In which this blogs title comes true...

Ok so I've been hiding a while, ok a long while, but mainly becasue well I'm kinda in a perpetual state of out of cash, courtesy of the house, stories I may post later, and the fact i was gone a for a couple of months for work. Anyways, the name of the blog came true yesterday, I now have two broke trucks in the yard and zero working ones. Not good. You see it started with me deciding that the Tahoe needed new injectors, I found a reman'ed Bosch sed done by two canook brothers who do crazy stuff to 6.5Ls successfully and are highly respected on the forums for $225. I accidentally paid them 250 on paypal, oops, which led to me sending them another $100, funny how this works, so that they would include a "F" vin intake they had for sale too. You can figure out why the "f" VIN which was found on the commercial trucks is more desirable, hint it may have something to do with airflow.

Well, the parts arrived, and I proceeded last weekend to try and install them...uhhh that didn't work out too well.  First of all it requires a 19mm wrench, I didn't have a 19mm flare wrench nor does ANYONE stock one locally. The only thing I could find  was a set of flare fitting crows feet at Sears which included a 19mm one. Again I would like to note, that they include a 19mm in the crows feet but not in the regular flare wrench set. Against my better fiduciary judgement I spent the $79 on that dang set, which turned out to be a sign, as I would have needed it anyway, even if a 19mm flare had been available, because you see the NR 3 injector line flare decided it didn't want to break loose and  the line bent meaning it had to be replaced and that requires removal at the injection pump which would be a tad difficult without a crows foot wrench.
Anyways this lead to the necessity to order a new injector line. Well in order to save 25 bucks on a  56 dollar part I found a new genuine GM one on ebay, and ordered it.  Except i may have  made one little mistake reading the parts listing on gmpartgiant.com I ordered 10225924 not 10225923. Any one want to guess the difference there. I even took a day off of work so I could install said line when it arrived, you can guess how I  reacted when I opened the box and realized humm something doesn't match. So here I am now having to wait another 4 days for the correct line.
As to why I would take a day off of work to fix the truck, my second truck has its own little issue. You see it started out Monday, since I had to drive it to work with the Tahoe out of commission. There was a little noise, which sounded quite like a wheel bearing/hub, which is not that unreasonable with the mileage on the truck, plus I'm getting ready to redo the steering on it anyways, so It was a I'll deal with it then kinda issue. Well on Thursday driving to work and then to the dentist across town the vibration had progressed to the bad...oh so very bad vibration. I figured there was no way it could have degraded that fast and it was getting kinda scary to drive, I glanced at the left front wheel in the parking lot of the fire house subs and what did I find. Err.

For the reference that surface should be flat where the nuts are. Luckily there was a GM dealer down the block, they should have it right, I mean this is a hub extender that has been used since 2001 on GM dually pickups and is still sued on this model year. Nope, closest one is in Ohio, which they could get on Monday if I paid for overnight shipping. Err that's 25lb piece of metal, I think I'll pass on paying fedex or ups for overnight and more importantly, I don't think  that I can get the 50 miles back home on a wheel that's got over a 1/4" play and grown as those nuts back, which can no longer be tightened correctly with those rounded nut holes. So a trip to NAPA (who didn't have washers) and then to O'Rileys and a jack and a parking lot netted me this solution which got me home. Thus why I was not to happy with the idea of driving it to work on Friday. Oh I forgot to mention no local wrecking yard seemed to have one the closest was over 100 miles away, so I ended up ordering one from a yard in Georgia for 25 bucks.  Even with $20 for shipping, it sure beat the $157 the dealer wanted. So here we are with 2 broke trucks.Hopefully JJ is fairing better than me right now.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

Actually, that's not exactly it. But it sure seems like it. My plow truck having a very tired engine, and the fact that this month was supposed to be very snowy, and the fact that my garage is full, all led to this silly project:

 That would be a low mile, good running Chevy 350 getting pulled out of my parts truck.

Then, it made its way into the basement (which was a terrible idea... SO much cleanup) where my brother and I stripped it down, cleaned everything up, and installed the accessories from the engine we pulled out of the plow truck

 And then, once we'd got it dressed, back into the plow truck it went

 That was a long, cold, but productive, weekend. The truck now runs great and has a vastly improved power reserve over the tired old 307 that came out. I still have odds and ends to fix - mostly re-routing some wires and muffler cementing the exhaust that now leaks like crazy - but it's close.

This weekend, I took off and went to visit some friends. I did, however, pick up a set of these for my Buick!

And then there was a compressor, a workbench, and a water filter...

Two of those things were petulant children. The other one came out just swell.

I'll let you decide.

My air compressor is 21 years old and it had fittings which looked like this:

And were filled with all sorts of this

Which, of course, won't do.

You should know I have an affinity (addiction??) for Stainless Steel, so I just had to make it pretty. Also note new pressure gauge with correct range (old one went over 300PSI on a 175PSI system??) and new pressure relief valve. Old one was leaking.

Please also note stainless flexible vibration isolation hose. Very nice, and not pricey. Thank goodness for McMaster-Carr (and no I am not sponsored. I wish.)

I also love all things industrial control, so this had to happen

Because, you know, can't be using a 30A breaker as a switch. Not rated for that.

And then, I replaced the blow down valve (and moved it so you can reach it without laying on the floor) and bolted it down with new vibration isolators.

Unfortunately for me, Every. Single. Fitting. that went stainless to the steel tank leaked. Repeatedly. After much adjusting, fiddling, cleaning, and re-pipe-doping, it will hold pressure for 8+ hours.

Also, I hate drilling in concrete. Much more so 3/8" diameter holes. But it's got to be done.

I also spent an hour and framed a large opening into the rafters, so I can get sheetmetal and trim parts that are long up into the loft area.

