What did you do in your garage today..?

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Soulcatcher668 said:
All emergency car work must be done in the dead of winter. Some law written by Murphy.

I remember having to do a head gasket in an unheated detached shed in one of the coldest weeks in Jan, many moons ago.
Young and broke leaves few options.
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Yup, and you'd think having a lift in your garage saves you from all that, but nope. A couple weeks ago I was replacing a leaking power steering hose on the MDX which required me to remove the front bumper cover to access the other end of the hose. Sure I got it on the lift to save my back and neck, but to pull off the front bumper I needed the garage door open for clearance. Needless to say the plastic panels, foglight bulb connectors, and headlight washer hoses are pretty stiff/brittle at -5. I even had to use a boxcutter to carefully cut the old power steering hose off on one end because it was extra hardened from age and wouldn't slide off the barb.
 
Last season my snowblower auger belt went and I had to use a cheapo Amazon one as CT certified auger belts were out of stock everywhere for about 2 weeks. Couldn't find one as local shops either. I did buy as spare CT one when it became available.

Last spring I'm doing my blower end of season PM stuff and think should I just change out that lousy belt now, but decided not to. Sure enough it's toast today, the only saving grace is that it twisted off the pulleys just as I was finishing.

So, tomorrow the garage heaters get switched on (30,000 BTU's) and I'll change the belt out when the space is warmer and will remind myself I could have done this in 15C dry weather.
 
My snow blower was started for the first time since last year.
Poured some fresh fuel and cranked it a few times.
At first she sounded sick. I was worried that she won't run well but eventually she was working like a champ.
Keep in mind she sat outside in the backyard since the fall when I took her out of the shed waiting for snow.

3 hours of non stop use in the morning and half the streets driveways and sidewalks done .

I had to adjust the scrape bar and side shows but other than that she is as good as new. 12-15 years new.
 
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I bought a small Airens Snotek last year, super simple, one forward speed, only 22” but throws 40+ feet all day.

Pulled it out of the shed today - no start. She was frozen up, gas not getting thru. Got my heat gun out, warmed up the peacock and carb - voila- joy on the first pull.
 
I've easily blown out the driveway a dozen times already this season. Just over a foot of snow last night and plenty of drifts to bang through. 414cc motor and increased impeller speed and my Ariens just chews through it without a sweat. The things a beast and it starts first pull every time.
 
Pulled my new blower out of the shed - she had froze up. Threw her into the garage, put the heat gun to the carb and petcock and she fired up first pull.

Tomorrow I’ll get the old Craftsman 30” running. It going to Timmins , snowblower utopia.
 
One thing I should mention is that many blowers have minimal clearance between the large auger pulley and the bottom on the frame and the auger belt cannot be put on the pulley. The recommended belt replacement procedure is to split the auger housing from the frame and this is a huge hassle. On my Craftsman I just remove the bottom plate, the one to provide access to the drive mechanism and then the belt can easily be slipped on the pulley.
 
I’m still using my 15 year old plugin electric. Fine for the lighter stuff. I’ve been offered a 2 stage gas that needs tires and a tuneup. I did have to do a belt on the furnace fan Thursday luckily $8.99 fix.
 
Wife was complaining about the brakes on her car being sticky and stinky. So I took off the caliper to inspect on the driver's side and broke the piston trying to push it in. No stock locally so hopefully Amazon comes through tomorrow. They all look decent and the pins slide well but the driver's pads look like they may have been getting hot. Hoping it was the piston sticking in the caliper. And btw wtf is with phenolic pistons in calipers didn't realize that was a thing until I pried on it.

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Scuba Steve said:
Wife was complaining about the brakes on her car being sticky and stinky. So I took off the caliper to inspect on the driver's side and broke the piston trying to push it in. No stock locally so hopefully Amazon comes through tomorrow. They all look decent and the pins slide well but the driver's pads look like they may have been getting hot. Hoping it was the piston sticking in the caliper. And btw wtf is with phenolic pistons in calipers didn't realize that was a thing until I pried on it.

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What car has the phenolic pistons? The volt? I've only seen metal pistons.
 
Ordered Honda 24" blower last month and got rid of my old MTD. Now the Honda won't be here till early Feb. Grrrrr. Picked this up for $900. It'll do me till the Honda gets here then I'll sell it. It's a little wonky, but with all this snow i had to have something. Delivery donkey got stuck in the windrow. Lol
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Wingboy said:
Ordered Honda 24" blower last month and got rid of my old MTD. Now the Honda won't be here till early Feb. Grrrrr. Picked this up for $900. It'll do me till the Honda gets here then I'll sell it. It's a little wonky, but with all this snow i had to have something. Delivery donkey got stuck in the windrow. Lol
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Seems like a missed opportunity using the shovel when a snowblower was delivered….
 
Got a box full of bike parts purchased from market place. Only wanted the bar end mirrors so that will be the task in the cold.

The question is, is it worth it to try and sell bike parts on eBay? I’m at the border and can ship to American purchaser if needed.

Not much market place activity for random motorcycle parts. At least this time of year.

Thruxton seat and fenders and tail light with indicators. Maybe keep them for some future mods? 🤷‍♂️
 
I finally got my $100 project blower finished. Bought it from a really frustrated fellow who spent countless hours and $$$ but couldn’t get it going.

He replaced the belts, friction drive wheel, shift slider, faced drive pulley and tires.

What I did:
Rebuilt starter motor. Brushes had melted the backplate. I bought a dc brush plate and modified it for AC - should be bulletproof.

Added work lights. Needed to add 4 pin pit bike
regulator to get 12vdc from the castor

Changed carb (Amazon -$30) - ran badly. Cleaned new carb- ran better, but hard starting a couldn’t maintain idle. Tossed new carb and rebuilt OE carb - runs like a top.

Changed oil, changed gear oil, lubed everything and got ready for a test blow.

Started first pull, but drive wheels wouldn’t move. FAK. Pulled the inspection plate to check the friction wheel and drive pully. It was brand new, but smeared with grease. A little brake cleaner fixed that.

Test blow went perfect. Cleared my driveway, my neighbours and 500” of walking path along my side yard.
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