hewey
Well-known member
Enjoy the wedding and festivities mate 
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium
- Thread starter Bob Heine
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Thank you Dennis! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Dan, it's a little cloud hanging over me but it hasn't pissed on my parade too much. Life is hard and short if you're miserable so I prefer to laugh and hope others will laugh with me. Or at me, it's all good.Bob, I think of you often and hope this issue recedes into the darkness from which it came. And I always admire your humor. You are something else!!
Hewey, we did enjoy the wedding. Liane did her best to make it a crisis but I reminded her we're the grandparents. Stay at arms length, make suggestions but don't volunteer and donate money where needed. Our poor son and daughter in law have three days to prepare for a mob to show up for Thanksgiving. I think I'm tasked with picking up a pumpkin pie from Costco.Enjoy the wedding and festivities mate
As mentioned, we attended our 23YO grandson's wedding Saturday. Started the ceremony outside under gray skies that threatened to drizzle like it had on the drive to the venue. As they finished their vows the clouds parted and it was blue skies and sunshine. Nice reception for the 70 or so guests. We didn't stay to the bitter end, leaving just after sundown with a gorgeous sunset sending us on our way.
This was my first long night drive since the lens replacement surgery two years ago. No problems and I feel confident we can do it again if needed. Knocking on 80YO, I'm going to continue to make night driving the exception rather than the rule.
We had rain and strong winds last week and Thursday evening we lost power a half dozen times. The outages lasted a second or two, just enough to shut off the AT&T service (TV, phone and internet) and all the digital clocks in the house. Each time I reset the TV receivers and clocks. It takes about five minutes for the TV box to boot so fifteen or twenty minutes after I had everything reset, the power would go out for another second or two. Gave up and went to bed at 11:00. The midnight outage woke me up because I could barely breathe (the CPAP machine stopped working). Got up and used my cell phone (!!!) to report the outage to Florida Power and Light. It didn't go off again but I got two notices that power would be restored by 11:00 AM.
Friday I noticed the digital clock on my coffee maker wasn't blinking, it was dead. It's in the garage, plugged into the GFCI that was giving me trouble a few weeks ago. Flipped off the circuit breaker and pulled both duplex outlets out of the box. That's when I noticed a nick in the incoming (line voltage) wires. Removed both outlets and found the white wire was also nicked. When I lightly pulled on the outlet, the white wire broke. The line wires connect to one side of the GFCI and the load wires to the other side. That way all the outlets connected to the load side are also protected. The nicked wires meant all of the outlets on that circuit were starved for power. One of the load outlets has the 10/3 extension cord to the workshop plugged into it. It explains why lights were flickering and it was so easy to trip the breaker.
After stripping both shortened wires I re-did the rest of the connections in the box so there were only three wires in each connector. Got everything back in the box but apparently one of the ground wires made contact when somewhere and tripped the GFCI when I flipped the breaker back on. Gave up, knowing we had the wedding Saturday. Went back at it Sunday and got everything straightened out. I usually have 8 inches of wire in the box to play with but the shortened wires made it a tight area to work in with that pair of 4-inchers. I pity the person who opens that box up in the future.
This was my first long night drive since the lens replacement surgery two years ago. No problems and I feel confident we can do it again if needed. Knocking on 80YO, I'm going to continue to make night driving the exception rather than the rule.
We had rain and strong winds last week and Thursday evening we lost power a half dozen times. The outages lasted a second or two, just enough to shut off the AT&T service (TV, phone and internet) and all the digital clocks in the house. Each time I reset the TV receivers and clocks. It takes about five minutes for the TV box to boot so fifteen or twenty minutes after I had everything reset, the power would go out for another second or two. Gave up and went to bed at 11:00. The midnight outage woke me up because I could barely breathe (the CPAP machine stopped working). Got up and used my cell phone (!!!) to report the outage to Florida Power and Light. It didn't go off again but I got two notices that power would be restored by 11:00 AM.
