Daniel Joannis – Underglow (Song)
And here it is, the new song!
Underglow by Dan Joannis
What have I been doing?
Well, last week I began my new summer job at the school I attend, Heritage College. I am an Electronics Technician, in a manner, in charge of preparing the electronics labs for next semesters students. I am setting up a computer systems class’ components, as well as a networking lab, and various other organization and preparation tasks. Cool!
It also means I have less time to work on certain projects and music, but it also means that my off-time will be better spent doing these things I enjoy. Today I went to Allan’s house, a former band mate, and we jammed all day, and his father, someone I would consider a seasoned musician, gave me motivation to get much more involved in my music again. As a result, I’ve got several new song ideas and projects I’m excited to work on. Expect new posts on that soon!
I also ordered and received a battery desulfator, which is designed to revive batteries that no longer hold a charge as a result of sulfation on the plates. I have many batteries I suspect of having this problem, and tonight I have just begun revival attempts. From what I understand, it can take several weeks to fully revive a battery, so I won’t know if it worked for another while, but naturally updates will follow!
LED Underglow – Finally Installed!
Today my dad helped me install the LED strips for the red underlighting on my car, using this super adhesive “matter concrete”, that allows the creation of an inseparable bond between galaxies. However, it takes 24 hours to set completely, by which times he galaxies may have drifted apart. Use tape to hold them together.
Joking aside, I did all the wiring as well today, and here are the results, in the dark.
Excellent. Perfect.
Here is both the interior and exterior.
Now, unfortunately I’ve got a little problem where the actual lights are partially visible, due to the mounting locations (the lip of my bumpers, front and back, and the rockers on the sides). My mom’s boyfriend gave me an idea, however, to use foam weather stripping and place a strip just outside of the light strip, in order to block the bulbs from being visible, but by still allowing the glow to appear below. Clever!
Prior to all this, I also converted the interior dome light to LED. Hehe.
Painting the Escort (Part 7) – Done!
More or less. Basically, this project was undertaken so that I would learn how to paint a car. I learnt, among other things, that there is a lot of time needed for a project like this, lots of preparation, and there are plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong. Come and see my car in person, and you will probably notice a few issues: drips here, peeling there, un-even coat, see the primer through the paint, etc..
But, the truth is, that doesn’t really bother me! I’m proud of all the work I’ve put in. It has taken me a week and a half, and about $280 in materials, and for that price, I’m happy. And the car looks happy, too.
Painting the Escort (Part 6) – Painting! (the Escort) [Part 1]
What a ridiculous title! What it means is simple: this is the first post dealing with the actual painting. Why don’t I simply wait till I’m done painting and make a single post? Because, it is the process, not the product, that matters. Deep.
Now, this morning I did my first coat. Then, tonight, I did my second coat (see the image EXIF data for the times: I work late). The plan is that I will pick up more paint tomorrow morning, then do a third coat. I will see how it turns out, and chances are I will let it dry till the next morning, when I will do a light wet sanding to remove the dust and bugs that may get stuck it in, smooth off the paint, then I will do the final coat (or two…)
More photos after the break!!! (And, of course, the photo of me that I promised). › Continue reading
Painting my Escort (Part 5) – Primer
Well, today I did the two coats of primer. This was great, because I learnt two valuable things: technique for painting, and how many cans it takes per coat. I was surprised to discover it took about 3 cans of primer (430 g per can) to do one coat. I only had 2 cans, and I wanted to do 2 coats, so I ended up grabbing more primer, and I also bought the last cans of Yellow Tremclad from the Aylmer Canadian Tire: sorry!
Total cost so far: a little over $200. Not too bad I suppose. Now I’ve got 10 cans of yellow, which should be enough for 3 coats. However, I still wish to do more than 3 coats, just to make sure it is bold and durable, so I may end up grabbing more paint. However, the topic of this post is the primer, and here it is!
The front after one coat.
This morning, I applied one coat, then I let it dry for about 7 hours (I did the first a little before noon, and I did the second a little after 6). This is the fast dry stuff, and it felt dry after only about 30 minutes, but naturally I gave it more time.
Tomorrow, I plan on applying one coat in the morning, and then seeing where I end up. I hear too many different instructions for painting, so I will see which way feels best after I get started. My dad says to blend the coats, and do one after another. Previous instruction has told me that for spray paint I should do a coat, let it dry, then do another. After the first coat tomorrow, depending on how it goes on and dries, I will determine what to do.
Click for more to see some before and after shots!
Painting my Escort (Part 4) – Masking
Since yesterday afternoon/evening, and all of today, I’ve been masking the car, all the parts I don’t want paint to get on. Finally, I have finished that! I’m ready to go and spray it all!
However, there is a slight change in plans. Originally, I was going to paint just the door interior edges, and other crevice work, but then I decided I am best off covering everything up, then doing the whole thing in one shot. So, tomorrow morning, I will begin priming, after I wipe it all off with gas.
More photos after the break.
Painting my Escort (Part 3) – Sanding
Lots of it. Depending on how long and hard you work, it can take from hours to days. I worked at it non stop on Wednesday, from 8:30AM to 5PM, and then again this morning for a couple hours, and now it’s done. It is very rhythmic and mind numbing work: time flies, and your mind separates from the task at hand… It was fun! Here are some of the results:
The nicely sanded hood. Notice I did a proper job, and removed the washer nozzles.
Telescope (moon)
My dad acquired a telescope gratuitously from someone he knew, who had made adjustments to the mirrors that made the images unclear. Our neighbour George was kind enough to find manuals for a similar type telescope, and using the calibration instructions, we were able to calibrate the mirrors again. That night, we tried it out on the moon, and were glad to see it worked quite well! A normally $200+ priced telescope for free!
This would have to be the best shot I got using my digital camera stuck in the eyehole.
The camera has a hard time focusing on targets that are 384,400 km away, however in this shot you can sort of make out the crater edges that were much clearer to our eyes than the camera.
Another pretty good shot.
A not so great close up.
You truly could spend hours exploring all the different craters and edges and details of the moon…
Painting my Escort (Part 2) – Body Work
So yesterday, Monday, the 24th of May, me and my dad began the body work on the Escort. The process went a little something like this:
- Grind the paint off around areas that bubble and are cracked.
- Sandblast the areas that have rust on them, then around the areas to be patched.
- Put fiberglass body filler around all the areas and in the holes.
- Grind down a bit.
- Use Bondo over top of the fiberglass to give it a smooth finish.
Yesterday, my dad let me do a lot of the work to get used to the tools and process, so naturally, being my first time operating any of these power tools, I didn’t do a godly job. However, I certainly didn’t do too bad!
This is as finished as we got the back right fender yesterday.