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Old 09-10-2018, 07:35 AM   #2141
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That will be one heck of a bender!
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Old 09-12-2018, 04:43 PM   #2142
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Yup, I’ve been on a bender all week(British Joke I think).

Anyways, for those getting bored with my rambling, the next few posts will be simply riveting!
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:03 PM   #2143
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Mocked up the brackets for the Hydraulic Ram on the bender....

My TiG welding on steel is getting better!
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Successfully bent a piece of pipe. Now gotta work on a Die with a larger radius or figure out how to bend more incrementally.
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I never liked the Tail lamps on my 345.
The lamps are dim, and kinda ugly, even with the LED conversation I did.
That and the chromed plastic surrounds are cracked and pealing.

Spotted some LED lamps that I liked and should work, and 6 of them arrived today.
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So, I had a scrap piece of aluminum that I fished out of the trash, and after running it thru the English wheel, and Beadroller, For 30 mins or so, I had a rough prototype mocked up.
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Definitely better than the originals.
Lights.
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Brake lights.
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Blinkers are amber.
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Bought a little sequential box to test....
Kinda like it!
Will try to post a video later...
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:21 PM   #2144
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Lets try this...
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:47 PM   #2145
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Cool!
for the backup, are they more white than yellow in person?
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Old 09-13-2018, 08:11 PM   #2146
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnet18 View Post
Cool!
for the backup, are they more white than yellow in person?
The middle leds are amber... not white backup. Planning to have the backup lamps elswhere.
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Old 09-19-2018, 10:00 PM   #2147
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1984 Airstream 345 owner (Newbie) need advice!

Busy few days.
Put in a couple of hours to prove to myself that a bad crease in Airstream panels CAN be wheeled out... [emoji14]

Found out the LED headlamps I got are NOT DOT approved, so the eBay listing was a total fraud. Refund in process.

Added a sandbag station to the workshop.
My Mig welder is working good.
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Old 09-23-2018, 07:45 PM   #2148
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For those that puzzle at my craziness....

I was trained as a "Patternmaker". 6 year Apprenticeship, etc...

Above the Supervisors Desk hung this sign...

A Pattern Maker,

Is an exalted craftsman, the greatest common denominator, as well as the least common multiple of all industrial production. A Pattern Maker must have the creative conception of a Draughtsman designer, the practical ability of a Moulder

The precise skill of a Machinist, the analytical judgment of a Metallurgist and the specific exactness of a Mathematician. They must create a plan, or design, with vision and ingenuity and build the idea from trade to trade with practical knowledge: thinking and forming inside and out with length, breadth and thickness

Adjusting accurately all values and dimensions and producing with dexterous finality any conceivable form to be cast in metal.

The products of the pattern makers skill are truly surrounded by an aura of greatness which dignifies his right to assume a place of confidence, trust, and honor in all industrial advance and national progress.
By Edward Leslie


Above my Training Manager's Desk hung another sign...

“We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.
We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”
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Old 09-23-2018, 07:59 PM   #2149
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With that said....
A trip to the ER on Saturday morning at 4am, knocked me down. Some weird throat infection, or allergy attack nearly shut my airway. Steroid and Benadryl infusion had me loopy... or as Robyn says Loopier. [emoji3]

Anyway, today I was up and at em.

I finally did the electrical upgrade on my Spot Welder, and now it can do more.
Thanks to Magnet18 for being my Electrical Backup!
Spot welding is more accurate, power and timing wise, but that also brought the ability to do stud welding, and spot shrinking.
Did some tests, and it was good!
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Old 09-23-2018, 08:14 PM   #2150
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So, that done, it was Airstream time.

I had a little project that I wanted to finish.
The HVAC intake, on the passenger side below the floor was hanging off by one rivet a while back. It’s a horribly rough ABS vac formed part that hasn’t aged well... I removed it and vowed to fix it, but the more I looked at it, the more I just wanted to redo it in Aluminum.

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So, I took some templates with poster board. Transferred them to 40 tho aluminum, and pop riveted a prototype together. The original was so distorted to copy, will see if it fits next week!
My sheet metal skills are still in flux...[emoji52]
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Old 09-23-2018, 08:47 PM   #2151
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Looks fantastic, you should scan those templates you made and upload them!
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Old 10-08-2018, 09:24 AM   #2152
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Need to do a test fit on the MH. I think it might need some adjustment or further mods. I’m also looking at fitting a cabin air filter in there if I can.
It’s beginning to cool down here, so I’ll be out at the Motorhome soon.
Picked up a 103 piece CLECO kit. That will help with my riveting plans.

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Going to do a test fit of panel 2 and prototype tail lights too.
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Old 11-09-2018, 05:12 PM   #2153
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Steve, you still with us mate?

I've been watching the news.....holy mackinaw, that fire was some kinds scary fast how it took off. Five people burnt in their cars; not a way I'd want to go.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony
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Old 11-09-2018, 06:06 PM   #2154
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Hi PITA.... I mean Tony...


Yup, we are just fine, but thanks for thinking of us...
Some friends of ours, their son lost 3 friends in that Bar shooting in Thousand Oaks, tho..


