Why DIY and the demise of auto-repair

[Mountain Gnome]

You may have read more into it than was intended. You surely wrote more into it, however cogently.
In the estimable Mr. V's case, I referred to a quirky, atypical sense of humor, with a fine command of painting images with his words. The boy wasn't right.
And that is so not wrong!

So in other words, my response was on the mark exactly: a quirky, atypical sense of humor combined with at least an attempt to paint your brain. (My mom was an artist painter. Can't help it, I guess.)
As for the sideways tree, it only grows at dawn.

 

[HazMatt-SKO]

'Zakly! [emoji849]

So in other words, my response was on the mark exactly: a quirky, atypical sense of humor combined with at least an attempt to paint your brain. (My mom was an artist painter. Can't help it, I guess.)
As for the sideways tree, it only grows at dawn.

Of course that arboreal species only grows at dawn. The roots shade the foliage at sunset...

 

[Busmanmoab]

wow

one thing I love about life , that all kinds of different folks still can get along, Im still grasping to the idea that there is more light than dark .

 

[HazMatt-SKO]

You best hold on tight, and keep a firm grip!
Entropy is a driving force in the cosmos, causing all of causality to strive to return to it's lowest state of energy.

one thing I love about life , that all kinds of different folks still can get along, Im still grasping to the idea that there is more light than dark .

In the inky blackness' of incomprehensible infinities, light is a rare and priceless commodity.
Grasp on, Garth. Grasp on...

 

[EastCoastCB]

You best hold on tight, and keep a firm grip!
Entropy is a driving force in the cosmos, causing all of causality to strive to return to it's lowest state of energy.In the inky blackness' of incomprehensible infinities, light is a rare and priceless commodity.
Grasp on, Garth. Grasp on...

 

[HazMatt-SKO]

Thanx for that laugh!

We lost a great one with his passing...

 

[Mountain Gnome]

Got my 1/2" tubing bender this afternoon. It measures 2+1/2" in outer diameter, and it looks like the inner bend of a tube bent with this tool would be about 1+1/2" diameter.


So my bends will be OK. Geez...was that hard to figure. Guess they use a machine to do all their bendin'? Stick a model in a scanner, the computer creates a CAD, and the bender uses the computerized CAD to bend the pipe. I guess?


Also found 4 of the 6 total that I need of the JIC 1/2" -8AN pipe nuts, and 5 matching washers. True Value Hardware has near everything I need in hardware when I can't find it elsewhere. The store down the street was closed on Sat, but I hope they have the last two nuts and the one washer. They had 1/2" steel tube, but I would more call it "pipe;" Thick walls, and the GA in its part number and the look of it makes me think it is galvanized. Don't need possible chemical reactions going on in my tranny. But it was so stiff, I Don't think I could bend it for my purposes. An 8-foot length barely flexed in the middle.


And the cooler came from Summit!:biggrin: Damaged.:nonono: Looks like a return that was recycled back into the inventory. It's a nice unit, though. Looks like quality materials. 3" thick cooler core!

Sigh....

 

[Mountain Gnome]

And I saw they had 1/2" copper tubing (not pipe) that is flexible. Want to use that, but doubtful it is stiff enough. One wrong bump at a bend hard enough would kink it. Plus corrosion on the outside.

 

[o1marc]

And I saw they had 1/2" copper tubing (not pipe) that is flexible. Want to use that, but doubtful it is stiff enough. One wrong bump at a bend hard enough would kink it. Plus corrosion on the outside.

It comes in 2 different grades, M, and L. L being thicker walled for exterior use, the M for interior use.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

So I bought some mild-steel 1/2" tubing with 0.035" wall thickness from OnlineMetals.com by at their recommendation that it would bend and flair.


https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/cold-roll/mild-steel-round-tube-a513-type-5-dom/pid/7756


It does not bend nor flair with anything that I have. It is nothing like brake line tubing.


Back to the drawing board. Anyone have any idea where to get the correct tubing, or at least what the type of tubing should be? How about aluminum tube? I'm afraid it will crack, especially at the flair.


