The plumbing is complete! I am refering to the Blazer. I had to replace the coolant recovery tank due to the mass quantities of debris and what not inside. Apparently someone had poured stop leak in the coolant tank and it slowly worked it's way through the radiator and heater hoses. As you may recall, I replaced the radiator last week. Saturday I removed the two heater hoses and cleared obstructions from each. I then attached the modified garden hose with adapter to one heater hose and extended the other to a bucket. A full stream of city water flow proved the lines were clear as well as the heater core. I then repeated the process with the line connected to the water pump and discharge from the intake manifold. Successs! I buttoned everything up and topped off the antifreeze mix. All systems worked fine and it only took an hour with no cussing or bad words.
I spent the rest of the day after lunch installing gypsum board upstairs. I just spent a few hours with that. I then decided to change the way the attic access door was hinged on the back side area.
Sunday I made a run to the local Lowes and picked up 3 bundles of tungue and groove unfinished solid oak floor. This will be used to replace our kitchen counter tops. I have a work table set up in the dining room for glue upand assembly ofthe planks. We will assemble sections during the week. I have to get under the house and level the kitchen floor. The center has a slight dip from years (75+) of settling. The existing floor joist run about 13 feet with no center support. I picked up some concrete blocks and two 2" x 8" boards to support the center after I jacked it up a little.
I have come to the conclusion that we will not have the upstairs ready for guest prior to Patrick's wedding in May. I'm not superman and the budget is tight. The plan is to work in the kitchen and dining room and get as much complete as possible. The four windows upstairs will probably fit into the same time frame, but I'm not making any predictions.
Gin is still hobbling and hasn't been able to drive yet. I figure she has another week or two before she is able to get around easier.
P@
Monday, March 27, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Entry for March 19, 2006
I'm writing this early Sunday morning because I'm not sure if I want to do anything on the house today.
It's been a long and tiring week. On Monday Gin went to Dr. Mathis (Podiatrist) to see if there was something he could do with her toe nails on both big toes. Both had been stepped on by horses on different occasions (years ago) and the nails were pushed up in an arch. He took some x-rays and found the bone tips had turned up and also a growth of scar tissue under neath. The next thing we knew she was scheduled for outpatient surgery to correct the problem. She went in Wednesday morning and all went well with the procedure and we were home by 11 am.
Dr. Mathis gave her a perscription that basically wiped her out . She was also sent home with a new ice cast device that helps with the swelling. The ice cast has a plastic boot with a hose attachment, and a water cooler with a hose to connect to the boot. You fill the cooler with ice and water, then connect the hose and push a start button. The system fills the boot with ice water and also compresses the foot. Technology is great.
Wednsday night was a long one for both of us. Gin was sick over night and pretty restless. Thursday I was going to try to go back to work but with all the running around to do and making sure Gin was comfortable and not having to get up for anything, I skipped out. I was able to keep up with work via email. Friday and Saturday went fairly well. I went to work Friday and set things up for Gin to be able to take care of the basic needs with little or no effort.
Saturday after sleeping most of the morning and making the weekly trip for groceries. I baked a batch of banana muffins and cinimon biscuits, thenI started to work on the Blazer. I was replacing the air conditioner compressor and radiator. It's pretty bad when you loose heating and cooling on the same vehicle. The compressor was easy to replace with no tricky moves. The radiator was also equally easly to replace until I lost a retaining clip for one of the oil cooler lines. It flew off the pipe and into the grass. So I figured I could use my nail magnet stick to retrieve it. I'd spend a little time trying to retrace it's flight path and scan the suspected area. This went on 4 or 5 times with no luck. I kept returning to the task of installing the new radiator and stopping every so often to try the search again. Then I thought, maybe it isn't a steel part. Sure enough, after checking the other clips, it wasNOT made of steel. Abort search! Important lesson here:"Think logically before you act".
I needed to return to the parts store eventually to return the old compressor and get my $10 core charge back. I returned the compressor and found the replacement clips. $13 dollars for a package of 12 clips of assorted sizes. Well my $10 return turned into a $13 dollar loss. The funny thing is the new clips are made of steel, imagine that. All is OK and the lines are all connected and the system is filled with water. The truck starts up and warms up fine and I let it get hot enough to open the thermostat. After that happens I drain the system down and disconnect the upper and lower radiator hoses to empty the remaining old fluids. The next opportunity for meis to figure out how the drain valve works. Of courseI thought of looking at the old radiator and learning it's mechanism prior to fiddling with the new one. NOT! I did it all bass ackwards and nearly broke the new one off. It's working properly and all is well.
I still have one situation I'll fix this morning, the lower hose clamp is in such a difficult location thatI was able to remove it but can't get it back on. It's easy when the plastic fan housing and all the lines are out of the way, but I'm not taking that road. Yes, it's time to get a new tool. I'll hit the hardware store this morning for a new pare of straight nose pliers.
This may actually be a day of rest after I connect that darn hose.
P@
"If women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy". - Red Green
It's been a long and tiring week. On Monday Gin went to Dr. Mathis (Podiatrist) to see if there was something he could do with her toe nails on both big toes. Both had been stepped on by horses on different occasions (years ago) and the nails were pushed up in an arch. He took some x-rays and found the bone tips had turned up and also a growth of scar tissue under neath. The next thing we knew she was scheduled for outpatient surgery to correct the problem. She went in Wednesday morning and all went well with the procedure and we were home by 11 am.
Dr. Mathis gave her a perscription that basically wiped her out . She was also sent home with a new ice cast device that helps with the swelling. The ice cast has a plastic boot with a hose attachment, and a water cooler with a hose to connect to the boot. You fill the cooler with ice and water, then connect the hose and push a start button. The system fills the boot with ice water and also compresses the foot. Technology is great.
Wednsday night was a long one for both of us. Gin was sick over night and pretty restless. Thursday I was going to try to go back to work but with all the running around to do and making sure Gin was comfortable and not having to get up for anything, I skipped out. I was able to keep up with work via email. Friday and Saturday went fairly well. I went to work Friday and set things up for Gin to be able to take care of the basic needs with little or no effort.
Saturday after sleeping most of the morning and making the weekly trip for groceries. I baked a batch of banana muffins and cinimon biscuits, thenI started to work on the Blazer. I was replacing the air conditioner compressor and radiator. It's pretty bad when you loose heating and cooling on the same vehicle. The compressor was easy to replace with no tricky moves. The radiator was also equally easly to replace until I lost a retaining clip for one of the oil cooler lines. It flew off the pipe and into the grass. So I figured I could use my nail magnet stick to retrieve it. I'd spend a little time trying to retrace it's flight path and scan the suspected area. This went on 4 or 5 times with no luck. I kept returning to the task of installing the new radiator and stopping every so often to try the search again. Then I thought, maybe it isn't a steel part. Sure enough, after checking the other clips, it wasNOT made of steel. Abort search! Important lesson here:"Think logically before you act".
I needed to return to the parts store eventually to return the old compressor and get my $10 core charge back. I returned the compressor and found the replacement clips. $13 dollars for a package of 12 clips of assorted sizes. Well my $10 return turned into a $13 dollar loss. The funny thing is the new clips are made of steel, imagine that. All is OK and the lines are all connected and the system is filled with water. The truck starts up and warms up fine and I let it get hot enough to open the thermostat. After that happens I drain the system down and disconnect the upper and lower radiator hoses to empty the remaining old fluids. The next opportunity for meis to figure out how the drain valve works. Of courseI thought of looking at the old radiator and learning it's mechanism prior to fiddling with the new one. NOT! I did it all bass ackwards and nearly broke the new one off. It's working properly and all is well.
I still have one situation I'll fix this morning, the lower hose clamp is in such a difficult location thatI was able to remove it but can't get it back on. It's easy when the plastic fan housing and all the lines are out of the way, but I'm not taking that road. Yes, it's time to get a new tool. I'll hit the hardware store this morning for a new pare of straight nose pliers.
This may actually be a day of rest after I connect that darn hose.
P@
"If women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy". - Red Green
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Entry for March 12, 2006
Worked upstairs this weekend. Finally closed off the two attick access areas with custom doors. Custom to this house means home made. The access at the top of the stairs is hinged at the top and swings up into the roof joists. I haven't completed the mechanism to hold the door up. I will use the old window sash weights and some pullies to assist in opening the door. The other door swings out into the hallway.
The rest of the weekend was spent getting dry wall boards installed in the unfinished areas. I still have approximately 20 more sheets of drywall to install. Most of it is for filling in odd shapes sections, window frame area and interior room walls. This has been somewhat complicated due to the way the original lumber was installed. There are places where the old lumber is not plumb or warped. All of the insulation is complete and I can already feel a diference.
Stay tuned for more updates.
P@
The rest of the weekend was spent getting dry wall boards installed in the unfinished areas. I still have approximately 20 more sheets of drywall to install. Most of it is for filling in odd shapes sections, window frame area and interior room walls. This has been somewhat complicated due to the way the original lumber was installed. There are places where the old lumber is not plumb or warped. All of the insulation is complete and I can already feel a diference.
Stay tuned for more updates.
P@
Monday, March 6, 2006
Entry for March 06, 2006
I installed a pocket door in the mudroom to allow more room for other things without interference of the door swing.
Started working upstairs Saturday afternoon. Pulled down the temporary door at the top of the stairs and started completing the dry wall hanging in that area. I will be working toward window replacement upstairs in the next few weeks. The weather is becoming favorable to complete the replacement work.
Sunday we went with Patrick and Jessica to the formal shop for my monkey suit fitting. 9 weeks 'tilthe wedding. We hung out at P&J's for a short time after the fitting. Jessica's puppy, Lilly, is already doubled in size. The picture is from a few weeks ago.
P@
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
