Day 9.2
Less accomplished after work than originally planned after a buddy asked if I wanted to ride.
I did work on the cabinet tops a bit. Also worked on removing "non-car items" from the garage.
At some point during my cycling past, I had a thing for fenders. Not sure why...
I bought these from a surplus guy in a flea market back when I was like 13. He used to sell throwing stars too, although those are long lost.
I managed to resist the temptation to try them and probably hurt myself.
My 30 minutes yesterday was more like 1.5 hours.
I tried Nickel plating for fun and profit. Or at least fun.
I only left the part in about 5 minutes. Apparently it needs more like 20-30 minutes for a decent coating.
Day 5 for me. More getting the lemons car ready for the cage. Nothing in the shop.
BUT! I think I am getting 2 more 914s. There is no way in hell I need 2 more cars right now but for the price I cannot say no. One sounds like it needs the good bits sawed off, the other sounds like it only needs an engine. My neighbors are going to E36 M3...
Thought cam swap would be done. The 4 T40 torx cam cover bolts installed by he-man disagreed. They were tight enough to kill 4 nice quality torx sockets. Can't believe I even had 4.
Brightside was the local dealer had new bolts in stock and Lowe's had fresh bits. Now I just need bolt 4 to come out. Will try hammering in the next size up...
Day 10.
Broken up into a couple of sessions. First part was loading up and delivering some wheels to Nonack. That was after an hour or so mtn bike ride at a park not far from him. Then after another errand/visit, I finally got home at almost 10. But I forced myself to get out to the garage and work on the work tops some more to put/throw stuff away.
Well last night I was supposed to change my wife's tires so she could run the TT this weekend. Pull the front wheel, look at the brakes. They are done, pads and rotors worn out. I had asked her about them a month ago and she said we had just changed them. I didn't think so, but I don't keep up with her car, she does. She even does most of the maintenance with a little help from me help. Apparently we changed the backs, not the fronts. A little more looking shows the front strut is blown as well. Someone apparently has been street driving with them adjusted full hard.
My 30 minutes was spent jacking the car up, pulling a wheel, reinstalling the wheel and setting the car back down. Not much accomplished.
Now she is driving my G35 this weekend instead of her Mustang. It has new sticky rubber and brakes on it. I'm sending her, by herself, to run a TT with my car. I think she's going to have a blast. She's terrified she's going to break it. I'm terrified she's going to want to keep it. 
I'll bet the Mustang is going on the market soon. She's not going to want to drive it anymore.
84FSP said:Thought cam swap would be done. The 4 T40 torx cam cover bolts installed by he-man disagreed. They were tight enough to kill 4 nice quality torx sockets. Can't believe I even had 4.
Brightside was the local dealer had new bolts in stock and Lowe's had fresh bits. Now I just need bolt 4 to come out. Will try hammering in the next size up...
Hammer impact.
Day 8. Built a tire rack. Almost 11' long. Unfortunately, I was limited by the windows. I would have rather had them all vertical. The stock 914 tire barely fits and the audi snow tires didn't have a chance. Still they are all out of my way.
More plating for me today. This should stop the rust just fine.
Also pulled the Samurai around back for some TLC and pull some measurements so I can adding air conditioning to it.
Apparently I've been ignoring it for too long. The angry stabby bees didn't survive the experience. I didn't see this until after I'd already jump started it, pulled it around back, and had opened the hood to lube the hood hinges. I'm surprised they didn't stabby me.
Day 11.
With a rainy day to work with, I finally made progress on something that has bugged me for literally years.
Before:
After:
Plus, as threatened, the blasting cabinet went to the curb. Now I can access the cabinet above whereas before I couldn't open the doors. Conveniently, I found quarts of oil originally for the TDI but are also the same specs as the MINI.
Eventually, the base for the blasting cabinet will get torn apart so the air compressor fits into that corner better.
This was the most important 30 minutes today. I've wanted a bolt bin for a lot of years. No more last minute hardware store runs for that one bolt. 1/4" - 1/2" bolts from 3/4" to 2 1/2" long.
In reply to Toyman01 (Forum Supporter) :
Nice. I see some time with a p-touch labeler in your future.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Yep. My only complaint about the set was the labels. What they sent was for cap screws and nylocks.
Ranger50 said:84FSP said:Thought cam swap would be done. The 4 T40 torx cam cover bolts installed by he-man disagreed. They were tight enough to kill 4 nice quality torx sockets. Can't believe I even had 4.
Brightside was the local dealer had new bolts in stock and Lowe's had fresh bits. Now I just need bolt 4 to come out. Will try hammering in the next size up...
Hammer impact.
It took drilling it out and then hammering the T47 bigger bit in. Lost hrs on that one.
Now on to mounting crank pulley - going to preheat to 225 and see if that doesn't improve it's attitiude for installation. Apparently need 240 ft lbs to install it which was a touch more than ny 125 fg lb craftsman 3/8 torque wrench ag 125 ft lbs could offer. A 20% off coupon and rhe Harbor Freight beefcake impact is mine...
Hoping to get all that sorted in the am so I can figure out installing the dual catch can and fast 102 intake setup. Then I can move on to interior stuff.
Day 12
I was puttering around the garage getting the old drill press back in place and putting hardware into dark bins, cursing the lack of light. Then I remembered, "dumbass... You bought a case of lights to go in here. Why not install them instead of burying them in the attic?"
So I opened the box to see what I would need to make them work. The mounting hardware looks decent, but the connectors lack any sort of plug. I drew up a quick plan and then checked it in the garage. Then was able to simplify the plan.
A trip to Home Depot later (with a side stop at the laundry mat) and I have plugs attached to connectors. I even tested them and only had to rewire one of them.
Tomorrow I'll work on getting the lights installed. Hopefully without killing myself since my ladders are buried behind a couple of motorcycles in the shed...
Spent a couple of hours both Saturday and Sunday going through boxes, purging stuff, and sorting spares/smalls. I like how a game plan/system just starts to form while you are in the moment. Got me so energized I started looking for used bottom cabinets for better tool storage. I have a lot of shelving but I hate how it all gets to looking so junky so quickly. Today's goal is to finally clean off some workbenches.
The downside to doing this is that I woke up at 5:30 this morning with my brain working through how to organize everything in the shop. I wish I had someone who's opinion I trust better than mine to say "this, there", "those, over there", etc.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:I was puttering around the garage getting the old drill press back in place and putting hardware into dark bins, cursing the lack of light. Then I remembered, "dumbass... You bought a case of lights to go in here. Why not install them instead of burying them in the attic?"
So I opened the box to see what I would need to make them work. The mounting hardware looks decent, but the connectors lack any sort of plug. I drew up a quick plan and then checked it in the garage. Then was able to simplify the plan.
A trip to Home Depot later (with a side stop at the laundry mat) and I have plugs attached to connectors. I even tested them and only had to rewire one of them.
Tomorrow I'll work on getting the lights installed. Hopefully without killing myself since my ladders are buried behind a couple of motorcycles in the shed...
Those look like the barrina lights. My set came with pigtails, conn3ctors, and plugs. Did you only get the pigtails, or are the other bits buried in the box?
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Just checked again. No plugs. Each light came with one of these bags of hardware:
I plan to use the end-to-end connectors as much as possible and then plug/receptacle where I need to jump over an existing wire on the ceiling or jog the position a bit.
Strange, are those older? My barinnas came with those pigtails, plugs with switches, and double ended extensions. None were packaged in the hardware bags, and my hardware bags didn't have drywall anchors and the "block-off" plugs look different.
Ordered as 8 packs prime day last year. Ordered 16, should have ordered 32.
Dead_Sled said:Strange, are those older? My barinnas came with those pigtails, plugs with switches, and double ended extensions. None were packaged in the hardware bags, and my hardware bags didn't have drywall anchors and the "block-off" plugs look different.
Ordered as 8 packs prime day last year. Ordered 16, should have ordered 32.
That's exactly how mine came.
Mine came as a 10-pack. Probably from a different vendor. The minimal instruction sheet has a "Ai Lighting ALLSTAR" brand on it. With text translated by someone who didn't have it proofed by an actual English speaker/reader.
I'm not suffering from a stalled project or anything, so I'm not worrying with the 30/30 bit of this thread, but you guys did inspire me to get my small corner of the garage cleaned up. Here's a before and after for your enjoyment...
Today is the first day in a week that I accomplished nothing in the shop. I smoked meats. Hung out with the kids and grands. Read a book.
I don't even feel guilty about it.
My barrinnas cam the same easy way.
And that reminds me I need to show you guys the new lights I have in the Toilet!
OK, the pic that shows what you will see when you race the Opel I still had my phone's flash on but you can still see it's pretty good. The up the drive shot I remembered to take it off.
The E36 M3ty upstairs of the Toilet it is off and there are 2 of these screw into an regular outlet 3 decent LED position-able lights ~$30 and 1 really E36 M3ty 2x t8 florescent...huge difference.
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