What did you do today?

[driftinwoods]

My S10 has above average blow by and with all the cold weather the moisture is really condensing inside the vent tube that goes from the rocker cover into the back of the air cleaner. I made an oil catch can a year ago and it seems to work pretty good but I decided to make a larger one. I figure the moisture will condense inside this larger version better.
Some new cars even come with these catch cans. They prevent the engine from having to suck in oil, oil fumes, fuel residue and water vapor. Until you collected some of this, you don't realize how nasty the stuff is.
The filter can has an upper and lower chamber. It took quite a while to fit or suspend a baffle over the lower intake. Once I had it fitted, I slobbered a bead of JB weld to hold it in place.
I'll l put one of those stainless steel BBQ scrubbers on top of that baffle it gives the vapors something to collect on.
Fun little lazy day project.
....ok, two lazy days.
The 32oz thermos was $10 at Wallyworld. You can buy these catch cans from $15 to $700, but that's no fun, is it?
I'm thinking of adding a smaller one on the PCV side. Maybe I'll clean my old one and put it there as a test to see how much it collects and if it's worthwhile.
All these oil fumes go back into the throttle body and get sucked in and reburnt. These keep the throttle body and the plugs cleaner.

Just be careful about buying or making fuel filter solvent traps.

 

[highup]

Just be careful about buying or making fuel filter solvent traps.

Now those sound scary. I'll stick to the factory one.

 

[highup]

When mixing the JB weld, I accidentally mixed JB weld resin with JB weld Kwik hardener. It cures slower than when you mix up the Kwik with his own resin and hardner
It seemed to set up about half as fast.
Since it did set up and cure, I did a test.
Test1
I mixed up the regular resin with a quick hardner and spread into a thin layer.
Test2
Next, I mixed the Kwik resin with the regular JB weld hardener.

Results:
In the first test, the JB weld cured a lot faster, but also remains more flexible then if you mixed JB weld normally.

In the second test, the JB weld set up quite slowly like it normally does but it dries extremely brittle.

Hmmmmmm. Should I call JB weld up until they need to make another product?

 

[zannej]

I might have to resort to some JBWeld for trying to keep this plastic drawer top from cracking. The super glue is not holding very well. Need something that will bond wood to plastic. Got tongue depresser style wood craft sticks glued together and trying to bond it to the top of the plastic drawer thing so it won't sink or keep cracking under the weight of the cats.

 

[highup]

I might have to resort to some JBWeld for trying to keep this plastic drawer top from cracking. The super glue is not holding very well. Need something that will bond wood to plastic. Got tongue depresser style wood craft sticks glued together and trying to bond it to the top of the plastic drawer thing so it won't sink or keep cracking under the weight of the cats.

Try some Devcon plastic welder epoxy. Be stinkier than s***
The smell goes away once it cures in a few minutes. Mix it outside, fix what needs fixing then take the residual outside so you don't have to let it cure in the house.
Not trying to scare ya, but just prior to a 30-minute drive home I wanted to do a test with some of it.
I mix up a little bit of it and glued a penny to a piece of wood then started driving home. I cracked the window a little bit and pulled the vent. It was getting a little smelly.
The stuff works really well and it works on steel and other things too.

 

[highup]

I got super lucky finding a mounting mechanism for the catch can...... Habitat ReStore to the rescue
$2 for two Plasmo gutter mounts.
I went to the industrial steel place and got a 3" by 6" piece of aluminum to complete the mount.
So, 10 bucks the thermos, 6 bucks for two pvc's, 6 bucks for the aluminum plate, $1 for the Plasmo mounts, plus almost 10 bucks for some stainless screws and lock nuts to marry this all together.
I still have to buy the stainless steel scrubber material for a filter. There goes another five or six bucks.
....... I'm having fun and it's absolutely necessary in this situation.
Now, I just hope it works better than my old one
If nothing will be much, much easier to service.
This thermos snaps nice and tight into those Plasmo gutter brackets. A perfect fit. I was trying to figure out velcro or straps or something else, but it just snaps in nice and tight. I got extremely lucky figuring out this mounting contraption.

 

[zannej]

I think I may end up using hot glue instead. I got a Gorilla Mini hot glue gun that does dual temp. I used it to put paint stir sticks on the side walls to shim them out some more. Ordered some longer cement board screws because I'm going to need them for that side. I just about ran out of paint stirring sticks (only 1 left). I'd been using those and some jumbo craft sticks. Only have one stir stick left so I ordered a bunch more for curbside (because I still can't find them in the store when I look for them-- they are not in the aisle the website says they are in). I suspect they are hidden behind a counter and only employees can pull them out. Also ordered some more food.

I am proud of myself that I only managed to get hot glue on my fingers 2x and it was just barely a smidge. Last time I used a glue gun over a decade ago I had so much trouble. I kept getting hot glue all over myself. I was using a full size one and it was hard to manage and it sucked. This mini one is nice. It has some black rubber thingy over the metal and I don't know what the purpose of it is though bc it keeps getting stuck on the glue and coming off. So, I took it off and left it off.

I ordered more glue sticks because I went through quite a few of them. I made the mistake of getting the 4" ones instead of the 8" ones.

 

[havasu]

Went to the Reagan Library and saw the Auschwitz Exhibit yesterday. Pretty amazing to know that this occurred just 10-15 years before I was born.

