Time for new Vinyl
I wish I were talking about records…
Actually talking about Andrea’s Cutlass. The vinyl top on the back half of her roof has slowly been coming loose since we bought the car. It hasn’t been too bad, then all at once it really went to crappy. The glue just totally gave up.
She said she could hear it flapping in the wind as she was driving down the highway, so we stopped by the upholstery shop to get a quote. It’s actually pretty reasonable if I remove the old top. So that’s the plan. Infact, Andrea already got most of the vinyl off!
Cutting away
The Guild Wars 2 servers were down for a couple hours, so I decided to go outside and be productive.
Man, I have cut a lot of limbs and trees around here over the past year. I really need to find someone with a truck to help me haul ‘em off.
I chopped down a tree that has been left to it’s own devices for many years. As you can see it has become one with the fence.
Makes for a lot of waste.
And all these…
Speaking of plants, the garden is still alive, though my potatoes got nipped by a cold night. I didn’t notice any frost, but apparently it got cold enough that the plants didn’t like it. Onions did OK, but the potatoes sure looked better a week or two ago. I think the might bounce back though.
And my pumpkins are just starting to sprout!
So onward we go!
Podcast: Terrible Segway Edition
For a lack of planning or forethought of any kind I almost liked this one. Which is rare for this Podcast.
Topics:
- eBay Habits
- Severe Weather
- Garage Sales
- Elusive Vectrex
- Freecycle & Projects
- Gardening
- Podcast Music
- Mystery Song
Last time’s mystery song was from Animal Crossing on Gamecube!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Well they say on St. Patrick’s day you’re supposed to plant your potatoes. I got that done! I planted those and my yellow onions, and my garden is already half full! I think I’m going to have to tear up some more ground for the pumpkins and watermelons for sure. Plus I still have corn to plant, and peppers, and… yeah, my garden is going to be too small I think. And tearing up all that ground took me three days! Haha. Roto tillers are for wimps.
Funny story, a co-worker of mine and I were talking and I told him that I was planting a garden. He asked how it was going and I said pretty slow because I’m just using a spade to do all the cultivating. He said that the local hardware store was renting tillers pretty cheap. ”I’m communing with my ancestors,” I said.
“Oh, you mean you’re cheap!” he said.
Ha ha. Well, ya, I guess that’s no secret. But honestly there is something pretty therapeutic about sticking the shovel in the ground and breaking through all the years of roots. Does kind of make you think of how many years people all over the earth lived like this. There were no part-timers to schedule, or mufflers to change. It was a very basic way of life, and to think if my survival was penned on my gardening skills… God help me!
So afterwards I felt like I deserved a reward. And after all it was St. Patty’s Day so…
Which I am still enjoying now. It’s a medium dark beer, and QUITE hoppy. Boulevard makes some great beer, and this is definitely my seasonal favorite. Not a beer you want to sit around and drink a lot of, but a nice treat.
Now gonna kick back and relax for the rest of the evening. Might even bust out the telescope and take a look at Venus and Jupiter!
Spring Is Here?
This is crazy. It’s the middle of March and we’re sitting around with all the windows open in the house. Heck at work we’ve even fired up the AC already. We always try to hold out as long as we can at home before breaking down and turning ours on. If this early spring is any indication though, we might not be able to hold out as long as we usually do. I can’t remember a March day in the past that’s ever had a forecast high of 85.
Lately I’ve been talking about how I need a project to do, and something that doesn’t cost a whole lot of money. Well I think I found something. I decided this year I’m going to plant a garden. I’ve already started tearing up some ground in the back yard, which is some hard work, but very therapeutic I’ve found so far. I guess it’s kinda my way of communing with past generations. There’s so much technology everywhere I go, that it’s nice to put some effort into something so primal. I find it interesting to think about that something I’m now doing for fun in my spare time, was a basic necessity for life 100 years ago. Pretty sure that my ancestors knew how to cut sod a lot better than I do!
The garden will have quite a bit of diversity. I picked up corn, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, carrots, and even some watermelon and pumpkins! I’m going to pick up some tomatoes later in the season too. If you don’t count the tools I bought, all the seeds cost me a total of $15. And that should make a LOT of produce. I dunno what we’ll ever do with 80 onions….
Andrea is not a big vegetable fan. I was trying to think of something I could plant that she would enjoy, and thought maybe strawberries, but she wasn’t too crazy about that. I even saw some blueberry and raspberry bushes for sale, thought for a couple moments… then decides I wasn’t ready for something like that!
