What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[BlackBart]

Wow.... Wasn’t worth his time to go back to the plumbing store to get the right pieces. Our building dept has a bulletin board With snapshots pinned up of all the “follies” the inspectors see. Some are hilarious, some are scary and could kill people.

[bmdubya1198]

Swapped out my upper torque rod bushing on the engine side again. Finally a nice new poly bushing. When I bought the car, it came with the same one from iPd, but it was in BAD shape. Moved around a lot. I had a spare iPd -'98 style bushing that I ran temporarily, but the RN bushing isn't offset like the old one. Plus the mount itself is wider, so it doesn't quite fit in the rod.
A little super glue on the old one and I'll throw it on the next -'98 I buy. For now it's in the insanely huge stash of parts.

The new bushing is a pretty dark purple, much nicer than the nasty old torn up black bushing I trashed a few months ago. The old one also smelled like a garbage truck... no idea why. Maybe just the way the polyurethane degrades?
Hopefully this lasts longer than the old one!

[brunocerous]

I definitely appreciate that phrase “the next ‘98 I buy”!

Do you have an actual parts bin? I’m trying to figure out how to manage the mini junk yard I’ve managed to create in the garage.

[abscate]

I’m lucky to have an OCD daughter, the kind who cleaned her room at age 3

I replaced her iphone battery in exchange for her organizing my Volvo, VW, and BMW parts. Took her 30 minutes an now occurs 1/3 of space.

[wizechatmgr]

I’m lucky to have an OCD daughter, the kind who cleaned her room at age 3

I replaced her iphone battery in exchange for her organizing my Volvo, VW, and BMW parts. Took her 30 minutes an now occurs 1/3 of space.

I'm tempted to pay her to do my place. I cannot for the life of me get everything organized...

[bmdubya1198]

Send her down here after WCM. I'd love to cut down the clutter 2/3!

I definitely appreciate that phrase “the next ‘98 I buy”!

Do you have an actual parts bin? I’m trying to figure out how to manage the mini junk yard I’ve managed to create in the garage.

I have bins upon bins of parts stacked up in the garage. My dad built shelving earlier this year and that's made it much cleaner. I still feel like I need to organize it better, even though everyone who sees it thinks I'm insanely organized. I need to organize things in smaller containers more specifically. That way when I sell or need something, I don't have to drag a 75 pound container off the top shelf.

I buy enough P80s, might as well plan ahead!

[Sveedy]

Re: Poor building trades and practices - As a semi-retired award winning general contractor who has been making sawdust for well over 40 years in residential, commercial and municipal projects, I can tell you two things that are responsible for the poor construction we are seeing:
First is the perception that " building to code " is the end all do all for a project. The " code " was written as the minimum standard to be met. One should always be doing a better job than the minimum. Striving for the minimum is like striving for mediocrity. All the folks I trained know this. Which brings us to the second issue;
No one wants to do the work anymore, which is quite understandable. Just look at the average age of guys on job sites. When I first got into the building industry, a blue collar worker could support his family, take a couple of vacations a year, and send their kids to collage. But starting with a certain President in 1980, trade unions were savaged. Now I routinely see ads looking for qualified tradesman whom they expect to pay less than what I was paying people 30 years ago ! Honestly, who is going to want to do hard physical work which includes the risk of serious injury, or even death, for $ 15 or $ 20 an hour ? From a young persons standpoint, which would they rather be doing - sitting at a desk with AC and heat looking at a computer screen, or walk roof rafters two stories up while carrying lumber ? And to top it off, the construction company likely doesn't provide any benefits what so ever to their workers, other than workmans comp. ins. which they are required to do by law. So until people are trained, paid, and treated properly, things will do nothing but get worse and worse. Basically your getting what we have collectively paid for.
It's a real shame as building is, and always has been, a noble profession which can give a great deal of personal satisfaction to all involved. But personal satisfaction unfortunately doesn't pay the bills.
End of my Saturday rant... Now back to our regular programing.

[BlackBart]

Good post, Sveedy! You’ve hit it all right on the head (so to speak!) It used to attract people who took pride in actually making things. I sometimes tell people a building is one of the last things that is almost completely made by hand. It has to be - the pieces are too big and complex. It takes a long time to learn to do all that.

[BlackBart]

Abscate - totally impressed with your organizing offspring!

My current garage situation is cardboard boxes....everywhere. New parts in FCP and iPd boxes, old parts in random boxes and big tubs. Boxes boxes boxes. And the thing about boxes - they use up ALL of the floor area, but use none of the volume available above the floor, which is the least efficient thing I could have!

[volvolugnut]

My few attempts at shop organization involve building strong shelves using 2 x4s and plywood and buying cheap storage tubs with lids. These storage tubs with the lid on can be stacked if contents are not too heavy. I try to keep things off the floor, but I fail everyday. If I use boxes or tubs, I try to label the contents on the outside or a paper inside. However, one opening to add or remove without updating the label and I have failed again. I know how to use a warehouse system (I worked at plants with great warehouse systems), but I do not have the discipline to do it.
volvolugnut