Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Mick's Thunderbird Garage

[xtremek]

I haven't looked lately, nor have I bought. My barn fund is drying up. And I like the not filling landfills up, good engineering.

 

[Toothaker]

I keep buying T-8s because they're super cheap. Eventually I'll start replacing them with LED bulbs.

Kirk, I'm not too sure about getting more T8 bulbs for this garage. If/when the bulbs go out, I'll probably get the LED replacements. I really like the idea of more light for less power consumed, and the fact that LEDs are cold insensitive and last longer also appeal to the engineer in me.

I had planned for quite a while to add more T8 fixtures, but when I stumbled across the medium base, triple splitter, 2600 lumen bulbs solution, I decided to go that route.

Thanks for commenting on my thread, Kirk.

Hey Mick, your lighting looks pretty impressive and I like the way that you can turn the extras on and off. [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G950F using The Garage Journal mobile app

Thank you, Mark. I'd had my T12 fixtures in a house I rented (in the garage) for years. They were suspended from the ceiling by lightweight chains. I used an outlet adapter on on of the nearby light fixtures to provide switched power.

When I turned off the garage lights, my florescent lights also turned off. I like it so much that I kept doing that at the subsequent homes (garages) I owned. My garage has always been a place to park our vehicles, so we are constantly using the lights, but we don't need all that light all the time. But when I do, I reach up and have more light. Then I don't have to deal with turning off all those light fixtures, as they are wired into the rest of the garage lights, and switch off together. I think of it as a 'gradual on, master off' wiring scheme.

The other nice thing about using the garage to park in - it is easy to free up lots of space quickly when I want to work in it.

I appreciate you reading and following my thread, Mark.

Are you finding T-8 bulbs cheaper than LED T-8 strips? I'm seeing them about the same price so I buy T-8 fixtures, strip the ballast, and put in LED's.

Mick:

You still have your T-12 fixtures in the attic or somewhere? T-8 and T-12 fixtures have the same pin spacing so you can put T-8 LED's in T-12 fixtures. I'm digging some old T-12 fixtures out of the attic to do that. save landfill space.

Sorry, Andy. The old T12's needed new ballasts, and the new T8 fixtures with ballasts were less than the T8 ballasts alone. I dislike filling the landfills, too, but I don't have the room to store stuff like that. Into the trash they went. If I had known there would be T8 sized LEDs available, I would be able to use them. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

Thanks for your time and comments in my humble thread, Andy. It is very much appreciated.

 

[drivesitfar]

Tooth: I'm kicking your thread up for a couple reasons. one is you haven't posted updates in a while and we'd like to see what you've been up to and secondly maybe you'll get a few more posters if it's on the top of the list when they sign on.

WHAT'S NEW

yep it's me the old guy living up in PARADISE that doesn't sleep.

cheers

 

[Toothaker]

Drives, I'm sure I need new posters, as I'm sure I've driven the old ones away from sheer boredom.

I don't have any pictures to share, and not much forward progress to report. Between a flu bug that took me out of commission for a few days, the cold weather, a big project at work and visitors, I've not had much QST.

The dirt I put out for the future shed has settled, and I've learned I don't know how to gauge how much I needed, or how to calculate dirt fill volumes. Based on what I know now, I need another 3 tons of dirt.

On the Thunderbird, I did get all the new calipers installed and torqued, and got the wheels put back on, so the car is off the jackstands at the moment. I bench bled the new master cylinder and got it hung on the brake booster. I've been practicing bending and double flaring brake lines. I first bought some steel line, and then Kirk (xtremek) suggested CuNi brake lines. I got some of that in, so I have steel to practice with and to get proficient with, and then I'll install the good stuff on the car. I'm glad I have extra material to learn with.

Last weekend was filled with household repairs. I replaced two lavatory faucets and installed an awning over the man door in the garage and then did other assorted repairs around the house. I changed the spark plugs and wires in my truck; I had an occasional odd stumble or slip on acceleration that I feared was a transmission issue. The plugs had more than 100,000 miles on them, so I hoped that would take care of it. Yes, indeed, the truck is a lot more lively and no more hesitations. I got sparkplugs for the wife's Ford Edge, and looked up what's involved to do it. Ugh. You have to pull out all kinds of plumbing and a huge plenum to get to the back bank of cylinders.

