Category: DIY

Campaign: MKIV GOLF UPGRADES

It has been about 2 years in the making. A series of failed attempts, research, and a lucky CraigsList buy. Each issue I thought I solved raised another issue. Each solved issue raised a new possible upgrade. Typical example: Bought cupholder, find out that it only works on 2000+...

SKIRMISH: REVERSE OSMOSIS COMPRESSION NUT

I hate these things, and I struggle to get them to work properly. That bronze thing sticking out of the end always seems to cause problems. Last night the RO system started spraying water everywhere. I suspect the plumber who came to look at the garbage disposal accidentally pulled...

BATTLE: CANON 550EX FLASH HOT SHOE

As you know, I have battled the speedlight before. And been hopelessly crushed. I literally broke it apart to sell as scrap, and purchased a used Canon 550EX. This weekend however, I dropped my camera, and the flash hotshoe snapped. This is an “easy” replacement, and the part is...

BATTLE REVERSE OSMOSIS BACKFLOW!

When we run the garbage disposal – water sometimes shoots up the RO waste water tube. Now, we have an air gap, so this nasty water basically shoots out of it onto the sink. Which is better than into the RO system, but still not ideal. Step one: ONE...

Battle: Honda Element 2006 Window Regulator!

Sitting at a stop in my 2006 Honda Element, and hear a nice loud crack – glancing quickly to the right,  I see my passenger window slide down into the door. I press the up/down button and just hear a metallic hum. Shit’s broke. This is apparently a common...

BLINDSIDED: WD Passport Drive Upgrade

This one is a complete failure, but learned a few things. Wanted to update my WD Passport Essential from a 500G to 2TB drive. My usual “Measure Zero, Cut Thrice” approach served me poorly here. I Ordered a Toshiba 2TB driving, thinking I would just swap it out with...

SKIRMISH: Iphone 4s Screen Repair

I’ve been struggling with a project.. the repair of the 430EX Speedlite has been beyond my skills – and I’m having to gain new ones. So tonight I figured I’d take a break and do something quick .. fulfilling even! Repair a shattered iphone 4S. I ordered the parts...

BATTLE: WIPER HOSE! [ MKIV Golf Windshield Wiper Hose Replacement ]

This one has been a long and drawn out battle. This is probably BATTLE FOUR, but I can’t even remember when the first one was. EXECUTOR SUMMARY: VW GOLF, WIPER FLUID NOT SPRAYING. REPLACED WIPER FLUID PUMP TO RESTORE PRESSURE. CLEANED OUT TUBES AND NOZZLES.  AGED PLASTIC TUBING AND...

BATTLE SPEEDLITE 420 EX : PART DEUX

Right. So in Last weeks BATTLE SPEEDLITE 420EX I lucked into a victory. Basically after taking apart, and half reassembling a broken flash.. I put the flash on my camera, and it still wouldn’t fire. I rotated the head of the flash around a bit, heard a noise, and...

BATTLE HEADLIGHT: Mk4 VW Golf

Headlights on this 1999.5 VW Golf are heavily clouded. I’ve been planning on replacing / restoring them for quite a while. I saw a pair on craigslist that were a match, and jumped at the chance!   STEP ONE: BUYING THE WRONG HEADLIGHTS! well, not much to add there....