Friday, July 12, 2019

I just learned of the Miata headlight flip greeting, and the Miata wink


nice!

nice BSA bobber

compliment of the week!

your reporting on the Waco biker massacre. I remembered the incident but no follow up in the mainstream media, of course. Unbelievable what the cops got away with, sickening actually. If not for your posts I would have been totally unaware.

Thanks

Pzak

(in response to my question if any of my posts have stood out)
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/07/stupid-trivia-what-vehicle-is-made-and.html?showComment=1562991180994#c6682608520984326883

A great montage of road rage clips. Useful to watch when you're tired and sleepy... not recommended if you're already pissed, or overly caffienated



The clip that starts at the 3 minute mark? Ought to be a scene in a movie - or hell, ought to be the BEGINNING of a movie and where it goes after that? I don't know. Something like Michael Douglas in Falling Down maybe, or Clerks.

http://knuckledraggin.com/2019/07/best-of-road-rage/

This is why it's worth carrying 30 dollars worth of bear spray. If you know what pepper spray is, then you know that few people can ignore it, and you can shoot it from one car into another if the window is open. YOU CANNOT deal with it if the wind blows it back your way though, so, do NOT spray while moving, or while downwind.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BMOJXE/?coliid=ITGAWBFSAVT0B&colid=14JRB88UW648W&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

simply nefarious, feeding pigeons and owning a car wash business

Mike and Frank (American Pickers tv show) bought the van that Aerosmith toured with in the band's early years, and got it working again, returning it to the condition it was in when Aerosmith last owned it. Now the band checked it out



I posted about the van being found https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/08/aerosmiths-original-tour-van-has-been.html last year.

Aerosmith apparently lost the van after a falling out with its owner, Mark Lehman, their old driver and live sound man. The band recalled Lehman fondly, with Kramer noting that he always went above and beyond and made sure the van was in good working order.

The band members marveled that the artwork and band logo painted on the side of the vehicle survived all the years in the woods. American Pickers opted to restore the van to the condition it was in when Aerosmith last rode inside it, as opposed to what it would have been brand new.

https://www.iheart.com/content/2019-07-11-watch-aerosmiths-emotional-reunion-with-bands-long-lost-touring-van

How is this any different than the MANUFACTURERS vents? You know, the ones IN the dash!

Too bad they didn't have enough traffic cones and pylons to make it clear not to drive into the wet cement!

I love it

nothing to see here, just keep on moving.

Jackson County (Florida) Deputy Zach Wester was arrested on racketeering and other charges for planting drugs on unsuspecting motorists before arresting as many as 200 innocent people. He's now facing 10-20 years in jail


FDLE began its investigation last August at the request of the Sheriff's Office after whispers of misconduct by Wester began to surface around the courthouse. He was suspended Aug. 1 and fired a month later. During the internal investigation, deputies searching his patrol car found 42 pieces of drug paraphernalia, ten baggies of methamphetamine and five baggies of marijuana concealed in an unmarked and unsecured evidence bag in the trunk.

Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who have been investigating Wester for more than nine months, arrested him in Crawfordville and took him to the Wakulla County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

He was arrested on 52 counts in all. Aside from the racketeering count, he was charged with a number of other felonies, including official misconduct, false imprisonment, fabricating evidence and possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with misdemeanor charges of perjury, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, FDLE said.

The investigation found Wester routinely pulled over citizens for alleged minor traffic infractions, planted drugs inside their vehicles and arrested them on fabricated charges. It also found that Wester misused his body camera, sometimes turning it off before drugs were located or turning it on just after they were found.

"I'm glad he's off the road," she said. "I'm glad he's obviously facing charges. It doesn't change what the rest of the people went through because of him. It doesn't give them their time back. It doesn't give them their money back. It doesn't expunge their records — they still have at least arrest histories. But it's still something."

The allegations prompted prosecutors in Marianna to review nearly 300 cases involving Wester. They ultimately dropped charges in nearly 120 cases.


https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2019/07/10/former-jackson-county-deputy-zach-wester-arrested-drug-planting-probe/1691366001/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/11/former-jackson-county-florida-deputy-zach-wester-arrested-drug-planting-probe/1703201001/

congratulations to Deputy Kimbro for his life saving actions! He pulled over a speeding car to discover that the mom was freaking out and rushing to the hospital as her 12 yr old baby had stopped breathing.



