Already Missed a Day
Third day in… and I’ve already broken my commitment to post every day. Dang it! But you know what? I’m not going to apologize or feel guilt for it. Yesterday was a pretty good day.
Saturday started out pretty much like a regular work day for me. I had to get up and be at the radio station by 8AM to finish up some stuff I didn’t get done Friday, then I had a remote from 10AM to Noon. So at least it was a half day if anything. And the remote itself was pretty cool. I was hanging out at a car dealership with 3 classic dragsters, a new Shelby GT500 and a new Dodge Challenger or two. So as far as working goes, it wasn’t too bad.
After that I headed home, and really didn’t accomplish a whole lot. Took a nap. Watch a storm roll in. We were expecting some hail, but it turned out just to be a nice good soaking rain, free water for the yard! Then it was pretty much time to eat, played with Luke. Luke went to bed and then… I actually got to play some Guild Wars 2! It’s been about as long since I’ve played that game as it has since I had posted on the blog.
So even though I didn’t get a post made yesterday, I had a very enjoyable today. I’m hoping for today to be equally as good, but a bit more productive. As soon as Andrea gets up and around, I’m going to see if she can watch Luke and I’m going to get some work done on the cars (all four of them, ugh) that I’ve been putting off.
Reunited
No one else can possibly see what I see when I look at that car. That right there is my first car. Not a car like my first car. That IS my first car. It’s a 1979 Caprice Classic. To most people, you look at it, and you see a pretty cool car. But to me it represents so many things. And now it’s mine again, thanks to Dad.
I see history first of all. My history. A “flash before your eyes” kind of moment when I stop and really look at that car. The places I went as a teenager, the stuff we did, the friends I hung out with, my job, school. All of it comes rushing in too quickly to take it all in at once. It’s like a focal point where so many chronological paths cross.
I see freedom. I was never really guarded as a youth. For the most part I stayed out of trouble… my parents trusted me because of it… and because of that, I got to do what I wanted. So that car for the first time in my life could take me where I want, whenever I want. But suddenly my borders were expanded. I wasn’t bound by the city limits, or having to ride my bike home before the streetlights come on.
I see independence. No longer did I have to rely on my parents to take me places. I didn’t have to wait until Mom had to go to the store to see what new games were on the shelf. I could get a job, I could make money. And if I wanted to go to a movie, as long as I had gas and the money to do it, I could go.
I see people. A lot of people that bluntly aren’t a part of my life anymore. Nothing personal, we’ve just all lost touch over the years, which makes it all the more surreal to see this car again. After a while you gain a sort of acceptance that relationships aren’t what they used to be and you accept it. But this is just like an old friend that you haven’t seen for years, but you can instantly strike up a conversation with the moment you are reunited.
11.28.12Look at this crap.
This just hasn’t been my day…
Why can’t I just buy NORMAL bulbs!? Look at this cheap chinese Wal-Mart crap. You’d think something as simple as some insulated wire and LEDs they could get right, but no. These haven’t even been up a week and one strand is already out. Complete bull crap.
Then when I’m heading to work, I notice that the dashboard in the Cutlass is indicating I have a bulb out. So I do a walkaround, sure enough. It’s still dark out so I can’t see all that well, and I have to get to work, so I waited until after work to check it out. That’s when I see this:
Super… and a nice sized rock is still resting inside the lens. So I’m on the hunt for new ones. Yay.
Then I go to take the bulb out and the glass comes out leaving the metal part of the bulb stuck in the socket. So more fun trying to pry that out. No permanent damage there though, once I got all of the old bulb out, the new bulb works just fine.
I did get one thing done though. I put a wreath on the Jeep. Every year I see a few people driving around with them on their truck and I always kinda liked it. So I wanted to see what it would look like. We’ll see how it holds up with semi-trucks blowing past on the highway. If it gets destroyed I’m not out much, but the way my luck is going it will probably somehow rip off the entire grille.
An $8.00 Project
Well the biggest glaring flaw on the Jeep to me was the paint on the rear vents between the window and the hatch. After years of UV rays, the paint had begun to bake off. Not sure why it hasn’t effected the rest of the Jeep, but I’m not complaining.
So I stopped by Autozone and got an $8.00 can of Duplicolor “Chrysler Flame Red” and set out to clean ’em up.
Here you can see a previous picture that shows where the paint was gone behind the windows.
They come off pretty easy. Even so, I busted one of the mounting pegs when I was pulling it off. A little super glue overnight and it seems like it’s holding strong.
They didn’t turn out perfect so I might pull them back off sometime down the road and redo them, but for now. They met my “better than it was” standard.
Jeep gets new exhaust
So literally the day after we bought the Jeep. The Check Engine light came on. Took it to Autozone to read the code and it said “Catalytic Converter Efficiency Low”. Basically on these new fangled things, it has not one, but two oxygen sensors. One in front of the cat converter, and one behind it. It compares the two readings and if they are too close, it deduces that the cat isn’t doing its job and should be replaced.
And because I want to save the planet… we’re fixing it.
I test fitted everything together. We got all the parts from RockAuto.com, since the local Autozone & O’Reilly’s couldn’t get the front pipe. With a handy discount code that almost payed for the shipping, everything came out to just a couple bucks over $300. Not bad considering a exhaust shop was going to charge $400 to JUST replace the cat.
Getting the tailpipe out was definitely the hardest part. I tried cutting the pipe, but the exhaust pipe cutter I got on load from AutoZone was junk. So luckily the old muffler was so crusty, I just hammered on the pipe until it popped out of the muffler.
My little jack is small, but it has served me well for the cars we’ve always had. The Jeep is about 6 inches higher off the ground though. And fully extended my jack didn’t even reach the undercarriage! Forced to make do with what I had, I came up with the above scary setup. Luckily I didn’t have to actually be underneath the Jeep while it was jacked up like this. Because that’s some serious red-neck engineering right there. If I want to keep working on this thing, I’m going to have to get a bigger jack, that’s for sure.
I had to jack it up to get the tail pipe over the axle, and I had to unbolt the track bar and drop that down too. After that, it was pretty easy to pull the old crusty one out and slide the new one in. Then I promptly put the wheel back on and got the vehicle back on the ground and off of that crazy ass setup! I could just see a cinder block exploding and the whole thing crashing down.
I had to make one more cut in front of the cat and after that, everything came out with relative ease.
The whole job was prompted by the check engine light, but it was also a good excuse just to redo the whole exhaust because it had some definite leaks. The old muffler was just plain wore out. It had pinholes from corrosion all over it and as you can see above was super crusty.
I didn’t get any pics of the re-assembly process because once it all started going together, I got on a roll. Hardest part was getting everything lined up and tucked up as good as possible. I probably straightened that muffler 10 times before I tightened everything up and it’s still crooked… oh well. Nothing I can do about it now as it’s all locked in place. And it’s not like anyone will see it anyway. It is nice to see the fresh exhaust in there. Feels rewarding.
Seems like it did what it was supposed to. It’s definitely quieter. We cleared the check engine code with our new code scanner.
I have to say, it was super nice working on something that wasn’t rusted solid like our other old cars. The O2 sensors and even the bolts going into the exhaust manifold all came loose with relative ease! Is this why people don’t usually drive 30 year old cars? Haha.
10.16.12
Tuesday Top Ten – Normal Vechicles
There’s a lot of automobile top ten lists out there. But there’s not too many lists featuring vehicles as mundane as this.
Here’s the rules.
- No exotics/Sports Cars, etc. Every car on this list has to be an attainable automobile in its day. Nothing nicer than a Cadillac. Sorry ZR1… you’re excluded.
- No special editions. If the car wasn’t awesome or significant in every flavor, then it doesn’t make the list. Sorry WRX, the vanilla Impreza is meh.
- Cars are rated by either natural awesomeness, historical significance, uniqueness, or just how much I like them.
This list is certainly my own, biased by the vehicles I have personally been exposed to and the era I grew up in. I think there’s only two cars on the list that are even still being manufactured.
Your list is probably very different, so if you have a “normal” car that is in YOUR top 10. Post it up in the comments below!
