Off Topic DIY Thread

[darksabre]

I barely know where to put the gas in and I've done a dozen brake jobs. It's probably the easiest thing you can do other than changing routine filters.

Nope. Not doing em. Unless I'm replacing entire calipers it's not worth the hassle. Stuck pistons, cracked bleeders, everything rusting apart in my hands. Nope Nope Nope. 

[JJFIVEOH]

I do most all the work on my vehicles, just no pics. 

Rule of thumb when working on your car, add 75% to the amount of time you think it will take and you'll be OK. 

[MattPie]

That, or release the emergency brake. 

 

Yes, I know two people that did that. 

 

I've definitely gotten confused when I got the back-end up and the wheel wouldn't spin. :)

[Doohickie]

That, or release the emergency brake. 

 

Yes, I know two people that did that. 

 

I know someone that drove all the way from Cheektowaga to Niagara Falls with the e-brake on.  Brakes were smoking when he parked it.

[ubkev]

I routinely change my wiper blades, and fill the gas tank in all my vehicles. And that's all! My brother is a mechanic, and incredibly qualified mechanic, and I know as much about cars as a beauty queen. Actually, that is a slight to beauty queens. My wife knows more about cars than I do!

 

What I do know, is that no job inside my house scares me.

 

Had water coming down into my man cave, whenever I would take a shower. I'm figuring the valve stems are going bad, so I go into the wall and I replaced them all. It all went absolutely perfectly after I got the blow torch out. I got everything swapped out and had the water flowing beautifully. No leaks! Until I take a shower later that night. Turns out, the caulk seal around the tub had given up. So I put about 2 hours of work into a 6 minute job.

[MattPie]

I know someone that drove all the way from Cheektowaga to Niagara Falls with the e-brake on.  Brakes were smoking when he parked it.

 

My parents had an 88 Aerostar that had a auto-adjust e-brake (a ratchet in the floor-mounted handle). We used it twice; once when the car was new and once I applied it shortly before going on a trip while packing the car (oops, I was roughly 13). Both times the e-brake would work fine when applying and then click-click-click as the ratchet took adjusted when the springs weren't strong enough to release the brakes. We had to crawl under and pull on the cables to get the brakes turned off. Actually, that's a lie; we used it once a year for the inspection and then had to release it again that day before going home.

[inkman]

Errr...I think I'm building an ice rink. I'll check back in a week or so.

[MattPie]

Errr...I think I'm building an ice rink. I'll check back in a week or so.

 

I may need to remove the OT tag... that's awesome.

 

Also, should I rename this to the DIY mega-thread?

[inkman]

I may need to remove the OT tag... that's awesome.

 

Also, should I rename this to the DIY mega-thread?

I'll invite yall degenerates over if it comes out ok. Knowing me, there won't be an invite.

[josie]

Where's Josie? I need her to post the prop flamethrower I made for her "Ripley from Alien" Halloween costume.  

When I get home I'll dig it out. 

 

Next year, when you're not sick and we actually get to celebrate halloween, we're somehow adding in "real" flamethrowing capabilites. Even if it's just cloth and air to simulate a flickering flame haha 

[Doohickie]

When I get home I'll dig it out. 

 

Next year, when you're not sick and we actually get to celebrate halloween, we're somehow adding in "real" flamethrowing capabilites. Even if it's just cloth and air to simulate a flickering flame haha 

 

A fraternity brother actually buried a butane torch in a dragon puppet he made as a Halloween prop.  It shot flame about 2 feet.  He had to be very careful with it, but man it was cool.

[sabills]

We did a bunch of work on our back yard this summer. Replaced an old chain-link fence with a new wood one with the help of our neighbor, and a bunch of extra help from my father-in-law who designed the whole thing, and my family who we shanghai'd into helping us do the grunt work. I also built a raised bed and a digging spot for the dog in (basically a dog sandbox. He's a terrier, we're hoping we can DIRECT the digging instead of trying to eliminate it.) I'll take some pictures if I ever see sunlight again.

[WildCard]

I barely know where to put the gas in and I've done a dozen brake jobs. It's probably the easiest thing you can do other than changing routine filters.

I've heard the same, if you're referring to just rotors and calipers. It's something I really want to learn to do next

[josie]

Where's Josie? I need her to post the prop flamethrower I made for her "Ripley from Alien" Halloween costume.  

Ok ok.

 

 

So, while he was in full pneumonia death spiral, d4rk yoinked together some wood, odds and ends and I assembled/painted it feverishly the night before the office halloween costume contest. If we do this next year, I'm going to repaint the damn thing so it's really good and accurate and realistic looking, because this was a slap dash job by moi. 

