Hi folks! I feel like I should introduce myself in the new members thread. I haven't been blowing off the MINI forum. I'm just focused on too many other things, right now -- like trying to make a few bucks during Covid-19. 2020 was a rough year -- for a lot of people. As for my MINI, It get's driven about 200-300 miles a month these days/months. No place to go that doesn't involve me spending money. I had a O2 sensor go bad, as well as a diverter valve. Then a bi-xenon bulb died. My friends at RAC Performance fixed everything for cost of parts only. I still do ads for them from time-to-time, so we barter -- labor for labor. The biggest problem I am having is rats! One of my stupid neighbors didn't like the feral cats running around the neighborhood, so she had Animal Control round them up to be euthanized. Cats gone, rats moved in. Lately, one has been building nests in my engine compartment. The first one almost set my car on fire. I cleared most of another huge nest out today. I couldn't get all of it. I had a pretty major surgery a few weeks ago, so I'm limited on what I can do for awhile. I did scratch my right hand and forearm to the point of bleeding. I have rat traps all over the garage, and just haven't figured out this rat's path, yet. So, basically, I have to look under the hood every time I want to drive my MINI. CD
Thanks. The surgeon had to cut through some abdominal muscle. Been there before with cancer surgery 13 years ago. I just have to avoid doing anything stupid, like lift things too heavy, or push cars around (normally part of my job). I can do day to day stuff just fine. I just have to remain aware of my limits. My current mission is to kill the %$#*& rat/rats that keep building nests in my MINI. CD
Leave a food trail to your neighbors garage... Lay some sticky traps under your MINI... Had a rodent chew through one of the wires feeding my rear red fog lights last year... Anson at Best Motor Works located the wiring problem and fixed it... https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a21933466/does-your-car-have-wiring-that-rodents-think-is-tasty/
Casey get well & by all means adopt a few garage cats. You want tough cats not fluffy lap cats. I've been very fortunate that Mickey Rat & friends have never moved in & munched wires.
We had no problem with rats while the feral cats lived in the neighborhood. I live a couple blocks from a 3,000+ acre working ranch -- in the middle of the major Dallas suburb of Frisco. The greenspace is great. Rats are part of the deal, though. We also have coyotes, bobcats, possum and lately raccoons. But they don't pose a problem. CD
Finally going to get rolling on these. Going to do astroblack so when the vinyl comes off they'll be factory color. I have the mesh coming, and a LED project I did ages ago that will be pretty trick for these once done.
Yes, it is rats. I see them in the yard on a regular basis when I let the dog out at night. They come from the open ranch land nearby. I am trying to find out if there is a way to actually bring feral cats into the neighborhood. For a good ten years, they kept the rats under control. I never saw rats while the cats were here. CD
Caseydog, go to the local humane and ask them to rehome some cats into your neighborhood, instead of being euthenized. Write a letter to public health in Dallas and complain about the rat problem. I hope that ranch has a few cats, if not they can be forced to clean up in the courts. Public Health hazard in RATS. Or just get your own cats and a nice 20 guage and sit on your porch and snipe a few. How close your your immediate neighbor and do you like them? Get well, don't lift or push, I do hope 21 treats you better and the car industry gets back to near normal, auctions etc. Don
I actually like the ranch. The whole city does. It is a giant green space in the middle of a rapidly growing suburb (Frisco, TX). We have an IKEA, a Hyatt Regency Hotel, 456 restaurants... and a 3,000 acre working ranch, with horses and a herd of Longhorn cattle. If it came down to rats vs 3,000 acres of cookie-cutter homes and strip malls, I'l deal with the rats. CD
Drove the Helmet today! I went and picked up my younger son. He is working on his flight instructor rating so we went flying then to lunch. Fun day. He loves the Helmet as much as I do. He offered to trade his S2000. I know he thinks I am old now he must think I am stupid.
I used to work in Frisco (in one of the office buildings across 75 from the Frisco Mall (I watched the mall being built from my desk). That seems like a LOOOOOONG time ago! I lived at the north end of the DNT (before it was extended... and extended again) back then. It was always interesting to see the Metroplex crawl north and overtake the farmland. When I first moved to Dallas in '97 I played golf on a little 9-hole course that was in the middle of nowhere. I'd stop by plywood farm produce shacks on my way home to buy fresh corn that had been picked that morning. I drove by there 5 years ago and the course was completely surrounded by subdivisions. Where the farm shack used to stand is now a Mall and several big-box stores. Sigh.
Thats crazy - I had a rat problem, they were coming in in the lower corner where the garage door meets the molding. I ended up having to put metal plates there so they couldn't get through. It was a complete PIA. I hope you get that one figured out soon!
Oh yeah... I meant to mention that a friend of mine had mouse/rat/chipmunk/squirrel issues around his house. He tied several dryer sheets in out-of-the-way sections of his engine bay. It adds a very human / unnatural smell that supposedly helps keep the critters away.
Starting the process of replacing the (4) TPMS transmitters (dead batteries) in my wheels. Having the tires removed from the rims so I can change out the modules. I'll be cleaning up the rims and getting them ready for the Spring tire sale.
While working on replacing the TPMS in my wheels I noticed I was getting some sun damage on the wheel center caps. The UV clear coat had started turning yellow and frosted looking. Same surface damage you get on the headlight from the sun.... Fitted them to the shop lathe and hit the surface with 2000 grit wet sandpaper and a little dish soap to remove the damaged UV coating. Then went over them with some Meguiar's plastic polish, followed by a coating of clear UV spray paint... Looking much better now...