Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tricky Dick's Cool Ride
Back in the day of the cool cars coming out of Detroit, Chrysler Corporation built three of these cool old Phaetons. Whether or not you care for the passenger in this sweet as* ride, you have to agree it is cool.
Read the complete story over on Hemmings Blog or click here. And if you double click on the SIA pages once they have loaded, they will become enlarged for these old eyes.
thanks hemmings
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
It's Still Cold Down Here
At 5:23 pm, this Wednesday, it is a chilly 47 degrees with a wind chill of 42. Winds out of the northwest at 7-10 mph. Expected overnite low of 25.
Now I know that to many of you,
with the possible exception of this funny dude from Southern California, who commented on this blog,
VC said...
Yeah I know what you mean !! ! It was 70 here yesterday. I had put a shirt on.Winter sucks...AHAHahahAhAHAHaHAHhAhA
find those temperatures quite balmy for this time of year.
Yeah, I know, I read comments on thehorsefarmer's blog about how cold it is. I listen to thejeepjunkie tell me he is never going back to see thesungoddess's parents at Christmas as it is to cold. Yeah, I know that when you are on a tractor in the middle of a field in the middle of January in the middle of the Ozark Mountains, it is cold.
However, I have lived in Florida for the last 21 years, seldom getting out of this state during the colder months of the year. The last time I was in extremely cold weather was in 2001, when, with a bunch of friends, I passed through standing snow on the top of Mount Charleston out near Las Vegas. And the result of my living in a temperate climate? My blood is thinner than a glass of chilled Reisling. And I don't really have that many warm clothes and, other than anklets, only three pair of socks, two dress and one winter. So, this wimpy ole longrooffan just ain't equipped to handle the kind of weather we have been having the past few days.
Laugh, if you must, but I can rationalize anything. And do.
But late this afternoon I was going stir crazy around the Taj Mahal and headed out to pick up my winning Powerball ticket when I passed this Quebec originated automobile and stopped to get an image of it, just for my memory's sake.
Yeah, that salt covered automobile sure brought back some memories gained oh so long ago living up there in the Queen City of the Ozarks. Sure don't envy you all your wintertime slush, snow and salt.
And the fact it is going to be in the 70's this weekend, I will be much warmer and I will still be able to
Celebrate Life.
Now I know that to many of you,
with the possible exception of this funny dude from Southern California, who commented on this blog,
VC said...
Yeah I know what you mean !! ! It was 70 here yesterday. I had put a shirt on.Winter sucks...AHAHahahAhAHAHaHAHhAhA
find those temperatures quite balmy for this time of year.
Yeah, I know, I read comments on thehorsefarmer's blog about how cold it is. I listen to thejeepjunkie tell me he is never going back to see thesungoddess's parents at Christmas as it is to cold. Yeah, I know that when you are on a tractor in the middle of a field in the middle of January in the middle of the Ozark Mountains, it is cold.
However, I have lived in Florida for the last 21 years, seldom getting out of this state during the colder months of the year. The last time I was in extremely cold weather was in 2001, when, with a bunch of friends, I passed through standing snow on the top of Mount Charleston out near Las Vegas. And the result of my living in a temperate climate? My blood is thinner than a glass of chilled Reisling. And I don't really have that many warm clothes and, other than anklets, only three pair of socks, two dress and one winter. So, this wimpy ole longrooffan just ain't equipped to handle the kind of weather we have been having the past few days.
Laugh, if you must, but I can rationalize anything. And do.
But late this afternoon I was going stir crazy around the Taj Mahal and headed out to pick up my winning Powerball ticket when I passed this Quebec originated automobile and stopped to get an image of it, just for my memory's sake.
Yeah, that salt covered automobile sure brought back some memories gained oh so long ago living up there in the Queen City of the Ozarks. Sure don't envy you all your wintertime slush, snow and salt.
And the fact it is going to be in the 70's this weekend, I will be much warmer and I will still be able to
Celebrate Life.
the Kid and I Were Disappointed
If you have been Counting Along With Me, you will probably remember the Roar Before The 24 over at Daytona International Speedway that the Kid and I attended a couple weeks ago. As we always seem to do, we had a blast. Visited the pits, the garages, Fan Zone, went out and watched some hot practice laps. All for ten bucks. Total Blast and a great few hours spent with my growing into a man nephew. He even let me drive his CJ5 and he took my oleragtop out to the track. Thanks Kid, still Sorry I Broke It.
So anyway, I heard about the Preseason Thunder to mark the beginnings of the NASCAR season down in these here parts. Remembering the fun had at the Roar, I talked to thesungoddess earlier in the week to make sure she would be okay with the Kid going with me. Since he was off school on Friday for a teacher planning day and was able to get his voluminous amount of homework completed and he was off on Monday for MLK Day, she approved this request. As he was in the shower at that moment, she would have him call me back. And he did and we went to the Preseason Thunder that Saturday.
Now, I had previously come across this coupon for $5.00 a ticket off some where so, instead of paying the $15 admission, it would $10 each, as it was for that fun trip to the Roar. Well, silly a*s me did not realize the discounted tickets needed to be purchased prior to the event's first day. Now as I picked this up locally somewhere, not to many out of towners would know about it or be here early enough to qualify for the discount status, so I just can't figure out this early purchase requirement. Oh well, next time maybe I should put on my dollar store reading glasses and examine the fine print.
Originally we had planned to meet at the track, me in the olestationbus and him in his CJ5. Well, the previous evening the Kid blew a return from a fishing trip curfew and thesungoddess invoked her motherly rights to revoke the Kid's Jeep driving privileges. He called me on Saturday morning and I picked up the Kid in my olestationbus and we set off. We talked about the error of his ways and as every 16 year old does, johnjohn, I was only 15 minutes late. No excuse, Kid. I then had to tell about the error of my ways and he mentioned, "All's Good, at least we get to go." I think this must be a new term for him as he has used it alot the past few times I have seen him. I like it.
So we arrive at the track, get into the infield and pull up near the FanZone. I probably have told you about this place before, but just in case. The France family, owner of the corporation that owns this track and several others, completely renovated the garage area of DIS 3 or 4 years ago. They built the garages on an angle so you can view inside the garages without having access to the garage area itself. The common area of the FanZone includes areas for historic race cars to be displayed, a bar/restaurant area, a big stage and a souvenir shop, plus a few other things like room for concession trailers and restrooms. It is quite nice and they did a jam up job on it. You can even get on the roofs of the garages and view the road to pit lane.
So we got parked and paid that da*n $15 to get in and walked around a bit. Mark Martin was up on stage with a couple other drivers
talking to those dudes from SpeedTV about how he didn't mind not being able to practice at Daytona this year
as NASCAR had cancelled all practice in a cost conserving move, and has Mark pointed out, all the drivers on this year's circuit had raced here several times before. Does that mean there will be no rookies this year? Might very well be the case as there aren't enough rides to go around anyway. Hold it, that dude taking Tony Stewart's place might qualify.
The audience at this forum was filled with NASCAR themed jacket wearers everywhere. Those things run between $75-100 and they were proliferous.
I had forgotten about the cancellation of practice. We did hear the Richard Petty Driving Experience cars, the NotSoLilJim family and I saw last summer, zooming around the track but they don't even pass each other.
We walked around a short while, gathering up all the swag we could. A couple posters, a hand towel, t-shirts, and other misc. crap. Just to offset the cost of admission.
the Kid took an image of me in front of, what is probably, my favorite Daytona Prototype.
They also had this show car on display.
Here is the poster we got. the Kid stuck it on the roof of thejeepjunkie's garage. Other than the swag, it was kind of a bust. All it was, really, was a glorified autograph session and neither the Kid nor myself really care about getting autographs.
So as we were leaving, I asked the security dude, "Can we get back in on these ticket stubs?" "Yes sir" was the response. Cool. As we walked on, the Kid looked over at me, "Are we coming back, johnjohn?" My response, "Remember how we got those tickets to the Amelia Island Concours?" "Oh, johnjohn, I get it. Hear is my stub." So on our trek back to the olestationbus, I asked pretty much anyone who looked cool if they needed tickets. These two guys, obviously of European origin replied they did. "Admission is $15 each, I'll sell you these two stubs, each good for one readmission, for $20." They looked at each other, one pulled a twenty out and he asked me was I sure they were good. I told him "I specifically asked security and the response was yes. Besides, if I am going to hell, it is going to be for alot more than riping you off for $20." We all started laughing and parted ways.
So, the Kid and I got to see that abbreviated show for $5 each. But if I had only read the fine print, it would have been free. But ya know what? It's okay. Another, cheap and fun filled time with the Kid.
So as we were heading out in the olestationbus, since he didn't need to be home for a couple more hours, I asked him what he wanted to do? johnjohn, can we go look at those jetskiers? I had a feeling that one was coming. After a quick stop at the red haired girl's burger shop, we got down on the beach. I put the Kid behind the wheel of my olestationbus for the first time and he did great.
I didn't get any additional images on that blustery, windy beach, but there were around 300 or so jetskiers down there. the Kid was almost overwhelmed with all that was going on and the Xtreme jetskiing going on in that rough surf. We walked down that portion of the closed off beach about 3/4 of mile and turned around and headed into that chilly, northerly wind and for the first time since I can remember my ears were so cold they were tingling.
We headed back to the Kid's house to find thejeepjunkie putting those highly desirable donut style hubcaps we picked up on ebay on the front of the Kid's CJ5.
And I have to agree with thejeepjunkie, they complete the period look on the Kid's CJ5.
