The Toilet-A shop story...

Finally had time to work in the shop so I finished the Taco and finally got a sticker.

Quick and dirty work not my best, 99% metal:

Need to, at least fit the trim and seal up better, I just really needed to do truck things again.

I also acquired a new rear housing for it:

Straight from AZ, rust free.

Next project is to get the fried wiring on the Opel band-aided so I can move it again. I need the flater-ness of the bottom of the driveway for both the rear end of the toyota and to do the steering and brakes on the Cayman.

Less travel for work so more time in the shop I hope.

Damn fine thing I got the truck legal again. Passed these FREE shelves on my street while in the VW. Quick vehicle swap and:

3 sets of metal shelves for use as free sheetmetal or even shelves!

After 5+ weeks of 2nd shift and the disruption and depression that comes with I am back in my happy place but damn its berkeleyed up.

started breaking down the free shelves because I don't know where to put them.

then started clearing out the chemicals cabinets to put the free metal one into place.

so much old crap in there, so many doubles, so much crap...

definitely need to start the 30 mins a day thing again...

Shelves may have come from somewhere cool:

In with the new:

Decor started:

Need to do more floor but hell yeah!

Another non-car, non-shop weekend...

First, my sewer backed up into the basement drain. FML. I was told the issue was under the basement floor. FML harder.

Busted up the area the rooter guy said and found no issue. Fortunately my friend does septic inspections so had all the sensors and tools to have at it. So we Hammered down and found nothing except a clean-out that was unser the cement.

The only access prior was the floor drain and that goes to a hard T.

Ended up being a root ball about 15' from the foundation. 130yo house, no clue about the 4" pipe but its not great. Epic story along with it.

So today I put about 50 gallons of dirt back into the hole. Sono tubed the hidden clean-out, and did not buy enough cement to finish the job. But I got here:

Then marched onto my snowblower that stripped the crap that holds the drive gear in. 

Well everything is New England rusty and nothing separates.

The big gear in the middle and the sleeve on the right are the issue. The sleeve split and moved so the gear slid on the shaft. Really remarkably actually since everything else is frozen with our beautiful brown friend/nemesis.

Last winter when it broke, I tried to get the thing apart in -10* weather. I failed. I have not had time to work on it since until today.

I broke a bunch of E36 M3 that I knew I was going to break and got one wheel off. I am trying to save the left of pic axle that is under the locker but have yet to separate the two axles.

Broke the locker engagement arm, broke both horseshoe clips on the wheels (last winter with a portapower), pretty much spazzed and smashed the right axle wheel clip space into a mushroom. Probably some other stuff. Fortunately parts are pretty cheap.

Welcome to my life and why I cannot get to fix my cars.

Working on a snowblower in the cold and dark is the worst.

In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :

Gotta be honest, that’s a E36 M3 design by Ariens, not sure what they were thinking given the drive shaft and hubs pretty much live in a wet and often salty environment.  I pull both wheel hubs every fall, clean the sleeves and shafts and then neversieze the E36 M3 out of them as getting any further into the drive train is pretty much impossible with the wheels on. My first one was a ‘71 that I bought in 1992 and retired completely worn out in in 2012, way way overbuilt.  The replacement is still a great machine in terms of snow removal but it’s doubtful it’ll go 41 years. 

In reply to Solfly: I’ve fixed my neighbor’s snowblower a couple of times during storms, the garage is still cold but at least it’s out of the weather.   I don’t understand people that spend over $1K to buy a tool and then leave it out in the weather and expect it to work. The last time was because the drive belt was so worn it wouldn’t grip any more.  Guess who had a spare?  Lol. 

In reply to 11GTCS :

Yes I am paying for deferred maintenance.

Had I known or thought about it I would have anti-seized everything when I bought it. It really is a dumb design.

I always wondered why the locker release never worked. It's because the damn axles are frozen together.

Hopefully more E36 M3 does not break today.

So, if you saw in the rant thread my 2012 salvaged Golf R with 350awhp got rear ended:

Insurance called me today, accident was Friday. It's been sent to the "Totaled" division...berkeley me. I told them it was cosmetic and they need to re-evaluate. Appraiser coming soon. Regardless I will buy it back, because mechanicals.

A buddy, that also named my dogs Karmann and Ghia, said: "You know what would be cool? A 350hp AWD Opel GT if they total it.

Brilliant!

More news at 11 or whenever.

In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :

Well smashed but not totaled (as I thought). $2400 worth of damage.

Never could have went into the opel anyways. 11" wider front track, 9" rear track, and something like 7" WB. That would have been a ton of work and some E36 M3ty flares that would kill the looks of the GT.

Golf goes in to the shop 11/21. As I thought the wife decided it was hers now.

Shop upgrade today. Went from this wooden contraption and old tool boxes to store drill press tooling:

And will be replacing it with a sweet cabinet:

should clean up the existing mess pretty nice!

Super clean:

Fun thread, where in NH are you??  I'm just outside of Concord! 

In reply to golfduke :

Somersworth sadly.

More goodness:

Love seeing little sections of order restored to your shop.

In reply to Sarah Young :

Thank you. It has been a process. Thanks to Ian's (I think) 30 minute challenge. I can't link the thread because GRM's search is mildly miserable.

I have a complex in that I will not work on a car unless my shop is in order. It's been a while since I worked on a car. 

New floor boards and a wiring harness are about to be ordered for one of them though. Then this thread might get exciting.

I also raw doggied the Opel with ceramic:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

In reply to Sarah Young :

Thank you. It has been a process. Thanks to Ian's (I think) 30 minute challenge. I can't link the thread because GRM's search is mildly miserable.

I have a complex in that I will not work on a car unless my shop is in order. It's been a while since I worked on a car. 

New floor boards and a wiring harness are about to be ordered for one of them though. Then this thread might get exciting.

After reading your thread, I'm definitely a believer in the 30-minute challenge. 

Whole ton of suck it today. Decent wet storm yesterday. Took care of my neighbors downed tree but there is still this bowl of crap: