Just a couple of dudes...

Crusty Knob

2010-10-04T11:22:00.006-04:00

Ok, first of all - It has been a long-ass time since we've updated this. We are poorly remiss, and I apologize. It seems that real-life has gotten in the way of blog-life. I think that I can speak for everyone when I say the projects themselves have not left much time for writing about them. That's just Real T.

Here is something fairly short and simple to tell about.

I recently had a major incident with my car. This happened just months after I had replaced my water pump and timing belt (on the 205,000 mile mark - gotta love Honda) and just as I thought that my over-heating problems were solved (reference HERE). Driving home from work on a lovely Maryland indian summer day, my car began to over-heat yet again. Using the same "steady-throttle while idling" method as before, I was able to get it home without any incidents.

Well, I opened my hood (or bonnet as Geoff would say) when I got home and found this.

No, that is not a black snake that has just eaten a squirrel. That is my upper radiator hose, about to explode. This is a tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket. The head gasket is a thin metal gasket that mates the engine block and head together. When the gasket fails, a number of things can happen. The coolant and oil can mix together, otherwise known as the "chocolate milk" syndrome. Coolant and oil can leak into the combustion chamber, resulting in very poor engine performance and lots of smoking coming out of your exhaust. And lastly, compression can leak out of your cylinders and into your crank-case/water-jacket. This is what happened to me. The pressure from inside the cylinders leaked through the gasket into my cooling system as evidenced by the balloon-like hose. Not baller. It would have been much more catastrophic if the hose had exploded and all of the coolant in my car leaked out onto the road while I was driving. Still, I may end up needing to replace the whole engine...I'll know that after I take it apart.

Anyway, my girlfriend and sister have been kind enough to lend me their cars while mine is out of commission. My sister drives a 1995(ish) Mazda Miata. It's a great little car and is commonly used as a racing platform in club motorsports. Of course, the transmission is not quite as much of a JOY as what you get from a Honda, but nevertheless, it is a fun car to drive. All except for ONE THING.

This shift knob is just plain GROSS. The previous owner of the car had installed a custom wood knob and also parking brake handle. Well that black shit is the result of probably over a decade of oil/dirt/skin/food. I decided to do my sister a favor and clean it...or if unsuccessful, replace it with a chrome skull knob.

I got myself a handy razor blade and went at it, shaving off chunks of crust which collected nicely around the shift boot. After that I used some rags and Goof-Off to wipe away the remaining crud. A very big improvement, I think.

A Linty Wonderland

2010-06-28T20:56:00.005-04:00

The other day, one of my room mates informed me... hey, the dryer isn't working.

Great.

After some troubleshooting, I figure out that the heating element works, and the fan works, but the drum isn't turning. No big deal, so I turn to the internet.

"Dryer Drum Won't Turn" in Google, and I get a ton of pages back.

As it turns out, most dryers are pretty simple devices (not including the fancy new washer dryer combos that lets you wash and dry clothes without moving them between two separate machines)... mostly empty space. With some minor differences in design (top loading vs. front loading), there are just a few elements:

1. A sheet metal box
2. control panel
3. A heating element (with a fan)
4. A large drum on rollers, turned by a belt running off of an...
5. Electric motor

Usually what happens with these things is the belt breaks or the heating element goes bad. Since my dryer blows hot air, I knew the heating element worked and since I could hear the electric motor that turns the drum, my repair job turned into a simple belt replacement project, same as a car.

I went to http://www.repairclinic.com/ and lo and behold, they sell a kit that comes with a belt, drum rollers, and belt tensioner lever and wheel for my dryer... which will work on most dryers since 1965. Thats right... My dryer, which is maybe 5 years old, is essentially the same dryer I would have bought almost 50 years ago. Maybe that Dyson vacuum cleaner guy needs to take a look at common household dryers... or maybe not.

The kit I ordered

Cut to... two days later.

Package arrives in the mail and I get to work.

Step 1: Use a putty knife or drywall spackle blade to pry the top off the dryer.

Step 2: Remove the drum. I had to remove a few sheet metal screws so I could move the front of the unit out about an inch so I could lift the drum out of the gasket.

This is what it looks like with the drum removed. Not only was the belt broken, the belt tensioner wheel was broken and melted. I think what happened was the wheel was seized and the belt burned through it, melting the wheel and shredding the belt. It's a good thing I bought the kit instead of just the belt, since it came with new hardware.

Now would be a good time to get the shop vac and vacuum up all the lint and change that's probably collected down there.

Step 3: The belt tensioner slides in to some holes stamped into the bottom plate of the dryer body.

The tensioner doesn't click or clamp in... it's held in place by the tension on the belt, so you have to put the belt on and keep some upward tension on the belt to keep it in place while replacing the drum.

The belt will center itself on the drum when you put it back in. Close the top and enjoy dry clothes.

All told:
Belt replacement kit: $29
Time investment: 30 minutes
Difficulty on a scale of 1 to 5: 1... the job is easier with a second set of hands.

NBD.

New Contributor

2010-05-28T13:03:00.004-04:00

Just a couple of dudes has another dude to make pithy comments about DIY projects... me. I'm Charlie. Like Aaron, I do a lot of home improvement work (my house was built in 1922 so... lots of stuff to do), and, like Chris, I have a couple of motorcycles I screw around with. My next post will probably be a step by step about how to replace the suspension on an old Ducati 748 (Penkse suspension bits on lock!) or fixing a broken tumbler belt on a dryer. NBD.

Bar Keepers Friend

2010-05-09T14:17:00.011-04:00

I've been using my Le Creuset a lot lately, and have found this pot to be quite useful. Obviously it is good for making soups and stews, but works great as a roasting pot, a deep fryer, and works well for browning meats. Unfortunately during roasting and browning the dark brown bits of protein that stick to the bottom of the pot; otherwise known as "SUCS" are a real pain in the ass to clean if the pot has not been de-glazed or cleaned properly. My pot became quite dirty, and was concerned that I would infuse the wrong flavor into a recipe with the remaining brown bits left in my pot.

In search of a way to clean the pot, I enlisted the help of google, and found a great product that proves to be quite versatile. It appears I am not alone with having a dirty Le Creuset, as others have posted topics on "How to clean my Le Creuset." A few people recommended Bar Keeprs Friend. It can be found at Ace Hardware, and The Home Depot, costs $2.95 and comes in a 15oz canister.

I went right to work at cleaning the inside of my pot. The instructions say to sprinkle some of the powder onto a wet paper towel and scrub on the product being cleaned. To my surprise the dark brown bits that had covered my pot quickly were removed with little elbow grease. Next I went to a spot on our kitchen sink, which had been discolored due to a cast iron pan left in the sink. I sprinkled a little of the Bar Keepers Friend on the sink and started scrubbing, Not only did the rusted ring vanish but it left a nice new shine to the sink.

I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the pot and the sink, but since the bottom of the pot was equally as dirty I decided I would clean the bottom of the my Le Creuset to show you all how great this product is. Keep in mind soap and water would not remove the dirt and grime that had built up on the bottom of the pan.

Here is a picture of the pan before I started cleaning it

I've cleaned half of the pot to show you the difference it makes

Here is the pot completely clean

The first step of a journey.

2010-04-26T21:36:00.002-04:00

Well it's been quite some time since I've posted on this blog. I should note, that after I made the post displaying the method of transferring valve springs, I realized that I was very far behind schedule in terms of making my car ready for the competition license test. Well, after a LOT of work, my car was finally ready. I wound up finishing the safety items, and stickers last minute, up until 3 am the night before I had to leave for the test weekend.

The license test was great. I passed, and had a totally great time. There were so many requirements, and evaluations to determine if the prospective competition school students could handle the pressures of wheel to wheel racing. The schedule is as such to put you in a mindset of constant stress and pressure. You start going to classes, and doing drills from 7 am until 6 pm, both in the car, and in the classroom.

One of the tests that we had pass on track was driving a 8/10ths (meaning, you are driving at 80% of your peak driving ability.) for 30 minutes, SIDE by SIDE with another competition school student the ENTIRE way around the track with less than 3' between you both. You could imagine driving side by side with your friend on a highway with speeds of around 120 mph, while turning, and maintaining less than a 3' gap between the two of you.

...and to top it off, you have an evaluator (a race instructor) behind you both, trying to squeeze his car between the two of you. We were told "If I can (the evaluator) squeeze my car between the two of you, we will FAIL you!

I was successful with this test, but man, it gave me a new respect for the space between two cars at high speed!

After that test, we had a "Mock" race. I did OK, however after a long day, my concentration started to slack, and around 15:00 of this video, I just missed my critical turn in point and just decided to drive the car off the track.

Regardless, I am now a licensed NASA (National Auto Sport Association) pro-racer.

...and it feels pretty cool.

First race report to come soon.

sander.

Grime Fighters!

2010-04-18T03:39:00.004-04:00

Any Honda enthusiast will testify, painting the valve cover/rocker cover of your engine is a very popular way to customise, and add a little touch of flair to your engine bay.

Regular Hondas will come with a black, wrinkled paint finish. Type-Rs come with a lucious red.

A few years ago, I purchased a second valve cover, so I could store my good condition red one, and then painted and installed the spare.

Anyway, I got bored of that one, and decided to sell it and get another to add my personal touch to.

I decided to go with the rarest of B-series DOHC VTEC valve covers. The B16A1.

This cover only came on the 1990-1991 Civic and CRX VTEC models.

Very difficult to get hold of, however I got one. No big deal.

Here it is.

With 'Honda Motor Co.' and the company 'H', it is unique.

However, coming from an old car, with high mileage, there is the potential for it to be caked underneath in horrible, baked-on oil.

Oh dear. As dark as a welfare queue.

As you can see, I've scraped at it with a paint scraper, and it's very thick and horrible.

I'm not prepared to put this on my car with all that crap on the underside.

For this job, my weapons of choice are, my muscles...

...and Mr. Muscle.

Taking a look at the reverse it states:

"Removes burnt on grease..." I like the sound of that.

It says to spray on and leave for a period of time, wicked.

Bukkake time!

I left it for an hour, returned and then sprayed it with a hose.

Before I blasted away the foam, there was horrible brown gunky crap a bit like diarrhea pooling in the corners, the cleanser was really cutting into it.

It has certainly left it's mark, At this point I made a second application, and switched over to a pan scourer and my muscles.

This is the finished result:

I didn't quite manage to get into all the little nooks and crannies, but I'm satisfied now that all the major gunk has been removed.

Next update will cover the stages of painting.

But the lesson here today, people I know have paid good money for acid dips when it comes to this kind of stuff, but all you need are some household cleaning products and some elbow grease.

Trifflin' HOSE

2010-04-05T09:11:00.013-04:00

I drive a 12 year old car with 200,000 miles. Come to think of it, I have never owned a car that was built after 1998. My first car was 16 years old when it came into my possession. It was actually the car that I came home from the hospital in after being born. Growing up, I had friends whose parents got new cars every 3-5 years. My parents, on the other hand, kept their cars for 10-15 years before replacing them. As a child, it was a bit difficult to understand the value in taking care of something and making it last, but I suppose that I have grown a bit wiser of the years and now I can appreciate my parents' frugality. I can't exactly claim to be a saint, because over the years I have spent a good deal of money tinkering with my cars as a hobby and for recreation, however, I think that I am much richer for the experience. I have learned a great deal about cars and how to repair them when they break. This is something I was reminded of last Friday evening.

Brad and I were on our way into DC to meet up with Jess for a show at the 930 Club. One of my all time favorite bands, Nada Surf, was playing. For those of you in the area, you'll remember that it was an absolutely gorgeous day - probably the first day that it really started to feel like spring had arrived. Anyway, Brad and I were sitting in stop-and-go traffic on New York Ave when he noticed that my water temperature gauge was starting to climb. Sure enough, that little red needle was rapidly ascending right before our eyes.

This is a good time for a brief lesson in engine mechanics. A car's engine is essentially a big air pump. The engine breathes air IN and breathes exhaust gasses OUT. Thousands of tiny explosions happen every minute which drive a rotating assembly. The spinning engine spins your wheels. That's the short of it. Well, you can imagine that the engine gets hot - both from the combustion of fuel and also the hundreds of moving metal parts creating friction. To keep things under control, most cars have a water-based cooling system which circulates water through the engine, absorbing heat from the metal. Generally, the cooling system consists of a pump to move the water, various channels and hoses for the water to travel through, a thermostat to regulate the movement of the water and finally a radiator. The radiator cools the water back down after it has moved through the engine. It is mounted on the front of the car so that air will pass through it while you're driving. There is also a fan which moves air across the radiator during the times when you are not moving, such as when you're sitting in traffic. The water in an engine is commonly mixed with other chemicals to aid in the heat transfer and also keep it from freezing in the winter. This is why you will hear it called "coolant" and also "anti-freeze." It's all the same shit - water/coolant/anti-freeze. Just plain water will work, but just not as effectively and not in the winter. Furthermore, a car's heating system is also tied into the cooling system. When you turn on your heat, the heat is actually coming from the hot water in your cooling system.

Anyway, let's continue.

So, my water temperature was climbing to dangerous levels very quickly and I was stuck in city traffic with no place to pull over. Brad reacted quickly and pulled my climate control all the way to the hot side and switched the fan onto full. We were blasted with scorching hot hair through the vents and immediately put the windows down and opened the sunroof. The reason for turning on the heat is that the car's heating system contains what is essentially a radiator, called the heater core. When you turn on the heat, some of the engine's water is diverted into the heater core which heats the air that blows out of your vents. This will help to temporarily cool down the water, especially when you are stuck at a stand still. In this case, turning the heat on did not do much to keep the temp from climbing and I knew I would need to pull over and shut the engine off to avoid completely FITGing myself. Traffic started to move again and as soon as I revved the engine, I noticed the needle begin to go back down. We were barely doing 5mph so I knew that the decrease in temperature wasn't a result of us moving. Traffic stopped again and I revved the engine up to about 3000 rpm with the car in neutral - sure enough, the temperature came down very quickly. If I let off the pedal, the temp would shoot right back up. This was good and bad. Good because I could keep the car from overheating, but bad because this indicated that I was low on water/coolant. The way I knew this was because at idle the engine is only turning at around 800rpm which does not allow the water pump to circulate the coolant very much. When I increased the engine to 3000rpm, the temperature went down because the coolant was being circulated more rapidly. There simply was not enough water in the system to keep the engine cool at idle. This indicated that I had a leak somewhere.

I was able to nurse the car to the concert and then back home again afterwards. Saturday morning, I woke up and went out to inspect the car for a leak. Sure enough, there was a little damp spot underneath one of the smaller water hoses. I took a quick trip down the road to the auto parts store and bought some replacement hose for $4. Twenty minutes later, I had replaced the old hose which had basically blown out (see photo) and then added about half a gallon (yikes) of fresh coolant. NBD.

Here is the bad hose. You'll notice that at the kink, the hose is all fat and blown out. This is where a small leak had formed and almost resulted in the total destruction of my engine :)

Leaky Lights

2010-03-23T15:04:00.006-04:00

I love Hondas. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an undying loyalty to Honda Motor Company. I think they build fantastic cars and I am proud to own 3 of them (currently). Throughout the history of their company, Honda have built a reputation of quality and reliability. They have built what some consider to be the best front-engine, front-wheel drive vehicle EVER. The Integra Type R, of course. Well, this isn't about the Integra - it's about the Integra's successor, the RSX.

While Honda can engineer a remarkable engine with a specific output of 120 HP per litre (in the S2000), they can also fall flat on their faces when it comes to PRACTICAL things such as tail lights. The integra hatchback was notorious for leaking water into the trunk through the tail lights and it appears the RSX suffers from the same design flaw. My girlfriend, Jess, owns an RSX and was recently faced with this problem.

The issue is in the tail light gasket. The gaskets are made out of a foam material that is supposed to provide a seal between the bulb socket cut outs in the trunk and the tail lights themselves. These gaskets sucked in the integra and they suck in the RSX too. In Jess' car it got so bad that I would have to soak up the water out of her trunk after each rain storm. We recently had some beautiful spring weather, so I decided to try to do something about it.

First, I removed the spare tire, jack, subwoofer and paneling from the trunk and performed some tests. I ran water down the drainage channels on hatch and then looked inside to verify that the car was indeed leaking at the tail lights. Once that was confirmed, it was time to get down to business. In order to remove the tail lights, you have to first remove the bumper cover. This is actually pretty easy. After removing 6 screws and 2 clips the bumper pops right off. Twelve more nuts and you've got the tail lights off.

Next, I applied some silicone aquarium sealant around each one of the cut-outs in the trunk. I am hoping that the silicone will form an initial barrier and the water will be forced to flow around, not even reaching the foam gasket. Really, Honda should have designed channels to divert the majority of the water AWAY from the tail lights instead of dumping it RIGHT ON TOP of them. This is just such an idiotic design. Anyway, once I was finished applying the silicone I put the tail lights back on and finally the bumper. We'll see how it turns out!

PS - Sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures and awesome photoshop work.

Start by removing the bumper.

Next the tail lights. You can see the cut-outs for the bulb sockets.

This is how the water gets in.

Here are the black foam gaskets that are pretty much worthless.

Hopefully this silicone will do the trick!

Big Things in the WORKS

2010-03-17T12:19:00.004-04:00

Just so you know, we haven't given up on our 2k10 Blog Initiative. We've just been busy with life.

Never fear, there are many things in the works!

Things on the horizon:

Aaron serves on a jury.

Aaron re-paints his bedroom.

Brad cooks mac & cheese.

Brad cooks fish & chips.

Chris re-installs his Ducati 748 engine.

Chris builds new shelving.

Geoff shops for a house.

Geoff continues work on the Civic.

Sander crashes his race car.

Sander fixes his wrecked race car.

NBD.

Belgians are Ballers

2010-02-26T13:29:00.009-05:00

Ok, so some of you may already know this, but for those that don't - Belgian Beers are "in" for 2K10. That being said, we have taken it upon ourselves to sample as many Belgian beers as we can this year. This endeavor has already brought us on a few trips to Corridor Wine & Spirits in Laurel, MD, which is like a Walmart of alcohol. They have a pretty extensive selection of Belgian imports and we have started to whittle our way through the list.

It just so happened that a few weeks ago, Brad was browsing a beer forum and saw that Max's in Fells Point was having a 3-day Belgian Beer Festival. Since we had Stage 5 Cabin Fever from the blizzard, we decided to venture into the city to see what it was all about. Jess, Brad and I made the trip early Saturday afternoon and found that there was a line wrapped around the corner. Not exactly what we expected to see, but since we had made the trip we thought we should at least wait it out and get a beer. Once inside, we managed to squeeze our way through the jam-packed crowd and got a round of beers. Considering that there were over 300 beers to choose from (all Belgians) half of which had been sold out, it was difficult to place an order. Brad had prepared a short list of beers he wanted to try, so we picked what we could from that. I got a Scaldis Ale which is a Strong Ale weighing in at 12% abv. That's a lot of alcohol for one glass. Surprisingly, it didn't taste like it at all. In fact, it was delicious. Much more drinkable than many other lighter weight Belgians I have had.

After just 1 round, we were all feeling a bit tipsy. We had shown up with empty stomachs with the intent of ordering food off their "special" Belgian-style menu. The problem was that the bar was so crowded, there were no open tables. After an hour of standing around, soaking in the atmosphere and soaking our livers in Belgian's finest, Jess went on a mission to find us a table. Luckily, she found one that was PERFECT. It was tucked away behind the back bar and RIGHT next to the bathrooms. Baller. With our claim staked, we settled in for the long haul and ordered some burgers and more beer. We devoured the burgers and savored the beer. There was a dude from Glen Burnie drinking out of a 2 liter (yes LITER) Stella Artois glass. Of course, Jess got her picture holding the giant thing.

A few hours later, we decided that it was time to go. We had emptied our wallets and filled our stomachs... well not quite. I managed to stop at Maggie Moo's for a cup of RED VELVET ice cream - in the middle of winter. It was spectacular. We had smuggled out all of our empty bottles in Jess' purse to keep as souvenirs and we stumbled back to the parking garage. Brad decided he had to urinate, so what better place than next to his car, right? We dropped Jess off in Federal Hill to hang with her friend, Ashley, and Brad and I went back home. We had every intent on keeping the party train going, but after a frozen pizza, more beers and some chicken tenders, Brad was DONE (at 8pm).

Oh yeah, apologies for the crappy iPhone photos.

FITG.

I can see clearly now...

2010-02-20T16:06:00.006-05:00

In England, when a car gets to 3 years of age, it needs to go through what is known as an 'MOT'. Or what people refer to as 'getting tested'. It is essentially a mandatory test to ensure it is safe and roadworthy to be used on Her Majesty's highways.

The points that it covers is thus:

The body and vehicle structure

Is free from excessive corrosion or damage in specific areas and there are no sharp edges likely to cause injury.

The fuel System

Has no leaks and the fuel cap fastens and seals securely. The fuel cap will need to be opened so be sure the key is available.

The exhaust emissions

The vehicle meets the requirements for exhaust emissions, dependent on the age and fuel type of the vehicle.

The exhaust system

Is secure, complete, without serious leaks and silences effectively.

The seat belts

All belts installed are checked for type, condition, operation and security. All compulsory seat belts must be in place.

The seats

The front seats are secure. Front and rear backseats can be secured in the upright position.

Components to be inspected

The doors

Latch securely in closed position. Front doors should open from inside and outside the vehicle. Rear doors may need to be opened to gain access to testable items.

The mirrors

The minimum numbers are on the vehicle, their condition and security.

Load security

Boot or tailgate can be secured in the closed position.

The brakes

Their condition, operation and performance (efficiency test). Note the removal of the road wheels is not part of the test.

The tyres and wheels

Their condition, security, size, type and tread depth. Spare tyres are not inspected.

The registration plates

Their condition, security, characters correctly formed and spaced.

The lights

Their condition, operation and security. Headlamps for aim.

The bonnet

Securely latches in the closed position.

The wipers and washers

Operate to give the driver a clear view ahead.

The windscreen

Its condition and the driver’s view of the road.

The horn

Operates correctly and is of a suitable type.

The steering and suspension

Are of a satisfactory condition and operation.

The vehicle identification number (VIN)

Is on vehicles first used on or after 1 August 1980. Not more than one different VIN is displayed except on multistage build vehicles.

Quite a comprehensive list.

A week after I took possession of the Civic, the inevitable happened. Some bastard threw something out of their car window heading in the other direction. BANG! I thought some wankstain was shooting at me, but no it was just something hard hitting my windscreen, taking a crater out of it the size of Tiger Wood's divorce fund.

Over the next few days, this crater cracked the screen, right across the driver's view. Making it an MOT fail. Without an MOT, the car would seen be illegal to drive on the roads.

Crap.

Replacing it was thus a necessity, and because my insurance coverage wouldn't pay for it, the scrill had to come out of my own back burner.

The 2 guys showed up, and shit went down.

First things first, remove the trim clips around the windscreen.

Ready the new glass.

Cut the old glue, this is a PITA job.

Remove the wiper arms and lower trim panel.

Push the glass out from the inside. Incidentally, these two dudes were sound as a pound, and I would recommend http://www.jayswindscreens.co.uk/ to anyone. Shameless plug....

Now your screen is totally removed! I was tempted to take it for a spin, and pretend I was from ye olden dayes when people wore goggles and had those *parp parp!* horns.

Now it's time to scrape off and remove all the old shitty glue.

Application of new glue in progress.

Time now for the new glass to be placed.

Everything is back in place and looking DICK MISSILE!

Give the car a fucking good clean, and you're ready to go cruising the local high school picking up sluts.

NBD.

Painting Some Furniture - Part 3 & 4: Painting and Distressing

2010-02-14T21:09:00.010-05:00

I had the whole week off work due to this "Snowpocalypse" or whatever all the kids are calling it. Let me just say, while I enjoyed having the week off, I am looking forward to going back to work and not being confined to the house any longer. Also, it will be nice to say goodbye to the incessant snow-related facebook status updates. It snowed a lot. WE GET IT. Anyway, on Tuesday I was able to venture out before the second storm hit and pick up some paint for my project. I went to Sherwin-Williams because I was told by Cassie (the chick that I purchased the dresser from) that was where she purchased the paint. She had used their Harmony line in a satin finish, but I needed something a little bit more durable for these pieces. I ended up getting their ProClassic Interior Acrylic Latex in a semi-gloss finish for added durability. Luckily, Cassie also remembered the color she used - Snowbound. A bit ironic, I must say! I bought a gallon, which is probably more than I need, but I'll always have plenty to use on other projects or touch-ups in the future.

Part 3: Painting

Like I said in the previous entry on Priming, a good brush goes a long way. I purchased some nice Wooster brushes that I've been pretty happy with. The downside to glossy finishes is that they show all of the flaws in your painting. If you over-work the paint, you can really see it. The trick is really to put down a nice even coat and then just LET IT BE. Sure, there will be some streaking and brush strokes, but don't worry about it. The paint will level out nicely if you just let it do its thing. Another thing that I decided to do was use some masking tape to help preserve the mitered corners of the table. I ended up doing 2 coats, allowing a few hours between. No big deal, especially when you're snowed in.

Part 4: Distressing

I let the paint dry for a full 24 hours before I started distressing it. Distressing is pretty easy. Depending on what you're doing, there are many different techniques to use. I've read that people use anything from ice picks to chains in order to get a worn/distressed look. Well, I just used some sandpaper. I used some medium grit paper to remove paint all the way down to the original dark-stained wood, then I smoothed things over with some fine grit paper. I also used the fine grit paper over the entire piece to dull out the glossy finish a bit. The sanding helped to smooth out the brush strokes and created an unexpected effect. Now the high spots on the strokes are dull, but the low spots are still glossy. I really like the way that it looks. I tried not to get too carried away with the distressing and only did enough to accent the edges of the piece.