Friday I noticed the digital clock on my coffee maker wasn't blinking, it was dead. It's in the garage, plugged into the GFCI that was giving me trouble a few weeks ago. Flipped off the circuit breaker and pulled both duplex outlets out of the box. That's when I noticed a nick in the incoming (line voltage) wires. Removed both outlets and found the white wire was also nicked. When I lightly pulled on the outlet, the white wire broke. The line wires connect to one side of the GFCI and the load wires to the other side. That way all the outlets connected to the load side are also protected. The nicked wires meant all of the outlets on that circuit were starved for power. One of the load outlets has the 10/3 extension cord to the workshop plugged into it. It explains why lights were flickering and it was so easy to trip the breaker.
After stripping both shortened wires I re-did the rest of the connections in the box so there were only three wires in each connector. Got everything back in the box but apparently one of the ground wires made contact when somewhere and tripped the GFCI when I flipped the breaker back on. Gave up, knowing we had the wedding Saturday. Went back at it Sunday and got everything straightened out. I usually have 8 inches of wire in the box to play with but the shortened wires made it a tight area to work in with that pair of 4-inchers. I pity the person who opens that box up in the future.
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RickP
Well-known member
I'm glad your Grandson's wedding went well -- definitely nice to be able to just show up.
This wiring sounds all too familiar -- but I'm usually the one who nicks the wires and then has to shorten them myself! I'm glad you got the flickering power figured out in the shed. We had the same problem in our whole house when it was new. Power company came out several times before they finally found a bad connection in their transformer box that was arcing. Good thing you didn't have a fire inside your garage -- nice catch.
LeonardY
Well-known member
Glad you had a great time at your grandson's wedding.
I got to spend a little time with my newly married nephew and his wife. It's really a special time.
I got to spend a little time with my newly married nephew and his wife. It's really a special time.
Thank you Rick!
Oh, trust me, the nicks were from me stuffing the two bulky outlets into the box. The GFCI duplex outlet and the USB & duplex outlet are big and I probably used a regular screwdriver to shove the wiring into the back of the box. I replaced the GFCI with a compact one this time and used snub nose pliers to only push on the wire nuts. My new Knipex TwinGrip pliers were perfect for the job.
Leonard, we didn't get to spend a lot of time with the newlyweds but I expect they will be returning to Florida for future holiday gatherings. The bride is in the Air Force stationed at Beale AFB so they will are living in Rocklin, CA.
They secretly married several months ago so our grandson would have medical coverage through her position in the military.
shortykorte
Well-known member
Small world. I spent 5 yrs at Beale. I’m trying to find my picture of my 442s in front of the SR and U2. Great location to be stationed at.
Some C4 content for you, Bob! The alleged Car Wizard moans about:
a) all of the things in the way of removing the water pump (yawn)
2) the location of the horn fuse (Good Lord! This gripe is justified. What were they smokin'?)
iii) plastic window regulator, boo, later part upgrade, yay
a) all of the things in the way of removing the water pump (yawn)
2) the location of the horn fuse (Good Lord! This gripe is justified. What were they smokin'?)
iii) plastic window regulator, boo, later part upgrade, yay
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Shorty, it is indeed a small world. Hard to believe the SR-71 started flying in 1966, almost 60 years ago. Mach 3 at 80,000 feet is still an amazing feat today.
The U2 started flying in 1955 and the last flight from Beale was in June 2022.
Takeoff and landing that flying unicycle is a hoot. The wings are held off the ground by two wheeled struts that fall off during takeoff. The landing requires a chase car, which I assume ensures a wing tip doesn't hit the pavement. In this video it's a pretty snazzy Audi:
@Squankum, it was the War Department until 1949. When they renamed it the Department of Defense it grew quite a bit.Small world, Big DoD?
Trust me, I am very familiar with the idiosyncrasies of my C4 Corvette. Fortunately mine is a 1987 so the metal window mechanisms still work fine at 37 (the '84-6 C4s had Chinese toy grade plastic window mechanisms). I've had the front of the engine apart a couple of times. First time was for the water pump a couple of years before Y2K. By the time I got the old one out I looked for the fanciest and most expensive aluminum one available and spent several days polishing it. More recently I have had to replace crumbling plastic pieces, including a coolant temperature sensor and its connector.
When I tried to pull the connector off, the top of the sensor came off with it.
Parts start arriving, including the sensor, connector and its wires and a new U-shape throttle body heater hose. You can see how bulged the one in the photo above is.
While I had it opened up I cleaned the area a bit. The water pump could use another buffing session but I realized I'm the only one who will ever see it so I installed the new sensor and moved on...
