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

In the wrong order but who cares, lol [emoji2371]

Yesterday we visited the parents with the adult kids (oldest kid’s family) with three grandkids at the parents place, cuz they haven’t seen our newest granddaughter and the fact they have a small pool. That is actually how today’s yard plan was concocted.

After a great day, everyone headed home. We are all headed back to our town when the kids truck decided to freeze/lock up the l/front brake. Got so hot, it fragged the caliper/rotor/line and by possibly the wheel bearing. You could not even put your hand close to the rim because it was so hot. Glad we were able to get everyone off the freeway and into a parking lot. Nothing like being the root cause of a grass fire in CA. We don’t need that kind of attention, if ya get my drift.

So I will be helping the kido get the truck fixed by offering my free labor and parts since he uses it for his business. That adventure is yet to come.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c14590ad69.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0e5303dd0c.jpg
We loaded all three grands into the new commuter and took them home while he and his Mrs. rode in the tow truck.

Yes, even took this pic to later torment him at the most inconvenient time, while he was holding our daughter-in-law’s purse.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2f542e47d6.jpg
Just glad we were all caravanning so we could grab the lil kids.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And its not even a Ford. Ford's are famous for seizing calipers-mine has done it twice, weird steering pull then the smell. First time it got so hot that the only way to get the caliper free of the mount was with a large sledge.

Before:


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721741824.jpg


Now:



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721741872.jpg


Flagstone in the second pic is going down now....

Looks like he was wearing her skirt too!

Hahahaha, swim trunks. We had left the parents place after an all day swim n pizza fest.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

Finished up day two of yard maintenance. Bloody tired after working all day in 110 degree heat. Two loads of trimmed plants n bushes.

I installed some patio LED lights to give them more light at night. Even had enough to light up the BBQ they never use. The iPhone makes it look brighter than it actually is.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d66649e44.jpeg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1132738f8.jpeg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I replaced the AC and accessory belts, tensioners, radiator hoses and water pump on the F150 today. When I unboxed the water pump, it was the wrong style. With everything apart, I used the BMW to go to the dealer and get a new one for $200. After taking it out of the box and looking at it for a few seconds, my sweaty hands dropped it a foot and of all the metal on it, it hit the plastic impeller and put a small crack in it. FMR. 🤬

I’ve got a new one coming from an online Ford dealer for $139.

Anybody else have similar stories?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721867803.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721867803.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721867803.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721869640.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721869640.jpg

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

(null)
Ah man that sucks swamp water!!!
Oh boy do I have story’s upon story’s of that type of stuff.

My first Australian Sheppard was named Murphy. That was for a reason since Murphy’s Law has a full on Nelson headlock on my fat arse all the bloody time. If it’s gonna happen, it will happen to me.

Just to prove what I am saying…. At work, when someone has an “experience”, we all hear about how they had an “Anders Vacation” or “Anders event”. No really sure if it bodes well to have your own name name coined with something that turns to crap. lol
I always chalked it up to “life”, so you just rub some dirt on it move on [emoji23]. Then again, the number “13” surround’s me in a very quirky way and I now look at it as a lucky number.

I feel yur pain brother


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Different versions of it - absolutely. ;)

I replaced the WP on the '02 Silverado in January of last year.

Three issues:

1. Couldn't get the old thermostat off so left it - hey it was working so why tempt fate trying fix what ain't broke?

2. the tri-connector for the hoses broke on me so a run to my FLAPS provided a repair item that worked with a small amount of fiddling around.

3. Then as I was carefully installing the new unit....one of the hoses was in the way - so I brought the unit back out and when I did I tilted it and half the bolts slipped out :mad: - and after a tedious and thorough manhunt - I couldn't find two of them. Luckily I found a couple in my spares that worked, although they weren't quite as long as the originals.

18 months later - no problems........:)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721947675.JPG

The latest on the Silverado, though.....I couldn't get the door unlocked from the outside on the driver side door.

Key went in - but wouldn't turn either way. I figured I would pull off the inner door panel and see if a clip came loose or broke.

A few days went by with me using the passenger side door to unlock the driver side door from the inside (I keep my outside vehicles locked at night here) - all of a sudden.....the lock starts working again.

No telling if the issue will return but for now - one less repair matter to deal with! :)

Yo Bugs....much respect for all you do for your family!!! Obviously raised right! ;)

Those date palm spikes are vicious (Captain Obvious) - be VERY CAREFUL with your EYES when working around them, PLEASE!

The key is to take your time.....go slowly - and make sure you're using a pruning tool that gets the job done without a lot of fanfare.

