What Irked You Today?

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, johnyrotten said:

It's a re-work from another shop, so fixing someone else's mess...

Largely the story of my life last few years, as is chronic pain lately.

Wait...I thought I was retired.  

[johnyrotten]

 

52 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Largely the story of my life last few years, as is chronic pain lately.

Wait...I thought I was retired.  

Retirement is a ways away for me, if at all. As for anything else, just wear and tear from working for a living,  and being stupid in my youth. I like to think staying busy and active keeps you going. 

[Big_John]

46 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Largely the story of my life last few years, as is chronic pain lately.

Wait...I thought I was retired.  

Chronic pain is one reason I retired a bit early, but I digress....

I mentioned that I do most of  my own work on my old cars....  It seems like an awful lot of that is going back and fixing what was done by previous owners.  Here's an example... On my '65 Chrysler, there's a red reflector on the  inside door panel.  Some previous owner decided to make it light up when you open the door.  Nice idea.... Until I took the panel off.  It was cobbed in place with bits and pieces.  The wiring was like a kid did it with scraps they found...  Like 3 feet or so then a splice, then another 2 feet and a splice... and on and on. 

To stay with the theme of this  thread... That irks me a lot. 

[Tim W. SoCal]

12 hours ago, johnyrotten said:

Waking up at 2 am irks me. 

I hear ya!!!! Every year, where I work (USPS) we have to re-bid our work schedules. This gives Management the opportunity to make changes without Union consent. I am now clocking in at 1:30AM, which means my alarm goes off at 11:30PM the night before so I can make it to work on time. Saturday work schedule is still 5:00AM until 1:30PM, with Sunday and Monday off. My body doesn't seem to want to accept this new sleep schedule and Tuesdays are BRUTAL after a normal weekend sleep schedule...

Edited December 16, 2024 by Tim W. SoCal

[johnyrotten]

11 minutes ago, Big_John said:

Chronic pain is one reason I retired a bit early, but I digress....

I mentioned that I do most of  my own work on my old cars....  It seems like an awful lot of that is going back and fixing what was done by previous owners.  Here's an example... On my '65 Chrysler, there's a red reflector on the  inside door panel.  Some previous owner decided to make it light up when you open the door.  Nice idea.... Until I took the panel off.  It was cobbed in place with bits and pieces.  The wiring was like a kid did it with scraps they found...  Like 3 feet or so then a splice, then another 2 feet and a splice... and on and on. 

To stay with the theme of this  thread... That irks me a lot. 

That is just horrible 

[johnyrotten]

1 minute ago, Tim W. SoCal said:

I hear ya!!!! Every year, where I work (USPS) we have to re-bid our work schedules. This gives Management to make changes without Union consent. I am now clocking in at 1:30AM, which means my alarm goes off at 11:30PM the night before so I can make it to work on time. Saturday work schedule is still 5:00AM until 1:30PM, with Sunday and Monday off. My body doesn't seem to want to accept this new sleep schedule and Tuesdays are BRUTAL after a normal weekend sleep schedule...

I have a good friend that works for fed-ex, he's "middle management" or something, you guys get run through the ringer. Especially around the holidays. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

33 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

...I like to think staying busy and active keeps you going. 

I agree, and if I wasn't still working, I'd be a little ball of uselessness living on pain meds.

It's really not all that bad, as I can still do most of what I've always done.

It just takes longer every morning to get functional...and a handful of ibuprofen.  

[Falcon Ranchero]

I've discovered i'm getting a little irritated about the obtainability of vintage kits; namely the '65 T-bird and '62 Galaxie hardtop. Niether of their molds apparently exist anymore, and both were only issued in the '60s, the 'bird once in '65, and the Galaxie in '62 and then again in '69. Also, both kits would be considerably hard to find around here; would have to order from ebay which we're not really in any position to order from as my dad is mildly skeptical of that site. Even then, both kits being classified as collectors items because of age and rarity would yeild the collectors fee of at least over $200 which I would absolutley never spend on a kit (unless it's the JoHan '60 Plymouth). That price reflects the collectability, not the actual quality of the kit, and that's what gets me. I don't care how old it is I just want to build it. Was hoping to build the '65 'bird like the one my great uncle has, and the '62 Galaxie like the one my Grandfather had, but that may never happen because of the fact these kits are lost in time

[Musclecarbuilder]