Short of no better answer, I'm thinking of trying this 1/2"OD LP/NG copper tubing with corrosive wrap protection. I'm just wary of it getting "bumped" or banged while installed, and a bend collapsing into a impassable kink.



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mueller...-Plastic-Coated-Copper-Coil-DY08050/206181001

===============================

You best hold on tight, and keep a firm grip!
Entropy is a driving force in the cosmos, causing all of causality to strive to return to it's lowest state of energy.In the inky blackness' of incomprehensible infinities, light is a rare and priceless commodity.
Grasp on, Garth. Grasp on...

life survives on a razor's edge. Life is in an infinite possibility of outcomes at any moment, with only a handful being ones that are "good" for it. Yet people smile, and life goes on; nothing stops the spark of light that creates the beat in every heart. It finds a way to keep living.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

I forgot to say they told me they would refund my tubing (about $40) and I could keep the tubing! imagine that markup....

 

[Mountain Gnome]

I called the guys who bend tubing for a living, that I mentioned in the first post. They said they could sell me "carbon-steel" tubing that "I promise you you can bend yourself." The walls are 0.043" thick -thicker than the "mild steel" tubing I have now. That also means a more narrow inner-diameter; but hopefully not enough to increase pressure or decrease volume of fluids.

Ironically, she said they hand-bend the tubing when the bend is too small for the machine! So SHE knows more about bending tubing than the guys in the back doing the work, apparently. She really actually seemed to know what she was talking about.
I hope to pick it up tomorrow...

 

[Mountain Gnome]

I got up at 6:30AM after going to sleep at 2AM, drove my roommate 40 mins to work in rush hour traffic, drove home in rush hour traffic, drove and hour half-way across the Atlanta area (Atl was just named the worst city in the US for a commute, again) to pick up my tubing from



Royal Brass and Hose


the company where nobody has a f-ing clue.


She promised me the tubing could be bent and flaired by hand.


I could use it for ladder rungs without it bending.


Same "feel" of steel as the last guys ("Carbon" steel vs "Mild" steel), except thicker walls. I even questioned her about the walls being so thick.


I called her back and thanked her for wasting my day.:furious::furious::furious: Stupid...


Now I gotta drive another 1.25 hours though rush hour to get my roommate.

 

[HazMatt-SKO]

Deeeeeeeeee-eep breaths...

 

[alpine44]

I got up at 6:30AM after going to sleep at 2AM, drove my roommate 40 mins to work in rush hour traffic, drove home in rush hour traffic, drove and hour half-way across the Atlanta area (Atl was just named the worst city in the US for a commute, again) to pick up my tubing from



Royal Brass and Hose


the company where nobody has a f-ing clue.


She promised me the tubing could be bent and flaired by hand.


I could use it for ladder rungs without it bending.


Same "feel" of steel as the last guys ("Carbon" steel vs "Mild" steel), except thicker walls. I even questioned her about the walls being so thick.


I called her back and thanked her for wasting my day.:furious::furious::furious: Stupid...


Now I gotta drive another 1.25 hours though rush hour to get my roommate.

Find a competent hydraulic shop. They bend steel piping.
OTOH, with the relatively low pressures in a transmission oil loop, I would just use soft copper tubing available at any home-improvement store.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

Find a competent hydraulic shop. They bend steel piping.
OTOH, with the relatively low pressures in a transmission oil loop, I would just use soft copper tubing available at any home-improvement store.

competent is the key word. If they can't tell me how tight of a turn they can make, how can I make a mock-up with thinner tubing and know they can copy it with thicker tubing?


Oh, the copper tubing....that's the other half of the day's frustrations.