Not sure if I told this story yet or not, but we had one of the two big springs break on the 17' overhead door in the garage; fortunately it broke after safely lowering the garage door. It made quite the noise according to the wife and daughter.

We had family over the weekend before Thanksgiving. Everyone was going to their in-laws, so we got them all the weekend before.

Next up on the Thunderbird I have to finish installing the hard brake lines and bleed the brakes.

 

[BBChevro]

Still watching, not bored.

Sent from my SM-G950F using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[xtremek]

Sounds like you've been very busy. If it stumbles, the carb may need a rebuild. I can't remember if you've done that already.

 

[Toothaker]

Still watching, not bored.

Sent from my SM-G950F using The Garage Journal mobile app

Thanks, Mark. I'm not really trying to run anyone off.

Sounds like you've been very busy. If it stumbles, the carb may need a rebuild. I can't remember if you've done that already.

Kirk, the stumble was on the 2000 GMC Sierra pickup, which is EFI. Fortunately, the new spark plugs took care of any stumble or hesitation. It drives like new. I can't remember if I've ever actually changed the spark plugs or not. I remember taking it into the shop around 50,000 miles and asked for new plugs. The service writer said the plugs would last the lifetime of the truck.

I really can't believe how much better the truck runs. Acceleration is much improved, and I may be getting better mileage.

Both Autolite and ACDelco have a rebate going on sparkplugs. So I got Autolites for the Thunderbird and Edge and ACDelcos for the GMC Sierra.

https://www.acdelco.com/offers-promotions.html
http://www.autolite.com/special-offers.aspx

I rebuilt the Thunderbird carb not long after I got the car. I wanted to know if the engine ran or not; it does. It has a noisy lifter or two, but it does run.

Thanks for following along!

 

[bj383ss]

Mick I just put new NGK's in the Camaro. What a difference it made. I failed to log the mileage for when they were changed last. I think they had close to 70,000 miles. I didn't know ACDelco was having a rebate. Thanks for the link.

Bret

 

[Toothaker]

Mick I just put new NGK's in the Camaro. What a difference it made. I failed to log the mileage for when they were changed last. I think they had close to 70,000 miles. I didn't know ACDelco was having a rebate. Thanks for the link.

Bret

Bret, you're welcome!

If these are the original spark plugs, they had more than 200,000 miles on them. Going by the wear alone, it is possible. If my memory is flawed (for the first time today! ) and I just forgot when they got replaced, I had them replaced around 100,000 miles ago.

The wife's Edge has over 100,000 miles on it, and I know it has the original spark plugs. I'll take pictures, as it will be an ordeal. I am certain Ford built the engine with the spark plugs installed, then installed the engine in the vehicle, having never actually tested to see if the plugs were reachable once the engine was installed. I need some freakish Kermit the Frog arms, long and skinny, with tiny hands, to get these changed out.

Thanks for posting!

 

[drivesitfar]

Tooth: BORED (?), not a chance. posting up details of almost any project whether you get a response from a member now or when he or she can use the information later it's a good thing. also you are very positive and not a whiner so coming over to see what you are up to should make anybody smile.

that said can you give us more pictures of the settling ground/gravel/dirt and what your solutions and fix are before you start building cause some of us are still learning how to build things right and good honest information isn't always easy to find on the internet. did you rent a compacter for a day which might help it settle faster?

the big commercial guys I know that build warehouses pile up dirt maybe 50 feet high on a site for several months before they remove it and level out the ground to start building. of course that might be because they own road companies too and it's not a huge expense to them, but my guess is they have a lot less cracks in their foundations and slabs than most do.

good luck with your adventures and hope you had a good weekend.

 

[Toothaker]

Tooth: BORED (?), not a chance. posting up details of almost any project whether you get a response from a member now or when he or she can use the information later it's a good thing. also you are very positive and not a whiner so coming over to see what you are up to should make anybody smile.

that said can you give us more pictures of the settling ground/gravel/dirt and what your solutions and fix are before you start building cause some of us are still learning how to build things right and good honest information isn't always easy to find on the internet. did you rent a compacter for a day which might help it settle faster?

the big commercial guys I know that build warehouses pile up dirt maybe 50 feet high on a site for several months before they remove it and level out the ground to start building. of course that might be because they own road companies too and it's not a huge expense to them, but my guess is they have a lot less cracks in their foundations and slabs than most do.

good luck with your adventures and hope you had a good weekend.

Ok, you asked for it.

I have worked with a lot of materials in my life, and sure, I've moved dirt. But I never thought about it. Dirt is different than wood, metal, concrete and the like. It needs to flow, to make a nice curve, as you add more. The picture above illustrates what I was trying to do. The brown line is the dirt I was bringing in on top of the lawn (green). The purple triangle is the part I'd never considered before, at least not given it any thought.

Add in the fact that I cut out the sod (light green line) so the dirt was on top of dirt and not grass, and I lost a lot of volume.

The Red line is a fairly good representation of where I am at the moment.

Finally, none of this has been compacted yet, and the new dirt was shredded, which made if quite fluffy. It's settled some, and I can tell it has more settling to do. I'll rent a compactor and have it on hand when I bring the additional dirt in. I'll compact what I have, bring the dirt around and then compact that.

 

[jblnut]

.....Finally, none of this has been compacted yet, and the new dirt was shredded, which made if quite fluffy. It's settled some, and I can tell it has more settling to do. I'll rent a compactor and have it on hand when I bring the additional dirt in. I'll compact what I have, bring the dirt around and then compact that.

Well I had to look that one up on good ol' YouTube. This begs a question ... why shredded dirt ?? Why not just get a good gravel/clay mix (known as Class 5 up here) and pack that down for a base ?? Nice Class 5 runs right at $13/yd or just shy of $9/ton delivered. What does dirt cost for you ??

HIJACK -> It is interesting to me that pretty much everyone on GJ talks about buying and moving dirt by the ton. I've never heard it in any terms other than being moved/purchased by the yard. For example: My dirt guys moved right around 42,000 yards of dirt to make a nice level spot for my chicken barn. Using 2,400lbs/yd for clay that puts it at 50,311 tons of dirt moved....

 

[Toothaker]

Well I had to look that one up on good ol' YouTube. This begs a question ... why shredded dirt ?? Why not just get a good gravel/clay mix (known as Class 5 up here) and pack that down for a base ?? Nice Class 5 runs right at $13/yd or just shy of $9/ton delivered. What does dirt cost for you ??

HIJACK -> It is interesting to me that pretty much everyone on GJ talks about buying and moving dirt by the ton. I've never heard it in any terms other than being moved/purchased by the yard. For example: My dirt guys moved right around 42,000 yards of dirt to make a nice level spot for my chicken barn. Using 2,400lbs/yd for clay that puts it at 50,311 tons of dirt moved....

I think you are getting a volume discount. I paid $120 for three tons of topsoil, delivered. There are cheaper places, but most of the really inexpensive places don't deliver.

In round numbers, a cubic yard of dirt (if it's not too dry or wet) is about a ton. Plus, fluffing the dirt by shredding doesn't raise the price, as it's sold by weight, not volume.

The dirt is going into my city lot yard, not a driveway. Someday I may want to move or get rid of the shed. If I ever do that, I don't want a rocky, clay laden corner of my yard. Personal preference, I guess.

Edit: Honestly, I didn't weigh it. He might have delivered 6000 lbs, or more or less. It looked right.

 

[njhoudini]

Mick, just noticed you have started a thread and I've subscribed. I'm already jealous about your shop size and your cars. Looking forward to reading it through to catch up (I was away from the GJ for a hot minute).

 

[Toothaker]

Mick, just noticed you have started a thread and I've subscribed. I'm already jealous about your shop size and your cars. Looking forward to reading it through to catch up (I was away from the GJ for a hot minute).

Thanks for subscribing, NJ! I enjoy watching your work on your garage. I stepped away from GJ for a few days here recently, too. Real life keeps getting in the way. I also need to remember to stay out of Free Parking.

The main thing I get from having my own thread is motivation. I wasn't sure I could support a thread and keep people interested from my activity, but so far so good.

 

[drivesitfar]

Tooth: how is the cold and maybe frost helping your ground settling issue?

any updates?

nope not BORED YET specially with a car to finish and a shed to build. keep up the good work!! take lots of pictures and post them up when you can please especially of the shed.

 

[Toothaker]

Tooth: how is the cold and maybe frost helping your ground settling issue?

any updates?

nope not BORED YET specially with a car to finish and a shed to build. keep up the good work!! take lots of pictures and post them up when you can please especially of the shed.