“Deputy Kimbro took the baby’s limp and cyanotic body and performed lifesaving first aid,” BCSO officials said."As a result, he was able to get the baby to breathe again until EMS could arrive."

It all happened on June 11 when Kimbro was conducting a routine patrol in Summerville,  South Carolina

He was awarded the ‘Life-Saving Medal’ from the Sheriff for his fantastic action

https://www.live5news.com/2019/07/11/dramatic-video-captures-berkeley-co-sheriffs-office-deputy-saving-babys-life/

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Jeep.

Why the hell do spark plugs have a screw-on tip? Who the hell is using a spade connector on any car made since 1960?


Just asking. These damn things work themselves loose too often. 

tell your friends, tell your neighbors, car's can't swim. You call a friend with a truck, or call into work and tell them the damn flood is keeping you from showing up on time.... and arrange a ride. This is just stupid to destroy your car to get to work, but that IS what happened


These two nice guys came over to help her out of the car and to help her carry stuff to safety. That car ain't going no where till the water drains.

If you didn't hear, New Orleans got 8 inches of rain yesterday

https://www.facebook.com/AubryKillionWDSU/photos/a.137981293069126/1148350018698910/?type=3&permPage=1
https://www.facebook.com/groups/996045710517424/permalink/2143959112392739/

there are amazing hand crafted cars being made in Argentina! The city of Todd, and the labor is all from guys under 25 years old


Manage tools, take measurements, place parts, polish bodies and test results. There are ten artisans around a BMW 507 Roadster , in the process of construction. None of them exceeds 25 years and work on the replica of a car whose original design dates back to 1956, even before their own parents were born.

It is a specialty with many names consecrated in Argentina, where Pur Sang stands out : the signature of Leonidas Anadón , who exports from Paraná (Entre Ríos) to the whole world various craft replicas of Bugatti and Alfa Romeo , with average values ​​of 250 thousand dollars the unit.

Reklus was founded in 2005 with the same objective. Its creator, Gustavo "Pini" Mancardo , originally settled in a workshop in the Buenos Aires town of Malvinas Argentinas, but in 2015 he decided to move to Todd to expand. "And, by the way, get away from the madness of the city," Mancardo told Autoblog .



Thanks to Pensando la Bronca!

https://autoblog.com.ar/2019/07/11/reklus-el-fabricante-de-autos-artesanales-que-cambio-la-vida-del-pueblo-de-todd/  for the rest of the story and photos

Jon Stanley was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. His dying wish? To hear the Harley roar again. So 100 bikers showed up for a full throttle send off

Do you wonder if they look into the maintenance logs to see who was supposed to bolt things back together, but failed, and caused the engine to catch on fire at 40,000 feet?


there is only 5 seconds of video, but some jackass looped it together 10 times.

oy vey. Don't have any food or drink in your mouth, and don't be in the middle of swallowing when you press play. There is a moron about to reap the whirlwind

The Thing. Yes, really that was the name given to a VW vehicle, but you probably already knew that. So, here's some info you probably didn't.


First sold in the USA in 1972 as a 1973 model exported from Mexico to the USA for sale by Volkswagen of America.

They were only sold in the USA in 1973 and 1974 with a total production of 28,930 Things sold in the USA.

The 1975 model was prohibited by the U.S. government as they could not meet crash testing standards for "passenger cars".

The 1973 and 1974 were classified as "Multi-Purpose Vehicles" and were exempt from those tests.

 The Thing included full emissions equipment on the engine, the letter "X" (for export) following the chassis number and a U.S. DOT sticker on the left center door post. The VIN also contains and “E” for export.

 The first "Name" attached to these cars was to the Type-181 that was being built, or at least assembled, in Mexico, starting in late 1970. For purposes of registration, VW wanted all of these cars were to be called "The Safari", as this name had the same general meaning in all of the languages of the Americas. Unfortunately, General Motors had been using the "Safari" name on Pontiac Station wagons as early as 1955 and thereby "owned" the name Safari in the U.S. market.

 Volkswagen of America therefore elected to call all of its type 181 cars "The Thing".

The official name "The Thing" is supported not only in all the VW literature, but in at least 42 states DMV registrations.

 Only 4 states are known to register these cars as "Type-181".

