While I am lucky enough to still be fully employed during this COVID19 pandemic the physical distancing measures certainly limit options during the weekends. Like many others I have tackled a few small projects which I will share below. I would invite anyone else to share what projects they have been up to in the comments. (Please keep any politics out of the comments, there are plenty of other outlets for that sort of discussion. Let’s keep it to projects only. Thank you in advance.)
While my work has got more busy with the work from home measures, that did not stop me from taking on two small projects. I bought this grille surround which I believe is from a 1928-1930 International Six Speed Special truck. It obviously needs some work but the logo is in nice shape. The intent of this mini project is to clean it up a bit with no certain outcome. I would love to find an old truck chassis, fabricate a body with this grille as the center piece of a home made hot rod. I still have the Austin A40 steering wheel which has a vintage vibe to it as well. That bigger project might be a long shot however so this might just be garage art in the end. We will see.
The International Six Speed Special truck was sold from 1928 to 1930 and is most known for its Eaton 2-speed rear axle which gave a total of six forward speeds when combined with its three speed manual transmission. Despite only being equipped with a 30hp four cylinder engine the trick rear axle allowed the truck to have a reasonable top speed for the era leading to brisk sales in the 1 ton market.
On my example near the top there was an annoying bend in the metal which I worked back straight with pliers.
A large number of the fins were bent over. I cannot imagine the cooling system functioned all that well in this condition. Taking a flat head screw driver (and gloves to prevent cuts) I was able to pry them back into shape.
Now that the fins were more straight it uplifted the overall appearance quite a bit.
There was a neck coming off the bottom of the radiator that prevented the whole unit from sitting flat. After some lube the bolts came off surprisingly easy. The neck itself had a hole in it and showed signs of a previous repair.
I am not sure about everyone else but I find engineering solutions like this fascinating. A shoe lace type piece of material was used to keep the hood vibrating on the grille surround.
Here is the bottom mount.
The next task was to separate the surround from the radiator. Unfortunately it was held on with a nut and a bolt with a flat head screw like head. Who knows how many decades they had been together.
There were eight of these bolts and I had low expectations of getting them all off. Lots of penetrating fluid was used and amazingly only two succumbed to the angle grinder’s wrath.
The radiator was free but I now saw that one of the supports was broken as a result of a repair from the past that did not hold up. Unfortunately brushing off the flaky chrome meant large portions of it came off in chunks taking the patina option off the table.
There was an old and very poorly done repair in the lower left corner which I had to grind down and then add a little filler to smooth. Not perfect but I did not want to attempt re-welding this 90+ year grille surround. I also was able to knock out quite a few dents which were hidden by the flaky chrome previously. Spring came very late this year so once it finally warmed up a bit I was able to lay down some primer then paint which turned out a little more silver than I would have liked. In the end it came out quite well.
I ended up acquiring this wheel bearing cap as well as the hood from the same seller. The cap might make a nice grille surround mascot style topper.
I made a scale accurate 3D render in Blender 3D with my grill and a first generation Ford Ranger chassis plus a simple, from scratch built body. It would use the stock chassis only with the engine moved back and the steering shaft extended.
For the second project I took advantage of the brief glimpse of spring weather to re-finish some cheap wheels I had picked up. As I discussed in my Nissan Fairlady COAL I do not care for the chrome 20″ rims that came with the car. Apparently no else does either as I have tried to sell them with no luck so far but I bought these cheap rims over the winter.
The plan was to have a black center with a plain outside ring which meant lots of lots of masking work.
I used some scrap plastic from the new furniture my wife had bought plus masking tape.
Next the black paint went on.
Now the (simulated) bolt heads need cleaned off as they were impossible to mask off effectively.
This took some time but I scrapped paint off with flat head screw driver which worked quite well if a time consuming process.
From a distance and heavy dose of squinting the wheel sort of looks like an expensive multi-piece rim.
That should look quite good I think. Before fitting I need to replace the rear tires first as they are really bald.
So what projects have you been working on lately?
Nice job with those wheels !
