I got onto these here interwebs back in the early days of '95. Some people will call me a newbie for not having used Arpanet. I used Gopher back in the day to talk to other idiots in innane sentance fragments...
Anyway today I found http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/index.htm which is an index of the different idiots you'll find on different webforums that will attack you for pretty much anything you say.
Which flame warrior are you? I like to think I'm the evil clown. Not because I like to get into flame wars although I'll admit I've been through a flame war or two in my day, maybe even started a couple, but I like the name "evil clown"..
That said I'm not sure I'm evil.
-Curt
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I love cars
My first car was an '84 Ford Tempo, it was a blast I have great memories of it even though it was a fairly cheap car.
Then I had: '88 GMC Jimmy S15, '96 Dodge Dakota, '81 Mercedes-Benz 300TD, '83 Mercedes-Benz 240D, and '85 Mercedes-Benz 190D.
I currently have the Dodge, the 240D and the 190D. The idea was that I'll drive the 190D since I drive 110 miles a day (yay 40 mpg!) Angie will drive the 240D on her 20 mile commute (28mpg!) and the pickup gets used for pickup stuff (12mpg).
Now a guy on the Mercedes list is selling his '83 VW Quantum diesel (45mpg) for a very reasonable price and I WANT it. I've always kind of wanted a VW diesel, they're pretty cool. When I was in high school the drama teacher had a Dasher diesel wagon in her barn and I thought it was very cool.
The downside with the Quantum is its in Iowa... I don't think thats going to stop me, I've planned to fly out and drive the thing back. Its about 1300 miles and I know from experience I can do 1400 miles in 3 pretty easy days. It looks like about $500 for airfare, fuel, food and lodging. Less if I eat sandwiches and sleep in the car. Angie is on board with the idea so add $150 for her airfare...
Justin that I work with says theres a big amusment park in Ohio that has loads of rollercoasters. I enjoy a roller coaster so maybe we can stop there on our way back. My friend Krista lives in Chicago as does my friend Matt. I've never been to Chicago, might be fun to stop and I bet they'd put us up for a night...
So the great American road movie, before fuel becomes so expensive it's inconcievable...
-Curt
Then I had: '88 GMC Jimmy S15, '96 Dodge Dakota, '81 Mercedes-Benz 300TD, '83 Mercedes-Benz 240D, and '85 Mercedes-Benz 190D.
I currently have the Dodge, the 240D and the 190D. The idea was that I'll drive the 190D since I drive 110 miles a day (yay 40 mpg!) Angie will drive the 240D on her 20 mile commute (28mpg!) and the pickup gets used for pickup stuff (12mpg).
Now a guy on the Mercedes list is selling his '83 VW Quantum diesel (45mpg) for a very reasonable price and I WANT it. I've always kind of wanted a VW diesel, they're pretty cool. When I was in high school the drama teacher had a Dasher diesel wagon in her barn and I thought it was very cool.
The downside with the Quantum is its in Iowa... I don't think thats going to stop me, I've planned to fly out and drive the thing back. Its about 1300 miles and I know from experience I can do 1400 miles in 3 pretty easy days. It looks like about $500 for airfare, fuel, food and lodging. Less if I eat sandwiches and sleep in the car. Angie is on board with the idea so add $150 for her airfare...
Justin that I work with says theres a big amusment park in Ohio that has loads of rollercoasters. I enjoy a roller coaster so maybe we can stop there on our way back. My friend Krista lives in Chicago as does my friend Matt. I've never been to Chicago, might be fun to stop and I bet they'd put us up for a night...
So the great American road movie, before fuel becomes so expensive it's inconcievable...
-Curt
Sunday, July 13, 2008
I wonder if he knows?
Eating lunch in the breakroom at work the other day I had the opportunity to watch a fat man eat a ring ding.
He is an actual fat man, about 5'8" maybe 250 or 275, one that has to swing his arms out when he walks because otherwise they'll bounce on his belly. It was a real ring ding too, I could read the label.
I love ring dings. If you don't remember them, think a hockey puck of chocolate goodness. They have a corner at the top which is my favorite part, they're cream filled too which is nice but not a requirement in my book. I haven't had a ring ding in I don't know how long. Probably 8 years at least, since I graduated from college and stopped going back to my parent's house anyway. I can still remember the texture of that chocolate corner though.
You might wonder why I haven't had a ring ding in so long if I like them so much. I'm 6', 220#. Chunky but not really fat as such. The problem is a couple years ago I was 240#. Its taken me about 5 years to lose 20#. I'd really like to lose another 20# and while I'd prefer to do it in less than 5 years if thats what it takes I'd be happy with it. 20 pounds in 5 years is 4 pounds a year. That may not seem like much but if you were gaining 4 pounds a years... Anyway its the gaining of pounds that makes me not eat ring dings.
I didn't see what else the fat man had for lunch but I'm guessing the ring ding was representative. I suppose if it makes him happy good for him...
He is an actual fat man, about 5'8" maybe 250 or 275, one that has to swing his arms out when he walks because otherwise they'll bounce on his belly. It was a real ring ding too, I could read the label.
I love ring dings. If you don't remember them, think a hockey puck of chocolate goodness. They have a corner at the top which is my favorite part, they're cream filled too which is nice but not a requirement in my book. I haven't had a ring ding in I don't know how long. Probably 8 years at least, since I graduated from college and stopped going back to my parent's house anyway. I can still remember the texture of that chocolate corner though.
You might wonder why I haven't had a ring ding in so long if I like them so much. I'm 6', 220#. Chunky but not really fat as such. The problem is a couple years ago I was 240#. Its taken me about 5 years to lose 20#. I'd really like to lose another 20# and while I'd prefer to do it in less than 5 years if thats what it takes I'd be happy with it. 20 pounds in 5 years is 4 pounds a year. That may not seem like much but if you were gaining 4 pounds a years... Anyway its the gaining of pounds that makes me not eat ring dings.
I didn't see what else the fat man had for lunch but I'm guessing the ring ding was representative. I suppose if it makes him happy good for him...
Door locks
Got Wilton's package yesterday with 2 replacement door handles and locks, thank you sir!
Turns out the lock tumblers basically fall out of the cylinder when everything isn't all jammed up. So I cut my old driver's side cylinder apart (finished cutting anyway, I'd started last week. Cleaned each tumbler good with a wire wheel and 400 grit sandpaper.
Interestingly my tumblers didn't fit in Wilton's cylinder the same as they fit in mine, odd... I had to use a mixture of his and mine to make it work. Never the less we got there.
So based on what I now know I realized the lock I'd already "freed up" was only set to fail again. So I took it apart once more and freed ALL the tumblers rather than just the 6 that came easily. Then took them out and cleaned 'em real good. I don't know what MB used in these for lube but its yellow and grease like and mine had picked up lots of dirt and turned into concrete. I sanded the cylinder and tumblers with 600grit to make it all work perfectly smooth and then lubed with graphite from a spray can (its in some kind of carrier).
So the locks are DONE. The doors still need to be buttoned up, they need moisture barriers too. I want to hold off on the drivers door as I haven't tested for vacuum leaks there yet. I already did the passenger's side.
Out of time though, gotta go to a barbeque.
-Curt
Turns out the lock tumblers basically fall out of the cylinder when everything isn't all jammed up. So I cut my old driver's side cylinder apart (finished cutting anyway, I'd started last week. Cleaned each tumbler good with a wire wheel and 400 grit sandpaper.
Interestingly my tumblers didn't fit in Wilton's cylinder the same as they fit in mine, odd... I had to use a mixture of his and mine to make it work. Never the less we got there.
So based on what I now know I realized the lock I'd already "freed up" was only set to fail again. So I took it apart once more and freed ALL the tumblers rather than just the 6 that came easily. Then took them out and cleaned 'em real good. I don't know what MB used in these for lube but its yellow and grease like and mine had picked up lots of dirt and turned into concrete. I sanded the cylinder and tumblers with 600grit to make it all work perfectly smooth and then lubed with graphite from a spray can (its in some kind of carrier).
So the locks are DONE. The doors still need to be buttoned up, they need moisture barriers too. I want to hold off on the drivers door as I haven't tested for vacuum leaks there yet. I already did the passenger's side.
Out of time though, gotta go to a barbeque.
-Curt
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Done and done
Heres the before. This is with all the rotted metal removed.
And after.
Thats a coat of paint and a good thick coat of undercoat.
Tomorrow theres a rust spot behind the rear wheel to take care of. I don't know if that'll require welding but it'll get POR15. Then I want to get the new antenna installed so I can see if the one in this car can combine with the one from Hammie to make a working one. Otherwise Hammie gets an eBay antenna too.
-Curt
And after.
Thats a coat of paint and a good thick coat of undercoat.Tomorrow theres a rust spot behind the rear wheel to take care of. I don't know if that'll require welding but it'll get POR15. Then I want to get the new antenna installed so I can see if the one in this car can combine with the one from Hammie to make a working one. Otherwise Hammie gets an eBay antenna too.
-Curt
Don't touch, HOT!
Yeah, after you weld a piece in and then grind off the excess weld, don't touch it without gloves on. I don't care if the gloves are in your way and you can't feel if your welding was good enough...
The burn is 22ga, the same thickness as the metal I was welding in and goes right across where the blister I got from Hammie a couple weeks ago had healed up...
Buttttt the second jack point is all welded, ground down and painted. Pretty soon I'll go hit it with the undercoating.
-Curt
The burn is 22ga, the same thickness as the metal I was welding in and goes right across where the blister I got from Hammie a couple weeks ago had healed up...
Buttttt the second jack point is all welded, ground down and painted. Pretty soon I'll go hit it with the undercoating.
-Curt
Welcome to July!
Summer is here and what better time to weld up the ravages of winter? Yeah its 95 degrees out, lets haul out the welder! Genius...
Anyway the area around the jack points on my 190D is in pretty terrible shape so I started with the passenger side. What I'd thought were streamers of metal hanging out were in fact the rubber undercoating, there was basically no metal there. I cut back to good metal and welded in a bunch of 22ga sheet metal. 22ga seems about like what I was cutting away, maybe slightly heavy but this is an area that'll have a hard life...
I had to weld 2 plates into the side, one big one to cover the old jack point (I hate those jack point jacks, I use a scissors jack and lift from underneith anyway) and a small one up under the door. Then another big plate underneith the car. I slapped some black Rustoleum on and when it had dried sprayed some rubber undercoating on for good measure.
Not too bad I don't think.
This is the driver's side. I spent a few minutes last night picking the rust and undercoating off. Its pretty much the same as the passenger's side, actually this side isn't as bad...
Well, back at it...
-Curt
Anyway the area around the jack points on my 190D is in pretty terrible shape so I started with the passenger side. What I'd thought were streamers of metal hanging out were in fact the rubber undercoating, there was basically no metal there. I cut back to good metal and welded in a bunch of 22ga sheet metal. 22ga seems about like what I was cutting away, maybe slightly heavy but this is an area that'll have a hard life...
I had to weld 2 plates into the side, one big one to cover the old jack point (I hate those jack point jacks, I use a scissors jack and lift from underneith anyway) and a small one up under the door. Then another big plate underneith the car. I slapped some black Rustoleum on and when it had dried sprayed some rubber undercoating on for good measure.
Not too bad I don't think.
This is the driver's side. I spent a few minutes last night picking the rust and undercoating off. Its pretty much the same as the passenger's side, actually this side isn't as bad...Well, back at it...
-Curt
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