https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2024/06/if-you-like-spinning-cars.html
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
you know how in March and April, I post Happy 413 Day, and 327, 318, all the engine sizes? And it's a good thing? Well, it's 626 day, and there ain't much that's ever been interesting about a 626, except that this one was almost on the Peking to Paris rally
“When the 1982 rally event was canceled, Martin pushed it back into his dealership,” explained the owner. “It just kind of sat there for a while, then the dealership changed hands in the mid- to late-80s… I think that’s when it finally left the dealership.”
In November 1981, MotorSport reported that the event had been delayed from its initial intended start in June 1982, citing that the Soviet Union was not onboard with allowing competitors to pass through.
It’s a shame, too, because there were some guys who intended to race the last ever Checker cab while running the taxi meter the whole way. Whoever guessed the fare at the end would win a prize.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
A man was taken into custody after police said he stole a skid-steer from a construction site and took it on a joyride in downtown Nashville.... to use it to steal a barrel of Jack Daniel’s
Hey, we all thought he was an idiot until we read about the barrel of whiskey, am I right?
an Australian driver in Sydney was fined $387 after traffic cameras photographed her holding phone—or a sunglasses case
A woman in Syndey was upset to learn that proving she owns a case consistent with the image is immaterial to the enforcing agency—whose name, "Revenue NSW", seems to offer a clue about the priorities at hand.
In May a Sydney driver was wrongly fined $387 and 10 demerit points for handling his wallet while behind the wheel, while another driver last year was fined $362 for holding a children's toy.
What stopped ice cream trucks from roaming Orillia Ontario? The new permitting process made it too expensive, as it has 2 components an ice cream vendor can't afford
an $861 licensing fee and proof of $2 million in general liability insurance
“I’ve been in the business for 38 years, and I’ve been licensed by eight different cities, and the most I ever paid was $300,” Barrie-based business owner Nick Karabetsos wrote in his letter. “I just renewed my licence for Barrie and it was $265, Alcona was $300, Alliston was $170 (a) couple (of) years ago. $900 is more than triple the going rate for the same-size city.”
a four-foot-long wiper blade is too much for the Tesla cyber truck's wiper motor to handle, and caused a recall... wasn't it obvious to the stupidest engineer on staff that a long blade needed a bigger motor to push the weight of water off the windshield?
there were multiple reports of malfunctioning wipers prior to the recall, which is due to the wiper motor controller failing as a result of “electrical overstress,” as NHTSA describes.
The wiper motors have been failing due to “electrical overstress” during functional testing, which sounds like the components failed due to harsh functionality trials. But Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid tells Reuters that the wiper motor failures “shouldn’t come as a surprise,” and goes on to say, “This is the largest individual wiper ever used on a light duty vehicle with a 4-foot-long (1.22 meter) blade.
That exceptional long lever arm puts a lot of stress on the motor and there have been a lot of anecdotal reports popping up since early in production of failures.”
Monday, June 24, 2024
B-24 'Doodlebug' of the 373rd Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group.
Doodlebug was one of the original nine B-24D's assigned to the 373rd BS.
Lt Bernard O'Hara and his crew flew the B-24 to China, leaving the United States on 15 February 1943 with the rest of the 308th BG.
At the Tenth Air Force air depot at Agra, in India, a number of the 308th BG's B-24D's possibly including Doodlebug, had nose art painted on them by a Cpl A C Mitchell, who was stationed at the depot.
In the first version of Doodlebug's nose art the comely young lady sat naked on the bomb - a bathing suit was added later.
The aircraft's mission list provides a graphic illustration of the logistical problems that confronted the 308th BG in China. During the bomber's ten months in-theater, Doodlebug and its crews flew 11 bombing missions and more than 50 sorties over the 'Hump' ferrying gasoline, bombs and other supplies for the 308th.
