I have been following the journey of a British couple as they travel across the US on a pair of Royal Enfields. In this video chapter. They are in El Paso, Texas, and stop into a local bike shop. Watch the video..... If you know about historic or legendary FJ's. You are in for a treat.
https://youtu.be/0Ms1yJc38wg?si=ZHTEMthzSSzAdQ9B
I am glad to see this special FJ is still around.
Fred
Dang a turbo 1380cc
Yah if I could just get my but in gear. Maybe I could get mine done. I've got an ape block. To go with the turbo. That's might be a little fun.I just keep getting distracted. Too many other projects.
Quote from: giantkiller on February 20, 2026, 12:57:37 AMYah if I could just get my but in gear. Maybe I could get mine done. I've got an ape block. To go with the turbo. That's might be a little fun.I just keep getting distracted. Too many other projects.
Did you get your heated driveway on line Dan?
I see the cold snap you folks are having and wondered. Burrrr
Quote from: Pat Conlon on February 20, 2026, 09:22:29 AMQuote from: giantkiller on February 20, 2026, 12:57:37 AMYah if I could just get my but in gear. Maybe I could get mine done. I've got an ape block. To go with the turbo. That's might be a little fun.I just keep getting distracted. Too many other projects.
Did you get your heated driveway on line Dan?
I see the cold snap you folks are having and wondered. Burrrr
I finally got all the solar panels up. 24 390watt. Got the 2 50 gallon water heaters mounted the 3 15watt panels up for the 3 solar powered water pumps. One per loop. Got it all wired up and plumbed. But ran out of time and money for the antifreeze (2 50gallon water heaters and 8000ft of 3/4" pex) so still not done.
Adding another 24 panels to the roof of the house. That'll make solar for the house 19,200watts. Just short of the 20,000watt limit for the state of Wisconsin that would turn my house into a utility. 2 new inverters 36kw. And 6 batteries. 85.8kwh. Will run grid tied for a year. To make sure I can run my entire 3400 sq ft house without any compromising. Then I'll cut the cord. And go off grid. I also have 6500watt onan generator just in case. Going to bury 1000galon lp tank. And 2 more years of OT. And I'll have my house build loan paid off.
Then I can think about retiring. No payments, no bills. Just sewer water taxes and insurance.
Is your house all done Pat? I assume you had someone build it. I instead of being dumb like me and doing it all yourself.
Quote from: giantkiller on February 20, 2026, 05:22:49 PMIs your house all done Pat? I assume you had someone build it. I instead of being dumb like me and doing it all yourself.
Yes, it's been done for a couple of years. I retired from my job and moved from Palm Desert, Calif to Sedona, Arizona, and I didn't know any of the good local subcontractors, so I hired a general but had several line item exceptions on the contract for me to do my own work, mainly radiant floor and finish items. My house was built durning the time of Covid so it took 8 months longer than I expected, about 20 months total. As an example, I waited 5 months for plan check and 6 months for a bathtub. My lumber bill went up $14k in one week...
Oh my, poor me....I needed to keep it in perspective, it was the time of Covid and folks were dying. I lost 2 friends to Covid, a sad time for sure....makes complaining about waiting for a bath tub seem selfish and trivial. I was lucky the subs showed up to work.
On the anti freeze needed for your driveway, will it be a 50/50 mix or straight glycol?
You need 100 gallons to fill your 2 water heater tanks, then more for the driveway pex tubes.
Let's see... 231 cubic inches per gallon, 12" of 3/4 Pex = 5.3 cubic inches x 8,000 = 42,400 cubic inches / 231 = 184 gallons for the pex....add in the 2 tanks, that's 284 gallons total needed for straight glycol....or 142 gallons needed for a 50/50 mix.
Yea, that shit can get real expensive....
I love my radiant floors. Well worth the money and effort.
Cheers lad, stay warm.
Would auto windshield washer fluid be an acceptable alternative? That's what I put in the tractor tire tubes as a weight (better than calcium).
My exterior doors took 8 months to get. The guy that was pouring my foundation uses a pumper truck. It broke during the pour. This was Friday he said it would be up and running by Monday. Took 2 months to get parts. I got my knees replace in the middle of building my house. Couldn't wait any longer. Got it done in December. So when I could finally get around in February. I descided to go check on my house. Had to park on the street. Snow in my driveway was past my knees. Took a long time but using my walker. I made it into my house. I used a lazer thermometer and checked the slab in the farthest corner. Was still 34°f. Hadn't had any heat in the house since before I got my knees replace. And only used a small oscillating 1500watt electric heater to heat all 3400sqft. And it had been in the negative teens and twenties for a week before I checked it. Due to super insulation. And 2" of foam both inside and outside the frost wall. Isolating the slab from the frost wall. As well as beneath the slab. So I didn't use any antifreeze in my heated floors. Pure water does a better job of conveying heat than antifreeze. But the driveway definitely will need to be freeze proof to -20ies. It has 2" of foam under the 5" of concrete.