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Joe Handley

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Everything posted by Joe Handley

  1. I just remembered something! When Dad was still with C&NW back in the 80's, they had a bunch of F-Series highrails they were leasing that were refusing to start when on or near the tracks on hot summer days. It was driving them nuts because it put the track and train crews in danger in those situations and the Ford shops (as well as the company) kept insisting there wasn't anything wrong with the trucks showing these symptoms. Turns out the ignition modules for those trucks were mounted to the left front inner fenderwell right by the exhaust manifold for the engines left bank. At one point a couple track workers radioed in that their truck wouldn't start and a train was coming along on the same track they were currently sitting on. Dad happened to be there to hear it and asked if they had any water available, and they had one of those big Igloo dispensers in the bed. Dad told them to dump that on the ignition module and see if that would work. They thought he was crazy, but since there were no other options, did it anyway and he truck fired up and they were able to get it to either the next siding or road crossing and get it off the that track. That's when they officially figured out those modules were getting heat soaked and refusing to work and told Ford what they found as well as a suggestion to fix it. Ford told them they didn't know what they were talking about and that if they went through with the fix they had planned, which was to extend the harness and move the module up by the left front headlight where it would see cooler temps, the warranties would be voided on all such modified trucks. The road went for employee safety instead and made the changes anyway, then when it came time to lease new track vehicles, made the switch to GMC from then on until the UP gobbled them up.
  2. Too young for that mess (wasn't born 'til '76) and my folks were still in Iowa......and I think that was a matter of months before they got married. We also managed to miss out on '79 too, they had moved back to Iowa and had me while there and we didn't move here until right before Thanksgiving that year.
  3. The kit is anything but rare, but the subject matter is. It had a turbocharged 4.3l V-6, 4 speed auto, and full time AWD. These would run with some very high dollar cars, let alone the Vette and Vipers on the 1/4 mile and 0-60 runs. They just looked like a custom wheeled, body kitted, and lowered GMC S-15 Sonoma until the driver launched it under boost, then itjust ran away from the vast majority of production cars of it's day and still can whoop up in some pretty potent modern cars too!
  4. Depends on how icy the walk to your car is, things get awfully (and I mean AWFUL!) exciting awful quick.
  5. Must be boring to live where the weather doesn't change like this!
  6. Fiskar, wouldn't be surprised if they were the next Tucker, while Tesla will be "The Next Generation"
  7. And if Gasser clones were the it thing and were everywhere, people would likely be complaining that it looked like a cookie cutter car then too, same with Pro Street, Resto Rods, Street Freak, RAT RODS, ect. Like belly buttons, everybody has an opinion, some are just whinier about it that others.........sadly, seems like that's what the rodding community has become.
  8. Looks like GM Performance Parts got ahold if it and went the ProTouring route with it then added a new all aluminum 427 cast from the repaired tooling for the original motors back before the economy took a dump. http://chevroletperformance.pth.nam.gmgssm.com/Racing/projectx.jsp I don't have any issues with it but but found a thread on H.A.M.B. where there were a bunch of whiners bawling like spoiled 2 year olds because they didn't like it........or in some cases, haven't liked what's been done to it since the 90's. What was it I said now in the 2015 Mustang thread on how we were at the doorway of 2014.....................
  9. The one that doesn't just irk me so much as flat out pisses me off if the fishing line some of the fishers leave laying about. Most of the time it it just gets wrapped around the axles shafts and or steering joints. If you're ever around here and see a pissed off fat hairy guy with glasses bent over a 1/10 scale R/C truck (usually a snot green metallic and flat black Jeep Cherokee) mumbling some not so nice things about fishermen while cutting the line from one if not both axles with an X-Acto knife or box cutter...............it'll be me.
  10. Ther's a couple places I like to run my scale and crawler R/C trucks that is like that. It's not other crawlers though, it's usually fishermen or picnicers that leave junk laying around. Stupidest part is that one spot has garbage cans literally right along the path to it and the other not only had cans near by, but is also just a feet from the parking lot so it would be easy to just carry the garbage (in a bag of course) back to your car and throw out at home.
  11. Lee, your story sounds a whole lot like those of a friend's who used to work for a GM dealership........minus the whole car vs plumbing thing.
  12. The ones I have aren't that old, but it looks like they're gone again. Have you tried the True Ten/Cup Racer wheels? Been meaning to try them on mine, but haven't yet. Forgot to mention earlier, I also used the M-05's front uprights and steering knuckles. Car now has a smaller turning radius and feels like it corners better.
  13. Is it me, or do those spokes look a lot like GM upper A-Arms from that era?
  14. I've got a 3 that currently has full bearings, Futaba 123 oz/in metal gear servo, full bearings, sticky HPI Mini RS4 tires, Tamiya red anodized oil filled sedan shocks, universal drive shafts, heavy diff grease, a Castle Sidewinder 1/4600kV 2 Pole combo juiced by an Orion 4000mAh 2s 25c pack and it is idioticly fast
  15. Considering my fondness for their 1/10 R/C Mini, I really need to buy one of those kits too. Great looking build!
  16. I've come close to that a couple times, but the worst is when I had my Patriot R/C Body Reamer slide out of the cap and land point down on the floor by my right foot. It's a rather heafty toolwith a large, anodized aluminum handle and a pointy and very sharp tip that would have buried itself in my foot of it had been just an inch or so farther to the right.
  17. LOL, love that plate Tom! A few years back we had a regular customer build a weathered '55 Cameo delivery truck that was really well done for one of our HTU contests. The paint had some nicely done patina and a few rust holes.....including a couple in the bed sides..........the fiberglass bed sides. I was the only to notice that but just couldn't bring my self to knock the guy (he's a good guy and a regular), or even mention it to him until earlier this year. Turns out he didn't even know they were 'glass until we talked about it a few months ago. Next time he comes in, I'll have to show him your Vette!
  18. Got a friend up in Lansing, MI and he sent me a text saying there were a bunch of areas that had no power, his Dad might get his back until after Christmas!
  19. I saw a Fiero this summer that had a Vette LS motor dropped into it, that could be an interesting swap too..
  20. Lol, love it Tom! I'd love to be at a show to see how people react to that without realizing it's intended as a joke.
  21. What is it with these idiots lately? I haven't have any near head on incidents yet, but I've had people blow past, tail gate, and nearly pull out in front of me the last few days as the crappy weather has moved in. I'm almost afraid to drive to and from work the next couple days since the weather is supposed to get even worse tonight.
  22. Yes, I've driven a number of roads around here that could be considered off roading if they weren't paved
  23. I've heard the same of Japanese manufacturers too. Seem to remember that Iacocca talking about agreements between Mistubishi, and the Japanese banks and government that should have put him in jail here in America if he had tried that while at Ford or Chrysler.
  24. If I lived by you? I'd still find ways to use the 4wd.....
  25. Speaking of irked, I drove past the nearly dead strip malls one of the HTU's I worked at was in before it closed........not so nearly dead any more, looks like every store in that building was occupied?!
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