 

[Incognito]

I was looking at the chart with all the various badges to identify the prisoners. Boy, as evil as the Nazis were they sure had an obsession for organization. Who, in the history of all humanity has EVER sorted through their prisons in such fashion? Anywhere else in the world throughout time you throw the unwanted in a hole and forget about them--------if you don't just up and kill them. That Austrian-Germanic need for organization, documentation and authority prevailed even in the most gruesome hellscape.

I have about 1/8 German blood. Might explain some of my OCD tendencies. Must've had some evolutionary advantage at some point in the Germanic tribal history. I remember when I was younger and asked that side of the family they were VERY hesitant to mention German heritage. It was only one generation after the war and there was still some residual shame/fears of retribution.

 

[DarisMulkin]

My mother worked in a aircraft company during the war. she and a girlfriend got to dicussing heritage and my mom said she was German and her and Hitler were friends. Someone over heard the conversation and turned her in. When she came back to lunch the authorities were waiting for her. She had some tall explaining to do and that she and the other gal were just fooling around.

 

[zannej]

My brother likes to make the joke that an ancestor of ours died in Auschwitz- Fell out of a guard tower. I don't know if any of our family had any relation to that at all. I know that my maternal grandfather's side was from Austria/Hungary area. Supposedly linked back to Transylvania. My grandfather spoke German. My maternal grandmother was a mix of British and German. On her side we are related to the guy who pioneered neurolinguistics, John Grinder.

My cats just knocked something over in the hallway... I had the old wall panels from my shower propped up against a wall (over a closet door so those jerks couldn't get into that closet). I'll get up in a few minutes to pick them up. Right now Rupert is sitting on me and doesn't want to move.

I got more paint stir sticks and some jumbo craft sticks. Did an ugly job shimming stuff up on both side walls. I used hot glue like Havasu suggested on another thread. Worked pretty well. Those gorilla glue sticks hold well.

Not perfect and needs more tweaking. On the right side, the plywood bows out in the middle so I'll have to shim the sides out a bit more. I've ordered some longer screws (2-1/4") for the areas where I really had to build up. I will go add more shims to have support behind the cementboards. Got that one cement board hanging on with just one screw but it fits pretty snugly. I'm not sure if I want to try to move it yet. I want to dry fit another piece but don't know if my arm will cooperate with lifting it & my brother's shoulder is hurting so he can't help. My friend won't be able to help for at least another week or week and a half. He's still on his cruise and will need teeth pulled after getting back. Pretty sure his ex will dump the toddler on him as soon as he's home.

I just hope my friend's mom hasn't stolen a bunch of his tools and stuff while he's away. I'm certain she's raided his pantry and fridge. She sometimes comes over with bags and starts packing up food from his house and leaving with it. She stole his ex's food stamps card more than once. I need to go over there and see if my drywall/cabinet lift thingies are still there.

Meanwhile, one of my cats is missing and I'm worried about him. I'm hoping he'll return but its not like him to be missing this long.

 

[Incognito]

The current King of England is actually of German heritage. I listened to his speech in front of the German Parliament. I had two years of German in college. My dad was fluent in German. My sister's daughter lives in Germany and speak perfect German.

The King spoke the German language very well although I couldn't find a version without the translator speaking at the same time. It's interesting history, considering all the wars.

https://www.dw.com/en/how-german-are-the-british-royals/a-63128994

 

[zannej]

I've heard rumors that Prince Philp was a Nazi sympathizer, but I don't know if there's any truth to that. I can only say a few words in German. Can't understand it when spoken beyond the few words I learned. There was a computer game called Gabriel Knight that had some sort of poem in German. Tim Curry did the voice of the main character and read it out.

My mind is all over the place. I uploaded some crappy pics of the shimming on the walls around my tub.

The left wall was more out of whack than the others. Required a lot more shimming on the corner. I also added shims where the grab bar will go. Ordered some 2-1/4" screws for that side.
Right side has a problem with the board bowing out in the middle a bit. So the edges need more shimming-- particularly the outer edge. Since both walls slope away as they get higher, that also required more shimming to make things more plumb. I just had total brainfreeze bc my oldest cat just came in here, climbed on my lap, and is squeaking at me.

 

[Floorist]

Wow 55-60 mph winds and no storm.

 

[highup]

Wow 55-60 mph winds and no storm.

Sounds like you got lucky not having a storm
Any damage from the not a storm?

 

[Floorist]

Lost half of a tree. Now I get to cut it up before I can mow.

 

[highup]

Lost half of a tree. Now I get to cut it up before I can mow.

You just need a different mower.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/12-tricked-out-lawn-mowers-you-need-to-see/

 

[DarisMulkin]

Not what I wanted to wake up to a day after surgery after the big rain we had last night. Water in my end of the basement. So far I have sucked up 30 gallons Didn't lose anything beccause everything is up and on wheels. Glad the shop vac had a drain and wheels so I could take it into the other room that has a floor drain and sump pump.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Ends up my down spout was plugged on the front corner of the roof. My neighbor poked a hole in for now as we are to get more rain this afternoon.

 

[Floorist]

Ends up my down spout was plugged on the front corner of the roof. My neighbor poked a hole in for now as we are to get more rain this afternoon.

Lost 1/2 a tree last night. We had some 65 mph wind gusts and no storm. Now I get to do cleanup.