Does That Come in Midnight Blue?

This truck will either enamor you or turn you off completely; I doubt there will be any middle ground.

Personally, I think it is the future of heavy hauling.

Trucks started as an engine up front, two place cab, drive wheels out back format well over a hundred years ago. The only innovations in the last hundred years have been diesel engines in stead of gas and air brakes.

The trucks and their loads have gotten bigger, but the basic layout hasn't changed. Until now.

The ad- and that's what it is; and ad- doesn't stress it, but I would be willing to bet a bit of driver input went into this rig as well. I have spent a bit of time in the cab of an 18 wheeler. Not an extensive amount; I am no where near the million mile club. Maybe the 50,000 mile club, but, I digress. So I can say that the number one problem a driver faces is being able to see (usually it is being able to see that idiot in the 4-wheeler that just doesn't understand the difference between an 80,000 pound semi and a 2,500 pound Civic); this truck design seems to have taken that issue into account.

It also seems to have taken the comfort of the driver as a design consideration as well. No more two box cab/sleeper; all one box; just like a motor home.

I'm sure this truck has issues. Like how much it will cost to build. 2 53 x 8 foot carbon fiber panels? Yee-haw! I'll bet most first-graders couldn't count all of the zeros at the bottom of THAT invoice.

But if it does make it into production, can imagine seeing a couple of them convoying down the road?

I have seen the future, and here it is.

That Was Then

 A few weeks ago my Aunt sent me an email that talked about how things were in 1910. All kinds of information, which I assume is correct. It sounds correct anyway.

Things like: The Population of Las Vegas Nevada was only 30!

Yeah; I'll buy that. Los Angeles wasn't much bigger.

Or how about: There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. ! Yeah; I'll buy that one too.

But this one causes me to doubt the veracity of the whole thing:  Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! I can see where they would have not had a medical degree, but NO College? sounds fishy.

How about this one? There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. By 1910 Ford had been producing the Model T for 4 or 5 years, and eventually built 15 million of them; 8,000 sounds awfully low. Especially since there were almost 8,000 manufacturers in 1910. Okay; that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.

The point of the email is how much things have changed in a hundred years, and questions how much they will change in the next hundred.

I have a different take (I'll bet your surprised!). Look at how much things have remained the same, and what will still be the same in a hundred years? 

We're still using the same clock and calendar; noon on March 13th, 1914 is still noon on March 13th, 2014. I can see noon on March 13th, 2114 as being the same as well.

We had the telephone then, and do now. The concept is still the same, even though the actuality is different. We still use a number to connect to whoever we want to talk to. We used to connect to a location, now we connect to an individual. I don;t see that changing in another 100 years, except that we each may be assigned a number at birth that will connect us for life, and be used for all purposes, from phones to credit cards to government IDs. I didn't say I want or like the prospect of it happening, but I can see it happening.

We have only added 5 states in the last hundred years; I can see not adding anymore in the next hundred, unless something changes that makes joining the US more advantageous than not doing so.

We had electric lights in 1914, and still have them. I can see them in 2114 as well. The source of electricity may be different, and the bulb may be something we don't have now, but we will still flip a switch to have light.

Recorded music and movies were around back then, and still around now. There may be some differences in how we record and film, but we still record and film. And will in a hundred years.

History is interesting, and we can always compare both positively and negatively in any two eras. What we view as negative or positive is always in the eye of the beholder.

So while I may view the fact that the 1911 Colt's design has lasted 100 years as a positive thing, others may decry the fact that we still have need of one.

A Road Trip Into The Past

James Lileks was discussing this movie short the other day on his blog, The Bleat, and one of the commentators had a link to the original film.

Interesting little blurb. I love the 1930's vision of the future.

This short is from 1937; 75 years ago. The depths of the Great Depression. And yet; there was still a vision of the future that included progress.

Something we sometimes lack today.

I loved the old shots of laying concrete roads. Things have changed a little in the last few years. But they still use the angled iron forms, and the equipment still rides on the forms. How much things change, and how much they remain the same.