10. Chevy Caprice/Ford Crown Victoria: These cars had to make the list. Watch any movie from 1980 to 1995 and I GUARANTEE you will see a Caprice or Crown Vic in some form. It is mind boggling how many of these cars were built, and they were solid to boot! They were more than just cop cars or taxi’s too. Grandma and Grandpa drove Crown Victorias for as long as I can remember. They’re some of the most spacious and comfortable cars to ride and drive that I know of. Oh, my first car was a 1979 Caprice too. “The Beast”.
9. Dodge Caravan: Now you’re thinking. “Damn, this is going to be one lame list.” But you need to pack that crap up right here and right now. The Dodge Caravan was AMAZING. UN-FING BELIEVABLE. If you grew up in the 90’s or had kids in the 90’s. I guarandamntee you at least rode in a mini-van. I’d venture to guess that your family even owned one. We had a Chevy Astro, ourselves. And if it weren’t for the Dodge Caravan… there would be no minivan. You know how people feel about mini-vans NOW. Well when the Dodge Caravan came out. All of a sudden everyone felt EXACTLY THE SAME about station wagons. The Caravan kicked off 2 decades of the active family lifestyle all by its damn self. Show some g-d respect.
8. Lincoln Mark VII: Nothing says “Word, bro” like a 5.0 Mustang. How many times has some 19 year old jack-ass pulled up next to you at a stop light thinking they’re hot stuff in their primered up GT and gone screaming off thinking there cool? You know what’s ACTUALLY cool? Having a little class. Knowing that you could mash the pedal on that same 5.0 HO motor if you needed to, but you just aren’t in that much of a hurry. Cocktails aren’t until 7PM. Besides, the longer it takes you to get there, the longer you get to enjoy those leather seats, wrapped steering wheel, six way power seats and a little bit of elegance that goes with driving a Lincoln. And then if some punk in a Camaro wants to show you what’s up, it’s on.
7. Ford LTD II: The LTD II makes this list for two reasons. A) It is quintessential late 70’s design with the stacked headlights, hood ornament, and big bumpers. and B) I LOVE big cars. And they don’t get much bigger than this. There’s more metal in the hood of that car that there is in most cars today… total. There’s just something about a big car that says, “I’m more important than one parking space”. More than that, I think the people that drove these cars knew what it meant to go somewhere. The automobile shouldn’t be some utilitarian machine that mind numbingly transports you from point A to point B. If you want that, get a Toyota. But a car like this has all the things you love about getting home after a long day and leaning back in your favorite chair. And why should that be anchored to your home? Kick back. Relax. Stretch your feet out. You’re on a mother f’n boat.
6. 70’s & 80’s Chevy Pickups: Back when trucks were used for things like: Working. And before trucks were used for things like: Driving to work. There is a difference. The Chevy truck specifically makes the list because it’s so damn good looking. Chevy kept the same body style for almost two decades and for good reason. There’s lots of these old rusty trucks around, but when you see one that is original, clean and taken care of, you just have to say, “That’s a damn nice truck”. That is if they haven’t primered it up and painted it with some kind of glittery boat paint.
5. Chrysler 300: Okay, so this one almost feels like it doesn’t fit here, right? 85 Chevy, 78 Ford… 2004 Chrysler 300? What’s up with that. Well, here it is. Click THIS LINK, THIS LINK, THIS LINK, or THIS LINK. From about 1993 to 2005 I think just about every friggin’ car looked almost exactly the same. And that being remarkably similar to a suppository. When the new Chrysler 300 came out, I thought, “FINALLY! Something that has some STYLE, some LINES!” People always talk about how back in the 50’s and 60’s they made cars that were truly art. I dare somebody to tell me the 1997 Monte Carlo is a piece of art. But once the 300 came out and was SUCCESSFUL… all of a sudden you saw other vehicle manufactures start taking some bold strokes of their own. Finally we’re starting to see new cars again that actually have a statement to make!
4. Vista Cruiser: I don’t care what you say. Station wagons are sweet. Much like the mini-van the bad wrap they get isn’t from their own dysfunction, but rather the dysfunction that took place from within. When you get your family cooped up inside ANY finite space, there’s bound to be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Don’t take that out on the station wagon though. And if you’re going to get a wagon, at the top of the heap is the Vista Cruiser. The class of an Oldsmobile, the freedom of looking up at the stars as you roll down the road to Lord know where dad is taking you next. Plus put some sweet chrome wheels and a throaty exhaust on, and you have one car I’d be proud to be picked up from school in.
