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  1. #61
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Since a lot of people ask me if I accept credit / debit I decided to add a sticker to the front door. Kinda like a peace of mind thing for them.


    And I've taken to using hearing protection when buffing. The g9 isn't bad but the gg6 seems a tad too loud for my taste. Initially I was using ear plugs but I started to lose my marbles listening to myself think. Ended up buying a beater set of noise cancelling headphones from the largest online rain forest.


    In my opinion they work decent for $40 headphones. I had been using them for 3 days to listen to music while buffing and overall they reduced outside noise pretty good, but I wasn't really sure if they were true noise cancelling or just muffled noise due to them covering your ears. Well I went to put them on one day and I realized there was a second on/off switch for the noise cancelling feature. When you flip that on they actually cancel out noise.


    And three weeks later Griots sent me back a new g9! I feel really bad because when I shipped them the g9 I only sent in the bare tool but they sent me back a full retail unit with 6" plate and 10' cord. I only sent the bare tool because I didn't want to lose my 5" backing plate and couldn't find the OG 6" one it came with. Sorry Griots!


    They said my old buffer was sent to live on a farm.

    I've been using my spare gg6 in the mean time, and I honestly think I prefer the gg6 over the g9. I've decided to continue using the gg6 for the time being. I like the small size better as it's easier to work one handed on roofs, and I feel like it stalls less.

    Did somebody say dog hair?





    And I blew through another bearing on the velocity vac.


    I think I finally understand why I keep blowing through the bearings. When they say DRY use they mean DRY use only. Sometimes I was sucking up liquids with it which (I'm guessing here) causes the liquid to turn into a mud slurry in the tool that seeps into the bearing ruining it. Good thing I didn't read the instructions on how to use it as there's probably a warning about this in there! I probably saved about 5 minutes and it only costed me nearly $100!.

    And on a funny note I bought a comb for my brushes. I noticed after prolonged use the brushes would turn into a hard tangled blob of bristles that wasn't very useful. The brushes are cheap enough that I don't mind buying more as I wear through them but it takes me some time to trim them down to the proper bristle length.

    I'm lazy and don't want to have to cut brushes often so I got the comb to de tangle them.


    Like new!


    I actually can't believe this hair brained idea worked. The brush literally feels like new and is usable again. The comb is just a generic dog comb off Amazon if anyone is wondering. I think any metal comb would suffice.

    Business has been dipping a little. I won't be sitting around much but there's some holes in my schedule starting to pop up, and I'd really rather stay busy. I'm going to update my site this week to allow for custom landing pages and launch some online ads by the end of the week. Mic drop. I'm out lol
    The best way to get revenge? Teach them how to detail. They'll spend the rest of their life worrying about the condition of their car.

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  3. #62
    Super Member PaulMys's Avatar
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Awesome stuff Ed!

    Love the updates, and observations. And you make us laugh too.
    It is no coincidence that man's best friend cannot talk.

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  5. #63
    Super Member TTQ B4U's Avatar
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Abbondanzio View Post
    I think I finally understand why I keep blowing through the bearings. When they say DRY use they mean DRY use only. Sometimes I was sucking up liquids with it which (I'm guessing here) causes the liquid to turn into a mud slurry in the tool that seeps into the bearing ruining it. Good thing I didn't read the instructions on how to use it as there's probably a warning about this in there! I probably saved about 5 minutes and it only costed me nearly $100!

    Not sure I follow you on the dry/wet thing? The velocity vac can be used with liquids. The Key to the bearing set is to clean them after every use with WD40. Don't let them dry out with the dirt in there and lube/clean it out with WD40, plenty of it. I treat mine like surgical instruments clean and let the WD 40 penetrate and run through the bearing set rotating it by hand, blowing it out then repeating until they are 100% smoooooth rolling. Takes 5 mins afterwards. I use mine a lot both wet and dry with no issue.
    2019 Pearl White Accord 2.0T Touring (mine)
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  6. #64
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Nice shop setup

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  8. #65
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Abbondanzio View Post
    Thanks Uncle Davy!

    I'm a little overdue on an update so I figured it's time I sit down and write one. Last week was a weird week. One of my jobs was a 96 Corolla with only 49k miles. No that's not a typo!



    Overall the car was in excellent shape. The interior had almost no wear minus some staining on the carpets and seats. Exterior wise the paint had seen better days but there was almost no rust on it which is rare for this area.

    The owner of the car said it was his mothers who passed not long ago and he wanted the paint shined up so they could sell it.

    Upon drop off, I suffered a mere 20 minute existential crisis wondering if I was in over my head as just a production detailer and debating how easy it would be to skip town and start a new life undo a pseudonym I decided to give it my best shot.

    Instead of using my classic white Lake Country pads with HD speed combo I opted to use the orange! Lake Country pads with HD speed. Who woulda guessed?

    This provided a good level of correction with about 4 - 6 passes per section. The flat areas including the roof and hood needed some spots to be done twice. It took a much longer time than normal (for me) to work the car due to moving at a slower speed since I needed to get a good amount of correction.

    Here's a 50 / 50 shot of the hood. This is actually my first 50 / 50 I've ever tried in the shop.


    Hood done.


    All done.


    Straight outta 96'.


    The best part was that the owner was extremely happy with how it came out. When he picked it up he mentioned his wife was starting to think that they should hold onto it since it was in such good shape. Funny enough, the owner actually stopped by today with it wondering if I knew of a good tinter in the area and mentioned that they decided to keep it. He said his wife liked how good it came out that it was basically a done deal once she saw it.

    Another odd job I did was a carpet someone pulled from a truck their restoring. He just wanted it vacuumed and shampooed. Moderate amount of stains but no salt.




    Also I got a life pro tip for everyone. Don't scrub things with fluid film on them. It'll get stuck in your brushes and basically ruin them. I ended up throwing out three brushes.


    Honestly though, it was like perfect timing as all my brushes were due for replacing. I ended up buying some new ones to try out.


    And lastly, until today none of my vacuums had any wheels on them. I finally caved and ordered a new one because I was tired of dragging my vacuums around.

    Why did they have no wheels you ask? Because in a stroke of genius I had back in March I concocted this amazing idea to put some upgraded wheels on my vacuums. I wanted vacuums that could glide across my shop like figure skaters on fresh ice.

    Ridgid doesn't sell upgraded wheels though, and the provided casters were subpar in my opinion. I pondered on this for a few days before realizing I could buy generic caster wheels with threaded rods and get them to thread into the vacuum.

    It took a bit of trimming with the hackzaw but my crazy contraption worked.


    My vacuums rolled smooth as a caddy and thanks to the large diameter of the wheels, handled cords like nothing. It was pure bliss until I realized how bad of an idea this is.

    Whenever I'm done with the vacuum I like to wrap up the hose real fast around the vacuum similar to when a cowboy performs a hog tie right after lassoing the pig at the rodeo. I think my speed record was about 1.5 seconds for a 12' hose.

    Well when your vacuum has extremely low friction wheels the the entire vacuum will spin just about as fast as you can wrap the hose around it. So instead of wrapping up the hose you end up doing that ballroom dance move where the male holds his and his partners hand high above her head so she can twirl. Which may look elegant at the ball, it's utterly useless in a shop.

    That wasn't the worst part of it though. About 5 days after modding out my vacuums I picked one up to move it over the water hose and set it down a little too fast. When it landed on the concrete it snapped the plastic molding that was holding the caster wheel in one corner. My pimped out vacuum now had a permanent lean due to the broken wheel and was less useful than how it was stock. In a fit of frustration I ripped out every wheel and decided to live with it.

    6 months later here we are .



    I ended up going with the red and grey series Ridgid offers online. It's got two large wheels in the rear and a nice handle so I don't have to bend over to move it. I used to be very against this wheel style but honestly I regret not switching to it sooner. I even got a nice upgraded filter to try out on it.

    I use a lot of fluid film around an also Krown Rust Control. Optimum Power Clean destroys the stuff just for future info if you find your brushes greasy again...

