Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[Baz]

Washed both the 850 and the Silverado plus planted 45 more palm seedlings.....now gonna enjoy some air conditioning and college football!







Check out this Echo Moth.......

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Jumped into leather dying. I'm not buying used shoes like tabby.
New mismatched factory defects in brown. One 9.5, the other 10, which strangely enough matches my feet. Attempts to match the shoes with colored polish failed. One shoe was reddish brown, the other dark flat brown. I've worn them to work twice.

All in.

Stripped in acetone, re-dyed in cordovan brown, routed/installed toe plates, and sanded down the sole on one to match the other.
Best part was not wearing gloves with the dye. Now my hands are permanent brown.

After stripping with acetone-

Slowly applying dye-

Sanding the larger shoes sole to match the smaller shoe-

routed out/installed toe plates-

gratuitous watch/first polish shot.

Incredible satisfaction making something you can actually wear at work.

[john70t]

A couple of "oh duh" moments:

Tenant had a toilet that kept running occasionally. Could see the water was rippling in the bowl. Tried cleaning the flapper. Put in a standard Corky rubber. Then went with a Kohler silicone. Then went with the FluidMaster Performax which has it's own seal and hinges. The instructions said to install at a ~60-90deg to the overflow tube which puts the hinges sideways. Then repacked the seal and installed it more centered to move with gravity. Then realized I'd previously adjusted the fill valve to have a higher level for better flush. The little tube going into the overflow tube will siphon water if it's below the tank water level. Snipped it shorter and all was good again. Only four tries and a lot of driving.

Friend stopped by and had a stuck ignition switch. He couldn't move the car. Key was well worn and the cylinder wiggled around. Drove to pick up a fresh profile replacement copy which didn't work either. Finally realized pressure from the steering wheel lock was binding the switch.

[A930Rocket]

Installed a new fuel pump. The 330ci is running again.

[oldE]

Got a message from the wife yesterday, "The light is out in Mom's fridge. "
Went into town for a replacement bulb and before I installed it, I noticed the switch was stuck.
Freed it up and called it done. Good thing too. I had bought the wrong type of bulb.

Best
Les

[Fast Freddy 944]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Jumped into leather dying. I'm not buying used shoes like tabby.
New mismatched factory defects in brown. One 9.5, the other 10, which strangely enough matches my feet. Attempts to match the shoes with colored polish failed. One shoe was reddish brown, the other dark flat brown. I've worn them to work twice.

All in.

Stripped in acetone, re-dyed in cordovan brown, routed/installed toe plates, and sanded down the sole on one to match the other.
Best part was not wearing gloves with the dye. Now my hands are permanent brown.

After stripping with acetone-

Slowly applying dye-

Sanding the larger shoes sole to match the smaller shoe-

routed out/installed toe plates-

gratuitous watch/first polish shot.

Incredible satisfaction making something you can actually wear at work.

Back in the 70's we used to joke and call those shoes "cat heads" LOL!

[A930Rocket]

Installed a factory steering wheel extension on the M3. Feels better with the seat back now.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Installed a factory steering wheel extension on the M3. Feels better with the seat back now.

So how did you extend the wiring harness?

[john70t]

Originally Posted by billybek

So how did you extend the wiring harness?

German plastic wire connector I think that is next on his list
---------

I learned a little more about plumbing..considering their $1,000 quote for sub$100 in parts did not fit the budget.
It was a FU quote from a company I've done business with many times and on good terms. So disappointed. The old man was crotchety.
Contractors are pretty busy these days.

There are usually 3 types of shut-off valve connectors:
1). Solder on. This is a pain obviously and needs enough room to not run to the fire extinguisher. Sharkbites seem to be popular but I've never used them.
2). Compression nut. If they are not round or damaged the brass ferrules can be carefully sawed off to split and the pipe stub cleaned up smoother with emory cloth. If in good condition the ends can be re-used. Add a very thin smear of plumber's paste at the very outer threads (plumber's putty is only for creating base gaskets). Nothing should interfere with the threading. It's just a backup.
3). Screw on. A threaded piece of pipe thread sticks out of the wall. Look for the lack of a split which indicates #2. These are old style and not common.

There are usually 3 sizes of shut-off valve connectors:
1). 3/8". Old style and difficult to find.
2). 1/2"
3). 5/8" (which go onto 1/2" copper pipe) are most common I think. IDK.
Sink drains are usually 1.5" and toilets are 2" PVC.

Mine were 3/8" threaded which are practically unicorns to find.
The box stores didn't even carry these...only the local ACE(s) and they only had a couple in stock.

[Baz]

My stick edger has been acting up so finally had a chance this morning to do some work on it. Running better now...

[LEAKYSEALS951]

M$%$r f$%$%r!!!!!!!

[A930Rocket]

Installed the race seat into the M3 and finished extending the steering wheel. More to do, but waiting on parts.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by billybek

So how did you extend the wiring harness?