3. Jeep Wagoneer: I really came close to putting the Grand Cherokee on this list because I truly love it so far, but I couldn’t do it because I just haven’t got to know it yet. Not that I know the Wagoneer any better, but from what I can tell, this Jeep wants nothing to do with stoplights. Or even pavement for that matter. A friend of mine, their family had a Grand Wagoneer as I was growing up, and I just remember being very fond of that vehicle. Maybe it was the wood grain, or maybe it’s because they seemed a little out of place compared to everything else at the end of their run. But whatever it was, it always felt like its own idea. Not playing off of the flavor of the year. It was about getting away from everything. And that’s an idea I can rally around. Hook up an Airstream to the bumper, and you’ve found my paradise.
2. Oldsmobile Toronado: This blog has talked more about the Toronado than probably any other, and I could probably lament even further. But I’ll just sum it up by saying, “Best car I’ve ever owned, by far.”
1. Chevy El Camino: Save your trailer park jokes, alright? Because some day your sorry butt is going to want to move a couch. And its going to cost you a 12-Pack. Because the El Camino doesn’t work for free. If any vehicle was my Holy Grail, it’s the El Camino. I had one, and it met an un-timely demise. Some day… some day… I will ride again. And have the ability to haul home countless antique radios, engine blocks, and untold other monstrosities that are outcasts from an earlier time… just like the El Camino.
First Road Trip for the Jeep
We all loaded up in the Jeep and headed to Wichita for the weekend to re-celebrate Andrea’s birthday. I’m always a little nervous hitting the road with a vehicle I’m not yet familiar with. But everything went uneventfully as hoped!
It is pretty nice to have all that space for loading stuff up. We leave for less than 48 hours, but with all the stuff we take for Luke, it feels like we’re going to be gone for a week. And I found myself wondering how we would ever fit it all in the Cutlass before.
Pit stop
The trip itself was pretty fun. Went down and ate an awesome meal at Andrea’s sister’s house, then went out for some cosmic bowling in Wichita. That was fun. I bowled my new personal best. A 161!
As always, I enjoy going on these little trips, but I always love getting home too. It’s getting late. Time for me to download a new podcast to my phone, put my earbuds in and drift off!
The Newest Addition: 1996 Grand Cherokee
Well I realized a while ago, I haven’t posted anything on here about our new vehicle. When the Toronado went down, after about a week it became obvious that I wasn’t going to get it running in the immediate future. So we couldn’t be with just one vehicle, that would leave Andrea and Luke stranded out here in the sticks any time I’m at work.
So we looked around, but I didn’t want to take the first thing that came along just because we were desperate. Even though we kinda were desperate. We test drove a crappy little Ford Escort for a day. It got great mileage, but it was TINY… two doors, and had a big dent in the side. Driving it felt a lot like driving Andrea’s old Mustang again, only less cool and in worse shape. I drove it around thinking… if we got this car I would hate driving it every day I have it. If I don’t feel anything for a car, then it starts to get neglected. And when it starts to get neglected, it starts falling apart. So I made up my mind that I wanted something I at least LIKED, even if it was less than ideal.
I had put the word out to everyone I knew to keep an eye peeled for a car that was in our price range. Andrea and I debated for a couple days about whether to take on a car payment or not. Even I, seriously considered it. But just the thought of it felt restrictive. You know how you feel when you get a raise at work, and you have a little extra breathing room? Well this felt the opposite of that. So we made up our mind to look for something we could buy outright if at all possible.
Andrea and I discussed a lot of vehicles while we were looking through classifieds. Most of the times the cars that Andrea liked were too expensive, and most of the cars that I liked were too… “grandpa”. Then on my way to go get my new cell phone, I drove by this Jeep out front of a little car dealership. I knew a Jeep was one of the things she would drive. And I didn’t mind the idea of a sport utility. Heck we are used to crappy gas mileage anyway. But I also knew she hated red. But it was a Jeep in our price range. I had that going for me. Nevertheless, I took it on a test drive and headed to Albert to see what she would say.
