Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Adunaphel said:
Am I missing some sort of weird fight the powers that be logic here?
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You are missing the fact that with the $2500, you won't get 2 points on your license. Those two points (which you will get if you pay the $500) can make your insurance go up by a considerable amount.
 
Not only that, but many states are implementing a "pay for points" system wherein you have to pay an additional fee per year if you have a point on your license. Some people end up paying $1000 or more per year to keep their license because of such schemes.

That said, I find that a good traffic lawyer usually doesn't cost $2500. More like $100-$250 around here. Then again, we have a large percentage of the population that doesn't just sit there and passively pay fines, so we have lots of lawyers competing for the business... which brings down costs considerably. :D

And, as usual, I see that katwalk has missed the entire point and fastened on a tangental surface issue instead. :p :mrgreen:
 
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Actual court appearance. Several attorneys in the Dallas area say they'll handle your entire ticket for $79, but I don't trust them and therefore pay a little more. Getting my last ticket dismissed cost me $150, and that included a court appearance. The ticket was for 99 in a 65 zone in Dallas.
 
airmenair said:
Wow the whole thing is on youtube?? I downloaded it about 5-6 months ago. Definately worth the watch.
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Was that a torrent? Could you provide a link?
 
Alright, wired up the auxilary lights today, and welded some strenghtening to their bracket.


..Aaaand.


They are foglights. :x They were sold to me as auxilary high beam lights, but surpise surprise, they aren't.. I still got a blinding deal on them, but I've now spent 2 days perfecting a bracket and making clean wiring for lights that I already have a set of on my car. I feel like going to a shitty department store and getting a set of those 20? piece-of shit high beams, because even they would be of more use to me than these genuine HELLA's (The HELLA's cost ~140? for a pair new, I paid 12.5? for them) :(

Oh well, they still look kickass though.
 
I'd thought you'd wanted fog lights - you can tell what they are from the lenses.

Are they Hella 500s?
 
Random thought:

What do you guys think about the turquoise color for an X300 XJR ?

AETV79342213_1b.jpg


I'm not sure yet. I ask because there is exactly like the one pictured (same color, same interior, same wheels) on my short list for possible car candidates. I haven't seen this particular color ever in person so I don't know how it would look then.
 
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Spectre said:
Not only that, but many states are implementing a "pay for points" system wherein you have to pay an additional fee per year if you have a point on your license. Some people end up paying $1000 or more per year to keep their license because of such schemes.

That said, I find that a good traffic lawyer usually doesn't cost $2500. More like $100-$250 around here. Then again, we have a large percentage of the population that doesn't just sit there and passively pay fines, so we have lots of lawyers competing for the business... which brings down costs considerably. :D

And, as usual, I see that katwalk has missed the entire point and fastened on a tangental surface issue instead. :p :mrgreen:
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You told me to buy an entire car for while mine was in the shop for 100-300$ worth of damage + hire a lawyer for no reason other than to "teach them a lesson". Yes 300$ will teach them a lesson better than lets say, changing companies and depriving them of 1200$ a year.
 
Why is it, that when you drop a nut/bolt or tool when working on a vehicle, it is the one you really need to finish the job? :wall:


I got a call from a freind having problems with his blazers electronics. While driving down the road all the interior power cuts out and the engine dies. This first happened to him in Feb. or March and he wiggled the cables at the battery and it all came back, so he tightened them up and called it good.

Well I started where he did and the cables were a bit loose. So I poke around a bit and find these junction things spliced in to repair the battery cables:

cs-blazer-negative-cable-1649.jpg


cs-blazer-poitive-cables-1650.jpg


We assume that the Blazer had it's battery stolen at some point and they just cut the cables. What a craptastic repair though. We determine that these junctions are the problem(one came apart) and elect to replace them with new cables.

I go to grab some tools to start the project and my freind grabs his tool box and starts to remove the battery. Well he slips and drops the rachet that is still conected to the Positive terminal on the battery and it falls onto the alternator and the sparks start flying!

My Dad had pulled up as I was in the garage and starts saying "OOPS, that's not good/ Neat show, is there an encore show?/ That's really not good, you should do something about that! QUICKLY". At the same time, my freind is in fact franticly trying to stop the arcing/sparking, first by lifting the now very warm ratchet by hand, then he trys to knock it off of the battery post which it is now welding to, then he gets a big screwdriver I had left there to pick it up! Then I walk up and my freind and Dad are laughing as I see the smoke.

cs-blazer-welded-melted-alternator-1651.jpg

Notice the rough bit on the left.

cs-blazer-melted-accesory-wire-1653.jpg

And the accesory wire on the negative cable end.

cs-blazer-welded-negative-junction-1654.jpg

And the junction welded to the negative cable.

The ratchet inerds were partially welded, and the socket required some motivation to remove as did the battery cable bolt.
 
Spectre said:
I'd thought you'd wanted fog lights - you can tell what they are from the lenses.

Are they Hella 500s?
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I haven't seen enough aux lights to recognize fog lights and normal beam lights apart..:(

The lights are older style Comets without the extra bracket at the top like the newer ones have. Of course I could just sell them for a bit of profit and buy ones that I could use.

I just assumed the guy selling them was being honest, but oh well. They still provide some extra lighting, and atleast I now have a bracket/wiring harness ready for a set of proper extra high beams. Anyone have experience with the cheapo ones from department stores, are they any good? Are they worth spending 20? on?
 
And this is why everyone should have a "hot wrench" - just take an adjustable wrench and wrap the whole damned handle in electrical tape.
 
Spectre said:
Speaking from the other side of the fence here, have you checked your school's parking regulations? Quite often they have some boneheaded rule about one vehicle per space, so we motorcyclists can't share a spot like we'd prefer. And they're invariably 'zero-tolerance' rules, often enforced by the campus cops impounding your bike and damaging it in the process.
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There are two dedicated motorcycle spaces to be shared by all motorcycle riders. THAT'S what's in the goddamned regs - but nobody gets ticketed for taking up a whole space elsewhere with their ridiculous Harley or CBR900.

We're a commuter campus, so our parking regs are looser than the residential campuses in the same university (in fact, you don't get towed, you get a $10 ticket enforced by "You can't graduate if you have any outstanding".)
 
thedguy said:
Oh I feel a Final gear parody coming on. Maybe we can get the Lemons team to do that while standing on the roof of the Buick PA :)
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You had to give me an idea had you (if you find this offensive, lighten up)

I'm on a Buick (I'm on a Buick)
I'm on a Buick (I'm on a Buick)
Everybody look at me cause I'm Rollin on a Buick(Rollin on a Buick)
I'm on a Buick (I'm on a buick)
I'm on a Buick
Take a good hard look at the motherfuckin Buick (Buick yeah)


I'm on a Buick motherfucker take a look at me
Straight rollin on a Buick painted deep blue see
Bustin a 3-800, wind whippin out my coat
You can't stop me motherfucker cause I'm on a Buick

Take a picture, trick (trick) I'm on a Buick, bitch (bitch)
We drinking Santana champ, cause it's so crisp (crisp)
I got my swim trunks, and my flippie-floppies <----if you can think of somethinh to relplace this one
I'm flippin burgers, you at Kinko's straight flippin copies

I'm ridin on a crown vic, doin flips and shit
The crown vic sliding, gettin smoke everywhere
But this ain't L-A, this is real as it gets
I'm on a Buick motherfucker, don't you ever forget

I'm on a Buick and, it's goin fast and
I got a Top gear themed pashmina afghan
I'm the king of the world, on a Buick like Leo
If you're on the shore, then you're sho' not me-oh<---another one i can't think of something to replace it
{Get the fuck up, this Buick is REAL!!!}

Fuck Lexus, I'm on a Buick, motherfucker (motherfucker)
Fuck 4-cyls, 3800 S II, motherfucker (motherfucker)
I'm on the buick with my boys, motherfucker (yeah)
This Buick engine make noise, motherfucker

Hey ma, if you could see me now (see me now)
Arms spread wide on the dashboard now (Dashboard now)
Gonna fly this Buick to the moon somehow (moon somehow)
Like Kevin Garnett, anything is possible


Yeah, never thought I'd be on a Buick
It's a big blue Floaty road (yeah)
yo, PB!! Look at me, oh
Never thought I'd see the day
When a big Buick comin my way
Believe me when I say, hookers and blow all day

I'm on a Buick (I'm on a Buick)
I'm on a Buick (I'm on a Buick)
Everybody look at me cause I'm Rollin on a Buick(Rollin on a Buick)
I'm on a Buick (I'm on a buick)
I'm on a Buick
Take a good hard look at the motherfuckin Buick (Buick yeah)
 
Nabster said:
You'd need to come up with a whole new suspension system as well otherwise you'd never be able to drive it properly.
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There is a shop about 20 km away from me that sells all sorts of parts for historic rally Cortinas, Escorts and the like. You can get a full spring, adjustable shock set up & tramp bars for relatively little money. Springs are around 110? ea for single spring rear leaves and front coils are around 60? a pop. Adjustable shocks are around 550? for a full set,etc.

Besides I would be surprised if there are no suspension mods on the Cortina. It has twin carbs & a steel header, which suggests other mods awell, and it looks to be running quite low..

Ofcourse this is all irrelevant since the car is 400km away from me and I have no trailer, etc. But one can always dream :p If it were closer to me, I'd seriously be considering buying it..
 
EyeMWing said:
And this is why everyone should have a "hot wrench" - just take an adjustable wrench and wrap the whole damned handle in electrical tape.
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I assume your commenting on my thread. If my freind would of removed the Negative cable first it would not of happend. But nobody got hurt and we can laugh at it now.
 
Last year I bought a new battery for the Audi. Installing it was interesting though.. The old battery came out easily enough, and I didn't give a second thought to it. But when I put the new battery in, the cables wouldn't fit onto the poles (you know, with the positive terminal being slightly larger in diameter). I figured I'd put the battery in the wrong way and just flipped it. After I got the wires connected I noticed what I believed was the positive terminal starting to smoke a bit. Avoiding the panic beginning to build in the back of my head, I hastily disconnected the cables.

Indeed I'd put the cables the wrong way round. What I thought to be the positive cable was actually connected to the chassis. Stupid is, stupid does, I thought.

But the strange thing was, the positive terminal had the end piece of the negative cable and the other way round. Funny things, old cars. And dangerous stuff, those battery packs.
 
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