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What non automotive projects and repairs are you doing?

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BlackBart
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Re: What non automotive projects and repairs are you doing?

Post by BlackBart »

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ex-1984 245T wagon
1994 850T5 wagon
2004 XC70 wagon BlackBetty

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Sveedy
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Post by Sveedy »

I like that mahogany door skin B.B !
Nice job.
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1996 850 Turbo GLH ( Goes Like Hell )
1999 V70 GLT

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BlackBart
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Post by BlackBart »

Do you mean the sold slab door? You know what’s funny? That’s a fiberglass, foam-insulated door. On their sample board, they had this color that seemed close to the ribbon mahogany in that hallway. I said, I’ll try it, if it looks bad we’ll just paint it inside and out.
It matches the hallway almost perfectly - we looked at each other and said huh, who woulda thought.
I never would have considered a fiberglass door, but it has no roof overhang and faces straight west, gets pounded by late sun and blowing rain. The old one had been replaced at least once (I cut it up and it was particle board) and had a huge curve from head to lock to sill. Sunlight showing top and bottom. So I thought I’d try this instead, and it’s well insulated.

The new store door is solid lumber with fir veneer, like Simpson has made forever - I’ve used them many times. But when I picked it up and unwrapped it, it says Made in China on the bottom….wat? So, Simpson cut the trees down in the NW, but somehow the wood got to China and a door factory. Wow, how do you like that?
I noticed the woodwork and ogee window stop wasn’t all that accurate or cut very well - splits and splinters.
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Post by Sveedy »

Good find ! It looks just like mahogany.
Many, many,....many years ago, I used to re-skin doors fairly often. It was a good way to get an old original door looking smart again.
I'm not even sure that they make or sell door skins anymore.

We used to get plywood that was made from wood harvested in the northwest, which was then put on ships that went out into international waters and actually made into plywood, before being brought back to shore. They didn't even bother taking the wood all the way over to China. I shudder to think of the crap that was dumped into the waters. I'm not sure if they still do that. My guess is that they still do.
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Post by BlackBart »

Ah, so now it’s “imported,” from a ship.

I wanted to use Alaskan yellow cedar on a lobby ceiling once. It’s creamy smooth, like buttah.

So where would you get that? In the NW, it comes mostly from British Columbia. We tried to order it, but no, the wood goes offshore to Japanese ships, gets milled, then “imported” and it cost a fortune.

So we ended up with “Russian birch,” which looks similar and was affordable.
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Post by abscate »

Going to try rebuild a deck before winter. Cool weather now perfect for demo and carpentry

Pictures to come
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Post by volvolugnut »

The home generator project has feature creep. Further study says generator should be 10 to 20 feet from the house and needs weather protection. So a small (6 x 3.6 feet) metal building kit is on the way. Concrete foundation work is started. Foundation is mostly for a anchor so building does not blow away. I will use concrete blocks set with cement premix material. I will use paving tiles for the floor initially and maybe a concrete floor later.
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Post by abscate »

I just put my 2 kW Honda in the yard , with a hinged plywood tent over it
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Post by abscate »

abscate wrote: 16 Sep 2025, 04:29 Going to try rebuild a deck before winter. Cool weather now perfect for demo and carpentry

Pictures to come
2 hours this morning …

I started out trying to pop the decking lengthwise but the builder was a contractor amd had no shortage of twisty nails in this deck; well done! I broke out the reciprocating saw and cut each board at the joist which then made stomping on them the easy removal method. No labor lost as I needed to cut them up for disposal,so a job well done.

We still have to decide if we will push another ten feet of deck,I’m leaning that way
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Post by matthew1 »

I repaired my Shark cordless vacuum a month ago.

It had developed a whine at certain attitudes paired with almost any acceleration force, but not all, which I couldn't wrap my head around but whatever. I thought the motor bearing was going out, so I looked for a video on DIY for this.

Turns out the problem was me. I'd used it a couple times recently on vacuuming up baking soda, which I think the particles are so micro-granular they served to cake the motor so when it spun parts of it rubbed against these deposits.

To my great surprise these things are not a sealed lifetime product, and the disassembly went well and quick. I took out the motor and housing and fired up my Craftsman air compressor and blew out ten hundred trillion Baking Soda protons and put it all back together and it works like Day 1 again.

I love this vacuum. It punches well above its weight. It's all I have/need for 1800 sqft of 85% carpet and I've owned it for 2 years. If you want to support MVS, get one through Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ndswN5 they're cheap.

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1998 V70, no dash lights on

1997 850 T5 [gone] w/ MSD ignition coil, Hallman manual boost controller, injectors, R bumper, OMP strut brace

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