Hey, gang... good to be back~! Haven't had a chance to really catch up on the board yet, but I'll get there...

My buddy in MI is really moving slow these days; he's between knee operations and requires a walker wherever he goes. His driving ain't exactly Skip Barber, either; it's quite a heart exercise to ride in the front seat w/ him.

St. Ignace show was a bit of a disappointment (not near as many cars as I had anticpated); but quality was pretty decent, and it was pretty cool to participate in the parade across the Macinac Bridge with about 30 other antiques Friday evening in the '59 Super 88 conv't.

At the show, the standouts were a '53 Bellaire drop-top and a '69 Z-28. Either would have gotten dern near 100 -- obviously nut & bolt restorations done the right way.

Whelpt, let me catch up on things -- so y'all have a great one, Oldsmofriends.

 

"jim, dats jes de nature of unregulated social media. Sometimes flick in the switch off works, but doesn't make the problem go away."

Yeah Allan, I agree it jes strikes me odd how I've "met" a very few CO regulars and I have known for years most FB "Friends" but I like my CO friends better and they tend to be more open minded.

GUESS WHAT? IT'S FINALLY RAIN'IN

 

Yup Al I figured it was a low voltage mishap and not line voltage. Either way, glad it's fixed and not running your power bill sky high Why was there are charge?


Jamesbo glad you are getting wet up there. I thunk we are in for some rain in a bit.

 

Hi everyone.

Thunder started around 230 so that was the end of sleep for me. The rain didn't start until around 5. Looks like it's gonna keep up all night.

Changed a 737 engine last night. I was so tired when I got home this morning I couldn't see straight.

Scot I was just thinking. Something to do to be different. That car has disc brakes on the front, it stops okay but not terrific.

Clint hope your day was a good one.

John glad you had a good time. I've ridden with several people where I thought it was a good idea to cinch up the seatbelt a little.

Okay headed to work. The dogs will probably thrash their room but I can't help that. Better than to thrash the whole house.

Have a good night everyone.

 

Hmm. Is it power disc? Should stop on a dime and give 5c change Fluid been changed? Pedal travel normal? Rotors within specs with no grooves? No vacuum leaks from the booster? Last time the calipers rebuilt/replaced? Master Cylinder been rebuilt/replaced? Rear wheel cylinders doing their thing and all springs hunky-dory? Rear shoes adjusted? Brake fluid does decompose over time and will start to rust out stuff from the inside out... Many cars nowadays are still disc front and drum rear no issues and stop well, sounds like there be an issue somewhere... Maybe the Fiat has sperled ya with it's better braking system being a lighter car? Just trying to help

 

Well AC is bound to run up the power bill anyhoo but it's something I'll pay for to have the comfort of reasonable temps inside. I'm still experimenting with how the vents should be configured. Since the stat is on the main floor, it reaches cooled temp faster than the second storey which is a couple ° warmer. So I've shut off the main floor vents (and basement vents) and kept just the second storey ones open. My thinking is that the upper level will cool and allow the cooler air to leak down to the main floor. Just the opposite of winter heating. (but in the winter all the vents are opened). So far it seems to be a good compromise. The missus complained about the cooler main floor temp yesterday so I shut it down since it was malfunctioning anyway. Slept with the windows open for the first time in ages - nice breeze with overnight temps around 62.

No, there was no charge for the service call out - it was tagged as warranty, just he had to account for his time. I got a copy of the SO for my records. Plus, did you forget I have the 10/10/10?

Now yer just braggin son. Currently it's 84° outside and a comfy 73 inside. No rain in sight either so I still am a waterin foo. The weather peeps keep saying it's gonna happen but then again they forecast it will get dark overnight too.... I'm foregoing cutting the lawns this week because the longer grass will store more moisture.

Took the dash of the Saturn apart to fix that buzz on the left side of the cluster. Holy socks Grandma! You have to drop the steering column to remove the trim that's buzzing. Left side steering mount bolt is a breeze. But to get the right side I had to unclip and move the ignition switch wiring loom to get to the bolt. What a PITA with tight clearances and 'fat fingers'. I installed some foam tape where the plastic bezel was contacting the metal then clipped the bezel back in place. It's solid now and no movement. Clint, I'd have cost the shop money on this one.