Drives, thank you for your continuing interest in my thread. I've been out of circulation for many days with annoying health issues. I'm going to work, and taking care of the family in the evenings, but I just haven't had the energy to get anything done in the garage or or with the shed build.

For what it's worth, in case anyone is thinking that I'm on some sort of downward spiral, I have had health issues for years. Not too many years ago I didn't do anything but go to work and come home and collapse. But over the last 5 years or so I have been getting steadily better, and this thread is evidence of my improved energy and stamina. But periodically I overdo it and have to recuperate. And I tend to get every last germ and virus that wanders through, and that wears me down too.

And here you just said a few days ago that I don't whine.

 

[drivesitfar]

Tooth: i'm sitting in my chair with the CRUD (cold or flu bug) so i'm not going to give you much sympathy.

what I will do is invite you to GJ's GET HEALTHY thread cause some of us would like to take charge of our health and not be pill taking zombies in our future cause we'd like to play with our tools when we finally have 6 SATURDAYS & 1 SUNDAY per week.

just to be clear i'm not HIDING so MR. HIDE might not be a good name for me.

here's the link for you and others to start posting on cause our HEALTH is really more important than OUR STUFF.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298568

cheers

 

[Toothaker]

I do follow that thread. I have a lot of help in all this. I have an excellent cardiologist and primary care physician, and I'm eating better and exercising more. But in my case, the medicines are saving my life and improving the quality of my life. I am a strong believer that I am responsible for my health; it's my job to get the best doctors and to follow their advice. And it's my job to take care of myself.

On thing I have been doing recently is that I take my 'smoker's equivalency' two or three times a day. That is, several times a day, for 10 minutes I leave my desk and take a brisk walk. I leave my mobile phone at my desk - just like smokers I'm unavailable. I'm up to half a mile at a time, without getting winded.

 

[njhoudini]

I'm guessing guys like Andy can run circles around us because he runs Andy's Aluminum Melting Company (double A, MCO) and goes to those Zumba classes. Keep up the good effort with your health. You'll be running circles soon too!


Sent from my iPad using Garage Journal

 

[drivesitfar]

Tooth: glad you like that GET HEALTHY thread and feel free to post some of your progress, success or if you might need a little help just ask. we all need something now and then.

I think i'm finally done with the cold i picked up so i can get back to my ORGANIZING.

best of luck on your health issues cause they get in the way of us having fun doing the things we love.

 

[BBChevro]

Hey Mick, I just dropped in to wish you and your family all the best for 2019.

Sent from my SM-G950F using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Toothaker]

Thank you, Mark, and the best to you in the new year as well!

 

[Lyndon]

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.(snip)

All this and she can quote entire Monty Python scenes, word for word. I'm telling you man, she is one in a billion.

Mick

I've somehow missed your thread previously..... But my excuse is like yours - I've been busier than a one legged man in a bum kicking competition this year, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I too, like Steve, Mark etc am from Down Under.

But I digress!

I like to hear that a woman, wife, and soul mate can quote Monty Python. I, like Bob I suspect, loved the comedy those guys produced for years, right from my school years, through uni and on into adult life. At social gatherings all my mates will still randomly, and regularly, drop lines from "Life of Brian", or any of the other movies or skits. They were a bunch of university friends that went on to produce some very funny stuff. But not many women get it, so good to hear yours does.

Also, I too am a Ford man. Down here you have to decide your preferences before you get to high school, or your ****** preferences are called into question. And I have a tattoo of Allan Moffat's 69 Trans Am :

as it crested the switch back at Oran Park Raceway, under my eyelid, from when I was 12 years old!

And my daily driver, owned since new, is this Boss engined beast :

Which now has more than 350,000kms on its odo.... And still goes like sheet off a shovel!

I will remain watching the exploits with the T-Bird, and the back shed (which is rightfully where all gardening equipment must go.

Lyndon
Catching up.

 

[Toothaker]

Lyndon, thank you for stopping by!

Interesting side note. When I first found GJ I was mainly interested in tools, fabrication and organization ideas. It was weeks before I found the Garage Gallery, but when I did finally start looking around in that area, your thread was the first one I took the time to read. I think I read about 50 pages of your thread. I was hooked, as I discovered this site was far more than I thought it was. I went ahead and joined GJ, and started reading many other threads - but your thread got lost in the shuffle somehow.

