What Pleased You Today!

[Ace-Garageguy]

11 hours ago, TonyK said:

Used to be everyone had a "first car" story to tell as we only had enough money to get some kind of transportation...

My first car was a $250 '62 VW Bug some flipper (yeah, they had 'em then too) put a terminally leaking 36 horse engine in (sposed to be a 40). I was 18, that was all the money I had, and I wildly overpaid for a total and complete POS.

I knew nothing much really useful about cars, only having changed points and fiddled with tuneups on the family rides, and a little bodywork (small crease low on a front fender) with a claw hammer and files and rattlecan touchup paint (which came out very well, as I hammered and filed and primered according to an article in Rod & Custom until the metalwork was just about perfect).

Anyway, eventually I rebuilt a junkyard 40 horse for the Bug, added headers and a 2-bbl carb, replaced the front suspension assembly (the torsion bar tubes were bent when I bought it), lowered it all 'round with a rear "camber compensator", fitted a quick-steering Pitman-arm extender and a quick shift kit, rewired it (for real gauges, 12 volts, and in general 'cause chimps had been at it), gutted the interior and put in a roll bar and fiberglass buckets, bolted on flared glass fenders and wheel adaptors and Chevy chrome-reverse 14" steel rims with Polyglas tires...and finally stuck a $500 Porsche 356 SC engine in it.

It was pretty quick as a slalom car by that point, sometimes setting FTD (fast time of the day) if the guy with the 140-horse Corvair engine in a Manx with real race rubber didn't show up. He was unbeatable, period.

Sure wish I still had it. 

Edited April 18 by Ace-Garageguy

[89AKurt]

Clocked over 100 miles (an hour, no way) coming home from the first of the year Prescott Antique Auto Club cruise.  I have to get a new set of wheels, with fresh rubber, so this is the second cruise, and that's it.  Even though it was dropping below 60 degrees, kept the top down.

[John M.]

No school for the kids today and next week so I'll be taking it easy. Today was a nice sunny day so a lady friend and I went to New Hampshire for the day and the 08 Corolla I bought recently performed flawlessly. We even had  a great lunch at a family owned restaurant up there before coming home.

Edited April 18 by John M.

[stavanzer]

18 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

Clocked over 100 miles (an hour, no way) coming home from the first of the year Prescott Antique Auto Club cruise.  I have to get a new set of wheels, with fresh rubber, so this is the second cruise, and that's it.  Even though it was dropping below 60 degrees, kept the top down.

That  Ferrari looks really great! Fake or not, you don't see many of them on the road.

Are the Wheels no good, or is it just the Rubber?

And, at least you can buy a Monogram kit to get you close to a Replica of yours.

I'm looking at having to put new tires on my '14 Sienna Van, soon.

[89AKurt]

On 4/18/2025 at 2:47 PM, stavanzer said:

That  Ferrari looks really great! Fake or not, you don't see many of them on the road.

Are the Wheels no good, or is it just the Rubber?

And, at least you can buy a Monogram kit to get you close to a Replica of yours.

I'm looking at having to put new tires on my '14 Sienna Van, soon.

Thank you.  Don't even see the real ones much less a replica.  It's fun messing with people, like pulling up to the cruise night and say "it's running kinda rough, like it's running on only 8 cylinders."  Then open the hood.  Was thinking of posting in the Trade section, need to take pictures of what I will trade for the Miami Vice kits, one idea was to have them to give to kids who seem really interested at shows.

The last wheel taken off, showed it was rode hard and hung up wet.  So I've been to only two cruise nights, keeping it below 50 MPH so the mirror won't fall off, it seems to have seen a few "what's behind you doesn't matter" demonstrations.

Have someone tracking down a better replica of the Cromadora wheels.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming........ 🙄  My friend and I rode the Peavine railroad - trail today.  It's been forever, just this is a struggle.  But I still left her in the dust. 😏

 

[John M.]

The kids are off from school this week and I'll be taking it easy. I won't get paid for it but I have 4 personal days on the books that'll I'll use to cover that shortfall. 

[A modeler named mike]

This past Saturdays irk of a clogged toilet drain has been turned onto a tickle me pink moment now. With the proper tool, a 75' electric snake, the clog is no more. The toilet is back in place and all is good again. Apparently my Dad was using butt wipes and flushing them down the toilet when he owned the house. People don’t seem to understand that even if the package says "biodegradable" they are not. The evidence I pulled back out stuck to the auger head shows differently. 

