Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Totally not worth the effort
Firestone got the Spider’s alignment MUCH better, if not quite perfect. In order to correctly set the caster & camber, we need new control arms & ball joints, and there is no need to perform that labor twice.
Since the previous front tires were showing dangerous wear (steel belts were showing!), I decided to swap the Wagon’s Panasports onto the Spider.
That was a CRAP LOAD of work, and while the Panasports don’t look ‘bad’ on the Spider, the BiTurbos look dorky on The Wagon.
Oh well, at least I didn’t have to buy two new tires yesterday…
Monday, June 25, 2012
Whacked alignment
When I bought my Spider in 2008, part of the reason it'd been off the road since
1977 was due to an off-road excursion while verifying a rally course. The car
took damage to the passenger side driving light, headlight bucket, hood hinge,
and the oil pan. Limping it home, it blew a head gasket, which was what
ultimately sidelined the car for 31 years.
It also partially collapsed the right front shock tower.
In 2009 & 2010, I rebuilt (almost) everything, and got the car back on the road.
That was when we discovered the shock tower damage. It wasn't 'too bad', but
the alignment couldn't quite be brought back into spec - the tire still leaned a
bit. I was told I needed to have it fixed (pushed back out) while the engine
was removed.
To tide me over, Giovanni at Autosprint had 'compensated' as best he could, but I still ground off the previous set of 13" tires.
Then, last spring I blew out the used engine I'd installed, so I had the
all-too-rare opportunity to have the shock tower properly fixed. Last fall I
got my engine back & installed, and foolishly, I did not run straight to an
alignment shop when I put on my brand new set of 14" rubber.
6,000 miles later, both front tires are wearing horrifically on the inside
edges. The passenger side is already down to the belts!
However, the local Streamwood Firestone shop says they can do a correct
alignment on my Spider.
Do I trust them? Why have I always heard it's so hard to do on these old cars
'with shims'? What does that mean?
I truly hope they can bring it into spec, but I'm a little skeptical.
Do I trust them? Or do I take it back to Autosprint for Giovanni to fix?
Friday, June 22, 2012
The Driving Outfit
Checkerboard Vans, Baby!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Longest Day
I've wanted to demonstrate this for a long time.
These are my two front bedroom windows, which face directly North. For most of the year, the front of my house gets no direct sunlight at all - but for a few weeks each year at this time, I get this lovely early & late day sunshine in my room.
It's a nice treat.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
From the archives
The day my Mom found Clyde. This was a few weeks before she gave him to me (4 ½ years ago), I had never seen this this picture until just recently!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Lee - 3.0
Since … (when was it?) … early 2010 when I’d had some good success with Atkins, I began ‘remaking’ my image a bit. Since then, I have continued to refine it a bit. Summer of 2012 finds me tweaking things again…
1. You’ve seen the new haircut & clean shaven look. I’m pleased. (See picture, above)
I like the low-maintenance aspect of the goatee and not shaving the rest; only trimming it down twice a week. However, too many people enjoyed pointing out all the grey.
The ‘new’ haircut is still the classic look I’ve had each summer, but with a touch more length on the sides & back so that I don’t look like I just re-enlisted. The ‘long’ cut I try to do each winter just hasn’t succeeded. (By the time it gets long enough to ‘style’, it’s time to remove it all) This current version pleases me, although in hot weather when I’m active, it still feels like it retains too much heat.
2. The clothes & ‘style’
I have maintained the classic monogrammed dress shirts & trousers, mainly worn during the cold weather months.
For summer, I have recently switched things up with some new khakis & polo style shirts. Khakis have been tough for me – too many at The Fat Boy Store are too … fragile. They don’t wear well, are constructed poorly, and they are just too damn expensive. I found that I could buy (online only) Dickies brand workpants in the classic khaki style – VERY durable, and just $25 / pair! On top of that, I found Carhartt brand polo shirts – again, they are VERY durable (stain resistant, too!), and were just $20 / each. I’m thrilled.
The main dress shoes continue to be the two pairs of Ecco lace-ups (one brown, one black). These have lasted AMAZINGLY well (the black pair from early 2010 still looks new with no perceptable wear). They also work best with the heel pads for my Plantar Fasciitis. (sigh) I’m not 100% happy with the slight new-funky-hip look to them, but as I said two years ago, they are a great compromise.
Accessories – I have thinned & revised the watch collection, added some GREAT new frames for the glasses (See picture, above), gotten shirts in “hip-new” colors (See picture, above), and in general – it’s going VERY well. I need to address the belt situation, and reading glasses for the bedroom, but these are minor issues.
Style Blogs – This may sound the most ‘metro’ of anything I’ve done so far – but reading these has helped me distill what I truly like & value.
3. Health & Fitness
This area has suffered the most. I’m very disappointed in myself, and this summer I’m attempting to re-commit.
I’m interested in purchasing a Health Monitoring System:
Body Media
http://www.crankyfitness.com/2011/11/jillian-michaels-bodymedia-fit-armband.html
Leading contender
Only device which wakes you up according to sleep patterns
Not wireless
Food tracking only via photos sent in (WTF?)
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/03/23/fitbit-ultra-a-six-month-followup-review/
Easy to forget / lose
No bluetooth
http://www.digitaltrends.com/watch-reviews/nike-fuelband-review/
No sleep analysis
No ‘intake’ measurement (food)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Five Years Apart
Memorial Day – 2007 & 2012
The first picture is ‘Bella”, my ’74 Spider I bought in ’99, that my Dad helped me get running in his front yard the summer before he died. Within a month of this picture being taken, the car was declared structurally unsound due to rust, and she became a pile of used parts to be sold on the internet.
The second car is “The Beast”, my ’74 Spider I found in 2008. I purchased the car from the original owner, it hadn’t been touched since 1977. After several years of rebuilding every mechanical system on the car, I once again have a ’74 in my favorite color combo – but this time with the perfect ‘built’ engine, and other modifications. I love it, but dang if I don’t still miss the old one…
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Ass Kicker
Monday, May 21, 2012
The 2012 Club Photo
It's sad how the thoughtless comments of two people can (almost) ruin an otherwise lovely day.
Some people think they are smart-ass-funny, witty, snide or even snarky in a "hip" way.
I may laugh it off when you make fun of my being fat - but that does not condone it, nor mean that I accept it when you say, "Oh, don't worry about it buddy, we're in the same boat". We're not. I'm not as unhappily negative as you - nor do I want to stoop to your level.
Yelling "Slow down, Tubby" from your dirty minivan (which was going 5mph under the speed limit) was really only pointing out how unhappy you are with your own life. Maybe that kid who wasn't seatbelted in was distracting you, maybe you're sad you're bald (please, tell us again how shaving your head is a 'statement'), or maybe you're just a playground bully who never quite grew up.
Either way, you should pay attention. That license plate frame says "MARINES" for a reason. That title wasn't given - it was earned. I may be older, fatter, and a little slower, but I'll bet you wouldn't say what you did if we were both stopped at a red light. Go on your way, Dude.
You might sting my feelings for a short time, but you'll always be a squidgy little man.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Return To Duty
I still need to button-up all the column & trim panels, and it needs other various odds & ends sorted...but it's back in the game!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Successful Saturday Test Drive
How to get rid of that gasoline stench
Ironically, one Fiat helped fix another
The last time I had a few minutes to work on the wagon, I had figured out how to get the starter to kick over, but I had a fuel delivery issue that popped up out of nowhere. Last Thursday, for whatever reason, the fuel lines seemed clear, and the car started just fine! I checked the trans fluid, (overfilled it), and it was idling so well, Idecided to go for a test drive! It was GREAT to have her under her own power for the first time since the return trip from FFO in July of '11. The test drive was going so darn well, I decided to chance it, and drive the car on back roads the 4 miles home.
When I got home, I paused in the driveway to get out & punch in the code for the garage door. When I got back to the car, I saw a puddle. I pulled into the garage & shut 'er down. I quickly had another puddle, and I didn't have to get too close to smell GASOLINE!
After everything I did (brown wire fix, replacing the starter relay, replacing the ignition relay, re-adjusting the 'seat' of the wiring loom on the top of the fuse box, replacing the overheated fuse for the ignition circuit, and replacing a perfectly good fuel pump), the last darn problem was rotted fuel lines. This explained my fuel delivery issues. The steel fuel lines run inside the passenger compartment, right along the driver's side door sill. At the forward edge of the driver's door, the fuel lines turn upwards to go into the engine bay through the firewall. At that upward bend on the floor, all three lines were severely rusted - but only right there. I decided to cut out the bad sections and 'patch' with regular fuel line. Not a permanent fix, but it’d get me past this leaky issue.
I remembered a gassy smell in the inside of the car last summer, so the lines have been on the verge of collapse for a long time. I'm sure that when I applied an electric fuel pump to help prime the system, it caused the return line to 'give', which caused this 'interesting situation' on the wagon's 4 mile ride home. The floor of my garage caught whatever was in the return line, and while not much real volume - the inside of my house was poisonous in short order!
Clyde was NOT pleased. Nor were the neighbors.
I pulled out the under-carpet insulation, which was SOAKED, and patched the lines. At that point I wiped out under the carpet with simple green (trying to fight the stench!), and I sopped up what was under the car, and then cleaned that with simple green also. The gasoline soaked insulation & rags are double-bagged in some old plastic Target bags, temporarily stashed in my grill on the patio.
What DOES one do with gasoline soaked rags?
You know, other than creating a big char mark in the yard?
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Blast from the Past
It took me a moment to realize...it was my old car...
Good for the soul
With all that being said - Oscar's oatmeal chocolate was absolutely outstanding. Paired with marinated pork chops cooked on the grill - a wonderful evening that was good for the soul.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
I need to go to Stanford
The Revs Program at Stanford and Department of Art & Art History
Presents
s
Used Cars (Robert Zemeckis, 1980)
Driven: A Car Culture Film Series
May 3, 2012 | 7:30 p.m. | Cubberley Auditorium
About Used Cars
Kurt Russell stars as Rudy Russo, used car salesman and aspiring politician in Robert Zemeckis’ satire of the American Dream, “Used Cars.” All the familiar clichés of Rudy’s profession – including false advertising, vehicular tampering, and high pressure sales – are featured in a film that deconstructs the profit motive, shining a cutting comedic light on the automobile as pure commodity.
Free and open to the public | http://art.stanford.edu
Sponsored by
The Revs Program at Stanford was founded to inspire a new trans-disciplinary field connecting the past, present, and future of the automobile, and fosters an intellectual community bridging the humanities and fine arts, social sciences, design, science and engineering, and professions. For more information, visit http://revs.stanford.edu
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