It's January 1, and not having to work, and not being a heavy drinker, unless you count coffee, I've been catching up on your thread. It's as much fun as I remembered, a real joy to read.

In a roundabout way, it's your fault I spend so much time on GJ!

 

[Toothaker]

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I like to hear that a woman, wife, and soul mate can quote Monty Python. I, like Bob I suspect, loved the comedy those guys produced for years, right from my school years, through uni and on into adult life. At social gatherings all my mates will still randomly, and regularly, drop lines from "Life of Brian", or any of the other movies or skits. They were a bunch of university friends that went on to produce some very funny stuff. But not many women get it, so good to hear yours does.

Lyndon, my wife has an excellent sense of humor, and quotes both the Python movies and the TV show. When she and her sister get together they can't hardly talk without quoting a movie of some sort.

Also, I too am a Ford man. Down here you have to decide your preferences before you get to high school, or your ****** preferences are called into question.

When I was a young man in school it seemed as if everyone I knew was a Chevy guy. My dad was (is) a Mopar guy, and I've certainly had plenty of non-Ford vehicles, but Ford is where my heart is.

And I have a tattoo of Allan Moffat's 69 Trans Am :

as it crested the switch back at Oran Park Raceway, under my eyelid, from when I was 12 years old!

And my daily driver, owned since new, is this Boss engined beast :

Which now has more than 350,000kms on its odo.... And still goes like sheet off a shovel!

I had to search Google, because my North American centric upbringing hadn't educated me regarding Allan Moffat and his 1969 Trans Am. Around here, a Trans Am is a GM product.

Tell me more about your daily driver, please.

I will remain watching the exploits with the T-Bird, and the back shed (which is rightfully where all gardening equipment must go.

Lyndon
Catching up.

Catching up? I have 10 pages in my little thread. Yours is 176, and likely to be more when I finally get to the end. I'm currently up to around page 100 on your thread.

 

[BBChevro]

...
I had to search Google, because my North American centric upbringing hadn't educated me regarding Allan Moffat and his 1969 Trans Am. Around here, a Trans Am is a GM product.
...

Hey Mick, there were many cars built by other companies (and other GM divisions) for Trans Am racing - Pontiac were just the only one to cash in on the name...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAUegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw04Qnkwt9CXqnLqZaiebmF8

My Chevrolets and my Fords don't seem fight with each other. [emoji1]





Sent from my SM-G950F using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Lyndon]

Lyndon, thank you for stopping by!



Interesting side note. When I first found GJ I was mainly interested in tools, fabrication and organization ideas. It was weeks before I found the Garage Gallery, but when I did finally start looking around in that area, your thread was the first one I took the time to read. I think I read about 50 pages of your thread. I was hooked, as I discovered this site was far more than I thought it was. I went ahead and joined GJ, and started reading many other threads - but your thread got lost in the shuffle somehow.



It's January 1, and not having to work, and not being a heavy drinker, unless you count coffee, I've been catching up on your thread. It's as much fun as I remembered, a real joy to read.



In a roundabout way, it's your fault I spend so much time on GJ! [emoji481]

Lyndon, my wife has an excellent sense of humor, and quotes both the Python movies and the TV show. When she and her sister get together they can't hardly talk without quoting a movie of some sort.





When I was a young man in school it seemed as if everyone I knew was a Chevy guy. My dad was (is) a Mopar guy, and I've certainly had plenty of non-Ford vehicles, but Ford is where my heart is.



I had to search Google, because my North American centric upbringing hadn't educated me regarding Allan Moffat and his 1969 Trans Am. Around here, a Trans Am is a GM product.



Tell me more about your daily driver, please.



Catching up? I have 10 pages in my little thread. Yours is 176, and likely to be more when I finally get to the end. I'm currently up to around page 100 on your thread.

Mick



Very complimentary of you to say that "In a roundabout way, it's your fault I spend so much time on GJ". I'm flattered beyond belief! [emoji106]



And I'm expecting that some of the pictures have disappeared for a while in the middle of the thread, as Dropbox changed it's structure, and I believe many pictures have now gone. I was going to go back and fix that, but I didn't think anyone was looking..... Let me know.



And yes, my thread, and my recent (lets say last 5 years) history has been an immense roller coaster. So my thread reflects that. Also, I'm not a trained anything...... Jack of all trades - master of none would describe me.