Don't you agree?
And, even with the minor disappointments, cold winds and tingling ears, it is with good times with the Kid, reselling our tickets and yes, even donut hubcaps, that we
Celebrate Life.
So anyway, I heard about the Preseason Thunder to mark the beginnings of the NASCAR season down in these here parts. Remembering the fun had at the Roar, I talked to thesungoddess earlier in the week to make sure she would be okay with the Kid going with me. Since he was off school on Friday for a teacher planning day and was able to get his voluminous amount of homework completed and he was off on Monday for MLK Day, she approved this request. As he was in the shower at that moment, she would have him call me back. And he did and we went to the Preseason Thunder that Saturday.
Now, I had previously come across this coupon for $5.00 a ticket off some where so, instead of paying the $15 admission, it would $10 each, as it was for that fun trip to the Roar. Well, silly a*s me did not realize the discounted tickets needed to be purchased prior to the event's first day. Now as I picked this up locally somewhere, not to many out of towners would know about it or be here early enough to qualify for the discount status, so I just can't figure out this early purchase requirement. Oh well, next time maybe I should put on my dollar store reading glasses and examine the fine print.
Originally we had planned to meet at the track, me in the olestationbus and him in his CJ5. Well, the previous evening the Kid blew a return from a fishing trip curfew and thesungoddess invoked her motherly rights to revoke the Kid's Jeep driving privileges. He called me on Saturday morning and I picked up the Kid in my olestationbus and we set off. We talked about the error of his ways and as every 16 year old does, johnjohn, I was only 15 minutes late. No excuse, Kid. I then had to tell about the error of my ways and he mentioned, "All's Good, at least we get to go." I think this must be a new term for him as he has used it alot the past few times I have seen him. I like it.
So we arrive at the track, get into the infield and pull up near the FanZone. I probably have told you about this place before, but just in case. The France family, owner of the corporation that owns this track and several others, completely renovated the garage area of DIS 3 or 4 years ago. They built the garages on an angle so you can view inside the garages without having access to the garage area itself. The common area of the FanZone includes areas for historic race cars to be displayed, a bar/restaurant area, a big stage and a souvenir shop, plus a few other things like room for concession trailers and restrooms. It is quite nice and they did a jam up job on it. You can even get on the roofs of the garages and view the road to pit lane.
So we got parked and paid that da*n $15 to get in and walked around a bit. Mark Martin was up on stage with a couple other drivers
talking to those dudes from SpeedTV about how he didn't mind not being able to practice at Daytona this year
as NASCAR had cancelled all practice in a cost conserving move, and has Mark pointed out, all the drivers on this year's circuit had raced here several times before. Does that mean there will be no rookies this year? Might very well be the case as there aren't enough rides to go around anyway. Hold it, that dude taking Tony Stewart's place might qualify.
The audience at this forum was filled with NASCAR themed jacket wearers everywhere. Those things run between $75-100 and they were proliferous.
I had forgotten about the cancellation of practice. We did hear the Richard Petty Driving Experience cars, the NotSoLilJim family and I saw last summer, zooming around the track but they don't even pass each other.
We walked around a short while, gathering up all the swag we could. A couple posters, a hand towel, t-shirts, and other misc. crap. Just to offset the cost of admission.
the Kid took an image of me in front of, what is probably, my favorite Daytona Prototype.
They also had this show car on display.
Here is the poster we got. the Kid stuck it on the roof of thejeepjunkie's garage. Other than the swag, it was kind of a bust. All it was, really, was a glorified autograph session and neither the Kid nor myself really care about getting autographs.
So as we were leaving, I asked the security dude, "Can we get back in on these ticket stubs?" "Yes sir" was the response. Cool. As we walked on, the Kid looked over at me, "Are we coming back, johnjohn?" My response, "Remember how we got those tickets to the Amelia Island Concours?" "Oh, johnjohn, I get it. Hear is my stub." So on our trek back to the olestationbus, I asked pretty much anyone who looked cool if they needed tickets. These two guys, obviously of European origin replied they did. "Admission is $15 each, I'll sell you these two stubs, each good for one readmission, for $20." They looked at each other, one pulled a twenty out and he asked me was I sure they were good. I told him "I specifically asked security and the response was yes. Besides, if I am going to hell, it is going to be for alot more than riping you off for $20." We all started laughing and parted ways.
So, the Kid and I got to see that abbreviated show for $5 each. But if I had only read the fine print, it would have been free. But ya know what? It's okay. Another, cheap and fun filled time with the Kid.
So as we were heading out in the olestationbus, since he didn't need to be home for a couple more hours, I asked him what he wanted to do? johnjohn, can we go look at those jetskiers? I had a feeling that one was coming. After a quick stop at the red haired girl's burger shop, we got down on the beach. I put the Kid behind the wheel of my olestationbus for the first time and he did great.