6 minutes ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

I've discovered i'm getting a little irritated about the obtainability of vintage kits; namely the '65 T-bird and '62 Galaxie hardtop. Niether of their molds apparently exist anymore, and both were only issued in the '60s, the 'bird once in '65, and the Galaxie in '62 and then again in '69. Also, both kits would be considerably hard to find around here; would have to order from ebay which we're not really in any position to order from as my dad is mildly skeptical of that site. Even then, both kits being classified as collectors items because of age and rarity would yeild the collectors fee of at least over $200 which I would absolutley never spend on a kit (unless it's the JoHan '60 Plymouth). That price reflects the collectability, not the actual quality of the kit, and that's what gets me. I don't care how old it is I just want to build it. Was hoping to build the '65 'bird like the one my great uncle has, and the '62 Galaxie like the one my Grandfather had, but that may never happen because of the fact these kits are lost in time

If its any help I think StevenGuthmiller has a built 60' Plymouth up for trade on the forum

Edited December 17, 2024 by Musclecarbuilder

[Musclecarbuilder]

 

[Falcon Ranchero]

1 hour ago, Musclecarbuilder said:

If its any help I think StevenGuthmiller has a built 60' Plymouth up for trade on the forum

Yes I’ve seen his 60 Plymouth, really stunning build but I’d want to build one my own way and would certainly not redo a beautifully built kit. The 60 is more of a long term acquisition for me any way also doesn’t appear on the list either anyway

Edited December 17, 2024 by Falcon Ranchero

[StevenGuthmiller]

43 minutes ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

Yes I’ve seen his 60 Plymouth, really stunning build but I’d want to build one my own way and would certainly not redo a beautifully built kit. The 60 is more of a long term acquisition for me any way also doesn’t appear on the list either anyway

It was added to the list later, but unfortunately this lot is to be moved as one unit and cannot be broken up.

 

Also, it would probably be easiest to build it as a convertible as it has a broken C-pillar.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[89AKurt]

On 12/10/2024 at 3:34 PM, Rodent said:

Dad had the same issue a long time ago with his Ranger. I have forgotten what kind of bird it was, but it would sit on the mirror, lean forward, and peck at its reflection in the mirror. It got so excited that it could just.......  well, you know the rest. Dad started wrapping a towel over the mirror and the problem went away.

That sounds better than chickenwire or expanded metal lath, sort of too Road Warrior. 

I'll vent for everyone who lives in the Prescott area.  There is a treated effluent water line that goes from the treatment plant to the city's golf course.  Not the first time it's broke, this time major pavement destruction, they say 3 weeks it will be closed.  It's a major highway that goes through a bottleneck, so you know the story.  All the sand on the road is from that, we are in a drought.  I'm driving up to WA state starting tomorrow, so I won't be dealing with it, but who knows elsewhere.....

[Musclecarbuilder]

I work at my local AutoZone here in TN and the other day a lady came in asking for some oil, she said it was for an oil change. I think it was for like a '17 Malibu or something. I showed here where our oil was, told her what kind of oil she needed and how much she needed for an oil change, and went back to the counter. 5 or 10 minutes later she came up to the counter, bought 5qts of whatever kind of oil she needed, and walked out the door. A few minutes later I had to walk out the door to read a check-engine light, and that same lady was dumping the whole 5qt jug of oil in her motor. After reading the light, I ran up to her and told her she had to drain the old oil out before she put the new in. She told me that she drained the oil out of her car before she drove to our AutoZone. She also said that she lived 45 minutes from our store. I just walked away, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that she probably fried her bearings. 🤦‍♂️

[Mark]

A guy I once worked with mentioned that his car ('79 Cougar, two-barrel 302) was running hot.  Did he check the radiator?  Yep, looked good.  How about the oil?  "I checked it, it's four quarts low".  "Dude, the thing only holds five quarts, and a good part of one quart is in the filter".  Had to talk him into bumming a company vehicle to go pick up some motor oil before starting that car up again.  He still had the car when I got sent to another location, so apparently it didn't get any permanent damage from that episode.

How it got "four quarts low" is a mystery.  He did get the oil changed on a regular basis.  One car I had went over 200,000 miles and it didn’t even use a quart in 1,000 miles.  And I'd bet more of it leaked than burned.

Edited December 20, 2024 by Mark
D--- spell check

[HomerS]

After a four year run, the monthly swap meet started by Atomic City Rod & Custom Model Car Resource won't being coming back in 2025.  Per their Facebook page, it was mutual between them and the antique market host.  One of the vendors is working to keep it going but we all just found out just found out.  Only my wallet is happy about the pause as I never left empty handed!

Atomic City Rod & Custom Model Car Resource will continue on.  Their store is great resource for new/vintage kit and accessories, but the parts kits and rebuilders are the Chuck E Cheese world for modelers!  I'm not affiliated with the store in anyway....just a plastihaulic like the rest of us here.

[Tim W. SoCal]

On 12/5/2024 at 11:35 AM, Tim W. SoCal said:

Where I work, we travel to different delivery hubs and maintain a fleet of vehicles. This morning I was assigned a work order that said "Diag driveability" which is usually followed by the driver's concern and/or complaint. This work order stated nothing more. When I got to the station where the vehicle was located, there was a hand-written repair tag that the driver submitted with the keys. It read "needs text drive; something wrong"   Even though I'm now off work and home, I'm still trying to find out what a "text drive" is....   This is almost as good as the repair tag I got a few months back that said "vehicle unsafe, smells like brake fluid is low"

Today's goofy repair tag complaint write-up: "Steering wheel hard to turn, all fluid came off"

[Old Buckaroo]

AMT - retooled '67 Camaro kit. Had it for awhile, cut the cellophane off today to see if the suspension was better detailed than the Revell '69 Camaro kit.

There was No parts bag containing suspension , engine and and spare hood with hole.

I'm glad my wife was sitting nearby to hear my astonishment 😲 Never expected that from a sealed kit - now an open box from a yard sale or ebay - yeah that could happen.

Thankfully there's always those parts on ebay from slot car racers.

[Ace-Garageguy]

20 minutes ago, Old Buckaroo said:

AMT - retooled '67 Camaro kit. Had it for awhile, cut the cellophane off...

There was No parts bag containing suspension , engine and and spare hood with hole.

That bites.

I just checked a couple of "complete" 70+ year old HO scale model RR kits that turned out to be nothing but random parts thrown in the boxes, but you kinda expect some of that with open kits that have been around almost 3/4 of a century, sold by people who have no clue.

Edited December 22, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Can-Con]

23 minutes ago, Old Buckaroo said:

AMT - retooled '67 Camaro kit. Had it for awhile, cut the cellophane off today to see if the suspension was better detailed than the Revell '69 Camaro kit.

There was No parts bag containing suspension , engine and and spare hood with hole.

I'm glad my wife was sitting nearby to hear my astonishment 😲 Never expected that from a sealed kit - now an open box from a yard sale or ebay - yeah that could happen.

Thankfully there's always those parts on ebay from slot car racers.

I was at the local hobby shop one day about 20 years ago and seen a guy buy and open a new, unopened AMT Garlits dragster kit at the counter.

Missing all the unplaited trees, which was most of the kit, of course. The plated tree, tires and all the paperwork was in the box. 

[TonyK]

Had this happen to me many, many years ago and since then I open every kit I buy to make sure everything is there.

[johnyrotten]

Broke a wheel for the gto, should have known better. Oh well, now I have a reason for more model stuff. 

[LennyB]

That’s why I don’t trust a lot of sellers on eBay when they have a sealed kit. You can, with the right equipment, shrink wrap a box with nothing in it but junk parts.  I think either Car Model mag or Scale Auto actually did an article years ago about “air boxes”.  I’ve seen some kits up for sale that are shrink wrapped that were never sold that way.  Kits from the early sixties were not, they were held shut on the ends with a label and nothing more. 
 

 

Anyway, on a different subject, what irked me today is the stupidity or perhaps laziness of some people. Friday night we had about 3” of snow. This morning I went to the supermarket and in the corner of the parking lot was a large mound of the white stuff where the plow had pushed it all.  In the pile we’re at least a dozen, mangled, shopping carts.  Don’t try to convince me that the driver couldn’t see the carts in 3” of snow. Stupid or lazy, whichever, I was told as a kid that shopping carts cost $100. What do you suppose they cost now. If you ever wondered why your cart has a wobbly wheel here’s one reason.  

[A modeler named mike]

4 minutes ago, LennyB said:

 shopping carts, If you ever wondered why your cart has a wobbly wheel here’s one reason.  

I seem to always get a wobbly wheeled one or one with a chunk of tire rubber missing that alerts everyone shopping that you're coming with the loud repetitive thumping. That's a definite irk for me. 

[Old Buckaroo]

2 hours ago, LennyB said:

That’s why I don’t trust a lot of sellers on eBay when they have a sealed kit. You can, with the right equipment, shrink wrap a box with nothing in it but junk parts.  I think either Car Model mag or Scale Auto actually did an article years ago about “air boxes”.  I’ve seen some kits up for sale that are shrink wrapped that were never sold that way.  Kits from the early sixties were not, they were held shut on the ends with a label and nothing more. 
 

 

This is actually one of the rare times I bought a model from a walk in store - Hobby Lobby

I wouldn't have been as surprised if I had bought it off the bay. Someone at Round Two was sleeping that day.