My GF's Company office was on Mandatory Evac yesterday and today... She works out of the house down here is Orange County anyway.
I guess the up side is that living in a "Tract" home, is that we are pretty safe, as they protoct us well from fires, and have the resources...
Down side is that I cant play Rambo, or be too crazy or have the AS close to hand.... Yet...

I've been a little quiet(Read Distracted), and had nothing to post AS wise.
Its been WAY to hot to work at the storage(100f+), so been working on other things to clear the decks a little.

I emptied my storage unit of stuff, and been clearing that...
Lots and LOTS of Alfa Romeo stuff to get rid of...

Most of what I've been up to is on my Garage thread over on the Garage Journal, and Alfa Forums..
I post there now rather than clog this thread up with my minutia...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=403443

I did buy a few tools tho...
Rivet fan, and pneumatic riveter...
More coming...
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:09 PM   #2155
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Where did 6 months go?
Goodness.

Well, Ive not been Idle...

Well, Yes, I have..... Airstream wise...

GF's Mercedes ML, continues to impress, and she made the statement: "Sell the range Rover, its surplus to needs...."

Then, when that didnt get my attention, it was, "Whatever the Range Rover sells for, goes into our Airstream Motorhome".

Well, that and other distractions, have kept me busy...


It will be up for sale this week...


But there is more to my silence...
Let me explain...
Running around doing the things I think are important is a balance...


Do I take the Range Rover(Safe, Cool, Smooth, luxurious, lots of space for stuff, but 13 mpg)..
Or the Old Mercedes 190D(Slow, No AC, so hot. 35mpg, LTD carrying capacity, etc...).

I explained my dilemma to my girl...
She thinks in straight lines... and her statement was thus...


You need a vehicle that is:
A/ Capricious.
B/ Economical.
C/ Within your budget...


A, and B were spot on.....
C/ was an issue...

Then, In November, something popped up...
A family friend asked me to give my opinion on a Kids 2006 Subaru Outback, that they owned that was giving them issues...

155k miles... but motor was suspect/bad.
Low oil pressure, etc..
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I gave an opinion, based on my inspection...
Car was worth maybe $4/5k, but motor rebuild would be $4k.


As you guys know... I have build Scubi Motors before...
They said they would just dump/scrap/donate it, or... for $500 it was mine...
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:26 PM   #2156
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I was IN!
But my GF said NO...


As it was a friend of her's... it didnt fly...
They donated the car, and took the Tax writeoff...


I was a little miffed...
I was figuring $500, and a month of evenings and maybe $1000, I would be styling, with 30mpg, AC, and ABS, and all....


She was upset.... that I was upset....
I argued that it was good, and for a little work I could have what I wanted/needed for $1500 or so, I could have a car that had it all, and be worth $5k....
She argued that it was a lot of work, and I had enough to do already...
Goodness, I love this woman...


Then she dropped the bomb on me...
She said, "What do you want... Exactly, if $ was not an issue...?"

I closed my eyes... and thought...

Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagon with the TDI Diesel and 6 speed Manual trans...
But those are $8/10k...
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:27 PM   #2157
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SWEET!

I do know that some model Subie's have had issues with a little banjo bolt just before the turbo. Supposedly some bright engineer decided to design a very small wire mesh filter into this bolt to screen the engine oil for metal particulates, BEFORE they got to the turbo shaft and buggered it up. Smart idea, except they didn't tell a lot of people about it.....and when that screen finally got clogged with debris.....and the owner wasn't told by the service department to change that banjo bolt.....well you can guess what happened next, yes, toast one turbo, and motor.

Good luck with the rebuild.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:30 PM   #2158
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She said no Tony... and you know when No, means NO....
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:44 PM   #2159
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So, I was told to go fish...

And Fish I did... with little hope

And there it was...

2012 VW Sportwagon.... TDI, but sadly the DSG auto trans(Cant tow it flat)...

One owner... 119k miles... scruffy, no verified service history... No smog, and behind on its registration(Fines)...
Major engine and trans services due at 120/130k miles adding $2500 to the upcoming bills.

Upside... Carfax was good, new Turbo, intake manifold, and recently had its VW Dieselgate Emissions update...

I inspected it, drove it, understood the issues, mentally calculated the worst case scenario, and made a low offer...
The owner came back and we haggled...

I wanted it, and they wanted it gone...
We agreed a price that was less than the Subaru would have been...
Boom.
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Old 01-28-2019, 10:03 PM   #2160
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I got it smogged and registered on day 1!


To say this car needed some of my kind of love would be an understatement...
Not that it needed or needs to be perfect.... But seriously, this thing was filthy inside....
The shifter was ugly/worn, so I decided to replace it...
This was underneath...
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This was the drivers side roof/sunvisor area...
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And this was the rear Passenger footwell...
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All cleaned up now...

The engine oil, filter, fuel filter, air filter, DSG Transmission oil, and filter, Cabin air filter, Shifter, and a host of other stuff are replaced.
Engine timing belt is due at 130k, but I will do it soon.

We did a 1000 mile round trip run to Phoenix last week and averaged more than 41 mpg at 75mph.


One CEL, which should be covered by the VW Emissions Extended Warranty, which covers everything for another 4 years and 55k miles...


Range Rover is up for sale, and Airstream is coming back into focus!
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