Ace-Garageguy

While we're at it, it's not real "safe" to carry dynamite in your semi-trailer or leaking cans of propane in your SUV.

Never met the guy, but I've bought his stuff from feePay listings. Always great quality, reasonable shipping time.

Had to love the pickups that had the tank behind the seat, inside the interior...or the Model-A fords that had the tank in the cowl, under the windshield. Kindof a wonder anybody survived, if you take all the hand-wringing of the safety-mavens seriously. "Oooo honey...LOOK!!!...must be a Pinto!!!!!!!!!!"

Mealworms are as good a source of high-quality animal protein as meat or fish, but I'll never be the guy saying "c'mon honey, let's go get a big juicy plate of mealworms".

Most significant thing that arrived today was this Kadee #13 HO-scale coupler "Test Kit", that includes examples of most of the different designs (to figure out what will work on any particular car or locomotive), a height gage, tools, misc parts like shims and springs, lube, and instructions for conversion of all the major manufacturers' offerings. As I have a LOT of salvaged cars to refit with Kadees, this will be invaluable. The sample test kit contains a variety of sample couplers and other necessary components to identify and properly install Kadee(R) couplers on locomotives and rolling stock without having to purchase full size packages of couplers, gear boxes and adaptors, springs, washers and shims that may be necessary for the coupler conversions. Kit contains HO Scale conversion list, 20 and 30 series instructions, Whisker(R) coupler instructions and sample size packages of products listed below: Couplers - Metal NO.5(R) Medium Centerset - Metal - One Pair #141 Whisker Long Underset - Metal - One Pair #142 Whisker Medium Overset - Metal - One Pair #143 Whisker Short Centerset - Metal - One Pair #144 Whisker Short Underset - Metal - One Pair #145 Whisker Short Overset - Metal - One Pair #146 Whisker Long Centerset - Metal - One Pair #147 Whisker Medium Underset - Metal - One Pair #148 Whisker Medium Centerset - Metal - One Pair #149 Whisker Long Overset - Metal - One Pair #158 Whisker Scale Medium Centerset - Metal - One Pair Couplers - Plastic 21/31 Long Underset - Plastic - One Pair 22/32 Medium Overset - Plastic - One Pair 23/33 Short Centerset - Plastic - One Pair 24/34 Short Underset - Plastic - One Pair 25/35 Short Overset - Plastic - One Pair 26/36 Long Centerset - Plastic - One Pair 27/37 Medium Underset - Plastic - One Pair 28/38 Medium Centerset - Plastic - One Pair 29/39 Long Overset - Plastic - One Pair Gear Boxes & Adaptors #212 Talgo Truck Adaptors - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit and are standard with 20-Series couplers. #213 20-Series Gear Box with Sleeves - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit and are standard with 20-Series couplers. #232 NO.5 Type Gear Box - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit and are standard with #5 couplers and 20-Series couplers. #233 30-Series Gear Box - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit Except Whisker Couplers and are standard with 30-Series couplers. #234 Short #5 Type Gear Box - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit and are standard with short shank 20-Series and 40-Series couplers. #242 Whisker Snap-Together Gear Box - One Sprue Work with all couplers included in Test Kit and are standard with Whisker couplers. #252 Small Whisker Snap-Together Gear Box - One Sprue Work with Only Whisker Couplers. The 252 is the Whisker equivalent to the 30-Series gear box. Screws, Springs, Washers, & Shims #208 .015} Red Fiber Washer - 10 Each #209 .010} Gray Fiber Washer - 10 Each #211 .010} & .015} Shims - 10 Each #256 Plastic 2-56 x 1/2} Screws - 10 Each #621 30-Series Torsion Spring - 10 Each #622 Knuckle Springs - 10 Each NO.5 Type Centering Spring - 10 Each Uncouplers #321 Code 100 Between-The-Rails - One Pair #322 Code 83 Between-The-Rails - One Pair Tools #231 Greas-em - One Each #206 Coupler Height Gauge - One Each #241 Dual Tool - One Each

I'm sad now. Many years ago, there was a very toothy '53 Buick at the bottom of a ravine off a steep trail that led down to the Chattahoochee, on Federal Park land. It's a very damp area, and years later when I hiked there again, there was nothing left but remnants of the chrome grille and bits of heavy frame members. Last time I was there, a few weeks back, every trace was gone.

"Awesome" pretty well describes a Saturn V launch, but it might be a bit much for bacon-flavored salad bits made from textured soy protein.

4:23 PM EDT, Fri., Aug. 9, 2024. Site froze after trying to respond to Bill Geary's comment in the "operating convertible top" thread, got a message saying "there was a problem responding yada yada", but it was still frozen, couldn't get away from the page in either direction. Had to log out and back in to get here.

Just distortion from the lens or the printing process.

"Cars of the Stars" should include a special exhibition of vehicles stupidly destroyed by operators whose skills just weren't up to the exalted level of their egos.

Yup. Rack-and-pinion in the Pinto was definitely one of the things that made it fun to drive. And for all the Pinto-bashing "experts", here's what Car & Driver had to say about the Pinto in 1971 after a long term roadtest: “The Pinto is exceptionally satisfying, even amusing, as a city traffic car. It’s highly maneuverable, visibility is extremely good in every direction except toward the rear corners, and it has the sharp-edged, go-stop-turn feel of a sports car. With this in mind, there are two bargains on the Pinto’s option list: the 2.0-liter engine for $50, and the disc brakes, which will set you back $32. Without those two extras the Pinto is just another low-dollar transit capsule—with them it’s a real urban flogger’s car. The “big” engine is relatively smooth and quiet and very powerful. It also revs like a dentist’s drill. The 4-speed transmission which backs it up is right for the task with short, quick throws and a solid, stubby lever.” A thorough and rigorous engineering analysis of the Vega, on the other hand, reveals a collection of engineered-in, cost-cutting, and process problems that led to the little car's well-deserved abysmal reputation. From the stupid-small radiator and the differential-expansion of the iron head and aluminum block that led to early head gasket failures, to production issues with the inner-body "anti rust" coating, it's almost as though every management decision was taken with the intent of mass-producing a lemon. EDIT: All that negativity aside, a Vega could live a reasonably long life in the hands of a careful, knowledgeable owner, and do it while handling nicely with good ride quality, and returning pretty decent fuel mileage. But it seems GM has historically overestimated its buyers, giving them things like water-injection on early turbocharged engines that, if allowed to run dry (because nobody ever actually reads owners' manuals), guaranteed engine detonation, and unusual tire pressure requirements in the first Corvairs (again covered in the manuals and totally ignored).

That's kewl. And I bet it'll suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.

I believe you have been misled, sir. The Vega box was the Saginaw 140, significantly smaller and lighter than "standard" GM boxes, and for this reason, a hot-rodder favorite on light vehicles for decades.

Nobody ever said the incidents weren't real, but they only occurred in extreme situations where the little cars were hit by something larger and heavier, and that might have seriously injured or killed the occupants of the Pintos anyway. 27 deaths resulting from Pinto tanks rupturing after severe hits are recorded by RELIABLE sources...out of 3 million Pintos sold. Hardly a deathtrap. In FACT, the Pinto was no more fire-prone than contemporary imported vehicles of the same approximate size and layout, but rebleaters generally have no use for the truth. The real numbers are available for anyone to find on his own. I've seen "expert" articles on the Pinto that are sheer ignorant gibberish, some even claiming "the aluminum chassis would crush like a beer can". Aluminum? Really? Nothing like responsible, informed, fact-based journalism. There was a protrusion on the rear axle that could punch a hole in the tank in a 20-mph or higher rear-ender, but the cars simply didn't go exploding for no reason as the rebleaters like to insist. The proposed fixes included a plastic "shield", a steel tank reinforcement, and redesigning the rear axle housing. Any of these, none more costly than $10 per vehicle, would probably have solved the problem before it occurred, and SHOULD have been done. But Ford was exonerated of criminal responsibility, and many of the FACTS surrounding the whole mess are quite interesting, and make for some engaging reading on engineering ethics. https://www.pdhengineer.com/catalog/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2283 https://www.wardsauto.com/ford/my-somewhat-begrudging-apology-to-ford-pinto They were nice little cars when they were new. But the aluminum block impregnated with silicon for wear-resistance (instead of simply using iron or steel liners like much of the industry had been doing successfully for decades), and the cast-iron head necessitated by the lack of rigidity of the poorly-designed block, combined into a bass-ackward reinvention of the wheel that doomed the car from the get-go. An iron block of the same basic design, and an aluminum head of the same basic design...standard practice in Euro engines of the day...and the engines would still have been running strong when the bodies had been reduced to rusty dust.

Yup...and unfortunately, AI doesn't seem to be learning much in the way of honesty and ethics either.

Early '30s Studebaker bodies going on a nice little train trip... https://monon.org/mws/tws/studebaker.html

The "exploding Pinto" was insanely exaggerated by a fear-mongering hysterical media, just as the "Unsafe at any Speed" Corvair was. The '65-'69 Corvair was the best-handling stock vehicle America produced up to that time. I've owned and lived with several flavors of both Vegas and Pintos (as well as every flavor of Corvair). The Vegas were, without exception, rather poor cars, even though I liked them in general...mostly for their looks. They were pretty little cars, though seriously flawed in many ways most people never seem to rebleat. The Pintos, on the other hand, were pretty much indestructible...assuming you didn't stop in front of an oncoming semi on the interstate. My last two pintos were a 2.3 slushbox big-bumper wagon, a heavy dog but a very reliable dog, and a stripped 2.0 early car, essentially a race-car with Webers on the street. It ran like a scalded ape and took every bit of abuse I threw at it. Early two-liter cars were great, and if the world ever moves beyond "OMG THEY ALL BLOW UP!!!!!!!", maybe they'll be appreciated a little more. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-first-series-pinto-1971-72-the-fastest-pinto-ever-built/ My first Pinto was a very early 1600 car with front disc brakes, and its performance and handling reminded me of an MGB that didn't leak in the rain, not fast, but fun, and as simple and reliable as a brick.

Manors aren't the same as McMansions.

House and feed and clothe your children, and teach them some values and manners.

Though insanely inefficient compared to the double- and triple-stack stack railroad car-haulers we've become familiar with, it made sense to haul and deliver just a few cars, possibly special-order, to a small town that had a rail siding in the days before interstate highways. The practice went as far back as horse-and-buggy days, with special boxcars designed for the purpose. According to my research, most of the double-door car-haulers were later put into service hauling automobile PARTS (like bare-steel body-panel stampings and frames that had to be protected from weather), as the extra-wide doors were convenient for forklift access. I wonder if these end-loaded Vegas were shipped without oil in the sumps. Somewhere on this site, I posted an old photo I found of bare-steel Studebaker body shells also loaded on-end in a battered open gondola with no weather protection at all.

Children can be the source of great joy, or great sadness, or just a resounding meh.

6 arrived today. 20 to go.

Charge your phone battery before heading out into the desert, or before dessert, whichever comes first.

Humanity has been doing a masterful job of that for millennia, but now we have the potential to have billions of artificial ones with much more capability for destruction.