    Sent from my VOG-L04 using Tapatalk

  9. #66
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by TTQ B4U View Post
    Not sure I follow you on the dry/wet thing? The velocity vac can be used with liquids. The Key to the bearing set is to clean them after every use with WD40. Don't let them dry out with the dirt in there and lube/clean it out with WD40, plenty of it. I treat mine like surgical instruments clean and let the WD 40 penetrate and run through the bearing set rotating it by hand, blowing it out then repeating until they are 100% smoooooth rolling. Takes 5 mins afterwards. I use mine a lot both wet and dry with no issue.
    That makes sense. I thought I read somewhere it was for dry use only. Thanks for the tip! Least I can prevent myself from ruining a third bearing lol.

    Quote Originally Posted by DeadlySheds View Post
    I use a lot of fluid film around an also Krown Rust Control. Optimum Power Clean destroys the stuff just for future info if you find your brushes greasy again...

    Sent from my VOG-L04 using Tapatalk
    Good to know! I've heard nothing but good stuff about power clean. I may need to bite the bullet and finally order some.
    The best way to get revenge? Teach them how to detail. They'll spend the rest of their life worrying about the condition of their car.

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  11. #67
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Check out my clock


    I was getting tired of calling the time and temp hot line so I decided to splurge on a real clock. I wanted something large enough to read across the shop, and have indoor + outdoor temperature. I really wanted something that had humidity too but it seems you have to pick between indoor humidity or outdoor temperature. Outdoor temperature won out. (It's not displaying because I haven't mounted up the outdoor sensor yet. Easy to read across the shop.


    I pimped out my new vacuum a bit last week. The vacuum in stock form was like 90% perfect but it left just a bit to be desired. There was no easy to spot to wrap up the hose, or cord on it because of the large bar handle so I broke out the ole mig welder and welded on some hooks.


    The large hook is meant for the hose, and the small hook is meant for the cord. They're just generic (cheap) hooks from online that I zapped onto the handle with the welder. I was a little grumpy when doing the welding as it had been a long day and the hooks kept catching on fire so instead of just a few tacks I laid an extra long bead on each side of the hooks to take out my frustration on it. Hopefully I never want to remove them lol.

    Action shot.


    9/10 would highly recommend. I love the larger wheels on this and the high handle. Saves my back from having to bend over to move the vacuum around. The large wheels are also cherry for when I need to empty it out as I can roll it down to the dumpster instead of having to lug it. I'm planning on doing one last mod to the vacuum to add a basket for holding tools.



    I also upgraded my hose nozzle to an Eley nozzle.

    The original one I was using was just a cheapo from Napa (the yellow one) and it was starting to wear out. Eley makes some seriously solid stuff. I was apprehensive on using a thumb control over the standard trigger because then it wouldn't be as easy to hook the nozzle on stuff but it seems like Eley thought ahead of this and made the nozzle extra heavy. You can leave it sitting on a cart and not worry about the nozzle falling off. I also love the swivel for the hose.

    Ended up finally changing the oil in my air compressor. Actually a better way of putting it, is I rushed to change it after realizing I let the original oil go for about 120 - 140 hours of runtime when you're only suppose to use it for 100 hours. After the first change you can run it for a 1000 hours or so. Made a big mess of it which is ironic as I can change my cars oil without losing a drop.


    I bought Royal Purple oil for it. I know Royal Purple is on the expensive side but I was tired out and didn't want to take the time to research a good cheaper alternative. Plus I could get it in 2 days vs a week.


    One thing about a business is your to buy list never seems to get smaller. Ugh.


    We got hit with a major windstorm Wednesday. It was bad enough the shops lights were flickering on me every few minutes all day. I'm impressed I didn't lose power. LPT don't open your door for a few hours during a windstorm in the fall right as the tree leaves change color lol.


    Still using the gg6


    And even though it feels like fall it looks more like spring to me.


    Little Jeep update. I got the axle back in it.

    The diff bolts are a little flashier than I wanted but it's really coming together. Should be on 4 wheels by Sunday.