...to the wiring. Using a second (third?) hand, I soldered the new connector wires to the old loom with shrink tubing over the joints. There wasn't a whole lot of space available and I discovered I couldn't feed the connector through that jumble without more disassembly but I could feed the bare wires through.
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
Hi Bob. Thought I would stop in and say hi. What I would give to be able to attend my Grandson or Granddaughters wedding. You are blessed I like your Knipex pliers as well. 
Hi Bob. Thought I would stop in and say hi. What I would give to be able to attend my Grandson or Granddaughters wedding. You are blessed I like your Knipex pliers as well.
Be like Bob! Get the Knipex Twin Grip pliers! All the kewl kids are getting them!
Amazon, normal handles, showing $34 for me right now:
Same, from Harry J. Epsteins:
Knipex Twin Grip 8" Slip Joint Pliers (8201200)
Knipex 82-01-200 Twin Grip slip joint pliers with a push button for easy adjustment.
Look at those teeth! They win most every fight.
Amazon, comfort grips for those who dig that sort of thing... showing at $30 for me right now?!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097C7W2YK/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Oh, sure. That throttle body needs some 200F+ coolant flowing through it. You never know when it will ice up.
Takeoff and landing that flying unicycle is a hoot. The wings are held off the ground by two wheeled struts that fall off during takeoff. The landing requires a chase car, which I assume ensures a wing tip doesn't hit the pavement. In this video it's a pretty snazzy Audi:
Also visible in that footage, parked on the tarmac, is RQ-4
Looked like an Audi A7 as a chase car at the English airfield, what white sedan was being used for the US footage, I could not figure out.
Grizz1963
Well-known member
Those pirates sure are impressive the way they fly.
Might well be. Reason is that in Yurp Q7 TDIs were available with 500HP 6.0 litre V12. My business associate in Iceland has one - just detoxed to 600HP. Pretty impressive performance (ours is a 3.0 litre and does just fine but probably not up to SR71 intercept performance).
That motor came to the US, in my limited knowledge, in the Touareg. I've actually seen one VW Touareg W-12 TDI, on an island off the coast of Maine. Not only did few sell, I generally am not ogling SUV's even from brands I otherwise grew up loving, so maybe others escaped my notice.
It's a W-12 in that each bank is basically two VW VR6 engines, which are a V-6 but only with a 15 degree angle between each three cylinders. IIRC that's almost the same good balance of an inline six, but only one exhaust manifold and cylinder head for those six, unlike a V-6. And most importantly, a lot less length so the VR6 fits into a transverse, front-wheel drive engine bay.
So, double that and you've got the W-12 block, which has also shown up in various gasoline superduper cars in the VW empire.
W12 engine - Wikipedia
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Hi Emil. I am truly blessed to be here to see my grandchildren marry and start their families. The Knipex pliers get way more use than the others in that plier drawer.Hi Bob. Thought I would stop in and say hi. What I would give to be able to attend my Grandson or Granddaughters wedding. You are blessed I like your Knipex pliers as well.
@Squankum, when they were priced below $30 I snatched them up. Much as I like the comfort grips, they weren't on sale when I 'needed' them.Be like Bob! Get the Knipex Twin Grip pliers! All the kewl kids are getting them!
Amazon, normal handles, showing $34 for me right now:
Same, from Harry J. Epsteins:
Knipex Twin Grip 8" Slip Joint Pliers (8201200)
Knipex 82-01-200 Twin Grip slip joint pliers with a push button for easy adjustment.www.harryepstein.com
Look at those teeth! They win most every fight.
Amazon, comfort grips for those who dig that sort of thing... showing at $30 for me right now?!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097C7W2YK/?tag=atomicindus08-20
It's up there with the A.I.R. pump as a WTF emission feature.Oh, sure. That throttle body needs some 200F+ coolant flowing through it. You never know when it will ice up.
Another win for the robots! They use Dodge Chargers and Camaros according to some other YouTube videos and websites. I couldn't swear to it but the one in that video looks like a BMW in the front.Also visible in that footage, parked on the tarmac, is RQ-4Moby ****Global Hawk. I suspect it has replaced the U-2 for many missions.
Looked like an Audi A7 as a chase car at the English airfield, what white sedan was being used for the US footage, I could not figure out.
