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Underground Lair of the Squankum

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Squankum

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How? How do they do it? Other than it's a cult and they charge a lot of money.


P.S. OK, and I have another theory: if you try to make and sell only the best, eventually, your company might gain some prestige! Snap On and Michelin are two examples I can think of. My info is out of date but I remember when Goodyear was pretty close, they had but one or two cheapish tires, everything else was good but cost more. (Of course, Michelin seems to cost MORE.) FACOM is another example of a company that is not screwing around.
 
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Squankum

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Mark Donohue setting the closed-course speed record at Talladega. 221 mph for the lap, 241 on the straights. The Porsche 917-30: 5.4 liters, 12 cylinders, two turbos, mechanical fuel injection. Around 1,100 hp.

 
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Some planes just push all the buttons.

Speaking of buttons, did you see the row of switches on a bar attached to both yokes? When the pilot pulls back on his yoke, the switches come towards him and more instrument panel is visible from the camera's point of view.
 
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There are things we think of as simple that had to be invented by somebody. It was the Wood Brothers' stock car racing team that invented the short pit stop. A Ford engineer had pointed out to them that it seemed a lot of critical time could be gained there. They started working on solutions. After their success with it in NASCAR, Ford asked them to be the pit crew for the Lotus team (powered by Ford, driven by Jim Clark) at the 1965 Indy 500. Clark won.


 
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Squankum

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In one of the above videos about the Wood Brothers, one of their tricks was to put a spinner handle on the close end of a four-way lug wrench. Well, pneumatic impact guns came along soon enough. The guns were modified to go faster and faster, and run on nitrogen.

A look at a NASCAR pit stop impact gun from the recent past:

 
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Lug nuts are glued, traditionally with 3M Super Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive, to the wheels before race day. When a pit crewman jumps over the wall with a fresh tire under their arm, the lug nuts are already glued to that wheel.


No longer done in NASCAR in the top series (NASCAR Cup) as they have moved on to aluminum wheels and one big center-lock nut.) Still done in other series.
 
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This was a lot more entertaining than I expected. The 1956 Southern 500 at Darlington, SC. 120 mph! Beauty queens! Purolator oil and air filters, endorsed by Smokey Yunick! Lots of other appearances by Smokey and crew here, too. There's a fire on the course! Yellow flag, please slow down some. Other, numerous safety changes since then, I leave up to you to spot.



Junior Johnson is not mentioned by the announcer but he came in 15th that day. Lee Petty also was there, Richard was either 18 or 19 by that point and did not enter.

 
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Hey, wait a minute! Are you wearing safety sandals at work?
BTW, based on my soccer camp summers as a yute many decades ago, I wanted a pair of Adidas sandals like the cool adults had back then. I finally got a pair about 15 years ago, and sure, they give a jolt of pain massaging sensation when you first put them on, but then, one by one, the little plastic nubbins break off and are found around the house! No bueno.

(I forget why that's no bueno. Ms. Squankum, to my shock, going around the house barefoot? Or a problem for kitties?)
 
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As the men from Winnipeg used to sing, being self-employed, you can take care of business?

I take care of all kinds of business in flips. Skid loadering n flips while cleaning out the steer barn. It’s a crappy but needs to be done. Just don’t lose one in a sticky spot or you’ll end up with a stinky foot.
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jblnut

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BTW, based on my soccer camp summers as a yute many decades ago, I wanted a pair of Adidas sandals like the cool adults had back then. I finally got a pair about 15 years ago, and sure, they give a jolt of pain massaging sensation when you first put them on, but then, one by one, the little plastic nubbins break off and are found around the house! No bueno.

(I forget why that's no bueno. Ms. Squankum, to my shock, going around the house barefoot? Or a problem for kitties?)
I’ve been rocking this same pair for close to a year and no little nubbins have broken off. I usually get around a year of heavy use out of them before they start falling apart. One pair I had a few years ago lasted enough to wear the nubbies off. The last pair is currently in the shop with shoe goo drying to hold the sides back on.
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I’ve been rocking this same pair for close to a year and no little nubbins have broken off. I usually get around a year of heavy use out of them before they start falling apart. One pair I had a few years ago lasted enough to wear the nubbies off. The last pair is currently in the shop with shoe goo drying to hold the sides back on.

(shrug)

Maybe I weigh too much? I know Europeans have trouble imagining the size 14 hombre -- now let's talk about what that size 14 EE guy weighs!
 
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Our most curious internet: a man who makes a living cleaning lint out of dryer vents also has a YouTube channel showing his exploits. This is a diplomatic way of saying, "You won't believe how screwed up some people's dryer ducts are!"

 
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NATURE'S RICH BOUNTY

There I was, driving down a city street, when somebody had some stuff out in their front yard with a "FREE" sign. There was some wood I am proud of myself for not grabbing (sold in stores, little storage room left) but PVC! Huzzah!

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5+ feet of 3" pipe and 12+ feet of 1/2".
 
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PICAYUNE PROJECT

This one has been bouncing around in my noggin for years now. Never got around to finding a little cheap section of pipe. Pondered what kind of tubing a hobby/model shop might sell... but those are thin on the ground anymore! Saw some nice plastic and metal rod/bar/tube stock at an RC car shop in my fair city about a decade ago, but I think that store is gone now.

So, with new my 1/2" PVC... and a little rubber stopper that isn't really big enough but will do the job, with some duct tape on the bottom so it doesn't fall out ,and more duct tape, and...

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Huzzah! A home for my Testors 1/4" wide paint brush, which is how I usually apply antiseize, accurately and in non-gloppy amounts.

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Sitting on the couch typing this up I realize I had some wider diameter copper tubing that might have worked. too. Oh well. No biggie, and no expensive copper diverted to a picayune project.


I have no idea what else this 1/2" pipe will be good for, though! Maybe I'll drive back to that house...

As for the bigger pipe, will I build that Estes rocket mortar I dreamed of as a pyromaniac teen? Yeah, probably not. Might make some cordless power drill holders, though.
 
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Learned some things this morning. A friend sent me a used car from social media.

An unrestored 1963 Ford Falcon. Alleged to have under 100K miles. I don't know why they sent it to me, but I learned some things.

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1) So that's why people started calling them shock towers!

2) 170 cubic inches? I didn't know Ford made straight 6's this small back then! In modern measurements, 2.8 liters.

Poking around the internet (Wikipedia) tells me this was a stroked version of the 144 c.i. model, and this 170 was sold until 1972. The Australian version of this Ford straight 6, however, had a more interesting lifespan!

"With local production of the Ford Falcon starting in 1960, Ford Australia began to offer the same inline-six engines as offered in North America. In Australia, the engine underwent significant updates to its design over the following decades, including a move to a crossflow layout, electronic ignition, alloy cylinder heads, fuel injection, overhead camshaft and later multi-valve double overhead camshaft design, variable intake runners, variable valve timing, and ultimately turbocharging. It remained in production for 56 years, retaining the same bore centres of the original 1960 Falcon engine throughout its evolution."

3) I've heard Jay Leno talk about the Monte Carlo brace on these cars, a lesson learned from the Monte Carlo rally effort. But what this has between shock towers and firewall is called an "export brace", why they're called that, no idea. New stampings are available for well under $100 (before shipping.)

4) Original Ford upper radiator hose? Egads! Universal inadequate battery hold down? Ugh! But those would be easy fixes.
 
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