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Jun. 1st, 2004 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaSpent another couple hours today working on the door.
The instructions tell you to put the trim across the top, after the door is hung and the side trim is up on both sides. I think the instructions assume you're attaching all this stuff to the outside of the wall. My front door is inset, so there was no way that top trim was going to go on there like that. I had to pull the door down again, pull off the side trim, and then painstakingly chisel a channel about 1/4" deep all the way across the top of the doorway, and a narrower slot about 3/4" deep. Only then could I put the top trim in place. The holes where the screws are supposed to go in to hold it up, were completely covered, so I had to drill new holes and screw it in from below.
I also had to get out the dremel and remove several layers of old paint, to get the side trim to lay properly, flush with the door opening. Then put the side trim back up, and put the door back up. Once I got the side trim to lay flush, I was able to install the strike plate and still have room to close the door. It closes nice and smoothly. Next, I installed the two door closers, one at the top and one at the bottom. It works great!
I got the door at Lowes, and they offered installation for $89. I suppose that's not very expensive, considering how many hours I spent messing with it to do it myself. OTOH, they'd probably have done a really crappy, hurried job, and it would look like hell. I'm just as glad I was able to do it myself.
Once I finished my house chores, I could go back to messing with the bikes. I took a test ride, to see how the V-Strom did with the newly adjusted throttle cables. It was fine, good throttle response, and with the bars at full lock the RPMs didn't change.
Next, I tuned the new CB antenna. This is an antenna with a screw adjustor, but I still had to trim the wire. Funny how that worked out.
Then I dug another plastic frog out of the toy chest, and glued velcro to its butt so it can sit on the little ledge above the V-Strom's license plate. Hopefully this one won't come unglued and fall off like the last one.
I found a second frog that looks really cool on the dashboard, under the windscreen. Now I just need to find someone who can take the artwork I have (the image in my user icon) and print decals to put on the fairing and luggage.
I've been making more modifications to my tank bag. On my last trip, the electronic stuff in the tank bag kept moving around, and I had a hard time doing things like adjusting the squelch or the volume while moving. Plus every time I opened the bag, wires kept trying to escape.
So this time I cut the bottom off another plastic tub, inserted it upside down in the tank bag (which is built around a tub of the same size) and made a little hollow framework to hold everything in place. The wiring and the Autocom box are zip tied to the underside, since they don't need to be messed with when I'm out on the road. The CB is zip tied in place on top, so it is easily accessible but it can't scoot around. The Boosteroo amp runs off batteries that need to be changed every twelve hours or so, so I velcroed it on top, that way I can easily get at it to change the batteries. I made a little round padded thing for the CD/MP3 player, and when the glue holding it together dries I will glue it in place, to hold the player exactly where I want it so the controls will show in the tankbag window. I cut holes in the right spot for each plug to come up and plug in where it needs to be, and coiled the extra cord neatly and zip tied it to the underside of the frame. No more spaghetti bowl of cords to fish through, and I hope that on my next ride, nothing will move around in there!
I love just puttering around in the garage. I don't even have to be accomplishing anything. It's good to just mess with stuff. I'm such a gadget geek.
The instructions tell you to put the trim across the top, after the door is hung and the side trim is up on both sides. I think the instructions assume you're attaching all this stuff to the outside of the wall. My front door is inset, so there was no way that top trim was going to go on there like that. I had to pull the door down again, pull off the side trim, and then painstakingly chisel a channel about 1/4" deep all the way across the top of the doorway, and a narrower slot about 3/4" deep. Only then could I put the top trim in place. The holes where the screws are supposed to go in to hold it up, were completely covered, so I had to drill new holes and screw it in from below.
I also had to get out the dremel and remove several layers of old paint, to get the side trim to lay properly, flush with the door opening. Then put the side trim back up, and put the door back up. Once I got the side trim to lay flush, I was able to install the strike plate and still have room to close the door. It closes nice and smoothly. Next, I installed the two door closers, one at the top and one at the bottom. It works great!
I got the door at Lowes, and they offered installation for $89. I suppose that's not very expensive, considering how many hours I spent messing with it to do it myself. OTOH, they'd probably have done a really crappy, hurried job, and it would look like hell. I'm just as glad I was able to do it myself.
Once I finished my house chores, I could go back to messing with the bikes. I took a test ride, to see how the V-Strom did with the newly adjusted throttle cables. It was fine, good throttle response, and with the bars at full lock the RPMs didn't change.
Next, I tuned the new CB antenna. This is an antenna with a screw adjustor, but I still had to trim the wire. Funny how that worked out.
Then I dug another plastic frog out of the toy chest, and glued velcro to its butt so it can sit on the little ledge above the V-Strom's license plate. Hopefully this one won't come unglued and fall off like the last one.
I found a second frog that looks really cool on the dashboard, under the windscreen. Now I just need to find someone who can take the artwork I have (the image in my user icon) and print decals to put on the fairing and luggage.
I've been making more modifications to my tank bag. On my last trip, the electronic stuff in the tank bag kept moving around, and I had a hard time doing things like adjusting the squelch or the volume while moving. Plus every time I opened the bag, wires kept trying to escape.
So this time I cut the bottom off another plastic tub, inserted it upside down in the tank bag (which is built around a tub of the same size) and made a little hollow framework to hold everything in place. The wiring and the Autocom box are zip tied to the underside, since they don't need to be messed with when I'm out on the road. The CB is zip tied in place on top, so it is easily accessible but it can't scoot around. The Boosteroo amp runs off batteries that need to be changed every twelve hours or so, so I velcroed it on top, that way I can easily get at it to change the batteries. I made a little round padded thing for the CD/MP3 player, and when the glue holding it together dries I will glue it in place, to hold the player exactly where I want it so the controls will show in the tankbag window. I cut holes in the right spot for each plug to come up and plug in where it needs to be, and coiled the extra cord neatly and zip tied it to the underside of the frame. No more spaghetti bowl of cords to fish through, and I hope that on my next ride, nothing will move around in there!
I love just puttering around in the garage. I don't even have to be accomplishing anything. It's good to just mess with stuff. I'm such a gadget geek.
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-01 08:20 am (UTC)Why is it that a week of thunderstorms makes one think of installing storm doors????
no subject
Date: 2004-06-01 01:52 pm (UTC)The next door I install is going to be on the back of the garage. I really want a door from the garage to the backyard. When I wired the garage I carefully routed the wiring in such a way that there would be room to cut that openeing in the wall.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-01 05:37 pm (UTC)