I didn't get any additional images on that blustery, windy beach, but there were around 300 or so jetskiers down there. the Kid was almost overwhelmed with all that was going on and the Xtreme jetskiing going on in that rough surf. We walked down that portion of the closed off beach about 3/4 of mile and turned around and headed into that chilly, northerly wind and for the first time since I can remember my ears were so cold they were tingling.
We headed back to the Kid's house to find thejeepjunkie putting those highly desirable donut style hubcaps we picked up on ebay on the front of the Kid's CJ5.
And I have to agree with thejeepjunkie, they complete the period look on the Kid's CJ5.
Don't you agree?
And, even with the minor disappointments, cold winds and tingling ears, it is with good times with the Kid, reselling our tickets and yes, even donut hubcaps, that we
Celebrate Life.
It's Dang Cold Down Here
Last night it got down to 30 degrees with expected low tonite around 25. Click here for more info.
And don't get me started on that 15-20 mph northerly wind.
Hey jeepjunkie, turn off the fan and turn up the heat will ya?
Gonna be plenty cool at the 24 Hour Race this weekend. Horsefarmer, can I borrow your Carharts?
And don't get me started on that 15-20 mph northerly wind.
Hey jeepjunkie, turn off the fan and turn up the heat will ya?
Gonna be plenty cool at the 24 Hour Race this weekend. Horsefarmer, can I borrow your Carharts?
Monday, January 19, 2009
1958 Coupe des Alpes
One of the advantages of not having, what The Gentleman Farmer called a television, an "idiot box" is having the time to view this 34 minute long series of videos of this Alpine race.
If you are a fan of old European sports cars, you should check out at least one of these.
Only for the hard core fan though.
Enjoy it as we watch these old sport car rally drivers
Celebrate Life.
thanks jalopnik.
If you are a fan of old European sports cars, you should check out at least one of these.
Only for the hard core fan though.
Enjoy it as we watch these old sport car rally drivers
Celebrate Life.
thanks jalopnik.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hey Kid, Sorry I Broke Your Jeep
How do you apologize to a 16 year old Kid for the fact you busted up his favorite ride and made it inoperable?
So, as I mentioned, I was the one behind the wheel of the Kid's Classic CJ5 when that old, ready-to-break clutch cable went. I apologized profusely to both the Kid and thejeepjunkie and the Kid's response was, always, "All is Good, We'll get it fixed." And know that while I felt bad, two things enter into these thoughts to relieve my anxiety. One, that cable was ready to go, even thejeepjunkie commented on it on a day we spent together last week, Yeah I know that blog is due. Second, as I was rocking the Kid's CJ back and forth, thejeepjunkie and the Kid were there watching me and nodding their heads up and down in acknowledgement of my actions. But, still, a bummer this happened under my 'watch'.
Earlier this evening, I called thejeepjunkie to see exactly what parts were needed for the repair I caused.
He answered with a "Let me call you right back". My response, "Bye." Surprisingly, he called me back just a few minutes later. "Hey jeepjunkie, how are things over there?" He responded that for a bit it was tense and then he told the "If you didn't drive these things in the woods, this wouldn't happen"sungoddess, "Look, I could have as a hobby hanging with the guys in some sports bar or play rec basketball with a bunch of crack heads or I could choose to spend time with my son out enjoying things we both like. What do you want?" He told me things cooled off considerably after that assertation. "What are you doing John John?" I told him I was surfing for parts and how are things going for you? "Well, the Kid and I are getting along well removing this transmission but you and I sure work well together and the Kid needs to see how that works." Ed, do you want me to come over? "Well, if you don't mind....." See you in 15, jeepjunkie
And I headed that way. That's what you do. If a brother's relationship can help a 16 year old evolve, especially a Lee, that's what you do. I only wish I had known that at 20 years of age!!
So I arrive and the Kid is up there removing the bolts attaching the transmission housing to the engine block. As always, when there are several Chiefs around and not enough Indians, things get a bit terse, but as the Kid says, "All is Good." So after thejeepjunkie realizes the twin motor mounts won't be enough to support that motor, after the transmission is removed, and he decides we should strap it up, "Just in case", we removed that tranny and "All is Good."
But just to let all of you Counting Along With Me, this gaping hole in the floorboard of the Kid's CJ5 is because of a
a failure of the part shown here.
And the damage done. Click on this image and see all the bent up stuff on this pressure plate.
So, we rolled the Kid's CJ out into the driveway, those boys cleaned up the tools used and we got on the net to find the stuff needed to get the Kid's CJ off road ready.
And, I am confident, regardless of thesungoddess's opinion, thejeepjunkie, the Kid and the longrooffan are going to continue to head off road in these toys and, also, will continue to
Celebrate Life.
So, as I mentioned, I was the one behind the wheel of the Kid's Classic CJ5 when that old, ready-to-break clutch cable went. I apologized profusely to both the Kid and thejeepjunkie and the Kid's response was, always, "All is Good, We'll get it fixed." And know that while I felt bad, two things enter into these thoughts to relieve my anxiety. One, that cable was ready to go, even thejeepjunkie commented on it on a day we spent together last week, Yeah I know that blog is due. Second, as I was rocking the Kid's CJ back and forth, thejeepjunkie and the Kid were there watching me and nodding their heads up and down in acknowledgement of my actions. But, still, a bummer this happened under my 'watch'.
Earlier this evening, I called thejeepjunkie to see exactly what parts were needed for the repair I caused.
He answered with a "Let me call you right back". My response, "Bye." Surprisingly, he called me back just a few minutes later. "Hey jeepjunkie, how are things over there?" He responded that for a bit it was tense and then he told the "If you didn't drive these things in the woods, this wouldn't happen"sungoddess, "Look, I could have as a hobby hanging with the guys in some sports bar or play rec basketball with a bunch of crack heads or I could choose to spend time with my son out enjoying things we both like. What do you want?" He told me things cooled off considerably after that assertation. "What are you doing John John?" I told him I was surfing for parts and how are things going for you? "Well, the Kid and I are getting along well removing this transmission but you and I sure work well together and the Kid needs to see how that works." Ed, do you want me to come over? "Well, if you don't mind....." See you in 15, jeepjunkie
And I headed that way. That's what you do. If a brother's relationship can help a 16 year old evolve, especially a Lee, that's what you do. I only wish I had known that at 20 years of age!!
So I arrive and the Kid is up there removing the bolts attaching the transmission housing to the engine block. As always, when there are several Chiefs around and not enough Indians, things get a bit terse, but as the Kid says, "All is Good." So after thejeepjunkie realizes the twin motor mounts won't be enough to support that motor, after the transmission is removed, and he decides we should strap it up, "Just in case", we removed that tranny and "All is Good."
But just to let all of you Counting Along With Me, this gaping hole in the floorboard of the Kid's CJ5 is because of a
a failure of the part shown here.
And the damage done. Click on this image and see all the bent up stuff on this pressure plate.
So, we rolled the Kid's CJ out into the driveway, those boys cleaned up the tools used and we got on the net to find the stuff needed to get the Kid's CJ off road ready.
And, I am confident, regardless of thesungoddess's opinion, thejeepjunkie, the Kid and the longrooffan are going to continue to head off road in these toys and, also, will continue to
Celebrate Life.
"Stuck One, Broke The Other"
thejeepjunkie called me early this afternoon and asked what I was doing.--Just trying to get a blog published so I can get caught up-- What are you doing?-- Hooking up the 2A to the 5 and getting ready to head to the woods. Wanna go?-- See you in 15.
And I did. We met up at the petro station and headed out to the state owned Heart Island Reserve. Parked the olestationbus, unhooked thejeepjunkie's CJ2A from the Kid's CJ5, dropped the windshield, removed my phone from my back pocket and put it in the glove box and we are off. We hadn't gone 30 yards before thejeepjunkie coasts to a stop and the Kid and I pull along side him on that old dirt road. "Got that brake fluid you picked up here?" Yep. the Kid and I return to the olestationbus, grab that fluid and head back down that road.
The master cylinder on that old 2A is located quite a ways down in that engine compartment and we looked around for a funnel, or something which we could jerry rig into one. Finally settled on the cover of my off road Atlas. The sacrifice was worth it. That Atlas is a bit tattered these days and I won't be missing its cover.
Anyway, thejeepjunkie got his ride squared up and with a nod of his head, we took off on our adventure. The first off road path that wasn't marked "No Motorized Vehicles", we set off on.
Down near the black water creek that bisected this trail, we encountered some tree trunks, culverts and water pipes that had accumulated over time from various floods along this creek.
We stopped, scouted around for a way across this creek that wasn't blocked by old, rotted tree trunks. Couldn't find one and the Kid was bummed. "We should have brought an axe." thejeepjunkie commented "We don't need an axe, we got Jeeps!"
And while I was shooting these images,
the Kid and thejeepjunkie and his CJ2A cleared us a path to get across that creek.
No axe needed!
In the image below, thejeepjunkie and his 2a are just behind the bush on the left side, heading across that black water creek.
In the following video,
you can see his success in this endeavor. FAIL.
So I shut down the old Polaroid and told the Kid to grab his strap and pull his CJ5 up to pull his old man out.
Meanwhile, thejeepjunkie killed the engine on his 2A and the Kid, well meaning enough, just wasn't operating his CJ5 accurately enough to get his old man out. "John John, get in there and get me out." So I climbed in
and was rocking the Kid's ride back and forth
and d*mn near got thejeepjunkie out of that quagmire
when the clutch cable snapped on the Kid's CJ5. thejeepjunkie scrambled over to check it out, a worried expression on his face. He climbed down under the Kid's ride and a look of relief spread across his face. "That clutch cable finally broke." He turns to the Kid and says, "At least it didn't happen when you were driving around the city."
So we put another strap from the CJ5 to the submerged CJ2A to keep it from washing away and, while I hoofed it the mile and a half or so back to the olestationbus to move it to the end of the path we were down as a marker for our rescuers, thejeepjunkie put in a call to some of his friends to come rescue our sorry as*es.
Meanwhile, the Kid headed across that creek on a fallen trunk and got a couple of shots for posterity's sake.
About 15 minutes later, our rescuer's began arriving and pulled that 2a out of that creek. thejeepjunkie was worried because he couldn't get his CJ2A started while it was submerged. Once out, he drained its battery trying to get it started, after which he and the Kid optimistically switched the one from the Kid's to the 2A, it eventually fired right up and thejeepjunkie's ride made it
of the woods to terra firma under its own power. the Kid's CJ5 was on a hook behind that jacked up Cherokee.
Once back on that old dirt road, the racedude and The Good Attorney had arrived with those cold beverages that emanate from the city of that famous arch and even some Diet Cokes for me.
So we all
stood around a bit and headed out to the main parking area to get situated for the 10 mile trip back to town.
theracedude was pontificating to thejeepjunkie on how to drive a towed vehicle. Sometimes that dude is just to much for me.
Here The Good Attorney is checking out the jacked up Cherokee that pulled the Kid's CJ from the woods.
We had to stop once on the way home to shorten the CJ5's lead strap for city use.
And finally, both the Kid's CJ5 and thejeepjunkie's CJ2A are home, safe and sound, just a little worse for the wear.
As Cheryl says, "If you didn't drive those things in the woods, they wouldn't break." Like that is going to stop the Kid and thejeepjunkie from having fun.
As it is, here in the Sunshine State, even though toys break and toys get stuck, our friends are always around to help us and to
Celebrate Life
with us.
And I did. We met up at the petro station and headed out to the state owned Heart Island Reserve. Parked the olestationbus, unhooked thejeepjunkie's CJ2A from the Kid's CJ5, dropped the windshield, removed my phone from my back pocket and put it in the glove box and we are off. We hadn't gone 30 yards before thejeepjunkie coasts to a stop and the Kid and I pull along side him on that old dirt road. "Got that brake fluid you picked up here?" Yep. the Kid and I return to the olestationbus, grab that fluid and head back down that road.
The master cylinder on that old 2A is located quite a ways down in that engine compartment and we looked around for a funnel, or something which we could jerry rig into one. Finally settled on the cover of my off road Atlas. The sacrifice was worth it. That Atlas is a bit tattered these days and I won't be missing its cover.
Anyway, thejeepjunkie got his ride squared up and with a nod of his head, we took off on our adventure. The first off road path that wasn't marked "No Motorized Vehicles", we set off on.
Down near the black water creek that bisected this trail, we encountered some tree trunks, culverts and water pipes that had accumulated over time from various floods along this creek.
We stopped, scouted around for a way across this creek that wasn't blocked by old, rotted tree trunks. Couldn't find one and the Kid was bummed. "We should have brought an axe." thejeepjunkie commented "We don't need an axe, we got Jeeps!"
And while I was shooting these images,
the Kid and thejeepjunkie and his CJ2A cleared us a path to get across that creek.
No axe needed!
In the image below, thejeepjunkie and his 2a are just behind the bush on the left side, heading across that black water creek.
In the following video,
you can see his success in this endeavor. FAIL.
So I shut down the old Polaroid and told the Kid to grab his strap and pull his CJ5 up to pull his old man out.
Meanwhile, thejeepjunkie killed the engine on his 2A and the Kid, well meaning enough, just wasn't operating his CJ5 accurately enough to get his old man out. "John John, get in there and get me out." So I climbed in
and was rocking the Kid's ride back and forth
and d*mn near got thejeepjunkie out of that quagmire
when the clutch cable snapped on the Kid's CJ5. thejeepjunkie scrambled over to check it out, a worried expression on his face. He climbed down under the Kid's ride and a look of relief spread across his face. "That clutch cable finally broke." He turns to the Kid and says, "At least it didn't happen when you were driving around the city."
So we put another strap from the CJ5 to the submerged CJ2A to keep it from washing away and, while I hoofed it the mile and a half or so back to the olestationbus to move it to the end of the path we were down as a marker for our rescuers, thejeepjunkie put in a call to some of his friends to come rescue our sorry as*es.
Meanwhile, the Kid headed across that creek on a fallen trunk and got a couple of shots for posterity's sake.