Here’s the picture I snapped before we bought it.
It drove right down the road. It was clean. It needed a list of little things done to it like latches and some touch ups here and there. But it seemed solid and reliable. I don’t know what Andrea thought when she first saw it, but when I saw it driving by I thought, “That would be perfect… and extraordinarily ordinary“. Haha.
It is by far the most average vehicle we’ve had in a long time, but I like it! It’s comfortable, it’s not hacked to bits. And while it’s not perfect by far, I can still take some pride in it.
I got it all detailed and took a bunch of pictures today out at Pawnee Rock. I think it looks pretty good for an old average commonplace Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Lots more pictures if you keep reading…..
09.13.12Fuuuuuuu……dge
I wondered when this day would come. The day that I seriously have to consider replacing the Toronado. The damage to the front axle is more extensive that I thought, and it’s not a part that is readily available. I don’t know if it can be fixed, and we can’t sit around with just one vehicle while I wait for the part to materialize.
I’m really kinda torn. I’ve been driving this car for 5 1/2 years now and I still like it actually. I’m familiar with it, and I’m comfortable with it. But sometimes I think, it’d be nice to have something different. Not necessarily “newer” or “older” or “cooler”, just nicer. By that I just mean comfortable and reliable. I don’t need anything fancy or cool.
Andrea and I differ a bit in that. She needs the cool factor. And the cool factor drives up the price. One note of observation: “grandpa cars” are usually cheaper. And they’re usually pretty well taken care of. There seems to be a lot of them, an nobody wants one. By contrast cool cars are wanted by everybody, so you get a lot less car for your money. Besides, old people really have it figured out. Big roomy cars you can stretch out in. Comfy seats. And why do you need lots of power? It’s not like you’re going to pass anybody with the cruise control set at 55mph.
So I think for now… unless someone on my Oldsmobile forums posts up the part I need, I’m going to buy a super cheap car to get us by for a few months. I don’t want to run out buy something that we settle for just because we’re desperate. So I’m on the lookout for a super cheap car for now AND the Toro parts I need. And maybe long term something in real nice shape that I can drive for another 5+ years.
It feels like a really sad day.
Well…. This isn’t good. It looks like the axle failed BECAUSE another part failed. The support that holds the axle in place, basically.
The part that is broken is listed in the picture below as “SUPPORT BRACKET AND BEARING”.
The problem is… you can’t just run down to AutoZone and get a new one. The only place I can get one is from another Toronado.
It MIGHT be able to be welded back together. But I don’t know.
Could this be the end of the Toronado?
I hope not.
09.8.12Stranded.
My car has only left me stranded once before in the 6+ years I’ve owned it. And that was due to my own stupidity flooding the engine.
This time around the failure was more… catastrophic.
As you can see in the picture above, something “exploded”. That something was the inside joint on my passenger side axle. I had a mild vibration over the past couple months, and I couldn’t track it down. So I just kept driving it. Today on the way home from town, the vibration quickly started to escalate. I slowed down to 50, and the vibration went away, but then started to come back. I slowed down to 40… got better…. then came back. I found a place to pull over and did a walk around on the car. That’s when I discovered the mess. The car still moved under its own power so I figured I would try to limp home.
I was about 10 miles from home and figured I’d give it a shot. Thank God I decided to take the back roads home. So I head down the county black top doing 25mph. Everything seems like it was going pretty good. Until I got to a decent sized hill. Then POP! WHZZZZ! And that was it. No more go.
So I got off the road as best I could with no power. I pulled out my cell phone and of course “Your battery has less than 10% remaining, please plug in your charger.” Nice. I called my neighbor Chris with my final minutes of battery life and he brought out a truck to pull me home.
So the Toronado is now back in the driveway. I ordered a new axle. If there’s anything frustrating about this it’s that the part that broke is a part I replaced only two years ago. With a 30 year old car that has over 260,000 miles, you figure its going to be one of the 30 year old parts that breaks… not a two year old part with maybe 20,000 miles. But nothing you can do about it now. The replacement part is only $70, so still not quite justified to get a new car yet.
At least I made it to the liquor store… I was out of beer.