 

PVC pipe for stock, wood for body, driveway reflectors cut down for the rods in the front, more pvc pipe, foam, and a couple bottles (that Ice sparkling water stuff) spray painted for the two tanks. 

 

I mean, for sickness and lack of time, it's not bad! 

 

Other side with admittedly massive cat for scale:

 

 

and then me. I miraculously found a Vietnam era women's (yeah that was nearly impossible) flight suit in my size on ebay. The exact model I wanted was a former Chinese g suit- the same one Weaver wears in the movie. Yeah, I couldn't find any in my size or remotely near my price range (because of popularity, they're more like 500 bucks now). 

So it's too green to be correct, but after getting the central zipper replaced, it fit great.

My days of sexy halloween are over. This was too comfy.

 

After this picture, I acquired the correct patches for both Kane (who Carter was/is gonna be) and Ripley, as well as white hi-top sneakers, the chest burster, and I carried a little stuffed cat with me as Jones. 

 

Next year, we'll do this right. I can't wait to build a chest rig for Carter that pops the burster and throws blood on people. 

 

And I plan to use the flightsuit for paintball games someday, or gender bend some Top Gun characters and sweat all over everyone. 

[Ogre]

I'm so proud of all of you.

[darksabre]

Ok ok.

 

 

So, while he was in full pneumonia death spiral, d4rk yoinked together some wood, odds and ends and I assembled/painted it feverishly the night before the office halloween costume contest. If we do this next year, I'm going to repaint the damn thing so it's really good and accurate and realistic looking, because this was a slap dash job by moi.

 

PVC pipe for stock, wood for body, driveway reflectors cut down for the rods in the front, more pvc pipe, foam, and a couple bottles (that Ice sparkling water stuff) spray painted for the two tanks.

 

I mean, for sickness and lack of time, it's not bad!

 

Other side with admittedly massive cat for scale:

 

 

and then me. I miraculously found a Vietnam era women's (yeah that was nearly impossible) flight suit in my size on ebay. The exact model I wanted was a former Chinese g suit- the same one Weaver wears in the movie. Yeah, I couldn't find any in my size or remotely near my price range (because of popularity, they're more like 500 bucks now).

So it's too green to be correct, but after getting the central zipper replaced, it fit great.

My days of sexy halloween are over. This was too comfy.

 

After this picture, I acquired the correct patches for both Kane (who Carter was/is gonna be) and Ripley, as well as white hi-top sneakers, the chest burster, and I carried a little stuffed cat with me as Jones.

 

Next year, we'll do this right. I can't wait to build a chest rig for Carter that pops the burster and throws blood on people.

 

And I plan to use the flightsuit for paintball games someday, or gender bend some Top Gun characters and sweat all over everyone.

I think we got pretty close!

 

Edited December 6, 2016 by d4rksabre

[darksabre]

Top DIY for me to date was the paintball tank some friends and I built back in the summer of '06. Ford Aerostar work van underneath made an excellent Jagdpanzer IV. It had a fully functional air cannon that could shoot nerf footballs or sabot charges. Someday when we're all a little older I think we'd like to take another crack and paintball tanks.  :P 

[darksabre]

Oh, I also once took my first motorcycle completely apart, moved it to another house in boxes, and put it back together. Repainted a lot of the frame pieces and rebuilt the wiring harness. Motor threw the cam chain shortly after and I sold it to a roommate. He fixed the motor, took it to California, and sold it to some guy there. 

[Captain Caveman]

I know someone that drove all the way from Cheektowaga to Niagara Falls with the e-brake on.  Brakes were smoking when he parked it.

It doesn't say a lot for your friend, but it really doesn't say a lot for his emergency brake.

 

ba dum dum

[MattPie]

I've heard the same, if you're referring to just rotors and calipers. It's something I really want to learn to do next

 

Pads and rotors are easy. Calipers are a little harder because you have to bleed out the fluid which can take a little time. Anyways, process to for disc brakes:

- Jack up car and put a jack-stand under the frame somewhere. Don't work only with the jack. I have a crappy jack so I usually only do one wheel at a time, but if you have better tools get one end up so you can work on both wheels. This should be easy.

- Take the wheels off. This should be easy.

- Remove the caliper without disconnecting the hose (unless you want to make a mess and try bleeding). On my more recent jobs, there are two medium sized (12 mm, I think) bolts on inside of the caliper; once you take those out it slides right off the pads. Find a place to set or hang the caliper so it's not dangling by the hose. This shouldn't be too bad.

- Remove the the pads. This can be a little sticky but not hard.

- Remove the bracket that holds the caliper and pads. This should be two more bolts on the back side (I think 14mm). Cage should almost fall off.