About 15 minutes later, our rescuer's began arriving and pulled that 2a out of that creek. thejeepjunkie was worried because he couldn't get his CJ2A started while it was submerged. Once out, he drained its battery trying to get it started, after which he and the Kid optimistically switched the one from the Kid's to the 2A, it eventually fired right up and thejeepjunkie's ride made it
of the woods to terra firma under its own power. the Kid's CJ5 was on a hook behind that jacked up Cherokee.
Once back on that old dirt road, the racedude and The Good Attorney had arrived with those cold beverages that emanate from the city of that famous arch and even some Diet Cokes for me.
So we all
stood around a bit and headed out to the main parking area to get situated for the 10 mile trip back to town.
theracedude was pontificating to thejeepjunkie on how to drive a towed vehicle. Sometimes that dude is just to much for me.
Here The Good Attorney is checking out the jacked up Cherokee that pulled the Kid's CJ from the woods.
We had to stop once on the way home to shorten the CJ5's lead strap for city use.
And finally, both the Kid's CJ5 and thejeepjunkie's CJ2A are home, safe and sound, just a little worse for the wear.
As Cheryl says, "If you didn't drive those things in the woods, they wouldn't break." Like that is going to stop the Kid and thejeepjunkie from having fun.
As it is, here in the Sunshine State, even though toys break and toys get stuck, our friends are always around to help us and to
Celebrate Life
with us.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
New Parts For Old Cars
Or Link Hell, you choose the title of this blog. And So On With It....
I don't know if I have mentioned that my parents, Mary Lou and Bob, brought ten kids into this world. And, if you have been Counting Along With Me, you will remember that, along with the longrooffan, my brothers, the Bus, thehorsefarmer, and thejeepjunkie, like The Gentleman Farmer before us, all own old cars. Well, technically they aren't cars but you get the gist of it. My oldest brother, BBB, doesn't have any old cars or a blog, but he does have this, and enjoys the hell out of entertaining the neighborhood kids, or as he calls them, kid1, kid2, girl1 and girl2.
Yeah, in order of birth, the Bus has a 46 or so, Willys Jeep CJ2A as well as an old bus and stake truck-both dating from the 50's, even his son, The Not So Lil Jim and the Lil Mom have an old, well to him anyway, 76 Dodge M880 military power wagon, as shown in the picture with the bus and the stake truck. thehorsefarmer, appropriately enough, has a 66 Bronco-his wife, thebarngoddess-has a later model Bronco as well, and thejeepjunkie, also appropriately enough, has another 46 or so Willys Jeep CJ2A while his son, the Kid has a mid 60's CJ5.
I have, in addition to my 1988 BMW 325ic, this sweet beast, affectionately referred to as the olestationbus.
Now those of us who own old cars know they will break down and require more maintenance than newer models. Remember this post? That is part of the reason we own them. Cheaper than hanging out a the local tavern, weeeellllll, yeah, I'll stick with that.
Anyway, a week or so ago, the Kid and I attended the Roar before the 24 and I acquired a couple of the ball caps at a sale the Grand Am was having in The Fan Zone out at the Daytona International Speedway.
Well, I certainly didn't need two of these, Okay you ask, "Why buy two?" Well, one cap was $10, two were $14. Yeap, it was a sale. As the Kid and thejeepjunkie have more da*n ball caps than they can ever wear, I dropped my extra in the mail to thehorsefarmer, just so his family can enjoy part of the Rolex 24 experience without having to go to Ruby Tuesdays.
Okay, I hear ya yelling, "What the h*ll does this have to do with New Parts For Old Cars?"
Well, my olestationbus is bone ass stock, all there, and running great. Heck, earlier this week thejeepjunkie and I took it out for a tour of John's Auto Parts, just north of here. Yeah, I know, that blog is way overdue. But as a result, I am not in a major search of parts for this old Falcon. Yes, it is a 1963 Ford Falcon Station Bus, identical to the 1961-67 Ford Econoline Vans, with the exception of the badging on it. Therefore, whenever I have mentioned to parts suppliers, I have what I have, and they never find the part, I tell them to look for an Econoline and they always find it.
So anyway, I was on ebay, having sold a couple things there and have more listed now, search amateurmodeler as the seller, that's me. Anyway there are a couple things I do need and as you can see in the following photos,
they are the brake and clutch pedal pads.
I guess those cowboy boots out in San Antonio, Texas are pretty rough on these here things.
Anyway, I was on ebay and found this so, I email thehorsefarmer to measure the pedals on his
lilmule and let me know if they are the same size as the pedals on my olestationbus.
A short time later, thehorsefarmer calls me, as he has free long distance and loves to flaunt it, and mentions I should go to dennis-carpenter.com and go to page 103, then he says, "H*ll, I can do it quicker than I can tell you about it." Asks me for my physical address and we sign off.
And that Big Brown Truck arrives and delivers these cool pieces of rubber for my olestationbus.
