Fix It and keep it

The 2003 Toyota Corolla has painted door handles and they are always getting black surface marks on them from daily use. The marks look unsightly and they need to be removed with wax every time it happens.
To fix this annoying problem with my 2003 Corolla I found some chrome door handle covers and put them on the doors and no more problems. The chrome is durable and it doesn't show any blemishes after use and accents the look of the doors at the same time.
If you keep getting the door handle blemishes, or worse chipped paint on the door handle you really need to consider the protection of chrome door handle covers.

One of the most important things to do if you are going to keep an older car is to keep it in shape. If it is left to deteriorate and get ugly you will get turned off to it and wind up spending tons of money and tax on a new car.
Keep your Toyota Corolla in shape.


One problem that I have found with my 1995 Toyota Corolla is that the door handles get ice built up under them and usually causes them to crack. Replacing the door handle is easy, all you have to do is remove the inner door panel. First remove the screws in the arm rest and the inner door handle. If you have power windows you will need to unplug the window/lock switches in the armrest by popping the switch panel up off of the armrest so you can see the wires and plug. Unplug the wires and remove the switches. If you have manual windows you will need to remove the window crank. There should be a clip behind the crank than needs to be pulled out, once it is out the window crank should come right off.

Once you can see inside the door you will see the back of the outside door handle, remove the bolts and linkages for the door mechanism and the handle should come right out from the outside of the car.

Replace the door handle and re-assemble in reverse order. That should be an inexpensive fix that should last you for years.

In these tough economic times with downsizing's and lay-offs sometimes you are better off starting your own business instead of being at the mercy of an employer. Starting a house painting business can be one of the easiest businesses to start due to the low cost of supplies needed to get it started. Getting started in a painting business can be eased into if you just do it on weekends to make extra money, at first, and then eventually move into doing it full time.

One business that requires very little to start is a house painting business. Starting a house painting business in your area would require you to go to your local business licensing division and get the necessary permits and licenses for you to operate your painting business legally.

Starting a painting business requires very little in the way of start-up capital. Most likely you will need:

1) Paint brushes, from one inch to three inches wide and all sizes in between.
2) An airless paint sprayer
3) A vehicle that you don’t mind getting paint on
4) A business name
5) Letterhead for estimates
6) Color swatches – Sherwin Williams has a really large one with hundreds of colors
7) Business cards

Starting a painting business is a semi-recession proof business because people will rather hire someone to re-paint the indoors of their house to freshen it up than have to move. A re-paint job is much more cost-effective to the cash-strapped homeowner. If the homeowner is fixing his house up to sell a new paint job on the indoors of the house will improve the homes value and make it smell fresh to prospective buyers.


When painting the indoors of a residence you should know the type of paints typically used indoors. First a flat paint is usually used on the ceilings and walls. Don’t make a mistake and put semi-gloss on either it will look real bad. Also, indoor house painting requires that you have tarps and plastic blankets to cover the floors and furniture.

For outdoor house painting you don’t need to be as careful about the floors but you will need to cover concrete driveways and patios. Also, outdoor house painting brings with it some other challenges in the form of insects, such as bees and spiders, etc. When you start your house painting business and prepare to do any outdoor painting remember to pack insecticide to keep the insects at bay.

If you decide that starting a painting business is for you start by doing your research at Home Depot where they have painting classes to help you get started, also check out Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore stores for assistance. They often have business supplies and advice to help you make the right choice in paint and materials and help you with business tools to grow your business.

Keep your Polaris 360 operating like new by replacing bad or wearing parts as necessary. Allowing bad parts to remain in the unit will only cause other parts to wear out sooner than they other wise would.

Polaris 360 swimming pool cleaner parts can be very expensive if you buy the from a local hardware store, for example, the drive belts in the Polaris 360 can cost $26.00 in a hardware store, while online they may only cost between $15 and $16.

The Polaris 360 runs a long time without needing to have parts replaced, but if you have had one for over a year you will soon need new belts and bearings. In some cases the wheel covers may need replacing if they are worn on the sides causing the unit to circle more often than it used to. I got more use out of my wheel covers by turning them around and putting what was on the inside on the outside. That lasted for six months until I had to replace the wheel covers with new ones.


Also, the Polaris 360 debris bags, you can find all types of the debris bags online for a significant discount to what they sell for in stores. Normally the bags last for, at least, one year, but if you happen to have one with a Velcro closure it may need to be replaced sooner because the Velcro looses its hold after a while being in the water. I have had much better luck with the debris bag with the plastic zipper.

At least once a week swimming pool water needs to be tested to ensure certain levels of pool chemicals are present in the water to do the necessary work of keeping the swimming pool water sanitary and clear. This is most conveniently done after backwashing the filter.

A well balanced swimming pool only needs to have the pH and chlorine levels checked and adjusted on a regular basis, the other chemical values being measured less frequently.

A good pool test kit is a must - preferably one that uses tablets rather than liquid drops. Expired tablets/ test liquids (reagents) should be thrown out as they very often give inaccurate readings, resulting in us pouring unnecessary (expensive) chemicals into our swimming pools. Always keep the test kit in a cool dry place out of the sun and out of the reach of children.

When testing the pool water, rinse the cells of your test kit thoroughly before filling them with water from at least 12 to 15 inches below the surface of the swimming pool. When you're finished the tests, pour the test liquid down a drain. Never pour the test liquid back into the swimming pool.

On a weekly basis you need to check the:
pH
Chlorine


If there are no obvious problems in your swimming pool, the following tests need to be performed every month, or at least every three months. These tests can be performed by a professional swimming pool technician, who comes to your pool, or the tests can be done at many swimming pool supply stores. You will only need to take them a pool water sample (in a clean glass jar!).

Monthly pool water testing consists of the following tests:
Total Alkalinity
Calcium Hardness
Total Dissolved Solids
Stabilizer

If the water in your area is free from any metals and your swimming pool shows none of the symptoms of iron or copper presence, the test for these metals is unnecessary. If, however, you notice a brown/gray stain on the walls and floor of the swimming pool, you should have the levels of these metals checked.

Pool owners complain that their swimming pool water is not really clean, but has a strong odor of chlorine so, it seems as though, there must be enough in the water to ensure proper disinfection.

It is normal to think that a strong smell would indicate an abundance of something, but with chlorine it is actually the opposite. What happens with chlorine is, if you can smell chlorine, the swimming pool hasn't got enough - strange, isn't it?! What you are smelling are chloramines. These are formed when insufficient levels of free available chlorine react with ammonia and other nitrogen-containing compounds (swimmer waste, sweat, urine, etc.), resulting in the wastes only being partially broken down (creating halomethanes and odor).


To confirm this, measure the free available chlorine and total chlorine. You will be able to calculate the unwanted, irritating combined chlorine compounds as follows:

Combined chlorine = total chlorine - free chlorine

You will probably find that there is little or no free available chlorine and too much combined chlorine. A chlorine shock treatment or other pool water sanitizer is necessary to complete the disinfection and dissipate the combined chlorine.

The combined chlorine in the pool water can also be destroyed with a non-chlorine powder based shock if you prefer not to use large quantities of liquid chlorine.

A lady got up very early one morning and went outside
to pickup the
Sunday paper, she noticed someone had sprayed red
paint all over the
neighbors brand new beige truck. She went over and
woke him up and gave
him the bad news. He was, of course extremely upset.
And they stood
there trying to figure out what could be done about
the problem. They
decided there wasn’t much recourse but to wait until
Monday, since
nothing was open.

Just then another neighbor came out of his
house, surveyed the
situation and immediately went to get his WD-40 out
and cleaned the red
paint off with it. Guess What! It cleaned up that
paint without harming
the original paint on the truck! I’m impressed!!


Water Displacement #40. The product began from a
search for A rust
preventative solvent and de greaser to protect Missile
parts. WD-40 was
created in 1953 by three Technicians at the San Diego
Rocket Chemical
Company. Its name comes from the project that was to
find a
‘water displacement’ compound. They were
successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40.
The Corvair
Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas
missile parts.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is
nothing in WD-40
that would hurt you…’ IT IS MADE FROM FISH OIL’ .
When you read the
’shower door’ part, try it. It’s the first thing that
has ever cleaned
that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works
just as well as
glass.. It is a miracle! Then try it on your
stovetop… It is now
shinier than it has ever been before.

1) Protects silver from tarnishing.
2) Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3) Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4) Gives floors that `just-waxed` sheen without making
it slippery.
5) Keeps flies off cows.
6) Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7) Removes lipstick stains.
Loosens stubborn zippers.
9) Untangles jewelry chains.
10) Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11) Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12) Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from
oxidizing.
13) Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14) Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15) Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble
floors.
16) Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17) Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors
in homes
18) It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen
floor! Open some
windows if you have a lot of marks.
19) Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car.
removed quickly, with WD-40!
20) Gives a children’s play gym slide a shine for a
super fast slide.
21) Lubricates gear shift on lawn mowers.
22) Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky
noises.
23) Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and
makes them easier to
open.
24) Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open
and close.
25) Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in
vehicles, well as
vinyl bumpers.
26) Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27) Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28) Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons,
and bicycles for
easy handling.
29) Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and
keeps them running
smoothly.
30) Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades,
and other tools.
31) Removes splattered grease on stove.
32) Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33) Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34) Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the
smell).
35) Removes all traces of duct tape.
36) Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and
knees to relieve
arthritis pain
37) Florida ’s favorite use ‘Cleans and removes
love bugs from grills and bumpers.’
38) Protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.


39) WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a LITTLE on live bait
or lures and you
will be catching the big one in no time.
40) Ant bites. It takes the sting away
immediately and stops the itch.
41) WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls.
Spray on the mark and
wipe with a clean rag.
42) If you’ve washed and dried a tube of lipstick with
a load of
laundry, saturate the lipstick spots
with WD-40 and Presto! Lipstick is gone!
43) If you spray WD-40 on the distributor cap, it will
displace the
moisture and allow the car to start.

Keep a can of WD-40 in your kitchen cabinet. It is
good for oven burns
or any other type of
burn. It takes the burned feeling away and heals with
NO scarring.
Remember, the basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

Is your air conditioner or heater air in your Toyota Matrix slowing down and getting a bit smelly?  If it is the problem may not be a fan motor or anything expensive like that, it may only be that your cabin air cleaner in clogged.

The cabin air filter in the Toyota Matrix if cheap, only $18.00 and is easy to replace.  To replace the filter open the glove box and disengage the stops on either side of the door that stops it from dumping its contents on the floor. Once you have the glove compartment door open, beyond what it would open with the clips engaged, allow it to hang free. You do not have to remove the glove compartment door completely.


With the door open and out of the way, using a flashlight or a drop light, look at the area that was right behind the glove box and you will see a wide and thin access door that holds the cabin air filter. Remove the filter access door by squeezing the clips on either side and take the access door off. With the door off you will see the old filter inside its housing, simply slide the old filter out and slide the new one in making sure it is seated correctly. It should fit square and snug in the housing.

Once the new filter is installed and the access cover replaced push the glove compartment door closed and it will re-engage the holding clips that you had to release when you opened the glove box door fully. That is all there is to it. It is a good idea to replace the cabin air filter twice a year for best results.

It starts off slow, first the window starts to close slower and then, after a few months the window will be noticeably slower in both directions. No, spraying WD-40 inside the door won’t help. The only thing that will fix it is to replace the unit that raises and lowers the window, called a regulator. The window regulator is essentially a slide mechanism with a cable coming out of each end and an electric motor in the middle to drive the slide either up or down.


Once the slide wears out it creates drag on the cables and motor slowing down the window.
Replacing the window regulator is a fairly straight forward job.

1) First thing to do is remove the inside panel off of the door and unplug both electrical connectors in the door armrest that go to the window switches and power locks.

2) Carefully remove the plastic vapor barrier, it is stuck on the door with a non-hardening rope caulk and it will peel away easily.

3) Once the plastic vapor barrier sheet has been removed you will see the window regulator and the window attached to it. You will have to position the window so you can get to the two bolts that hold the window to the slide. Once you can get at the bolts, all 10 MM bolts and nuts, and support the window while loosing the bolts and lift the window out of the door.

4) With the window removed from the door you will be able to remove the window regulator easily. Looking at the regulator you will see four nuts holding it to the door. Remove all of them from the bottom up and take the regulator out through the largest opening in the door panel.

5) Once the old regulator is out install the new one in reverse order.

6) After attaching the wiring harness to the new regulator run the regulator window mount down to where you can access the bolts to install the window. When you attach the window be sure to square it up on the regulator mount. Now run the window up slowly and see how the window lines up in its tracks. When the window closes it should contact all of its edges equally and you will have to loosen the window regulator and move it around slowly until the window becomes square in its track. Once square tighten the window regular and run the window up and down watching to see that it hits the closed position square.

7) Double check that all of the hardware has been put back on then re-attach the plastic vapor barrier, connect the wiring harnesses and attach the inside door panel.

When I replaced my window regulator in my 1995 Toyota Corolla a couple of years ago it cost me $375.00 at the dealer for just the regulator and motor, I still had to install it. Now Toyota Corolla power window regulators are offered on E-Bay for under fifty bucks!

If you have been in the path of a hurricane or heavy rain storm and have a swimming pool your pool water probably became green or yellow after the storm passed. Storms have a way of knocking the PH and chemical balance of a pool for a loop.

Swimming pool water can become contaminated by the rain water depositing particulates it has accumulated along the way, or, possibly your swimming pool water just became dirty from ground water rising and spilling into your pool, if that is your problem all you will have to do is run your filter steady for three days back washing or cleaning your filter as needed.

Also the addition of a clarifier would help your swimming pool filter remove the fine silt that usually washes into a pool during a hurricane.
If, on the other hand, you have green or yellow swimming pool water you will need to run your filter for around three days and keep the water balanced as you apply shock to the water.

My swimming pool recently turned green when Hurricane Fey moved through our area dumping a lot of rain.

After three days of filtering the swimming pool water and keeping the PH and chlorine in check the swimming pool water returned to normal.

I am using a Triton Sand Filter so I had to backwash the filter four times to clean up the water. I also used HTH 4-in-1 granules to clear up the water.

Make sure you brush the sides and bottom of your pool as the water starts to clear up while the filter is running so it can take away any silt that had been resting on the walls or bottom of the pool.