Guns, Cars, and Tech

Author: wizardpc

  • Replacing the multifunction switch on a 1999 Jeep Cherokee

    This was my process. Your mileage may vary.

    You can get this switch at Amazon.

    Tools needed:

    • Phillips head screwdriver
    • T-20 torx bit
    • Flashlight

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    Optional: Belgian Malinois

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    Step 1: Remove the three Phillips head screws from the bottom of the steering column cover.

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    Step 2: Realize you can’t quite get to the last screw while the lower dash panel is attached.

    Step 3: Remove the lower dash panel.

    Step 4: Get the dog a chew toy to keep her from stealing the screws you just removed.

    Step 5: Fight with the housing for a while until you get it off.

    Step 6: Remove the two torx screws holding the bracket down. You’ll then need to put the hazard switch in the ON position and the turn signal in the right turn position to remove the bracket entirely.

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    Step 7: Figure out why the dog is attacking the window blinds.

    Step 8: Push up on the bottom of the switch to pop it out of place.

    Step 9: Unplug the two connectors while cursing Chrysler engineers for not including any slack in the wires.

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    Step 10: Connect the new switch and put it in place.

    Step 11: Admonish the dog for licking your head while you are trying to figure out how to put the steering column housing back on.

    Step 12: Decide the steel panel (pictured above) needs to come off in order to put the housing back on.

    Step 13: Hand the dog off to the wife so you can continue unmolested.

    Step 14: Put the steel panel back on.

    Step 15: Put the lower dash back on.

    DONE!

    You can get this switch at Amazon.

  • Things the Internet taught me

    I went down to my FFL on Saturday to start my portion of the cluster that is NFA Paperwork. It took 65 days for the NFA branch to decide it was okay for Gemtech to send a .22 suppressor down to a shop that makes suppressors for .50s. Whatever.

    Since I am a total n00b at this stuff, I brought all my trust paperwork. After the clerk went back and handled their end of the Form 4 stuff, he came back with some instructions. Sign here, date here, etc. Then he said I would need to take the blank Schedule A form to a notary and add the suppressor’s serial to it. Then, I should come back to the store and they would send everything off. I asked him if the ATF would need the original or if a copy would do, and he was unsure. I decided to email the lawyer who drew up the trust and ask him about it before proceeding.

    On my way back home, I thought that surely I could find the answer on the internets. NFA trusts are become more popular, so people on forums must have run into this before.

    Ho. Lee. Crap.

    This is what that exercise taught me:

    Yeah, so I decided to wait for a legal opinion. Turns out, they don’t need to see the Schedule A, and the clerk was confused by my handing him a Schedule A along with my other trust paperwork.

    Form 4s are in the mail as of today. I’ll let you know who was right, but I’ll take NRA Lawyer over anonymous gun forum dude any day.

  • Monetization

    I’m playing around with some Amazon Affiliate stuff on the main site. Let me know if I screw up anything.

  • How to buy a cheap car

    As a huge proponent of driving sub-$5000 cars, I often get asked to help people pick inexpensive cars. I have been involved in probably 30 car purchases in the last 8 years, so I have a lot of experience. This reminds me of a quote:

    Good judgement comes from experience. Experience? Well, that comes from bad judgement

    Here are some pointers that come from my, er, experience:

    (more…)

  • They grow up so fast

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    Casey at 6 weeks vs Casey at 10 months

  • QOTD

    “Well that was dumb. You should be resistant to change like the rest of us.”

    A trainer to a student, after the student relayed a conversation he had with a manager where the student said, “I love learning new things.” Student is now going to be learning so many products that there’s no way he’s going to be good at any of them.

  • Seriously?

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    It’s barely October!

  • Interesting reaction

    The other night I was on my way home from work and I saw a Volvo station wagon jump a curb at 40mph. The car pulled in to a parking lot and I followed to offer assistance.

    The driver was a 17 year old high school senior heading home after a Lacrosse match. He had completely destroyed his right front tire and rim, but luckily there was no other obvious damage. I asked him if he’d ever changed a tire before, and he said he hadn’t. “Well,” I said, “you’re going to learn how now.”

    I showed him how to operate the lug wrench and the jack, after first showing him where his spare tire was stored (he didn’t know). Volvos have a jack setup I had not seen before, so we had to break out the owners’ manual–also a good skill for a young driver to have.

    As I was showing him the proper pattern for tightening lug nuts, his parents showed up. He had called them after pulling in to the parking lot and they came to inspect the car. I explained to them that a quick check showed no obvious signs of damage, but that they would need to go to a dealership to get a new rim and suggested they have the dealer check for further damage.

    I did have a curious exchange with the father. After I told him that I showed his son how to change the tire since he’d never done it before, he incredulously wondered aloud why the high school Driver’s Ed course had not taught his son this basic skill. It just struck me as odd that he knew changing a tire was something that every driver should know how to do, but yet he felt it was someone else’s job to pass that skill on. It’s not like it takes a great deal of time and effort to teach this. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I do think that my parents made me change a tire before allowing me to get my learner’s permit, and my parents rarely taught me anything.

    I just thought it was an interesting reaction.

  • In case you’re not near a news source

    Steve Jobs died a little bit ago.

  • New Shooter Day Range Report

    On Saturday, September 24, me and a couple of friends put on our annual “New Shooter Day.” Every year, Oddball and I like to take newbies out and let them get some good exposure to the awesomeness that is shooting. This year I think we had two that had never fired a gun before and three who had extremely limited experience. In total we had ten people, including my last new shooter.

    Our goal with these events is to teach proper handling and safety with little emphasis on accuracy. We just want them to have fun without getting frustrated. We also want them to get trigger time on lots of different kinds of guns.

    We started off with a safety briefing that went over the basic rules and the range rules. After we moved the group onto the firing line, I demonstrated a few of the firearms so the newbies could get an idea of the amount of noise and recoil they should expect. I learned a very valuable lesson here: try out your new guns before taking new shooters. Both the M&P15-22 and the Stevens 95 had embarrassing problems. The Stevens either has a problem with the extractor or a problem with the operator. The M&P15-22 was having an issue where sometimes the trigger didn’t reset properly–I had to physically push the trigger forward for it to reset. After about 15 rounds and a generous helping of lubricant that problem was resolved. I suspect that after a few hundred rounds the trigger will smooth out.

    After the demonstration, we let the newbies start off shooting .22 pistols. I have a Walther P-22 that was having slight issues with the Remington High Velocity Golden Bullets but after we figured out the ammo was the culprit it worked pretty well.

    I met Chase a week before New Shooter Day. I stopped by The Hacker Consortium for a bit and started talking to him. He mentioned that he’d never shot a gun before, so I invited him along. He’s from Illinois and was pretty disappointed when I told him about what his state would require if he wanted to buy a firearm.

    Our friend Critch came along and brought his Ruger .22 to play with.
    I know, I know. Teacup bad. I didn't see it otherwise I would've corrected her.
    Oddball calls Cassondra his greatest success. She went from terrified of guns to gun owner in one range session a while ago. She now owns a .22 rifle but wanted to learn about pistols, so that’s what she worked on.

    After everyone got a chance to shoot the .22’s, we moved on to carbines. I broke out the M4gery and gave a recoil demonstration where I put the butt of the stock in my crotch and fired a few rounds. I saw this done when I was in basic training and it always stuck with me, so I figured I’d use it to show the newbies that .223 is nothing to be scared of. I got a lot of laughs 😀

    Here I am showing Sarah how the EOTech works:

    People love the EOTech.

    Here she is shooting it. Notice the brass in the air:

    While I was teaching Sarah about the AR15 system, Oddball was on the 50 yard range letting Chase and his girlfriend Kim play with the .40cal Beretta carbine:

    All in all, it was a good day. The newbies also got to shoot some battle rifles like the AK, Nagant, M1 Carbine, and an Enfield in .308. Sorry, no pictures for that. I would like to thank Patrick for having the foresight to actually bring a camera since I was too busy teaching to break out my phone. He did a lot better than I would have.

    Oh, and we didn’t have to use the target stands.