Thanks horsefarmer. I emailed him and asked what I owed him. He responds to just keep on blogging and he is set. Dang, that is easy parts money!!
Now something that is really interesting to me. Remember here, old Uncle Tom, down at thejeepjunkie's shop, commented about the reason for the installation of an electric fuel pump on the olestationbus. Well, these pads were labeled, "Made in India". UAW take note!
So, today, after a rare, boring trip to the Daytona International Speedway and this, the Kid looked on as I took those old rubber pads off the olestation bus and
installed these new ones, which,
I am confident will hold up much better under the longrooffan's flip flops than they did under those old cowboy boots out in West Texas.
And the really cool thing?
With these new clutch and brake pedal pads, I can really
Celebrate Life.
I don't know if I have mentioned that my parents, Mary Lou and Bob, brought ten kids into this world. And, if you have been Counting Along With Me, you will remember that, along with the longrooffan, my brothers, the Bus, thehorsefarmer, and thejeepjunkie, like The Gentleman Farmer before us, all own old cars. Well, technically they aren't cars but you get the gist of it. My oldest brother, BBB, doesn't have any old cars or a blog, but he does have this, and enjoys the hell out of entertaining the neighborhood kids, or as he calls them, kid1, kid2, girl1 and girl2.
Yeah, in order of birth, the Bus has a 46 or so, Willys Jeep CJ2A as well as an old bus and stake truck-both dating from the 50's, even his son, The Not So Lil Jim and the Lil Mom have an old, well to him anyway, 76 Dodge M880 military power wagon, as shown in the picture with the bus and the stake truck. thehorsefarmer, appropriately enough, has a 66 Bronco-his wife, thebarngoddess-has a later model Bronco as well, and thejeepjunkie, also appropriately enough, has another 46 or so Willys Jeep CJ2A while his son, the Kid has a mid 60's CJ5.
I have, in addition to my 1988 BMW 325ic, this sweet beast, affectionately referred to as the olestationbus.
Now those of us who own old cars know they will break down and require more maintenance than newer models. Remember this post? That is part of the reason we own them. Cheaper than hanging out a the local tavern, weeeellllll, yeah, I'll stick with that.
Anyway, a week or so ago, the Kid and I attended the Roar before the 24 and I acquired a couple of the ball caps at a sale the Grand Am was having in The Fan Zone out at the Daytona International Speedway.
Well, I certainly didn't need two of these, Okay you ask, "Why buy two?" Well, one cap was $10, two were $14. Yeap, it was a sale. As the Kid and thejeepjunkie have more da*n ball caps than they can ever wear, I dropped my extra in the mail to thehorsefarmer, just so his family can enjoy part of the Rolex 24 experience without having to go to Ruby Tuesdays.
Okay, I hear ya yelling, "What the h*ll does this have to do with New Parts For Old Cars?"
Well, my olestationbus is bone ass stock, all there, and running great. Heck, earlier this week thejeepjunkie and I took it out for a tour of John's Auto Parts, just north of here. Yeah, I know, that blog is way overdue. But as a result, I am not in a major search of parts for this old Falcon. Yes, it is a 1963 Ford Falcon Station Bus, identical to the 1961-67 Ford Econoline Vans, with the exception of the badging on it. Therefore, whenever I have mentioned to parts suppliers, I have what I have, and they never find the part, I tell them to look for an Econoline and they always find it.
So anyway, I was on ebay, having sold a couple things there and have more listed now, search amateurmodeler as the seller, that's me. Anyway there are a couple things I do need and as you can see in the following photos,
they are the brake and clutch pedal pads.
I guess those cowboy boots out in San Antonio, Texas are pretty rough on these here things.
Anyway, I was on ebay and found this so, I email thehorsefarmer to measure the pedals on his
lilmule and let me know if they are the same size as the pedals on my olestationbus.
A short time later, thehorsefarmer calls me, as he has free long distance and loves to flaunt it, and mentions I should go to dennis-carpenter.com and go to page 103, then he says, "H*ll, I can do it quicker than I can tell you about it." Asks me for my physical address and we sign off.
And that Big Brown Truck arrives and delivers these cool pieces of rubber for my olestationbus.
Thanks horsefarmer. I emailed him and asked what I owed him. He responds to just keep on blogging and he is set. Dang, that is easy parts money!!
Now something that is really interesting to me. Remember here, old Uncle Tom, down at thejeepjunkie's shop, commented about the reason for the installation of an electric fuel pump on the olestationbus. Well, these pads were labeled, "Made in India". UAW take note!
So, today, after a rare, boring trip to the Daytona International Speedway and this, the Kid looked on as I took those old rubber pads off the olestation bus and
installed these new ones, which,
I am confident will hold up much better under the longrooffan's flip flops than they did under those old cowboy boots out in West Texas.
And the really cool thing?
With these new clutch and brake pedal pads, I can really
Celebrate Life.
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