Farrar's car blog

[Farrar]

OK, so feel free to pick this apart and make corrections to it. I was bored at work and started looking stuff up online and trying to think if I could make a door lock circuit which would

a) work with either solenoids or actuators
b) is cheaper than new lock module and draws less standby current than stock/LockZilla
c) be compatible with off-the-shelf remote keyless entry (RKE) systems -- the $50 kind.

doorlockcircuit.jpg

I think that will give you about a half-second pulse. But I am bad at math. Also, I am essentially teaching myself electronics, and if you take into account the facts that I started with no knowledge of the subject, and that I am both a bad teacher and a lazy student, then you can probably guess (correctly) that my lessons are sporadic, difficult, and confusing. This circuit may in fact make no sense at all, but I had fun drawing it. Opinions? Ron?

[Farrar]

<soapbox>

For $600 plus shipping I can get carpet... and I can get a 3.0L engine from a 1992 Eagle Premier for just $100 more -- with free shipping.

What... the...

</soapbox>

[sean]

<soapbox>

For $600 plus shipping I can get carpet... and I can get a 3.0L engine from a 1992 Eagle Premier for just $100 more -- with free shipping.

What... the...

</soapbox>

Supply and demand

[Farrar]

I am getting tired of waiting. With no TIG welder in sight, I am prepared to simply epoxy a jam-nut onto a big washer, then start the de-rusting and Rustoleum painting. No one is interested in selling their used carpet, and I am tired of having the console and seats in my living room. I have driven the car without carpets installed before. But driving without seats is impossible.

[dmc6960]

If you have the parts separated from the seat and in your hand, just stop by any machine shop or even exhaust shop and have them spot the weld on for you. It'll only take a minute and probably cost $5-$10 if even that for the trouble. JB is just asking to do it again.

[Farrar]

The jam nut will stop the stud from wiggling. The fender washer will be adhered to the jam nut just so that it won't fall off during installation. Since I have Moroso engine epoxy left over from my VOD operation, I will use a tiny bit of it instead of JB Weld. If it lets go, then I will only have to deal with reattaching the fender washers to the jam nuts the next time I take the seats out.

[Farrar]

By the way: My efforts to get the work done at a machine shop were unsuccessful -- either the shop foreman says that they don't do jobs that small, or they didn't return the message I left on the machine, which I presume to mean the same thing. I am guessing they figure it wouldn't be worth the time for the amount of money they'd make tack-welding two studs.

[jawn101]

By the way: My efforts to get the work done at a machine shop were unsuccessful -- either the shop foreman says that they don't do jobs that small, or they didn't return the message I left on the machine, which I presume to mean the same thing. I am guessing they figure it wouldn't be worth the time for the amount of money they'd make tack-welding two studs.

What about a muffler shop? Those guys weld all day long. It's only like 10 seconds worth of work for someone with the right tools. It sounds like it's turning out to be frustrating but I still think you'll regret not welding it properly.

I bet a lot of plumbers would have welding supplies as well. Or a body shop.

[Farrar]

What about a muffler shop? Those guys weld all day long.

There's an idea! I will see what happens.

[Farrar]

Well, the muffler shop guys didn't seem interested. Ace Hardware has M8 jam nuts in stock, so I bought eight of them. These will take the place of the giant washers -- they're the same thickness. I will place a nylon washer between the fiberglass and the hex nuts -- in the event that anything is torqued too much, the nylon washer will sacrifice itself by deforming, thus saving the fiberglass and/or stud threads.

At least that's the plan...

Still no carpet. No one wants to sell me a used set. Maybe Houston has some old carpet they took out of a "new build" that they could sell me for cheap. I will give them a call if I have some time.