Oh, then I find out when I'm reinstalling the bolts that there's bushings that fit around the bolt and into the slot in the mounting bracket. Another delay to sort that out. Reinstall the lower trim valence and hook up the battery. A simple 30 minute job that took me close to 2 1/2 hours. Sheesh! I was sweating like mad in my coveralls by the time I was done. I think I'll write a book - 'Rebuild your Saturn the way it shoulda been done the first time'. Actually it's not that badly put together and the underdash of the car looks like it's brand new off the line. Wonder what kind of curve ball its gonna throw me next?

 

That is what threw me. Didn't comprende.

But by no means shut off vents. Not good for the system. If you are trying to cool a split level or two story house with one system, then zoning or a separate system is needed.

 

You know I think this is why Saturn was created, to do it right. By the guys that had had it with GM. But we all know why this never came about

Oops I'm getting too factual for the pc folks

 

Yeah, I understand why Saturn was created. A different kind of car for a different kind of people. Problem is they needed to go just a bit further than they did. Here's a scan of the day we picked it up. Me, my missus and my son with our new Saturn. He was just 2 years old when I bought it. I needed something the missus would drive and be safe in. (so I could have my 98 Regency Brougham back) Consumer Reports rated its crash avoidance very highly especially on side impact. They didn't like the coarse SOHC engine, a feature I wish I'd have avoided and got the DOHC. Reliability for the first 3 years was exceptional. Sorry the pic is blurry but that's how they took it with their instamatic camera. Still have every service record and document that was ever done to this car. Folder is about an inch thick now.

 

Zoning the AC would be a much higher cost. Not into that right now.

 

Boy dat rain really helped an cooled things down a might

BTW PC makes me wanta pitch my cookies

GTG busy day

 

Amen

 

Good morning everyone.


Jamesbo you're right, it's gotta be 30* cooler. But it's going to be back in the 90s this afternoon here.


Second day in a row I was on an engine change, and second day in a row I'm beat. This stuff is starting to get to me. Last night's plane was an MD88. Not a bad job but we had a couple leaks that we couldn't figure out, so dayshift gets to figure it out.


Yes Scot they are power disc brakes, no leaks, everything is working. It's a heavy car, I was just thinking about improving it a little.


Allan for some reason I thought your car was grey, not gold. The signatures must be the sales staff.


Well did I mention that I'm beat? I've got a better chance of sleeping if we don't get any thunder. We'll see how we do today. Hope everyone has a good day.

 

Mike I would suggest going to an aftermarket setup with bigger rotors and better calipers. Such as Baer or Wilwood.

Just scored a huge Bay oil sign for the shop. Now I gotta go get it.

Have a great Thursday all

 

MawnIn all

Cut paste wedder. Watering right now before it gets too hot.

Mike, those are signatures of staff who were on duty when we picked it up. Sales and support, including service manager. Not sure why you would think it was gray.

Clint, you get some shut eye last night? It hurts to not sleep, wears a body down real fast.

Ted, Adrian, Paul. You guys are being way too vocal. Stop posting so much eh?

 

Mernin', all.

Scot, we definitely need to see pix of the Bay sign... one of my fave's... along with the Sinclair dinosaur . Congrats on the score.

Didn't get a helluvalot accomplished yesterday. Still trying to plow thru inches of papers that have accumulated over a period I'm ashamed to own up to. But it'll get done. Prolly a run to Sam's is on for today, along with a continuation of the (home) salt mine tasks.

We did get a short shower yesterday that helped with the temp's as well... but apparently not as much as it did for you's guys in GA.

Here are a couple pic's (better than nuttin', since I forgot my camera) of us in St. Ignace. As you can see more or less, the cars we had were the '59 Olds drop-top, the '62 Galaxie 500, the '55 Century, and the '55 Couple d'Ville. The Caddy gets the most reaction, as it practically looks like it did on the sales floor. It (and the Buick, BTW) won a trophy at St. "I" and the judges went out of their way to praise the Caddy. I have to say, it deserves it.

Whelpt, y'all have a great day of Thor, Oldsmofriends.

 

Nice pics John

Its a little crusty but nice enough to hang at the shop. Did I say it was huge? Man that sucker is heavy too! It's a bit over 5'x5'

 

Hey John, nice pics. Scot, I love the garage art, nice score.

 

Thanks, guys. Shoulda' woulda' coulda' brought my camera.

Fab sign, Scot! Very nostalgic. Thanks fer postin'.

 

Hi everyone.


