Lifelopnik -or- How's it going, Oppo?

"MM54" (mm54mk2) 03/03/2020 at 20:50 • Filed to: Garagelopnik, SpringCar2

5

21

Here, have some music since otherwise this post won’t have a thumbnail and will get lost amongst the ads:

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here outside of the Chevelle or random quick things. Frankly, it’s been a long time since I’ve had much time to do anything outside of working on said car and working at my actual job. I work for an engineering firm, and my work is all customer projects - this means sometimes (like so far all of 2020) I’m slammed working long days; other times (like most of 2016) I’m out of town a bunch. Other times things are good, depends on the customer, project, and schedule.

The good news is I should have some time soon - and that’s a good thing, because I’m going to need it.

The Chevelle

As you may have seen, the new engine in the Chevelle runs. Making the wild assumption that all else is well, it’s a hood and check of the valve lash from being drivable. It’s been a long and crazy project, what started as doing a quick refresh on a junkyard 350 to swap in place of the tired 307 turned into a front-half frame-off restoration and a full performance engine build. As of late, I’ve been under a bit of pressure to get it back together already because of some other stuff going on... and only a year behind schedule!

As I’ve alluded to, its first trip (unless the next week and a half contains oddly nice weather and unsalted roads) will be into storage. In fact, in a couple weeks, there is even some storage coming to me! Why? Well...

The Garage

The floor of my garage has been, since long before I bought the house, in Bad Shape. I’d have liked to fix it before moving in, but having just bought a house the funds weren’t there. How bad is it? There are two factors:

1) One side of it has settled a couple inches from when it was poured. Based on repairs I did to the sidewalk, it’s probably poured on sand which has washed out in the past 42 years. This has led to considerable cracking, and uneven breaks in the slabs with inch-or-more steps between pieces. It’s a tripping hazard, really inconvenient, and makes the runoff from the car go down through the cracks, worsening the sinkage. The good news is, by my measurements, it hasn’t appreciably worsened in the past couple years.

2) Salt doesn’t just destroy cars, bridges, signage, stuff-near-the-road, infrastructure in general , the environment, and The Mood, it also will destroy concrete. The surface of my garage floor clearly has been subject to a lot of salty runoff over its life, and is rapidly spalling, returning to sand and gravel. It makes a mess (you sweep and there is always more dust) and is very painful to lay/move around on under a car, not to mention hard to wheel stuff around on .

Check out the floor in this picture, for example:

As a result of this, I’ve finally managed to both have the money for and been able to schedule to have what’s left of the floor removed and a new excessive one be poured in its place (6" of wire-reinforced concrete, anyone?). This necessitates completely emptying out the garage. Ugh.

The “storage coming to me” is a ‘PODS’ into which everything will go, to hang out in the driveway for a month while the concrete cures and I apply a sealant to prevent #2 above from coming back too quickly. By the time this gets emptied out and the garage restored to “normal” it will be spring, which means ...

The Fleet

In September I downsized to “only” 3 cars when I got rid of the Crown Vic ( rust in piece). While this was a Good Idea it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to buy another car. Having been over a year and a half since I bought the 4Runner, a long-standing desire is soon to come to fruition (I hope).

In honor of the last time I was car shopping for something to buy in the spring, I’ve named this upcoming to-remain-a-surprise car “SpringCar2"

Thanks for sticking around for a while. How are you doing, and how have you been?

Here, h ave some more music:

19JRC99 > MM54 03/03/2020 at 20:51

2

Are you me? I JUST listened to Turbo Lover 5 minutes ago. 

MM54 > 19JRC99 03/03/2020 at 20:58

1

Based on my latest observations, I do not believe I am you. But it’s good music.

f86sabre > MM54 03/03/2020 at 21:00

0

Hoods are over rated. Get it on  the road.

Things have been good for me aside from some awkwardness in the airline industry the last couple of weeks. That said, I have three interviews inside the company tomorrow. It should be an interesting day.

MM54 > f86sabre 03/03/2020 at 21:03

0

As of Sunday evening the roads were sparkling white, and it wasn’t snow... so no.

Interviewing within the company sounds a bit awkward, good luck!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > MM54 03/03/2020 at 21:04

1

I know the feel of not having a lot of time. I am also an engineer, I do T&E work, and last year I was gone a week every month for testing. This year is going to be a bit slower, thankfully. But now I’m taking graduate classes, so goodbye free time.

The garage project sounds great.  Im in the process of drywalling mine, then Im getting 2 new doors and openers.  I cant wait to see your final product and am excited about SpringCar2!

lone_liberal > MM54 03/03/2020 at 21:18

1

I just got home from Kauai last night and spent the majority of the day doing laundry, which is actually better than my wife. She had to go to work so that she could run payroll and make sure everyone gets paid.

On the garage front I’m realizing that some rearranging is going to be necessary. Currently the workbench is on the side and it’s not convenient. I need to swap the shelving and the bench and see how it goes. Some changes were to be expected it just takes time to see what works and what doesn’t.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > MM54 03/03/2020 at 21:36

1

Good luck with the garage!

My wife is finally bette r adjusted to an elevated level of community tension due to the coronavirus outbreak, so we’re doing OK.

phenotyp > MM54 03/03/2020 at 21:45

1

This makes me super jealous. I want to be building cars, since there’s not much else anyone would ask/pay me to build right now.

I’ve been fighting stupid hardware/software stuff that changed on me for no reason, while I’m just trying to do some goddamn good work.

