Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I used to polish aluminum, but I sold it when I retired.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Now there's some aluminum that never needed to be "brought back" very far

Bead blasting is the easiest way to go. There is always hand work and in this case that would be sandpaper. I'd start with a solution, such as the Eagle 1 product. I had a nasty nasty set of aluminum slots I bought stupid cheap. They were stained brownish black and rough from brake dust. I first used oven cleaner. That did a great job toward breaking through that crud and showing some silver. But it discolored the metal some and left the white crusty deposits. I then tried wheel cleaner and Scotchbrite but that wasn't getting it very well. Seemed a bit light duty for what was needed, so I went to wet sanding with fine paper. I think I used the wheel cleaner with it. Brought them to a point I was happy with. I didn't ever want then brand new polished looking, just aged aluminum to go with the rest of the unrestored truck

Burnished finish is "as cast", such as the engine case on a Harley. It is what you have after bead blasting... unmachined/unpolished

EDIT: I saw other Larry's post above and though I was on CG's "bring these wheels back" thread. All that typing in the wrong thread... dayum. Hey CG, come take a look at this thread! :lol:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I was following both threads, so you never lost me at all. :lol::lol:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Don’t worry Tim, I do that same thing more than I care to admit:lol:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

OWWWWWWWWWWWWCH!

I used some of the holiday weekend to get a chunk of siding up. I wasn't go to put up the scaffold... but it's sooooo much easier and faster. I've gotten really good at putting it up. I had all those sections up in under an hour. *The short pieces were just scraps I threw up to make it look more done on the corner :lol:

We also took the little guy to get our first real tree. We go a couple hours north in NC and cut our own. We don't have to do it that way, there's closer places, but it's a nice drive and a good trip. We were going to skip this year, because he's only 3 months, but my mom is having a huge family Christmas in NY next year (all told with grand kids we're talking 26 people - 2 parents, 7 kids, 17 grand kids) and we'll be gone for that entire week, we'll probably throw up our old fake one with a few lights. It was also last minute, so we took big blue instead of old blue... old blue's brakes have gotten a little too sketchy for mountain driving.

And the wife decorated and we had to fire up the fire place for the first night this year... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

:metal: Very nice Jesse

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I was following both too. But, I got lost......:lol:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Shop is looking good as is the tree. Very nice!

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

We cut our tree too little closer like 10 minutes down the road. I need a shop like that my 2 car garage is stuffed full 2 cars with enough parts to build another

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Thanks :D It's already too small and it's not even done. 28x52 with 500 SF of storage in the rafters with a 6' ceiling.

So, my wife informed me the tree wasn't done. It's done now :rolleyes:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

If your shop was 4 ft wider it would be the same size as my house....:).. Lookin' good!

LockDoc

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Same. I think my House is 32x36 with two floors and the attached garage is 22x24 with a bonus room above it. The foot print is only +/-250 SF smaller than the foot print of my house/attached garage combined.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Nothing beats a big garage... Except maybe two big garages.

I've been thinking of buying the lot next to my house and putting a shop on it.
But I live in the hills so I'd have to have it graded which would be $$$$. I have a half acre now but I can't build on it because it's all hillside. I can't even put in a pool. Thank god because my wife wanted one and I don't want to clean the d@mn thing. I'll never use it. I was delighted when they said it wouldn't work. :metal:

Your garage is looking great Jesse. I may do the same. That lot has been sitting vacant and for sale as long as I've lived here. They might want to strike a deal. Who knows?

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I live on a hillside as well and bought the one acre lot next to me and built a 24 x 40 garage on it. Due to the angle on which it is built, the concrete cost was twice the cost of the garage.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Very nice looking building ,,and with all the insulation we have now and wrapping the walls before siding ..air tight . curious what you are heating the building with . I see no stove pipe .. again great job you have done and a shop size like that so usable .

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I live in the hilly part of SC, so our seasons are "mild." It's usable "as is" from mid Feb-June and Sept to almost Dec. without heat or air, with July/August hot as all get out and Dec/Jan really the only months too cold to be comfortable.

I'm looking into a traditional heat pump system with an air handler in the attic or a mini split system is looking more and more appealing. Based on the size, I think I need two units. That will be a few years down the road, I'm leaving 3" PVC in the walls for future wiring, heat/coolant lines, and drip line. The attic will be "open" with built in shelving.

We need to replace the upstairs HVAC in our house this spring. I'm trying to build the entire thing with cash and a small HELOC loan. I'm doing pretty well so far, as it sits, everything is paid for (electrical is done) and I've only used about 5K of the loan. I do need about another 15K to finish. Doors, insulation, and all the finishes are $$$.

I've lost track, but I think I have 38-40K in it so far (Concrete was $$, it has a real foundation and the floor is 5.5" thick). I've done everything but the grading/concrete, shingles (I did the sheeting and underlayment though) and the electrical. I rented a crane for a few hours and my friends help me set the trusses. That was a fun day. The crane operator was awesome.

I could have done a metal building for much cheaper (and been done already!), but I live in an awesome older neighborhood with some really nice homes with 0.75 to 1.5 acres each and our home value has climbed 100K in the 10 years we've owned it and I want it to keep climbing.

Paul do it! I'm trying to buy the two lots next to me (0.7 acres total). It's all wooded and I want it to stay that way. We've made an offer. The seller seemed willing, but dragging their feet now. It's an old subdivision plat from the 60's that never got built. The problem today is that the lots are too small for new septic requirements with the size houses they need to build to make a subdivision profitable, so it all sits and I'm good with that. I think there's something like 12 different owners of 20 lots. My neighbors tell me most of it is owned by people trying to use the address for our school district.

You're not kidding Dave! All my grading/concrete work came out to around 17K :eek: I had 3 quotes and they were all pretty similar. It will end up being about 1/3 of my total cost.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

We bought the 20 acre lot next to us mostly just to keep anyone else from building a house on it.

We don't need any more neighbors :devil:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Had my surgery yesterday. Still numb from the long lasting local believe doc said 32 stitches from my mid pinky to my palm and ring finger was still a little loopy when I saw him after surgery . Go back in two weeks to have the stitches removed then the pain starts with pt

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Hope you have a speedy recovery! That don’t look like fun at all.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Just remember, that's not TP :lol:

Seriously... ouch....

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Hoping for a smooth recovery

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

:agree:

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I hope you heal quickly with as little pain as possible.

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

Yes, on both accounts (ouch!).

****

Well, it was 50 degrees today so like a dang fool I thought I could run the surface water line to the barn. Turned it on but it's not getting through to the drain valve in the bottom of the coulee, so I started hauling hot water down the hill to thaw it out. First the teakettle and then five gallon jugs! After three hours and digging up a short stretch that I had previously buried because I thought I wanted to mow there, it still wasn't running. Ran out of energy and daylight and after she got home from shopping in town, we pulled apart a splice so at least part of it could drain and I could shut it off for the night.

So almost four hours of fighting with it just to save hauling water to the barn which I had to do anyway :(

Re: What did you do today not on your truck...
 

I made enchiladas' (again) They were good. But they were HOT! I may have gone a little crazy with the chilies. I'm trying to dial in my enchilada sauce to be like a place in LA that I used to eat at all the time. Those were the best. These were close but way too much heat.

My problem is that I have a tendency to go a little overboard with the spices. I know that. And I'm trying to tone it down a notch.

But they were tasty. As long as you don't mind having your mouth catch on fire.

I got complements. But everyone was sweating and fanning their mouths.

What can I say? I don't like bland food.