So here is the final product. I still have to tackle the coffee table, but this was a good learning experience.

Here you can see the new wood insert I used instead of the original glass.

Here is my piece alongside the dresser I bought from Cassie. They match perfectly!

Before/After

Baller Craftsmanship

2010-02-12T12:54:00.007-05:00

My friend and fellow blogmate, Chris, works for a custom home builder. They specialize in really high-end projects, basically meaning that they only build homes for millionaires (or if you are in Mumbai, MILLENAIRES). So what does this have to do with me? Well, Chris' company works with a particularly baller individual who owns and operates his own wood mill. He makes all sorts of custom pieces ranging from cabinets to trim to desks. I recently found myself in need of some custom items for my furniture project and Chris came through for me big time. NBD.

You might recall that the coffee table and end table that I am working on have glass inlays which serve as the main surface of the furniture. I'm not really down with this look and anyway, glass can break. I've been dreading the day that someone throws their feet up on the table and CRASH - they put their heel right through the glass. Hey, it could happen. I thought it would be a good idea to replace the glass with something more durable and that could be painted to match. Wood sounds like a grand idea. The pieces of glass are roughly 1/4 inch thick. I picked Chris' brain about what would be best suited for this type of application. We decided that a simple 1/4" piece of plywood wouldn't be great because thin plywood warps really easily and isn't very strong. We also decided that a 1/4" piece of solid wood would be expensive and difficult to come by. That type of thing would probably need to be milled down or cut from something thicker anyway. Chris came up with the idea to make a matching rabbeted piece that would mate with the rabbeted surface of the tables.

What is a rabbet? It's not a little furry animal with big ears that eats carrots. It's a groove that is cut out of the edge of a piece of wood, normally for the purpose of mating it with another surface. Think of Tetris.

We decided this was the way to go because we could use a thicker piece of wood for added strength and less likelihood of warping, but it would still sit flush with the surface of the table. Pretty simple, but not something that I have the experience or the tools to accomplish. Chris said he'd ask their wood-guy if he could cut up some pieces to the specs I needed. I drew up a sketch using Adobe Illustrator and sent it off to Chris.

As you can see, I needed three pieces, each 16x16 inches and then a fourth piece measuring 16x22 inches. They would need to be 3/4" thick with a 1/4" rabbet cut into the edges.

Later on that evening, Chris came by my house with the four pieces of plywood all beautifully cut. Very baller indeed.

Painting Some Furniture - Part 2: Primer

2010-02-11T21:06:00.005-05:00

So, we've gotten a lot of snow over the past week. Record breaking, actually. I think. In any case, I have not been to work since last Thursday and I'm not complaining. My back isn't thanking me for the beating I gave it while shoveling 3 feet of snow from the walkway, sidewalk, driveway, street and neighbors houses. On the plus side, all this idle time has helped my furniture project to progress.

Part 2 - Primer

After doing some online research, I found the general consensus is to use an Oil-Based Primer for stained woods. I was also told by the guy at Sherwin-Williams that another suitable product is an Adhesion Primer, which is one of their products. This was after I had already picked up a gallon of Kilz Odorless Primer, so maybe I'll try the Adhesion Primer after I run out. Along with this paint/primer research, I've also been doing some research on paint brushes. Brushes are like any other tool - they are specialized to different applications and you get what you pay for. I learned that when working with Oil-Based products, the brush you want to use is a Black China Bristle brush. These are natural fiber brushes which are nice and stiff and hold their shape when wet.

This was the first time I have used an Oil-Based product, and I have to admit it's kind of a pain in the ass. First of all, it took FOREVER to mix. When I initially popped the lid off the can, there was a clear film of oil sitting on top of the paint. Despite my best efforts and about 10 minutes of constant stirring IT WAS STILL THERE! The only way I was able to get any type of pigment onto my brush was by dipping the stirring stick into the can and pulling up paint from the bottom. Still, the primer went on very thin and I ended up needing about 4 coats. The nice thing about oil paints is that if you screw up and over-work the paint or get some nasty streaks, all you need to do is wipe down the problem spot with a rag and some paint thinner. By the way, that is also how you clean your brush (and your hands) - paint thinner. I kept a little bucket of paint thinner handy to soak my brush after each coat.

Here is the piece with about 4 coats of primer.

Its a little tight

2010-02-11T18:26:00.009-05:00

A big part of my off season maintenance is a valve check/adjustment. Ducati engines are pretty unique in that they use a desmodromic valve actuation. Like many modern engines, the desmo system uses an overhead camshaft design. However, the most unique feature of the desmo system is that it DOESNT use springs to close the valves. Instead, a desmo engine uses an opposite, closer cam lobe. This closer cam lobe provides a very specific and controlled way of closing the valve. Benefits to this system include highly defined, and consistent engine breathing, along with the elimination of valve float. The desmodromic system has enabled Ducati twin cylinder engines to produce more horsepower and higher revs as compared to conventional twin cylinders.

One of the drawbacks to the desmo system is its relatively short adjustment periods. While most motorcycles require valve adjustments every 15k miles or more, Ducati suggests checking theirs every 6k. Since my 748 is a race bike that spends 99% of its life at redline or on its way there, I like to check/adjust mine every year.

To start, I set the crank to TDC on the horizontal cylinder. Then remove the cam belts to free up the cams. It is important that all measurements be taken at TDC when all valves are at rest. Next, the valve covers came of exposing the valvetrain. Now its time for measurements.

The first measurements are the opener gaps (or unloaded gap). This is the distance between the opening rocker and the valve. This gap must be within a specified distance or damage to the valves may occur. Not to mention, out of spec valves drastically reduce combustion effiency. Using feeler gauges, I measured all the opener gaps and recorded the numbers. Measuring the closer gap is a bit more tricky. I use a 8mm nut driver to push down on the edge of the closing rocker to engage the cam thus exposing the closer gap to the opener. Basically by pushing down on the closing rocker the opener gap increases by the amount of the closer gap. This is the loaded gap. Once I get a loaded gap, the unloaded gap is subtracted to get the precise closer gap.

The measurement from my motor (mm)

Vertical Cylinder

Intake Exhaust

L R L R

Open 0.12 0.10 0.17 0.15

Close 0.15 0.16 0.09 0.05

Horizontal Cylinder

Intake Exhaust

L R L R

Open 0.10 0.08 0.16 0.15

Close 0.17 0.17 0.09 0.07

Most of the gaps are within spec short of the exhaust closers which are a little on the tight side. Ideally, all the gaps should be about 0.10-0.15mm. So it seems a few shims are going to need replacement.

Drivers Ed - Making a Left Turn

2010-02-05T07:29:00.007-05:00

So the other night, Jess and I were watching the Travel Channel (which has become a new staple at the Gladhill residence) and we saw a preview for a new show called "America's Worst Driver." We immediately thought of a few people we'd like to nominate, but as we continued to watch, it became apparent that the show is designed purely for entertainment and will serve no real purpose in helping to rid our roads of bad drivers. The people on the show are total assclowns - one woman was trying to cut her own hair while driving. My guess is that 90% of it is completely staged and teeters on the edge of unrealistic and fake. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the majority of people on the road are horrible drivers... maybe not on the same level as the idiots on the show, but it is the everyday Joe Schmoe that is the real pain in your ass, not the woman cutting her bangs behind the wheel.

I'm considering this a Public Service to give people a friendly lesson on how to be a competent driver, so expect more of these in the future. I don't want to overload your brains with too much realness and knowledge all at once, so I'll limit it to one topic at a time. Let me just say this - a car is a dangerous thing. We have come to treat it as an accessory that we just mindlessly use on a daily basis. But in all reality, it has the capacity to kill yourself and other people around you. This does not mean we should be scared of it, but it damn sure means that we should know how to operate and control it with confidence. It is a horrifying thought to consider that you are putting your own life in the hands of thousands of people around you every time you are on the road. Obviously, we can't control the actions of other people, but we are in full control of our own actions. So this is all the more reason that we should be capable and confident in our own abilities behind the wheel.

Lesson 1 - The Left Turn

In America, we drive on the right side of the road. This means that when we make a right hand turn, we do not need to cross any traffic, we simply continue on with the flow of things. However, when we make a left turn things become slightly more complicated. In order to successfully execute a left turn, we must first cross over at least 1 lane of on-coming traffic. This maneuver proves to be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for some people. I'm sure you have found yourself stuck behind an individual waiting to make a turn for what seems to be an eternity. As your frustration builds and you start screaming or honking your horn, you probably don't take a moment to realize that the seemingly incompetent driver is actually paralyzed by fear. Yes, that's right. I am willing to bet that most bad drivers can blame fear and apprehension (leading to indecision) for their ghastly driving. You might notice the tell-tale sign of head bobbing, as they frantically look back and forth to see if there is room to merge into traffic. Really, it is not that difficult. Let me explain.

This is the way my father explained it me when I was learning to drive. He always has a very logical approach to everything, and to me, it makes perfect sense. The problem with the left turn is that you have two directions of traffic you need to take into account. When you make a right turn, you only need to worry about one direction. Most people will keep looking back and forth trying to judge the proper time to make the turn. The problem with this is that it's nearly impossible for your mind to calculate speeds/distances of both sets of traffic simultaneously. The solution is so simple. As you can see in the diagram above, the traffic in the lane you are crossing is represented by the red arrow, while the traffic in the lane you are entering is shown in blue. You'll notice that the red arrow is also larger than the blue one. This was done to illustrate the importance of the left traffic because this is where you need to look first. My dad told me, "look to your left because these are the cars that are going to hit you first." Straight-up, real-ass T. It can't be said any simpler than that - there is no need to look to your right because the cars on your left are the ones that are your immediate danger. Once you have found a suitable gap to cross the traffic on your left, now you can look to your right. If it's clear, then you proceed. If not, then you go back to watching the traffic on your left. No need to break your neck looking back and forth like a moron. There you have it.

Hair Monsters From The Deep

2010-02-03T16:25:00.017-05:00

This morning I was taking a shower and as per usual, there was a nice ring of hair around the drain, leftover from my loving girlfriend. While it's great having a girlfriend with beautiful, thick, naturally wavy hair... it does tend to get EVERYWHERE, especially in the shower. After I was done, I picked up the wad of hair and noticed something else lurking in the shadows of the drain. I needed to investigate. I dried off and came back with a screwdriver so I could take off the drain grate. This was sort of a pain in the ass, as the screws were filled in with grout. I had to use a tiny jeweler's screwdriver to pick all the grout out before the phillips head driver would fit in. Once I had the grate off, I peered down into the black hole. There was a little rope of twisted hair clinging on for dear life to a burr on the inside wall of the drain. I couldn't help but think of last night's season premier of LOST, where Sawyer is desperately grasping Juliet's arm to keep her from falling down the drill shaft... maybe because they showed it like FOUR TIMES in a span of 10 minutes. Anyway, I pulled on the little hair-rope and could not believe what was attached to the end of it! It was a GIANT soapy ball of hair! I mean, this thing took up the entire diameter of the pipe. It was literally the size of a small rodent. I had always wondered what happened to the hairs that managed to get down through the grate. Now I knew. This called for a solution.

In the past, I have used those rubbery/plastic things that you just place over top of the drain to catch hair. Well, those things are a pain in the ass, and furthermore, they look pretty stupid too. To be quite honest, they are utterly useless in a shower where you are standing over top the drain the entire time. Unless it has little suction cups on the bottom, it just gets kicked around and slides all over the place. I suppose that in a tub, it's slightly better as the drain isn't directly under your feet.

Example of stupid rubber hair trap.

I wanted a better solution, something that I wouldn't have to worry about stepping on and that wouldn't really be visible. So big F'ing surprise - I went to Lowe's. I was looking for something in the way of a metal or plastic screen that I could place UNDER the drain grate, where it would not be seen and more importantly, would not be felt or kicked around the shower. I was in luck. I found a product that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, and only cost $2.97. Sold.

I came back home and removed the grate from the drain. Once the grate was off, I test fitted the new screen. It was slightly too large, so I cut off the outer ring of the grate and it fit perfectly. I simply screwed the grate back on and VOILA! Now I know what you're thinking - that it's going to be a pain in the ass to clean out the hair trap because I'll have to take the grate off every single time blah blah blah. Well, yeah... that's true. But if you know me, then you know I welcome ANY opportunity to take something apart. Plus, there are only 2 screws, so BFD.

The solution is great.
1. No hair is getting through that screen.
2. The hair trap isn't going anywhere.
3. It's virtually invisible.

$2.97 from good ol' Lowe's

A little bit too big.

Trimmed to fit. NBD.

Baller.

Painting Some Furniture - Part 1

2010-01-26T20:44:00.009-05:00

When I moved into my grandmother's house almost 4 years ago, I inherited a lot of stuff. She was a pack rat to say the least, which turned out to be a blessing and a curse. Among the thousands of little treasures she left behind were things like birthday cards from the past 30 years, my mother's high school wardrobe, my grandfather's personalized stationary from his various business ventures, a few cases of UNOPENED 7-UP bottles which were so old that the liquid had completely evaporated... you get it, lots of STUFF. Well, I also ended up with all of her furniture.

That's what this project is about. I have a coffee table and matching end table that I'm going to try my hand at refinishing. I'm starting with the end table because it's smaller and well, if I did the coffee table I wouldn't have anything to prop my feet up on as I type this out. The decision to do this was largely inspired by a recent purchase I made. Almost 2 months ago, I purchased a refinished cottage-style, "shabby chic" dresser to replace a mid-century styled buffet that I had in my living room. I bought the dresser from a local chick named Cassie, who is a stay-at-home mother and runs a little furniture restoration business out of her home. She calls her operation Primitive & Proper and she also has a blog that I follow. Here is the dresser in my living room. I think it looks great!

Along with the dresser, I also purchased a second-hand Pottery Barn dining table on craigslist.

The dining table has a very similar antique/distressed white finish. So, as you might have guessed... that is exactly what I plan on doing with the coffee table and end table. While these pieces spent decades in immaculate shape under my grandma's care, they have worn pretty quickly from the traffic and abuse they see from my friends and I. Plus, I think they will look great painted. I've done a little bit of research online about painting furniture, so I'm going to attempt to apply that knowledge.

Step 1 - Prep

Before you can throw on a coat of primer, you need to clean the furniture. You want to remove any dust, grime or in our case... beer residue. A good wipe-down with some soapy water is usually sufficient to clean everything up. I've read that you don't want to use any chemical cleaners, especially those that have oil or some type of polish in them. So no Pledge or anything like that. Also, make sure to let everything dry completely before moving onto paint.

In my case, since the furniture was already finished with a stain and varnish, I decided to give it a good sanding. I hit it off with some 120 grit sand paper, which turned out to be a double-edged sword since it cleaned off any built-up crap in addition to scuffing the surface so it's more receptive to the primer. I also discovered an additional benefit - sanding helped to expose and eliminate all of the imperfections in the varnish. These little bumps and runs are nearly invisible in the current finish, but once they get a coat of white paint, they'll stick out like a sore thumb. After that was done, I wiped all of the dust away with a micro-fiber cloth.

As you can see, a lot of dust and grime had built up on the ledge that holds the glass.

Freshly sanded, prior to wipe-down.

Up next... Primer.

The Tar Heel state can make BBQ, but their basketball teams still suck

2010-01-24T21:10:00.015-05:00

College basketball season is among us, and I can now switch back to my alma mater and root for the Terrapins. Any respectable college football fan will tell you the Terrapins suck at football. Their fat ass sorry excuse for a football coach Ralph Friedgen and team sucked it up for another year. The University of Maryland hopes to start the year off right beginning with the mens basketball team. The terps look to expand on a great finish to last season where Gary Williams lead his team to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament in arguably his best coaching performance of his career (yes even with Dave Neal as their center). Returning for the terrapins is team leader Greivis Vasquez who realized he was not quite ready for the NBA and decided to return for his senior season. Greivis obviously has been watching some of MTV's Jersey Shore, and has followed some of "The Situations" three rules to life, GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry). Greivis appears to been hitting the gym and bulked up about 20 pounds, got a fresh coat of paint on, and looks like the dry cleaner took care of his yellow jersey. The terps are having a pretty good season, and showed it this weekend when they took down the wolf pack of NC State on Saturday 88-64 at the Comcast center.

Since the state of North Carolina basketball is not looking so great this year, and being that I just spent a week in North Carolina, I thought I would make some North Carolina Style Barbecue (BBQ) in their honor. I spend a lot of time in North Carolina, specifically the fun town of Mockesville and for lunch I usually get BBQ and a cheerwine (cherry flavored soda). I like North Carolina BBQ because it has a distinct vinegar based sauced, which is not too thick, and is very different from your typical BBQ you may have had. Unfortunately, if you have never had North Carolina style BBQ you have missed out, BUT you are in luck because this recipe is pretty close to the the real thing.

I read Cooks Illustrated and watch the MPT television show "America's Test Kitchen." You should check this show out if you are a foodie. I like their show, it takes a very scientific approach to cooking and being that I'm a food scientist you could easily see why a show like this would entertain me. The recent issue had a write up on "indoor style BBQ." The whole premise of the recipe was to make a pulled pork BBQ which had the taste of being cooked in a smoker, but prepared in the comforts of your kitchen. The recipe turned out really well, for a first go. I would probably make a few tweaks with the rub and salt levels when I make this again, otherwise I was really pleased. I served the pulled pork with red slaw and a side of potato salad. The roommates seemed to enjoy the pork, but I had a few cranberries that decided to linger. Perhaps I will make a tart for them next week.....oh wait it's C's birthday next week....... Pineapple upside down cake! NBD

On to the recipe.......