- Remove the rotor. This can suck, it's often rusted and sometimes won't come off the hub. There are a lot of ways to work on this (heat, hammer, prying) on the net. The one that I've used the last couple times (because I could) is there are a couple threaded holes in the center of the rotor (what they're for, I don't know). FInd the right bolt and start tightening. When it gets through it'll push against the hub and pop the rotor off. I almost wonder if that's what they're for.

- New rotor on. This shouldn't be hard.

- Caliper bracket back on. This shouldn't be hard either.

- Replace the clips (if you have them), grease the clips using brake grease. Not hard, you might need to use pliers or pry them off.

- New pads in place. This can be a little tough sometimes if the pads and clips are tight.

- You have to push the brake pistons in because the new pads are thicker than the worn ones. I use a big C-clamp and a piece of wood, the old pad, or a hockey puck to make sure I don't damage the the pistons. Keep an eye on the brake fluid level under the hood, make sure it doesn't overflow. Don't push the pistons more than you need to get them over the brake pads.

- Calipers in place and bolted. Not hard.

- Wheel back on. You're done.

 

Work methodically, try to lay things you take off in order as you're working so if you're not sure how a new pads fit if they're slightly different you can reference what the original inside or outside pad looks like. Make sure to check the lug nuts after you drive a miles and retighten.

-

 

Oh, I also once took my first motorcycle completely apart, moved it to another house in boxes, and put it back together. Repainted a lot of the frame pieces and rebuilt the wiring harness. Motor threw the cam chain shortly after and I sold it to a roommate. He fixed the motor, took it to California, and sold it to some guy there. 

 

CL350_1.jpg

CL350_2.jpg

CL350_3.jpg

CL350_4.jpg

 

Dude, that's an awesome bike. Also very "in" right now in the post-cafe-racer era. Some of the factories are making production versions again (Ducati, Triumph, BMW (kinda)).

[Wyldnwoody44]

I picked up an old 1920's schwinn bike at the Super flea a few years ago, it's all original but needs some TLC.... Big, wide fenders and a stainless steel light on the front of it, one speed. Really has potential to be a beaut.

 

I was hoping to hand paint it and get some new or close to original replacement parts, white wall tires on it.

 

Unfortunately life is getting in the way of this project

[darksabre]

A few weeks ago when I changed the oil cooler lines on my '96 Roadmaster, I grabbed a sample of oil and sent it off to a place called Blackstone Labs. They test fluid samples and give you a little report. I'd never done it before, but I wanted to see what they could tell me about my 20 year old car that I couldn't see from the outside. Here's a little snapshot of the report they sent me today.



Not bad! 

[sabills]

A few weeks ago when I changed the oil cooler lines on my '96 Roadmaster, I grabbed a sample of oil and sent it off to a place called Blackstone Labs. They test fluid samples and give you a little report. I'd never done it before, but I wanted to see what they could tell me about my 20 year old car that I couldn't see from the outside. Here's a little snapshot of the report they sent me today.

 

oilsample.PNG

 

Not bad! 

 

Thats pretty cool. 

 

 

Because one project, or 6, are never enough, tonight I'm

going to be getting started on a sofa table for our living room. Something like this: 

 

 

I got a couple pieces of barn wood (I know, I'm a hipster, but I like it) off of craigslist a year or so ago, so I think that'll be the main part of it. I'll try to do process pics here.

[biodork]

I've learned to do a decent number of things inside the house over the last few years (and mostly over the last couple of months). Mainly fixing or replacing silly little stuff that is nice to not have to pay someone else to do.

 

- fixed my dryer by replacing the start fuse

- replaced all the old electrical outlet receptacles and wall switches throughout the house

- replaced a toilet seat

- replaced the entire innards of a toilet (flush valve and fill valve assembly)

- re-hung kitchen cabinet doors after they'd be painted (by someone else)

- replaced a sink faucet and bathroom vanity top

- replaced a hideous bathroom wall light fixture

- installed new baseboard trim and door trim throughout the house (fun with a power miter saw!)

- cut out and replaced a section of water damaged door frame

 

Next in line:

 

- replace the ugly and cracked floor tile in the bathroom and kitchen

- install a backsplash in both rooms

- refinish the ugly kitchen countertops and replace the faucet/sink

 

I don't do anything auto related, though. :)

Edited December 7, 2016 by biodork

[Ogre]

 So after the house was up I was so tired of the contractor I kicked him off the site and did all the landscaping myself. Bought this little beauty along with a bush hog, landscape rake, back blade, boom pole and plow. That rigging was already mine. I did most of the projects with little Red. That rock was right at her limits. I had to drive backwards as those big wheels made an excellent pivot and the rock would sit on the ground if i tried forward.  I had to rent a machine with a hoe twice but with all I've done, I've saved thousands. 

Why the hell is it upside down? Really makes me feel like a dolt that I can't figure this out. I don't have many DIY tech skills..