Great that you’re working for an engineering firm, and you have work through the year. Lots of the mechanical engineering people I know here are struggling, and all the designers I know here are struggling.

Still hoping that at some point, I can get my 914 down here and either make it concours-worthy or convert it to electric.

Lifelopnik is some hard stuff.

MM54 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/03/2020 at 21:57

0

Thanks!

Glad you’re doing alright. Take care!

MM54 > lone_liberal 03/03/2020 at 21:59

1

A tea bag once told me that you often find out what will do by first finding out what won’t. It’s a pain to move stuff around but worth it when you get to the arrangement that makes you say “oh this is good”

A couple years ago I got home from a 10 day vacation about 8pm and had to go to work the next morning. It was awful, I feel bad for your wife.

MM54 > Snuze: Needs another Swede 03/03/2020 at 22:02

0

Thanks! We do controls integration. I had a project in 2016 and 2017 that I averaged on-site for a little over a week per month to essentially babysit the customer testing their system, it was enough I almost left the company (with several hundred employees there’s no reason someone else couldn’t have joined in to ease that burden). I’ve considered taking some classes, but can’t imagine having time to do it with work the way it is (and I already don’t have a life!)

Other than the floor, the only big thing I’d like to do to this garage is insulate the doors. It’s heated and the walls/ceiling are insulated, but not the doors. Unfortunately I can’t find a way to do it that isn’t a fire hazard or looks like shit, and the doors are pretty much brand new so I can’t justify buying insulated doors.

I’m excited for SpringCar2 as well :)

MM54 > phenotyp 03/03/2020 at 22:07

0

It’s fun, but with a full-time career working heavily on cars comes at the cost of doing, well, anything else. I enjoy it but am looking forward to a break coming up, where I don’t have any significant projects.

My company is involved in so many different markets that we tend to do pretty well, when one industry is down, something else is up and we are able to shift around accordingly. It’s very steady, which is something a lot of people don’t value enough (it’s huge for me).

I’m sure one of these days you’ll get going on the 914 and say “what have I done” as the project gets deep :) - restoration or electric would be very cool, I look forward to reading about it on here when it comes to be!

Nothing’s easy - but it all tends to work out in the end.

i86hotdogs > MM54 03/03/2020 at 22:08

2

Came here to say that song brought me back to Gran Turismo 3

MM54 > i86hotdogs 03/03/2020 at 22:09

2

Haven’t played it, but with Turbo Lover in the soundtrack it must be pretty good

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > MM54 03/03/2020 at 22:25

1

My project at work is a shitshow. my direct manager has been avoiding me and the project, and my senior coworker is fucking useless. so first this thing was send manager and owners “this is bullshit” email with crap my cowarker phoning in.

finally got attention

crz needs a hood sensor, Though it was the battery with how the side was bowed.. Volt running like a top. 911/914 desperately waiting for spring and salt free .

Boxer_4 > MM54 03/03/2020 at 23:49

1

That garage floor should be quite nice when its done! I’m looking forward to seeing what SpringCar2 is going to be.

Things here have been ok . On a personal note , I’ve been spending the last few months trying to figure out my next career move. I’ve been busy updating my resume and sending out some job applications . I’m happy enough where I’m at, but I’m ready for a change ( typical small company foibles and limitations on multiple fronts, enough said... ). I’m not quite sure what the next stage is, where, and when, but I’m almost positive its not going to be where I’m currently at.

Boxer_4 > i86hotdogs 03/04/2020 at 00:22

1

I need to break that out again

i86hotdogs > Boxer_4 03/04/2020 at 06:01

0

My  go to was a heavily modified SVT cobra R

MM54 > Boxer_4 03/04/2020 at 19:41

0

Best of luck with the search. There are a lot of plastics companies around where I live/work (since you’re in the industry). I know what you mean about figuring out the next move. I have no intention of leaving where I currently am any time soon, but I do not see it as permanently sustainable - i.e. the next several years sure, but unless things change I can’t see myself still working there in a decade. I also hate the weather here but that’s beside the point.

The floor will be so nice, yet ironically it is getting done as I’m about to enjoy not having a project for a while and thus won’t fully enjoy its benefits to the current mess.

Unlike almost every other car I’ve been in the market for, I’ve actually at least driven a sample of Springcar2 so I know it will be Good.

MM54 > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 03/04/2020 at 19:43

0

Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, including letting the powers that be know that This is Bullshit. Hopefully things turn around for you soon, I know how frustrating it can be working with unhelpful seniors and disinterested project managers.

As a person of old cars, the concept of a ‘hood sensor’ seems absurd but I guess it makes sense for it to have a warning light and maybe part of the alarm system.

Boxer_4 > MM54 03/15/2020 at 19:22

1

Thanks!

At this point my aim is to target design positions in companies that heavily utilize plastic components, rather than plastics companies specifically. From my experience up to this point, I believe that being part of a company that owns the design for the product is a better strategic move than being part of a company that primarily owns the design for the tooling and the means for production. The latter company is reasonably easily replaced by the former company , which sets the tone for the entire operation, really .

Hopefully current events don’t put a damper on things for too long, but I’m not in a big rush so I don’t mind waiting it out a bit.

The winter here has been incredibly mild - we’ve had one minor event and a nuisance event. I’m not going to complain.

The nice part about concrete is that it typically doesn’t go bad too quickly... I have a feeling you’ll be enjoying the benefits before you know it.

That’s definitely a plus that you’ve already driven a version of Springc ar2.