Pumpkin Carving

For as long as I can remember I have carved pumpkins for Halloween. When I was younger the carving process took the better part of a day. At this point I can knock out a decent pumpkin in 2 hours or less. Well, the tradition continued this past weekend when my wife and I decided to stab some pumpkins.

Here are the results.

In case someone reads this that does not know me, I really like the Halo series. This pumpkin was one of the more creative carvings I have done. I am very proud of the results because the symbol was hand drawn. My wife and I took the dog for a walk after we cleaned up the kitchen and I think we have the best looking pumpkins in the neighborhood:) The only real competition was two Milwaukee Brewers pumpkins that I imagine were carved from a kit.

Thinking about it now, pumpkin carving may be one of the most artistic things I do in a year.

Enjoy! Please don't send my photo to any modeling agencies. I have already turned them all down.

2003 Mustang Rear Brakes

Keep the projects rolling ...


My primary transportation recently started squealing when I applied pressure to the brakes. The unfortunate part about this is that I changed the front brakes of my car at the beginning of this summer. I guess I should have changed the rear brakes while I was at it.



Here is where I started ... a completely boring, I mean stock, Mustang rim and tire. Notice the bald tires:( I plan on replacing them next month with snow tires. I am realizing now that the weekend that I chose to change my rear brakes was the coldest weekend we have had this Fall. I would like to thank my wife again for the new hat.


The next step was to take off the tire. This picture shows the rear disc braking system. Rusty. At this point, I can see that I need to purchase new rotors.


Shown: Caliper from above.

Remove the two bolts that hold the caliper to the caliper bracket.



This picture shows the bolt removed during the last step. The rubber boot slides in and out to allow the caliper to clap down and release the rotor during braking. Remove the caliper and set it aside. Make sure that you take care of the piston and rubber brake hose or you can add a new caliper to the list of parts to buy.



The next step is to remove the caliper bracket. To do this, remove the two bolts shown in this picture and the bracket will fall right off. I needed plenty of penetrating oil and a 1/2" breaker bar to pop the bolts free.



Removing the old rotor is as easy as pulling off these retaining wheels. I used a pliers to bend the tabs in and they twisted off with ease.


This picture shows the axle without the rotor, caliper bracket, and caliper. The next step is to retract the piston into the caliper so that you can install the new brake pads.


I started with a C-clamp. Typically I use the clamp to press the piston back into the caliper. I snapped the head off of the C-clamp while applying only a small force. So much for $3 Harbor Freight C-clamp. I took a step back and headed to AutoZone to pick up new rotors. The guy behind the counter was very helpful and pointed me to the tool you see in this picture. As it turns out, Mustang rear caliper pistons turn in instead of press in like the fronts do. The tool has many patterns, none of which fit my piston so I modified it with a grinder.


The only way I was able to get the piston to turn in was to temporarily install the caliper and caliper bracket. I then used a clamp to hold the caliper from extending back as I pushed on the piston. This allowed me to apply the necessary torque to turn the piston in. If you crack the bleeder screw during this step, the caliper will release the execess pressure and the piston will screw in much easier. This task was difficult but I never had the thought that I was hurting the piston/caliper that I usually have when using the clamp method.


With the piston retracted, the next step is to clean and install the rotor. I should really buy some AutoZone stock. If you look closely, you can see the C-clamp that I broke:) (The head should not be pointed in that direction)

Here is a shot with the new rotor installed. I used a deep socket to re-install the retaining wheels. If you look in the background of this picture you can see how I "safely" jacked up my car. My jack stands are currently under my 88 Mustang so I used the floor jack to hold the car up and put ramps under the axle tubes for safety. I feel like I should be doing this in my driveway with cinder blocks.


Almost there. I reinstalled the caliper bracket and the new brake pads. I always add grease to the caliper piston, back of the brake pads, and where the pads contact the caliper bracket. Bolt on the caliper and you are ready to bleed the system.



In this picture you can see the new pads and rotor. I usually bleed the rear brakes to make sure that I did not introduce any air in the system while compressing the piston.

There you go. Reinstall the rear tires and take the car out for a test drive to make sure that you did not mess anything up. I touch and smell the brakes after the test drive to ensure that the caliper is not stuck. Everything was good to go so I parked the car for the night and headed inside to warm up.

Air Compressor

Here it is. The start of a new project. I have been looking for a large air compressor for the past couple of months so that I can sandblast and paint my other projects. Besides the oily mess, this compressor was a spectacular deal. I will leave the specifics out as to not make anyone upset that they missed out on this deal. I do want to shout out to Chris and thank him for the help getting this beast home. I plan to pull the whole thing apart and clean it up before I install it permanently into my shop.




What can I say besides yuck! Not only is the compressor disgusting, the pressure switch is missing its cover and the over pressure tube has been disconnected. I hope to find a cheap pressure switch so that I can replace this one.

I have been working on disassembly of the compressor. I pulled off the safety grill, both pulleys, and the motor. I had to use my three claw pulley puller to get the compressor pulley off. That is always an adventure because my puller is missing several crucial nuts and bolts. I will get around to fixing that tool at some point. Next steps are to pull the compressor and degrease the tank. Anyone interested in playing with some caustic chemicals?

Off with your head! After working on the greasy tank for about 2 hours I needed a break. I took off the compressor head. I was a little disappointed to find that the compressor is made from Aluminum.

As you can see in this picture, the tank is looking pretty good. I pulled apart the pressure switch to clean it out. I am not totally sure I am going to get it back together. When I pulled the last screw the parts flew out like popcorn.

Oops, I broke the tube that connects the compressor head to the tank. The tube was made out of really thin Aluminum so I was not too suprised when I broke it. I took a trip to the hardware store and picked up some flexible copper tube and compression fittings.

Here you can see the oil draining from the head. It was pretty much sludge. I imagine this is the same oil that came from the factory some 10 - 20 years ago.

I threw this picture in because I want to show off my work cleaning the head. It looks just like new.

Putting the top of the compressor back together. Installation of a new flexible copper pipe between the head and the tank went better than I expected. This picture is a little depressing because as I write this, the temperature is 29 degrees with snow on the ground. The temperature when I took this picture was 70 degrees and sunny. Why do we live in Wisconsin?


Up close picture of the tank compression fitting. I hope it doesn't leak.

This is the old pressure switch. I have since replaced it with a unit that I found at Fleet Farm for $15. I cleaned and rebuilt this pressure switch twice before I realized how cheap I could buy a replacement part.

Well, I found the reason for all of the oil on the compressor tank. This is the pipe that connects the high and low pressure sides of the compressor. The gasket blew out and the previous owner let the the compressor blow oil all over for several years. I didn't want to pay for a new gasket so I used a thin film of RTV while reattaching the pipe to the compressor.

Getting closer. I put the pulleys and belt back on the compressor and performed a quick test. It pumped up nicely but I have a few issues I need to deal with.

1. Need a new belt

2. The motor pulley wobbles

3. The over pressure tube leaks

4. Air slowly leaks out the oil fill plug

Here you can see how clean I got the tank. It really looks nice.