Tag Archives: repair

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installing a new oil pressure gauge line in the galaxie 500!

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installing a new oil pressure gauge line in the galaxy 500! I.

i found the cause of the oil leak in the galaxie and determined i could remove the broken line without draining the oil so i installed the new line that i purchased at our local auto parts store for 10 bucks.

there wasn’t much space to work, so i lucked out when i discovered the new part just screwed into the old part directly attached to the engine block. it would have been tricky to remove.

installing a new oil pressure gauge line in the galaxie 500! II.

the other end of the line attaches to the oil pressure gauge mounted under the dash. i attached the line with a new appreciation for the fact that this means i’m pumping pressurized oil into the cabin of the car. what could possibly go wrong!

i started the car and was happy to not find oil leaking out of the gauge and all over the floor 🙂

success! the pressure seems about right while the car is idling, though i wonder if i’m supposed to bleed the air out of the line. i’m not sure how to do that without getting oil all over the place so good enough for now!

part of the reason why i love having a 50 year old car is that i can fix many things on my own without needing fancy computers or equipment.

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i found the cause of the oil leak in the galaxie!

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i found the cause of the oil leak in the galaxie! I.

i’m troubleshooting the leaking oil in the galaxy 500 and my first thought is that a deteriorated valve cover gasket is causing the problem. the engine exhaust doesn’t smell sweet and there’s no oil in the radiator fluid so it’s unlikely to be a head gasket issue.

when i went to the local auto parts store, the guy behind the counter said he’d love to sell me a valve cover gasket ( only $20 ) but asked if i had tightened down the valve cover bolts recently.

“uh, nope. and to be honest i couldn’t remember when i would have thought to tighten them.”

“give it a try. i’ve seen valve covers so loose that oil starts seeping out.”

i went home and sure enough the valve cover bolts were so loose that i almost couldn’t believe the covers stayed on! i was sure that had to be the cause of the leak since the oil seemed to be coming in out of the bolt hole that had one of the loosest bolts. it couldn’t be a coincidence!

so i tightened the bolts, cleaned up the oil that leaked on the block and started the engine.

the result? the oil was pouring out of the same area faster than ever! what was going on? i couldn’t quite tell because it was hard to watch the oil leak and start the car at the same time but it didn’t take too long to figure it out.

i found the cause of the oil leak in the galaxie! II.

while i was poking around i discovered this line appeared to be completely severed! it wasn’t obvious at all that it was severed because it was running through the clip attached to the bolt that seemed to be the main source of the leak. i turned the engine over and sure enough oil came spurting out of the lower section of line that emerged from the engine block. the line looked like it went into the main cabin bundled with a few other lines. i wondered why pressurized oil would be going into the main cabin and it took me a few seconds to come to the rather obvious conclusion.

it’s the line for the after market oil pressure gauge that sits under the dash. it must have developed a small crack right under the clip that held it in place and i broke it completely when i cleaned up the oil around the bold holding the clip.

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130/365. DIY piano repair. what could possibly go wrong?!

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130/365. DIY piano repair. what could possibly go wrong?!

the E key near the middle C stopped working on our upright piano so for some reason i thought it’d be a great idea to take the piano apart. i have never taken a piano apart. this is the thing that broke and i broke another thing while trying to fix this thing.

though i usually have great faith in the power of wood glue and clamps, i think i might be in over my head and probably should have just called a professional.

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day 3335: odin helps with his first “big” repair on the galaxie 500!

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day 3335: odin helps with his first "big" repair on the galaxie 500! I.

i can play a long game, but finally getting to being able to work on the galaxie with odin is one of the longest i’ve played. when he was barely a year old, i wondered about the day when he’d help me finish one of those projects that i’ve been always meaning to start.

when we were taking a ride for the first time with his cousins we all noticed that the passenger side window was getting hard to roll down.

aha! the perfect opportunity to clean up and grease the window regulator before it wears out and breaks. i know this because when i first got the car i ignored how hard it was to roll up and down the driver’s side door and stripped the teeth on the regulator ( you can see the window handle is off in this picture because i was trying to figure out how to get it to roll down ). i learned then that it’s much, much easier to clean and grease a regulator rather than try to track down a used one and replace it.

so, i showed odin how to take off the door panel and he was very excited to help out by using steel wool to scrape the ancient, hardened grease out of the “scissor arm” rails that roll the window up and down.

day 3335: odin helps with his first "big" repair on the galaxie 500! II.

after he cleaned out the rails i showed him where to spray a little white lithium grease on the rails around the rollers. then he rolled the window up and down the distribute the grease evenly.

his eyes got big and he smiled a big smile when he saw,lo and behold, the window rolled up and down just like it would right off the factory floor!

we high-fived each other and odin said, “poppi, i really love working on the galaxie.”

“so do i, odin, so do i.”

i think we’re going to have a whole lot of fun working together on the galaxie and someday down the road i know he’ll be proud of all the work we’ve done when i give him the keys.

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The Compleat De-Pinkification.

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The Compleat De-Pinkification. I.

YOU GUYS, IT’S NOT PINK AND IT’S DONE!

now, if only someone would buy and fix up the dilapidated victorian next door that you can see through the window which is in foreclosure.

yes, the windows still need some work. BUT STILL!

The Compleat De-Pinkification. II.

look at that – NO HOLE!

and i think you have to look pretty darned close to detect the patch.

so, so, so happy to be done with the this project.

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so long, prettiest in pink mud room.

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so long, prettiest in pink mud room.

soon, finally, the prettiest in pink mudroom will be no more! i would have never guessed we’d live for five years with another home owners color preference.

i made short work of the hole in the corner with some spray foam, drywall and lots of joint compound (i think sprayfoam might be the duct tape of aging home repair ). inelegant, but it’ll last until we get around to doing it right.

also, much replastering of corners and cracks and whatnot.

whenever i do plaster work ( and i’ve done a loooooooot of it ), i always wonder what happens to the plaster particles that end up in my lungs. probably totally safe, right?

now, what color to go with…