Keep chargin' my brother! :)

My new water pump should be here in a few days and if the weather is nice next week, I’ll go ahead and replace it. I should’ve done it the first time, but I’m going to flush the cooling system also.

Mrs Rocket Will be headed to New Hampshire for work in a week or two and I was thinking about doing the same maintenance on her 2015 Tahoe…

I spent a couple of days at my sister's house, where Dad's RV is currently parked. We were getting some things ready for it to go to a shop for some repairs in order to get it ready to be sold. It is a 2003 Mountain Aire by Newmar, model 3778 Workhorse with 2 slides. I used a headlight restoration kit by Rain X and cleaned up the headlights. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c6e0161ebc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...18aa301690.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...511d1e2ca4.jpg

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

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

Thank you Sir,

Thanks for the name of that palm. I went into this knowing about the death spikes and did my best to be very careful. However, it was painfully obvious just how sneaky those things can still be.

I felt the hit on the leg and didn’t think too much about it until I saw a drop of my goo on the trucks bumper. I did get a little worried when it wouldn’t stop leaking. My arm was an interesting one too.

I was very glad my father wasn’t attempting to work o this thing since he is on blood thinners and it would have been a medical emergency. Thanks for the warning on the eyes. I had glasses but should have had a face shield and a longer hand saw. This round I took each stick down in sections and tackled the dangerous pointy ends last, but they still got me. What I found interesting when I made a run to the green waist facility here in CA, is that now I was getting asked specifically what I was bringing in. Type, amount, reason…. It’s green waste and yard trimmings. I am being told Palms, oleanders and two other plants are not accepted and hence a tripling of price to dispose. I do t get it…… and folks ask why we want to leave CA.

My hat is off to you for dealing with these things o a daily basis….[emoji482][emoji482][emoji482]

I honestly don’t think there is protective clothing capable of defending against these things, but I am sure there is something out there.

Cheers and thanks again!!!
[emoji482]

I have a 4 Cycle Troy Bilt trimmer, and it had an old Weed Warrior head on it with the nylon blades. The other day, while trimming weeds at my sister's house, one of the blades flew off, and when I took the head apart I saw that one of the blade retainer pins was gone and the plastic was broken. I had never seen one do that before. So, today, I went to good old Wally World and got a new trimmer head by Weed Warrior, and this one has the quick change blade system. I put the new head on the trimmer and just didn't like how the whole setup was because of the non removable housing part from the original trimmer head. I tried to remove it, and it would not budge, so I took a rotary tool and carefully cut the plastic from around the drive shaft until I could pry it off the rest of the way. Now I have it all configured how I want it. I also took the drive housing apart and re-greased the gears. Oh, and yes, there is a slot in the aluminum housing and I tried sticking a screwdriver in there to unscrew the old trimmer head but there was nothing for the screwdriver to bite into, no hole, no slot, nothing so I had to improvise. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5c8247ea47.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...987b80596f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a060b9eb99.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5b64818c6c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...adeaeac7c5.jpg

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Worked on our Rockettes 2010 Tahoe today. She texted me yesterday, and said the check engine light was on. No mention that the oil pressure gauge was at zero!

Did a scan and came up with the oil pressure sending unit going bad. Looked online, watched a few videos and got to work. The official way to replace it, is by removing the intake manifold. A few others, were able to replace it with the manifold in place and get a socket down at the firewall. This is the method I wanted to use.

The pictures online, I saw it easily accessible, but ours had the back of a beauty cover, hiding the oil pressure sending unit. There is no way to remove it, so I used a hacksaw blade to cut back the plastic just enough. It took a while, but I got it done. I did notice while replacing it, that the wires at the connector, were damaged*. I have a new pigtail coming and will replace that in a few days.

* I may have damaged the wires with the hacksaw blade, as it was behind the plastic cover. 🤬

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722221390.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722221094.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722221094.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722221604.jpg

Not soo much as fixing, but painting. :eek: This is after hours of sanding.

My wife has decided we need all new furniture, and the bookcase in the living room needs to be painted to match the new furniture. So Saturday morning my El Camino was parked in the driveway, and I cranked up the AC and put the bookcase up on the my lift for her to paint. Sunday evening, and it is mostly painted but not competently finished.

So at least one more day and it will be done.

I got started mowing yesterday, and then a storm rolled in, and I had to stop, so I finished mowing and trimming today. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0677727b34.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...30a1c07d79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b570692520.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d5593cdd63.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1ec5e5f329.jpg

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Bugs .... how are you guys holding up with the fires in the vicinity?

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

Hey buddy

I was actually wondering how your builds have been going.. lol and looking back in the thread to see.

We are good, had the biggest scare a few weeks ago when we got the evac order dropped on us. Kinda thought we were screwed to be honest. Crews busted their arses and everyone got through it. Several hangars were damaged but are still standing.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e39f62658a.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2166acd755.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e17299466d.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0036c9cee9.jpg


The Park Fire is about 90 miles north of us but the smoke is impacting the region at 375K acres. A guy set his car on fire and pushed it into a gulley, that’s what kicked that one off. A very good friend and fellow pelican lost everything in the paradise fire several years ago. He grew up there and just moved the family into their new home. Moving boxes were still stacked when they lost it all. They now live in Chico and the Park fire’s evac line got dropped two streets away. I can’t even imagine…. We were poised to respond and help in anyway possible.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7b97768fac.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6bf62c51ee.jpg

Thanks for reaching out and checking.

Mrs Bugs n I were just talking about how last years season was thankfully mild. Then 2024 is the year from hell… we just don’t get it.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...42acd85484.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2706614ad3.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ea6381a26a.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you do when you have enough vintage tools but enjoy refurbishing them?
You buy stuff for your son. lol
The teardown and cleaning begins.
Lucky I tore down the motor as it was infested with mud wasps.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722347564.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722347582.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722347594.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722347610.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722347610.jpg

Bugs, I'm glad you and your property were spared. Thanks for letting us know. That is some scary stuff going on right now.

RS, I, too, was wondering about your updated projects. Hope to see more, your craftsmanship working on old aeroplanes is a joy to behold.

911 Rod, keep us updated on the refurb of that old 'pillar drill'. Looks like the parts are mostly there and ready to buff up to a nice vintage shine. Delta Rockwell Homecraft tools are beautiful to look at.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722350698.jpg

This was from day two, everything was sanded. Later the primer coat, and now the first coat of paint. Now on day three the second coat of paint on parts. No doubt there will be one more day of my garage space stolen from the El Camino for furniture painting.

And no, the bookcase is not some solid wood antique. It is made of plywood, and has a veneer of wood on it. That is what is painted to match the all new furniture in the living room. The furniture decision was me saying yes dear. I don't care what she does, she has great taste.

The real challenge will be she wants to replace the entire entertainment center that is 8 feet wide with two towers, and a connecting bridge. I will have to remove all electrical components for the sound system and the 65 inch TV. dissemble the old entertainment center, and get it out of the living room, and then put it all back together in the new system.

Thank is really cool!! Keep up updated.

I am liking the idea of finding an old fridge from the 50’s and restoring it. It would last a far cry longer than the junk being sold today. The parents have had three tank in the last five years, taking 6-7 months for just parts, thus causing them to get a new ones. [emoji2955]

We’ve had ours since 2015 and have had multiple service calls and an ice machine replaced.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you sir.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did just that once. Had an old restored round-top (from the 40's not the fifties) in the kitchen as the main fridge.

On they one hand, they are very nice to look at and really give an old kitchen in an old house a real nice vintage vibe, and it's a real conversation starter but the limitations are worth mentioning:
They're small. Really short and narrow, so if you have a dedicated space in the cabinets, it will look weird unless you can fill the gaps with extra shelving or something. The storage inside is also miniscule. No door storage, and the freezer barely holds anything, plus you will be defrosting it on the regular. They also use a ton of electricity to run compared to new ones. In our case we ended up with a second newer frost-free refrigerator (that we got at a used appliance store) as a secondary machine. Not a backup, but as an extension to the vintage one. It all worked OK, for just me and my gf, but if you have kids, you might be rethinking that decision .

Primarily two jobs just now... a quick rejuvenate and paint on a set of pacer wings, with a wing tip repair, and the pa 12 "just a recover" that turned into a 3/5ths restoration. We had a little re route on the fuselage repair that caused a swap so it was a few steps the wrong direction time wise but I'm reeling it back in, I'm looking to have the fuse covered by the end of August. These are some wing cover pics on the -12.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722396117.jpg

Wow. Such nice work.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722431194.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722431194.jpg

Day three of the paint process. Maybe just one more day of paint, let it dry for a while and then a second coat. Wait for that to dry, and rotate the position of the body of the bookcase and each of the shelves.

She even parked her Macan outside so when she went to lunch with a friend, it would not let the AC out the garage door. It was 98 degrees and the heat index was 108 outside but cool in the garage.

What kind of fabric is that? I have not kept up on newer covering processes. I don't recall seeing fabric that is pre finished. Seems like the paint would come off or melt when ironing it down.

I took some time off to tidy the shop up so I could get things done a little easier. I had way too much stuff sitting on the floor. A bonus was I finally put some of the hardware and scrap lumber I had lying around to good use.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722439052.jpg

Made a hanger for the tire pressure gauges and put up a box to hold the air hose tools.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722439052.jpg

The backpack leaf blower was taking up major space on the floor. Made a shelf to keep it on.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722439052.jpg

Made another shelf so I could get the golf cart charger up off the floor. After looking at this picture I had to run out and see what happened to the shelf! It looks like the wood is warped. Nope - optical illusion.

I spent a little time and a Rain X headlight restoration kit and worked on the RX300 lights. I also spent some time cleaning up my riding mower. I waxed and buffed my mower. Yes, I know it is only a mower, but if kept waxed, the dirt just rinses off easier. I think it looks pretty good for a 2013 model. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e41ca90e49.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f546765300.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...910fcb3318.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...de1832f091.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ea738ecb35.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4b6e0526f4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9bca3a4e45.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1553dafeaa.jpg

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Replaced the water pump on the F150… again. 🤪 Then flushed the cooling system and installed new coolant. I made sure my hands were clean this time, when I unboxed the new water pump. It’s no fun to drop a $200 part…

I didn’t like the sound of the spec E46 Exhaust system on the 330, so I installed the resonator and removed the straight pipe. Then I fed up a FloMaster mini race muffler. The car is much quieter at low revs and sounds great at high revs. We’ll see what it sounds like like at the track next month.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722822460.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722822460.jpg

My welding leaves a lot to be desired but I’m working on it. Pix during install.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722822556.jpg

Wow, that is a very short muffler. When I had a TR6, I installed a Monza free flow exhaust system, and it used two short mufflers with two chrome exhaust tips on each muffler. Man, it sounded great.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

My mower detail started a few days ago when I removed the headlight lenses in order to clean all the dirt out of the headlights. The lights have a silver reflector that is merely thin plastic like a liner that sits in the housing area of the headlight and is removable. When taking everything apart, I noticed that the silver had deteriorated and the plastic liner was clear except for a little bit of silver around the edges. I looked online but could not find replacements and thought I'd just paint them black, so that is what I did. I used some VHT Nite Shades translucent black paint and sprayed the liners to make them glossy like black chrome. I figured, if I don't like the look, I can always get some mirror vinyl and just wrap the liners and make them shiny silver again. I kind of like the black chrome look of the housings. It looks like that part of the light is part of the body now, and I don't mow at night anyway, so I think I will keep it like this now. I've also thought about tinting the clear covers. Yeah, I know, I'm thinking too much about a lawnmower. Lol. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e3e36f4d78.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1de537be29.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dc1c95261e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b981a07586.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3f101ae19e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3738f6d729.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6145d7ca93.jpg

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

I've been going into work very early as of late... temps have been around 100... I have an exhaust fan that goes on automatically every night, but evening temps at the hangar haven't been low enough to cool the inside as well as when temps are in the 80's. I try to get there by 5am then work till about 2 or I just can't stand it. The hangar has r19, but the air temp inside gradually increases over the day, it happens sooner if I or someone else pulls a plane out to fly.
Today I worked 3 projects. Repairing ringworm on a dope and urethane skybolt.... the original builder did some goofy stuff with bondo and I'm going to need to replace some tapes but it's well on its way now that the sections of cracking paint have been removed.
Repairing a busted rib and tip bow on a tri pacer wing... it had a bit of corrosion so a doubler was fabbed.
And then, covering the interior side walls of the pa12 resto... had to make patterns first, then cut some of that pricy oratex for the starboard side...pencil marks for the glue. Port tomorrow it's longer and more unweildy than today's pieces..... so, procrastination.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722996489.jpg

A rotisserie for the wing. Brilliant. (But of course that's what you'd use. Heck, I'll bet the idea of the rotisserie was invented for aviation manufacture and repair...)

The pictures got me to thinking I'll bet your knowledge of clamps and clamping is vast.

Thanks for the look inside. Always fun.

My knowledge of clamping amounts to cheap spring clamps and vacuum bagging....lol
Happy to share... just nothing that exciting for the next bit... it'll be a grind for a while longer.

Installed a new six point harness on the drivers seat and move the old one to the passenger seat on the 330 today.

The other day I bought a Milwaukee 3/8 inch impact off FBMP for $100. I really like it over my 3/8 inch Dewalt impact. The Milwaukee may not have the same amount of power, but it’s much smaller and gets in tighter spaces.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723000902.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723000902.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723000902.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723000902.jpg

Replaced the broken outside door latch on the Silverado's driver side rear door. I think it's the 3rd one to break over a 19 year span. Part is less than $10 and it's a 5 minute repair. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723080660.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1723080660.JPG