The aircraft's gunners claimed ten Japanese fighters shot down and 18 probably destroyed in a running battle lasting 25 minutes during the disastrous mission to Haiphong on 15 September 1943 when a large group of fighters attacked the small 373rd BS formation. SSgt Charles E Edwards and TSgt Joseph E Murry both claimed three fighters destroyed and five probables. JAAF aircraft downed three of the five 373rd B-24's attacking Haiphong and damaged a fourth so badly that it crashed on landing back at Kunming. Doodlebug was the only bomber to return safely to Yangkai.
I kid you not, I have very little time to post much, with this new job
I met the new VP of my old car club today, and we shot the breeze over cars and Navy stuff for a couple hours well spent in good company!
He's a surface ET, I was a Submariner ET, he's got a 70 Hemi Cuda, and a 70 Dodge truck, I've got a 69 Coronet R/T.
Time flies when you're shooting the breeze about cars and car parts!
Anyway, most workdays I don't have much time to post much, and it's usually due to one thing or another
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Oddballs: The Shermans of ‘Kelly’s Heroes’
The Shermans of Kelly’s Heroes were a rather special model, one of the less well-known and less common to appear. The M4A3E4 was a post-war development of the M4A3. It took the standard model of M4A3 – welded hull, vertical volute suspension (VVSS), early turret, Ford GAA V8 engine – and up-gunned them with the addition of the 76 mm Tank Gun M1. Other additions to the older turret – such as the ‘All-Round Vision Cupola’ and cut-in loader’s hatch – were made to the Sherman between 1943 and 1944. Despite their use as such in the film, the E4s never served the US Military. Having previously trialed this configuration prior to the adoption of the T23 turret. However, it was found to be much too cramped for US military tastes.
Bob and Doreen transformed a 2014 Class C Mercedes chassis Sprinter van and Forest River Solera RV into their dream 1950 Spartanette RV
Salvaged lumber from vintage trailers adorns the door fronts, complementing the old-growth aesthetic. Trimwork crafted from 150-year-old Michigan white pine barn wood adds to the vintage allure.
it took them 19 months to do the work, 7 days a week, and they did this during Covid.
There was only one Mustang SS... the Super Snake, and I just learned the engine in it was pulled out of the GT40 racer that won four successive 24 Hours of Le Mans
The rarest engine to ever feature in an American muscle car is the mighty 427 ci Super Snake V8 featured in the one-off Mustang SS.
Built for a promotional event with tire manufacturer Goodyear, the decision was made to build a special 427 ci V8 for a standard Shelby 500.
Lifted from the Ford GT40 racer that won four successive 24 Hours of Le Mans events, it produced 520 hp. It would never be used again, making it the rarest engine to ever feature in a production muscle car.
a Nissan dealership in Vermont was bilked of a half million dollars by it's parts manager. He sold the parts on Facebook!
According to court documents, he carried out the scheme between March 2019 and Sept. 23, 2022, when he was employed by Formula Nissan in Barre as the parts manager and then director of parts and service.
In his job, he ordered parts including vehicle suspension lift kits which cost Formula Nissan between $2,300 to $2,900 apiece.
He advertised the parts for sale on Facebook and sold them to purchasers across the country using Formula Nissan’s Federal Express account to ship the parts to his own customers.
one tire shop in Fresno distinguished itself for having a surplus Waco CG-4A combat glider, similar to the ones used during the D-Day landings in Normandy, on it's roof
This CG-4A, USAAF serial 45-15691, built under license from the Waco Aircraft Company by Ford Motor Company’s plant in Kingsford, Michigan, never saw any combat service and was eventually purchased as government surplus. It was then placed atop Armstrong Tires’ shop in Fresno, California, being painted bright yellow with red and black bold lettering advertising the shop. 45-15691 would remain in Fresno until the 1970s when it attracted the attention of the newly-founded National WWII Glider Pilots Association, founded in 1971 by former glider pilots of the Second World War to commemorate their services and to find and restore a WACO CG-4 glider for public display. Once they had found the glider in Fresno, they purchased 45-15691 and had it restored in time for the association’s reunion in Dallas in 1979.
bought from Canada for $50, and transported to Seattle, this was one of many planes sold to gas station owners for displays after WW2
A little while later Tony Dire, who owned a Flying A service station in Everett, where the Kittyhawk was given a Flying Tigers-inspired look and an electric motor was installed to rotate the propeller as the aircraft sat atop the shop in downtown, becoming a local landmark for the next twenty years.
an Avro Shackleton perched above a Sasol service station near Johannesburg, South Africa, formerly known as Vic’s Viking Garage.