Rian, you're right. Turns out the chase cars have pilots in them to help guide the plane in for a landing because the pilot's view is so poor in the U2 cockpit.
@cannuck, I bet you're right about the Q7 power. Seems the U2 landing speed was 120 mph so the chase car had to accelerate and cruise comfortably at that speed.
@Squankum, that W12 in front wheel drive configuration would be scary. I can't wrap my brain around the transmission that would handle the torque and horsepower. The Olds Toronado avoided the problem by using equal length half-shafts coming out of the transmission.That motor came to the US, in my limited knowledge, in the Touareg. I've actually seen one VW Touareg W-12 TDI, on an island off the coast of Maine. Not only did few sell, I generally am not ogling SUV's even from brands I otherwise grew up loving, so maybe others escaped my notice.
It's a W-12 in that each bank is basically two VW VR6 engines, which are a V-6 but only with a 15 degree angle between each three cylinders. IIRC that's almost the same good balance of an inline six, but only one exhaust manifold and cylinder head for those six, unlike a V-6. And most importantly, a lot less length so the VR6 fits into a transverse, front-wheel drive engine bay.
So, double that and you've got the W-12 block, which has also shown up in various gasoline superduper cars in the VW empire.
W12 engine - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Thank you Tony!Happy Thanksgiving Bob
Denwood
Well-known member
Bob, hugs kisses and a speedy recovery to you sir
Given your quick wit here on the forums I have to wonder if are in demand at these weddings to give toasts and the like…you’d be top of my list
Given your quick wit here on the forums I have to wonder if are in demand at these weddings to give toasts and the like…you’d be top of my list
Thank you Dennis!Bob, hugs kisses and a speedy recovery to you sir
Given your quick wit here on the forums I have to wonder if are in demand at these weddings to give toasts and the like…you’d be top of my list
I gave the eulogy at my mother's memorial service and it had too many people crying so I may have overshot on the serious side. I also do pet funerals that are much lighter.
The wedding toasts were given by the bride's father and our youngest grandson (20YO). The groom is our next to youngest (23YO) and they are truly best friends.
Thanksgiving at our son's house. Appetizers disappeared before I could find a plate. Three turkeys (fried, smoked and roasted) and a large ham with a few sides. Creamed pearl onions, mashed potatoes, marshmallow sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, string bean casserole, stuffing and mac & cheese. Too full to eat any dessert.
We ate outside under a wedding canopy and gazebo. It was only 26 immediate family members and significant others. Only 24 in the photo because the newlyweds headed to California yesterday. They drove from West Palm Beach, Florida to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas the first day (1,300 miles). Two significant others didn't want to be in the picture (hopefully nothing to do with outstanding warrants).
I have the smoked turkey carcass in the freezer that will become stock for yellow split pea soup.
We ate outside under a wedding canopy and gazebo. It was only 26 immediate family members and significant others. Only 24 in the photo because the newlyweds headed to California yesterday. They drove from West Palm Beach, Florida to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas the first day (1,300 miles). Two significant others didn't want to be in the picture (hopefully nothing to do with outstanding warrants).
I have the smoked turkey carcass in the freezer that will become stock for yellow split pea soup.
I may have been unclear there -- I was trying to talk about the VR6, which started out as a GTI motor, front-wheel drive, in the Golf /// (Mk 3) generation and Jetta and I guess some other cars.
As part of a corporate cost-raising measure, there was also an Audi V-6 of similar displacement but 90-degree, not 15, and used in VW/Audi platforms that did not have transverse engines, like VW Passat and Audis, and let's not forget the VW Phaeton (how can we forget it if we didn't know about it? I think I saw one once.)
Once you get into W12's, I'm assuming awd or rwd. (Mid-engined Audi sports car, big Bentleys.)
We now know that if a Bentley didn't wear nearly 3 tons, the modern W-12 engine might help you fly over a border checkpoint.
Just to set the record straight, NO "W" blocks in VW/Audi were ever executed in compression ignition. ALL were gassers. The W12 (spark ignition) appeared in A8, Phaeton and Touareg but no "W"s ever in Audi Q7. The Touareg and A8 got the V10 TDI, but that was 2 x the 2.5 inline PD5 (BTW: all of the PDK cars were that engine). Best I can remember is the only use of the V12 TDI was in the Q7 (I believe one prototype A8 only).
Thanks! My mind keeps getting the 10's and 12's all mixed up.
Found a pic of the V-10 TDI block:
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Grizz1963
Well-known member
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Nice looking family!! Funny it looks like you’re 7 foot tall compared to all your family so congrats for taking the high ground.
Pea soup sounds tasty!!
Pea soup sounds tasty!!
driftpin
Well-known member
Happy Black Friday! I hope your holiday meal was a good one. We had a dozen people for dinner, and then 5 after-dinner guests. Three pies, apple, pumpkin, and my favorite, pecan! I had a piece w/my morning coffee today.
Speaking with our son, who was there w/his family, he told me about new hardware he got at Black Friday prices for our vintage car project. You had a good eye for that post where Old Man Roger was wondering about what station wagon it was, in another thread.
Your ad for the 1956 Chevy line is a good one.
Speaking with our son, who was there w/his family, he told me about new hardware he got at Black Friday prices for our vintage car project. You had a good eye for that post where Old Man Roger was wondering about what station wagon it was, in another thread.
Your ad for the 1956 Chevy line is a good one.
nicholam77
Well-known member
Congrats on your grandson’s wedding and happy thanksgiving Bob! Looks warm and pleasant there!
3 turkeys and a ham, wow! So which turkey was the best? We did a smoked turkey at my in-laws for the first time this year and I think it’s one of the better ones I’ve had.
3 turkeys and a ham, wow! So which turkey was the best? We did a smoked turkey at my in-laws for the first time this year and I think it’s one of the better ones I’ve had.
@Squankum, I used to digest all the automotive trivia I could find but there's so much my brain has given up. Only thing I've discovered lately is that non-Bond Bentleys can fly.
@cannuck, I learn something every day on this site.
You made me look. Found two VW Toureg V10 TDIs about 650 miles away and both are priced at $10,500 and both have around 75,000 miles on them. One is a 2007 and the other is a 2008. My vision started to fade reading all the high tech and fancy pantsy stuff they come with (heated windshield washers?!). An all-wheel drive SUV with a 309 horsepower engine with 553 lb⋅ft of torque at 2,000 RPM sounds like a pretty cool tow vehicle for a 7,700 pound trailer. Then I read about the repair process. My C4 Corvette water pump is a walk in the park compared to the Toureg V10. Almost any repair to the engine requires the engine and entire drivetrain to be separated (lowered) from the body. There's special lift that VW designed to make that possible. A trained VW mechanic with all the special tools is expected spend 30 hours to replace one of the two turbos. I understand alternator, thermostat/cooling system work requires the same process. The thing has two batteries and will not start if either one goes bad:
"The driver seat requires a 17mm triple square socket to remove. Because one battery failed, a complex and untraceable decision-making process was performed by the vehicle and it decided it wouldn’t start with either battery but it WOULD continue to allow battery drain from various accessories. I had to replace both batteries ($250/per battery at walmart rates believe it or not). One battery was under that seat, the other required 18 10mm bolts to be removed."
Rian, my grandmother introduced me to the dish when I was a child. It was a standard side for Thanksgiving and Christmas tables. Liane acquired a taste for it so our daughter-in-law makes it special for her. This year the deep 13x9 creamed pearl onion tray was completely consumed by the end of the meal. Birdseye sells a frozen version.
In other food news, these are waiting for a special occasion (or two):
Drives, good eye! Five of the men in the picture are significantly taller than me. The missing Groom would have made it six, he's 6'5".
Philip, the meal was outstanding. The dining table in the house, with extra leaf installed, was covered end-to-end with restaurant size chafing dishes. Another dining table was covered with plates full of appetizers. Everyone left with take-home dinners.
I carefully avoided the black friday teasers that arrived in my in-basket. I plan to do the same on Monday.
Thanks Nick! I agree with you on the smoked turkey. It was extra juicy this year (our son has a fancy new smoker). Liane is not a fan but she's looking forward to the pea soup.
Great white
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Messages
- 175
I've got an 88 'vert:Shorty, it is indeed a small world. Hard to believe the SR-71 started flying in 1966, almost 60 years ago. Mach 3 at 80,000 feet is still an amazing feat today.
The U2 started flying in 1955 and the last flight from Beale was in June 2022.
Takeoff and landing that flying unicycle is a hoot. The wings are held off the ground by two wheeled struts that fall off during takeoff. The landing requires a chase car, which I assume ensures a wing tip doesn't hit the pavement. In this video it's a pretty snazzy Audi:
My father was in the Army Air Corps during WWII and then was in the Air Force Reserves from 1947 until 1957. My bedroom in the '50s had several model airplanes hanging from the ceiling, including a wooden B-17 (dad supervised the build) and plastic P51, P38, Sopwith Triplane and Bell X-1 (built poorly by me without supervision). In the '50s the Bell X1 was a big deal.
@Squankum, it was the War Department until 1949. When they renamed it the Department of Defense it grew quite a bit.
Trust me, I am very familiar with the idiosyncrasies of my C4 Corvette. Fortunately mine is a 1987 so the metal window mechanisms still work fine at 37 (the '84-6 C4s had Chinese toy grade plastic window mechanisms). I've had the front of the engine apart a couple of times. First time was for the water pump a couple of years before Y2K. By the time I got the old one out I looked for the fanciest and most expensive aluminum one available and spent several days polishing it. More recently I have had to replace crumbling plastic pieces, including a coolant temperature sensor and its connector.
When I tried to pull the connector off, the top of the sensor came off with it.
Parts start arriving, including the sensor, connector and its wires and a new U-shape throttle body heater hose. You can see how bulged the one in the photo above is.
While I had it opened up I cleaned the area a bit. The water pump could use another buffing session but I realized I'm the only one who will ever see it so I installed the new sensor and moved on...
...to the wiring. Using a second (third?) hand, I soldered the new connector wires to the old loom with shrink tubing over the joints. There wasn't a whole lot of space available and I discovered I couldn't feed the connector through that jumble without more disassembly but I could feed the bare wires through.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never had problems with plastic under the hood.
The interior however......yeesh.
@Great white, I like it! A lot. You get the 17" rims, bigger brakes, improved suspension and higher horsepower. I like the more subtle Greenwood ground effects as well but the triple black would be hard to live with in South Florida. When I bought my '87 in '91 it had a weird hodge-podge of ground effects pieces.I've got an 88 'vert:
Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never had problems with plastic under the hood.
The interior however......yeesh.
In 2007 I replaced the banged up front and non matching rocker extensions and had the car re-painted. The rear bumper and ground effect surround had 14 coats of paint on them before I took a heat gun and scraper to them before handing it over to the body shop. They got rid of the latex caulk and reflective red stripe as well.
I have a Harbor Freight Cen-Tech inspection camera and it works fine. The only issue is the size of the camera and light at the end of the wand. There's no way to use it for cylinder inspections because it's too big for a spark plug hole. I happened across a cheap inspection camera with a really thin camera and cable that connects to a phone with a micro USB, USB-C or laptop with a USB-A socket. It occurred to me I have an outdated Samsung Galaxy S3 that no longer works with my service provider (Ting). I don't have to worry about getting it dirty or breaking it because it would work with my Galaxy A12. I opted for the short fiber cable but they have much longer ones, including a 10 meter one.
[There's an oil pressure sensor in the box.]
[There's an oil pressure sensor in the box.]
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
That's a mighty fine-looking family you have there Bob. Looks like it was a nice day surrounded by the family.
Great white
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Messages
- 175
Mine is a z52 triple black. Z52 is as close as you can get to the Z51 package on a vert. Pretty close actually, Biggest difference is the spring rates are lower.@Great white, I like it! A lot. You get the 17" rims, bigger brakes, improved suspension and higher horsepower. I like the more subtle Greenwood ground effects as well but the triple black would be hard to live with in South Florida. When I bought my '87 in '91 it had a weird hodge-podge of ground effects pieces.
In 2007 I replaced the banged up front and non matching rocker extensions and had the car re-painted. The rear bumper and ground effect surround had 14 coats of paint on them before I took a heat gun and scraper to them before handing it over to the body shop. They got rid of the latex caulk and reflective red stripe as well.
It goes pretty good, for what it is. Corners like a rat in sneakers. But we bought it as a retirement car for the wife and I to take day trips on bright summer days.