A guy in Italy makes the extension.

The paddle shifter wiring is long enough to work. The airbag wires are long enough, but the ground needs to be extended. The rest of the steering wheel controls, are run through four wires, which is extended by splicing/soldering in sections.

https://www.spacershop.com/

[john70t]

Got inspired by a small 'disaster'. Sprayed some bleach water and while wiping it off the cover dropped.

I did not like this Hunter bathroom fan from the beginning.
Chrome to be painted. Not much light. The small bathroom still fogged up. They used 20-22 gauge wiring to the motor(way undersized) and it sounded like a micro jet engine starting up.



The glass dust was everywhere. Sweep into the corners, wet paper towel, work inwards.
Could have used the shop vac instead.

[herr_oberst]

^ While you're down there, cut those flange bolt tails off and put down some caps !

[oldE]

For those of you who have trouble with VW vehicle codes, this represents the '89 Cabriolet I brought home today. The car is solid and drives well but needs a shed load of cosmetic work..
The best thing was I had incentive to clean cut my garage!
Best
Les

[john70t]

(sorry about the blurry pics.)
Slacker here finally fixing interior air quality issues:

I suspected an upstairs toilet leak, and stopped using all plumbing except to run enough water to keep the p-traps full (which prevents sewer gasses into the house). Ran a lot of bleach with that and thought it good for a while. No evidence of leaking was found around toilet base and under sink.

The weird thing was the drywall continued to get worse...without any use.
I still suspect the PVC main vent stack is not glued, or the roof flange is leaking and dribbling down the stack. ( it "looked" fine).
When it rains I will check in the attic again.

Hey, all the cool kids on the internet gut their bathrooms.

Phase 1 is to open it up, bleach it all, run the fan. Rinse and repeat until no smell remains. That may take a while. Fix leak. There are "encapsulation" jug spray products made from sea shells which seal mold which I've used before. I'll get some test kits just to make sure before sealing it up


All kinds of shingle pieces, wood scraps, saw blades, etc were in there. Free parts.
The exterior foam insulation from the 1950's was literally dust. There is another 1" layer under the siding.


Packing tape? Really?


The damage is pretty localized around the toilet area thankfully.



The steel tub was already chipped and rusting from the ex hanging too-heavy plant baskets and the finish was already crappy. I could have it re-painted but what I really would like is a walk-in shower with a nice sliding door eventually. The drywall should all be green board anyway. Insulation and plastic will keep it usable in the meantime. Broan has a high-flow/low-noise fan which will work fine when it's inside the shower area.

Upgraded the RadonAway fan from 140 to 145 (40V) and it now pulls .5 instead of .3.
Some PVC primers are clear but I'm going to plastic glue all the joints to be sure.
I need to grind the basement floor and slope it all towards the sump pickup before sealing it which should reduce any level further.

Forgot to add:
This outside installation is wrong. The motor is supposed to be offset to a condensation "wye trap" for moisture running down the stack. Easy fix.
Local code might require running the pipe inside through the roof which doesn't make any more sense.
I would love to see this city made culpable for the repairs I have already made.



The final issue was a beautiful carpet hand-me-down which had been cleaned because of dog pee several years ago. That guest room stunk and a 1st floor return vent near the furnace was circulating chemicals throughout the house. Opened the window w/fan outwards and vacuumed it again. Lots of fiber and dust. Smell improved. I covered most of the vent with a magnetic sticker to pull more flow from the upstairs. I want to use the Bissell carpet cleaner tool or perhaps a steam cleaner which uses little water but am nervous about that. More research needed.
(Great grand-father's bed. Still need to hang pictures.)

[Racerbvd]

Well, currently working on a plumbing issue






Only to be complicated at the cut off.

[Baz]

I built a small (8'x10') covered deck in the back yard today.

I still need to put some sides on it, but that won't be a big deal.

I picked up all the wood from HD on Monday night, got the 4x4 posts in yesterday, and then the rest this morning.

I already had the 1'x10' aluminum roof panels from a local CL buy earlier in the year. They were so easy to install it's ridiculous. Very lightweight as well.

The area in this location has a severe slope so I had to use a level to get everything properly level. After living here for 25 years, I can finally say I have a return on my investment in this little area. That slope has always put me off from doing anything. Then when they built that house behind me - and built that concrete wall, things changed a little.

[A930Rocket]

Last weekend on the M3:
Water pump
Thermostat
Coolant hoses
Coolant
Serpentine belts. Pulleys. Et
Install sub belt
Install rear harness belts
Install brake pads.
New Guibo (see pix of old one).
Fuel filter
Wheel studs at all corners

This Friday before I leave for CMPin the afternoon:
Install exhaust section 1 with new bolts.
Bleed brakes
Spark plugs and COPS
Mount new tires on new wheels and onto car
Replace sump gasket


The old guibo.