The DIY thread

[Tricycle Rider]

Murder, murder most foul!

Any aquarium keepers here?

I keep a small 10 gallon aquarium, most recently I had acquired a couple of baby male sword tails. (Gorgeous, aren't they?)

In addition to that I had an elderly Tetra in there, just today I had found her dead.

Now, did she die of old age, or did the sword tails just knock her out, which had led her to her unfortunate demise?

Other than that I just completely change the water twice a year, and in the meantime I use "AquaSafe Plus" to any water I add, and I try to change the filter about every three months.

So there we have it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Right, so here's a "progress" report on the Bug...

After much sanding, building up, and sanding some more I sprayed the roof with two coats of Flex Seal... unless the whole damn roof peels off it's looking rather promising.

Have to wait for the Flex Seal to cure, and then I'll finally be able to spray paint again, this time with only a semi-gloss. (And while I will not be able to be happy with it because it's not perfect I'll be, at least, able to sleep again. I have to remind myself of the prime directive - it was so the roof doesn't leak once it starts raining!)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

There are quite a few things I hate more than prepping a place for painting (taping, covering things up you don't want painted), but it's just something you gotta do and get over with. So here's more progress on the Bug (ended up having to repaint it with a satin finish because I wasn't happy with the semi-gloss)...

Much like the Bianchi "Celeste green" the manufacturer's color changes from year to year (sometimes it's more blue, sometimes more green), so now I have to paint the whole car because the color I had painted it with a few years back in no way matches the color now.

Ah well, I'd like to think it's a labor of love, but actually it kinda sucks. But if you love your old car enough you'll just do it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Dear god, I just hate the satin finish "hunter green"... thankfully I only did the roof, if I had done the whole car with it the Bug would look like a goddamn Nazi war tank! (Just slap a swastika on it and it's ready for WWII.)

So here I go again re-doing it with a gloss finish - I will hate it because the surface is uneven, but I just really don't want for my Buggie to look like some kind of a relic from wars past.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

For those of you who are following my "Bug project"... this is what the car looked like initially before I ever got my hands on it. (Second pic is after I got done with it.)

Sanding, priming, resurfacing, all of that I've already done several years ago. So now I just have to repaint it (besides having to fix all the chips and nooks)...

Mostly I just have to remind myself that it can never be perfect, unless I somehow scrounge up the money to get it done professionally. (I'm afraid that kind of money I don't have at the moment, so I just have to DIY. )

 

[Dazed and Confused]

You must love your car, TR. All shiny and and ready to go again.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

You must love your car, TR. All shiny and and ready to go again.

Oh man, a couple of decades ago my bro and dad took the whole engine apart, and they had cleaned each and every part. What I've been doing is merely cosmetic, and while this may suck...

Once you get ahold of a classic VW (be it Van or Bug), you never let 'em go!

Peace, bro!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Better stay clear of the bug then....

Anyway installing a new tumble dryer over the weekend as the old one generated more heat than the local power station. But the sales guy forgot about some tube part.... going back to the store..... Must remain calm......

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

Better stay clear of the bug then....

Anyway installing a new tumble dryer over the weekend as the old one generated more heat than the local power station. But the sales guy forgot about some tube part.... going back to the store..... Must remain calm......

Dude, just stay calm...

You know that weekends are the worst time to go to a hardware shop, right? (From my experience from working at a hardware shop - going first thing in the morning is the best time to go. The only people you'll encounter then is contractors [who already know what they're doing], and you'll probably get some knowledgeable sales people all to yourself.)

I just think your timing was bad, nothing wrong with your DIY project.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Better stay clear of the bug then....

Anyway installing a new tumble dryer over the weekend as the old one generated more heat than the local power station. But the sales guy forgot about some tube part.... going back to the store..... Must remain calm......

Dude, just stay calm...

You know that weekends are the worst time to go to a hardware shop, right? (From my experience from working at a hardware shop - going first thing in the morning is the best time to go. The only people you'll encounter then is contractors [who already know what they're doing], and you'll probably get some knowledgeable sales people all to yourself.)

I just think your timing was bad, nothing wrong with your DIY project.

Thx for the advice. Got the tube, worry its not long enough for existing hole in wall. Might have to drill another higher up the wall something I don't want to do.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Hon, at this point I'd say you need to hire a pro... have no idea why you're drilling more holes than you've already got.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Hon, at this point I'd say you need to hire a pro... have no idea why you're drilling more holes than you've already got.

nah, no pro for this one. No explosion danger this time, just some consideration as to what will look best (the drainage is located in another room from where the tumble dryer is).

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Hon, at this point I'd say you need to hire a pro... have no idea why you're drilling more holes than you've already got.

nah, no pro for this one. No explosion danger this time, just some consideration as to what will look best (the drainage is located in another room from where the tumble dryer is).

So you are all clear of the electrical stuff when you're drilling?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Hon, at this point I'd say you need to hire a pro... have no idea why you're drilling more holes than you've already got.

nah, no pro for this one. No explosion danger this time, just some consideration as to what will look best (the drainage is located in another room from where the tumble dryer is).

So you are all clear of the electrical stuff when you're drilling?

ah right I see. No not afraid of cables in the wall, none in the area that I need to drill. Its the tiles I don't want to drill in. Looking for alternatives now....

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Hon, at this point I'd say you need to hire a pro... have no idea why you're drilling more holes than you've already got.

nah, no pro for this one. No explosion danger this time, just some consideration as to what will look best (the drainage is located in another room from where the tumble dryer is).

So you are all clear of the electrical stuff when you're drilling?

ah right I see. No not afraid of cables in the wall, none in the area that I need to drill. Its the tiles I don't want to drill in. Looking for alternatives now....

There's only one way to saw a tile, and that's with a proper wet saw. (Used to work at a tile place as well.)

 

[Dazed and Confused]

you've been around TR. Here is the deal. I like the tiles a lot. Holes not wanted, so now looking to see if I can extend the tube and still get rid of the excessive water. Waiting for a replay......salesperson......

 

[fatandfast]

The thing that I love about VW bugs is that there are boat loads of products available. You can back off the fenders and install new rubber. All the interior stuff is pretty easy to install.. new floor pans,cranks and handles. You can be driving a 45 year old new car if you want to.. don't get me going about these guys that have kits to install Subaru motors in a bunch of VW cars,vans and transporters!!!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

The thing that I love about VW bugs is that there are boat loads of products available. You can back off the fenders and install new rubber. All the interior stuff is pretty easy to install.. new floor pans,cranks and handles. You can be driving a 45 year old new car if you want to.. don't get me going about these guys that have kits to install Subaru motors in a bunch of VW cars,vans and transporters!!!

I can't disagree with that, there are all kind of parts you can mostly get ahold of for such an old car. (Some engine and electrical parts can be a bit trickier though, or so my overpriced VW mechanic tells me.)

And on that note...

Still working on the Bug paint job, and seeing as I don't have any kind of fancy tools, nor professional space to work with/in, I have to pay attention to the wind outdoors, seeing as the driveway is where I do my spray painting.

For this this kind of tool comes in handy, it's just a simple wind spinner. (If the wind is too high or going in the wrong direction - just DON'T do it!)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Ta-daa!

Besides the doors (and some spot painting here and there) I am finally done with the BUG!

With any luck the roof won't leak, and this whole process won't have to take place again something like four years from now. Yay!

How are your tile doing, btw., Dazed and C?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

It's that time of the year again where we need to get our cars (or bikes) ready for winter, so, so far I changed my oil, and had to change the windshield wipers on the ole '67 Bug.

Next comes rotating the tires (have to have a pro do this since I don't have the equipment for it, and some of you will have to change to proper winter tires), but after that I'm all done.

Ya'll getting ready for some winter weather now? Say yes!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Update on the roof job I did on my Bug earlier this summer, seeing as we are nearly breaking records in terms of rain in my parts of the world...

So far no leaks, and the roof seems to be holding up well. Well, except for that one small blistered area that I had decided to pop (I really shouldn't have done that)...

I have to sand that small area, add some Bondo, sand some more, add some FlexSeal, and then gloriously finish with a coat (or three) of paint.

Truly this is just cosmetic, but it's bugging me enough to where I need to do it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Another recycled DIY tip for those who do your own water sprinkler stuff...

Mark your sprinklers before the bad weather comes in (and covers your sprinklers with mud, grass, and the odd golfer who may have lost his/her way during the Masters), this year I'm going with the bamboo sticks.

 

[JayKosta]

An important consideration about DIY is that with complex assemblies it can be difficult to completely identify ALL of the things that are broken or not working as well as they should. If you do disassembly you might find that other things are wrong after you install the new part. Or worse you disassemble and damage something and then find that the replacement parts aren't easily available - so now you've got something that doesn't work at all, where before it just wasn't working 100%.

Another consideration is whether you can do a true FIX, as opposed to a PATCH that will work for a while but then need to be re-done or really fixed. A patch is fine for a short time, but be sure to continue the process of getting it really fixed - either by DIY or by a pro.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Good tips, Jay Kosta!

Case in point...

Boneheaded project to do while it's raining, but my dad's lawnmower wouldn't work, the cord got jammed. So in my infinite wisdom I decided to take the cord whatchamacallit apart, had no idea there was a coil in there, which of course uncoiled when I took the whatchamacall it off. (Very bad words had been thought and said at that point.)

Laboriously I had put the coil and other parts back together, but still had the same problem with the cord jamming. Looked up more tips on Youtube, turns out the blade shaft was covered with all kinds of crap, so once I cleared that the mower did start.

So in my super infinite wisdom I decided to lube the shaft, now the mower won't start again. (Very bad words had been thought and spoken once again!)

Don't know if it was the rain or the lube, but I ended up buying a new spark plug and air filter. So now I just have to wait for the engine to dry to see if that was even needed...

Moral of the story (I think) - don't fix it if it ain't broke! (And especially if you don't know what you're doing.)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Of all the boneheaded things...

Turns out my dad had turned the gas choke to "off" on the lawnmower while I was busy trying to diagnose other potential problems, once he turned the gas back on (most likely by pure accident seeing as he's not fond of reading owner's manuals) the lawnmower worked again.

I had forgotten the lawnmower even had a gas choke, it was the first thing I should have checked after I got the pull rope situation all fixed.

Think I'll just go stick my head in the toilet now and flush a few times, obviously my brain is full of ***!