 Those Things that were sold in Canada and a few other countries, that were Volkswagen of America Things.


this orange example recently sold for 18k

http://vwthingregistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Registry-Type-181-History.pdf
https://www.classiccarratings.com/auction-results/volkswagen-thing-1972-show-bring-a-trailer---week-4-2016-8316
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/07/15/3-off-road-cars-that-would-never-be-made-today

Hondamatic. The first Honda automatic transmission from 1969

The Hondamatic was nothing more than an exercise to skirt the patents owned by GM; most companies wanting to use an automatic had to pay GM a licensing fee, and Mr. Honda said no. So the Hondamatic is a proprietary transmission–the first step forward in making a true Honda-designed automatic.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/saving-1000001-1967-honda-n600/

1906 Hotchkiss GP

the 1939 first meeting of the Vintage Motor Car Club of America - it had some interesting and rare cars out at a fun event, seeing if they could balance on a teeter totter for example


so, does anyone recognize this speedster? I've never seen a windscreen like this!



More than 75 veteran cars participated that September day. Celebrities attending the event included Freeland O. Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame, Charles B. King (the first person in Detroit to design, build, and drive a self-propelled automobile), race car driver Fred Marriott, who set the world land speed record of 127.6 miles per hour in the Stanley Rocket, and Ralph DePalma, the racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500.

https://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org/the-pioneers-of-automobile-collecting

anyone need NOS 1927 Wards trailblazers? 4.4" x 4.5"



Hmmm, that 's a pretty bad split in the top one. It would still make a good display spare tire though, just clock it to put the split on the bottom.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/197491484165115/permalink/446646215916306/?sale_post_id=446646215916306

A train derailed around 5 am Wednesday morning in a remote part of Lincoln County northeast of Las Vegas, and those Jeep Gladiators are not going to get delivered to California

The July 4 earthquake near Ridgecrest, California may have killed a Pahrump man who seems to have used a cinder block to hold up his Willys jeep while he worked under it. The 56-year-old was found crushed underneath, 5 days later


Police believe the earthquake shook the truck right off the blocks as the man was working on it. Sheriff deputies say a passerby happened to see the man’s body.

A passerby noticed the man’s body on Tuesday. A 911 call was immediately made. Investigators say the man had been missing for five days and was last seen July 3 at a Pahrump gas station.



https://news3lv.com/news/local/passerby-spotted-pahrump-man-underneath-jeep-days-after-earthquake

the oldest Mercedes car in existance, 1902 Mercedes Simplex, 40 Hp


at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. 4 cylinders engine , 6785 cc , 40 Hp at 1100 rpm.

 Top speed 80 km/h

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=962806280717767&id=100009652119044

there's a company that took over Bose Ride, and is trying to make activated shock absorbers smooth out the ride for cars and trucks

“When a truck hits a pothole, it’s sensed by the Bose Ride as the floor of the cab accelerates downward,” explained Bose chief engineer Mike Rosen at the time. “The computer tells the linear actuator to provide an upward force, carrying the driver comfortably over the pothole. At the other end, the force will be pushing up, and the actuator will tell the chair to go down with the truck floor, keeping the driver level.”

The device anticipates driver and road inputs in order to stop vibrations before they occur. Less than five milliseconds after the wheels begin to move, the devices work together to counter the motion, filtering out the vibrations that instigate motion sickness and creating a much smoother ride.

the company’s technology — an electrically powered hydraulic device meant to complement the venerable shock absorber and keep the passenger compartment as level as possible.

The difference was stark. ClearMotion’s technology greatly smoothed the way, significantly reducing not just the movement up and down, but also the right-left lurch from bumps on either side. And while the system doesn’t make speed bumps obsolete, its goal is to become the kind of system that car owners won’t be able to live without once self-driving technology turns them from drivers into passengers.

In November 2017, ClearMotion snapped up Bose Ride, alongside an arsenal of more than 300 patents, as the company sought to become the “leading motion control company in mobility,” according to its post-acquisition statement.

The innovations since have been variations — some fairly sophisticated — on those early breakthroughs. Packard, for example, offered Torsion-Level Ride in 1955 and 1956, and Citroën famously used a four-wheel hydropneumatic suspension and automatic leveling on its innovative DS 19, also introduced in 1955. But neither system was known for reliability.

Automakers are actively pursuing the holy grail of a level ride. Mercedes, of course, offers its Airmatic air suspension as a standard feature on some models, including the S-Class, and as on option on others. Mercedes also offers a Magic Body Control system, which uses a high-precision camera to scan the road ahead and prepare the suspension components at each wheel for the surface it’s about to encounter. Keith Sharp, director of chassis engineering at Bentley Motors, said the new Bentayga sport-utility vehicle uses a 48-volt system solely to power motors on its active front and rear stabilizer bars to resist the roll motion of the vehicle.

“The system measures the disturbance of the wheel, then reduces the amount of force that would normally be driven into the vehicle itself,” he said. “The result is an increase in ride comfort.”

Sam Abuelsamid, a senior analyst at Navigant Research, said the new Audi A8 incorporates an electromechanical active suspension, enabled by the car’s standard 48-volt architecture. The system uses electric motors at all four corners, and a front camera for early detection of bumps in the road.

“It appears to do much of what ClearMotion offers, and it will also raise the side of the car if the sensors detect a pending impact,” he said. “Using sensors to look ahead for potholes can be beneficial, and that’s what Audi is doing.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/business/digital-chassis-autonomous-cars.html
https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/09/clearmotion-raises-115-million-for-digital-chassis-that-makes-car-rides-smoother/

"3 rows of passenger seating, lasts 100 years".... no one has the courage to build or sell anything that meets that description today, but in 1913? When they barely knew how to build a gas engine? They pulled it off easily

From the 1926 Grand Prix season

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Coffee and donuts video, Ming is done restoring the first Honda imported to the USA, this 30 minute video sums it all up



https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/06/21/first-honda-in-the-us-n600-series-1


Early cars were fragile, far from the reliable mules Honda is known for building today. They required service every 2,000 miles, including an oil change and valve adjustment, due to the air-cooled design and the fact that both the engine and transmission share the same lubrication.

Bob Hansen was one of the first Americans to work for Honda; he set up bike dealerships in the Midwest in late ’59.

He was put in charge of a convoy of winter test vehicles, so he took them to Wisconsin, where he was from. This is when Honda realized the car’s shortcomings for the American market–bad heaters, poor brakes. That Wisconsin trip is when the engineers saw that it pulls air through the engine and into the cabin. That gets loud, and if there’s an exhaust leak, the drivers could fall asleep. Also, if you hit a puddle or it rains, that heater will fog the windshield right now.

When the fleet returned to Gardena, California, where Honda was based; Bob asked the bosses what to do with the cars, and he was advised to destroy them.

So he sold them as scrap to the salvage yard down the street, and two days later, Bob saw one driving down the road. The owner of the yard sold three of ’em instead of crushing them as agreed. Then Bob personally saw the other 47 get crushed. Whether it was by chance or by design, one of the three N600s that escaped was Serial Number One. It ended up in Arkansas, the other two were 44 and 47.





https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/saving-1000001-1967-honda-n600/
https://jalopnik.com/heres-what-happened-to-americas-first-honda-1787945409

Paint and body work by John Carambia Hemet Ca., master metal shaper, body work, and paint, he shot Bruce Meyers’ Pebble Beach-winning ’32 Ford roadster in the late 1990s

Now that Serial Number One is back in Honda’s hands after a half-century’s absence, now cherished where it was once considered disposable, there’s still the question of what Tim will do with Numbers 44 and 47. “Number 44 will be restored, a twin to Number One. Number 47 will be a copy of a car that RSC [Honda’s racing division] had–a road racer with a full cage.

Also on the docket: restoring one of just three 1969 AA600s with the original three-speed Hondamatic.

The Hondamatic was nothing more than an exercise to skirt the patents owned by GM; most companies wanting to use an automatic had to pay GM a licensing fee, and Mr. Honda said no. So the Hondamatic is a proprietary transmission–the first step forward in making a true Honda-designed automatic.

Drivers stopped on an Atlanta interstate to grab $175,000 in cash that fell out of an armored truck


you can see this in the below shit excuse for video (it's 2019, what the fuck is the reason for low def video?) of see it in high def and read serial numbers on the bills at https://o-kurwa.tumblr.com/post/186190286070/seems-the-driver-of-an-armored-truck-didnt-close#notes



An armored truck's door sprang open on Interstate 285 on the north side of Atlanta on Tuesday night, spilling cash across the highway.

"The armored car crew said the side door came open while they were driving and money spilled out onto 285," Dunwoody Police said in a statement. "Officers and the truck crew gathered a few hundred dollars that was still there when officers arrived, but plenty was taken."

The armored car crew hasn't mentioned how the door happened to open while driving, not how that much money was just loosely lying around not in bags, rubber bands, boxes, etc... and only $4,000 was turned into the police

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/us/atlanta-drivers-grab-i-285-cash-trnd/index.html
https://kxlf.com/cnn-national/2019/07/10/drivers-stopped-on-an-atlanta-interstate-to-grab-175000-in-cash-that-fell-out-of-an-armored-truck/

OMFG! WTF Swift! This probably is going to be the most famously notorious Swift driver ever! He took out a traffic signal pole, carried it for blocks on the trailer, AND blew off the stop sign on the next intersection!

Only 19 years too late to use this coupon for a free set of MSD ignition wires. Damn it.



I finally used my income tax return last year to get the distributor, but the previous year bought a set of plug wires, not realizing the dustributor cap ends were that weird uncommon female end, not the common old fashioned male ends that plug into a distributor cap. So, I couldn't use this coupon for several reasons.

But I'm still steamed that if you follow a certain predetermined cockamamie set of rules, you get the prize. But spend the fucking money on the same stuff and more, like the MSD 6AL controller box, and you don't qualify. To me, that's bullshit. Treat your customers like it matters that it matters that they chose to spend your paychecks with them!

Yes, leaf springs for head valves


John Godfrey Parry-Thomas was a Welsh engineer and motor-racing driver. He built and drove Babs, achieved the land speed record,  of 171 mph, in 1926

Babs was powered by a 27-litre Liberty aero-engine, began as 'Chitty 4', one of Count Louis Zborowski's series of aero-engined cars named 'Chitty Bang Bang'.

Parry-Thomas rebuilt Chitty 4, untilized four Zenith carburetors, and his own design of pistons.

While chief engineer at Leyland Motors, he designed engines with leaf springs instead of coil springs because at the time, coil springs were prone to breaking.

The car was geared so high, that in the 1970s, after being unearthed and restored, it had to be towed to 60 mph and bump started.

http://wwwbollyblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/leaf-valve-springs.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babs_(land_speed_record_car)
https://www.hemmings.com/blog

cool use of a bumper jack in a show car display... once you figure out how to keep it from falling over... maybe mount it to the back of a big stop sign?


Or even better, if you recall from years ago, the lexan/plexiglass signs that a car owner would use to hold an info sheet about the car, and it was about 4 foot high, and the foot of it was so long that the car would drive over it, and park on it, and then it couldn't be hit into the car? Something like that, but with this bumper jack mounted to it, holding an info sheet

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2019/06/30/the-homemade-creations-and-the-self-made-people-that-make-car-shows-great/

Owners and fans of antique motor coaches & motor home conversions are invited to take part in the Blytheville Antique Bus Homecoming this September.


The event will be held at a restored bus terminal that now serves as its town’s tourist information center and museum. The former Greyhound Lines terminal has been restored to its original 1939 appearance


https://www.mainstreetblytheville.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/109-n-5th-st-blytheville-ar-72315-3319-united-states/2019-blytheville-ar-antique-bus-homecoming/1869679986488841/
http://www.bargaindecoratingwithlaurie.com/2013/04/vintage-buses-ghosts-of-highway.html

Vintage dealership or service station transmission workbench/tool storage cabinet is for sale in Oklahoma... they only want 36 thousand dollars for it... you know, in case a millionaire collector needs one for the garage diorama in the private museum

Subaru BRAT


Officially known as the Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter (BRAT), the 1978 Subaru model successfully skirted a 1963 tariff for small, foreign-built pickup trucks, as it came with a pair of rear-facing arcade game plastic bucket seats in the truck bed.


Those are not headrests, they are backrests. Unless you are 4 feet tall.

These were welded in, and THAT made this a passenger car, NOT a truck. See? Loophole.

The loophole in the Chicken Tax regulation allowing such seats was quickly closed, but not before thousands of these trucks were sold in the United States. The Chicken Tax was a 25% tax on trucks, potato starch, dextrin, and brandy.

Odd design feature, it's front wheel drive, but has a shifter to engage the all wheel drive.... and the spare tire is under the hood, over the engine, baking since installed.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnolzTQ1zXI
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/07/15/3-off-road-cars-that-would-never-be-made-today