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It’s beyond frustrating when it gets real. It forces a bunch of stuff to the surface, and lord, when it does…. Every second ends up worth it. I’m barely two months in and it’s invaluable. My heart is large, and I’m a people pleaser. Not only am I learning how to better “boundaries”, I’m also realizing my faults, and trying my best to own them. There is no better satisfaction in life than one you love telling you that the changes you want to make are visible, intangible, and positive.
That’s wonderful to hear!
When I heard about the possibility of quarantining, I bought paint and supplies to do my kitchen over. As a truck driver for a government contractor I have been designated as essential. No time off for quarantine. That’s OK though. I’m one of the lucky ones. My painting project will just take longer than I initially thought. Best wishes to all.
Even if I don’t sell it, my first project is fixing the minor cosmetic issues on the 2013 Ford Focus. I’ve already got the polish and orbital I need to take care of some very minor paint transfer, but the pads have yet to arrive because Amazon seems to be delaying some orders. Not a big deal because I need to get some touch up paint too. After that I’ll start seriously looking into selling the car on Carvana. We certainly don’t need 3 cars for 2 people and I don’t think this way of life is changing until there’s a vaccine. But I’m not dead set on ditching the car just yet. I’ll probably wait at least until June before I make the decision.
The Taurus has some pretty severe coolant leaks which I need to address. At the very least I’d like to get it in decent enough shape so I can drive it around my neighborhood every two weeks or so. I’m going to have to get coolant dye and a UV light at minimum so I can determine exactly where the leaks are coming from. Then drain and replace at least one hose and maybe the thermostat and temperature gauge sensor.
None of that stuff is expensive but I’m getting a lot less work these days so I’m hesitant about spending even a little bit of money. But it would be a good way to start wrenching on the car. And I hate how much the car sits now, especially because the bottom of the engine and axle are saturated with whatever fluids are leaking right now.
Well my 04 Sienna is leaking coolant from several places so I need to figure out if my neighbor and I can fix that ourselves. Also, there are oil leaks from the valve cover gasket so I’m going to watch You Tube videos so I can figure out how hard it is to replace that and the spark plugs as well.
Thanks David for sharing your projects.
I bet the spark plugs at the front are easy but the rears much less so.
I’m kinda ran out already. 1996 Ranger: front brakes, wheel bearings, and ball joints. Oh yeah, new headlights and trim, too. My son and I knocked them out 3 weeks ago.
The only low-hanging fruit left is the headliner and some paint repair – 90’s reformulation delamination (topcoats peeling revealing gray primer) issues mostly.
I decided to catch up on some overdue brake work on some of my vehicles. These included:
1991 Miata—-rear pads and rotors, new hardware, all 4 hydraulic hoses.
1992 Lebaron LX convertible: front pads, rotors and calipers; rear pads and rotors, new brake hardware for all. Parking brake shoes looked like new.
2004 Dakota V8—all new pads and rotors, front and rear, new parking brake shoes with new hardware and the front hydraulic hoses.
All parts were obtained from Rock Auto, though some (Miata) had been in my storage shed since 2014. That’s what I meant by overdue.
I have quite a pile of of old metal parts in my carport which await the reopening of the local transfer station for the landfill.
Actually, speaking of Blender… a couple months ago before Chicago went into lockdown I bought an online Blender course. I’ll probably start it this weekend.
Been doing lots of baking bread and cooking as well.
That’s a cool grill. My dad had a 1950’s international 1/2 ton that he recently sold.
I have gotten the brakes and oil changed in my 1984 Yamaha Riva. The brakes were really easy being drums which surprised me. It took longer to get the front wheel and bearings lined up then putting the shoes on.
I also managed to replace the torsion bar drag links on my eurovan. Had them sitting on the bench for the last year finally got them in. It went really well once I remembered to add a little dish soap to the new rubber bushings. I also repaired some missing clips and rollers on the curtains and threw some bleach in the water tank.
Next up is some brake work on the wife’s previa. It is probably due for a rear end and transmission flush by now.
I’ve been accumulating car projects for many years the same way a crazy cat-person collects cats. But family tasks and a demanding job has prevented me from completing them, for many years. Some projects have been languishing in storage for 15 years or more. I’m aware this degree of collecting is irrational for anyone without Jay Leno’s resources but it’s a life-long hobby.
When the quarantine first arrived, I bought parts and supplies to start on deferred repairs and upkeep on the 3 daily drivers, (2000 Volvo, 98 Lincoln, 93 Mercury) mostly ball joints, tie rods, timing belt, brakes, etc. Fortunately auto parts retailers here are still open and Rockauto still ships.
As those are completed, I’m moving to repairs and maintenance on the collectible cars. This pandemic is an unexpected gift of free time, providing opportunities to make progress on projects I thought would have to wait until my retirement to finish. Realistically that’s still the plan for some. But others are more attainable, I expect to have my Thunderbird, 77 Marquis and 83 Supra on the road for the summer.
Now that spring weather has finally arrived in my neck of the woods I have two cars that need some deep cleaning, summer tires to mount on the wife’s 2010 Fusion, an oil change for my 05 Jetta and some tidying up of the garage.
What I am really waiting for is to check out a 77 Granada. It’s priced right and I’m the only one at this point who has expressed an interest in it. The car was running and stored in a shed until two years ago. Few options but does have a 302 V8 and AC! I’ve had a brief look over and there are little things to do like the radio antenna, a new hood release cable and a broken side vent knob. The body is solid and the 1/4 vinyl roof in very decent condition. Unfortunately, I have to travel more than an hour to see it. If all goes according to plan I will drive out there in early May with my face mask and gloves along with a few tools. This would be an ideal summer project.
Nice grille David,
I’m just trying to keep up with work. It’s become a mad scramble to try and get projects done, invoices submitted and paid. Working from home the day just seems to fly by, and not in a good way.
I am still looking for my leatherman tool if that’s a project, although I’m hoping I left it in my office.
Back in February I had suggested to some fellow CC’ers that we should all buy plastic car model kits, build them and do a post on the progress and results. Everyone I emailed said “Good idea, but I’m too busy”
Too bad we didn’t go out and buy the stuff, may have had some extra time these days.
I have several unbuilt kits as well as two partially-completed ones (XB-70 and a Cessna 172 that I’m painting like the one I had part-ownership in back when I was flying regularly). But they and all my building gear are 10 hours away at our new house while I’m working on the farmhouse.
I must’ve missed your suggestion, Doug, but never mind, it’s pretty much model car central here! No new purchases needed. So here’s what I’m working on.
The XJ220 just needs the black side strips. The Cobra needs the windshield and a few decals. The VW Westie and ’66 Galaxie have a bit further to go, and are awaiting a paint delivery, maybe tomorrow. My favourite internet hobby shop is still doing mail orders.
I don’t remember reading about the group build, but I bought a bunch of old 1/72 scale kits that were the same exact planes and companies that I built (Hawk Spitfire and Zero, Hasegawa B-17, Monogram white box fighters like the P-36 and P-51B Mustang) when I was a kid to keep busy…then along came a girlfriend and she and I have been taking up each other’s time. Kit progress will just be slower. The first will be that Mk.22 Spit…
You didn`t hear about it, I`d just asked a couple of people if they thought it was a good idea on personal emails.
I have an F6F Hellcat model in the closet that must have been there over 10 years, but no supplies.
I’ve got four medium size U-haul boxes stuffed with un-built models. Mostly 1/48 American planes and some 1/700 American carriers.
Not as ambitious as your projects David, but I am about to do something I’ve never done to a car… drain and refill its transmission fluid.
My wife’s Lancer, with the CVT I like to complain about, has about 90K on it now (89,936 as of my last drive in it). It’s never been drained and refilled, and there is no recommendation to do so in the owner’s manual.
Normally, I am old school and think it’s best to leave a transmission alone if you aren’t having problems with it.
I took this approach with my Mustang (as its interval was 125K according to its manual), and it’s the only car in which I’ve had a transmission fail, albeit at a high odometer reading. Rebuilt at about 170K, it shifts perfect now.
But when I got the Honda, its CVT (which I like unlike my wife’s) has a recommended fluid drain and refill interval of 30K. That seemed crazy to me, and since I drive it mostly on the highway, I stretched that to about 42K. So I suppose I’m good until 84K.
So off to YouTube I went… Wow, it looks as easy as an oil change to do her 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer. The hardest part looks to be getting the better part of 5 quarts of transmission fluid down into the only hole provided… the dipstick tube.
So I bought a new funnel for it as the one that I have was purchased when I was 19. That was 41 years ago! The funnel has a split in the plastic, and I thought it best to get a new one that will hold a whole quart. I’ll still pour it very slowly.
So, any tips out there for me embarking on a never attempted maintenance item? ;o)
Just waiting on the delivery from Advance Auto Parts of 5 quarts of Valvoline Full Synthetic CVT Fluid and the new Funnel.
Now I need to find my 19mm wrench for its drain plug….
Very nice grille. And I like that rendering of your proposed rod with it.
I’ve been remodeling one of the rooms in our house. Chipped away at the original 1929 linoleum to remove it (had its backing felt tested for asbestos first; negative). Two skim coats on the pimply “sand finish” plaster to make it smooth. Paint, including a ragged-on second different color on top of the base wall color, to add depth and interest. Today (or tomorrow) I rent a floor sander; won’t be hard as the fir is virginal, since the linoleum was put down when built.
True confessions: we just got back from a lovely three day trip in the van down to Southern Oregon, and back up the coast. Had to go down on business, and turned it into a mini-vacation to ease the cabin fever some. The traffic reminded me of the good old days; it’s going to be a bit painful to see it come back. Only annoying thing was all the closed parks/waysides along the coast. I can see certain restrictions making sense, but not being able to stop and stretch ones legs on a trail….Not that we didn’t find some anyway, and the endless beaches were even more deserted than usual.
All our walking trails locally are closed. The fine is $750 🙁
That’s pretty harsh. Fortunately the place where we hike almost every other day, a small “mountain” with a huge open space around it and lots of trails is open, along with other county parks and city parks, with distancing rules. Eugenians are avid outdoorsians, and it really isn’t exactly difficult to step off the trail a few steps to let someone come by.
And of course there’s vast numbers of trails up in the mountains/river sides/lakes open, as long as the trailhead isn’t an “improved site”, which technically are to be closed by the Forest service. So we’ve been hiking very regularly and avidly. 🙂
Oregon is at the bottom of the infection rate per population of all the states. Folks are doing too good of a job!
Duh. Ever thought about why they’re closed?
Yes, as a matter of fact. I probably spend well over an hour a day on keeping up with all of the salient issues. And it’s hardly a black and white one.
Different jurisdictions have different opinions on hiking. Some obviously want to discourage it. Others, including our city and county, feel that walking, fresh air, and getting out into nature is important to help keep folks healthy, physically and mentally. There’s no single answer.
And since this isn’t going away any time soon at all, it’s going to be necessary to increasingly have more nuanced guidelines about what the relative risks in various activities.
As I said, Oregon is at the bottom in the US in infection rates, thus a slightly higher level of relatively safe recreation seems to be called for. And apparently that’s what will likely happen here soon.
If you just made that comment to try to shame me, good luck. I don’t shame easily.
The interesting thing is that in WA the Governor has specifically stated that walking/hiking/bike riding is considered an essential activity, however there are lots of parks, including state owned ones, that are closed. There are a couple of popular trail heads near me and the parking lots have the gates closed or entrances blocked. Of course what that means is that all of those people are parking on the street, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they start handing out fines. The fact that so many parks were overrun the weekend after the Governor said that people should voluntarily limit travel and practice physical distancing did weigh into the decision to move forward with the shut down.
Same here, regarding outdoor exercise. But there’s inconsistency in the application.
I’m not worked up over this at all; it’s mostly understandable. Given the major missteps in the federal PPP and unemployment undertakings, this small potatoes. But ideally there would be more nuance in these issues, as exercise really is vital for both physical and mental health.
It’s really not hard to maintain 6′ distancing on trails; one party just steps off the trail to let the other pass. Much less exposure than going shopping. And the more trails are open, the less density.
I understand not encouraging mass socialization like the beach parties in Florida, but that’s definitely not an issue here. Our beaches, especially down in Southern Oregon, are always sparse with people.
But I can fully understand that might not be the case in other areas.
I am doing a body off frame restoration on a 1976 F150 4×4. It is an original red truck with Ranger trim package, 360 4 spd. With factory air. I have blasted and painted the frame, gone through the engine, trany, dif and suspension. New floor and cab mounts, doors are fixed. I have one fender and the box to go. I started last July. Should be driving by summer. The truck was rusted out but very well cared for so it made everything much easier. I am the second owner of this 95,000 mile farm truck.
The International radiator seems like it was a fun project. Looks great.
For me, I want to change the transmission fluid and headlights in the Matrix. I’m concerned about the headlamp replacements since I can’t afford OEM parts (which are close to $300 each side), but I don’t want to spend even $200 for a pair and find that the cheaper units have some serious flaws, either. Like the left headlamp on my brand new 2001 S10. So here I sit for now.
You might want to try one of those headlight polishing kits that attach to a cordless drill. Just be careful to mask off the edges if the paint around the headlights is still good. I have had good luck on my Altima and previa using one of these kits. The only problem is you have to redo it every year or two. But it is usually only the polishing compound needed for follow ups.
First, I spend 3 hours in my office four days a week. Saturdays are spent on the USS Hornet as that never changes even if closed. My one car project is to change out the bushings on the I beam axle of my 65 F-100.
Then I have decided to scan every film negative I have since 1966. May not find all of them but I have found conservatively around a thousand. Several capturing cars in 1972-73. Many I don’t recall taking and many where a print was never made. Pic below I don’t ever remember taking but it came back to me as it is called Sunset Cliffs where one would go to watch the submarine races late, late at night. I believe I am recording important spots in my life when 19 years old. Even has my car.
Beautiful shot! I would love to see you post these properly here.
Properly? Of which shots? The ones with cars from 1973 in San Diego. Heck, I ran into shots of the Queen, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Martina, Arthur at Wimbledon. When I got my first real camera, not a cheap point and shoot, I shot tons of pictures and learned on the way how to operate a camera with choices. Such as this April 18, 1976 @ 5:12 am. I saw it yesterday for the first time. Developed, never printed, and put away.
In a post, of their own. Cars and not just cars. We all love to time travel, and CA in the early ’70s was a place many of us either wanted to be or were.
Please share these, with and without cars.
This is a great shot at Lotta’s Fountain on the 70th anniversary of the 1906 Quake. I can just imagine what else you might have.
Nice! I agree a CC article of your 70’s car shots would be really cool.
As I’ve noted in other comments, I retired at the end of January (just in time, it seems). We had purchased a new home in TN near our son and grandkids, and got the bulk of our furniture, etc. transported down just before both States implemented lockdown orders. Thankfully, real estate and construction activities are “essential,” so I’ve been able to make material runs, and we’re showing the farmhouse fairly regularly.
We’d remodeled all but three (out of five) bedrooms over the 18+ years we lived here, so that’s been taking up a good bit of my time. All three had to be torn out (plaster was too far gone to patch, and I also needed to rewire), and are now drywalled, painted and light fixtures are installed. Just started putting down underlayment last night and then all that’s left is trim and paint for same.
We used 12×12 ceramic tile in the kitchen, and unfortunately a number of them cracked within a year of installation. I found a whole box of leftovers in the machine shed, so that was another large project – chipping out the bad ones, scraping the mortar down to the subfloor, then installing and grouting the replacements. I need to make a really strong pot of coffee now to stain the new grout to match the older sections. While I was working the kitchen, I also put new reverse osmosis filters in the undersink unit.
On the exterior, we scraped all the trim and repainted. There were a couple spots that had some rot at the bottom, so I cut those out and fitted in new.
Shower tiles in the bathrooms needed some regrouting in places, so that got done while I was doing the kitchen floor. Also did some ceiling repair where the drywall tape was starting to peel from humidity.
We thoroughly cleaned the cellar, as well as the walk up attic and I installed a new handrail on the entry steps from the parking pad.
Finally, I pulled the faded carpet out of the living room, and will replace it with engineered wood flooring.
Our goal is to have the list complete by the end of the month, at which point I start shuttling everything in my shop and the machine sheds to the new place.
It makes me tired just writing all this up! I’ve lost 20lb. since retiring, simply because I’m much more physically active now.
New rear cam seal and front brakes on the 2004 Civic. Calipers rotors and pads. Also still chasing a frustrating rain water leak on the Civic. Replaced two light bulbs in the dashboard on the 2007 Odyssey, It took a couple of hours to do that without breaking anything. Rotated the tires on the G37X. Still need to change the brake and power steering fluid in the 2011 CR-V. Also need to change the oil and rotate the tires on the 2000 Mustang.
I Have not been rushing too much due to continued cold weather and a lot of time on my hands. I am trying with limited success to get my 17 year old son engaged in learning how to do these things.
State parks are closed, most hiking is out for now. We did get out kayaking yesterday.
Keeping up with my university courses (Mechanical Engineering) from home and tackling procrastination at the same time is just enough of a task for me. I try to be active and not to let the mountain bike rest for more than a day, even if only for a shorter ride.
As for the projects – sadly none are automotive related, changing the battery and audio jack in my phone was my biggest project since the lockdown started. I might change the winter tires on the family car, it is getting warmer here.
Nothing automotive yet, but I hope to get in the garage soon. I’m fortunate my work schedule hasn’t changed, though, so I’m not really homebound.
I have tackled a big backyard drainage project, installing about 130ft of drains, piping and a portion of french drain. Also relocating some sprinkler heads and installing a new water faucet in the yard supplied by the (cheaper water) sprinkler main. My shovel and I have become very well acquainted!
I have been working for the last month to find and install a working tape player into the Vanagon. It has been a bad joke of an outing thus far. After I broke a Blaupunkt (a Malaysian one, so don’t feel bad), I bought two VW OEM Clarions and an Audi stereo only to realize that I would need a Monsoon amp to run the former. Next, I bought two Panasonics off of eBay and both were broken. One kept auto-reversing and chewing up tapes, and the other arrived with a fried connection on the radio side of the pins where the harness plugs in. I got my money back on both of those units.
I resorted to buying a new-old stock JVC that will hopefully end my problems. I’m not looking forward to hacking and splicing again for the n-th time, but that’s how it goes.
We had started a home renovation project, had the shower torn out of the master bedroom just before the lockdown. After three weeks we were able to get that replaced. The big job was to replace the flooring through out the house. That meant emptying out all the furniture, book cases. shelving cabinets, closets etc. My Wife is a crafter/artist so the house was full of ” stuff”. Where did all this stuff go? Into the garage of course. Both of my cars had to go outside and we’ve had to postpone the floors for a month. I’ve been doing some painting, redoing all the 14ft. ceilings has been a lot of “fun”. My car related projects has been keeping the batteries up on the fleet. I’m doing very little driving.
Luckily I’ve been retired for a long time, but I’ve been working for the last thirteen years and I’ve been off of work for a month so far. My tenants all paid the rent last month, but who knows about next month?
Building a vehicle around a grille surround is an ambitious project but is fun to think about. I had found a late thirties/ early forties big truck radiator housing that I thought would make a great start for a Speedster project. I should have bought it. Dreams are better than reality, at least for now. Stay safe.
I used to have a radiator shell from a 1930s Brockway truck which was painted and part of an art proiject. It had the same sort of fabric on the edges.
My recent project was getting a working CD player in my new used truck since the factory unit stopped working. Fortunately I had a single DIN head unit from a previous car so all I needed was a double DIN adapter and a wiring harness. Next on the list is a through cleaning of the truck and the spare set of wheels. so I can have the correct wheels on the truck and the other ones for winter duty and finally my 1978 BMW R100S needs an oil filter and valve adjustment.
Next to almost futile efforts to use the free time for leaning harder on my late studies i re-discovered my bike collection, finally sourced a work stand in the local classifieds and am overhauling a vintage 5-speed gear hub which is destined to replace the derailleur on my primary around-town bike.
Alongside my ’88 Passat Variant got a new suspension, tires and new-to-me wheels and awaits a transmission swap to get rid of the noisy differential. Next up is refurbishing the sun roof mechanicals and some minor body work. When it is finally up to snuff there is also my trusty mx-5 which had to wait too long already for new shocks and suspension bushings.
I’ve been dragging all this for months and years already and my inner grease monkey is unleashed and having the time of his life.