Then there was the workbench. Ah, so nice. The left side is standard formica countertop, for clean/detail work. The right is 1 3/4" Maple butcher block. For those things that are heavy. Or just need to be hit repeatedly with a hammer.

That there is my Lista tool chest. I bought it on Ebay some years ago For $800. From a helicopter mechanic. That particular model retails for $3800! Well worth every penny paid. Also, my antique Lincoln Tombstone welder. Very. Very. Powerful.

I also spent a large chunk of change on this here

A Wilton Vise 1765 - 6 1/2" Tradesman's model. The best there is, and worth every cent. I haven't had a proper vise in a LONG time.

Then came the water filter. In the end I am glad it was installed. In the middle, I wasn't so sure.

This is what happens when you start this kind of thing at 10PM on a Saturday night, and then realize after you've cut the plumbing that you needed two 90 degree elbows instead of unions... oops. Also, after discovering my house has black ABS plumbing and not PVC SCH40 like everybody else. Got that taken care of.

So now it looks like this.

Which is better. At some point during the sleep deprived install, the inlet hose to the filter was hooked to the outlet briefly... this resulted in backwashing filtration media into my plumbing. Boy was that fun.

Garage nearing completion

So I have been working like a maniac to get my garage all finished up. You know, in time to use the heated space before the winter is over. We're getting very close.

First came the heater. Sterling GG45 (Garage Guy 45,000BTU).

I picked this particular unit because it A.) was the best price on the specs I wanted for made in USA and B.) because it came factory equipped for separated combustion with concentric venting. That means only one exterior wall penetration, and it pulls air for the burner box from outside. Also, offers a roughly 8% gain in efficiency. This thing is working great!

 

 We have it configured to use two 100lbs propane tanks, set up on an automatic switching regulator. It's been cold here, and in over two weeks of run time we've used only about 60% of a tank. I'm very happy, and as I keep finding more and more cold air leaks to plug up with GreatStuff foam (more on that later!) it's using less and less every day.

I've since added a door to the enclosure, but no photo. Oops.

Two things happened next. One, I went all kinds of OCD on the electrical panel and removed it from the wall so I could re-route the ground wire, insulate behind it, panel that section properly... and let's face it, because it was crooked.

We paneled the entire loft in 7/16" OSB, which was a royal pain. Since have put down decking to have a half storage loft.

And finished up the wall panels. As an added bonus, this stuff works just like a dry erase board!

And then, my garage got a new resident. Projects just keep coming!

Part 2: Delinquency report

At this point, it was nearly Christmas so a good break was enjoyed by me, to catch up on sleep (which I got none of during that trench digging).

Meanwhile, exploring a piece of property my brother was looking at, I got into a jousting match with a tree.

My truck definitely lost that one. Good thing I already needed to replace that fender....

Then began the garage wiring. First, I installed all of the lighting. Mind you, I'm working around a car and a boat because it's been snowing like mad. And it was approximately -5 degrees every night when I was free to work. Bummer.

Then I took a break for some of this:

And some skiing:

 

And when we finally got a warm day, exterior lights!

 The end result of my 100A panel, including 50A welder and 30A compressor service.

You may notice that I'm just a *tad* obsessive about separating my circuits... who knows where I get that from, but everything should have its own breaker. Simple. I also wanted a LOT of outlets in this shop. All 20A service. So very nice to work in.

Of course, warm weather also meant this:

 

That is a temporary surface drain attempting to shunt snowmelt away from my foundation. Part of the problem with starting a garage in November in New England is not having enough time to put in proper drainage... and since my other outbuilding's french drains all empty right in front of this one... you get the idea. What a mess.

Then it was on to insulation!

Well, first I needed sound, as all proper shops do. So I built some cheapo overhead speaker boxes.

 And then we insulated and paneled enough of the rear shop wall to install the radio shelf and stereo.

Ah. Much better. Note my many outlets already making themselves useful.

Next up, I installed this totally awesome air hose and cord reel combo from CoxReels

It's a 3/8" ID airhose and 20A electrical cord on a spring recoil reel. 50 feet of both, with fairleads. Was it expensive? You bet. Is it heavy? VERY. Was it worth it? 100%. I've used cheap units before, but at work we had these and they are absolutely top notch. It should outlast the building.

2x4 walls are easy to insulate. Buy R-13 kraft faced insulation rolls, unroll, trim, staple, done.

2x10 rafters... not so much. Turns out 2x10 is an odd size for insulation, as usually you either insulate the top story ceiling and then the attic on top, or something else. After some research, I found that there is a special type of R-30 insulation called R-30C which has a higher density so it can be installed in these shallower rafter bays. It's specially made for cathedral ceilings. I bought most all of what HomeDepot had. For the record, that cart load DID make it all the way to the register before someone said "That looks like a Jenga tower!" and then it proceeded to collapse, immediately.

And yes, enough to do my 24x32 5:12 pitch roof filled the back of my flatbed and then some. That bed is 94" wide and 114" long inside the gates. Yikes!

In the process, somehow I lost a mudflap???

And let me tell you, there are multiple warnings about product expansion on the wrapper, but they don't do it justice. At. All. This stuff SPRINGS when you open the pack. Like, 18 inches becomes 6 feet.

 

After one 13 hour day for me (with 4 hours of help from my brother) and some additional time the next day, the roof is almost all buttoned up:

 

And that's where we are at the moment. I wish I had taken photos of the gable end insulation - I had to build spacer blocks on the rafters at the gable, and then run strapping every 16" to accept the insulation batts and eventually hold up the paneling. Because there is no proper framing in the gables at all. Moderately annoyed at the builder about that, but the price couldn't be beat... sooo. Here we are. More details to come as they appear!