I stopped by the local Home Depot to order the plastic-shielded copper tubing I saw online. Went to the customer service desk. Stood in line a few minutes, as the two old women who were working the counter were helping others. No sweat. The customers left, and they ignored me and started sl...lo..ow..wl..ly started moving items from a shelf to a basket. NO "I'll be with you in a minute" or anything. Old, as in 40-50ish looking. I'm 50, but young. They probably eat typical grocery store food, so their bodies are full of toxins. Your body stores these toxins in its joints, so when you move they are released, and your body feels bad and slows down. Eventually as you age, you get so used to it, it just seems totally natural.


Anywhos...as I stood there, another old man showed up and looked at me and asked if I have been helped. Obviously not, but....


Me: no


old man: what do you need?


Me: I came to find out about some tubing I saw...


[[before I could say anything else]]
old guy: OK, hold on...
[[calls someone on the phone]]
old guy: he'll be right over.


45 second later a young guy shows up and we get introduced. I think he is about to help me, when he looks at me like I'm a "cut-in-line me-first!!!" kinda pushy snob and says he will be with me in a minute because he is helping another woman. OK. No prob.


He tells me to follow him to the plumbing isle in the meantime. OK. So I go there and wait. I look at the 1/2" copper tubing and note it is so flexible, if a tom-cat claims my bus and rubs its whiskers on my tubing, he may bend it. A soft bump may kink it.


5 -10 minutes and the guy is back.


young guy: so what do you need?


[[edited for time]]



Me: I saw some 1/2" OD copper tubing wrapped in plastic stuff online, and I want to know if the diameter of the copper is 1/2" or the tubing with the plastic is 1/2". I also would like to know if there is a fitting to adapt from the 1/2" OD to 1/2" ID copper pipe.


[[guy spend a minute looking up the product on his phone. never answers the first question.]]


guy: I don't know about any fitting to make the adaption. what else do you need?


Me: I want to know if it is available for pickup anywhere in north GA. I'll go get it today.



[[guy looks on his phone again]]


guy: no.



[[says something else, I forget]]



Me: I just need to order it. That's why I came to customer service.


guy: OK. Any other questions?


Me: Only if you happen to know of the right fitting to connect to 1/2ID pipe.


guy: [[cocks an attitude and starts getting mad]] I told you I don't know anything about that.


[[up until that point I was sweet to him. Then I showed my growing impatience]]


Me: I just want to order it. That's why I came to CUSTOMER SERVICE.


[[guy gives me another attitude, and tells me to follow him to customer service, but I just walked away. He followed me. I let the old man up front know the guy he hooked me up with was a JA.]]


So I went to the other Home Depot 20 minutes farther away. Super nice young lady helped me order it. Still had to go through their website. Still asked for my email. I told her "NO. Put whatever in the box". Still had to type in my HD card number and send it through the internet to some server somewhere where it can be hacked.


It will be a week for it to get here. Sigh.




In the mean time, I will look for a "competent" hydraulic supply company that does tubing. I find plenty that does hose. There is another that was recommended to me. Don't remember, but will check that next.


But I really just want to find the correct tube and do it myself, as I will have to bend brake line to fit for a mockup to be copied anyway.


If only I had done MY homework instead of letting the "experts" at a "competent" hydraulic shop tell me what to do, I would have read this quote from Wikipedia:


As the carbon percentage content rises, steel has the ability to become harder and stronger through heat treating; however, it becomes less ductile.



and would have known that the carbon steel tubing they were pushing on me was total crap. It would crack before it would flair.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

And the :nonono:best:nonono: part of my day was watching a car pull out from a right-side driveway to cross our 3 lanes of traffic. The 3 lanes the other direction were packed full. The car momentarily stopped in my (slow) lane, and moved to the fast lane and ....just.....stopped.
We were doing over 50, maybe 60. Me and a full-size Dodge Ram. But that was a 1/4 mile away. As I approached I went to honk at another moron, didn't slow down. Neither did the Ram. I thought for sure it would. It was a car's length ahead of me.



There was no drivers side left in the car that was t-boned. The front half of the Ram's dognose was gone. I bet the motor was in his lap.


Both were at fault. The Ram had time enough to stop twice.



Survivors: ......................



Me: