Ace-Garageguy

Now would be a good time to learn to cook, do laundry, and mow your own lawn.

Ugly cars need love too, and this one needs a lot.

Anything I find interesting, and if I don't know anything about something, I'll know a fair bit by the time I've done enough research to decide whether or not I want to model it. I find the opportunity to learn new stuff as rewarding as the building, and sometimes more so. For instance, last couple of years I've read a lot about the German rocket program and its direct effect on the US space program because of a 1/24-scale static V2 model I came across, and the history of steel-making because of an HO-scale blast furnace kit.

Having blown almost the entire day at the DMV today cleaning up way overdue paperwork, I quit for the afternoon and finally took the time to look at the rest of the kits I dragged home from the late October ACME meet. Only thing I'm a little disappointed by is the skinnyish tires on the 4X4. I wasn't expecting big ol' mudders, but something that looked more like what's on the box art would have been nice. The as-built ride height doesn't look like it's going to be close to the box-art either, but the art is probably considerably higher than stock anyway, so a little liftin' will be in order.

I prefer this version.

SEE ABOVE. THIS IS SERIOUS. GET IT LOOKED AT IMMEDIATELY. AND CHECK AND FILL THE BRAKE FLUID LEVEL BEFORE YOU DRIVE IT ANYWHERE.

That's not "brake fade". Brake fade happens from repeated stops or stopping from high speed...overheating the drums/rotors/shoes/pads...resulting in the coefficient of friction of the brake shoe or pad material decreasing, to the point that no matter how "hard" the brakes feel, the car won't stop. What you experienced...with the pedal going slowly to the floor...is something entirely different, and is caused by fluid leaking out of the system while it's pressurized by your foot on it. You SAW a leak. GET IT CHECKED IMMEDIATELY FOR FLUID LEAKS. ONCE THE FLUID IS ALL GONE, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP AT ALL. IT CAN BE FATAL.

Humans can be unpredictable, dishonest, spiteful, irrational, illogical, vengeful, duplicitous, and just downright unpleasant.

I am, but if I said why, ya'll'd have to time-out me again. PS: I also had a remarkably easy time at the DMV, getting two vehicles that have been off the road for years...one for just shy of two decades...back in the system and all tagged and spiffy and legal. Not so much that I wanted to, but had to, to be in "compliance" with county regs concerning vehicles on my property. Still, as the state I'm moving to requires clean paperwork on vehicles transferring into their system (no matter the age) it's a good thing.

Doing absolutely nothing is sometimes really good for you.

If you think you know everything, you'll never learn anything.

FWIW, WW II vintage CCKWs were set up as "gun trucks" as well, but as mobile AA platforms with quad .50s, but no armor. This is not Vietnam, obviously.

The ultimate "hot rod".

Works for me.

Ivan Torrent: Immortalys (full album playlist)

I hafta say that what with lotsa EVs being scrapped for relatively minor damage, and the lack of knowledge about them in the majority of shops so far, I'm beginning to wonder about the prices of salvageable donor vehicles like this guy started with. One-offs could be built significantly lighter than their OEM source vehicles, giving even higher acceleration and charge range. In jurisdictions that are less mommy-state and restrictive relative to owner-built vehicles, there's a lot of fun out there to be had. I know a guy () who has an in-progress ultralight (600 lb. or less) single seat commuter vehicle that was originally intended to be IC powered (motorcycle donor), but adaptable to other power sources. It might be time to start looking at this again, as it was about 30% completed when it was shelved. Hmmmmmmm...

And of course in a VW Bug or early Porsche and even 911s the fuel tank is directly over your feet.

School used to be a place where kids went to learn arithmetic and to read and write, with some history and geography and science and civics thrown in for good measure, and maybe a little art and music too.

"Standard" gearboxes on new cars in the US will soon be as extinct as the proverbial dodo.

Age helps dandelion wine, and about two or three years is good.

Hard to beat a well-executed black 930. Very nice indeed. I'd go just a tick lower with the ride height though.

Frankly, I wonder about that every day...and all the while carrying around 20 gallons of highly flammable liquid in a thin-skinned metal or plastic container. If somebody proposed that idea today, everyone would run screaming.

And a claw-hammer at that.

The dead possum that was peacefully decomposing under the tree next to the mailbox disappeared mysteriously, leaving nothing but a few tufts of fur behind. Some kind of scavenger with truly disgusting culinary tastes. But I guess to somebody, it was aged to perfection.