[espo]

2 minutes ago, A modeler named mike said:

This past Saturdays irk of a clogged toilet drain has been turned onto a tickle me pink moment now. With the proper tool, a 75' electric snake, the clog is no more. The toilet is back in place and all is good again. Apparently my Dad was using butt wipes and flushing them down the toilet when he owned the house. People don’t seem to understand that even if the package says "biodegradable" they are not. The evidence I pulled back out stuck to the auger head shows differently. 

Had a similar experience and our new home was only two years old at the time. We had been using the mentioned wipes for years at our previous home with no issues, so we saw no reason to change when we moved here. In our case the wipes were hanging up on the back flow restrictor valve in the line per the plumber who cleared it for us. 

[Falcon Ranchero]

Done school. for about 4 months

[stavanzer]

27 minutes ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

Done school. for about 4 months

Been done with school since 1981.....

[Tim W. SoCal]

On 4/17/2025 at 5:31 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

It was pretty quick as a slalom car by that point, sometimes setting FTD (fast time of the day) if the guy with the 140-horse Corvair engine in a Manx with real race rubber didn't show up.

Back in 1983, friends called in a favor on me to do tech inspections at the VW Magazine sponsored "Bug In"s at Orange County International Raceway (OCIR). I wasn't really interested in VW drag racing and had refused them in doing this job a couple of times before. Anyway, one of the first orders-of-business on race day was to enter the event staff's "Oil Down Pool", predicting the number of race track oil exposure clean-ups that would delay racing during the day. My guess was 22, thinking that these dumb Bugs would be exploding engines or clutches left-and-right as they launched. Not only was I TERRIBLY wrong on the reliability of race-bug engines, I was AMAZED and impressed by the vast number of 12 second street bugs that went down the track.

[Tim W. SoCal]

5 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

Been done with school since 1981.....

If you earn your living in any industry with any kind of evolving technology, you're NEVER done with school...

[stavanzer]

What pleased me today?

Something I'm ashamed to admit.

After 5 years, I've figured out how consistently check the Voice Mail on my phone.

I could do it, by accident, but never when I wanted to.

I've fixed that. Now I can check it when I want.

Baby Steps....

[stitchdup]

11 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

What pleased me today?

Something I'm ashamed to admit.

After 5 years, I've figured out how consistently check the Voice Mail on my phone.

I could do it, by accident, but never when I wanted to.

I've fixed that. Now I can check it when I want.

Baby Steps....

I just turn it off, if its important they'll text me, lol

[stavanzer]

33 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

I just turn it off, if its important they'll text me, lol

The V.A. (Veteran's Administration, who provides my health care) only calls once. Miss a message (and I've missed a few) and you never hear from them again. Since the V.A. is just now using 20th Century technology, they use only Landline Phones for Official Business, in most cases. So I seldom get texts from them. (Well, certain Doctors will send texts, but that's not the Drones who make most of the phone calls)

Edited April 21 by stavanzer
added context

[crazyjim]

The VA sends me notices via email. cell phone texts,  and land line messages.  And also USPS mail.

[A modeler named mike]

Today I fell in Love again. Although I've been married to my wonderful wife for 42 years, this new girl caught my attention and made me feel something I hadn't felt in years. She's five years younger than I, and three years younger than my wife. She's sexy in my opinion although she has more miles on her body then my wife, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Her past isn't a concern for me and I can't hold it against her either. Her current owner doesn't want her anymore and is willing to part with her. I will try my hardest to make a deal with this gentleman before he sends her to auction..🤔°° Wait, What, you thought I was talking about another woman! Oh No.. I don't think I could handle having two bosses.. let me introduce you to the sweetheart that caught my eye.. 

I hope that we can come to an agreement before she goes off to auction. 🤞

[Khils]

16 minutes ago, A modeler named mike said:

I don't think I could handle having two bosses

I agree whole hearted... Best wishes!               Very Cool 😎!!!

 

[JollySipper]

34 minutes ago, A modeler named mike said:

I hope that we can come to an agreement before she goes off to auction.

That's a cool little car! What engine does it have? A cammed-up 273 would be too cool in that....... They make hop-up parts for the slant6, too!

[A modeler named mike]

1 minute ago, JollySipper said:

That's a cool little car! What engine does it have? A cammed-up 273 would be too cool in that....... They make hop-up parts for the slant6, too!

It has a slant 6 with 122682.5 miles on it. I didn't get a chance to photo the engine bay. The mechanic told me that it starts right up every time. I  trust him since I've known him for years. He said he had first shot at it but he has to many projects and no room to store it. It definitely has potential. 

[Old Buckaroo]

1 hour ago, A modeler named mike said:

Today I fell in Love again. Although I've been married to my wonderful wife for 42 years, this new girl caught my attention and made me feel something I hadn't felt in years. She's five years younger than I, and three years younger than my wife. She's sexy in my opinion although she has more miles on her body then my wife, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Her past isn't a concern for me and I can't hold it against her either. Her current owner doesn't want her anymore and is willing to part with her. I will try my hardest to make a deal with this gentleman before he sends her to auction..🤔°° Wait, What, you thought I was talking about another woman! Oh No.. I don't think I could handle having two bosses.. let me introduce you to the sweetheart that caught my eye.. 

 

Oh I knew better than that as there was no mention of airbags and a firm chassis
🙄

[#1 model citizen]

2 hours ago, A modeler named mike said:

 

I hope that we can come to an agreement before she goes off to auction. 🤞

What a great find! I had a rust bucket version of this very model, very similarly if not identically equipped. When I had to replace the engine I pulled the slant six out of my totaled ‘61 Dodge. It must have been one with aluminum internals as it gave the car plenty of pep! It would beat a friend’s 350 T-Bird off the line and stay ahead until about 35 mph. I always wanted to put a 4bbl carb on it but never had the opportunity before I had to give it up. It was a fun little car and I would jump at the chance to own this one you found or one like it in its condition. Good luck on acquiring it. 
I found a few pics of mine…

Edited April 23 by #1 model citizen

[Dave Ambrose]

I don't remember making this new year resolution but I've been on a bit of a concert binge this year. Saw Anoushka Shankar late March, Deep Sea Diver on April 10, and the Jordi Savall ensemble (15th and 16th century music) on the 15th. This has been an outlandish amount of fun. At least I'm not in a musical rut. There are still two more in the pipeline too. 

I don't recall seeing this particular addiction in the DSM either. 

[NOBLNG]

11 hours ago, A modeler named mike said:

Today I fell in Love again. Although I've been married to my wonderful wife for 42 years, this new girl caught my attention and made me feel something I hadn't felt in years. She's five years younger than I, and three years younger than my wife. She's sexy in my opinion although she has more miles on her body then my wife, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Her past isn't a concern for me and I can't hold it against her either. Her current owner doesn't want her anymore and is willing to part with her. I will try my hardest to make a deal with this gentleman before he sends her to auction..🤔°° Wait, What, you thought I was talking about another woman! Oh No.. I don't think I could handle having two bosses.. let me introduce you to the sweetheart that caught my eye..

I hope that we can come to an agreement before she goes off to auction. 🤞

Have you seen her topless?😜
 

Edited April 23 by NOBLNG

[Falcon Ranchero]

11 hours ago, A modeler named mike said:

Today I fell in Love again. Although I've been married to my wonderful wife for 42 years, this new girl caught my attention and made me feel something I hadn't felt in years. She's five years younger than I, and three years younger than my wife. She's sexy in my opinion although she has more miles on her body then my wife, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Her past isn't a concern for me and I can't hold it against her either. Her current owner doesn't want her anymore and is willing to part with her. I will try my hardest to make a deal with this gentleman before he sends her to auction..🤔°° Wait, What, you thought I was talking about another woman! Oh No.. I don't think I could handle having two bosses.. let me introduce you to the sweetheart that caught my eye.. 

I hope that we can come to an agreement before she goes off to auction. 🤞

That is very nice; circa 1965 Valiant. I have to admit I do like those year Valiants, especially the two-door hardtop with the V8, though I do like the '60-'62 Exner styled ones. Fingers crossed you can get this car; just last year in May I had a '66 Galaxie slip away from right under me; still kinda dissapointed. $6,500, 289, four-door, dark green, mint condition.

Good luck with this Valiant.

Edited April 23 by Falcon Ranchero