    And the business took a total 180 on me. I went from getting a little desperate and taking jobs I didn't really want to being booked out 3 weeks with (mostly) all good jobs. I really wish I knew what changed but I'm happy to be busy with good work. Last week was total garbage and kinda why I skipped on an update. This week was basically the exact opposite and my boss even gave me Friday afternoon off! I didn't have to run any ads but I did push out a small tweak to my site to be more open on my prices. Even though the day after I made my website change business took right off, I'm not 100% confident that was what did it. Sometimes it's hard to be able to answer why things happen which sucks.
    Last edited by Ed Abbondanzio; 10-02-2020 at 03:32 PM. Reason: The front fell off
    The best way to get revenge? Teach them how to detail. They'll spend the rest of their life worrying about the condition of their car.

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  13. #68
    Super Member PaulMys's Avatar
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Another great update, Ed.

    I'll be up your way on Monday.... Auburn, ME.
    It is no coincidence that man's best friend cannot talk.

  14. #69
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by PaulMys View Post
    Another great update, Ed.

    I'll be up your way on Monday.... Auburn, ME.
    Very cool. If you end up in the Gardiner area feel free to swing by. I'm like 4 miles down the road from exit 49. Hard to miss.
    The best way to get revenge? Teach them how to detail. They'll spend the rest of their life worrying about the condition of their car.

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  16. #70
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    Re: Ed's Shop Build Thread

    Finally took the time to clean up the scrap wood pile on the side of the shop. This is only the last 1/3 of what was there. Shout out to my Milwaukee hacksaw that cut all those 2x4s and 2x6s down into 4' sections.


    Some extra dirt was added to fill in the sink holes that formed around the foundation from the dirt settling.


    Fixed the large drop in front of the large bay. I used to have to back out my dirt nasty civic carefully otherwise I'd bottom out.


    Cleaned a dinosaur.


    Then I cleaned another dinosaur.



    The truck is an older gentlemen's that he bought brand new 22 years ago! The truck was/is his baby. Kinda nice to get trusted enough for these jobs.

    Jeeps not going anywhere for a little longer sadly. Found some serious rust issues. This was the hitch I removed from it.



    Replacing the rear frame rails, cargo floor pan, shock crossmember, rear bumper, and rear bumper cross member


    A bird flew in the shop.


    Little chickadee. Had to turn the lights off and open both garage doors to get the little guy to fly out.


    Speaking of wildlife I've got a mouse problem. Little chonker jumped out of my Jeep the other morning and ran into the wall. Found some droppings in my microfibers. I'm going to close up some of the holes in the walls, and see if Home Depot has any landmines that are sensitive enough to trip for a small rodent.


    And I've been itching to make better use of the mezzanine (that's a great word) for awhile now. I want to build a shelf against the wall up there for storage bins to hold stuff I need less often. In order to get up there though I needed a semi permanent way to quickly get up there. I saw a picture of a ladder I really liked and decided to whip up another Davinci diagram.

    The funny thing is the info on the drawing isn't even consistent because I was changing the design as I drew it.

    Got some free metal from my Dad. Chopped up 3 12' steel 2x2s. Initially I was going to make the ladder 16" wide but I can't math and accidentally made it 18" wide. I ended up liking this width better anyways. Cuts done.


    Welded up.


    This was the first project I had the opportunity to weld good metal to good metal. Normally I'm welding to rusted out stuff lol.


    Oh yeah.


    She's detachable. Thought it'd be useful. It weights about 70-90lbs so not too terrible. The ladder has notches that hold it in position on the L channel I mounted down to the mezzanine.


    I'll probably bedline the rungs and spray the rest of it with some rattle can paint. I don't think it's worth using my good epoxy primer on. I haven't grinded my welds yet.

    I gave it the ole shake down by climbing up several rungs and then doing exactly as the name implies to see if it would fall off. She's solid as can be. Honestly the steel used was a little overkill but it was free lol. It's 3/32nd thick.
    The best way to get revenge? Teach them how to detail. They'll spend the rest of their life worrying about the condition of their car.

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