The part where they talk about the bridges in New York City is especially humorous, given the situation up there today, with the flooded subway tunnels and the jammed traffic. But then, years in the future to them was 35 years down the road- 1972.

40 years ago for us.

This being a Chevrolet production, they of course talk about how much safer the cars are 'today', back when hydraulic brakes were on 50% of the cars made, the automatic transmission was two years in the future and seat belts were still only in race cars. Average top speed in 1937? About 60, if you could find a road to press a car hard on. There were cars that would go faster, but they were the super cars; Cadillac, Packard, Duesenberg.

Most folks plodded along at 35 MPH, and dreamed of 55.

And  newfangled super-highway.

Cars I Have Known VI

There is a line in the beginning of the movie A Christmas Story where the Narrator describes his Dad; "Some men are Baptists; other Episcopalian. My Father was an Oldsmobile man."

When I was a kid my Dad was an Oldsmobile man. The first car of his I remember was a 3-way black 55 Olds 88 4 Door sedan. In 1964 we drove that car to Disneyland, from Cincinnati. That trip is an upcoming series of posts.

It was shortly after that that Dad bought a different car. It is my earliest memory of a new car. In 1965 he bought a '60 Olds Wagon. White, with a grey top and grey interior. Man; what a machine!

The Speedometer. Anyone who has ever ridden in a '60 Olds remembers the speedometer. Instead of a dial an needle, it had a straight line graph and bar that ran across the bottom. From 0 to 50 it was a green bar; when you hit 50, the bar turned orange, and at 70 it turned red; fascinating to watch when you're 5. My Grandma- Dad's Mom- always in the  back seat, passenger side, and would start hollering Slow Down; Slow Down when she saw the bar turn red. On the highway the bar was usually red.

And there is nothing like a big Oldsmobile for a smooth ride. I remember going to visit my aunt and uncle, down a gravel lane, and not feeling a bump. On the highway, it was living room smooth, except for when I was bouncing around in the back seat.

But it wasn't all roses. The Olds 371 big block was known for cracking heads. and so did ours. Dad was able to squeeze another week out of it while he found a replacement motor, and Friday night on the way home form grocery shopping he stop by the Tool Rental and picked up an engine crane. As we pulled into the driveway the motor died completely. we had to push it the next morning the last 70 feet into the garage. Dad worked on it all day Saturday, and finished it up Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning drove it to work. Ah; the good old days!

We ran that car for years; from '65-'70. by then it was showing its age, and Dad found a good deal on 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser wagon, and he sold the '60 to my uncle, who ran it another couple of years before the engine blew another head, and it went off to the rest home.

But I can tell you that car made an impression on me. I will always associate Big, Fast and Smooth with Oldsmobile, and in particular the 1960 Wagon.

The one in the picture was for sale not too long ago.

It sold for over $22,000. I guess I'm not the only one nostalgic for the old girl.

Well, You Start Here, and Then Go There, And Then...

I have blogged before about how one thing leads to another. Train of thought- pun intended. Well; I'm doing it again.

Today I was reading a legal description for a piece of property in Fayette County Kentucky, and part of the property ran along side of the tracks for the CNO & TP Railroad.

The what? I asked myself. What was the CNO & TP Railroad? Well, It is the Cincinnati- New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railroad. Formed in 1869, it is wholly owned by the City of Cincinnati. The only intercity railroad owned by a municipality. Ain't that a kick in the head? There is a lot more information at the link, But apparently the line has a certain amount of notoriety to rail buffs, or as they are sometimes called, Foamers. That is an interesting story in its own. Do an internet search for Railroad Foamer video.

But, I digress.

I was doing a little more searching, looking for more info on the CNO & TP RR (TP; Considering Cincinnati's Procter & Gamble, a TP railroad kinda makes sense) I found another page, NKY Images; full of hundreds of old pictures, including some on the now familiar CNO&TP RR.

Including one old newspaper article about a car on the railroad tracks of the CNO&TP. The things you can find on the internets!

What is really interesting about this article is that it talks about the horseless carriage killing the horse, and now it's setting its sites on the Iron Horse. That was truer that anybody in 1924 knew, I would suspect. Not that personal cars would soon rule the railroads, but there is a technology hidden under the hood of this vehicle that is 80 years ahead of its time for cars, and 30 years to early for the railroads. This thing is a hybrid.

And, it wasn't the first one. There is a hybrid manufacturer even older. Back to my old friend Jay Leno's Garage, and his Owen Magnetic.

This was the technology that did kill the Iron Horse Steam Locomotive. All modern locomotives are diesel electrics; the drive wheels are each driven by an electric motor, and the electricity is created by a diesel powered generator; just like in a modern hybrid, and in our early iron wheel automobile.

Another thing too, while I am on this newspaper article. I love the way it is written. If newspapers were written like this today they might still be making money. Which reminds me; the money line in the article: 'by an over enthusiastic devotee of Bacchus'.

The author used this line, knowing that most, if not all, of his readers would know who Bacchus was. I'll bet you could read this article to an honors English class in any high schools and they would not be able understand a significant portion of it.

Yet in 1924, this was puff piece.

Yeah; we have come a long way.

Yeah, It's Been One Of Those #@*&^% Months

Ever heard the old saying When everything you touch turns to #@*&, stop touching #@*&?

Absolutely NOTHING went right for the last two weeks. Everything I touched fell, apart, failed to work or blew up in my face.

The big project I am working on in the workshop? I almost had to scrap a big piece of it because I failed to make a crucial tool adjustment.

And there is my car. My '92 BMW has need some front end work, and I have been kind of putting it off, waiting for spring and the end of heating bills. I had another car to drive, so I just left it in the driveway. Well, then the motor went bad in my son's car and we needed the Bimmer back in the fleet. I priced parts and figured I could get it done for about $250, so I bought the parts.

Then came the day to install the new parts. Remember the title of this post?

Instead of buying a whole McPherson strut, i bought shocks that will rebuild the strut; cheaper that way, don't ya know?

Except my struts weren't rebuildable. Ste-riiike One! I had to buy the whole strut.

At twice the cost. and since the car is already in pieces, my options are limited. Then I got home with the parts and found out the struts are for a standard 325i; i have the Sport suspension; these struts won't work. Ste-riiike Two!

And guess what? The struts I need are twice as much as the ones I have, AND a special order; be here is 3-4 days.

Well, they finally came in. Driver's side was perfect. The Passenger side... was not. Struts like this are for one side of the car only; left or right, because of the way they are designed, a right won't fit on the left and vice-versa.

Apparently the strut I have for the passenger side was welded up wrong. The top was welded up for the left side, and the bottom was welded up for the right side. The spring fit on beautifully, and it bolted up to the spindle assembly fine, but when I went to bolt up the stabiliser links, the mounting bracket was toward the front of the car, instead of the back.

Ste-riike $(*&@%#$ing Three!

The replacement part will be here in a couple of days.

Until then, I ain't touching #@*&.

I will have a few beers though. Or at least try to.

Hopefully I can drink a beer or two without spilling most of it.

But at this point I have my doubts.

Yet Another Limitation on the Electric Car

I found this article through Instapundit Sunday morning. I am linking to the Washington Post for two reasons: 1) this article backs up a lot of the things I have been saying about electric cars; and 2) CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS ARTICLE IS IN THE WASHINGTON POST!?!?!?

I am wondering about the repercussions. Obama says: 'Battery Powered cars are good'; the Washington Post says: 'Well, maybe not so much, for 60% of the country'.

What next? Will the Post be charged with blasphemy? Maybe lose their press pass?

One other interesting point. The Post printed this article in the Opinion Section. When I read it, i figured it would be in the Science section. Or maybe the Family Section, or whatever they call the part of the paper with the Comics, the Crossword Puzzle and recipes.

Apparently this writer- like me and millions of others- is not a fan of paying $40k for an economy car.

Amazing that he can say so AND still keep a job at the Washington Post.

Back In The Day, I Could Afford a New Car

One of the things about a birthday is it kind of makes you nostalgic. I started thinking about some of the things I've had for years and some of the things I have lost over the years.

When I was 5 I got one of these from my aunt and Uncle for Christmas.

This thing was sweet: the wheels would turn and lock, so the car would make circles or go straight; it was motorized and would run at maybe 2 mph, and neatest of all, the headlights and taillights would light up through a fiber optic system from one bulb. And all this was in 1965!

When I was 11 we moved and I somehow lost track of where it went.

I'd almost give $100 for one.

But not quite; I ain't that nostalgic!

Let's Take a Look at Some History

I was perusing Jay Leno's Garage over the weekend and found this book review. The book itself sounds interesting- a murder mystery based in 1910 in an electric car factory.

The more interesting part of the video is Jay and the author's conversation about the early 1900's and the history of electric automobiles. Especially when they discuss range and what killed the electric car a hundred years ago.

Another video Jay posted last week was this one; about a 1906 Steam Tractor. Jay drives this thing around the block- at its top speed of 4 miles an hour- and then discusses what killed the steam car.

If you don't study history, you don't know that most ideas are not new. Back in the day, before the internal combustion engine (ICE) became the norm, electric and steam powered cars were viable competitors. For a few years anyway. But both steam and electric had limitations that the ICE didn't have.

The electric starter, invented in 1912, was one of the biggest boosts; it removed the need for a strong arm to kick the engine over, making the ICE the easier and faster to start than a steam car.

Electrics have always had range issues, and always will, until they figure out how to recharge your battery in the time it takes to grab a cup of coffee and donut at the Stop and Go. Which will probably be never.

Electric cars are a fad today; just like they were a hundred years ago.

Ya Know There Are Folks Who Won't Get This

But I don't know any of them.

This is the best of both worlds; a go anywhere luxury ride. Nothing outside will bother you; and all the toys you need inside.

Definitely win/win!

I'll Think About An Electric Car When...

You know I follow Jay Leno's Garage pretty regularly. Today they have a post up about new electric cars and motorcycles from the 2010 SEMA show.

Jay isn't in this one; his friend Justin Bell is. Justin is a world class racing driver, and has done several videos for and with Jay.

He makes a great point toward the end of this video, when he talks about how it would feel to have his race car recharged in the pits, instead of refueled.

You know how I feel about electric cars, and this really summed it up for me. It was the early days of racing that proved the internal combustion engine concept. electric and steam cars couldn't compete over the long distances, like the Indy 500, first run in 1911, and the gas engine became the standard.

All the flash and bang electric cars have been making the last couple of years is meaningless.

When an electric car wins at Indy or Daytona, then I'll know they're ready for primetime.

Cars I Have Known, Part V

I found this on The Truth About Cars a couple of days ago and was waiting for time to do a proper post on it.

I still don't have time. But I am going to do a post anyway, because the spirit has moved me.

And I'm supposed to be cleaning my desk. But, I digress.

The article is about the Oldsmobile Cutlass body style series that started in 1978. As a refresher, the 1977 Cutlass was a monster. Long and wide, usually powered by a 350 V-8 it was considered a midsized car. That could seat 6 fairly comfortably, if two were children, and handled like the Queen Mary.

The '78 on the other hand was about a foot shorter, 6 inches narrower and was powered by a 260 V-8. It didn't wallow into corners like the '77, and being smaller, was easier to maneuver in traffic and parking lots. It still seated 5, if one was a child, and became an instant hit.

For years this body series, which lasted, with one update, for 10 years, filled 4 -6 spots on the Top Ten Most Stolen list. a dubious distinction maybe, but also a hint of its popularity.

Spots that, coincidentally, have been taken by Honda Accords. According to the article, the Accord is the Modern Cutlass.

I have owned 4 of these Cutlasses. Two '78 two-doors, an '80 wagon and an '82 two-door. And I loved them all.

My first I called my American Bimmer. Bucket Seats, Factory Gauge Package, Glass Moon Roof, 260 V-8 and, the reason I bought the car, a Factory 5-speed. Mine was Midnight Blue, with a Baby Blue vinyl Landau Top. It had an interesting history. A couple bought it new in 1978 and shipped it to Denmark, where the husband was stationed for his job (details on the job are classified). In '82 or '83 they gave the car to their son, who lived in Cincinnati. In '86 he showed up with it in the garage I worked in because the headlights didn't work.

It was love at first sight for me. We agreed on a price and I took her home. We had two young'uns at the time, and putting car seats in and out of the back was a pain in the back, but everything else made it worthwhile.

That body style was big on the inside, small on the outside, and one of the last cars you could still work on. It averagaed probably 20 MPG (who measured gas mileage in 1986?) but still was able stay out of the way of traffic. and the rare 5-Speed gave it just a little bit of foreign feel.

The other Cutlasses have their own great stories that I'll tell later.

But back to the article; there is one point I have to argue with. The '78-'88 Cutlasses are comfortabel to me; the Accordss, not so much. Mom has one (2005 I think), and while adequet for short trips, after an hour I am ready to ride in the trunk just to see if I can find room to make my legs comortable.

To my 6'-4" 280 pound self, they just aren't comfortable. my legs rub somethng no matter where I put them, my butt gets tired after 30 minutes and I can't seem to shift my weight to somewhere that isn't already sore or tired. Give me an old Cutlass anyday.

Not Ready For Prime Time

I found this through Instapundit.

And yep; we have been hearing about the coming age of the electric auto for over 100 hundred years.

Jay Leno has a video on his Baker Electric that adds a few reasons why electric cars have been the red headed step-child of the auto industry for the last 100 years.

I also saw an article comparing the charge times for a electric with the refueling times for a gas car, and each electric service station would need to cover 5 acres to service as many cars an hour as a 6 pump gas station.

Yeah, there may come a day for the electric car; give it another 100 years.

Cars I Have Known V

After I bought my T-Bird I got Orders to England. I had the choice to take the 'Bird with me, but because I couldn't drive it there I decided to leave the Thunderbird at home and buy another car in England. After about 2 months one of the guys I worked with offered me his Jaguar for $1000. He would make sure it would pass the MOT (Ministry of Transport) inspection for the $1000, so I jumped at the chance.

I will say flat out this was one Hell of a Car. All the Brits would tell you that only the Yanks would buy an old Jag, because the Brits that could afford the upkeep could afford a new one; it was only the Yanks that had enough money to keep an old one running; and by inference, the lack of smarts to try.

This was the first Sports Sedan; a 1965 3.8 S-Type. 4-wheel independent suspension (same as used on the E-Type); 4-wheel disc brakes; dual exhaust; dual overhead cams; twin carburetors on a 3.8 liter engine. Inside was pure class. The dash board and all of the trim that in a newer car is plastic, was solid walnut. The door panels and seats were leather, and the carpets wool. It was a little small, but not too bad even for me.

I was having trouble with it one day; it just would not idle properly. I was talking to the British guys I worked with about how bad it was running and one asked me if I had checked the oil in the carburetors. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I told him that yeah I had; it was fine, and the stereo and the windows worked well too; and it still wouldn't idle.

Well, apparently I had just fallen off the turnip truck. Jags use an SU side-draft carb that has a throttle plate idle damper that uses motor oil to stabilize the throttle plate. You check it by removing a black cap on top of the bell of the carb that has a dipstick attached. If the oil runs low in the damper the throttle plate flops around instead of remaining steady, which makes the car idle poorly and run rough. We topped off the oil with about half a pint in each carb and she started idling smoothly again.

It's always the things we are sure we know that makes us look the dumbest, ain't it?

