(no subject)
Saturday I headed over to shinann's around 2 in the afternoon to take a look at her alternator.
I've replaced several alternators in the past, and it's usually not too hard so I figured it wouldn't take more than an hour or two. Unfortunately the last bolt wouldn't come off, and after several tries (with heavy coats of WD40) I could see the nut was starting to strip. After a closer inspection, I noticed there were no threads on the bolt for the nut to back onto. Not wanting to strip the nut any further we decided to find a way to cut it off. I know I've seen those late-night infomercials for this one tool (FOR ONLY $19.99!!!) that could cut right through a stripped nut. Called a Home Desperate to see if they carried anything like that. They had us come look at the bolt cutters. There were 2 sizes. One so small it wouldn't fit around the nut, the other too big to get under the hood. They then suggested Sears, who said they did have a nut splitter. So we headed back downtown to hit Sears. Unfortunately there was some sort of game or something, and there were sports fans everywhere, and apparently they had all just learned how to drive. We sat on the exit ramp for what seemed like 20 mins. After we finally made it past all that traffic, we were one block from Sears when we saw that the road was blocked by a train. Then two trains. Longest trip to Sears ever. Finally got the nut splitter and headed back to the apartment to get that nut off before it got too dark. After trying several different angles, we found the nut splitter wouldn't fit either. It was now dark, and there were only two options. I try to get the nut past the stripped bolt, or somebody else comes out with a saw to cut it off. I hammered on it a bit, got a good grip on the alternator and the bolt and twisted them in opposite directions, and everything went loose. I thought I had stripped the nut down, but then I realized it was turning the bolt as well. WTF? So I just kept turning and eventually the whole thing came out. Turns out the piece was actually 2 different sized bolts welded together with a nut in the center (which explains why there was no thread). Why the hell anyone would make something like that, I have no idea. Just plain dumb. It was 8:30/9ish by the time I got everything installed and the car started. The worst part is it would have only taken 2 hours at the most if that bolt had come out the first time.
I then stopped by Wes's place (same building luckily), as I promised we'd hang out that evening. Turns out we had plans to head to the Seattle Art Museum in 20 mins. Not much time for cleanup, and I was wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of an outing. I put up quite a fit, but Wes knows how to deal with me, so I joined him, Jenn and her roommate and we took a cab down to SAM to check out he Van Gogh exhibit. We got in line at 10:00PM, and wandered slowly toward the front for almost 2 hours. We didn't get in until almost midnight, and got into the Van Gogh exhibit at 12:30. I was really surprised at how interesting it actually was. I have much more appreciation for those artists, now that I've seen their work in person. Prints really don't do any of them any justice. You just can't see the detail, the texture, the emotion behind the strokes. I'm really glad I went, and look forward to seeing some more SAM special exhibits.
I've replaced several alternators in the past, and it's usually not too hard so I figured it wouldn't take more than an hour or two. Unfortunately the last bolt wouldn't come off, and after several tries (with heavy coats of WD40) I could see the nut was starting to strip. After a closer inspection, I noticed there were no threads on the bolt for the nut to back onto. Not wanting to strip the nut any further we decided to find a way to cut it off. I know I've seen those late-night infomercials for this one tool (FOR ONLY $19.99!!!) that could cut right through a stripped nut. Called a Home Desperate to see if they carried anything like that. They had us come look at the bolt cutters. There were 2 sizes. One so small it wouldn't fit around the nut, the other too big to get under the hood. They then suggested Sears, who said they did have a nut splitter. So we headed back downtown to hit Sears. Unfortunately there was some sort of game or something, and there were sports fans everywhere, and apparently they had all just learned how to drive. We sat on the exit ramp for what seemed like 20 mins. After we finally made it past all that traffic, we were one block from Sears when we saw that the road was blocked by a train. Then two trains. Longest trip to Sears ever. Finally got the nut splitter and headed back to the apartment to get that nut off before it got too dark. After trying several different angles, we found the nut splitter wouldn't fit either. It was now dark, and there were only two options. I try to get the nut past the stripped bolt, or somebody else comes out with a saw to cut it off. I hammered on it a bit, got a good grip on the alternator and the bolt and twisted them in opposite directions, and everything went loose. I thought I had stripped the nut down, but then I realized it was turning the bolt as well. WTF? So I just kept turning and eventually the whole thing came out. Turns out the piece was actually 2 different sized bolts welded together with a nut in the center (which explains why there was no thread). Why the hell anyone would make something like that, I have no idea. Just plain dumb. It was 8:30/9ish by the time I got everything installed and the car started. The worst part is it would have only taken 2 hours at the most if that bolt had come out the first time.
I then stopped by Wes's place (same building luckily), as I promised we'd hang out that evening. Turns out we had plans to head to the Seattle Art Museum in 20 mins. Not much time for cleanup, and I was wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of an outing. I put up quite a fit, but Wes knows how to deal with me, so I joined him, Jenn and her roommate and we took a cab down to SAM to check out he Van Gogh exhibit. We got in line at 10:00PM, and wandered slowly toward the front for almost 2 hours. We didn't get in until almost midnight, and got into the Van Gogh exhibit at 12:30. I was really surprised at how interesting it actually was. I have much more appreciation for those artists, now that I've seen their work in person. Prints really don't do any of them any justice. You just can't see the detail, the texture, the emotion behind the strokes. I'm really glad I went, and look forward to seeing some more SAM special exhibits.