What Did You Do In The Garage Today?

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To add one more thing to this - I was going to get some luan for this project.
A 4x8 sheet of 2.7mm was 11 bucks, 5mm was 14 or 15
Then I saw this for 10 (maybe it was 10 and a half, whatever).
And I like that I can write on it and then wipe it off later

I dont know about a lot of yall, but when doing projects I usually have a scrap piece of cardboard so I can jot down notes - things I need, a checklist of what needs to be done etc. Now I can do this and erase later as Im done
 
Replaced the left side multi-function switch in my son's Jeep TJ. Got everything torn down, replaced the switch and put it back together.

His old one had a problem with the fog light switch on the end of the blinker stalk. It wouldn't shut the fog lights off and would run the battery down until we figured it out. Been running it with the fog lamp fuse pulled.

Ordered the new multi switch a couple of weeks ago. Picked it up yesterday and just installed it.

The good news is his fog lamps work normally now. The bad news? He now has no blinkers, hazards, or dome light when the doors are open.

Take a good look at the label in the bottom pic::mad:

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Saturday the Explorer got a trans filter & fluid change, added ShudderFix die to OD shudder at 55-50mph. Flush & filled cooling system and reps laced a hose assembly that had to be accessed after the tire and fender well removed, and afdkustwd the parking brakes.
The Tahoe got both rear doors opened up and the electric door lock mechanisms replaced.
Then sighted in my ne Leopold DPP.
Good day.
 
Changed the tires on the ol' lady's car and did a rear end alignment... Low profile wide tires are a bitch to mount...

On a side note, the Hankooks I mounted only took about an ounce and a half of weight total for all 4 tires and ride really nice and quiet for an inexpensive 70k-mile Korean tire...
 
One of my other hobbies is working on boats. I particularly like electrical issues and installations. A neighbor has a small center consol fishing boat that he recently bought. After purchase he found out the wires were a mess. So yesterday it was in the garage for some updating.

This is Phase 1, main power distribution. Just need to heat shrink as I leave that till last.

Main battery compartment:

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Center console:

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Cleaned my workbench.

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My best friend recently bought a house so he needed a mower. I found him a nice husqvarna awd walk behind mower for $100 on fb marketplace.

We drove 30min to pick it up, guy said it had been sitting for the past 3yr. It had great compression and a bone dry tank so we bought it. I pulled the plug, cleaned it up, pulled the carb to clean it but it was nearly perfect (no old gas or lacquer anywhere), checked the air filter and it barely needed to be hit with the compressor, finally checked the oil and it was still gold in color. I sharpened the blade along with the spare that the guy provided.

The thing started up on the first weak pull and runs like a champ! Highlight of my weekend is getting him such a smoking deal. This mower would have been fine with just some gasoline. $100 for a $500 mower plus a spare blade.
 
Welded a digging tooth on my home made trench scooper. It worked good until it hit hard pack then just bounced off.

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15 min and done, it's stuck. It's ugly but it's all mine. I am getting better at welding. Not so much fu'gly.

Thinking I need a bigger welding project...
 
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Worked at getting my '86 Heep Cherokee ready for the road again. It's been sitting rather a long while- probably 7 years at least.
Fresh charge on the battery, I cleaned up the engine bay, paying particular attention to the air cleaner. No sign of mice, been lucky for sure.
Checked oil, trans fluid, radiator & brake fluid.
Dripped some gas in the carb and hit the key- after a few cranks, she fired right up, albeit a bit stumbly.
Aired up one tire that was flat. Unfortunately the transmission didn't move it back or forth and the brakes are mushy. So they'll need looking at.
Not too bad for a 3/4 crippled up fat baa-stud. Definitely got a workout walking back and forth to the barn.

Sent from notthedroidyourelookingfor
 
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The sun came out unexpectedly this weekend and we didn't have anything planned. Just puttered around the garage. So I started to repair a Minnkota Endura 30lb trolling motor I picked up $50. It came with a deep cycle battey but that was dead, seems like something was dropped on the terminal and it's open (scrap). The charger is good and up for sale (I've got a good charger).

Took the control head apart and found an open in one of the wires from a bad crimp, replaced the connector and soldered all the crimps. Connected up, bam! Works!! Next will be modifying the mount to fit in the kayak pedal drive hole.

I'm thinking of leaving the head off the shaft and mount a fish finder to the shaft. All wires and speed control will be in the fish finder mount area/box. Undecided at this point.

At 30lb of thrust max speed should get the kayak up on plane! I figure at 1/3 speed it should draw about ~10a. A 50ah AGM battery would last 5 hours. Need to do some bench measurments...

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Changed the brakes on my Kia Soul yesterday. Had to hit up YT to figure out the rear calipers. Seems like they borrow the design from the Ford Fiesta (screw in calipers), so I had to run to the parts store in the middle of the project. Made me want to kick puppies (or at least engineers) after I was done.

Luckily a previous project was hanging a heavy bag in the garage, so I took my frustrations out on the bag instead
 
Jerzsubbie said:
My best friend recently bought a house so he needed a mower. I found him a nice husqvarna awd walk behind mower for $100 on fb marketplace.
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That's a great deal. I have a Husqvarna awd and it has been a great mower. One hint, which probably applies only to the ones with a Koehler engine: mine developed a problem where it would start fine when cold (one or two pulls) and run for ten to twenty minutes, then die. Sometimes it would start back, sometimes it would fire a time or two then die again and not start until cold again. A new coil fixed it; maybe most people would have recognized the problem immediately but I didn't.
 
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Pack72 said:
That's a great deal. I have a Husqvarna awd and it has been a great mower. One hint, which probably applies only to the ones with a Koehler engine: mine developed a problem where it would start fine when cold (one or two pulls) and run for ten to twenty minutes, then die. Sometimes it would start back, sometimes it would fire a time or two then die again and not start until cold again. A new coil fixed it; maybe most people would have recognized the problem immediately but I didn't.
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Ironically, my mower died yesterday. It was an older craftsman that my mom gave me a few years ago after it had been sitting for 3yr. For some reason yesterday, it called it quits, threw the rod.

I just picked up a used Toro Recycler 22" with electric start (didn’t even know that was a thing for push mowers lol) for $100 this morning. My friend's Husq was definitely in better condition, but I like this Toro.

Apparently Bubba’s cousin got a hold of this mower and put 2 blades on it like the Honda HRX. There was a stack of washers between the 2 blades. Needless to say, I’m not a fan. Had to order a new blade adapter for $12.

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Installed 2 more 2ft LED lights on the underside of my garage support beam and wires it to the main ceiling light’s wall switch. Now the front of my garage is well lit.

Crappy pic, I know.
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SDIVER2006 said:
Gonna be xrta cautious, Like I said Im new at this stuff....

And it wound be my luck I'd catch the shed and jeep on fire...
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How'd that work out? I did the same on an old 86 full size Bronco and it worked out great. I used a huge fan to keep fumes away and just carefully cut with an abrasive wheel.

The fuel gauge never worked reliably and when you were out in the desert rumbling around you could hear something moving around in the fuel tank. Turned out to be the sunken float from a previously replaced sending unit, the current sending unit still had it's float attached. Had to make a net out of a coat hanger, wooden dowel, and panty hose to get it out.

Finished it up with a piece of floor from a junkyard Bronco, siliconed it down, finished with some sheet metal screws. Done and done.
 
I looked at my car in the garage and wished it wasn't raining.
 
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Brian K said:
How'd that work out? I did the same on an old 86 full size Bronco and it worked out great. I used a huge fan to keep fumes away and just carefully cut with an abrasive wheel.

The fuel gauge never worked reliably and when you were out in the desert rumbling around you could hear something moving around in the fuel tank. Turned out to be the sunken float from a previously replaced sending unit, the current sending unit still had it's float attached. Had to make a net out of a coat hanger, wooden dowel, and panty hose to get it out.

Finished it up with a piece of floor from a junkyard Bronco, siliconed it down, finished with some sheet metal screws. Done and done.
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So far so good...Did not blow my self up
 
We decided to get rid of the last of our cheap furniture, 2 bed sets in the spare bedrooms. The wife wants me to build new beds and then she’ll find dressers to refinish.
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I’m building a copy of this, although this one is made of MDF, and is $170 just for the headboard. I’m building the full bed out of solid pine for just under that price.

Bought materials last night, cut and mocked everything up tonight. Sand and jointery tomorrow. Assemble and finish Friday. The finish will be very similar to the pic.

Found what looks like a bullet in one of the pieces of wood haha
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Helps to turn the vacuum on before running the saw lol
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Mock up of footboard (didn’t cut cap board to length yet).
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Finally got to roll the 41 Ford Fire Engine we have been working on for 3 years (to the month) out of the garage and get it to a show. The truck already has a list of appearances. This will be a great tool for fire awareness and a public presence. Always helps we people can talk to fire fighters while not an emergency situation. Oh, this is Mt. Pleasant, SC. Truck was built by Charleston Fire Department.

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