(02-10-2015) Sand blasting and forge creation

After years of wanting a sand blasting cabinet I finally have one.  I liked this one better because the whole top of it opens allowing for large objects (car wheels) to be put into the cabinet.  I need to plumb it into the air compressor, as well as set up an air filter and air pressure regulator, but I'm excited about the possibilities this adds.

Also, I worked on creating a small aluminum can melting forge.  The bottom half is done and I didn't have enough plaster to make the lid, but maybe this weekend I'll be able to finish it up.

(02-03-2015) Blondie is back on the road!

Last night the final parts arrived (upper strut bushing/bearings) and then Flash installed the new struts.

That was the last piece of the puzzle to get Blondie back on the road, so today I drove her to work as a shake down to see how things "feel".  It seems to be great so far, a little vibration from the tires and wheels, but everything else seems great and no check engine lights or other warnings.

Thursday she goes in for a four wheel alignment, after that she should be fully road worthy again.

(01-24-2015) step by step...

I finally was able to seal up the coolant leak with a new coolant sensor and an o-ring.  After repairing the coolant leak and watching the engine to see if more coolant might be leaking somewhere I discovered a vacuum leak and installed some new vacuum lines to seal that up.  Then I took the GTI for a spin and it drove fairly well, but it definitely needs to be aligned.

Just need to install a front right speed sensor and get the alignment done and she should be back on the road again.

(01-18-2015) So close...

Flash and I worked on the old GTI and really made an effort to get her on the road again.  We installed new front rotors and then went over everything on the front suspension and torqued everything to spec.

Then we started working on fixing vacuum leaks on the engine.  We replaced the hoses located under the intake manifold with new ones and a new PCV valve as well.  One hose had a massive split in it, so hopefully these new hoses will address the P1136 engine code it's been getting.

Then we replaced the chunk of vacuum hosed nightmare (seen below) located in front of the intake manifold.

After we were fairly happy with our vacuum hoses and making sure everything was sealed up and routed correctly, we then started working on the timing belt and water pump.  This took a few hours and required the sacrificial blood that all timing belts seem to require.  Once we had it all in time and back together we started it up and she ran pretty good.

Now the bad news...  In our efforts to get the vacuum lines installed, I believe that we have created another water leak at the coolant temperature sensor.  I tried to install a front wheel speed sensor, but then realized that some knucklehead (ME!) had ordered the wrong part.

So, that's where the GTI stands at the moment.  Needs another wheel speed sensor, fix the water leak at the coolant sensor and then do a tape measure alignment to get it the shop for the real thing.  It's close, and if I would've had the parts on hand it would already have been finished.

(01-14-2015) GTI needs some attention for the new year

Last week my GTI developed a large leak at the water pump.  I ordered a new water pump and timing belt from where I usually get my parts, but it takes about a week to get the parts from them.

So, while the car is down, I decided to do a lot more work on Blondie to get her in top condition again.

I replaced the diverter valve with this Forge 007 diverter/blow-off valve.

The next job was to put new brakes on the rear of the car.  This was an easy job and didn't take too long.

Then replaced the half-shafts.  The inner boots on the originals had developed tears in them after 320,000 miles.

 Then it was time to replace the inner and outer tie rods.  These were totally seized, even using a torch to heat the threads didn't work, so in the end it was just easier to cut them off the car on both sides.  I don't have a picture of the new tie rods installed, but they're on and ready to go.  The hardest part of the tie rod install was the bellows boot on the passenger side, for some reason that just didn't want to fit - but we finally got it installed.  I ended up gently heating the boot with a heat gun and stretching it to make installation possible.

The list of things to do for Blondie has shrank a little bit, but there is still a lot of work left before she hits the road again.  Hopefully this weekend I can finish up the suspension and brake changes and then move onto the original problem of fixing the water pump and some vacuum leaks.

(01-02-2015) GTI front end rebuild

On Friday, Flash and I did a lot of work on the front end of Blondie.  She got a good looking over and we replaced the lower control arms, ball joints and we also replaced the valve cover gasket.  I thought I would need to replace tie rods and all the other rubber, but surprisingly the rest of it looked good.

Wednesday she's scheduled to get an alignment, which will fix how she's tracking down the road. 

Next issues to fix are a wheel speed sensor and the CV joint boots are cracked, but not too bad.

(12-13-2014) New racing simulators

The latest addition to the shop are a couple of racing cabinet rescued from a local arcade.  They're a bit beat up, but after putting some new hardware and beating some of the metal back into shape with hammer they're looking pretty good again.  I still want to reinforce the set bottoms with some metal tubing, but that will come in time.

They're currently running Sony Playstation 3's, but I'm building the first PC for one of them now and hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to get a second PC set up for some LAN playable racing.

The CNC mill has also been progressing.  The new motors are mounted onto the CNC mill and the steppers are moving around, but I've yet to successfully test out a g-code file with proper results.  It's so close to being finished, just need to push and get the last few items finished up.

(11-22-2014) CNC Mill progress

My friend Charles gave me an old CNC mill to try to resurrect a few months back and I've tried several different control systems to get it working again.  Finally, after trying and failing over and over I've started working on using an Arduino to control the beast using grbl.  Also, a big thanks goes out to Shannon over at www.spaceopera.org for his help all along the way.

The first step was to build a simple circuit and test out my Arduino and driving a motor with a big easy motor driver (see picture).  It's easy to control the direction of the motor by simply setting pin 8 high or low on the Arduino. 

I now have a single axis working as a test.  Now on to bigger and better things!

(2014-10-25) New Beetle, old Beetle and more cleaning...

Friday and Saturday were busy days around the shop.  Flash and I worked on the new Beetle some more, and it's nearly ready to go.  I think we're going to lower it and put some different wheels and tires on it, along with various other small fixes to make it a more comfortable car to drive.

I also put the old Beetle on jack stands and welded up any weak spots in the floor pans. 

Then I used POR-15 to protect the floor pans from rust in the future.  I still need to put on another coat, but they should be protected from rust from now on.

We also cleaned out a lot of things in the shop that didn't really need to be in the shop.  Old motors, various bit of cars that aren't needed at the moment and moved those things into storage until they are needed.  The shop still needs a lot of cleaning, but it's getting back to where it needs to be.

(10-21-2014) The Silver Beetle Lives!

Last night we finished up the engine install for the silver beetle and got it running.  It was running rough at first, but after clearing the codes on the ECU and letting it run for a while it actually sounds really good now.  There are a handful of small things to look into - O2 sensors, coolant leak, plugs and wires and general reassembly and clean up.  It's great to see one of these cars brought back to life.

Oh, and yesterday I got a thank you note from the post carrier for putting up a new mailbox.  I thought that was cool.  I'm glad they like the new mailbox.

(2014-10-19) The Silver Beetle and other things

This past weekend Flash and I, with a little help from Jody, have been working on doing an engine swap in a '99 Beetle.  It's went fairly well so far, and Jody was awesome at getting those pesky bolts loose that no one else seemed to be able to move.  The new engine is now in the car, and it's down to hooking everything back up.  If all goes well it should be back up and running this week.

Other than that, my son and I worked cleaning up the pump house a little before winterizing it and we put together a new mailbox this weekend as well.  All of that and a lot of shuffleboard and bowling being played made for a great weekend that ended too soon.

(09-01-2014) Playing in the shop

This weekend we tried our hand at making t-shirts using the vinyl cutter and I think they turned out fairly well.  We also made some insulated drink holders with various logos and sayings.

At the swap meet I picked up an old '32 grille shell.  I finally got around to hanging it up on the wall this weekend.

(06-14-2014) Beetle intake repair

I finally installed new gaskets for the intake on the old Beetle this weekend.  It runs a lot better, and doesn't leak gas everywhere now, so that's a good thing.  I even took it out for a quick spin to see how it drives.  It was a blast!

The only problem was I had a dead short once I had everything re-installed.  It turned out to be the wire going to the electric choke was touching the dog-house (fan shroud) and causing the smoke.  Didn't take long to find and fix, but it's never cool to see smoke coming from the wiring.

(05-03-2014) Wheel bearing and the magic smoke escapes...

Flash replaced the passenger side front wheel bearing on Blondie this weekend.  I usually say "we", but he did it all this time - all I did was drink beer and watch.

I did work on the Raven pinball machine some while Flash was working on the GTI and the playfield is really coming together.  After Flash left I shut everything down and went inside - only to realize the next day that I hadn't shut off the pinball machine and it appears that the magic smoke inside of the electronics has been released.  So, looks like once I get the playfield back together I will have to start figuring out what's wrong with the electronics.

(11-29-2013) Blondie 300,000 miles and gets a little help.

Recently Blondie hit the 300,000 milestone.  She's a great car, but
only because Flash helps me keep her on the road.

This weekend we put a front wheel bearing on the driver's side and changed the trans-axle gear oil.  I guess she's ready for another 300,000 miles now.

(07-06-2013) Project Slayer completed and other stuff...

Finally, Project Slayer is 100% complete.  At some point I may add XBMC and networking, but for now it's done and all of the systems are playable.  Very glad to finally have it finished up after not being able to put the finishing touches on it for the past few months.  Next step is to clean up and put away all of the tools.

I also started working on the old Super Beetle on Saturday.  I was feeling really good and thought it would be good day to finally get this project moving again, but I was wrong.  I tried to put in a battery, and a seat, so that it was movable and I could start finishing up the floor and interior - bad idea.  Putting those two things in the car hurt my back and leg, and set me back a good amount.  Lesson learned, and more attention paid to giving the back time to heal.  So frustrating to wait, but waiting is better than pain, or surgery.

(07-08-2013) Update on the Beetle.  Flash came down and installed the battery for me and now the Beetle is mobile again.  The next step is to clean the floor and POR-15 it  so that it's ready for paint and interior.

(07-01-2013) Project: Slayer

It's been a long time since I've updated this page, but finally Project: Slayer is finally 99% complete.  It's all done except for some new plexiglass to cover the monitor and some software changes as time allows.  I even installed a playable version of my old game Firestorm so that I can prove I once wrote a game (with a lot of help from my friends Charles and Mike).

(12-06-2012) It Lives!

Tonight the arcade machine is fully playable.  All of the controls are wired up and the PC power switch turns on/off everything.  Hit the power button, it boots into Hyperspin and away you go.  There is a list of things left to do: side art, marquee, painting, external power switch, t-molding, marquee light.  Still, it's fully playable and the rest are to just make it a little bit nicer and pull it all together.  I hope the t-molding arrives soon so I can finish up the cabinet.

(12-02-2012) Arcade machine nears completion

Today was a big day.  The cabinet (most of it) got some black paint, the control panel was mounted and some of the final wiring was done.  All of the controls have been tested and everything works.  Still lots to do to finish it up, but it's getting very close now.

(11-24-2012) Arcade cabinet build continues

First step was to cut out a shelf in the original cabinet to mount the new control panel.  Yes, it's huge, but it will work.

Also, I wired up the spinner control and played some Arkanoid, Virtua Racing and a few other games that could use the spinner.  It's great fun.

Later that day the mounting plate for the trackball arrived and I got that installed as well.

It's all coming together.  I need to buy some mounting hardware to finish mounting the control panel to the cabinet today.  Can't wait to get it primed and painted and just plain finished.