So I’ll look forward to getting at least the potatoes and onions in the ground this weekend. I beat Super Mario 3D Land the other night, so I’m officially not working on any games right now, and might take a weekend off of gaming and focus on the rudimentary art of agriculture. I’ll probably still sit down and write up my final thoughts on 3D Land this weekend though. One of the best Mario Games I’ve played… since the last one, they’re all just awesome!
Restless
I’m really itching for a project of some sort. I have some ideas, but they all would cost a fair amount of money that we don’t really have to spend. So I’m trying to think of what I can create using pretty much stuff I already have.
One medium that comes to mind is video. I’ve got a cheap HD camera I borrowed from work and I’ve got all the video/audio editing software already. But I’m completely coming up empty when it comes to content. I really enjoy watching Classic Game Room and would love to do something like that, but I don’t really want to just emulate something someone else has done already. Though heavens knows I have enough old games to get started.
Another topic I thought of was using video to document a project build, though that puts me back into the lack of funds category.
A long term goal of mine is to get all of my vintage systems off the HDTV in the den to a more period correct setup. Kinda like a dream setup from 1995. Haha! I want to make them all easy to pick up and play without having unplug wires and power adapters to get the system you want working. Just select the system on a switcher, turn on and play. I think I can knock that out fairly cheap, but I’m going to have to take advantage of Garage Sale season which I plan on hitting the circuit hard this year!
For now I’ll just keep the gears turning. When I break through, hopefully it’s something I can go full blast into. Or maybe I’ll discover something completely new and fall in love. Who knows.
You can’t have mine… So here’s yours!
Well, a while back Dad, Carrie and Jake came up to visit and I was showing off my little speakeasy down in the basement and they were admiring my old GE Console radio. While probably joking, they offered to buy it. First of all I really didn’t want to sell it… and second of all they offered WAY more than it’s worth and I just can’t go about ripping off family like that. Co-workers? Sure! But you gotta draw the line at being a shuckster somewhere, right?
So I had it in my mind that I’d keep my eyes peeled for something for them. Good ol’ Trading post came through for me eventually (same place I got the Blazer… watch out)! A guy north of town was selling this old radio. He was asking $75, I got it for $60 and felt like I paid too much…
Here it is:
$60.00? WTF was I thinking?
It's old. And unearthed from a tomb apparently.
What a gift. Who's gonna want this crusty old junk? Even for free? The wood might make good kindling for a fire I guess.
Speaking of starting a fire!
So I’m committed at this point. I figure worst case scenario, the radio sounded decent and if I couldn’t get it halfway respectable I’d just toss it in a corner and use it as a work bench or something. If the record player isn’t too far gone and it cleans up okay it might turn out halfway decent. The knobs are looking pretty ratty, and Brasso has always done me right in the past. You have to start somewhere, right?
They won't be original with the silver trimmed knobs and all. But they look a heck of a lot nicer! At least it'll have nice knobs!
Then I start hitting the cabinet with a rag to see what’s just dirt and grime, and what is really damaged. Then some Old English. I’m no woodsmith so I’m not coming within 10 feet of this thing with sand paper. I’d destroy the damn thing, so whatever is broken is going to have to stay broken. Turns out once all the crud is scraped away, and the Old English brings some of the shine back, it’s not in too bad of shape!
Thar be shine! Haven't cleaned the speaker grills yet.
I'm starting to feel better about this project!
The most frustrating part has been the record changer. I got a new needle no problem. But the mechanism itself just didn’t have the gusto to run through a whole change cycle. The old springs were weak. And once I got it taken out to grease it, I found that one of the mounts that holds the motor on was busted, so I had to fab up some new ones out of hardware store parts. It seems to be working now, but there were some hairy moments getting from there to here.
So without further adieu. Here it is in action: The 1964 RCA Victor Console Radio!
0 MPG
Draining the gas tank to drop it for the THIRD time.
#*&@! @&$* BLAZER !@*$&
Okay, screw everything I said in that last post. The Blazer is dead again and I think I’m done.
Finally think we’re there.
Well I know this has been the Blazer blog as of late, and updates have been sparse at that. But I think we’ve finally got the Blazer pretty much where we want it.
Just this morning I got the dash all put back together. I think I’ve got all the electrical stuff (I can) fixed under the dash. Still no reverse lights, but that’s because the previous owner removed the reverse light switch. This switch also tells the computer which gear you’ve selected, so since the computer know what gear you’re in… but doesn’t know what gear you’ve selected… it kicks on the check engine light. To be honest, I can live with it. I could get a new switch, it’s not expensive, but I have no idea where the wires went that used to hook up to said switch.