I'm slowly working out al the "squeaks and creaks" in the plastic-y interior. Some of it is just a small felt pad here and there, some of it is replacement pieces of different material. I got rid of the "bread box" on the passenger dash and built my own "glove box":
That's aluminum and while it looks good in pictures, it didn't come out quite the way I wanted it. When I get around to it, I plan to pull it back off and rework it the way I want it. The bezels are all painted and so is the console. The "T" shape only and it's in a subtle "smoke metallic". The original is that shiny black plastic and the smoke metallic is just enough of a change for you to know something has been changed but subtle enough to look like something the factory might have done.
The glove box hides a Moates GPU1 real time tuner. I run a heated wideband O2 sensor, which the Moates unit can take as an input. doesn't so much make a difference in day to day driving, but is a godsend when tweaking the fueling tables. Nice thing about the GPU1 is it plugs into the stock ECM slot and the stock calibration and MEMCAL plugs into the back of the adapter. It's there to maintain the "limp mode" function, but should I ever have a problem with the GPU1, it's just pull the ecm out, disconnect the Moates, plug the OEM board back in and off you go.
The real time tuning makes it essentially like tuning an OBDII unit. You can make changes on the fly on the laptop. No doing a data run, burning a chip, data run, burn another chip, etc. Just pull over, tweak a table and off you go again. You don't even have to shut the car down. It's really a slick unit.
My 88 is running custom 89 calibration. 89 program does away with the start injector and the "custom part" allowed me to drop the Bosch MAF for a modern style "blade" MAF. The blade is a Ford piece, like in the Mustangs and such. Like so:
Those are pics from "blowerworks.net". I worked with the original programmer for my calibration and built my own hardware (I'm a hobby machinist as well), but you might still be able to buy them from blowerworks. Something funky was going on at blowerworks last time I tried to contact them. Couldn't get a reply for months, so I just gave up trying.
The blade MAF has better resolution and faster response times. It also removes the "restriction" the Bosch "heated wire" MAF presents to the airstream. A side bonus is the IAT is built into the MAF instead of being in the aluminum intake, so it sees a "truer" air temp that the engine is ingesting instead of "heat soaking" in the OEM location. Besides the better response from the blade MAF, they're cheap as heck. You can grab them off ebay for 10-15 bucks. No way the the original Bosch MAF will ever go for that.
You can also go up to more than a 1 bar sensor if you want to go to forced induction on the OBDI system and retain the MAF. Just takes a little programming change in the sensor resolution tables. I'll likely never go that way, but it's nice to have the option.
Engine work is pretty limited on this car though, it's meant to be a driver, not a project. Threw in a set of crane full roller rockers and then pretty much just started polishing things. The magnesium rocker covers were a PITA to keep shiny, so I ended up just painting them silver.
It's even still on stock exhaust, although the PO gutted all the cats. Not what I woudl have done, but like the ground effects, you get what you get when you buy a used car.
Yes, the "triple black" can sure get hot in the summers! Getting in after top down in the sun wearing shorts is a dangerous affair! You can get at least 1st degree burns on the back of your thighs! I usually keep a towel in the back and toss it on the seat in those situs. The seat cools a few seconds later and I can remove the towel.
Mine wears a "genuine" Greenwood kit. But to be honest, I'm not a big fan of body kits on C4's. I like the clean OEM 80's "wedge" look. The Greenwood kit was already on the car when I bought it and taking it off would mean body work and a complete respray. That's fairly big money that I just don't want to spend on this car.
The lowers I don't really mind, but I find most rear spoilers just don't look right on a C4. The body style just doesn't lend itself very well to spoilers, at least not to my eyes.
I will say, however, that of all the aftermarket body kits you could get for the C4 the Greenwood ones look the best to my eyes.
About the only "rear spoiler" treatment I like on C4's is the Shinoda/Mears kit. Only issues I have with that one is the rear lowers don't look quite right from the rear and that it changes the look to the later 90's "rounded look". I like my c4's angular and with the Atari dash in place.
Shinoda/Mears kit:
But, if someone likes body kits on a c4, that's also fine by me.
Different strokes for different folks.
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driftpin
Well-known member
I had a HFT fiber-optic camera which had a pistol-grip hand-held video camera, it worked to locate first one cat/kitten and a couple days later, another kitten, in a hollow wall of my in-law's home. Pregnant Mama found a way into the home crawlspace, and those were the only two kittens I found on my beneath the floor exploration. Any others were not present. Both cats went to new owners. Our Manchester terrier mix helped to identify the cavity where the cat was, and a 3/4" plaster wall hole followed by the fiber-optic line revealed a small head staring back at me. A reciprocating saw opened the wall to remove the kitty.
I usually remove batteries from my tools like the fiber-optic video camera. In this case, it didn't get done, and I found dreaded corrosion present in the battery pack. I ended up disassembling the camera and had to re-solder a battery pack wire, but even then the camera was not working reliably anymore. I still have it, but it is something I probably should discard or recycle. I thought about trying to use a charger of the proper voltage to see if I can jury-rig something to make it work, but nothing has been done.
I bought another inspection camera, and that one is batteries in only to use it, and it's much smaller than the HFT one. You can use it as a borescope on a .22 or for various other uses. The head is small-enough for spark plug holes, and the camera and the light are straight-ahead or at 90 degrees (sideways) to the length of the cord and head. I used it to inspect a couple of hollow walls before using fasteners, to save me from drilling into something I shouldn't. So-far, it's worked well.
madison069
Well-known member
I see I need to purchase the pliers and the inspection camera so I will have something under the tree from santa! LOL
My biggest issue with corvettes is getting in and out of them. I just can't do it without rolling in and out!! I know one style has a really deep foot well and so there's a short wall on the opening side. My big 13EE clod hoppers keeps hitting that short wall and I can't just get out gracefully.
Family looks good Bob! I remember the days of having big family get together, I know they can be a pain in the **** sometimes. But, i do miss the big family get together. Just to get together with the same 7 people I see just about every week just gets boring.
My biggest issue with corvettes is getting in and out of them. I just can't do it without rolling in and out!! I know one style has a really deep foot well and so there's a short wall on the opening side. My big 13EE clod hoppers keeps hitting that short wall and I can't just get out gracefully.
Family looks good Bob! I remember the days of having big family get together, I know they can be a pain in the **** sometimes. But, i do miss the big family get together. Just to get together with the same 7 people I see just about every week just gets boring.
Great to see you appear to have had a good Thanksgiving and you continue to show more progress then most of us far younger than you and who have less time in doc's office. Continue to appreciate your posts and depth and breadth of knowledge!
Very interested in any other positive experiences with inspection camera's....my current furnace troubleshooting had me bring out my probably 5 year old generic China junk inspection camera to remember why I wasn't impressed with it. Mediocre to poor quality, no built in light...all in all not overly helpful. I don't need super long reach, head diameter in that 3/8 or smaller is likely sufficient and fine with it being wired as I'm often using it like Bob shows hooked to a phone anyway so wireless is just another headache...anyone else got an inspection camera/endoscope they love?
Very interested in any other positive experiences with inspection camera's....my current furnace troubleshooting had me bring out my probably 5 year old generic China junk inspection camera to remember why I wasn't impressed with it. Mediocre to poor quality, no built in light...all in all not overly helpful. I don't need super long reach, head diameter in that 3/8 or smaller is likely sufficient and fine with it being wired as I'm often using it like Bob shows hooked to a phone anyway so wireless is just another headache...anyone else got an inspection camera/endoscope they love?
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I like my Ryobi 3.8 V inspection camera.
Fits in a 1/2" hole, plenty bright for what I use it for (infrequently) and has saved me a couple of times from cutting something I would have regretted.
Fits in a 1/2" hole, plenty bright for what I use it for (infrequently) and has saved me a couple of times from cutting something I would have regretted.
Grizz1963
Well-known member
Bob
Those onions would not stand a chance around me.
My newly won “Roffle” Peugeot 206 CC came with a steak pie in the trunk as a deal sweetner.
I prefer Steak and Kidney mostly and the chicken is good.
But a “free” steak pie will always trump anything else.
No real apologies for the thread hijack.
Those onions would not stand a chance around me.
My newly won “Roffle” Peugeot 206 CC came with a steak pie in the trunk as a deal sweetner.
I prefer Steak and Kidney mostly and the chicken is good.
But a “free” steak pie will always trump anything else.
No real apologies for the thread hijack.