I slept really well today. My boy got me up around noon, then I went back to bed until almost 5. Not really running late, I just didn't waste a bunch of time on the internet when I got up. Hm, that tells me that I waste a lot of time on the internet.


Scot I've never heard of Bay Oil. Looks like a cool sign. My Granddad ran a Zephyr station in Moline, IL, and when he died I tried to get my Grandmother to give me the big sign that was out front on the pole. She wouldn't do it. She said, where are you going to put it? I guess my answer of, Who cares it's cool' wasn't convincing enough.


Allan I guess whenever you'd mention the Saturn I pictured a dark grey SL1. Completely arbitrary.


Beautiful here and not quite so hot. Hope it's nice for the weekend. The rain stopped by dark last night and it was nice and cool.


Friday tonight, hope it's not another engine change. We seem to be getting more of our fair share of those lately. Changing an engine isn't cheep, I'm glad the company makes a lot of money.


Have a good night everyone.

 

Good Friday Mernin All

We need some rain. Haven't seen Elsie in quite a bit.

Thanks for the complements on the sign. It is crusty but not bad considering what I've got in it.

Whelp I hope everyone has a safe and great weekend.

 

Good morning everyone.


No engine change last night for me. Instead it was an all night long lightning strike inspection. I'm no whiz when it comes to drilling and grinding so I grabbed a harness and went up and crawled along the entire top of the airplane. Didn't find anything, all the damage was below the floor line.


There was one engine change going on in the other bay, a 777. That engine is huge. I'm not 777-qualified(which is fine with me) so all the heroes got to work on it. It takes a good couple days to get that thing changed. Some of them will stay and work on it until it's done.


So I'll sleep a little and then start my weekend. It's nice out, over 70 already. Stopped at the gas station next to the Awful house and saw a friend of mine, so I stopped in real quick.


Well okay, good Friday to you all, see you later.

 

Mornin all.

Scot. Neat sign. I've had a few nice old porcelain signs. boy are they pricey. I had to have signs of companies out of business otherwise it was considered advertising So I have a Pan-am oil sign and a RPM oil sign but I keep my Goodrich sign inside. Stupid sign codes.

Allan, Not much. last night was a bit better the missus got to sleep in til 4 this morning. Yesterday I went grocery shopping and went to home depot and still made it to the shop before 7. not gonna hold my breath for a new employee over at the stables. I'm sure we'll get a few that will try but like usual they won't show up after day one. Kinda hard to ask someone to work that hard when you can stay at home and make more money from free handouts.

Mike I've given up on the good days, I'm just happy with the ones that don't completely suck. Hope it's thunderboomer free for you and the dogs. I hate that ours are terrified but they aren't destructive yet.

Jamesbo, at last weekends show they put me next to the Corvairs and the one next to me was a real nice red turbo car. I'll see if I can post up a pic later.

John, Nice looking cars. Too bad the turnout wasn't that great.

Well a motorcyclist rode his last race yesterday on the top section of Pikes peak. That makes it 2 years in a row. I'm not sure that paving the entire road was such a good idea. It's has made horsepower more important than rider ability and I personally think that will equal more deaths for the race to the clouds. Humid this morning. about 65F and 90% RH. Doesn't feel like Colorado.

Have a Friday and a weekend all.

 

Cool sign Scot

Mike, you sound like de Super model. Starts a job am let's me finish it.

GTG headed to de mountains

 

Mornin All

Good old weather...they forecasted a beautiful week so I cut hay on Wed. Well, it rained on Thurs. May have to bag it

Allan, cool pic of your family beside your new car. You must have been proud. One thing, their marketing was brilliant! One really felt that you were family buying into the brand. Remember the big Saturn get togethers?

Mike, sorry, but your job sounds cool. Probably pretty stressful too?

Clint, what is Pikes peak?..I am constantly looking for RELIABLE workers. I have one prerequisite ...they show up

John, great pics.

Have a good day friends

 

Ted. It's one of the oldest races in the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikes_...nal_Hill_Climb

Here is a video of the gentleman who died yesterday. This is last years race.
http://vimeo.com/100508959

 

Mawnin yall
Last night Elsie and her band showed up at 01:08 an d played their new 10 minute hit single "you only wish I'd stay longer". It was quite a show with a heavy waterfall show for the first 5 minutes, tapering off to a whimpering drizzle for the last 5. I was a bit disappointed but enjoyed the show.

The boy started 07:00 today so we headed out at 6:30. He was surprised there was traffic then yesterday we were out in some real congestion and he did ok. The plan is next Wednesday for his driving test.

Ted, yes I bermember those. We would always get an invite. One time they rented Callaway Park (not related to whack whitey) just west of Calgary. It was a 3 hour drive but a good time. At that time the car was still a couple years old and would deliver an honest 60 mpg average speed of 65 mph. After they serviced it the following year the mileage dropped to 47 mpg. I wasn't impressed, especially since right after their service the head gasket started with that annoying oil leak. Still has it cuz I'm not spending the 1500.00 it would take to fixit. BTW in 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado won Pikes Peak. First NA FWD car year and it was a winner on both counts. Back then PP was all gravel with washboard so the heavier Toro FWD had a unique advantage pulling around those switchbacks that the RWD cars lost footing on.

Clint, too bad about the help. I know what she's facing. Maybe with some luck she can find someone who is an honest hard worker and prefers to be independent instead of on pogey. Maybe with some luck you can catch up on your sleep this weekend. HD has fence stain on sale this week 25.00 off on a five gallon pail. Really? The "gallon" measure they use is 3.43liters instead of 3.78. The same 127.00 five gallon bucket at HD dot CA is 107.00 at dot com. The "deal" here makes it pretty much compatible pricing.

John, hey there. You must be lonely down there wit nuttin much happening. I gots some paint brushes an coveralls wit yer name jest waitin. Too hot to paint for the next week anyway.

 

Mike, Zephyr was big around here a couple of decades ago, I'm always on ebay trying to find something gas & oil related by them, it is pretty non existent.

 

John /Anyone see or heard from Sandy on FB

 

Doesn't look like she has been on FB since the 21st.

 

Hola, all... Elsie making sporadic appearances here & there... just enough to keep the ground wet enough to prevent mowing... Sure hope I get a dry day before next week....

No, guys, ain't heard nuttin' from Ms. Sandra for a while. I see what you guys see. Hope she's hangin' in there. My youngest brother had a carcinoma removed from his noggin (under general anesthesia with 18 stitches) yesterday, so I've been a little preoccupied. Also, this morning I took Aunt Carmy to her ophthalmologist in N.O. due to a severe case of "dry eye." (Been going on for quite a while -- Dr. sez on a scale of 1-10, she's an 11... perhaps a little joke, but the message was clear.)

Anyhoots, lotsa' stuff to keep me outa' mischief down here. Funny how the ol' "to do" plate gets full so fast. But we're all obviously pullin' for Aunt Carmy -- although I think the best we can hope for at this point is that some new drops give her some comfort & relief. Good thing I am available, since the gauge of bro & sis-in-law is on "Full" with her antics as of late.

Brother is home and said this morning he felt good enough to put on a cap and go out and eat a huge meal at his favorite restaurant, so we're highly encouraged by that!

Clint, God rest the soul of the biker. Around Indy 500 time and during the month of May, I watched my fill of '60s and '70s Indy stuff, including some in-depth videos of Bobby & Al Unser (Sr.). Seems the Unser family history is practically Pike's Peak's history! Almost like they owned it. Too bad somebody had to go change the roadbed. Why can't people seem to leave things alone? Greed? Really a shame. But I guess the Indy speedway would still be bricks if it weren't for so-called "progress." I know I told you when I was a kid, I put together a 1/25 model of a '66 Toro; one of the decals that came with it was "Pike's Peak Champion." Wish I still had that thing, although I know it looked like it was put together by a 10-y.o.

Whelpt, you guys have a fab weekend, Oldsmofriends.

 

Evening everyone, just a quick pop in tonight.

Yesterday we woke up at 1am and drove 10 1/2 hours to Dubbo NSW so we could take Minette to the Western Plains Zoo for her 8th birthday. Safe to say it was trying for all involved :O

I will put up some pics when I get home.

Take care everyone,

Adrian

 

Good morning everyone.


Rained early, hopefully that will be it. Like John, I have grass to cut.


Had an interesting afternoon and evening yesterday. Drove up to Gainesville to look at a Jeep Wagoneer. I was pretty sure it would follow me home, and I was right. Of course it's a project, it will fit right in with everything else. I took it right to the shop and just left it on the trailer. Boy that place is a little spooky at night with no light. So if things dry up a little I'll go get it off the trailer and take some pictures. I'm pretty excited. My own Jerrari.


Adrian what's the draw to that zoo that warrants driving that far? I haven't been to the zoo in years. In fact the last zoo I was at was the Steve Irwin zoo in Queensland.


Dan I didn't know you were a Zephyr Oil fan. I'm pretty sure I've only seen one or two other Zephyr stations besides my granddad's. Next time I'm at my Mom's I'll see if she's got any pictures. Way way back he used to be Mobilgas.


Guess I'll hit the Awful house early and see where the day takes me. Happy weekend everyone.

 

Rained in de mountains

Mike, Congrats but I lost count a long time ago

Zo, It's de super models berfday so de chillen show up wit de beagles from hell. I wake up in de middle of de nite to go powder my nose and get back in bed an thar's not 1 but 2 beagles in my spot

Welll, enjoy de weekend and count your blessings Ya never know when 2 cats in your bed will switch to 2 beagles

 

Mawnin all

Hot blue sky day here. I have the water on right now. Amazing how many peeps won't water their lawns or plants and they wonder why it turns brown and dies.

Had a nice visit from an old neighbor last evening. Turns out he's had surgery last year to remove a kidney and 40 lb tumor around it. He looks amazingly good for a 78 year old. He also had a stroke while he was in surgery so he lost his drivers license. His new limousine as he calls it is a 3 wheel pedal bike. It was really nice to see him. He also loved sitting in the cool.

Jim, happy berfday to yer super model. Sorry ta hear yer now a displaced person.

Adrian, that's prolly the closest zoo to where you live isn't it? That is a pretty long sllog. Sounds like it was a good time. Looking forward to the pics.

Mike, is it a runner or is it that overpriced one you were looking at earlier that didn't run and wasn't mint?

Enjoy your day.

 

Mernin', all.... Congrats, Mike (I guess!). Hopefully you'll get it up and going the way you want.

Sorry for the "rude awakening" so to speak. Hopefully you were able to powder the nose in relative isolation.

Got a simple "thumbs up" from Sandy yesterday after sending her a little FB ping... I guess we can interpret it as we wish -- better than a "thumbs down"!

I dun brung da' recycling this morning, walked in Ponchatoula Park, and et a big brekfust, mit half a Heavenly Bake Shop apple fritter for good measure. so I'm fat & happy at the moment.

Whelpt, think I'm going to tackle the annual mower service today, which is quite a hassle. I'd be glad to pay this shop over here to do it, but they don't do a good job -- lick & a prayer, essentially. Plus I already changed oil this season, so I'd be paying that portion for nuttin'.

Let me gett'er dun.....Y'all have a great day of Saturn, Oldsmofriends.

 

The rain has appeared.


Was nice this morning so I threw back the cover on the Vista Cruiser and charged up the battery. It started up real nice. When I got it, it would start and run for a couple minutes and the voltage regulator would start smoking. So I changed the voltage regulator and guess what. I started it and a couple minutes later it started smoking. So question. What makes the VR smoke? Bad alternator? Bad capacitor?


The Wagoneer is not the orange one with the uncooperative seller. In fact that car is not on craigslist anymore. I asked him to let me know when he got it running but nothing. This is a rattle can silver rig that actually runs fairly well. It isn't as nice as I had hoped it would be, but well worth what I paid for it, and it's a worthy project. Imagine, a project I can drive. Well, soon.


Jamesbo you know I don't tell anyone the exact number but you're welcome to come over and count them. A guy at the Awful house this morning said, what do you do if you have to sell one. I said, I don't sell anything. In fact, when I ran out of space, I bought some more space.


Well it's inside stuff this afternoon. The rain was only here for a couple minutes but the thunder lingers. So the dogs are scared. They'd turn inside out if I started cleaning and brought out the vacuum cleaner.

 

Did you get an AC Delco one? If you got the cheap one from the Chinesium part chains then it's prolly bad again. My solution is to get an internally regulated alternator and be done with it.

 

The same thing that makes some of us drink a lot....
Check your alternator output, but I suspect you have a problem battery.

 

So Allan you're saying that a bad battery could be causing this? I know the battery is bad. Hm. A revelation.


Actually Scot I got a regulator from NAPA, and it says right on there Made In USA. Though I did change the cap so it still said Delco. Hope I didn't smoke it.