The South African Shackleton was brought to its present location in 1987, and in doing so, it played a role in the preservation of another large aircraft that had previously been perched upon the service station, a Vickers Viking airliner, which is now the last of its kind preserved in South Africa.
Virginia farmers were given a simple way to loophole the vehicle registration system for farm vehicles only used during harvest, but a lot of others used it to skate on fees... so it's getting updated
Buckingham, Prince Edward, and Cumberland county farmers will be required to display a DMV issued placard for the first time in 50 years, beginning July 1st.
For the last 50 years, only a "Farm Use" tag was required for those farm owned vehicles so they could legally travel on public highways. Seasonal agricultural vehicles only used for harvest were allowed the cost savings of avoiding registration fees, but the loophole was exploited by a lot of other people.
The new permanent placards only cost 15 dollars... and that won't break anyone, and can be used on vehicles under 7500 GVWR , those over 7500 pounds can still use the old "Farm Use" tag. Drivers of farm vehicles are specifically exempt from being required to have a valid drivers license
someone in Tampa is pissed at Elon Musk... and is deranged enough to think he'll give a damn if they spray paint "Fuck Elon" on Cyber trucks. Did he just break up with a stripper in Fort Lauderdale?
Someone vandalized nearly three dozen new Tesla Cybertrucks that were parked in a lot in Fort Lauderdale some time between Thursday night and Friday morning, when they were found with spray-painted writing on them, police said.
John Force crashed hard, but was able to exit the wreck, and was alert while transported to a local hospital. No news outlet has ANY thing more to say at this time
hard to believe that after that crash, not a single news outlet, blogger, tweeter, etc is at the hospital, on the John Force team, in the family, and able to post a single word that describes his condition...
It would take less than a minute to say if he has broken anything, if he is lucid, if he was able to use his arms and legs to get out of the wreck?
Not a damn word online. Ridiculous!
You have got to read this... and since it is a comment in response to a post about engines, I doubt anyone would see it... but you're gonna love it!
I did so many burnouts that I fried the bearings in the 9", twice in 6 months.
Apparently doing extended burnouts slings all the oil away from the bearings or something.
The boys in my town had a standing contest for whose car could leave the longest black marks on the road, but to be official, it had to be done on the road in front of the sheriffs house.
My 69 four door Thunderbird with the 429 was the black mark king, no other car could even come close, I once got expelled from High School and when I drove away, I left a black mark 410 feet long.
A couple of kids had a scanner, and they'd listen and wait till the sheriff called in and gave his location that was miles away, then we'd go lay down some rubber in front of his house.
It was easy to keep up with the location of the sheriff and the deputy, since the sheriffs department consisted of the sheriff and THE deputy, literally like Andy and Barney, a rural Appalachian county of 7000 people that didn't have a traffic light in the county, didn't require a large department.
Userbronco
(The first two sentences? Should win writing awards! They should be the opening lines to a biography!)
Thanks Userbronco! You made my day! THIS is what being a car guy is about, ENJOYING the car, and what it can do, and having fun with it!
Saturday, June 22, 2024
for a good old fashioned simple weekend afternoon movie, with no new cars, just pre 1964 vehicles, with Rock Hudson directed by Howard Hawks, on Amazon Prime Video
a 1958 Chevy Delray
1959 Ford F100
I sure didn't expect to see an NSU Prinz in a Hollywood movie
the character Rock Hudson is playing works for Abercrombie and Fitch, back when it was a sporting goods store, and maybe it was paid product placement, but the 63 Jeep Wagoneer was a good choice
His character is required to enter a fishing tournament, and to use everything in the store.
Fully loaded with all the neat camping stuff that 1963 could supply, all the classic good stuff
the AFC on the door is for Abercrombie and Fitch Company
the previous Honda 105, and a Honda Monkey
