General Tech What did you work on Today?

Bart said:

Looks much better.

Click to expand...

Three is a crowd! 😁

So my Snap-on tool cart is probably one of my most used piece of equipment in my shop as I routinely load it up with tools and move it to where I'm working. When working under the lift it is invaluable to have the cart at my side to place tools and pick tools up from as this aids tremendously in proficiency. Over the past couple of years I have experience times where a second tool cart would be helpful so I didn't have to clear off one to work on something else quickly. That being said, I've been watching for a used matching Snap-on tool cart because one similar to mine is no longer available and actually finding one on KSL or eBay they are labeled as "vintage" so the price is more than what I paid for mine new and they're beat to shit. It bothers me that something I bought new 25 years or so ago is now labeled as "vintage" but that's another topic all in itself.

Well several months ago I finally bought a new Sunex tool cart as it was as close to perfect matching of the Snap-on one that I could find through my research. Once it arrived and assembled I noted it was in fact, nearly identical to my "vintage" Snap-on. I then tried finding a MAC aerosol spray can tray to match my MAC holder but like the cart it is no longer available and is also labeled as "vintage". Matco made one similar but after months of searching I could not find either available as I wanted to keep the whole "vintage" thing going, although that was not my goal when starting this venture. I just wanted a matching tool cart, nothing more.

After coming up empty handed on a locating a MAC aerosol spray can holder I decided to take about an hour the other day and just fabricate one to match.

I grabbed a piece of 19-gauge P&O from the rack and marked out the cut lines.


After cutting and deburring I put it in the Di-Acro 24" pan brake for the first bend. Perfect.


Second bend. I moved the dies back slightly to create a nice soft bend radius rather than a hard corner.


Main body completed. I made this one just a little taller so when mounted on the tool cart the aerosol cans will sit about a half inch lower than my MAC aerosol holder allows. This will ensure the cans will sit below the top handles of the cart whereas on my Snap-on cart my taller cans sit right at or slightly proud of the handle.


Next I cut and bent the end caps.


Test fit.




I then rounded the corners ever so slightly and deburred the edges.


Measurements were taken to evenly space where the Rosette (plug) welds would be located, then the holes punched. I thought about rivets but I didn't want anything protruding inside the tray so this was the perfect option.


Another mock up/test fit.



More pictures to follow.....

Final assembly prior to welding.

I didn't want the sharp edge to be felt so I placed the end caps so they stand outward by about 1/16" which kept the end caps with a nice rounded corner and less likely to get caught on something or be a sharp edge.


Rosette (plug) welds completed.


Similar to body panel replacement, I knock the main weld bead profile down to just above the parent material using a cutoff disc.


I then used a 2" Roloc disc with 80-grit to blend followed by a couple passes of 180-grit on a DA sander.


A couple light coats of etching primer.


Several light coats of paint, as close a match as I had to my tool cart.


I matched the bolt holes for the legs of the cart to minimize holes in the tray and utilize existing fasteners.


Aerosol holder loaded up and in service already.


After the job at hand was completed, tools cleaned and put away and parked next to my "vintage" Snap-on tool cart. I've been using the new Sunex cart for the past month or so to try to get it to the same patina as the Snap-on cart.


Thanks for looking.

Mike

Love the changes to the can holder end cap design and lowering the mounted height so the caps on the cans clear the magnetic tray.

Hickey said:

Love the changes to the can holder end cap design and lowering the mounted height so the caps on the cans clear the magnetic tray.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the magnetic tray clearance was the driver for lowering the new one slightly.

Thank you.

Greg said:

Cleaned my shop, reorganized how vehicles were sitting after sending the TJ project off this morning. I have more room to work on the Vortec engine build for the C10 and the remaining work on the Speed Goat.

View attachment 154808

Click to expand...

This look is so much better.

I got all my portals installed finally and finished routing a ton of plumbing and wiring nonsense.

Who thinks Bewilder brewing should be the official beer sponsor of the moonbuggy in 2023?

Winky face @Cody

How much does that sponsorship level cost?

If you want to get @Hickey into competing, this is the way 🤣🤣🤣

Cody said:

How much does that sponsorship level cost?

Click to expand...

You tell me how much free beer it’s worth it to ya and I’ll say yes! 😂

skippy said:

You tell me how much free beer it’s worth it to ya and I’ll say yes! 😂

Click to expand...

Obviously a “Tell us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor, without actually telling us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor” situation… 😳

Vonski said:

Obviously a “Tell us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor, without actually telling us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor” situation… 😳

Click to expand...

Asking sponsors for stuff is the worst part about the comp life.

xj_nate said:

Asking sponsors for stuff is the worst part about the comp life.

Click to expand...

Try hitting up businesses about buying a banner on RME... 😬

Greg said:

Try hitting up businesses about buying a banner on RME... 😬

Click to expand...

Oh yeah that’s why RCFS has always used Adsense. I left a lot of money on the table for the sake of not having those awkward convos 🤣

xj_nate said:

Oh yeah that’s why RCFS has always used Adsense. I left a lot of money on the table for the sake of not having those awkward convos 🤣

Click to expand...

We did that for a while, but didn't have great results. I should tell you about my brothers Adsense success sometime. 😳

Finally got the cab off the rotisserie, Hopefully plumb bob it onto the wood later this week. Have a couple burn throughs to fix and hasn't been waxed yet.





Engine repainted.

Cody said:

How much does that sponsorship level cost?

Click to expand...

skippy said:

You tell me how much free beer it’s worth it to ya and I’ll say yes! 😂

Click to expand...

I always thought it was pretty rad when Lagunitas sponsored the Gomez Brothers Racing team.

That time of year again, the family make a gift. I think I've posted my previous 2 years gifts on this thread. This year I have my uncle, spent a couple hours scrounging around in the shop and here's what I came up with.



Parts list:

• Piston and pin from KTM 250
• Random nut and electrical connector
• 1310 ujoint
• Cam chain from a Honda 450
• Valve from a Honda 450
• 8mm wrench
• Left handed bung cut off an old buggy link
• Broken '05+ SD ujoint
• Left over ubolt thread
• Shank from a broken reamer
• Piston pin from a Honda 450

Didn't really clean anything and hardly touched the welder settings, I thought the ugly spattery welds made it look that much cooler ha, like this thing came to life and built itself or something...

Helping a friend out, his 02 V10 Dodge has a nasty rod knock so I found him a replacement motor and hauled it up to his ranch today. I started getting the old one out of his truck and Dodge engineers did not make that an easy job. My poor Jeep trailer sure didn't like hauling that monster of an engine and my engine hoist struggled to load it. My friends big farm tractor made it look easy unloading it. Found out that the motor weighs in at 836 lb without the extra stuff. No wonder the trailer sagged. Don't think I'll be putting one in a Jeep anytime soon.

Vonski said:

Obviously a “Tell us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor, without actually telling us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor” situation… 😳

Click to expand...

Vonski said:

Obviously a “Tell us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor, without actually telling us you don’t need a cash or parts sponsor” situation… 😳

Click to expand...

At this point I feel like I sponsor @Cody the amount of money I have spent there in the last 6 months is sickening.