The Wall

I'd made mention in a previous post of the project I'd been working on painting the window frames.

I had finished off the frames some time ago, and here's the results!!! The picture also has the motion detector light activated.

In the same post, I'd also mentioned that I was thinking of doing an accent wall, and now that's been done, too!!! The splotchy repaint I'd mentioned, you can kind of see in the next two pictures, but it's white on white, so it doesn't show up great.

In addition to the repaint, it also needed a little bit of body work to fill in some pits and gouges. I had the cover to the heater off to do the work, and it had a portion right by the air intake that looked burned. While I had it off, I cleaned it off (using the battery powered power washer I'd picked up, it's OK but not great. Kind of a glorified super soaker), sanded it down, and sprayed it with some high temperature spray paint.

My wife got a picture of me applying the first stripe...

The transitions didn't come out as clean as I was picturing, but it works.

I am pleased with the final results, though!!! My wife said it looks a little like a sunset, and said I could add some In-N-Out Burger style palm trees!!!

The bookcase and the stereo rack had been in the opposite positions before the project, and the bookcase was slightly into the walkway from the door, so this arrangement is better. I also painted the bare wood sides and top of the bookcase white before making some holes in the back to run the wires through.

I also realized that the TV mount had just a bit of height adjustment that I could use, so I've re positioned it around 3” up from where it was. I made a couple of gouges through the color layer while I was putting the heater cover back on that I need to go back and touch up, too.

The whole project took a while, but I'm pleased with the results!!!

Projects

I've got a few projects that I've done, or am working on.

The Studebaker came with a ring of keys, but that was all. It has a hidden release for the shaved handled door. My dad had some sort of fob with the mechanism to release it, but I have no idea what became of it. It wasn't hard to make up a design of my own to replace it, but I had to have something worthy.

I bought some cherry wood sheets and fashioned it into a new generation 512 key chain, with the requisite mechanism contained therein. Sanded it down to buttery smooth, and I'm quite pleased with the result!!!

On the subject of key chains, several years ago the younger came up with his alter ego character, Catnip. When I was doing CAD design, I took a few moments and came up with a couple of designs for a Catnip key chain. Back around that time, one of his friends was taking classes for CAD design and machining, and I sent him the file hoping he would have the machine time to whip one out, but that didn't happen. If I get back into the game, maybe I'll get a chance to do it myself.

Back a little before Christmas, he had made mention that he was interested in getting a wood Catnip medallion made up. It would have been cool to have made it up and had it ready before Christmas came around, but that didn't happen. I'd started in on it, but it wasn't ready for prime time yet. In both of the pictures I've got of it here, it's on the jig saw that my dad had gotten from somewhere and didn't have a place for or a use for, so he had given it to me. I've done a few things on it, and I did a lot of the medallion on it.

When I was drilling the eye or string holes (I'm pretty sure it was one of the string holes) it split down the length of the left side. I used some wood glue to put it back together, and it came out pretty good. I can still see where the break was. Bought a length of leather string and set it up on it. Kind of looks like he's got a headband on with the leather string!!! I was pleased with the way it came out (other than the break) and the younger likes it.

It's been more than 10 years since I had the windows replaced by the most incompetent and crooked contractors shysters I've ever done business with, YYB Construction, and I'm still cleaning up the mess they left!!! They always say you'll save so much money with double pane windows, but I haven't seen it. They are better than what we had, but not so much on the savings. Oh, and naturally the rat bastards never made with the actual window price information so that they could be deducted from our taxes. The window frames were left a mess, as you see.

They had been behind some light blue curtains, so they were largely out of sight, but I knew the shoddy condition behind them and have wanted to fix them up for a while. That's been another project that's still in the works. So far I've finished the two in the corner where I had my work desk, and they came out excellent!!! The two behind the couch are still in process, and their location behind the couch makes it a bit more difficult!!!

We have 5 panel doors in several of the rooms, and I've painted the transitions around the panels and the door frames in different colors for various rooms. The bathroom is black, the kitchen is green, and the front room is orange. If I get to it, I'll probably do the bedroom purple and the laundry room yellow. The doors have been used as the backdrops for a few of my shirt posts, as well as the costume the younger had on the most recent Halloween. The frames of the windows are also to be painted to match. The orange had been a quart that my parents had left over from some project, and the original paint had gone over, so I had to pick up another quart.

Oh yea, don't know if I ever made mention, but I bought a window mount air conditioner years ago, and took one of the sliding window panes out and added plywood sheet with a 12” x 24” Plexiglas window (the largest size my previous employer carried) installed. In the upper portion I put in an electrical junction box with a motion detector light over the outside stairs. This may be the first picture I've posted of it!!! I've been thinking for a while of getting a mini split air conditioner system installed, and if I do, I'll have to find a new way to mount the motion detector light.

I'm really happy with the way the two that are completed came out!!! It will be nice when the other two are done. I'm also thinking of doing an accent wall on the wall with the heater and TV on it. I plan on using the same orange, but starting at the top with the full color, and fading it lighter as it goes down. That wall has been splotchily repainted when the crap improvements were going on.

The final touch, my wife found some curtains that go nicely with the color. I repainted the curtain rods black to match the rings, and it came together really nicely!!!

Saturn S Series Technical Bulletin v. #512.0

Just to share a little of the information I've recently acquired...

The smaller oil filter on the right is the specified unit for all S Series 1.9 engines. The one on the left is slightly larger, hence it has more filter surface. It has the same base size, thread size and bypass pressure as the specified one, and sells for exactly the same price as the other, so no reason not to use it. I believe it is the one specified for 2000-2006 Mustang V-6 engines, but the STP one has an easy enough part number to remember.

The next two pictures I took because attempting to do an image search for "Saturn 1.9 Twin Cam Air Injection Ports" came up with only one picture of what I was looking for!!! If I ever get an engine to rebuild, I'll get some better shots. The ports are lined up directly under the studs. In the second picture, I've added in a helpful couple of purple arrows. For a while I've been getting the p0410 check engine code for secondary air injection. At first I thought it was from the connector to the valve, which was damaged in the hood incident, and the code started coming up shortly after that. I replaced it, and it didn't take care of the issue. Next, I took off the metal pipe from the valve to the exhaust manifold and cleaned out the carbon build up inside of it. Still no good.

Smog check time is coming up, and the code keeps coming back. The only thing left to do is pull off the exhaust manifold and clean out the rest of the way. The air conditioning compressor bracketry needs to come off to get to all the bolts. I left the down pipe connected and just made some room between the head and the manifold and was able to get to the ports. I had a couple wire brushes I had intended to use, but the carbon was also rather gummy in this area, and I ended up using a stiff piece of wire to get out quite a bit of gunk. Hopefully it's enough.

In addition, since I had the transmission done, I've been getting a code for the torque converter lock up not working. Took her back to the transmission place (they'd wanted to see her back in a few weeks, make sure all is well) and they told me at that time they'd need a couple hours to see to it. I couldn't do it at that time, so my wife and I came back a couple weeks later. Called them back in a couple hours, and they said they were going to need more time to take things apart. Ended up being there a couple days, and they replaced the external switch, which wasn't making good contact, they said. Made it most of the way home before the light came back on. I took it back to another garage of the same chain, not because they failed me at the first one, but because it's closer to home. They've got it now, and they've replaced the torque converter, even though it looked like it was fine, and are replacing the valve body. Seems to me that's every possible thing it could be, so this should do it.

Just last week 3 turned 100!!! Two and a half years, and I've rolled around 33,000 miles on her!!!

Also a week ago, I finally got a set of the 16" Ion alloys I've been wanting to get for Scruffy!!! Got them from two different Ions at the junkyard, and turns out there's a little difference, do you see it??? Apparently, on some they have a dark gray inside the spokes and machined look faces, and on others they've just painted the whole thing with a metallic silver paint!!! I'm looking into getting them matched, but if not, I'll just put a pair of either style on opposite sides!!!

Halloween: A New Era

Happy upcoming Thanksgiving!!! Before it gets even farther along, figured to to the belated Halloween post!!!

The new era alluded to in the title refers to this being the first year where the older was not in the vicinity, so it was just the younger.

First up is a shot of the Jack-O-Lantern. For a change, they didn't have the carving contest at work this year. Just the one this year, as it seems time always gets tight this time of year. Based on Papyrus from Undertale. The youngest drew it out and I carved it. considering the challenging design, I think it came out quite well. Didn't do it that far in advance, either, so it was in excellent shape for the traditional early November mayhem. You can catch this year's here.

Next up is a construction shot of the most complex portion of the costumes this year, a pair of glasses. Involved was some Plexiglas from the dodecahedron project (worse for time, the protective paper had bonded fairly well onto it!!!), frames from some old sunglasses, much epoxy, and some even older than the Plexiglas window tint film. The black piece was a cardboard mock-up repurposed to hold the bows apart while it was being epoxied.

A couple of new shirts were in order. I did mine with the same technology the the older had previously used for his Vriska costume, a cardboard template and spray paint. The youngers' was made up with an iron on print, on an orange sleeved shirt. I never saw an image of this shirt with the orange sleeves, but hey, artistic license!!!

My costume was yet another Homestuck character, Lil Cal. Also involved was a gold tooth cap I'd had for more than ten years ago. My wife was a huge help locating it. Where is a good place to store such a thing??? An old ball cap and gold chain completed the look. To finish it off, I shaved off my mustache and beard and drew on the cheek spots and jaw opening. I wore it into work, and I think I was the only one in my department this year that dressed up.

The boy had his costume based on Dirk Strider, who of course, is closely linked with Lil Cal, so that is where the inspiration for my costume came from!!! Glasses, shirt, and an old wood sword fresh painted silver on the blade comprise his costume. I'm of the opinion that wanting to have the glasses and an orange shirt were primary motivators to his choice of costume!!!

More of the Jack-O-Lantern, this time on the cat tree. I don't think awesome cat much cares for his heiarchal position at the top of the tree being usurped.

Something cool, I have so many vacation days now, that I happened to see they had a half day available on Halloween, which of course I took. Nice, as they have moved the start and end time of my shift 15 minutes later, and it had already been a late get home time. We trick or treated around the neighborhood, the streets behind our house, then over to what had looked to be a promising area.

One place had this sign up on their gate... I feel vandalism coming on!!!

There!!! Fixed your sign for you, mister!!! No treat, here's your trick!!! Haha!!!

When we had headed over two weekends before, we'd spotted what looked like a walkway at the end of the dead end street we'd walked up. We had walked down it to another cul-de-sac in the valley below. This was the previously alluded to promising area. There were several houses with Halloween decorations, and while we were there we witnessed a mother and child having a Nerf gun war. It was pretty far on in the evening by the time we made it over there, though, and it wasn't as good as it had looked, though there was one guy we caught pulling into his garage who dug out a three year old bag of tootsie rolls and dumped a good quantity into our sacks.

Finally, now that there is one in the neighborhood, no Halloween night would have been complete without a visit to a haunted house...

"And they say the old man's body was NEVER FOUND..."

If I Knew Picasso...

"Do you play guitar???" She asked. Probably the fact that I was wearing my guitar print shirt today made her think that. One of the things I like about her, she appreciates all the wild shirts I wear and often comments on them. Sometimes she'll tell me, "I like your shirt!!!" and start laughing. I never know exactly how to take that, so I just thank her and take it as a compliment.



"No", I replied, "but I have a guitar." She laughed, amused, and asked, "What kind of guitar???" "Silver" I replied. I painted it myself." More laughter. "I've learned a few chords, but that's about it."

That was about all the time for discussion we had at that point, but it brought back memories, so when I had a few moments later, I related some more of the story:

Back in my early teen years I picked this guitar up from a friend of my sister for a decent price. It was a cheap Japanese solid body electric, with all the electronics on a chrome plate. Double pick ups and a base that is threaded for a whammy bar. It was wood grained with darkened areas when I got it.

I was going to paint my bedroom. Like most teens, I wanted to paint it black. Of course, my parents weren't too thrilled at this prospect, fearing that it would be like a cave (ummm, part of the attraction!!!) and that it would take a dozen coats of paint to ever cover over it. Then, one of my dad's friends told him, "No problems painting over black paint, one coat of silver covers right over it!!!" Hmmmm, silver... Kinda like the sound of that even better!!! So, silver it was painted, with a black ceiling. I drove a few nails into the wall to hang the guitar on at about a 30° angle, and disassembled it and painted the body and neck the same silver as the walls. While I never became a guitar virtuoso, I had a cool wall hanging.

As an epilogue, years later, after I had moved out, my parents repainted the room. Turns out the only thing harder than painting over black paint is painting over silver paint!!!