Wow, 280k!
I let mine go after 153k miles of commuting. One of the best cars I've ever owned. V-6 model EX-L 4-dr. Ran great, didn't burn oil at all, but the trans gaskets decided they'd had enough so it left oil all over the driveway. Trans still shifted like new too.

Looks great, Les!

Got mine done too.

2 sheets of polyester resin board instead of the plywood. :p

Ours is a 4cyl EX. It uses about a quart every oil change. It's been that way since we got it at 165K for $200. If I put a real heavy weight oil in, it burns less.

280K, it hasn't caught up with the 2000 Camry v6 that has been parked for nearly 2 years. It has 360K. I am, very slowly, changing the transmission. Shifted fine, but the differential gears were toasted. It would bang going from P to R and R to D sometimes. Once I had it lifted off the ground, I could spin one wheel freely and the other didn't move if the internal diff gears were in a certain orientation. No bueno.

I have a backlog of bikes to fix.

Young friend (the one who’s shopping for a Forestor) crashed her bike for the second time on the Portland Streetcar tracks. I can’t understand crashing on tracks once, much less twice. They are plainly visible and not moving, after all. I gave her this bike, a 1970s lugged Nishiki touring bike with triple crank and cantilever brakes, that I picked up for $45 at a garage sale, because it is good quality and was in fine condition, then stashed in my garage until someone needed it. She was embarassed and took it to a bike shop to fix after the first crash. When I heard about the second crash, I told her to bring it to me. The damage was trivial - stem misaligned and front fender rubbing. So I fixed those things and gave it a once over, tomorrow I’ll pick up some lights for it and return it to her.

My son’s college bike needed fixing. This was his high school bike too. It is a 1986 Peugeot PX with SLX tubes and full Mavic group, quite the racebike in its day. I bought it for $150 from a guy who was happy it was going to someone who would appreciate it, laced NOS MA-40 rimes to the original Mavic hubs and butted spokes, lectured my son about proper locking technique, and it survived four years locked up outside a high school with no theft. Now it is nicely camouflaged by its chipped decals and flaking chrome, but still rides like a performance machine. Adjusted fenders, shifters, lubricated, rims are still true. Later this week I’ll replace the cabling and housing, install new lights, and he’ll come up from college and load it in his station wagon.

My daughter’s bike has a flat tire. This was her high school bike, and she never rode it, then her college bike, and she rode it only occasionally. It got a flat tire A YEAR AGO and she never got that fixed. Sigh. She claims to want to ride it now, uh huh. I won’t need to do any tune up - it probably has 10 miles since the last tune, four years ago.

And my own bikes have various things that need attention. It never ends.

I like working on bikes. Unlike cars and water heaters, I know what I’m doing, have all the tools and supplies, can work standing up in a garage with jazz playing, and nothing takes more than an evening or two.

I really enjoyed your post, John. You have a unique and gifted writing ability. Not the least of which is your excellent use of the King's English and terminology - especially in the category of bicycle maintenance and construction.

I also found your post inspiring and can tell you I need to (and intend to) step up my bicycle maintenance endeavours.

Thank you and look forward to more of your writings! SmileWavy

Well for anyone who shakes their head at all the free scores I bring home - today I am making use of two plastic patio-style tables to treat some plywood with preservative. I have some of those portable fold-up saw horses but to be honest - these tables work a whole lot better for this particular application.

One of the tables is rectangular and the other is round. Both have removable legs so can be easily stored when not in use.

This plywood is called "Utility" and is very lightweight but perfect for certain applications I have here where strength is not the priority but a barrier is.

They should be dry enough to flip over later today and give the other side a coat.

This Thompson's product was also free at the local landfill where homeowners drop off household "chemicals" they no longer want/need. I have several cans of it - some from other manufacturers but it all does the same thing.

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Some d*ckhead tore off the wife’s driver’s side mirror this weekend. No note, of course. She was upset. Ordered a non-OEM replacement for $30 and will install it. When her audio system failed the shop sent her to a car audio place who said repair required opening up the dash and would cost $1K. Ordered a used amplifier from eBay for $50 and replaced it in 15 minutes, and the amp is under the passenger seat not in the dash. DIY’ing is a PITA but does save money and, more importantly, deprives ripoff artists of opportunity.

