What's everybody doing?

The shop is cleaned up, panels are caulked and one layer of foam was put on yesterday.  The metal was so cold I let the foam dry overnight, now I can put more on it and it should dry pretty quick.  2 of the cabinets are moved over to the new grinding bench, and one of the old thermostats have been added to the test bench so I can still keep an eye on things in the shop via the internet.  

Now it's time to get the metal fixed up for the inside.  

Like I had hoped, since the foam wasn't going on cold metal this time the next layers of foam dried quickly and are done.  I got out a bunch of extra white interior metal from the 4 car garage, and have plenty of old green.  The green has been getting changed to black as time allowed, and as I could get to it over the years.  This portion won't be buried and hard to get to from now on so it can be done later... 

The black cabinet from the right corner was put it back up on this (left) corner where one was before.  The one that was there already was in the way while working there so it ended up above the grinding table.  The other back corner will be used to store taller stuff so it would just be in the way.  I don't think I really need so many cabinets now, but if I sold them then had to buy them back later that would stink.  Plus they would prob be a lot weaker than these that are 20 years old or more. 

All that's left is to clean the metal put up today when all is done.  Tomorrow I can start on the right corner and get something else off the list.  Once done no one would ever even know there were package units there.   

Right corner was finished up yesterday.  There are 2 Fastenal gondolas there to hold smaller things around the shop and make more space in other places.  The old heat pump clean up and building fixing is done, all the metal and tools are put away, and all done in 3 days.  I'm pretty proud of myself lol.    

Next up is doing something with the mess in the last pic, freeing up another wheeled shelf or two, and figuring out what will be put on the new gondolas.  I think I may put wheels on the blue Fastenal fixture on the end after it's cleared and make it a HD roll around.  It was the chain station at Fastenal with a chain cutter on top, it will hold a lot of weight.  I'm sure I can find something good to use it for.   

It's really fun being able to take a little time to work on the shop improvements again.  

 

Just wondering what 3,704 peeps are looking at around here, see 1st screenshot just taken. 

Been putting more stuff away today, rearranging the parking lot and getting out a few tractors.  The truck is for Jeremy that I just restored the 753 for.  He's picking it up when he pics up the 753 so it doesn't get sold.  According to his priority list the next one I have to restore for him is a 1045 with a sickle bar on it (yes 1045).  After that the truck will end up back here again unless he decides to do a different one.  He has quite a few being a WH dealer for over 40 years... 

My friend Kevin who got sucked into the heat pump removal last Sat is coming up tomorrow to do what we actually planned last Sat...  He was looking for a Winter project for wifey to use next Spring.  I sold him a C120-8 years ago so he picked out a C120-auto for her.  That's his fav body style and it will be cool to have a matching pair in 8 speed and auto.  It needs some work but he's done a lot for me so I gave it to him, especially after last weekends work he did...    

 

Hope everyone had a nice and peaceful Christmas.  2 days in a row out of the shop was nice and peaceful in itself for me.     Any more than that and I may get bored though...  

Now it's back to the next project for me.  

Since there is some room opening up I took a break from everything else to start on clearing another cart that has been full for about 9 years, my how time flies... 

I started on the starters today, seeing what worked and what didn't, and taking a few apart that needed something.  Believe it or not the one tore to pieces in the second pic actually turned over a Kohler 12 hp, it just had a lot of amp draw and was slow, someone had been inside it and it had new brushes.  Someone put new brushes in the one in the third pic, but left out 2 of the springs under the brushes lol.  You never know what you'll find when someone has already been messing with something...  The one assembled with the clean bendix worked great, just got some cleaning.  I may rebuild a few of them so they are ready when one is needed.  The rest of the parts already have a spot in the parts dept engine section in case someone just wants their original one fixed.

Since I cleared a lot of room around the Escalade I decided to address a few issues it had.  It's had a code P0449 for a long time, there's a service bulletin on the evap canister vent solenoid that's been upgraded that's getting replaced tomorrow, it was causing the code and wouldn't work when commanded.  It goes above the spare tire, not sure what genius came up with that idea...  It also had a battery problem, at least it was still under warranty so Autozone brought one out today.    

 

Peeps always say "don't judge a book by it's cover."  The last starter I took apart today is one most peeps may have just thrown away.  Lots of rust, holes cut in the mount, and a rusty shaft sticking out with no bendix or other parts on the front end...  But on the inside there was a new armature, new front plate, and a new housing + brush set.  One of the magnets had a big piece missing but that must have been cleaned up when someone put the new parts in it.  Never hurts to take a look inside things before throwing them away.  I tore it all down, did some blasting, rounded up the other missing parts, and have a nice magnet/housing assy blasted for it.  After it's painted I can just put this one together and it will basically be new.   

I needed the table so the rest of the parts got bagged up and/or put up in the engine section in the back.  I'll have to do the rest of them later but at least I know where some more starter parts are when needed. 

 

Just cleaning and getting rid of more clutter today, the waiting area and bathroom look brand new, and there are more clean areas on the shop floor. 

There's some nasty cold weather ahead for next week.  Maybe peeps will stay in and I can get even more cleaning done. 


 

Been taking it easy this week and trying to get a few more things off the list.  I have Windows running on a virtual machine inside Linux that I've been meaning to do for a long time.  Tired of logging in and out of operating systems for the few things I need Windows for like my Dymo label program, Quickbooks, and a few other little things.  I need to finish up a few tax things to do the Q4 2023 sales tax by the end of the month also.  It's been cold so this is a good time to sit in a nice warm spot in front of the computer and catch up on those things.  

Today warmed up a little but not looking good for the weekend, and it started snowing pretty hard about an hour ago.  Good thing is after all the cold this week next week looks really good for Jan., lots of 50+ days.  

 

Taking apart a Kohler 12HP.  Please don't use these garbage Made in China parts...  The inside was good and clean, and most things were shimmed about right, just a tiny bit over spec.  Someone did a decent job, but new doesn't always mean good...