win any awards.....

I am going to the Salvage Garage today, have to dig out some parts, Goldfender needs headlights and turn signals badly, they are so clouded up, I can barely see at night. I also have a set of power lock actuators that may get delivered today, so I will probably jump right into some interior work, may even swap out the driver side door glass, the current one is all scratched up. The good thing about doing this type of stuff to Glodfender is that it will all get swapped to the OGMC, so it is almost like I am working on that, at least that is how I am rationalizing it.

Next week I have some help, in theory, Dad wants me to use and train a younger neighborhood kid, he has done some work for Dad previously and seemed to be pretty thorough, I want to see if he will be worth hiring part time for summers and after school, I think he is going to be a junior, so we could use him for a while, making it worth putting a bit of effort into training him. He is supposed to be available Tuesday, but I have him coming in at 10, I have to deal with a conference call and didn't want to interrupt what we were doing. I figure I will use him to help sort things in the quonset hut and to setup the Lista storage wall as well, that should give me a chance to work with him and see what his skills currently are.

 

[Strouty]

Been picking things up a bit, I want to pull the Alaska (white) Burb inside so I can get the bumper and grill off it. Then depending on the time, I may start on Goldfender, but I think I know that will have to be another day, maybe tomorrow. I have enough to do over here that I could spend the next two days easily, so I may just plan on that, then Monday I can be back at the Hill to get things prepped for my new helper.



I am swapping to some shorter forks on the inside forklift, well the original one (white) I guess I should just call it Baker, then the orange one can be called Ponch.

 

[xtremek]

Young help that is good will be a real gift. And it sounds like you've got a productive plan for the next few days. I hope it works out better then you think.

 

[Strouty]

I don’t like overestimating what I can get done, I have been far too disappointed for far too long by making up great plans and time tables that never get met.

On a good note, the shorter forks are a bit wider, and because of that, they are thinner, makes grabbing things a bit easier. I still need to plumb up the side shift, then Baker will be about perfect for the inside of the Salvage Garage.

I got the new studded snow tires (that never got installed) up on the pallet rack so they are out of the way for the next few months. Almost enough room to pull the Alaska Burb inside and have space to work on all sides.



My stomach says it is lunchtime, I am contemplating going back to the Hill and picking up the tires and wheels that I can put on the Virginia Burb, it will be easier to move with some wheels on it, plus I need a place to put the wheels anyways, would that make it a win, win situation??

 

[harley jim]

It's so good to see you making solid progress again and I agree with you on over scheduling. I dont think any of us are as fast as we used to be and its disappointing to spend two weeks doing something I thought would be an easy week.

 

[Strouty]

High hopes!










I spent some time playing Tetris, got most everything out of the way now.







Baker and Ponch nested nicely in the Lista corner, I can still walk all the way around.

 

[Strouty]

I did some forklift maintenance, the Alaska Burb is inside, but I still haven’t had lunch so I am going to head out and get the tires from the Hill and some other interior trim removal tools, then I can head directly here tomorrow and start taking things apart. Also, looks like my power door lock actuators arrived, so I may be able to get those swapped tomorrow as well.

 

[Kev442]

Best thing I ever did for you was moan and groan until you took that steel storage racking down that was cutting you off from 1/2 your garage space.

Keep telling yourself its a shop and not a warehouse at both locations.

 

[Strouty]

I agree, that was a pretty terrible divider. At least most things in there now are easily movable. My list has the Freightliner getting disassembled and then the engine can go out into the conex box. The Virginia Burb chassis will be used for the OGMC project, unfortunately that means it will be inside for another winter, because there is no way I am going to get it started this year, way too many things going on right now, things that are much more important than that project. Besides, I want to keep driving Goldfender for a while now that I have invested some time and money into it.

I am pretty sure I need at least one more Conex and I will be dealing with it this fall, I want to get rid of two or three of the old truck bodies out back, they are not mouse proof, same with the moving van trailer. I had also intended to get rid of the office trailer too, that will take a bit more effort, but I will be needing the tools up at the Hill and there are some decent supplies that I can use too. I just can’t get myself stretched out too far, being able to spend even one day a week doing things like what I did today will keep me sane and keep forward progress.

 

[Strouty]

Since tomorrow looked like total **** weather, I decided to bring everything over to the SG now and get it unloaded before the rain started, except I miscalculated that, the rain had already started, oh well, everything is unloaded now.

I found a couple more things that need to be dealt with on Goldfender, the washer fluid was working fine, but it ran out, so I added new fluid, now it won’t spray at all? I guess it doesn’t matter, it was only spraying from one side anyways, so I had to dig into things, I can still hear the pump working, but it definitely isn’t spraying. I am thinking it could be plugged, but it also could be that it died and didn’t actually run out of fluid in the first place. Got to love old crappy vehicles.

 

[rmalkow2]

The shop is looking good. Looks like you’ve done a lot of organizing and still have space to get a vehicle inside to work on it.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks, once the wall of Lista (well, two walls) is up at the Hill, then I will be hauling more stuff out of the SG, it is going to become the fabrication shop. The Hill will be the main automotive/mechanical shop.

 

[Strouty]

The inevitable happened, will have to do more investigating tomorrow, but my mattress pad sprung a leak. it was in the area by my knees, looks lik it could be a defect, will talk to the manufacturer.

 

[xtremek]

Well that really *****. I hope you still got a decent nights sleep.

 

[steaks&anvils]

I hate sleeping on the wet spot.

 

[Strouty]

Luckily it is about 50 outside with rain, still slept hot, but the pillow kept things manageable, I had ordered extra pads so they will be here soon. I slept in a bit, but last night was a late one anyways.

 

[Strouty]

I can confirm it is a defect, one seam didn't get welded properly and it is leaking in multiple places. It is the only place that has leaked and the pillow is fine, so my guess is this is not a normal issue.

 

[Strouty]

At first I thought someone stole my hydro flask water jugs out of Goldfender, but humanity was redeemed (and I apologize), they were both under the rear seat. Glad of that. I had to grab some computer parts and cables, going to setup the computer again at the SG, I haven't had one there for over a year now, probably even longer. I will have to reconfigure some things, but it will be a good start to cleaning everything up. I need to be able to access the computer anyways, then I can easily interact with company business, making it more feasible to spend more time over there.

 

[xtremek]

Sounds like things are slowly moving forward. I'll be over ASAP to muck them up for you.

 

[Strouty]

Honestly, I don't even need your help to do that, save your gas......

 

[walrus]

Honestly, I don't even need your help to do that, save your gas......

Strouty, do you guys still do tower work. Another question how did your family get into that business? Up here I see NDC trucks all over.

 

[Strouty]

We pretty much only work on our own towers, NDC is one of the ones located around Bangor, so they do a lot of work up that way. My grandfather ran a Motorola radio shop and was into HAM radio, he actually had a bunch of small towers that he worked on, but then he bought a 400’ tower and it needed the bulbs changed, my Dad did it (at 15) and that was how it started. Dad took a break during the Vietnam war when he signed up, but other than that he has only done tower work. Of course you learn all kinds of trades as you go due to remote locations and custom made equipment. I started when I was little, built my first tower at 12, I think it was only 60’ tall. Basically every vacation day and most weekends I was on some job from about 14 on.

 

[walrus]

We pretty much only work on our own towers, NDC is one of the ones located around Bangor, so they do a lot of work up that way. My grandfather ran a Motorola radio shop and was into HAM radio, he actually had a bunch of small towers that he worked on, but then he bought a 400’ tower and it needed the bulbs changed, my Dad did it (at 15) and that was how it started. Dad took a break during the Vietnam war when he signed up, but other than that he has only done tower work. Of course you learn all kinds of trades as you go due to remote locations and custom made equipment. I started when I was little, built my first tower at 12, I think it was only 60’ tall. Basically every vacation day and most weekends I was on some job from about 14 on.

After seeing the pics of your arms after surgery I'm thinking you don't even want to climb a step ladder I can't even imagine climbing a 400ft tower. Local radio station, WKIT, Stephen Kings station has a tower that high?? Seen the guy changing bulbs on it.

 

[Strouty]

I should have taken some pictures before I started, but I have moved some stuff around, I want the entire bench space cleared off, moving the stainless shelving unit into the “office” space. Once I clear that out, I can mount the computer to the wall, that should give me a nice space to work from, it has wireless internet and the printer is wireless too. My intent was to be using this bench for RC stuff, but I haven’t had any time for it since moving primarily to the Hill. Like I always say, this winter will be different hopefully I can make that actually happen this year.

 

[Strouty]

After seeing the pics of your arms after surgery I'm thinking you don't even want to climb a step ladder I can't even imagine climbing a 400ft tower. Local radio station, WKIT, Stephen Kings station has a tower that high?? Seen the guy changing bulbs on it.

I will still climb, it takes my fat *** a little longer, but it isn’t the worst thing I do. The view is usually pretty nice.

 

[Strouty]

Funny how you can never really do just one thing, as I find stuff on the bench more tasks appear out of thin air. I want to try and clear off all the flat surfaces and at least if things go back there, they will have a purposeful reason. A minute ago, I went to put some things in a drawer and it was clear that a rodent had been in there, had to vacuum out five drawers just to put one thing away, at least the bait blocks seem to have taken care of the rodents pretty well, I don’t see any new signs. Heck even out in the boxes there really aren’t any new signs, I guess I need to go though and refresh the bait traps.

 

[Strouty]

Getting better, but. Am not doing anything on the burbs and that kind of *****.

 

[Strouty]

I either used two people or I put that stainless shelf unit up on a good day, I had all I could do to get it down safely and I still feel like I am going to regret it tomorrow.

May least it looks like I have made progress now, just need to do a bit more cleaning, then I can set the computer up, not sure how much longer I will be here after that back breaking endeavor. Oh well.

 

[Strouty]

Clean!

 

[steaks&anvils]

Getting better, but. Am not doing anything on the burbs and that kind of *****.

Nice progress!

That SS shelf will go nicely in the house with your mid-century modern chairs! You can use it as a TV stand.

Wow, you have listas everywhere! and for every task!

 

[Strouty]

Yes, Listas for days….

Got the computer setup, but she don’t like me, I think two years of storage wiped something from the memory, I haven’t been able to get it to boot, so I will have to bring a bootable drive and probably my laptop to get it functioning. I need to head out for now, my GF said she needs me to take a trailer load of brush away, want to get it done before dark.



It is in a decent location, I can actual adjust it for sitting or standing. I will have to make some sort of cover for it, lots of dust gets created in the shop, especially when fabricating. Probably just use a trash bag for now.

 

[Kev442]

Usually a dead cmos battery stops my dells from booting after storage.

 

[harley jim]

Yep!

 

[Strouty]

I was thinking that, but I am pretty sure that it was replaced about three years ago, of course being turned off for over a year could be the culprit. We will see, I think I have some spare batteries, I am grabbing my computer tools now. Also might bring another computer, I have a couple ready to be upgraded, so it might be a good excuse to start now. Just adding to my pile!

 

[xtremek]

Nothing you do is ever straight forward, is it?

 

[Strouty]

That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?

 

[kaymccampbell]

Nice clean desk. Didn't you have an office at the SG?

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Dead computer + huge meat cleaver that was on shelf= stress relief.


Just sayin'

 

[Strouty]

There was an office there, still have the space, but I really want it to be my lunchroom, having the computer out there is going to be better as I will use it more for research and repairs not as much for office stuff.

I don’t get that worked up that I need the cleaver, yet.

I did end up spending more time in the office at the Hill, I had all my tools and things I needed, then I had to make a bootable installation drive and it took a while, then I got sidetracked and did some file sorting. In the end, it made no sense to get the dump trailer tonight, I will get it hooked up and ready to go tomorrow night, then I can hit the dump first thing Tuesday when they open. Tomorrow I need to take a trip up to the Camp to drop off a few things, picking up two more of the water ski chairs, and I need to bring home a couple trash cans. Then I can head back to the SG and try and get the computer working, but I don’t plan on wasting a lot of time if things start to go sideways, I have way too much to do and can’t afford to waste that time yet.

 

[xtremek]

I'm more of a laptop swimming lessons kind of guy.