I finished school at the highest level, and with massive ambition, but was burnt out (and didn't know it) and following a couple of years trying at uni (Architecture, then Engineering, then Business Admin - none finished) I ended up early and young in the management side of the then unknown area of "Logistics". Maybe it was because I could string more than 3 words together without drool slipping sideways out the corner of my mouth......



I was one of the founding members of the Logistics Management Association in Australia, and went from management level up the chain, ending up as a GM in several companies....



(Gee - I'm starting to feel a violin coming on! - And all this is on your thread not mine?)



Anyway - after making a disastrous decision to buy 2 transport companies and put them together, and then spending the next 10 years battling to pay myself a wage (after paying the bank, the tax man, the employees, the creditors etc) I ended up with a stress related (& carbonated drinks also played their part) Cancer that should have killed me. And after a round about story - that's how I came across GJ!



So - to answer your questions.



1. Allan Moffat's Mustang. It's an amazing bit of kit, given to him for nothing after he helped develop the car at Karkraft. And it became the Mustang with the best win record in the world. It's a sister car to the Bud Moore American cars. More here:



http://www.motorsportretro.com/2011/11/1969-trans-am-mustang/



And, in the Bowden's Collection (a tour of which is on this years Bucket list) you can read how it all started here:



http://www.bowdensown.com.au/page/the-bowdens-story/



And as to the "Moffstang" (as it's called Down Here):



https://autoaction.com.au/2017/12/01/feature-allan-moffat-love-lifetime



I watched this car it's whole racing history, and stood next to it many times in the pit paddock at our iconic, and now long gone, racing circuit "Oran Park". (In an aside - I used to sneak into the pits here every race meeting by walking down alongside an arriving race transporter on the opposite side of the car to the security guard, and then turn around and walk out to get a "pit pass" for the rest of the meet).



Anyway - (Gees I can waffle!) - as to the other question, my every day car is an Australian built 2006 Ford Falcon, model BF, in the V8 version called an XR8 Down Here. It is the 2nd last model of the Falcon ever built in Australia because some short sighted nit wits decided (when the USD crashed in the 2012ish era) that we shouldn't manufacture any more cars in OZ. You can see a realease review of it here :



http://m.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/ford-falcon-bf-xr8-review.htm



I bought it for several reasons.



Firstly - this was the car that now Jaguar designer Ian Callum worked on during his time at Ford Australia. He took the pig ugly AU Falcon, and turned it into the BA. I test drove a BA GT around that time, but the 4 speed auto in it was **** awful!. Then they released the BF, with a 6 speed auto. I had to have one, and I specified the addition of the GT wing right from the get go.



If my XJR is my girlfriend, the the daily driver XR8 is my mistress... [emoji481]



Irene loves the XJR, and in equal measure - hates the XR8. The main reason she hates it is because I bought it (all $62,000 of it) without consulting her ..... Ooops, big mistake! But I then had the quietest 6 weeks of my married life. Anyway - she accepted me back, but still hates the big, noisy, fast and brutal XR8. It's probably worth $3.50 now, but I'm not a seller. In fact, only today I got a replacement set of bonnet (hood to you) front gas struts for her, and next week, when businesses start to wake up again, I'm going to get a quote to replace the roof lining (which has started to come loose).



Anyway - I hope that all didn't bore you silly - you asked for it, and I had time to unload.... [emoji106]



Lyndon

It's 2019???? What - already! [emoji106]

 

[xtremek]

Happy New Year Mick. I hope the T-bird didn't get neglected over the break.

 

[Toothaker]

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And yes, my thread, and my recent (lets say last 5 years) history has been an immense roller coaster. So my thread reflects that. Also, I'm not a trained anything...... Jack of all trades - master of none would describe me.

Our life paths have taken similar routes. I started out as a young man working in a series of jobs, and then I turned to being self-employed, but I discovered I had an idiot for a boss. Later I fell in to the IT field, and then ended up in management. I was a vice president in a local bank, good job, great employees working for me - and I was miserable. The bank decided to 'make a change' and went through the department with a scythe. It was the best thing that could have happened to me. It took a while for me to figure out what a good thing it was.

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Anyway - after making a disastrous decision to buy 2 transport companies and put them together, and then spending the next 10 years battling to pay myself a wage (after paying the bank, the tax man, the employees, the creditors etc) I ended up with a stress related (& carbonated drinks also played their part) Cancer that should have killed me. And after a round about story - that's how I came across GJ!