I am quoting my earlier post as background for this:

I must have pissed off the lords of luck, or karma. I will never ever brag about a simple repair going just as is is supposed to. Last Friday in the middle of the day the koi pond pump stopped pumping. Usually that is the GFI circuit popping. I looked at the circuit for the sprinkler and koi pond and it was tripped. OK, simple fix, turn it on, and in two seconds it popped. Insert long string of profanity here. :(

So I started looking into what happened. Since I put all the stuff in 21 years ago, I have had no below ground issues at all, just the occasional dirty head or mower strike.

Bottom line I discovered a nest of ants had gone done the conduit into the ground to munch on the wires. It did not work out for them or me. Of course, finding the exact spot of the issue meant digging carefully in what is now a garden full of flowers and decorative plants. Our "soil" is clay. The top layer is good soil since my master garner wife likes to fill any area that is not yard with flowering plants. Of course the main area I had to dig up was right next to a Russian Sage and the honeybees were all over it. It sure is fun having bees buzzing around as I try t dig. It took me most of yesterday and until 1:00 PM today to get the system back up and running.

I installed the sprinkler system 21 years ago, and the back yard was just grass to mow. I had to adapt the system to work with the koi pond, and the wife planted stuff right on top of the system.

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Working on the woodpile this weekend.

My old ('02) Silverado got a leak in one of the transmission cooler lines. I got 2 new lines delivered but in the meantime put a splice in the line where the hole was.

Took a while to determine where the leak was - when that fluid comes out it ends up everywhere underneath! I let the truck sit for a day so everything could dry up, which helped me locate the leak.

It was right where one of the plastic holder clips was - which allows moisture to eat away at the metal.

Temporary fix.......
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These are the two lines where they attach to the radiator. You can see corrosion on the lines.....
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The new lines came in these huge boxes! :eek:
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trying to get this pile back on the road.

That brought back memories of working on my 930. I think I touched every nut and bolt over a 10 year period.

My son, and I changed the wheel bearings, and brake shoes on our 1988 Kawasaki Mule 1000. It is a 454 twin cylinder UTV with 2WD, but has differential lock, and a tilting bed. We also applied high heat JB Weld to the exhaust pin holes near the flange...much quieter now.

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Taking this in for instrument cert.

The plastic line making up the seat in our old patio chairs was deteriorating. I had wondered at my ability to recreate the seats in chord, knowing my skills did not lie in that direction.
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Then I remembered seeing some outdoor furniture which used aluminum strips to support wooden slats. Having just installed steel roofing on the barn, I had lots of steel scraps. Ditto for pine boards lying around in the shop. A few hours later, I have these.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600170137.jpg
Three coats of sealer later we should be good to go.
Best
Les

Greenhousehttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600272705.jpg

The toothpaste trick had previously no effect so I went mechanical. This is about halfway through.

I used a virgin Harbor Fright wheel (wet with water first) and some ancient white polishing compound.
The stick had dried out and become like chalk, so I scribbled a zigzag area, and spit on it a lot for good luck until it all blended.
The red polishing compound is more gritty.

Medium speed on the drill because the plastic did heat up fast but I used slow movements.
The cotton disk also expanded four times it's width. Maybe I should have soaked the disk. IDK.


This method took 4-15 applications to get closer to crystal clear.
It was "safe' to use.
(read: slow going and ineffective)

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I did use 1000 grit 3M wet on the left side to cut the film first, which was faster but that was not magic.
(1500 would have been better.)

Followed it up with Megiurs "ceramic wax' in the blue bottle....which is not magic either and will leave very obvious lines if not polished off instantly.
It does seem to last longer than Carnuba though.
The trees rain sap and dust constantly here.

The "before" side for comparison.
The right side was much worse and had deep splotches of oxidation.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600299817.jpg

Some temporary rustproofing.
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I originally wanted to spray with Eastwood frame paint or undercoating, but chose the lazy solution while the weather is still warm.

I used two cans of Fluid Film (lanolin spray wax probably similar to Waxoyl) from Menards on the important bits and surfaces.
-The outside of this tiny car probably needed at least 5 cans.
-The company also sells a 180deg 24" spray tube which will feed into frame rails when attached to a wire.

I got a bit on the critical exhaust points/bolts. Oops.
That was done on purpose.
First ran it a few blocks and let it evaporate off while cooling.
No fire but I had an extinguisher in the front seat just in case.


The Honda Fit is made of tin metal.
Lots of crevasses and connections..
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Have you considered spraying the lenses with clear paint? Really helps it last longer.

^^^^^ This. Companies that make car wax, treatments, etc. sell a clear spray for lenses that lasts longer and is UV resistant.