Pork Brine:

1 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp liquid smoke

1 boneless pork butt (6lbs) cut horizontally

Pork Rub:

3 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 cup mustard

2 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup defatted cooking liquid

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Procedure (see how scientific I am)

1. Dissolve sugar, salt and the liquid smoke from the "pork brine" ingredient list into 4 quarts of water. No need to heat the water, just be patient and stir until dissolved; set pot aside.

1. Trim that fat off of your pork butt, don't be shy. Get a knife and cut off that white shit. It may taste good, but no one wants to bite in to a big piece of fat on their sandwich. Slice the meat horizontally (increasing surface area), and and place into a pot deep enough to hold the meat and 4 quarts of water.

2. The recipe says to marinate the meat for 2 hours. I left the meat marinate in the brine over night. ****Brad's Rant*** Being deep in this chicken game, I know a thing or two about marination. Letting a marinade sit up over night will increase moisture and flavor in your product. So prepare your brine the night before and let that meat marinate overnight.

I had nothing to do that night so I got drunk on some high alcohol belgium beer, and watched the Hurt Locker. I went to bed and dreamed about the pork butt I was about to take down the following morning.

3. After you recover from your hang over, your going to need to start thinking about that meat your going to take down. NBD. Begin by draining the water out of your pot, and drying off the meat with a paper towel. You heard me fucker, dry off the meat, it will get all that water off of the surface and allow for the rub to stick to the meat. I know we are in a "green world" so buy some enviromentally friendly paper towels if you are complaining about this step.

4. Add the mustard and smoke from the "pork rub" ingredient list to the meat, and rub the meat. Sprinkle the meat with the dry ingredients from that list, taking care to rub all the spices into the meat.

4. Transfer the meat to a baking pan with a rimmed edge lined with a cooling rack (see picture below).

5. Cover the meat with parchment paper, and then cover with aluminum foil to prevent moisture from escaping. Place the pan into a preheated 325 degree oven on the rack second most from the bottom.

6. Pork butt if Fucking tough! Unless you give it heat and TIME, time being the key step in this statement you are going to have tough meat. I know we are hungry, and want to eat, but planning (this is where being a boy scout and being prepared comes into play) is important in deciding how long this is going to take you. I know, I know it is long, but you will need to cook the meat for 3 hours. Go watch TV, drink some brew's, or do some laundry.

7. After 3 hours, remove and discard the foil and parchment paper, and drain the liquid from the bottom of the pan into a fat separator or a liquid measuring cup. You are going to be mad at me, but you will need to continue to cook the meat for another hour uncovered. The meat will be done when visually the meat is browned, and the temperature reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees. Remove the meat from the oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes. ****Note*** this step of cooking the meat uncovered is to gain a crust on the meat, and will build some flavor in your meat; don't skimp on this step.

8. While the meat is resting, mix together the vinegar based BBQ sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk a 1/2 cup of the defatted cooking liquid into the bowl. Set the sauce aside.

9. Shred the meat using two forks in order to cut the meat into smaller pieces. Toss the shredded meat with 1 cup of the sauce and serve on a kaiser roll topped with slaw.

Jess (Aaron's beau) has been on a health kick, and found "No Pudge Brownies" at the grocery store. While they appear to be somewhat healthy, using vanilla, yogurt and the mix as the only three ingredients I can not say you should be eating these if you are on a diet. Jess does not like mint, so the rest of us decided to eat her serving.

There are times I simply despair...

2010-01-24T16:07:00.013-05:00

On Friday I had one of these questions, and it has taken me days of very hard thought in order to come up with some kind of logical answer. It was the day that I got one of my old cars back, it had been out of my possession for 4 years and I was recently reunited with it.

The question is thus: A car is in all likelihood, going to be the second largest financial commitment you’re going to make, so why don’t people take care of their cars?

The car in question is a 1999 Honda Civic. Nothing special, however when I sold it to a family member, it was for the order of £4,000. Not an insubstantial amount of money, by any persons measure. So why did it come back to me in such a shit state? I used to wash and polish it every weekend. It was immaculate, I would often have people commenting what a pleasant environment it was to be in, and how it looked like a new car.

When it was returned to me…well I don’t know what to say.

Here is the car when I still had it, October 2005:

Here it is now (don't mind the fucking pikey with his caravan in the background):

The paintwork is as flat as a witch's tit. It's going to take many hours of polishing to get it back to that mirror shine.

Here is a shot of the boot (trunk):

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is hay.
I shall give you a run-down of what the car needs in order to get it back in the game.

- Clutch
- 3 new tyres
- All new wiper blades
- Alignment
- Battery
- Heater blower motor
- New windscreen
- New stereo

Lastly, but not least, a damn good clean inside and out. If any of you keep pets, and need to visit a pet store in order to get feed or bedding or whatever….that’s what it smells like inside!

I attacked the mats with some extra strong carpet stain cleaner, as they smelled like a bums undercrackers.

When I had finished the first round of cleaning, this is what the water rinse bowl looked like.

How can somebody live with a car that is an utter clusterfuck of filth? I couldn’t see diddly-squat out of the windows from the funk when trying to reverse it off my drive for the first time.

Maybe this is why:

A wiper blade that looks like a tramps G-string. Sigh.

It is pure, unadulterated laziness.

Progress and Struggles...

2010-01-20T22:49:00.004-05:00

Since the original post of where I had been at with my race car (see posting of "just a couple of springs, no big deal") I have finished up my engine preparation, Installed my engine, and began fabricating some of the lines for the fire suppression system.

To take a step back for those who may not know, you may be asking your self "Sander, what IS a fire suppression system?" Well, thankfully for you, I have an answer! A fire suppression system is a series of components that are designed to coat you and other critical components (fuel, and engine components) with AFFF (Aqueous Film Foaming Foam) in the event of a in-car vehicle fire. Obviously, I do not want to be on fire, or be in a car that is on fire, so I'm happy about having it in the car.

How this particular system works is that you basically have an activation cable that you would pull in the event of a fire, that opens up a c02 bottle, that reacts with the AFFF concentrate, then pushes the foam out of the nozzles that hopefully put that the fire that would be in your vehicle out. So now that you know that, you're aware of one of the most important safety items in a race car.

I originally had been rather frightened of the fabrication of some of the aluminum fire suppression lines. I am a total perfectionist when it comes to straight lines, and bending a few long pieces of 1/4" tubing parallel to each other is not my idea of a good time *sigh*. Thankfully enough after some slow, patient work, I think it came out quite well.

sander.

I just liked this picture, this is a shot of the front - side of the car before I left the shop last week.

Shadetree Garage....err Apartment

2010-01-20T18:59:00.006-05:00

In the Mid Atlantic region we are cursed with an ample off-season from motorsports. From late Oct to mid April, most race machines are locked up in garages around the area, patiently awaiting for the temperatures to rise. The only upside to this down time is the fact that it affords us ample time to freshen up, develop, or modify our machines. This off season, my Ducati 748 will be receiving a bit of all three.

I decided a while ago that the motor should be pulled from the bike during this off-season. This decision was made based on a couple of factors. One being that the maintenance required is much easier to perform with the motor outside the confines of the motorcycle. Removing the motor only adds a small amount of time to the maintenance project, but reduces the amount of headaches. As well, removing the motor allows me to clean up and inspect the chassis for unseen damage following a big crash at Beaverun Racetrack last July. Another upside to removing the motor from the bike is that I can work on it in my apartment. My garage is unconditioned and terribly cold in the winter time. Having the option to work on the motor in my comfortably warm apartment is very attractive

In order to perform maintenance on the motor outside of the chassis, I needed an engine stand to hold the motor stable. While engine stands for the desmoquattro engine do exist, they are not typically available for sale on the open market. Most pros come up with a solution for themselves given their shop condition and work intentions. Since my motor will likely only come out once a year or less, I figured the most simple design would suffice. As well, not having access to a welder nor the skills to weld something out of metal, wood became the most viable option. Wood is easy to cut, assemble, and is inexpensive.

I decided a simple cradle design made of 2x4's would be the most effective. Since the swingarm pivot is the strongest area of the motor, using it as one of the connection points was a no-brainer. The most difficult design element was trying to incorporate a support for the horizontal cylinder. I wanted to have the ability to adjust the angle of the horizontal cylinder to aid in accessing the exhaust cam and valves. After a couple of ideas circled around in my head I decided to use a scissor jack. Since there isn't much space on the horizontal cylinder to attach the jack, a piece of 2x8 was used to bridge the gap.

Construction of the stand went smoothly. After taking some raw measurements from the motor, I came up with dimensions for my plan. As the stand came together I adjusted a few dimensions, but for the most part stuck to the plan. The footprint of the stand measures 36" x 19 1/2" with the pivot supports sitting 12" above the base. These dimensions allow the motor to sit close to the base when all the way down and still have clearance to pivot upwards. I used a 26" piece of 5/8" steel rod to support the motor through the swingarm pivot. This can also be used as a handle when moving the motor without the stand. The rod was cut to 26" so that it could fit through just about any exterior door. Once the structure was built, and the motor put on, I realized some handles to carry it would be helpful. A trip to Lowe's resulted in 4 steamer trunk style handles. I also added a couple of eye bolts so the motor could be strapped into the stand so it would be less likely to shift while being moved.

Overall, I think the stand came out great. It does all I need it to do and only cost me $30 and about 2.5 hours. Now that the motor is in the stand and in my apartment, the next step will be to adjust the valves. Stay tuned...

SEAS - not us, but baller.

2010-01-19T22:33:00.007-05:00

Since no one else is doing much blogging, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some great music with everyone. The band is called SEAS and is the brain child of local musician/songwriter Ben Green. Ben used to play in a VA/DC-based band called Fairweather, who released 2 full-length albums and 1 EP on Equal Vision Records before disbanding in 2003. Fairweather was active during the same period that Chris and I were playing in a band called MacGyver. Actually, I have a scar on my nose from being hit in the face by Ben's guitar during a Fairweather show at The Sidebar in Baltimore. Totally by accident, of course. Anyway, Ben is an extremely decent guy and a very talented musician. Fairweather was one of my favorite bands during that time in my life and I'm glad that Ben is continuing on with new music. Check it out if you want something new to listen to. You won't be disappointed.

I just bought his new album on vinyl from Decoration Day Recordings which is a new, independent label in Richmond, VA.

You can also download a free song from Decoration Day HERE (right click and save).

Enjoy.

DMC - Dick Missile Chili

2010-01-17T18:40:00.009-05:00

There are two things any self-respecting man should be able to do:
1. Change his oil.
2. Cook chili.

Luckily, they are both pretty straight-forward and it takes some real "talent" to screw them up... but you might be surprised at what I've seen. The thing about chili is that everyone has their own recipe and methods, which they all swear to be the dickest missile in the shed. There are also so many variations on chili in general. Some people prefer a chunky, hearty chili... some like it fine and thin... some want it really spicy, etc, etc. I'm not here to tell you how to make your chili, I'm here to tell you how I make MY CHILI.

Disclaimer - I am not a culinary professional. And like most people, I watch the Food Network and therefore, through some form of twisted logic, I think I know how to cook. Wrong. That being said, I will probably mislead and misuse... but never misspell.

My chili. I've been dabbling in the alchemy of chili for close to 7 years now. I'll be the first to admit that I've made some pretty horrible batches along the way. Part of the problem was that I liked to experiment with different ingredients and seasonings, instead of just working on consistency. I never really wrote down any recipe either. I'll also admit that I've put some really weird shit in my chili. I used to throw in an array of peppers, the whole gamut of canned tomato products, various types of beans and then some wacky stuff like peanut butter and hot chocolate mix. In fact, I used to kind of pride myself on finding strange things to throw into the bubbling pot. I'll just go ahead and get my own neck for that. Fortunately, some wisdom has come with age and I've cut out the bullshit and stuck with the basics. In the process, I've developed a pretty fail-safe recipe.

Oh, another thing - I typically don't make chili unless it's below 50 degrees outside or unless there is a football game on TV. It just doesn't seem right.

Here are the ingredients:

3 lbs ground beef (approx) - 80% lean is preferable

2 large white onions (I like a lot of onions and they cook down to practically nothing)

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of Rotel with green chilies

1 can of black beans (if you really like beans, add more)

1 can of beer (I typically use Natty Boh - because it's delicious. Use something you would actually like to drink.)

1 bottle of whiskey (See above)

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Cumin

Paprika

Sugar (preferably brown, doesn't really matter)

Cinnamon

Milk Chocolate Chips

1 Big Ass Pot

First, I start by dicing the onions. I pour some vegetable oil in the pot and get the onions cooking on medium/high heat with a little bit of salt and black pepper. I let them cook until they start to brown. Next, throw in the finely chopped jalapeno, minus the peppercorns - unless you want it really spicy. Once the peppers have had a chance to cook down a bit, pour in some whiskey and beer just to de-glaze the pot. If you need to clear your sinuses, just keep your head over the pot.

Now it's time to add the beef. Dump it in and start mashing it around and mixing it with the onions. This is where I start to season everything. Cumin is the main player at this stage in the game. I don't know how much I use, but it's a good amount. Add the cayenne, black pepper, paprika and salt. To top it off, I'll add a shake of cinnamon - a little goes a long way, trust me. I tend to rely on my nose here... if it smells good, it probably tastes good too.

Once the meat has thoroughly cooked, reduce the heat back to medium and let everything simmer. I'm not sure if this is exactly correct from a culinary standpoint, but I feel like you need to allow some time for the fat in the meat to melt down and mingle with everything. So it's very important that you don't cook all of the juices out of the meat. Just get it to the point that it's bubbling up nicely.

The tomatoes and beans are the last to arrive at the party. Dump it all in. Now we need to season again. More cumin... more everything. I also add a fair amount of sugar to help neutralize that acid in the tomatoes. Oh yeah, pour the rest of the beer in. Once everything is bubbling again, I'll throw in a handful of chocolate chips and let those melt their way into the mix. In the past, I have made the chili WAY too salty, so I'm very cautious with that now. You can always add more, but it's really hard to dilute the whole batch if it's too salinous. I don't like to add salt until the chili has had a chance to cook on medium heat for awhile. Ideally, it should cook for at least and hour, stirring the pot every 10 minutes. You'll know it's ready to be stirred when it separates and the chili is all "liquidy" on the top. Give it a good, deep stir and mix everything up. Try to scrape all the stuff off the bottom so it doesn't burn. I like to taste test after each stir. If something is lacking, I'll just add a little more of it. Don't burn your mouth when you're sampling because you'll be FITG for enjoying the finished product.

Once you're done, turn the stove down to low heat and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. You'll find that it really starts to thicken up into a beautiful, sloppy mess. It's up to you how you eat it. Sometimes I'll eat the chili over macaroni, sometimes over rice or sometimes over crushed up tortilla chips. Frito pies are always baller.

So, now you know... and knowing is half the battle.

Photos

Ha Ha - but seriously...

Cliche "ingredients" photo

Onions and Jalapeno

Boh goes in to de-glaze

No big deal.

Cumin, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper and Paprika

BIG MEAT!!! /Anne Burrell

Rest of the stuff goes in.

Good to go!

Introducing... Jewel

2010-01-11T12:12:00.008-05:00

This is Jewel.

Or as her official adoption papers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control say, "Jewl." To be honest, I really don't think she cares what you call her, because I've never once seen her respond to any type of name. Still, that hasn't stopped us from giving her a list of other nicknames including: "Jewelian", "Julianna Banana" (or just "Banana" for short), "You Bitch" and the ever-classic "Cat." She is some breed of "blue" cat, we're not really sure which. All I know is that she is soft and doesn't make me sneeze.

Jewel enjoys sitting inside various boxes, playing fetch with the plastic rings found on milk jugs, sleeping on the ends of sofas and eating french fries. She has also assumed the role of Supervisor for many of the projects that take place at my house. She runs a tight ship.

Baller Ass Beef

2010-01-10T22:23:00.009-05:00

I’ve have been dieting for the past week, trying to obtain some healthy eating habits after binging on bad food over the holidays. I was excited for my “off day” from dieting so I could cook something new and be slightly bad. I did not want to go too crazy on the menu for fear of falling off the wagon after only dieting for 1 week. The dish needed to be something hearty, but something I had never made before. Over my winter break my roommates and I watched “Julie and Julia,” and one of the dishes Julie makes from Julia Childs cookbook is beef bourguignon. I remembered this dish and thought I would give it a try. It fit my two requirements, the recipe looked pretty easy to make, and would serve a household of hungry roommates.

On my way to the grocery store I stopped by the bookstore to pick up a copy of the Julia Childs books “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” I already had the recipe to beef bourguignon, but I figured you could never have too many cookbooks. The recipe below is adapted from Julia Child and Ina Garten’s recipe for this dish. The recipe turned out a success and will definitely be a keeper. I served my beef over a bed of egg noodles, but potatoes or rice could certainly be substituted.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

8 oz thick sliced bacon diced into ½” by ½” pieces

3 lbs chuck roast cut into 1” cubes and patted dry with a paper towel

1 lbs carrots sliced into 1” chunks

2 medium sized yellow onions sliced

2 cloves garlic mashed

1 750 mL bottle red wine (I used Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages)

2 cups beef broth (I used Swanson 50% reduced sodium)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 lbs fresh mushrooms sliced

1 lbs frozen pearl onions, thawed

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Fresh parsley for garnish

Special Equipment:

5.5 quart cast iron pot (or similar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Heat the olive oil in the cast iron pot. Add the bacon and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the bacon is browned. Remove bacon and set aside in a bowl, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.

Pat the beef cubes with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. In batches, sauté the beef in a single layer in the pot, turning until all sides of the beef are browned (approximately 5-7 minutes for each batch). Remove beef from the pot and set aside in the bowl with the bacon.

Add the carrots and onions to the pot and cook the vegetables with the residual fat left from the beef and bacon. Add 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper, and cook the carrots and onions over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables have browned. Return the beef and bacon to the pan and add the flour to the pot. Stir the mixture until all the flour coats the vegetables and meat. Put the uncovered pot in the middle position of the preheated oven for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes toss the meat and vegetables and put back the pot back in the oven allowing it to cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove pot from oven and reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F.

With the pot heating over medium heat, stir in the wine, and enough beef broth so that the meat is barely covered (approximately 2 cups). Add the thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and then cover the pot and place in the preheated oven. Allow the meat to cook for approximately 2.5 to 3 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender when a fork pierces it easily.

While the meat is cooking in the oven prepare the pearl onions and mushrooms. In a 10” frying pan heat 2 tbsp butter. When the butter has melted add the mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the pearl onions to the pan and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

When the meat and vegetable are done, pour the contents of the pot into a colander, reserving the broth in a medium saucepan. Wipe the pot clean and return the meat and vegetables to the pot. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the meat mixture and set the pot aside.

In a medium saucepan simmer the broth, skimming the fat off as it rises to the top. Continue to heat the broth until it coats the back of a spoon. If the broth is too thin, continue to rapidly boil the broth. If the mixture is too thick, add some more beef broth. NOTE: A fat separator would have come in handy if I had one, but was forced to use the conventional method as described above.

Serve meat and sauce over a bed of egg noodles and garnish with fresh parsley.

Mauve Madness - A Painting Story

2010-01-10T20:50:00.012-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with interior painting. I enjoy being able to completely transform the feel of a space with color and also the satisfaction of doing some work that requires a little bit of elbow grease. Tragically, I also have a horrible habit of changing my mind when it comes to colors... most of the time AFTER I've already painted the entire room... I know, "Let me get that neck." Just ask my roommates. If you were to take a cross sectional cut from the drywall in my living room, it would bear some resemblance to the layers of the earth's crust, taking you on a geological journey through the 4 year history of my residence here. This posting, however, has nothing to do with my house.

This year for xmas, Jess (my girlfriend) and I decided that as a gift to her parent's, we would paint their living room and kitchen for them. They are preparing to put their townhouse on the market, but it needs a bit of work before it's ready for show. For 16 years, they have silently suffered under a pinkish/purpleish, comatic haze cast by the MAUVE walls in their living room. Real T. Between the silver carpeting and the pink walls, this living room brings me straight back to the 80's... and for some strange reason, Marley Station. Anyway, we decided to handle this while they were out of town this weekend. Jess' mom didn't specify a color choice, but told use to just pick something "neutral." Typically, this means beige... in our case, it came in the form of "Vanilla Brandy." We took a trip to Lowe's (my second home) and picked up some Olympic Premium Paint. I typically use Valspar because I like their color palettes better, but I wanted to try this ZERO VOC stuff from Olympic. It was pretty cheap at only $15 per gallon, so that was nice too.

Here are some "Before" photos of the living room. Take note of the lovely mauve tone contrasted by the DARKER mauve of the trim... it really sets it off!

So, the first order of business was to hit the trim with a fresh coat of some bright white, semi-gloss paint. Typically, I am a maniac about masking everything before I paint. I end up spending twice as long masking as I do actually painting. We decided to just go ahead and paint the trim and not worry about being neat and tidy with it, since we were going to be doing the walls anyway. Plus, the ceiling has that rough, plastery finish, so you really can't put tape on it. I'm just going to go on record and say that the mauve didn't go without a fight. It took 3-4 coats before there were no traces of pink. After that was done, we started rolling the new paint on the walls. Luckily, our new paint was able to mask the mauve without the help of any primer.

Here are some photos of the work in progress.

Here you can see the original mauve on the door, the new white trim, and the new color, Vanilla Brandy. Yum.

Here is the finished product, unfortunately, the poor lighting really doesn't do it much justice... not to mention the living room is still turned upside down.

We had originally hoped this project would take Friday evening and then the morning/afternoon on Saturday. Nevertheless, Sunday morning we found ourselves back at Lowe's to buy another gallon of paint. Two wasn't quite enough to defeat the great Mauve. Painting the kitchen was an impossibility at this point, so instead, I decided that I'd use some leftover paint from my house to paint the hallway half-bathroom. So after a few more hours of final cut-in and touch ups, we were finished. I'm actually pretty pleased with how it came out, so hopefully Jess' parents will like it. They still have a lot of work left to do with the house, including more paint pretty much everywhere, new flooring, and a handful of other things. No big deal.

The final product.

Oh yeah, and the bathroom. Baller, right?

Just a couple of springs, no big deal.

2010-01-09T23:26:00.015-05:00

So generally speaking I love spending my Saturday at the shop where I work and chipping away at the endless list of things that I need to complete on my race car before I go to take my provisional competition license class in February at VIR (Virgina International Raceway).

A part of what I did today involved transferring valve springs from one cylinder head (an old race engine I had previously), to another (the current engine that I will be using in the racing series that I am entering in this year, Honda Challenge). This job is not terribly difficult, although it is sometimes very tedious for a person with compulsion (me). Using a higher spring rate, performance oriented valve spring combination is critical to a race engine. This is to maintain high rpm valve stability (basically, if you're at redline for twenty minutes, you need things in your engine to be overkill / and over engineered)

On to the pictures!

A picture of the donor engine.

A picture of the valve spring compressor on the valve spring.
(This is the more important of the tools needed for this job, this compresses the spring to then release the valve locks, then free the spring).

This is a comparison of the two valve springs, the ones on the left are the old springs that have been removed, and the ones on the right are the ones that are going to be installed.

What a head looks like with all of the valves springs removed.

A happy camper, now that this engine is ready to g0!

Next installment will be about either installing the engine and transmission in to the car, and / or fabricating the mounts for the RaceTech seat.

NBD.

sander.

Hello!

2010-01-07T09:49:00.007-05:00

The Mission:

We are just a couple of dudes that enjoy working with our hands. Between the five of us, our collective interests/hobbies span a pretty broad piece of the spectrum. The purpose of this blog is to document various projects that we undertake. Expect to see content that covers a wide range of topics from home improvement to race car construction to child rearing...probably a lot of cooking as well. Enjoy!

The Dudes (in alphabetical order):

Aaron

Aaron works as a web and graphic designer. He enjoys playing with cars, taking pictures, strumming the guitar and he has a cat named Jewel.

Brad

Brad is a food scientist, deep in the chicken game. Brad enjoys cooking (baking specifically), working on cars and photography.

Chris

Chris works for a custom home builder as a project coordinator. Chris races motorcycles, plays the drums and has a lot of tattoos.

Geoff

Geoff is from the UK and works as a civil engineer. Geoff is soon to be a father and he enjoys all forms of motorsport, as well as playing Call of Duty on his Xbox.

Sander

Sander is a diagnostic technician specializing in European Automobiles and also builds and tunes race cars. Sander is a certified High Performance Driving Instructor and he enjoys mountain biking and playing piano.

Definition of Terms:

These are some terms/acronyms that you will see throughout our blog. Most of them require a definition for first-timers.

BTC - This stands for "Big Time Carry." A "carry" is either an action or an event which is adverse in nature, therefore, typically resulting in a negative outcome.

FITG - This stands for "F*$#ed In The Game." We don't think this requires much explanation.

DM - This stands for "Dick Missile." Dick Missile was a phrase that we coined years ago as an adjective to describe anything that is exceptionally awesome.

Real T - This is short for "Real Talk." It is a phrase commonly used to emphasize the validity of something.

NBD - This stands for "No Big Deal." This, too, should require no further explanation.

LLS - We recently received word from a friend of ours, who teaches high school in Baltimore City, that kids aren't saying "LOL" anymore. Instead, they are saying "LLS" which stands for "Laughing Like S%!T." We love it.

Let Me Get That Neck - This is a phrase used to call someone out on something stupid they've done. In person, it is usually followed by a swift reach and pull on the back of the person's neck.