Other than that it runs pretty darn good. Defiantly has more power than either of our other cars. Gas mileage so far seems comparable to the Toronado. I think we’re finally to the stage where we can just drive it.
No project is ever finished by any means, there’s always little toys we’d like to add to it, but that can be down the road… whenever. For now, it’s a good old truck that I won’t mind if it takes some abuse.
Things I’ve Learned:
These newer computer controlled things are definitely more complicated than what I’m used to working with. When all the sensors and switches are intact, that’s actually a good thing because it will really point you towards the problem a lot quicker. BUT when the computer system is as hacked up as this thing is, it makes it an absolute nightmare trying to figure out what is actually wrong.
IF I buy another 1990+ automobile, it will have to be in real nice shape so that I’ll be confident that all the sensors and switches are likely still intact. If I ever decide to take on another basket-case, it will be something older. With a setup that’s a little more rudimentary.
So all in all, the $400 Blazer turned out to be about a $1,000 Blazer if you figure in all the parts. It runs strong and the 4×4 works, so the real value probably falls somewhere in between those numbers. Not the best investment I’ve ever made, but if we drive it for a few years and sell it while it’s still got some life left in it, I think it could still be worth it. Andrea is taking it on it’s first out of town trip this evening to Hutch. Assuming all goes well (which by all indications it should) we’ll be taking it to Kanopolis this weekend for some camping, it’s true purpose all along! That is if our tent shows up in time…
Victory over redneck!
You may have heard, but the Blazer is fully operational! Got the new fuel pump installed on Saturday and lo and behold she fired right up and didn’t miss a beat!
Dropping the fuel tank was not a fun job. Not hard, but awkward angles and tight spaces when it comes to disconnecting all the lines and hoses off the fuel tank. But with a good bit of patience it is all pretty easy. With the tank out everything looked good, but apparently the old fuel pump just couldn’t put out the pressure needed to fire off the fuel injector. Swapping out the old fuel pump for the new one was pretty straight forward too.
I admit I was nervous to fire it up. I really didn’t know what to expect, after all the work we’d been doing and nothing really got better, I was almost convinced that it was just never going to run right. So it’s a huge relief to be able to just hop in and drive it whenever.
The next hurdle will take some time. I still don’t trust it. I still sit at a stoplight and hope it doesn’t die when I hit the gas, or cringe just a little bit when I turn the wipers hoping I don’t blow a fuse. But should time prove it to be a somewhat dependable old truck, I think it will be a worth while investment even though we probably ended up paying quite a bit more than it’s worth considering all the parts we bought.
Go, Blazer Go!
A little Toro Touch-up
I’ve been working on a new tail light lens for my car, and finally found a silver pen for some of the accents. The lens isn’t quite ready yet, but I took the pen to my interior and brightened up a few things.
Before
After
Before
After
Slow progress.
Hasn't moved much this winter. But Spring breaths life back into many things.
Normal people wouldn’t have bought this truck. Normal people would have had to been duped into taking this thing home. Having discovered being duped, normal people would have dumped this thing as quickly as possible (I guess I tried that for a short while). (Un)Fortunately, normal I am not.
With the return of tolerable weather I’ve taken a bit of time to dive back into the Blazer. For now, I’m convinced that the issues with this thing lie in the redneck wiring. I think I’ve finally “undone” all the crazy cooky wiring (that I’ve found). Now I have to get it back the way it was originally. This will be the interesting part as there’s wires under the dashboard that have been cut and then disappear into the darkness beyond. The good news is that I have factory wiring diagrams. So worst case scenario, I’ll just COMPLETELY re-wire the offending circuits.
Simple, right?
I have been able to fix the battery drain by undoing the jacked up wires. No more having to unhook the battery cable every night! And after all the hacked up connections were undone, I noticed a few things. ONE, the fuel pump runs when you apply battery power to the fuel pump test terminal. TWO, the fuel pump is supposed to run for a few seconds when the key is ON, but engine not running. It does not. and THREE, I am no longer able to read Check Engine codes without redneck wiring.
My initial deduction is that now the computer isn’t getting any power. Even if this thing were brand new from day one, I should be getting the NO RPM code when I try to read the codes. But to be sure I have to make sure that it’s the computer that’s disconnected, and not just the diagnostic port I’m trying to read codes from.
