What did you do in your shop today?

Started by MiniDave, September 23, 2018, 11:30:15 AM

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MiniDave

I did two things, I had an old tach laying about so I fabbed up some leads so I can use it when setting the timing or idle on a car without either having to  have an extra set of hands or running back to look at the dash every time I make an adjustment.

Second, I fixed my auto darkening welding helmet. The batteries had been in a long time and had corroded, I had to take the mechanism apart to clean the contacts and get the corrosion out. While I had it apart I thoroughly cleaned all the lenses too. I've had this helmet for about 20 years and I think I've only changed the batteries twice!

I have a couple of small welding jobs to do the next few days so I needed it working. I tried using my hand held regular mask and couldn't see shit. The auto helmet is not only easier to use, but I added a magnifying lens too to aid my poor eyesight.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Auto darkening helmet is the way to go.  Every few to handful of years I wear my hf one out and buy another.   I need to add a tach to my car but not sure where I want to mount it.

MPlayle


MiniDave

#3
Quote from: 94touring on September 23, 2018, 12:15:41 PM
Auto darkening helmet is the way to go.  Every few to handful of years I wear my hf one out and buy another.   I need to add a tach to my car but not sure where I want to mount it.

Mine was fairly expensive back in the day, about $150....but it's held up really well so the extra money was worth it compared to buying a new one every few years.

Yeah, you need a tacho, this engine will probably rev comfortably to 7500. You need to know where you are in the rev range. I may have a spare 80mm Smiths - if I can find it.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Just placed an order for a 52mm gauge with mount I can probably adhere to the steering column.  Digital too. 

MiniDave

Too small to read for my tired old eyes!  77.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Ha, yeah I didn't want anything big mounted on the column.  The car had came with one but it was huge and I took it out.  52mm is the same as oil and water gauges, same as the gauges in my rx7 too. 

MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

#8
It was rainy and cool this weekend - only in the 70s which is a big change  - so I finally got my car all put back together and took it out for a drive.  It had the lovely smell of fresh paint baking on the engine. Reminds me of the smell of an engine after a rebuild, but I just did a paint in place.  Same effect.  I think I need to re-bleed the brakes again. They are okay, but not great.  With the new MS intake manifold, the carb might be hitting the firewall. I'll have to look at that.   I'm running the Evaporust solution with distilled water trying to clean out the cooling system.  Says to give it at least 3 or 4 hours running time before I drain it out and see the results.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

tsumini

Saw that minidave had replaced the batteries in his welding helmet and since mine quit working I looked at replacing mine. Except that mine is a cheap helmet and the unit is sealed. A replacement part cost the same as  a new helmet so I may have to buy new.
I checked dave's helmet and it is a variable unite and costs about $175 but takes AAA batteries. I may spring for one of these.
I did take the sealed unit apart (youtube helped). It has two 3V coin Litium ion batteries (CR2330) soldered in. One was dead and the other read 3V so one may be ok. I may try to bandaid this one with a $4 battery if I can make good contact.

jeff10049

#10
I buy those HF ones for rough jobs around the shop welding under cars, tight spaces  and such where they get scratched up and beat up they are actually pretty good units. I have a miller digital elite for tig and other fine work but at $400 im not about to drag it around on the floor.

The helmet Dave has seems like a really good deal I think I will buy one for home and try it out maybe start replacing the HF units with them. Jackson was always the go-to in standard helmets I have several and they have been really good.

I'm not actually all that impressed with my Miller helmet anyway its ok but for the price it should be great.

This would be a good discussion to continue in the shop tools thread. some reviews of various helmets.

jeff10049

#11
What I did in the shop today.

We had some friends over and Len was really into my old engines so we got out and ran the 1903 root and vandervoort 2hp, 1931 economy 5hp, 1947 international lb 2.5 hp, and the maytag model 72.
Played with the classic mini and finished the install of the custom auto sound radio for the 50 chevy truck.


MiniDave

#12
Love those old stationary engines!

I've only had mine 20  years, not 30....but this is only the 3rd set of batteries! Of course, I don't use it everyday either.....the magnifying lens really helps too. I was getting some terrible welds and couldn't understand why, then I figured out I couldn't see what I was welding - basically I was welding blind! No wonder they were wandering off all over the place!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

#13
I'm working from home today which means I can poke around in the garage at lunchtime.   Even though I had not given it the 3 or 4 hours per the directions, I decided to drain out the Thermocure from Evaporust in my car's cooling system cleaner anyway. (they sure like the very 50's naming convention of putting an "O" in the middle of the name!)   One bottle of the stuff is supposed to treat cooling systems up to 3 gallons, so with the Mini's small capacity I only used a half bottle along with distilled water, figuring I'd attack it twice.   


Let me just say, HOLY CRAP.   This was on a cooling system I had flushed with water extensively and which had "a lot of mud", as Dave says.  I had also pulled the radiator and the heater matrix and flushed those additional times when they were out of the car.  I could get only clear water out of the Mini's cooling system before I added the stuff.


After only about 90 minutes of running time - but at least a week of sitting in the cooling system with the car parked - I drained and this crap came out.   It's not even rusty brown, its mostly black.   I put some of what I drained out in this jug so you could see the color.   Since this stuff is non-toxic I didn't worry about cleanup and just hosed off what I spilled on my driveway and let it run into the grass.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

BruceK

I think I've seen that Magtag unit installed in the back end of some fancy German car!   ;D ;D

1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniDave

Holy Crap is right! The coolant in the Racing Green still looks green in the radiator so I'm guessing it's OK, when I put coolant in the Bugeye it turned brown as soon as I started the car, so I kept flushing it till it was clear too, but it looks like I may not have gotten it as clean as I thought given this result.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

I added the 2nd half of the bottle and more distilled water and this time I'll give it at least the 3 to 4 hours per the directions and see what I get back out.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

BruceK

#17
Quote from: BruceK on September 24, 2018, 11:30:19 AM
I added the 2nd half of the bottle and more distilled water and this time I'll give it at least the 3 to 4 hours per the directions and see what I get back out.

Holy crap, part II.     This was the result of using the second half of the bottle mixed with distilled water and about 3 hours of running time, drained out.  I poured part of it in this jug.    I had flushed and flushed and the water was coming out clear before I added the stuff in again.  And this is how it came out - it found more rust and corrosion the second time.  So when I got this out I of course flushed again until clear with hose water.   Then I flushed with distilled water.  Then i added 50/50 distilled water and Prestone.  I am counting on the rust inhibitors in the antifreeze to do their job.   But geez, just running plain water in the cooling system of a Mini (as this car came from England) is just a recipe to totally screw up your cooling system.   
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

94touring

#18
Looks oil, black gold, Texas tea, coolant that is.

BruceK

Looks like dark brown muddy water when it's coming out of the cooling system.  I'm a believer in this product.  I'll definitely use it again.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

ve9aa

Put ISO grips on my bike.   4.gif Throttle boss on the right hand one. 77.gif

Yeah, I know...not Mini related. :-[
Mike in NB

30 minutes in a Mini is more therapeutic than 3 sessions at the shrink.


jeff10049

Some time spent in the shop every day since last Sunday and all of last Sunday cleaning mouse nest from the 2013 mini countryman.
Got in the car last Sunday to go to the store turned on the heater and paper pieces blew out of the vent all over the car fan didn't sound right.
Got home pulled open the cabin air filter access and a damn mouse had chewed through the filter and made a nest soon as i turned on the fan sucked in part of the nest.

So I thought about just getting rid of the car but we really like it so the work began pulled out the heater fan and then the heater core. I do have to give Mini credit easiest heater core on the planet to change about time engineers thought about it I can remember pulling the whole dash in many cars honda was the worst.

About half the nest was stuck in the evaporator for the a/c I sprayed it down with bleach and then blew it out with compressed air from the heater core hole and sucked it up with the shop vac through the blower motor resistor hole.

ordered a new fan the nest broke the wheel on the original one when it sucked it up. I broke the right apron cover over the battery I was so pissed off when removing it I got in a hurry and well yea anyway I ordered one of those and a new cabin air filter along with the expensive pentision coolant to replace what I lost removing the core. 

The last Parts came in yesterday finished reassembling the car today it all seems good and I don't think I got Haunta virus so I may Live a while longer it was a deer mouse that got in.

I added a screen so they can not get to the fresh air intake again and about $100.00 of mouse traps to the garage.

F*&^%$# Mouse.


MPlayle

I do know that moth balls will keep mice & rats out.  They don't like the smell.  Saves on cleaning up the traps.

I usually buy a box for the apartment garage and scatter about half around the edges of the walls along the floor.

I used to do that when I had all of my stuff in storage units at various times.  Kept the little critters out of everything.


Jims5543

My Pickup is in Jack stands in the garage, Wife losing patience, wants it done, I just toss the middle finger at it every time I look at it.

Ironic an Electric car sits next to it every day.

The punch out list is short, I am planning on dropping the exhaust to finish the shifter linkage, (thanks everyone for the heads up!!.... not!) then get it dropped on the ground and finish the back suspension and brakes.

I am just so busy at work when I am home I am flat out knackered and do not want to do anything, OR I have more paperwork to do.

Good news is my receivables at work at breaking records, I have not seen receivables like this is over 10 years!! My Business account is back to where it was in 2005 and my personal savings is the same.  So there is that.

Now to find time to play car again. 
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson