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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#3,622 ·
Got a reprieve from the move today, so decided to just make up a few loose ends. Connected the hose lines at tank and fuel pump. Made up the front brake lines, and installed my pressure switch for brake lights. Installed my $1 swap meet gas door on the back of the car. Started chopping up the exhaust system to make it fit, but didn't get any welding done. Gave the newly dyed rear seat a couple coats of sealer. Man did the dye work great, and the seat looks like it was black since it was new! Not as shiny as the spray dye that didn't work; more natural.
 
#3,623 ·
Got a reprieve from the move today, so decided to just make up a few loose ends. Connected the hose lines at tank and fuel pump. Made up the front brake lines, and installed my pressure switch for brake lights. Installed my $1 swap meet gas door on the back of the car. Started chopping up the exhaust system to make it fit, but didn't get any welding done. Gave the newly dyed rear seat a couple coats of sealer. Man did the dye work great, and the seat looks like it was black since it was new! Not as shiny as the spray dye that didn't work; more natural.
Tell us a little more about this dye you are using if you don't mind.

John
 
#3,624 · (Edited)
Tell us a little more about this dye you are using if you don't mind.

John
Sure John! It's called Eco-Flo, and sold at Tandy Leather. I was warned several times that they could not guarantee good results with it, as it's meant to dye raw leather, not pre-dyed leather.
Maybe I had good luck because I was going black, and black covered the tan so well. Or maybe it was because of all the work I had to do before dying the seats. I had unsuccessfully tried Duplicolor vinyl fabric dye, and as soon as I sat or knealt on the seat the color began to crack and flake. So after getting the dye, and the salesperson at Tandy telling me they didn't know how it would react to previous dyes or sealers, I began stripping the seat. My attempts with various cleaners didn't do well, so I got the hot stuff out and figured I had nothing to lose. Urethane reducer for thinning paint, and a scotchbrite pad. Lots of rubber gloves, as it seemed to soften them easily!
The reducer stripped the seats easily, turning the duplicolor into a liquid, which I wiped off with numerous rags as they filled with black mess. Once I had the seats back to bare tan again, I let them dry well overnight, and began applying the dye with a sponge (as the directions said) in circular motions. It took pretty nice the first coat, but a 2nd was needed to get them streak free. I gave them a third coat, but just because I had more dye.
After the seats set for a couple days I applied Eco-Flo conditioner sealer to the seats, and repeated a 2nd time after that dried. I used satin sealer, as I didn't want shiny leather. The seats looked great before the sealer, but without it they can be stained easily, so sealer closes the pores and makes them a bit more impervious, plus gives whatever sheen you pick for sealer. It's a carnauba wax base, so it can be buffed also later, if you want it a little shinier.
I'm putting new upholstery on my front seats, so I'm hoping the sheen matches, but if it's close it will be fine for the Falcon.
Here's the seat backrest. The hole on the top left is for the shoulder harness insert.:
 
#3,625 ·
Sure John! It's called Eco-Flo, and sold at Tandy Leather. I was warned several times that they could not guarantee good results with it, as it's meant to dye raw leather, not pre-dyed leather.
Maybe I had good luck because I was going black, and black covered the tan so well. Or maybe it was because of all the work I had to do before dying the seats. I had unsuccessfully tried Duplicolor vinyl fabric dye, and as soon as I sat or knealt on the seat the color began to crack and flake. So after getting the dye, and the salesperson at Tandy telling me they didn't know how it would react to previous dyes or sealers, I began stripping the seat. My attempts with various cleaners didn't do well, so I got the hot stuff out and figured I had nothing to lose. Urethane reducer for thinning paint, and a scotchbrite pad. Lots of rubber gloves, as it seemed to soften them easily!
The reducer stripped the seats easily, turning the duplicolor into a liquid, which I wiped off with numerous rags as they filled with black mess. Once I had the seats back to bare tan again, I let them dry well overnight, and began applying the dye with a sponge (as the directions said) in circular motions. It took pretty nice the first coat, but a 2nd was needed to get them streak free. I gave them a third coat, but just because I had more dye.
After the seats set for a couple days I applied Eco-Flo conditioner sealer to the seats, and repeated a 2nd time after that dried. I used satin sealer, as I didn't want shiny leather. The seats looked great before the sealer, but without it they can be stained easily, so sealer closes the pores and makes them a bit more impervious, plus gives whatever sheen you pick for sealer. It's a carnauba wax base, so it can be buffed also later, if you want it a little shinier.
I'm putting new upholstery on my front seats, so I'm hoping the sheen matches, but if it's close it will be fine for the Falcon.
Here's the seat backrest. The hole on the top left is for the shoulder harness insert.:
They look great! I have heard other bad reports on Duplicolor dye. The SEMS dyes have a good reputation and can be mixed by many paint suppliers. I have used them successfully on several occesions but the Tandy sounds interesting and your seats do indeed look good. Thanks for sharing.

John
 
#3,626 ·
Thursday and Friday it quit raining after 5 days of it. I had to catch up on yard work. Thursday, I mowed the 1 1/4 acre hay field and put down 150lbs of fertilizer so it will grow even faster !!
I did a root drench on 3 flowering crab trees to prevent Japanese beetles from eating them. I had already done the drench before the rain on our Linden that the beatles almost killed 2 years agao when they invaded our yard and 2 ash trees to prevent damage from the Emerald Ash Borer. Betweeen the deer, rabbits and insects, there's always something eating what we plant but they don't touch the native stuff that grows wild...well, except for the EAB, which came here thru Michigan and is non-native. They have devestated huge areas of ash trees in just a dozen years.
Friday the little woman took vaca and she went to a nursery for flowers to plant while I chased to the pete dealer for parts for the truck. In the afternoon, we planted 3 pots for the porch and a couple perennials in a raised bed, trimmed a broken dogwood and did a general clean-up around other perennial gardens.
Now it's back to overcast and waves of rain off and on again for the next 6 days. Feels like I moved to Washington/Oregon area lately...:rolleyes:
 
#3,627 ·
They look great! I have heard other bad reports on Duplicolor dye. The SEMS dyes have a good reputation and can be mixed by many paint suppliers. I have used them successfully on several occesions but the Tandy sounds interesting and your seats do indeed look good. Thanks for sharing.

John
'
I have used SEM for years, even changing colors like white to black with spectacular results.

Brian
 
#3,628 ·
Rain here as well...all this week pretty much. I also found out today that HR at work screwed up my data entry for the time off so guess what....didnt get paid this pay period. Going to have to borrow some money to get by until next period. Another job im just going to have to take over doing as well since fu cktards cant comprehend this either. Im a hair away from quitting as is sorry for the rant but this back deal is the last thing I needed and now other peoples monday details screwin me over....just hmmm.

My 2nd night back ended 2 hours ago and im hurting worse each day.. what did I get done today? Nothing I guess watching last stand with Arnie so ill have watching it done when its over lol.

The seats look real good though!
 
#3,629 · (Edited)
Yippee! Got our daughter moved today! She had lots of help, so we finished at noon today!
I ran home and started building up the 2.5" exhaust sytem for the Falcon. Only got one side tacked together, as my argon ran out. I think they shorted me, as it's only been a couple weeks, and I haven't welded that much. Stuck until Tue. now before I can do more than just tack the other side without gas.


 
#3,631 ·
Friday I re-mocked up some billet hinges. Originally I did the rears and the old man did the fronts but there was issues with the pivot point on the front pushing the hood forward as it was opening and ripping off the rubber stop in the back with the back of the hood and also hitting the fender. So we had them shaved down at a machine shop so when it's mounted to the cowl it brings the pivot point back to where it can swing freely open. Thing is, now the shock cylinder is hitting the corner of the firewall and not allowing the hood to close. So now we have a few options... flip the shock around and shaved off a little bit of a bolt head, create identical grooves in the firewall to accommodate the shocks, or shim them. We are so close to sending it the car to the painter too. What a setback. All we had left was to check the hinges and fit again on the hood, skim the new firewall, and clean up the welds on the back side of the apron. Getting there. Should be our best work yet when it's finally done.
 
#3,636 ·
Why is it necessary for insurance reasons for a house to be sided or painted? Curious because it is hurting us trying to find a home loan within our reasonable range. If its sided it raises it out of our range but if its not and even has been recently repainted it has to be repainted for insurance reasons again putting it out of comfortable price range. And the roof things kills it too with reroofing the house and have to het details on it because the city code allows 3 but no more. So once you find that out which is a pain because records arent kept only going off of memory you find out it already has 2 or 3 so soon an entire new roof not just a leveling roof redo would be in order.
If a home is not finished to code, it is still under construction and most of the time, has to be sold to a contractor or have a contract to finish. Banks used to skirt those issues but these days, they don't take the chance. If the home is signed off on the permit, then it is just a bank deal. Banks have been sued for everything they can be sued for lately with all the loan issues they have had, the homes have to be damn near perfect. A third party inspection may make it easier.
 
#3,637 ·
It wasn't! Something else Uncle Sam has ruined. Carb cleaner and engine degreaser both.......

John
I really have to wonder how a 28 oz can of degreaser in 1% of the garages in America make any damn difference! I mean, REALLY? 3M had a product for rubber where to make it slip into place like installing a window rubber on a late model car. This stuff was so damn awesome! It worked like a charm and then evaporated gone so the part wasn't slippery and move or something once it was installed. Yep, off the market had to be eliminated, REALLY? I tried to find it on the net back when this happened and was going to buy up a case or something for the future, couldn't find a single can! I have two, about half full and they are treated like gold.

Brian
 
#3,638 ·
That makes sense but I dont understand why it has to be done. I would think putting an alloy around flammable materials would be of a higher insurance risk same with paint even the eco friendly water based im sure are flammable under high temps. So now if you have a house its covered with paint and surrounded by metal/aluminum...the image I think of is a box spray painted then covered with foil used as a fire pit lol.

The only thing ive done today is adding two additional *lines* to the road in front of work cuz I was hurting bad after getting iff...
 
#3,639 ·
Worked on plumbing the brakes, almost done. Need an adapter for the M/C rear port 1/2" invert to 3/16" invert line.. Went to three McParts stores to get the front/rear port adapters. Blank stares! Whats it in? "59 Studebaker with an aftermkt aluminum dual chamber !" bore master".. One poor girl just said "here look in these drawers"... Just standard stuff.. Big guy at another store says he'd never seen one before.. They all had the exact same inventory of fittings.
I had to re-use front fitting from an old core.. It was missing the rear adapter.. I'll have to wait till my "real" parts store opens tuesday..
 
#3,640 ·
Finally got out there to do something on one of my projects, not much but a step closer to being completely done so I can forget about it. :D

I completely finished up the transfer seat. That is until I KNOW Steve can actually get in and out of the car, we don't know this as a sure thing, it's amazing but we don't know if he will actually be able to get in it. But once we know for sure I am going to custom paint the seat just for fun for him.

I then got into the trunk to finish it up, couldn't find the darn metal covers for the big holes they have in the floor (what in the heck are they there for I wonder?) so I had to make them, I know I will find the originals tomorrow, you all know how that is.

I then got the jack and all rounded up and the spare cleaned up and in there. I really need to restore the jack and parts but for this coming weekend (GoodGuys) it will have to look like crap. I'll get it done later. I thought I was going to have to trim the floor mat it was a real treat to pull it out of the box (been up in the rafters for 13 years!) and it was ready to install. :D

Brian






 
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