Appreciate what you have.

 

Believe me, I do! Doesn't get much better than this!

 

Holy crap, your outdoor temperatures lower than my indoor AC setpoints.

 

Norm, yes, see 56438 post. The boards are done and stored for this winter's assembly. Had to clear out the garage stall so I got them done so they could be moved inside.

I have buried a CJ-7 that way with my father. We had to get pulled out, and they just pulled every plug it had and let it barf on the ground. Rules I learned:
Scout the water.
Put 4x4 on before you need it.
You can cheat sometimes by disconnecting the fan for the event.
Don't get your ride home stuck; have a woods vehicle.


I was lucky the couple times I was out there recently, I see.


Took the 72 H/O to friends' place and then rt 66 Car show in Springfield IL this weekend. Got rained on and blown around going up there. Car has a lot of smaller problems, but it is making a resonance at highway speeds. It's either powertrain or exhaust rubbing the body. The passenger side floorboard is quite hot. The driver's side floorboard under the mat was wet. I think my cowl on that side is plugged, or it blew in through the vent. Did not get much water in the trunk. Speedometer cable squeaks. Dash rattles. Something else rattles when braking. A third thing rattles at WFO. That resonance is new. The car has loud flowmasters. One tailpipe tip came loose and was hanging upside down when I got to their house. It came off in my hand. I put it back on once at the show, and forgot/thought I could drive to their place with it. It made it; upside down and barely on. It came home in the trunk. Oh, I have some small quarter panel rust bubbles too.

If I can fix the following this winter, I will be a happy man.

Replace steering wheel, get correct lock cylinders for all 6 locks and install, replace map light rearview mirror, get radio and 8 track serviced, swap in restored tach/clock, fix dash rattle, lube speedo cable, fix WOT rattle/noise, fix no kickdown detent function, replace LH vent with AC vent version, swap to better carb, fix reverse surging, fix whatever is resonating, fix tailpipe then buy a Gardner exhaust and hang it. Replace chrome piping on bucket seats, fix leaky back window, align hood. Then get the rust fixed and some paint touchup.

Starter behaved better, so that's good. Ugh. Glad to be home. Now to do it all again with my van.

 

John - Sounds like you'll have your hands full over the Winter. It's one thing when the problem is known, but another issue entirely when trying to chase down the cause of a weird noise. Remember when I had the weird noise in the rear of my car that came and went. I never did find a definitive cause. Then it quit for the longest time. Looking back, I'm thinking it may have been the start of that rear wheel bearing starting to go bad, but I'll never know?

 

John, sounds like your calendar is booked for quite a while.

 

Good morning everyone

 

OK Mike, what does slantflat mean?

 

Good morning everyone.

Beautiful morning. The pressure is off, Monday is over. Ran my errands after work yesterday. Man it's tough finding a shop to work on a diesel. But I did get medicine for Tiger. I gave it to him late afternoon and within two hours he was itch-free. But this morning he was back to scratching so I suspect it will take a couple days to stick with him.

Greg "slantflat" doesn't really mean anything. It's two 6 cylinder engines. I don't even remember why or how I came up with it, I've used it a long time.

Might try some mowing after work today. Supposed to be nice all week, maybe I can finish up for the season and won't have to worry about it any longer. I need to get that colored wax and see if I can get the scratches out of the Fiat. I have 15 days to get rid of it.

Okay happy Tuesday to everyone.

 

Mike - Why only 15-days to get rid of it??? Is it something to do with Personal Property Taxes and the start of a new Fiscal Year, which starts today, but there's some type of grace period???

 

No, it's when my car insurance is due. Over 700 bucks for 6 months. That's insane. When I bought it in April it was over 600. I said, you need to find a way to lower that. The guy said, well, sometimes it adjusts -after- you pay it, then we'll send you a refund. Right. I don't like the car enough to pay a huge insurance payment as well as the monthly payment. I must have turned one of life's corners, I'd rather put some money into something I already have.

 

Car Insurance - In 1969 I bought my first used car (1967 4-4-2) via an unheard of 48 month used car finance contract. Dad had to co-sign. Car sold for $1595.00 I think I put down a paltry 10% & after tax, title, license & fees I think I financed ~$1650.00 or thereabouts. My car payment was ~$35.95/month. Thinking this was manageable I didn't foresee the burden car insurance was going to be. IIRC, my monthly auto insurance was ~$45.00/month. Then, about two years later my auto insurance was raised to something like $55.00/month (under 25 yrs of age insuring a "sports car"). Something had to give - I couldn't afford ~$100.00/month on a car. Graduated H.S. (May, 1970) I had two part-time jobs in 1971 - delivering Magnavox home theater systems & working at a Shell gas/service station. Weekends a bunch of us would take the train to downtown Chicago to shop/buy car stuff @ J.C. Whitney (Warshawsky) Auto Parts. You can only afford so many upgrades (wheels, tires, exhausts/mufflers/glasspacks, etc.) to out do your buddies. Late 1971 I sold the 4-4-2 & bought a used 1968 VW. My insurance premium was less than half I was paying on the 4-4-2. Ugh.

 

Ah, Warshawsky's. Everything Automotive. Whenever my dad would get a new car he'd order accessories from JCWhitney and when the big box came it was like Christmas. When I was in high school and had a car, my buddy and I would drive downtown and go to the actual store, Warshawshy's. Not a terrific part of town. They had a parking lot across the street that was fenced, and had a guard. One time my buddy went there without me and parked on the street, not 10 feet from the front door. When he came out 10 minutes later someone had gotten into his car and tried to steal his radio. They did take the speakers that were just sitting in the back not mounted to anything.

I feel like I'm in a pissing contest with the insurance company. They charged me $200 a year more than my other cars for no reason, so I cancelled insurance on 4 cars I had sitting around but don't drive. Now they raise me another $200 a year. I'm gonna do my best to sell that car. I ain't paying that(watch this space in 15 days...). But with the info sharing the various companies have every place I've looked is within a few dollars of what SF wants. Government sponsored thievery. They are lice.

Norm are you just calling your 442 a sports car in your story or did the ins company actually call it a sports car? Because my take on the subject would be a Corvette, a Camaro, a Porsche, etc would be a sports car and a 442 a big lumbering sedan.

No one's in a hurry but things are moving along. There's rumors of a package coming out. I've wanted to take the package every time they offered it over the years, but never could come up with a Plan B. Usually what the package consists of is a percentage of one year's salary(under 50K) and retirement flight benefits. Since I'm under 60 and well under 62 I can't "retire" and draw Social Security, so my income would plummet to zero. No way I could start something new making what I make now, and no way I could exist on whatever that would be without some painful readjusting. But it's sure nice to dream.

 

Classic car insurance is its own kind of bitch, too.

 

Mike - I'm likely not using terminology germane to automotive insurance. They most likely considered my 4-4-2 a high performance vehicle. I recall during this period Dad had just transitioned from selling his 1964 Buick Wildcat Maroon/White convertible top & bought a 1969 Buick Electra 225. We were comparing insurance rates. Of course he was >25 yrs of age, but his insurance for the family car was 1/2 I was paying. Those comparisons were enough to chafe my **** - out w/ the 4-4-2 in w/ the VW "bug".

 

Late October/early November is a brutal time for me in regard to the the Insurance Scam:
- Daily Driver's 6-month renewal due 10/21/24
- 4-4-2 1-yr renewal due 11/8/2024
- Home Owner's 1-yr renewal due 11/12/2024

Here's what happenened:
- Switched my Daily Drivers from the Hartford (where they were bundled with my Home) to Progressive where they are now bundled with my Motorcycles. Saved $220 for the 6-month renewal period over the Hartford, plus got a $50 rebate on my Motorcycles.

- Have my 4-4-2 currently insured with Hagerty. They wanted me to renew my current 1-yr Agreed to Value Policy ($45K) for the same exact amount they charged me last year, $416. Just for $hits and grins I checked out some others. American Collectors looked the most promising via an online Quote. They had a lower deductible amount for both comp/collision and better towing/road service than Hagerty, for about $70 less per year than Hagerty, and I was all ready to switch. When I went back online to finalize the policy, they wanted all kinds of additional info entered into a not very user friendly App. Then when I got all of that additional info entered, and thought I'd be able to pay, nope, got a screen saying I had to call to finalize the policy, plus they were going to need multiple pics of the car and my home/garage. I thought, Phuque You, I've already entered all the info about my home and quality of the car, if you aren't trusting me, why should I trust you to insure my car! I stayed with Hagerty.

- After checking multiple Agencies for my Home Policy, including trying to bundle it with the Cars and Motorcycles with Progressive, I ended up leaving it with the Hartford for about a $100 yearly increase. The main reason being the Hartford has a much better deal if you want Earthquake Insurance as part of your policy.

I'm done now, but what a major PIA!!!

 

Hi guys,

We are breathing a sigh of relief, and giving thanks here today! My Wife's lab results came back on the tissues that were removed during her surgery last week. "No cancerous cells found." Hallelujah!!! 👍

 

Great news Chris.

 

Chris - Great news. I too face the same wrath this time of year real estate taxes, home owner's insurance, auto/cycle insurance/registration.

Here's one for y'all. I've been w/ GEICO 40 years this year. First joined GEICO in grad school (1984) as a University employee during which time GEICO (Government Employee Insurance Co.) insurance was limited/restricted to government employees only.

 

Celebrate now knowing the unknown. Happy for you and your family Chris great news thanks for the share.

Keith

 

Yeah, when I was in high school my Dad had GEICO and they kicked me off the policy when I got a ticket. No wiggle room at all, one infraction and I was dropped.

 

Thanks guys, your well wishes are very much appreciated!!!

 

Norm - I had Geico for both my Daily Drivers and Motorcycles for many years, probably at least 15. They finally priced themselves out of consideration despite the facts we had no claims or driving infractions. Go figure???

 

Hi guys,

I've been running. My wife sold a Secretary Desk to an elderly woman who didn't have a vehicle with the space, or help to get it home. We normally do not agree to transport furniture sales to the buyer's home, but we made an exception in this case due to the lady's circumstances. Then, shortly after we got home, she put another refinished Vintage Radio for sale online. It sold in 1-minute! $600 in sales, in addition to the great news about her health. Very, very nice day.

After that excitement, I offered to go and get pizza for dinner. Imo's brand, started in 1964 in St. Louis, it's an iconic brand here, thin crust and Provel Cheese. Wife wanted Meat Lovers and I wanted Deluxe, I got a 14" Meat Lovers and 14" Deluxe (pic). We ate all of it but one piece. In her defense I ate 4 of her pieces! Man am I stuffed, but boy was it good!


Deluxe on left, Meat Lovers on right, minus what my wife has already grabbed! LoL

 

Good for her.

 

Thanks John!

 

Went and visited one of my sign guys. Bought two I did not have, and one upgrade. Sold him the one I had upgraded from, and a sign he sold me four years ago that I had gotten another one of (that blue diamond sign I took the varnish off of). Enjoyed talking with him. He is going to turn his shop to appointment only since he really only gets business from his clientele; walk-in people are just problems and not buyers.

This week I am working on the van. I referenced the shop manual how to put a timing light on a 73 Econoline with 302, and my engine has a different timing mark I can't get square to. I think it has a normal car's mark. I got something on video with my phone so I know where it is. I am going to paint mark the distributor before I adjust it.

I hooked up the tach, the timing light, and my vacuum gauge. Ford had some weird stuff, if I am reading the manual correctly, that they came with a double source vacuum can that ported vacuum advances it and manifold retards it. I think I have a single line vacuum can and this thing which is like a dumb version of a Olds tree did both. It was bypassed a long time ago, and I just ran the line into my ported carb source. However, I never noticed this (this engine is greasy and dirty) that there is a neat manifold vacuum source block screwed into the intake. It had all sources blocked off with a variety of caps or bolts shoved in short lengths of hose. One line to a bastardized aftermarket cruise control had broken at some point and I had a big vacuum leak. I capped all the ports and the engine ran better. I also realized you have to give it more fuel mix until you stop getting more vacuum, so I went from 7/8s out on the screws to 1.75. I turned them in .25 so now they are at 1.5 turns out.

This got my idle a lot more stable. Instead of banging around from 6-800 rpm and 15-18 inches Hg vacuum, I now have a steadier 700 rpm and 18 inches. Adding that much mixture meant I had to back the idle screw off a good bit. I can't really see the indicator well. I think I have about 12 btdc. If I'm reading this damn thing right, I see a big sawtooth at 0, I think each sawtooth is 2 deg, the line is 7 deg advanced which is factory and the second picture is a video still of the car running and it appears to be at 15 deg or so advanced. My father never quite got that a timing light on an Econoline is run from the ground, even though this one does not have the right marker system in the manual, and he always adjusted it on the fly going down the road by leaving it a little tight and twisted it to his liking. This is at 700 rpm, so I need to back down to 600 to see how it compares to factory.

Dwell is only 23. It hasn't been tuned in years. I am going to get more baseline timing tomorrow after carb adjust, then shut down and let it cool off and change the battery while I wait. Then I'll do a tuneup, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, points, condenser. Might check and see how mixture is affected with the new stuff. The exhaust is popping occasionally now at idle. I need to shut the fan I have off and see if I am blowing rich. Or, it is a glass pack, they do that.

Addendum: I did stuff my hand over the carb and kill it, so no big leak. I also took in one mixture screw a turn and killed it, so it is running on the idle circuit only.

 

Those white paint pens really help in a situation like that.

 

John - Good luck with the tune-up on your van. I hope it runs great for ya when you're done.

 

Good morning guys,


Beautiful sunrise over the Mississippi

 

Good morning everyone.

Today is Drive Your Corvair Day. This day in 1959 is when the Corvair was introduced to the public. That's 65 years ago for you math wizards. I still want to get a car and build a replica of Jamesbo's favorite car, the Oldsmobile [I can't read what it says on the side]. Basically the Oldsmobile Corvair.


Chris great news the tests came back favorable. I hope that's the end of it. Nice sunrise. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.

John good luck on the van. Maybe clean the engine up a little.

Nobody is a ball of fire today, but we're moving along. It's Wednesday, so that means Skinny's for lunch. Gonna try to get some scratches out of the car after work.

Have a day.

 

Mike - Oldsmobile created one "clone" prototype of the Chevrolet Corvair in 1961 which oddly enough led to the production of the F-85 series.

 

Norm I'm pretty sure Oldsmobile management said, "We need an economical entry level car. Just not this one."

I've never seen any pictures of the back end or the interior. Not a bad looking car, though.

Now, Skinny's.

 

Yes, this car needs a lot. The grime is good rust protectant.

 

Truth

 

I looked at a 1947 Indian Chief Motorcycle ~10 years ago. Woman told me of the motorcycle - belonged to her aged father. Father wanted to gift it to her husband, but her husband had no interest at all. Woman thought her farther might be willing to sell it to me. He wanted far too much money for the motorcycle. However, he did have a new 1947 Chief motorcycle engine still in the wooden crate he was going to install xxxxx number of years ago which never happened. Engine was completely packed in grease inside a very thick clear plastic bag contained in the wooden crate. The things you find laying around.

 

Thanks Mike! The sailor's going to have to wait awhile for any unfavorable weather, we've got great weather forecasted for at least the next week.

 

That's crazy, who'd a thunk???

 

I'm back from my 6-month Dental check-up, no issues at all. First day of PT for my bad shoulder tomorrow, hoping that goes just as well. Right now it's still feeling 100% better after that Cortisone shot.

 

I think I've already mentioned I had a Cortisone injection in my LH shoulder (bursa) a couple years ago while erecting/building "the fence". Terribly painful. Pain subsided w/in an hour after injection. Still have what I'd call like a small "catch" when stretching, etc. which may never go away, but what an absolute relief after the injection.