Progress on the Workshop

Built two more sets of shelves for the workshop. Here are all three:

Chebran Workshop - Shelves, Desk Supports

My wife drew this design for her workshop:

After a couple weeks of dinking around with different ideas, and acting on the advice of a few people, I set out to begin building the lower shelves, which are also the supports for the work table.

Planned the dimensions, bought the stuff, had the boards cut into sizes that I could fit into the Lexus, and drove home. Opened up my new power tools: a circular saw and a compact router.

Here is one edge that I routed. The router is my favorite carpentry tool so far. Very fun!

In goes the first shelf.

... all three shelves ...

The moment of truth! They fit!

Part Picking a 4-speed Transmission

I'm looking for a GM 440-T4/4T60 transmission to upgrade my fiero. Does anyone want to go with me? Here are the transmission's applications:

* 1982–1988 Buick Century
* 1986-1999 Buick LeSabre
* 1988–1996 Buick Regal
* 1989–1996 Buick Century
* 1990–1994 Chevrolet Lumina
* 1982–1990 Chevrolet Celebrity
* 1982–1988 Pontiac 6000
* 1989–1991 Pontiac 6000
* 1988–1996 Pontiac Grand Prix
* 1987-1999 Pontiac Bonneville
* 1989–1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera/Cruiser
* 1996 Oldsmobile Ciera
* 1988–1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
* 1986-1999 Oldsmobile 88/LSS
* 1982–1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera/Cruiser

One Success, One Failure

My friend Corey gave me this old hydraulic jack that he didn't need (that he also received for free from someone). A few weeks ago, I tried to use it, but it didn't provide enough force to lift a car, so I just used my trusty tire jack that came with the Lexus. Today, acting on Corey's recommendation, I filled the jack he gave me with brake fluid. Now it works quite well!

So that was the success.



'Parked the Fiero in the garage and jacked it up to look for vacuum leaks. Several sources, including Corey, recommended using a gentle stream of propane to detect vacuum leaks while the engine was idling.

One of my sources was Eric the Car Guy on youtube. Here's a video about detecting vacuum leaks:



'Didn't find any vacuum leaks. I went up and down the vacuum lines and nothing happened. The engine didn't surge. It didn't cut out. Nothin'.

As a matter of fact, the car won't start now. The starter keeps cranking, but the engine won't turn over. Any ideas?

Grilled Chicken Panini with Apple Walnut Mushroom Salad

Last week, we had this exchange activity at church, where people brought stuff they didn't want and exchanged it for stuff they did want. Someone brought a George Foreman grill, which ... I wanted.

So, I took it.

For lunch today, Power Dime Mommy had taken some chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw.

She needs a back massage, so I'm cutting this entry short. Here's what we ate:

Grilled chicken panini: chicken, italian cheese bread (power dime recipe), dijon mustard, mayo, and mushrooms.

Salad: Lettuce, apples, chopped walnuts, mushrooms, onions, organic cowgirl dressing, dijon mustard.

Lexus Upper Control Arm

Last year, we took our Lexus to a shop for a state safety inspection. The shop failed the car because the "passenger side upper control arm has a lot of play in it." They wanted $3000 to fix it.

No.

Our regular mechanic, who we trust, said that was baloney and that the car could pass the inspection, though we would need to look into getting the control arm replaced sometime in the next year.

It's next year.

Since that last inspection, the car has gradually started to shake more and more severely. So, I ordered the control arm off of ebay for about $80. Granted, the power dime garage was pretty bare on tools. I had a set of box wrenches and another of socket wrenches that my Dad gave me when I was in college. For this repair job, the following items were purchased:

2 3-ton jack stands
Torque wrench
24" breaker bar
20" breaker bar
19mm box wrench
Rope
Tie rod puller
Needle-nose pliers

First, the garage needed to be prepared. It was full of stuff, much of which was leather and other supplies for Power Dime Mommy's shoemaking business, Chebran. The lower-level bedroom is going to be her workshop, so her things got moved there. I hung that bicycle on the ceiling with two $2.00 rubber-coated hooks from the local hardware store. It's so awesome to have a functional garage again:















'Moved the car into the garage, jacked it up, took off the wheel, and got to work. Here's the tie rod puller pulling the steering knuckle off of the upper control arm. This has got to be my favorite tool:















If any of you are looking for do-it-yourself information, the internet is full of awesome sources of information. You'd be surprised how many free tutorials you can find on sites like youtube or eHow. Fortunately for me, some one put up an entire website on do-it-yourself car repair for the 1990-1994 Lexus LS 400. This guy owned a 1991, the year previous to my car. The site is full of clear explanations and photos; all of the pictures are accurate and help me get oriented to my car really quickly. I don't have to interpret ... "How does this photograph apply to my vehicle again?" The site requests that if you find the information useful, that you make a donation, which I haven't done yet, but will.

For this particular job, I had to pull the shock absorber out:

"Give me your tired, your poor ..."


















Here's a quick video comparing the old and new control arms:



Just to recap, the shop wanted $3000 for this repair. My mechanic probably could have done it in two hours, so $100 worth of labor, plus the part would cost $100 if I provided it, or he could buy it new for $300-$400. My wife and I figure we saved at least $100 worth of labor. In actual parts, I spent less than $100. I did have to buy a couple hundred bucks-worth of tools, but I get to keep the tools.

If you're looking to live on a power dime, NEVER go to a big franchise. Just do it yourself. It's so much fun!

Power Dime Fetus

Most of you have probably already seen him on facebook, but here he is: