or see the longer version
Saturday, December 18, 2021
there's a madman out there with a hemi in a Signet, a Hot Heads Hemi research equipped 392
alum heads, intake, front cover water pump, hot heads Hemi research cam 456L 220D 166LS A518 trans 83/4 posi rear 356 gear, mustang 2 front end
Friday, December 17, 2021
5 years ago I posted about John Mattie, amazing guy, WW2 fighter pilot... and that after the war, he became a teacher. Today I got a comment from one of his students!
John Mattie was my 6th grade social studies teacher at Marbrook Elementary school. He was also my scout leader at St Catherines, Troop 919.
He was a great teacher and leader of our troop. I never knew about his distinguished flying career, but he often told us about his days as a POW. I will remember Mr Mattie as a great American hero.
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/09/john-mattie-wow-amazing-life.html for the post, but it's incredible to get a note from one of his students, and boy scout troop members, which independently collaborate the info I found online
The UTA Flight 772 Memorial
In 1989 a DC-10 en route from Brazzaville to Paris exploded and crashed in the Sahara Desert, hundreds of miles from the nearest town. Six Libyans were convicted in absentia for planting a suitcase bomb on the flight.
In 2007, the families of the victims used compensation funds paid by Libya to build a memorial at the crash site in the Niger desert. With the help of 140 locals from Agadez, the nearest city, they trucked in dark stones to create a 200-foot circle surrounding a silhouette of the plane and arranged 170 broken mirrors around the perimeter, one for each victim. At the site’s northern compass point stands the crashed plane’s starboard wing, bearing the names of the passengers.
In 2007, the families of the victims used compensation funds paid by Libya to build a memorial at the crash site in the Niger desert. With the help of 140 locals from Agadez, the nearest city, they trucked in dark stones to create a 200-foot circle surrounding a silhouette of the plane and arranged 170 broken mirrors around the perimeter, one for each victim. At the site’s northern compass point stands the crashed plane’s starboard wing, bearing the names of the passengers.
for the post about this memorial, with photos and without the video: https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-families-of-victims-of-plane-crash.html
I just learned that there was a villain in the Spiderman comics that used a monowheel
Jackson Weele was a New York businessman who had embezzled from his company. Fearing that he might be caught, he hired the youthful criminal Rocket Racer to steal the evidence that incriminated him. Rocket Racer did so, but then opted to use the evidence to blackmail Weele. Despairing, Weele tried to commit suicide, but Rocket Racer prevented him from doing so. However, Racer was not particularly kind to Weele, disparagingly referring to him as "Big Weele". Humiliated by Rocket Racer's taunts, Weele visited the mechanical genius and underworld supplier the Tinkerer. Rocket Racer had boasted that the Tinkerer had upgraded his equipment, so Weele figured that he would be a good choice to give him the tools to combat Rocket Racer. At Weele's urging, the Tinkerer created a large metal single-wheeled vehicle that can climb up buildings, equipping it with guns and waldo-arms. With this new vehicle, the Weele became the supervillain "Big Wheel."
He now makes his living using his Big Wheel rig in demolition derbies
https://www.marvel.com/articles/games/piecing-together-marvel-puzzle-quest-big-wheel-jackson-weele
standing ovation for Jimmy Finch, from Clarksville, Tennessee, because he drove his personal BBQ rig 2-hours to a devastated Mayfield, Kentucky and started cooking for the people that needed lunch!
He’s just cooking for those in need. He’s not a rich man by any means. Take a look at his truck. And if you are observant enough you will see the little magnetic sign on his truck. He’s not a BBQ’er by trade. The sign on his truck says “lawn care”. Lawn. Care.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3150238145188651&set=pcb.1061159684738393
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Did you grow up where there were a lot of woods, but you've been living in the city a long time, because that's where the jobs are, but you would like a nice quiet drive out on the 2 rut roads? Here's the video for you, so, get some coffee and have a donut!
it sure reminds me of where I grew up, and the last time I drove on roads like this? Around Christmas 1990
Milwaukee, Wi is facing an epidemic of stolen Hyundais and Kias. While total vehicle thefts are up in general 172%, Hyundai thefts were up by 1,715% and Kia thefts up 3,183%.
There have been 2,949 stolen vehicles. Kia made up 973 of them while there were 947 missing Hyundais.
While it’s not certain why the South Korean brands are being targeted, it’s speculated that it’s due to the vehicles hot having an engine immobilizer, causing the alarm not to sound when the rear windows are broken. Once thieves are in, they peel back the cover of the steering column and start the car with their tool of choice.
Local authorities say the crime wave is being fueled by children, with half of the suspects being under the age of 16. The city is trying to get a hold of the situation however, Hyundai and Kia have said their vehicles meet or exceed all federal standards, and that their products would come standard with engine immobilizers starting with the 2022 model year.
https://www.powernationtv.com/post/why-milwaukee-thieves-are-going-crazy-for-hyundais-and-kias
A New Jersey Amtrak employee admitted to stealing $76,000 worth of chainsaws and chainsaw parts from Amtrak and selling them for personal profit
Amtrak police in the New York and mid-Atlantic divisions led the investigation that culminated in the guilty plea.
They found that over the course of eight years, Rodriguez obtained 114 chainsaws, 122 chainsaw replacement bars and 222 replacement chains from Amtrak under the false pretense that this equipment would be used for Amtrak projects.
Santa Clara County in California has decided to ban the sale of 100 octane low lead (100LL) fuel at two airports, Reid-Hillview Santa Clara County Airport and San Martin Airport, beginning Jan. 1, 2022.
Piston-engine aircraft will be left without a fuel option in Santa Clara County, increasing the risk of aircraft misfuelling.
Particularly, locals were calling for the ban of 100LL fuel at two Santa Clara County Airports: Reid-Hillview and San Martin.
The root of the ban comes from a new study of lead levels in children living near the Santa Clara, California airports. As reported by AvWeb, a coalition of environmental groups renewed an effort to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue an “endangerment finding” on the use of leaded gasoline in light aircraft.
The petition, which was filed in August, noted, “To date, EPA has failed to regulate this significant source of lead exposures, even though emissions from these aircraft collectively represent the single largest source of air emissions of lead in the United States, accounting for 70 percent of lead released domestically into the environment.”
The Santa Clara study saw those children living near the airport did have slight elevated lead levels in their blood, but the levels were in line with those seen in kids from around the state.
Santa Clara County made the unanimous decision to close the Reid-Hillview airport entirely by 2031 and instead use the land for affordable housing.
Piston aircraft with high-compression engines consume 75% of the 100LL sold in the United States, with many of these engines not yet approved to use unleaded fuels available on the market, said the letter. “Those that are approved to use a lower-octane unleaded fuel must still obtain a supplemental type certificate to legally use the fuel. This can create a dilemma and risk to pilots who land at an airport at which only a lower-octane fuel is available than what they require to fly safely.”
"You took down Captain Bob's steering wheel!?!!" from the movie Hudson Hawk, 1991, a lesson in the "Noodle Incident" tv trope
does anyone know what the story was behind making a big deal about a steering wheel in the movie?
How could you take this down? Captain Bob's steering wheel!
Remember that night he came in?
Nobody could figure where he got this.
Named for an incident referenced by the characters of Calvin and Hobbes, where the author admitted he decided against ever stating what happened, as he figured nothing he could come up with would be as outrageous as what the readers thought happened
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Jimmy Doherty's Dream Builds on Wheels, a new tv show about turning everyday vehicles into extraordinary campervans; converting cars, vans, buses and trucks into awesome getaway homes, streaming on Discovery +
an eight-part series follows everyday people converting everything from double decker busses to ex-army fire engines into awesome homes from home, ready to hit the road and explore the world in comfort.
Caravanning has never been more popular and Jimmy Doherty’s new show travels all over the country to meet the Britons turning old vehicles into their dream home on wheels. During the process, Jimmy also took up the challenge of converting an old army fire engine into a family caravan.
Jimmy is joined by friend and engineer Jimmy de Ville (Goblin Works Garage) – on hand to share his expert knowledge for the build.
“On top of that, I follow eight other people’s journey, who do the same sort of thing, as well as being taken on these joy rides by Jimmy the builder to get inspiration on vehicles that people have already created, which has been amazing.”
foe example a father and daughter that build a 1971 VW Beetle into an rv:
and I learned of it, because the producers of the show found that I'd taken photos of one of these Beetle RVs, in the 2013 Del Mar Goodguys show, and the tv series wanted to show what was a trend in the 1970s California scene https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/11/this-is-cool-vw-bug-rv.html
I just realized, this now sets the blog on the short list of things to be published in, as blog photos have now been published in other peoples books (Blastolene Brothers, a VW microbus book) , magazine (Hemmings Muscle Machines), newspapers (New York Times), and now this is tv (Discovery +). The only one it still needs, is a movie.
That's not likely to happen, to get something in a movie and a credit in the endless list of names at the end of the movie.
Update June 2023
Hagerty posted an article about the origin of the Super Bugger https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-super-bugger-is-the-most-adorable-of-rvs
Around noon, near highway 64 and US 141 by Green Bay Wi, a chain reaction of two dump trucks, an empty logging truck, a box truck... crashed into a train at a railroad crossing ( crossing U.S. 141 in dense fog )...derailed the train
A rear-end crash pushed vehicles into a passing train, causing the train to derail, knocking it off the rails and killing the driver of the box truck.
Visibility was estimated between 50 and 100 feet.
At least 2 vehicles hit the train from the other side of the top photo, no info on if vehicles hit it from this side
https://www.wbay.com/2021/12/15/crews-scene-major-crash-marinette-county/
https://twitter.com/katierosenberg/status/1471185142421065731
Baxter Springs, Colorado, was renamed in 1966 to capitalize on the nearby dinosaur national monument, to Dinosaur, Colorado, and this town (the map IS the entire town) has some great street names in the dinosaur theme
Triceratops Terrace
Antrodemus Alley
Plateosaurus Place
Stegosaurus Freeway
Brachtosaurus Bypass
Ceratosaurus Circle
Camptosaurus Crescent
Diplodocus Drive
Tyrannosaurus Street
Allosaurus Lane
Brachiosaurus Street
Brontosaurus Boulevard
but it really needs some Alley Oop businesses to fully work that dinosaur humor
the excesses of the rich.... in 1977 some woman in San Antonio overdosed on prescription drugs, so her Ferrari was shipped from Beverly Hills and she was buried in it.
because people who are bored, rich, and overdosing on prescription drugs don't make good choices on what to do in life or in cemeteries, there is a very large crate with a woman in an Italian dress, in an Italian car, covered in cement, in the Alamo Masonic Cemetery
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grave-of-sandra-west-and-her-ferrari
Barn Find 1940 Mercedes W142 320 Cabriolet with Coachbuilt body by Rometsch
. I’ve sent the chassis details to Mercedes months ago with no reply and would still love to see what else is in the Rometsch archives, plus the Beeskow album that is supposedly in the hands of Volkswagen now… the info is out there, I just know it!! If I had one Christmas wish for myself, it would be to receive some knowledge about this cars history. Dear Santa
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Randy%20Carlson%20Rometsch