I just finished putting new upholstery and foam on the front seats in my’65 Chrysler. About to start working on the rear.
For me it’s pretty much business as usual, as I don’t tend to go out much. There’s always plenty to do in the garden, but what with the onset of the ‘colder’ weather it’s not always pleasant to be out there. We’re picking figs and late apples at the moment. It’s lovely just to be able to walk up to a tree, reach under the bird netting and pick an apple!
My writing group is now meeting on Zoom once a week instead of fortnightly at the library. Still the same mad characters, and just as chatty as ever. Our third anthology is now at the printers – but who knows when we’ll see it?
Aside from that, my days are mostly filled with re-reading favourites from my library, writing various fiction pieces and trying to finish my novel, and as always working on model cars.
42 degrees yesterday on my shaded home thermometer; officially 37. It snowed, melted as it hit the ground. 34 degrees on the home thermometer today, there were visible snowflakes in the air. Not thrilled with being outside, but it’s do-able. Down to 80 gallons of propane in the home tank. Spring better get here soon. Gasoline prices are way down, but propane costs the same as two months ago.
I’m pulling all the broken tools out of the Old Toolbox, and trying to whip them into shape, or get them warranty-exchanged for functional tools.
Bought a large number and sizes of Torx, Philips, and straight-blade bits from my favorite tool seller on eBay. The seller buys distressed merchandise; in this case most of these bits were USA-production but packaged under defunct brand names. Popped a small mountain of nice, new Torx bits into Torx sockets–almost all of them are ready for use now. Discovered that NAPA no longer services Allen-wrench style (Hex-driver, for socket-head cap screws) bits for the “NAPA”-branded Hex-driver sockets. The new brand (Carlyle, mostly made-in-Asia) is designed differently so the new bits don’t fit the older NAPA (mostly made in the USA by the companies that became APEX–Danaher and before that, Easco, I guess) sockets. I may be S-O-L on those. The Easco/Danaher/Apex tool conglomerate also has/had about two dozen other tool brand names, plus “private label” brands under the Apex umbrella; they build a huge amount of the Sears Craftsman line; the “old” Menards MasterCraft, some of the Lowe’s Kobalt tools, Armstrong, some MATCO stuff…they were HUGE. Mismanaged practically to death; then the umbrella company shifted production to the Far East.
Tried to get “repair kits” for two busted NAPA ratchets; of course the repair kits are as discontinued as the hex bits. NAPA is ordering a similar Carlyle ratchet for one of them; strangely they had a Carlyle replacement for the other but they wouldn’t let me leave with it–I get them both tomorrow even though one was in-stock today. Go figure. The local NAPA is not happy that I want replacements for “Lifetime Warranty” discontinued tools based on today’s interaction.
Tried to get ahold of the local Snap-On and Mac Tools representatives. Snap-On isn’t answering his phone today. I don’t have a number for the Mac dealer–I did all my business with the previous dealer, then he went and retired after 50 or more years of selling. I met the new guy once, then lost his business card. I need replacement stuff from Snappy and Mac, too.
All my ratchets (the ones that work) are getting taken apart, cleaned and lubed. Eventually, I’ll clean the grime off the tool box, fix a drawer slide, fix the latch and struts on the top cover, clean and lube all the drawer slides, and put new drawer liners in. Then the tools go back in, a place for everything and everything in it’s place. (Until the next time it gets used.)
Bought replacement O-rings for an aftermarket engine bypass oil filter. I’m finding lots of “little stuff” that broke or wore out or needs “attention”, and which got put to the side “for later”. Well…it’s “later” now.
Gotta reinflate low tires on the Mothball Fleet. The Toronado is listing to port.
Will have to remove snow blower attachment, and re-install mower deck on the itty-bitty John Deere. New battery, too. And another leaking tire to be replaced.
The walk-behind snow blower needs new belts and tires. Already got a new carburetor ’cause the float got porous at the solder seam and filled with gasoline.
I should go out and do some of this crap, instead of playing on the computer.
Keep your determination to get your warranties honored.
I haven’t done any car stuff but I did finish building a wooden wagon for my granddaughters. Now I just have to varnish it. I probably spent about three times what a Chinese-made Radio Flyer would have cost.