Daily Improvisations

  • Inside the Homestead
    • Sewing
    • crochet and knit
    • Playing House
    • In the Workshop
    • Cooking and Food
    • Helpless Female
  • Out in the Garden
    • In My Greenhouse
    • Gardening in Southwest Idaho
    • Straw Bale Garden Project
  • Out with Animals
    • Chickens
    • Goats
    • Horses
  • Around the Globe
    • Adventures with Wild Greg
    • Chocolate Shops Around the World
    • Life in Taipei
    • About Town
      • My Blogs
  • The DI Store
    • DI Gardener’s Shop
    • How to Build a Backyard Brick Oven From Scratch (Book)
    • Custom designs
  • DI Memberships
    • Log In
    • Sign up to be a DI Sewing Room Insider
    • Dream House Members Area
      • Dream House Eyewitness Login
      • Your Account
      • Dream House Project
    • Become a Dream House Eyewitness!

Helpless Female (s) in Training Diagnose Car Heater Core

January 28, 2013 by Laura Blodgett 2 Comments

The moment I stepped into the garage, I knew it was going well.  A rack of abandoned track lights was hanging from the opened garage door by mangled wires.  The Trainer was walking by with a shop knife and cut up bicycle tubes.  The 22 year old daughter was stomach down atop the engine, arms only visible to her elbows.

fully committed to attaching hoses
fully committed to attaching hoses
old bicycle tubes make great hose adapters
old bicycle tubes make great hose adapters

The 19 year old daughter cheerfully informed me that, “Dad showed us how we can’t get electrocuted by the battery!  We know how many Ohm’s of resistance we have now!”

The 22 year old popped her head up a minute to glance out of the garage at the pouring rain and said,  “Well, he did say we should be careful about standing in water.”

showing me the set-up
showing me the set-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Trainer walked by again and clarified he had been talking about household electricity being more of a problem for electrocution.  Then, he showed me how he had spliced various pieces of electrical cords to connections on the track light, which was designed to be a ceiling mounted light.  It was now a portable shop light instead.

making a portable shop light from an old track light fixturemaking a portable shop light from an old track light fixture
making a portable shop light from an old track light fixture

 

The girls crawled out of the engine in order to explain to me how the clear tube running from the garden hose to the back of the engine was from the old aquarium set-up.  When the faucet was turned on, it pushed water through to clean out the heater core.  The output hose of the heater core had a bicycle tube section as the liaison to another clear plastic aquarium tube.  They all grinned and proudly pointed to the rusty orange snow in the yard.  Delightful.

clear plastic aquarium tubing set up to flush out car heater core
clear plastic aquarium tubing set up to flush out car heater core
output hoses from heater core connected with clamped bicycle tube
output hoses from heater core connected with clamped bicycle tube
output from heater core washing directed to yard with aquarium tubing
output from heater core washing directed to yard with aquarium tubing

The five hour training session also covered potential uses for channel locks, cut-up plastic vodka bottles (funnel for anti-freeze), and wine bottle corks.  The girls now have a better concept of car guts than I do, but they may be a little confused about what tools are commonly used.  If they ever happen to watch a video of open heart surgery, I fully expect them to exclaim, “Hey!  We did that to the car!” 

The patient is alive, but still without a functioning heater core.  Apparently, clogged arteries were not the main problem.  However, the Trainer and his team are not too upset.  There is just something about working at freezing temperatures, just beyond torrential rain, while performing creative vehicular operations, that brings a father and his daughters together.

not your ordinary team of car mechanics: a graphic arts major, a chef, and an electrical engineer
not your ordinary team of car mechanics: a graphic arts major, a chef, and an electrical engineer

Filed Under: Helpless Female Tagged With: helpless female

If you want to read a heartwarming story about how a mother deals with a daughter's death, read this book.

If you have ever wanted to cook pizza in a brick oven in your own backyard, this book is for you!

Basic Facts Guides to Gardening in Southwest Idaho

a list of blog articles covering the basics to help you with your garden in southwest Idaho

My Other Blogs

  • Fun Fitness After 50
  • Fun Learning Chinese
  • LauraBlodgett.com
  • The Happy Homeschool

Blogroll

  • Anemone Flynn
  • Fine Gardening
  • Gourmet In The Field
  • Sew 4 Home

About me

 

 

Daily Improvisations is a project by Laura Blodgett

If you want to know more about what I’m up to and where to read about it, here is a summary!

Making sure you know that:

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, including affiliate links to amazon.com. See disclosures here.

Contact Me

Contact Me
First

All pictures and content including the name and logo “Daily Improvisations” are Copyright (c) 2019 by Laura Blodgett, unless otherwise noted. Please contact the author with any questions or comments.

Tags

animals Backyard Oven backyard weeds book reviews Chef Betharoni chickens Cori Lou Costa Rica crochet and knit decorating even I can do dehydrating fabric stores around the world flowers flowers from seed Gardens Around the Globe helpless female homestead injuries insects interview Maui music organizing poems PVC Pipe Projects questioning the establishment recipes restaurant reviews sew sewing southwest Idaho gardening sprinklers stock market diaries Taipei Taiwan technology know-how The Best Little Chocolate Shops tools and equipment underground house unimpeded parenting Wild Greg Adventure

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in