It’s just one little problem at a time, one little circuit at a time. Eventually it will all be back to normal and I will discover what $40 part was broken in the first place that started this whole mess.
…Like a hole in the head.
Well after two months of assisting with the Trading Post on a daily basis. I brought home a stray. A guy had advertised this for a couple of days, and I decided to give him a call because it sounded like a good deal. So for $400 we’re the new owners of a 1994 Chevy Blazer 4×4.
It’s certainly not without its flaws. The reason we got it so cheap was because there’s an issue with the fuel mixture causing it to run super rich. So if you try to give it too much gas it dies. You have to feather the gas pedal to get it going. When it is running though, it runs pretty smooth and the transmission shifts firm. It’s rusty in some spots, like I think every one of these old Blazers are. But there’s only one spot where it’s rusted all the way though. So the body is in better shape than I expected for $400. It needs a whole host of things replaced, too numerous to mention. But like everything we seem to have, it’s a work in progress.
It’s not going to be daily transportation by any stretch of the imagination. It’ll be for hauling stuff around, and fishing and camping. That sort of thing. But first I need to get it to the point where I know I won’t get stranded at the lake! Ha ha. I have a few ideas so far, but I need to do some more research on these V6 motors.
I called Andrea this morning and asked what she thought about it. To be honest I was hoping she’d talk me out of it. But she was all gung-ho on the idea. So over lunch we both went and looked at it, and the old fella had a tough time getting it started. I was actually thinking, “Ahh good, a reason NOT to buy it!“ Ha ha. But it started, died a couple times, and I’m looking at Andrea to give me the thumbs down. But nope, she just says, “It needs a little work, we can handle it.“ Welp that was about it. We went for a short test drive and I was confident it could make the trip home. So the deal was done.
Almost home anyway. After taking the side streets all the way across town (Ya know, no tags or insurance *wink* ) it finally died two blocks from home. We waited to see if it would settle down, but we had to get back to work, and it wasn’t starting. So we pushed it the final two blocks home. Ha ha! After work today though it fired right up. So wish us luck. Hopefully in a couple weeks we’re cruising around in this dirty old thing.
Still looks alright.
Well I got all the wheel covers shined up last week. But I’ve been playing “collect the parts” to get one of my rear brakes fixed. I tell ya it’s been a learning experience, but now I’m finally VERY familiar with how these rear disc brakes operate. I THINK I’m good to go now. ha ha
So since I finally got the covers back on the wheels, I figured I’d snap a few pictures while the car is all clean!
The Poker Den
Well another project tackled (for the most part). I’ve been wanting to turn our unfinished into a little hangout spot. I’m liking how it’s shaping up so far, but I need some more quirky junk to decorate with. I need to hit up some estate auctions or something for all sorts of weird stuff. We scored a brand new folding poker table off of amazon.com for a reasonable price. It’s more sturdy than your average folding table and I was pretty impressed with the quality for as little as it cost.
I didn’t want to just set a poker table in an empty unfinished basement though. I wanted it to look halfway lived in, so I’ve been trying to find some of the stuff that has been tucked away (or just never unpacked from move-in day). Found some of the old Deep 6 stuff from the band I was in during high school. And a few car parts I had laying around. I guess those are decorative… better than a concrete wall I guess. I want to get a bunch of the old tin signs and things like that. And old neon sign from a bar or something would be sweet, but those things are expensive!
Eventually I want to get a nicer stereo to put down there. I just have a little am/fm radio right now. It’d be cool to put a small couch or loveseat down there, but I don’t know if it would fit down the stairs. If you haven’t seen the entrance to my basement, it’s just like a trap door in the floor of my utility closet, and I really don’t think any real piece of furniture would fit through it! But it would be nice to have some kind of comfortable seating down there and I could move my old 25″ TV down there with a Nintendo and/or DVD player so that players that get knocked out of a game have something to do. Come to think of it… I bet a futon sofa would fit nicely!
So there’s the latest I’ve been up to. Still a work in progress, but at least I’m not ashamed to show it now. So come on over and help put it to good use!
The Finished Product…
Need I say more? Just check out the pictures!
*sexy meow*
The HOT new lights!
Rear View 
The sexy new fender Stangs
They're really shiny close up!
BONUS!
I was trying to explain to Mom tonight what these little lights are on Andrea’s new headlights. Just next to the main headlight, it looks kinda like a fog light… only it’s not really bright enough to light anything up. It doesn’t do anything, so I’m just calling it a “bonus light”. Since the original lights didn’t have these, I just tapped into the park lights, so there ya go. Bonus lights on Andrea’s car!
I thought Andrea would have posted this…
Got Andrea’s new headlights installed today. They’re not what I would have chose, but I admit they look better than I thought they would. She took a drive tonight and said they’re tons better than her old ones, so money well spent I guess.
Oh and don’t judge my painting abilities quite yet. The paint isn’t very glossy because I just got done wet sanding it. More paint hopefully tomorrow night or monday. 4 coats to go! (Maybe more)
A few pics of Andrea’s car
Well, we’re really making some progress now. Got two coats on just about everything except the front header panel/bumper. I want to wait to tear into that until her new headlights come in on Friday. No sense taking the old ones out. Putting the old ones back in. Taking the old ones out.. and putting the new ones in! She got some (IMHO) goofy ‘euro’ headlights. I called her a ricer. But she got what she wanted and is happy, and that’s what’s important.
Here’s some shots with a couple of coats on. Got one more coat, then wetsand. Then three more coats, wetsand. Then see where we’re at. Black is a tough color so I might go up to 10… just don’t know yet. It’s not going to look perfect. But I’ll get it looking as good as I can!
On to the next project!
Well today was the first real day of work on Andrea’s car getting it ready for paint. Pulled a lot of trim and did a lot of sanding. It’s gonna be a lot of work, but it’s definitely looking doable. Thankfully there’s not near the rust that there was on my car. But still a few spots here and there.
Andrea has been doing just as much work as I have, which I gotta say is pretty cool! How many guys can say, “Yeah my wife helped me prep the Mustang for paint tonight.” Just the lucky ones.
Rollin’
Well we’re starting the process of painting Andrea’s car. I just realized I don’t have any pictures. So for historical purposes, here’s the before shots.
The paint really isn’t in too bad of shape other than the clear coat peeling off the hood, and the bumper spot. But it’s two different colors of red! That’s what a couple of deer will do I guess. This one should be ALOT less work than mine was, because we’re going to park it while we’re painting it. (Meaning I don’t have to put it back together everyday. ) And there’s not near the rust on it as there was on mine. But we’ll see. After it’s painted it’s going into the shop for all new exhaust and we’re getting new headlights since these are all fogged over and make it difficult to drive at night. She doesn’t even have to turn her brights off for oncoming traffic! Ha ha.
She wants black. Which is cool, but I warned her it shows any and all imperfections. But I’m sure there won’t be any. We’ll see what happens.
Hopefully it goes better than today’s automotive work did. I headed out to get the front end on my car finally fixed. Only to find out that I don’t have big enough tools to do the work! So I run to the hardware store to see if they have what I need. Heck they don’t even sell big enough sockets. So at least I leave without spending any money… But coming out to the parking lot I notice something hanging from underneath Andrea’s car. The tailpipe came loose from the muffler! Geeze! So I nurse it home and put it up on the ramps. Just pulled the rusty thing out and threw it in the trash. At least that’s one less thing that can fall off.
So back to my car I see if there’s anything I can fix with the tools I have. Front shocks? Nope, I have wrenches one size too big, one size too small. Not the one I need. How about just get the idler arm fixed? That was the part that had been scaring me to get out on the highway. I got my wrench on there… but damn it if my sockets aren’t big enough! GEEZE.
So I headed over to Harborfreight.com and scored (I think) everything I need to get it all done for about $60. Like all my projects on my car it looks like this one is going to end up about $200 over budget. Oh well, right. Still cheaper than a car payment!
Built for gaming.
Well I had a decent amount of lumber leftover from the workbench. (I bought 10ft. 2×4′s instead of 8ft. ones) So I’ve been thinking what I was going to do with the extras. We’ve had our old TV sitting down in the basement since we moved in, and I enjoyed my old N64 setup for the few short weeks I had it set up at the old house. I decided I would like to get it going here, but didn’t want to rob one of the nice glass top end tables from the living room if I didn’t have to.
I didn’t have any build plans for this, but it might look familiar. I used much the same idea as the workbench. Just smaller demensions. I think it turned out well. And like the workbench, this thing is solid and HEAVY. Guess I’m used to particle board furniture. Ha ha!
Benched
It's taking shape.
It's done!
Well this was a fun little project and should come in real handy. I tucked it away in a room in the basement and it should be a nice little workspace for whatever random projects I come up with. It turned out real sturdy. And it sits flat, I’m impressed with myself!
