Archive for the ‘Cars’ Category

I hadn’t seen an Austin-Healey of these since I was a kid. Cool car. They wanted $7,000 for this one and it needed a new interior.

1960 Austin Healey I seen sitting in Utica, Ohio for sale.

I don’t get free stuff often, but when I do, I get a bunch of it. This was free dirt from my brother-in-law. Free dirt also means dirt that you have to shovel. Tami helped. It was just enough to fill all of the holes they dogs have dug in the yard. There are better ways to spend a Sunday, but it was free dirt.

Never put this much dirt in a Ford either. It was almost to much for a Chevy.

I bet there are people wondering why anyone would post about a load of dirt. I do it because I can and it’s almost free.

I seen a show on TV where people in far flung deserts are getting online now. They’re hauling dirt with donkeys and camels. Maybe they’ll be inspired. Rich people could land here and be thankful they didn’t have to spend their Sunday shoveling dirt. It’s an inspirational post.

When you spend your day this way and you’re trying to come up with something to post, this is what you end up with.

You should always drive with your eyes open, especially while on the Tail Of The Dragon in Tennessee. When people are flagging you down, it’s usually for a reason too.

Catalytic converters being targeted by thieves – MOUNT VERNON — Local law enforcement reported at least five incidents in the past week of people claiming their catalytic converters were stolen. [Mount Vernon News]

How hard is this to curb? Require scrap metal dealers to take a digital photo or require photo id with an explanation of where the converter came from.  This isn’t to much to ask from them.

I go to scrap yards all the time and they are full of undersireables toting in goods that I would bet are stolen. They get enough to have a few beers or a crack fix. They’re not hard to spot. Of course, good people go there too, but the stuff they’re bringing is obviously from projects and what not.

I have an old C2500 1992 Chevy Truck. It’s paid for and it’s tough enough to do most things. With it’s 5 speed and throttle body injection, I can get close to 20 mpg out of it. So, when it’s broke down, I am not happy. For a long time, this truck has had a major stalling problem that nobody could figure out.

The truck would run just fine, then out of nowhere, it would stall. Sometimes it would start up, other times you had to wait about 10 minutes to try it again. No matter what, it couldn’t hold a low idle when the engine was warm.

Nobody could figure out what was wrong. I tried the Internet and the suggestions others had posted. New fuel filters, spark plugs, fuel cleaners, new throttle body sensors, and anything else that made sense. Now that winter is coming on, I want my truck! The motorcycle is getting cold and I’ve passed up oppurtunites for free firewood.

I took the truck to a mechanic and the correct diagnosis of a bad distributor was made! It’s still running rough because it needs a new rotor, rotor cap and plug wires. It was a pricey fix – $300, but  I’m willing to pay for someone who was smart enough to know what was wrong. He told me he just looked at all the corrosion in the distributor and knew what the problem was. Also, spraying some water around the motor killed it immediately. Lesson learned. Nobody even suggested the water trick to me, so I was happy to get the tip.

If you’re having similar problems, I hope this post helps. I could have did this repair for less than half of their cost on my own. Contact me if you have any questions I can help with. As Red Green says, “Remember, we’re all in this together.”

Old Ford Gran Torino.

Bad photography, I know, but good enough to get the point across. This was a cool car. I believe it’s a 1968 Torino, but it could be an old Mercury. Fords were never my favorite, but they made some nice looking cars in this era. I didn’t want to bother the owners, so I took the picture from quite a distance.

When I was a teenager, I had a friend’s Dad that had a Cobra Jet similar to this. I remember it being an odd looking muscle car, but very cool. With the sloped back window, I guess they figured that forward movement was all that mattered. There’s no way you could see much, but it sure looked cool.

As for the photography, I’m trying to learn a new camera. I’m not doing to well with low light conditions like this. I have to master the noise levels yet. The noise is all those purple speckles you see when you look very close. It’s a common condition for digital cameras, but this one is worse than most. I may have to resort to spending money on software that corrects the problem.