A new game... Post pics from your cel phone V.1.0

[Jims5543]

That I3 is way cool the car the printer says i3  on it too also lol way cool,  I have been considering full electric and getting a Tesla. Also really close to pulling the trigger on a 3d printer.

Don't be too hard on the Bini brake lines are more an environment thing than a Bini thing I just did the brake lines on a 2010 BMW that rusted out also had to do that 91 318i that I helped a friends son get a while back. yet my 1960 mini has all the original steel lines so does our 2004 bini and 2003 chevy and they look fine all depends on where and how the car was used.

But yes the I3 is the shit I'm torn between that and a tesla model 3.

Here is my reasoning for the i3 over a Tesla, I am not paying 40K+ for a new car.

This 2014 i3 was 53K new, I purchased as a CPO off a BMW lot for less than 20K with a 3 year unlimited miles extended warranty. 

I purchased a app for my phone as mentioned in the first post, that lets me hack in some of the Euro settings, I was able to change the fuel capacity from 1.8 gallons to a whopping 2.3 extending my gas range to over 110 miles. I was also able to hack in a feature that will allow me to switch on the gas motor (Range Extender = REX) when I want, the option is called Battery Charge Hold and it does exactly as it sounds, uses the gas motor to keep the battery at whatever state of charge I want it to hold at.

We are meeting my parents for an early dinner 32 miles from here, I have the battery range to drive up and back, but I am going to use the REX some today just to see how the Charge Hold works.

I know 1 week in we are very happy with the car, if I did not force Mrs5543 to use gas she would have never used it.  There is a lot of anxiety at first, since the car is so different that what we are used to, now after a week, that is gone and she is really enjoying the car a lot. She loves that she just has to plug it into the garage at night and never has to think about buying gas. I am interested to see what out electric bill will do. By my calculations, which can be very wrong, we should see a $50-$70 increase in electricity that replaces the almost $300 a month gas bill.



I noticed yesterday the tires have Nitrogen in them I imagine I can purchase a bottle locally and fit it so I can use it for top off the tires. I need to see where I can buy a bottle.


Yes, I laughed when I saw the Prusa was a i3 Model.  This is more for my 14 y/o son, but I have some ideas I want to print out too, some work related stuff.

[BruceK]

The tech in the I3 intrigues me.   I have a friend who has a Leaf - it's nice enough but seems so limiting to me.  She got her Leaf used, and the battery is already down to 8 status bars on a full charge (out of 12 originally) so she doesn't go more than 40 miles before charging it.  What a ball and chain.   But the Volt and the i3 with the onboard charging seems like such a better and totally practical solution.

[jeff10049]

I thought I wanted a leaf until I saw one in person can't stand the look, not sure if I like the i3 but it's a million times better than a leaf and I do like the range extender onboard charging.  I have too many cars now but an electric or electric gas is on the horizon.

[Jims5543]

2 weeks in and still loving it. We could have honestly purchased the full on EV version which has over 100 miles range but just wanted to the insurance of the REX.  As I mentioned I did not want the range anxiety I have read too many have once they switch. I am sure that Leaf owner gets it.


Tint mod achieved.  Much improved look. If there is such a thing for this car.

[Jims5543]

Project from hell.

Mrs5543 found this wood table and wanted to make a top for it out of cement. This is the result of try #2. I had to break up the 200 lb. try #1 and toss it away after it got out of control and eventually cracked.

So now this is try #2 and only weighs about 80 lbs. but it is working. I am now sanding it down to smooth it then we will apply a sealer.

[94touring]

We've discussed this but that table is awesome.

[MiniGene]

That table is neat.  Do you have any pics of the build?

[Jims5543]

That table is neat.  Do you have any pics of the build?

We shopped for an entire weekend, in furniture store and online to no avail, we could not find anything we liked. Furniture stores are like car lots, the moment you walk in they jump on you and try to get you to fulfill your dream.  Anything remotely close to being something we liked was over $1,000 which was insane for a coffee table that we really were not THAT fond of.

The table was found at a Homegoods or Pier 1 Imports type of place for $50 on sale.

We placed it in the living room and it looked pathetic.  So we decided to try to make a concrete top for it.  The first top was a disaster.  There are no pics of that. Here is try #2 which worked. I am still not happy with how the concrete turned out, I should have worked on it more but was worried I would work it too much. Which was a mistake. Regardless, it turned out OK and only cost us $150 ($200 total if you count try number one) in materials to make a mold and buy conc.

Here is mold 2.0 with wire mesh used for stucco walls as a stiffener inside. It would be removed, then some concrete poured then put in the middle, before topping off the concrete.



Here is the concrete 2.0 poured in place, things placed about to keep stupid the wonder mutt from walking over it.



I flipped it over and had to trim the inside hole in order to get it to fit over the wood block base. That stupid grinding wheel cost $35 and it made of Chineseum.



This is the only picture I have of the base, I placed 2x4's around the outside of it, drilled holes into the base and put 2x4 pieces inside the base and screwed them together to form a strong lip for the concrete to rest on.




This is the concrete after a matt sealer was applied, Mrs5543 is not happy with the color so we will most likely be staining over that what color? Damned if I know.

[Jims5543]

I was walking in the backyard of a home I was surveying today and this Falcon was over my head.



Pretty sure this was what it was after.



I took the E30 out for the afternoon / evening last week to run errands, man, that car is a hoot to hoon around in.  I am amazed I did not get a ticket. I love the city lights on it.

[BruceK]

Came across a photo of Dan's shop on my phone today.   Seems bigger than I remember.    ;D

[MiniDave]

Don't we all wish we had an air conditioned and heated shop like that? I'd settle for half that size!

[94touring]

Lol  4.gif. Not sure I could afford to heat and cool that place.  My current shop is perfect size vs cost to run.

[Jims5543]

Another watch...  I like this one so much I will leave my vintage Heuer in the safe now and stop wearing it out all the time.






This one I grabbed a couple of months ago, I have never owned a Timex so now I have a daily watch to beat on.



I purchased this as an investment, it is still in the box, I paid 50% of retail on it in a kickstarter campaign, I may or may not sell it. I may leave it for my boys to enjoy when I am gone.

The face is made from a 1976 Porsche there are only a limited number of watches made from each donor car. This is the story of the car my watch came from.

https://www.recwatches.com/pages/vin-9116301819

It comes in a neat box and because of my early donation I received extra straps and a travel bag.


The watch ques many styles from the early 911's



On the back you can see the Fuch rims style


The vin# on the side



As I said I have not strapped it on, it is in the box as it arrived to me, not sure if I am keeping it yet, I was invited to participate in the kickstarter and now that it is over you cannot get the watch for what I paid for it.

I toy with selling on ebay for a tidy profit.  Then I think I want to keep it in the safe for a long while and make it a heirloom for my kids. It might gain value, it might not, nonetheless it is a cool timepiece.

[John Gervais]

I love the Timex; that nato strap really suits it!  I sometimes use a similar OD, though slightly heavier/longer nato strap on my Steinhart.  77.gif 

Not so fond of the Porsche, though - not my cup o'worms, but the aviator chronograph has nice vintage-style hands and looks nice.

[MiniGene]

Thanks for sharing the pics of your table build.  It looks really great.

[Jims5543]

I love the Timex; that nato strap really suits it!  I sometimes use a similar OD, though slightly heavier/longer nato strap on my Steinhart.  77.gif 

Not so fond of the Porsche, though - not my cup o'worms, but the aviator chronograph has nice vintage-style hands and looks nice.

Yeah, I am do not think they did a great job on the Porsche watch. The Mustang watch was a home run, their Mini Watches, I like a lot.  Hence the Porsche watch still in the box and contemplating what to do with it. I can probably sell it on Ebay a make a few hundred off of it still selling cheaper than REC watches.
The Timex is cool just a simple cheap watch you can beat up if you want.

I love the Torgoen I really like its looks.

Thanks for sharing the pics of your table build.  It looks really great.

[BruceK]

Seeing this on the wall speaks well of an establishment.   77.gif

[MiniDave]

Where was it?

[BruceK]

I went to a "British" pub for dinner.    They had a pretty good Shepard's Pie. 

(Which, in retrospect, it's a dish that's probably pretty hard to mess up)

[94touring]

I get the Sheppard pie at my favorite watering hole downtown fairly often.  It is the kind of dish hard to screw up.

[gr8kornholio]

I went to a "British" pub for dinner.    They had a pretty good Shepard's Pie. 

(Which, in retrospect, it's a dish that's probably pretty hard to mess up)

Where'd you go?

[BruceK]

I went to a "British" pub for dinner.    They had a pretty good Shepard's Pie. 

(Which, in retrospect, it's a dish that's probably pretty hard to mess up)

Where'd you go?

A place called Across the Pond over near Ft Worth.  My wife picked thinking it would be some place different.  It was nice.  But of course it's no more an authentic British Pub experience than the various American "diner" places throughout the UK are like a real 1950s diner here.  Actually, any place that has a "theme", like an "Italian restaurant" is always going to be a little hokey no matter how well intentioned they try. 

[gr8kornholio]

Played with my new torch today

[BruceK]

Cool effect.  So is it "Shou-Sugi-Ban"?

[gr8kornholio]

I've heard of that, but this was white boy with fire toy.  ;D