2024: What are you doing today?

[kb426]

It will be 2 years this month since I sold the gray 51 that Matt's project inspired the grille on. The custom grille on those trucks tends to be my favorite part. O&S decided he needed a little exercise. I ordered tires for the Dakota. They had 23 date codes but had been stored in a stack in the warehouse. I pulled one tire yesterday and gave up trying to seat a bead on a new tire after an hour. I put pieces of wood in the inside to spread and left it for 18 hours. That widened the gap some but not enough to be easy. I had to have 110lbs. or better in the bead blaster to get them to expand. After 2.5 hours of exercise, I have tires again. The last set went 5 years so I expect theses to do the same. Or the truck be replaced at some point or the driver be replaced. LOL.

[chimp koose]

That pipe trick works for gophers too. Spent yesterday cleaning my t parts for epoxy. Zinc prime first followed by epoxy . All fenders , running board aprons , hood shelves and lower rad cover are done . I have a few dents to deal with on the trunk lid and then it and the hood sides will be done in epoxy as well. All these parts are destined for the garage attic so trying to make them least likely to rust while they are up there. Have not done any work on this car since I built the engine for it while covid was upon us .

[jaybee]

@tony, that rats nest of wires is terrifying! I think that beats the wall plug I found at my Des Moines house that was wired with power tool cord.

[kb426]

O&S did something today that should have been done a long time ago. Back in about 2000, I built a bead breaker for changing bike tires. Since then I have lengthened it and use it on 17" and smaller car tires. It is actuated by some acme thread with a 1.25" nut that has many inches of stem sticking through it depending on what size of tire is being busted. I have been turning this nut by a wrench for all of these years. (slow learner) Today I picked up a impact deep socket and started machining. The socket was cut into 2 pieces and machined for an insert pilot in the tubing. The tubing is left over steering column from the 48 chevy. The 2 parts were pressed into the tubing and welded. After it cooled, I put it into the lathe and made sure there were no sharp points that might grab some skin while running it with an impact wrench. I had some left over gray wheel paint which became the color of choice. I just finished changing tires so who knows when It might get used but unless I forget where I stored it, the tire changing should be a little easier.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

On side projects for this house..  Many of the light fixtures of florescence tube type 4 and 8 foot lengths. They look like they were used before  installed here? Markings on them like "OK " or "good" , etc. Couple 4 foot tube fixtures  are like the guy took the guts out of the fixture and screwed the parts to the bench? Raw wires hanging out .  LOL

On the 8 foot fixture the tubes were a recessed 2 pin design. Not the common exposed 2 pin or the single pin design.. I did some searches, measure twice or 3 times with the online search.  I bought 1 set of what is called "Tombstone design" socket for single pin as I wanted.  Test fit was surprising. The modern part fix my olde fixtures perfect.

I ordered a box of 12 pairs of the sockets.  Today I converted the fixtures on 2 of the 8 foot units.  LED ballast bypass tubes with 5k daylite color.  They are awesome. Now to get time to modify the other fixtures in the shop.  LOL , get spare time?  Where?

This afternoon, I converted the four foot  fixtures with 4 tubes each  in the 2 car garage on the house. These only required the ballast removed and a re-wire.. Only 1 fixture worked , sorta..    Results are the same as the shop:  awesome.  Both fixtures function now. 

[58 Yeoman]

I changed the outlets in the kitchen today to the newer style, mainly because I'm updating our house to code for when we sell it in the far future. We have outlets on both sides of the sink without the gfic outlets, so I changed them all so they'd match. Each of the outlets are on separate circuits, so I needed two.  I'd already done the ones in the main bathroom years ago; again, outlets on both sides, and both on different circuits.

When we had the kitchen remodeled this year, the range hood needed a larger exhaust vent, so we had it put through the roof like it should've been done 45 years ago, instead of into the attic.  Same thing with the bathroom vent when the roof was replaced last month after a storm went through in August.  I've lived here 16 years, just takes me a while to catch up.

[idrivejunk]

Hey Frank, you may be right.  That would come as no surprise, you are a clever man.

I just had the presence of mind to glance at the labor rate sign posted in the office at work. I've always made it a point to not look, for 14 3/4 years. This market has absolutely exploded in that time, making a relative number tough to pin down. But it said 85. 95, mechanical. I think 136 for media blasting.

So your assumption is probably sensible. We offer an affordable service for those with marginal specimens and the shop has done so for 20 years. A solid climb and a rough go. But here we are with the rest of the office papered in feature articles on plaques. I played a big part by staying, probably due to my laziness as a person. Can't be that way at work. Owning and running the shop has to be a nightmare so I try to be effective no matter the task. Thats the only way... to work like we are on flat rate.

About the time I left the crash world, mechanical and frame labor were lumped together on one rate so a bodyman installing  a radiator made like 80 while same task paid a mech tech 120. Then everyone went hourly and earnings potential went out the window. Insurance companies did that after Katrina wiped them out. Those changes hit painters the hardest.

Blah blah blah, credit where credit is due, blah. Its a living.  

[idrivejunk]

... aaand-

The reason we all think the 47 is not so bad is:

Such is all we know. We fix junk, unaware that rust free bodies for everything are still available. Don't know any better. Never seen it. Well maybe that recent 85 Jimmy job. But it is an 85 and already had rockers replaced. Semi-competently.

But lets face it. Most rustbucket bodies we start with include several pounds of excrement, rodent poison and nests / corpses, ant colonies, and wasp nests the size of pineapples. If you ask me, the sign needs another line for hazard cleanup. Because if a customer is unwilling to shovel dung out of a trunk first, that should cost extra. I presume the mentality there is well hey I have the money, I shouldn't have to lift a finger to save any. Take the vehicle, do the things, send a bill. Don't call to say it is full of rat turds, just bill me. Boss hands tech the job with no mention or acknowledgement of such. If he complains, thats asking for special treatment. I could get lathered up on that point. The right to refuse those presenting undue health hazaeds ought to be a thing.

[kb426]

Matt, you said a mouth full." Because if a customer is unwilling to shovel dung out of a trunk first, that should cost extra. I presume the mentality there is well hey I have the money, I shouldn't have to lift a finger to save any." That doesn't apply to me but it does in life in a huge manner. This forum has do it yourselfers. Are we a dying breed???

[58 Yeoman]

I was in the shop polishing some metal with the buffing wheels on the pedestal motor when sparks flew out of the outlet. Whoops. Looks like the old motor gave up the ghost.  I could mount the newer grinder motor, but it has shorter shafts, so I looked on Harbor Freight, and apparently, they quit selling them. Checked Craig's List tool section, and the very first ad was posted six hours ago for a HF buffer motor for $50.  I emailed and asked if he's available tomorrow. If he is, I think I'll stop by HF and get a couple new buffing wheels too.

[idrivejunk]

Matt, you said a mouth full." Because if a customer is unwilling to shovel dung out of a trunk first, that should cost extra. I presume the mentality there is well hey I have the money, I shouldn't have to lift a finger to save any." That doesn't apply to me but it does in life in a huge manner. This forum has do it yourselfers. Are we a dying breed???

In my humble opinion...DIY'ers in general, I'd say no. That is eternal, to the degree possible but it may usually be a trait learned from a waning pool of teachers and there will always be those who insist on DIY but should not even be allowed to touch tools. Automotive hobbyists, perhaps. V8 rodders, absolutely. One foot in the grave if you ask me.

Because as I reckon... In our civilization, the sweet spot for rodding activity fell in between the emergence and regulation of personal transportation technology built around fossil fuel.

Like cigs, or nukes. A way was found and used but in doing so it was found that we don't want to use that. Yet the technology actively remains. Until another method is developed for maintaining a global stalemate, future everyone is best off if we just stick to TNT until all agree war for territory is invalid. A world at war accelerated both nukes and gas tech. TV and tobacco were a match made in heaven so much slower to be eliminated from the mainstream. I'm the only smoker I know now. Gas, thats slower to fade as we grasp for alternatives and remain road-bound. So yeah, I think you pegged it square, Bill. The all will throw dirt on the ICE culture within a few generations by any means. Artifacts from our age will be as plentiful as the fossils we based them on.

However, by any propulsion means available, as long as there are wheeled personal vehicles and roads, their limits will continue to be pushed.

Plastic is going through the same process. The cause of, and solution to, all life's problems. That is not unlike alcohol but that my friends is here to stay. So is weed.

A tornado touched down within a mile or two of the shop this afternoon. We all split early. Those with wives left earlier and that proves out my theory about childless loners having less rights or less consideration on matters of safety. I just hope the twisty missed the shop. Took out a couple houses at least, on the other side of a tiny airport from us. Memorial weekend tornadoes ripped up nearby areas in town in the middle of the night. The pics of this one on news reminded me of the enormous uncontrollable nearby toxic business fire plume that happened a couple weeks ago and took more than a week to extinguish even with all the king's horses and all the king's men.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I changed the outlets in the kitchen today to the newer style, mainly because I'm updating our house to code for when we sell it in the far future. We have outlets on both sides of the sink without the gfic outlets, so I changed them all so they'd match. Each of the outlets are on separate circuits, so I needed two.  I'd already done the ones in the main bathroom years ago; again, outlets on both sides, and both on different circuits.

Same here for GFCI outlets in the house.  There is only 1 GFCI outlet here and it is on the outside wall where I plug in the neon flash lights under the RV.  Those lights supposedly help to  keep varmints away ?

There are No GFCI in the bathrooms , kitchen yet.  They are on the "list"

Open grounds were common on areas the previous home owner modified the  electric here.  He must have thought the ground wire was not needed on outlets , light fixtures, light switches ? 

I bought a 100 of the green screws on Amazon to secure the bare ground wires to the poor wire routing  I am correcting here. I have used about a 15 screws so far on old work that I am fixing.

[WZ JUNK]

I added the last two boards to a workbench I started building over 50 years ago.  It is amazing what you can get done, if you stick to it. 

I have been busy voting at different polling places today

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Doing some simple work around the place.  Fixing small holes in the walls. Electrical boxes removed, I am filling the holes. Old thermostat removed, holes filled. Bedroom Doors hit the wall from No door stop, fixing the holes. I put boards behind the doors so they do not hit the wall again.

Changes to the air lines in the work shop. I added air fitting on black pipe atteched to the wall... Hooked to PVC pipe for air lines.

I have removed probably 200 feet of  wire from the attic alone. From old phone line to 10-2 romex lines , plus the 240 volt lines. There are the old plug in style phone jacks in every room of this house.  Bathrooms too.

  

[chimp koose]

put a set of new injectors in my 97 vortec , it was bleeding off fuel pressure and #7 plug was wet with fuel and a misfire on that cyl. Now still no start . fuel is 5 yrs old but it burned 1/2 tank of it before all this . I did put about 1 1/2 times the proper amount of sea foam in the tank just before it became a no start . before it would crank a bit before firing . New distributor and fuel pump was the fix from its 5 year slumber as the teeth on the dist were worn sharp. wtf?