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Author: Subject: What skills have you learnt?
SteveWallace

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:19 AM Reply With Quote
What skills have you learnt?

Our washing machine broke down the other day. A quick search on the internet and a bit of time testing with my multi-meter revealed that it was probably worn brushes in the motor. By the end of the morning I had fitted some new ones and its now all working again for a grand total of £12.95. SWMBO puts my confidence and skills to be able to do this down to building the kit car (thus providing me with a great excuse to spend more time in the garage!), so that got me thinking...

...What skills have you learnt building your car that you've been able to apply elsewhere in your life?

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bonzoronnie

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:36 AM Reply With Quote
Last year I bought a 15ft speed boat.
This was fitted with a 1990 Mercury 50HP outboard engine.

Last owner had been trying to get the engine to run for the last couple of seasons.
Even a local Mercury mechanic could not find the fault & gave up.

I done a fair bit of research, learnt how to build & use some diagnostic equipment.

Traced the fault to the engines Stator not putting out enough voltage.
Fitted a new one & now running like clockwork.

Because the engine had a spark, all the previous work was fuel/Timing related.

Moral of the story, just because you have a spark, does not mean it's a good one.

Gave me a great deal of satisfaction to get it running again.
As a bonus, I learnt a fair bit about 2 stroke outboard engines.

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pekwah1

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:43 AM Reply With Quote
My main skill is being able to look at a problem and coming up with a good solution fairly quickly.
Then spend many days correcting all the other things i have broken during the process....

Joking aside, i have definitely become the friends/family resident mechanic for when anything goes wrong on their cars.
It seems almost second nature now to fix most problems without too much effort required.

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nick205

posted on 11/1/17 at 10:33 AM Reply With Quote
Good story Steve and well done on the washing machine!

During my kit car build I taught myself to MIG weld, write in HTML and problem solve.

I too have fixed my washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher and other things. The required skills may be slightly different, but IMHO the patience and satisfaction are the same. It's really quite satisfying to have something working again at low cost from your own efforts.






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Benzine

posted on 11/1/17 at 11:53 AM Reply With Quote
I've just been pulling up tree stumps and shrubs using my engine crane. Zero digging/back strain. Does that count?
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nick205

posted on 11/1/17 at 11:57 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Benzine
I've just been pulling up tree stumps and shrubs using my engine crane. Zero digging/back strain. Does that count?



Whether it counts or not it's a good cross-purpose use of equipment.






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lsdweb

posted on 11/1/17 at 01:00 PM Reply With Quote
I can do up cable ties in confined spaces with one hand. I wasn't taught that in school or university but it comes in handy all the time :-)

[Edited on 11/1/17 by lsdweb]

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on_eighty_runner

posted on 11/1/17 at 07:59 PM Reply With Quote
Another skill I have learned buying bits for is lying convincingly about what you've spent. .

What you actually did was replace the motor in the washing machine which gives you a reasonable €100 to spend on your car!
You probably needed to buy some other tools you forgot about,so add another €20. 🤥

It's self gifting. My wife does it all the time and so do her friends/sisters as "essentials"

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bi22le

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:19 PM Reply With Quote
I have learned how to tow a trailer, vinyl wrap sew fabric.

Im sure there are many other things but these quickle come to mind.





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rf900rush

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:20 PM Reply With Quote
quote:

Traced the fault to the engines Stator not putting out enough voltage. Fitted a new one & now running like clockwork.



Thanks to bonzoronnie ,I just learnt something right now.

Bought some rough outboards recently to get running. above will be a thing to check from now on.

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Adamirish

posted on 11/1/17 at 09:47 PM Reply With Quote
I've learned a bit about electrics which I guess could be used in everyday life. I've also learned I can change a Sierra wheel bearing in about 30 mins. Not sure how that will help anything else though. Unless my washing machine uses a Sierra wheel bearing of course!





MK Indy 1700 Xflow

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Irony

posted on 11/1/17 at 10:46 PM Reply With Quote
Used my kitcar multimeter to diagnose a faulty heating element in my fan oven. 1 evening and £12.05 later it was fixed saving me £350 on the cost of a new one.

I have found that the principals learned when tracking down electric kit car gremlins probably the most useful. It seems to take proper clear logical thinking to find a 'bad' earth.

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bonzoronnie

posted on 12/1/17 at 09:04 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by rf900rush
quote:

Traced the fault to the engines Stator not putting out enough voltage. Fitted a new one & now running like clockwork.



Thanks to bonzoronnie ,I just learnt something right now.

Bought some rough outboards recently to get running. above will be a thing to check from now on.


Go for it.

There is some great model specific info out there on the tinternet.

A guy in Australia has some brilliant youtube guides to fault finding.

In my case, I needed to make a gadget to enable me to read an ac voltage on the dc scale of my multi meter.
A professional adapter or meter would have cost me a fair few quid.
After some research, the same thing could be made using 2 resistors, 1 diode & a capacitor.

I find outboard engines very therapeutic to tinker with.

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907

posted on 12/1/17 at 09:42 AM Reply With Quote
The most notable skill that I've acquired is how to use an english wheel.


However, it's not a skill I've used on anything else.
There's just no call for a power bulge in the side of a washing machine.






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steve m

posted on 12/1/17 at 02:26 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by 907
The most notable skill that I've acquired is how to use an english wheel.


However, it's not a skill I've used on anything else.
There's just no call for a power bulge in the side of a washing machine.


But if your bored, and want to use the English wheel more, I could send you my alui hump, I made, that needs to be wheeled,
theres a pic, of what it currently looks in my pics, "mods"

steve





Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at




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907

posted on 12/1/17 at 03:57 PM Reply With Quote
Just had a look at your bulge . You've spent far too much time on that. The dents are too small.

This is ready for wheeling.

Rescued attachment rear-arches-015-s.jpg
Rescued attachment rear-arches-015-s.jpg




They say give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Give a man a rod and teach him to fish and you feed him for life..... or something like that.

So get your a*** up here and I'll show you how to use it.



Paul G

[Edited on 12/1/17 by 907]






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Toprivetguns

posted on 12/1/17 at 07:10 PM Reply With Quote
Patience and methodical working.





Only drive as fast as your angel can fly... !

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David Jenkins

posted on 12/1/17 at 08:16 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Toprivetguns
Patience and methodical working.


I was going to say something similar - so many times during my build I had to work out how to do things. This often involved doing things I hadn't done before, so I had to work out how to approach each task, what skills I needed and how I was going to get those skills.






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snapper

posted on 12/1/17 at 09:05 PM Reply With Quote
Tenacity, problem solving and the ability to string the same few explicit swear words in to ever increasingly offensive sentences





I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)

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nick205

posted on 12/1/17 at 10:04 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by snapper
Tenacity, problem solving and the ability to string the same few explicit swear words in to ever increasingly offensive sentences



...and that, I perfected a few choice phrases myself.






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