what mechanical works are you doing now that you are locked in your house

Gazz said:
When I saw Vince's Hof' I thought I would see what I had in the bits bin in the garage and found enough to quickly throw this together. It's basic I know, but I didn't want to upstage anyone.
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That's awesome!! It's great to see all of that data on all of those monitors but we all know that at least two of those screens are dedicated to the e9 forum and Bring a Trailer. :)
 
vince said:
That's awesome!! It's great to see all of that data on all of those monitors but we all know that at least two of those screens are dedicated to the e9 forum and Bring a Trailer. :)
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Well some of the screen space is dedicated to parts tracking algorithms for which I sourced an ex NASA mainframe, which was surplus after the space shuttle program was wound up. The geeks at NASA, and boy are they geeks, said I would most likely fall short in processing speed for E9 parts sourcing and that I should approach the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for one of their supercomputers. They told me this after I bought theirs so maybe not so geeky.
Anyway, NOAA, true to their name, said no. They mumbled something about "too much power in the wrong hands".

As I said, I just threw it together so it will have to do. The rest of the screens are for solitaire and scrabble.
 
vince said:
Before all of this started, I worked from home probably half of the time anyway and I'm pretty lucky to have a nice home office. My wife received a promotion right before all of this went down. With her new job, she wouldn't go into the office as much. Now, we're both full time out of our house. She set her desk up in our family room on a card table. Anytime she'd type on her keyboard the whole thing would move. She needed something better so I built her this by rearranging a built in that didn't add much to the room. I learned a couple new tricks on splicing in carpet and I can't believe how close I got to the original stain color of the wood.

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that is absolutely nice work, very smart, form horizontal to vertical,
a risky decission a room with two colours, well solved
 
on 2017 we made a very deep extensive renovation and whole spaces were redistributed, including a room for telework,



it started as a fancy cool looking room, but ended in a more formal space, with a proper office chair and plenty of documentation in the wardrobe (it can be seen in this picture through the glass wall)
 
deQuincey said:
nice round table, almost
is that st pellegrino sparkling ?
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You have a keen eye deQ. I have my man Xavier bring it in to the Monitor Room chilled in ice. Can you spot the ice bucket? Everyone needs a Xavier. He too is a remnant of the shuttle program and as one of their ex-senior programmers I use him to monitor the screens during my down time from E9 parts sourcing. I have to keep a close eye on him though as he seems to quickly shut down what ever he is watching when I go back into the Monitor Room, and always with a slightly guilty look..... hmmm.
 
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Gazz said:
You have a keen eye deQ. I have my man Xavier bring it in to the Monitor Room chilled in ice. Can you spot the ice bucket? Everyone needs a Xavier. He too is a remnant of the shuttle program and as one of their ex-senior programmers I use him to monitor the screens during my down time from E9 parts sourcing. I have to keep a close eye on him though as he seems to quickly shut down what ever he is watching when I go back into the Monitor Room, and always with a slightly guilty look..... hmmm.
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saw the ice bucket, hope you do not put ice on sparkling water, sort of mixing flavours IMHO

i know the guilty look,....he is secretly searching for mercedes parts
 
This little guy worked his butt off cutting through about 7 feet of half inch aluminum plate. Gave it 5 rest sessions each time it got warm to the touch.
This was the first electric saw I bought, probably 25 years ago. I would have been sad to see it expire . Easy jobs from here on end .
 

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The old stuff is the best. They are now making things, including cars, using biodegradable wiring. Can't see that lasting for 25 years.
I was a carpenter in a previous life and my old, and I do mean old, chisels still hold their edge far better than anything I can buy now, not counting fancy outrageously priced Japanese chisels.
 
bfeng said:
Americans put every type of beverage on ice.
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It is a luxury. I knew that I “made it” when I had two refrigerators that make an endless supply of ice! Time to kick back with some iced milk. :)
 
bfeng said:
Latest project: preparing for tear down and rebuild. Fortunately the pump seems to be in good condition so I’ll be keeping the Mechanical FI.
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Do you have a comparison of the cost to work on Alfas vs BMWs? I've been thinking of a 1750 or 2000. With the rise in 105 series values it may be a more viable project than it was a few years ago.
 
Gazz said:
Do you have a comparison of the cost to work on Alfas vs BMWs? I've been thinking of a 1750 or 2000. With the rise in 105 series values it may be a more viable project than it was a few years ago.
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BMW vs Alfa costs? There were and are a LOT more 2002’s out there so bmw has a much better supply base and easier to find shops with expertise. There is zero Alfa factory support for their classics so as bad as it is it’s better for bmw owners.

I would say
Body restoration: similar. BMW has more availability of panels.

Trim is a definitely higher for the Alfa. A pair of door handles is $430! windshield is $500 for glass and another $500 for the trim strip and gasket, and a dash is $1500. But the Alfa also has a nicer interior IMHO.

Engine: the twin cam is more expensive.
Ex: decent factory piston set is $660, which is what you pay for race quality M10 pistons.
Ex: good Alfa cans are about $700/pair
A standard Alfa rebuilt motor costs about $6k, and a 220hp race motor (2liter) can $20- $25k. Probably 25% or more over an M10.

And bmw’s Have vastly better selection of hot rod parts.

I’d guess the Alfa might cost $10-12k more on a ground up restoration.

Regular maintenance is probably similar.
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The Alfa GTV seems about as easy to work on as a BMW of the same vintage. A few more fiddly areas but overall simple and straight forward.

But you will need unusual and rare tools like 7mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm sockets and wrenches....
 
I redid my tii strut housings and I went a bit crazy on the plating, but they came out nice. Waiting on the new rotors and rebuilt calipers. Nothing like a box of fresh cad plated parts. Also installed my lower spoiler on my tii. Not a perfect install but good enough til she gets a full restoration.

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