My health challenges are nothing compared to yours. But in a way, my health led me to GJ. I had a series of health events that concerned me, and I was worried that I would leave a messy office and garage for my wife to clean up if I wasn't around. So I started cleaning the areas of the home that are 'mine' - the den/office in the basement, the unfinished storage area in the basement and the garage. As I went through and got rid of stuff and cleaned up and organized, I also started feeling better. In this process of feeling better and organizing my stuff I stumbled across GJ.

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Anyway - (Gees I can waffle!) - as to the other question, my every day car is an Australian built 2006 Ford Falcon, model BF, in the V8 version called an XR8 Down Here. It is the 2nd last model of the Falcon ever built in Australia because some short sighted nit wits decided (when the USD crashed in the 2012ish era) that we shouldn't manufacture any more cars in OZ. You can see a realease review of it here :
.
.
.
If my XJR is my girlfriend, the the daily driver XR8 is my mistress...

Irene loves the XJR, and in equal measure - hates the XR8. The main reason she hates it is because I bought it (all $62,000 of it) without consulting her ..... Ooops, big mistake! But I then had the quietest 6 weeks of my married life. Anyway - she accepted me back, but still hates the big, noisy, fast and brutal XR8. It's probably worth $3.50 now, but I'm not a seller. In fact, only today I got a replacement set of bonnet (hood to you) front gas struts for her, and next week, when businesses start to wake up again, I'm going to get a quote to replace the roof lining (which has started to come loose).

Anyway - I hope that all didn't bore you silly - you asked for it, and I had time to unload....

Not bored! Unload all you want.

I wish they made awesome cars like the Falcon BF available around here.

I once bought a car without conferring with my wife. It was the Thunderbird, and it was $500. And she loves it.

Thanks for stopping by, Lyndon, and for posting.

 

[Toothaker]

Happy New Year Mick. I hope the T-bird didn't get neglected over the break.

Kirk, it was most certainly neglected. Sorry. Between family visits and just wanting to relax, I didn't get a darned thing done on the car.

I did get some new tools - my wife would call them toys - for the garage and Thunderbird. And I worked on the garage a bit.

 

[xtremek]

..........I did get some new tools - my wife would call them toys - for the garage and Thunderbird. And I worked on the garage a bit.

Close enough for me.

 

[ratdoggy]

If you are on Facebook look up the ITC International Thunderbird Club
I have a '62

 

[Toothaker]

Greetings, ratdoggy, and thanks for posting. That's a real nice looking 1962!

I'm not on FB. When the social media stuff was getting big, I had a job that required me to stay off the Internet as myself. I got my ears boxed for being on a brand specific firewall forum, using my real name, as that "would've given our adversaries a clue about what brand firewall was being used" even though I never mentioned my employer. Ah, well. So since 2000 or thereabouts I used aliases or just didn't join various social media sites. Only in the last few years (following a job change or two) have I started using my real name, or posting on forums. Garage Journal is by far the site I have the most active participation on.

I am on a few Internet forums which specialize in Ford performance, the Ford big block and a Thunderbird forum.

Not much to report here, as work, family and relaxing has taken all my time lately.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Hello fellow Kansan...just loosely thumbed through your thread. Nice T-bird! We have a couple of later models used in dirt track racing at my FIL's place.

 

[Toothaker]

Hello fellow Kansan...just loosely thumbed through your thread. Nice T-bird! We have a couple of later models used in dirt track racing at my FIL's place.

Well, greetings to you too, OutlawDrifter! You need to post some of these late model TBirds in action!.

And now I have yet another thread to read....

 

[Toothaker]

Some sightseeing in Paris, for your viewing enjoyment.

 

[mmavet]

what a ride..

 

[Bob Heine]

Mick, that guy gets around. I think he drove the cab I took from the airport in Rome.

 

[Toothaker]

Bob, if that's the case, then he was still driving in 2001 (or 2000, memory is fuzzy) in New York City, when my wife and I took a taxicab from La Guardia into Manhattan. I know it was him, because the skinny pedal on the right was the 'on' switch and the wider one on the left was the 'off' switch. At one point he was taking a shortcut through a warehouse district in Queens where we were literally the only vehicle on the road, and I was thinking to myself, "huh. This must be where they murder the tourists from Kansas." He saw in the mirror the look on my face and said, "is ok."