Quote:
Originally Posted by Ole Slewfoot View Post
It's also what they used to insure all the motors from the cash for clunkers cars were permanently destroyed.
oldironfarmer:
Yep! I've read they used it for motor oil and when it got hot it seized. I've never understood the value of that program, other than to car dealers.
I'm one of the benefactors of 'Cash for Clunkers.' I had a 1993 GMC Sierra 8 ft bed pickup, 4.3 liter V6, PS, PB, AC, auto ******. I bought it from one of my co-workers on fire-rescue when he was buying a new GMC. I had it about 9 years, and it was going to need some preventative maintenance, such-as new paint, and repairs to the AC, I forget what-else. I wasn't going to put a $2,000 paint job on it, just something to make it look better. The total bill for what needed to be done was about $3,000. At that point it had about 130,000 miles. It was hard-pressed to do 80 mph, 70 mph was a more-relaxed speed on the interstate, and at that speed in south Florida, you have people passing you on the left and on the right.
'Cash for Clunkers' was announced, and they went the first week, and the funds were depleted. They announced another round of funding, and my wife told me, "go buy a new truck!" I did. I used the 'Cash for Clunkers' program to buy a new GMC Canyon crew cab, loaded, inline 5 cyl DOHC 3.7 liter 242 HP/242 ft. lb torque; PS, PB, auto ******, tilt, cruise, PW, PDL, sliding rear window, tow package, aluminum wheels, am/fm/cd/On-Star & XM radio; bed liner. About every option except 4WD, leather interior, and a sunroof. I normally don't buy them, but I decided to buy an extended warranty, through my credit union who financed it. It was the first new car/truck I've ever-owned.
After all the salesman dickering, I got the price from just under $30,000 out the door, to just under $20,000 out the door. A big chunk of that was 'Cash for Clunkers.' I also had a GM employee discount, which stopped the junk fees, cold. For me, 'Cash for Clunkers' gave me a great opportunity that I took after taking a bit of prodding from my wife. She's an engineer, and crunching data is her job. I'm glad she did that here, my truck just turned 111,111 miles last week and is still running well, after 9 years. Since we both just retired, I'm expecting this truck will last me another 9 years, or more.
Here's a platform I designed to add some carrying area to the truck. I would have added side and rear lights and a license plate holder to it if someone hadn't stolen it from my backyard. I hate thieves. It had a support of 2" square steel stock, and an aluminum diamond plate bed.
I like reading about the casting you do, I did a bit of aluminum casting in school, it was a lot of fun, back when schools still offered wood shop and metal shop.
I'm not a machinist, but I have friends who are! A good alternative. Here are a couple wheels I commissioned for my motorcycle hobby. The welded one is a 17" X 5-1/2" rim while the bolt-up is an 18" X 5-1/2" and they use the splined hub from the bike's final drive, so it's an easy swap. The guy who did the wheels is a second-generation machinist. Both his dad and he worked for Crane Cams when it was owned by Harvey Crane, whom I knew. My friend went out on his own in his 20's. Now my friend does a lot of work for offshore powerboat racers and Porsche racers.
I enjoy seeing the fabrication you do, I can get some ideas for stuff I would like to do, with the help of my more-talented friends.
anyway they are selling all the fixtures and shelving. They have the nut and bolt bins that look like the ones you have, they were asking $20.00 each small section.? I was one of the first to leave my name when the time comes for them to close. They said they wouldn't sell the bins until all the content is gone. But I did notice a welder shop guy came in and bought about 40 bins with all the stainless 
I made a brass hammer today and it took a water meter cover and a spigot and some other junk. Not much really.