Cars I Have Known IV

My computer is down again- blown a second hard drive in a year- so I can't get a picture of either of my 'Birds; this is an old Ford image from 1969. This was the best image I could get from the Internet.

1969 Thunderbirds are rare. Ford built about 25,000 'Birds total in '69. That may sound like a lot of cars, but that same year they built 250,000 four door Galaxy 500s. T-birds are rare. And I have managed to get my hands on 4 of them.

My first was back in 1979, in North Dakota. The car was 10 years old and had almost any option you could want. Looking at Ford's option list for '69 I think I am missing the passenger side mirror, the sunroof, the fiber optic light minder and the rear window mounted brake lights. Yes, an option in 1969; mandatory 15 years later.

Ford only offered one motor in the 'Bird that year; a 429 cubic inch big block V-8 with a recorded 380 horsepower, but Ford has been found to be notorious for under-reporting engine horsepower and dyno tests have recorded over 410. 10.5 to 1 compression- where most modern cars run 8 to 1- and a 7.0 liter (for those who want to know) where today most cars are less than half that. This car used sheer size to compensate for lack of technology. In some respects a perfect metaphor for the United States in the 1960's.

These birds are, to me anyway, the epitome of what was once right with American Cars. Driving it is like sitting in your living room. everything adjusts to your perfect comfort. Road feel through the steering wheel? Hardly. This is your living room, remember? Cornering? Like the Queen Mary. Living room, remember?

But do you want to sit in total comfort for 4 or 5 hours while watching the countryside pass by at 65 MPH (or 90 or maybe more)? This is the car.

Who talked about fuel economy in 1969? Around town, count on about 8-10 MPG. Stop and go downtown? 4 to 5 if you don't run the air conditioning. This car was born for the highway. I once ran mine form Grand Forks ND to Omaha NE. 500 and some miles in one day. I made the whole trip at around 80 MPH and got 18.5 MPG. The next morning I started across Iowa and got busted for 80 in a 55. Iowa was a little more particular about their speed limits than ND, SD or NE I guess. Anyway, I ran all the way across Iowa at 55. And got 14 MPG. It's a Bird; it was made to fly.

On that same trip ( I was driving my 'Bird home before leaving for England) I hit I-275 from I-74 and was following it around into Kentucky. I was coming up the hill from the bridge and gave it a little gas to climb the hill. It was 4:00 in the morning and I had been awake sine 6:00 am and this was the first time I had been in the Bluegrass for a year. I got to the top of the hill and kept the pedal down.

I always had a problem with the dash lights in that car. There was a loose or bare wire somewhere and randomly the dash lights would blow a fuse. The fuse was small, and in the back of the fuse box, which was inside the glove compartment, so I didn't always replace it immediately when it blew. The dash lights fuse blew somewhere around Illinois 6 hours earlier and I hadn't replaced it yet. So I couldn't see my speedometer. Until I happened to glance down while going under a street light.

Bear in mind, I-275 was brand new; it was 4:00 in the morning and the road was empty. And I was 20. How fast was I going? Imagine a clock face. Zero would be about 6:30; 120 would be at about 5:30. The needle was back up to about 20MPH. I let go of the gas pedal immediately. I felt like i was doing maybe 100, but it was probably closer to 150. Living room, remember?

Why did it take me 6 hours to get from Illinois to Kentucky? The battery went dead on me in Indiana (The 'Bird's alternator had a funky built in voltage regulator that would occasional y take a couple of hours off. The ammeter didn't work, so you wouldn't know when the regulator had taken a vacation until the lights would suddenly dim) and I had to stop at a truck stop at 1:00 am to have the battery charged. That took an hour. Except the mechanic who charged the battery turned on the timer, but not the voltage. That battery didn't charge and I had to spend another hour waiting on the charger.

I still have that 'Bird. it is euphemistically 'Awaiting Restoration', meaning it's parked out back of the barn, waiting on me to get a couple of bucks together.

Which I will do.

As soon as I can quit raising kids.

The End of an Era

I just caught this over at Truth About Cars.

It ain't just health care Obama is screwing up; he and his minions are also killing the automobile industry.

Car manufacturing isn't just about cars. GM Ford, Chrysler and the other manufacturers were the backbone of industrial production in the country during WWII, converting over the course of a few months from cars to tanks, jeeps and other military supplies. Ford even built B-29 bombers, and by the end of the war was making 1 an hour. That was how we one WWII (and the Civil War as well); making things faster than the enemy could blow them up.

Who is going to supply our equipment next time around? I almost envision a scene like in Independence Day, where they pull all the retired pilots up to fly the aircraft. We'll be pulling anybody back into manufacturing, hoping they can remember or quickly relearn skills in order to make the equipment we need to survive.

It's not like I haven't seen it coming. My first machining job in 1986 was for a firm that made and sold machine knives. 85% of what we sold was made overseas. The bigger stuff in Japan; the smaller stuff in Europe. We made some stuff in house for two reasons: we had some customers who refused to accept a foreign made product, and in case a customer needed a special knife in a rush, we were able to make it, and that justified keeping us there.

That place has been gone for years now, just like a lot of other local manufacturers. Cincinnati used to be the biggest machine tool manufacturers in the world. At one point something like 40% of the machines made in the world came from Cincinnati. LeBlonde in now Rookwood Square; Cincinnati Milicron was set to become a shopping mall, until the economy collapsed. the rest of the country isn't much better.

With out the tools to work the metal we can have all the skilled machinists we want and it will do us as much good as trying kick a field goal with a baseball.

When the end comes we will know who to blame at least.

What a small consolation that will be.

Friday The 13th-3; Me-0

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday fixing a car for my brother.

It started off he needed a hood and hood latch from where my son wrecked the car about a year ago.

Then we got it started and found out it needed an alternator.

Friday the 13th- 1; Me-0.

We got a good price on a used alternator, but Japanese Cars are not designed to be worked on by Large American Hands.

Seriously; my hands are probably 8 inches long and almost 2 inches thick. The average Japanese Hand probably looks like a scale model of mine.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. But '57 Chevy is built so my hand can work on it; a '91 Accord is not. And yesterday I was working on a '91 Accord.

I used to work with an old mechanic who started working on cars when Model-T Fords were still on the road, and he had one iron clad rule. He never worked on anything he couldn't cuss at in it's native tongue. He knew some German cuss words, so he would work on a Volkswagen, but that was about it.

My Japanese consists of basically two words; Sushi and Sayonara; neither of which sounds remotely threatening. Yesterday it was getting so mad I couldn't even understand what I was muttering myself, so I guess it didn't matter.

It must have taken us 3 hours to change this alternator. Hell, it took an hour to install one bolt. The second time.

And that is a second issue with Japanese cars; they are engineered differently. Not bad engineering. Just different. I know my American Cars (by American Cars I mean Front engine, rear-wheel drive 6 passenger sedans. That Front wheel drive stuff is Japanese), and I can change a transmission in less time than it took me to change the alternator on that Honda. And I am beginning to learn German engineering- they like to hide a bolt or two.

But Japanese? If I think it should be left; its actually right. If most are up, these are down; if I need 6 inches, I get 3. Like I say, it's not bad engineering, just different. Hell; they got a reputation for reliability from somewhere; maybe its because only a pro can work on them?

Anyway, we get the alternator back on, and then the hood. we get everything adjusted and go for a test drive. Before we leave the driveway my brother rolls up the driver's window.

And it shatters. Friday The 13th- 2; Me-0.

Luckily we have a spare window on the property (What? You don't have a spare driver's front window for a '91 Honda Accord in your basement? Maybe that's why I'm a Redneck), and we test drive the car while my son vacuums up the glass from the driveway. We come back and get the other window installed and my brother is ready to go.

Except now the door won't shut and latch.

Friday The 13th-3; Me-0.

We take the door back apart and cannot find anyting wrong; except that the door won't latch. Put it back together, and it now works.

As I said then; something must have been bumfuzzled, and we un-bumfuzzled it.

But he has been driving it ever since, and appaerntly is happy. So I guess in the end it was Me-1; Friday The 13th-0.

Screen Door in A Submarine Time

I was surfing the 'net and found this and started to read the article.

Within 3 paragraphs I realized either the author is out of touch with reality, or I am. The 'money' quote:

Except for a long straightaway on the way back to the Civic Auditorium, we never felt out of sync with the speed of traffic. .... when we sped up to the Wheego's top speed of 25 mph.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but with a top speed of 25 mph around here you would be limited to about a 10 by 10 block are of downtown. And that is provided the thing will climb a hill.

Basically, this thing is an $18,000 golf cart that is street legal. And this is the CADILLAC of electric vehicles?!?!?! Either this guy has no idea what the Cadillac of a genre is; the idea of a Cadillac of something has seriously gone down hill, or this IS the Cadillac of EVs and they are a sorrier lot of garbage than I ever imagined.

Just so I don't leave in doubt who is the one of us out of touch, I want to highlight this line:

It's easy to imagine that most people will be able to make an NEV like the Wheego work just fine in day-to-day use...

NONE of the people I know could make this work without being a traffic hazard. I can't think of a single person I know who could make their drive to work without leaving a 25 mph zone. Well, except for the folks who commute in their pajamas.

We Need a Way Out- Cash for Clunkers

I forgot to mention in the post below about how Cash for Clunkers fits in.

Well, it should be obvious. They are removing around three quarters of a million cars from the road, not only immediately increasing the demand for new cars, but also taking these vehicles from the used car pool, lowering the supply of used cars and again increasing the demand for new cars, especially the fuel efficient ones.

Japan has had a device for years to get their older cars off the road and spur demand for new ones. It is called Sha’ken, a process of inspection that gets increasingly more expensive as a car gets older. If you think about not just the automobile manufacturers, but all of their suppliers as well, and the suppliers to the suppliers and the service industry that surrounds all of this, you can see how car sales are a serious economic engine, and why the push to make cars disposable, especially in this country. There are almost 251 million vehicles in this country. Can you imagine the economic impact if we replaces just 10 percent of them a year?

Cash for Clunker's Nonsense, Part II

I saw the Department of Transportation list of the ten top selling cars during the Cash for Clunkers week, and thought it was a little strange. I saw this website today and thought the Edmunds method made more sense.

Here is the DOT list:

Rank DOT
1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford Focus
3. Honda Civic
4. Toyota Prius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Hyundai Elantra
7. Ford Escape (FWD)
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt

But I particularly like a couple of points in the Edmunds' list:

Rank Edmunds
1. Ford Escape
2. Ford Focus
3. Jeep Patriot
4. Dodge Caliber
5. Ford F-150
6. Honda Civic
7. Chevrolet Silverado
8. Chevrolet Cobalt
9. Toyota Corolla
10. Ford Fusion


Notice the Edmunds list has four Fords, two Chevolets and two Chryslers? And one of the Chevys is the Silverado, and one of the Chryslers is a Jeep!

The DOT list is dominated by the Japanese (5 to 4 American, to one Korean); yet the Edmunds list is American dominated (8, to two Japanese). Just so you know, I'm not an idiot; I know the name on the bumper has very little, if anything, to do with where the car is made, but I still like to think of Japanese cars as imports, even though a Toyota Camary is more American than a Pontiac G8, which in itself is a sorry state of affairs.

I also like the fact that the redheaded stepchild of American Auto Manufacturers dominated the Edmunds list, holding three of the top five spots. And where are the darlings of the Greens, the Prius and the Fit, on the Edmunds List?

Here's the question; were the DOT stats honest reporting of their interprtation of the sales numbers, or were they cooking the books to show the results they wanted?

Based on everything else this administration has done, I'm falling on the Cook the Books side.

Hell, even CNN thinks the DOT made a hash of it.

I guess even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile.