VBdenny

Plexus, man I got a rush from you. I spent sveral days (at work) researching tires, and reading thingsm and looking on consumer reports and I settled on the Yokohama Avids when I replace my tires next spring. My complements on an excellent call. And I welcome you to LOC.

Hey Tan, Model "A"s always have a special place in my heart. I remember when my dad bought a 1931 Model A. He cleaned up and painted the car. We pulled the engine outside in the gravel driveway. Rebuilt it in the basement with a couple trip up to the local machine shop boys. Fired right it did. Then my dad use to drive us to church in it cussing all the way about traffic. Anyway, the fun stuff......we were in all the parades, and all the kids came and hung around because they wanted to hear the ah ooooh gahhh horn. Everyone thought it was so cool. After my dad died, I drove the Model A around a little, just for old times sake. We didn't have a place to store it so we sold it to a friend of ours who spent about 7 year disassembling and rebuilding every single piece. I stopped by his place a couple of times and checked out the progress and determined that he would never be done. But then he was, when I saw it. it was incredible! All original, no hot rod stuff. He even built a garage to build it in and that is a true car guy. Thanks Gary! RE: The wild stuff? horsepower? we wanna hear more....... Denny

I kind of think that $90 isn't that bad a price, especially if you are not a DIY guy. Not everybody is that much into cars, sometimes it is nice just to drive them. On of the pleasures of a higher education. If you make enough that $90 isn't that big a concern, then you will have the peace of mind knowing that it was probably done correctly. Driving a Lexus and spending $90 isn't that much anyway. What the hell, they sure are worth it by any way you figure. Race cars in disquise! I would negotiate with the dealer on price because some dealers will talk price to some degree if they are slow. Once in a great while..... slack is cut. Either way you win, you have a great car! Good luck, Denny

Well, they all knock a little, I don't think it hurts anything. Just a little pinging actaully. You did change your gas station I hope. This front bushing, yeah, they go bad. Makes a big difference. I don't know about the rear trailing arm. Mine (luckily) does not have traction control or air suspension.. The oil pan gasket sounds like pure BS.

of course one of those remote starters are pretty good at removing ice. I had a really problem with ice and snow in college in Oswego, NY. I solved the problem by moving to Virginia Beach, but that isn't always an option. I scraped a little hole in the windshield ice with the other end of a snow brush.

I can't get any of the pictures? All I see is a Search The Web button? SWO, I agree with your wheel wheel cleaning. I use Westley's and spray the whole inside, then use the No Touch tire foam and just spray it all over in there. Looks so good.

I had the same problem with the clay sticking with the spray. The clay is not easy to get off of where it sticks either. It sure makes it a whole lot easier with the soapy water. And the finish.... oh so nice, especially when you spend extra time. Sunday, I did an ES300 for a friend of mine this weekend. She was estatic when she picked up "her baby" It was a 2000 and had never been waxed. After a couple hours of claying, another two of Maquires #1, and three hours of Collinite, that car looked like glass. On Saturday, I did a 1999 Chrysler 300M. Nice sleek silver car. Went to the bank this morning. Everyone is happy.

Matthew, I detail a lot of cars and use clay all the time. Use a seperate bucket and wash mitt for when you clay. Using the dirty water you just washed the car with icould have suspended particles that will cause scratches. What I do is after I have the car completly cleaned, I start on the roof and work the clay for a long time. With clay, the time you spend poilishing the paint with it will benefit the finish and make it like glass. I usually spend about one hour claying an average car. Previously I used the detailing spray. Forget that, takes hours extra and doesn' work as well.

Your fusible link may have gone south. It is a "weakest link" between the battery and your electronics. Sorry I don't know where is is on this car.

Check at AutoZone or Advance. I think they both have them listed when I last checked.

Then you drive it. Ahhhhh. I know exactly what you mean about trying to fix everything or get rid of it. Since my wife has the car now, she won't let it go. Iquote my wife "I love my car!" yeah great for me huh. Well, I have two cars and a truck so I can't be greedy. Oh and a motorcycle. I hadn't driven it for a while and when I did (throught Mahatten) it was so sweet. I guess I could sell it, buy something new and make car payments, but ya know... I totally agree with HRP. Nobody places any value on people who actually know stuff until they need it. I must have helped hundreds of people over the years. You just have to know it's the right thing to do because you sure are not going to get many accolades for doing so.

Last Saturday, I filled up the LS in Caldwell and cruised over to Brooklyn to see my brother in law. I know it's long, but the tolls are free this way, anyway I cruised down the GSP to 440 and up to Staten Island over the Verizano and into Bay Ridge. Hung out in Bay Ridge for awhile at their house then got my brother in law and cruised over to his hardware store in Park Slope. Dropped him off and headed up to the BQE. Too that under the promandae to the Brooklyn Bridge (free). Got into Mahatten, proceeded up the Avenue of the America's, cut left on 23rd (I think) into the Lincoln Tunnel back to Jersy (also free). Jumped on the Turnpike to 280 and headed back to Caldwell. Hit 95 on the Turnpike when some MB got sassy

Motorcyclist clocked at 205 mph on Hwy. 61 Associated Press September 22, 2004 TICKET0922 <http://www.startribune.com/mcu/ads/shared_files/advertisement_disclaimer> <http://www.startribune.com/mcu/ads/promo/helpinglittleheroes/080604/bigv.gif> <http://oas.startribune.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.startribune.com/natworld/534715284/Button20/StarTribune/HelpingHeros_promo_0817-0921_/hlh_0817_bigad.html/34343061353164383431353064653230?_RM_EMPTY_> WABASHA, Minn. -- With a State Patrol airplane overhead, a Stillwater motorcyclist hit the throttle and possibly set the informal record for the fastest speeding ticket in Minnesota history: 205 mph. On Saturday afternoon, State Patrol pilot Al Loney was flying near Wabasha, in southeastern Minnesota on the Wisconsin border, watching two motorcyclists racing along U.S. Highway 61. When one of the riders shot forward, Loney was ready with his stopwatch. He clicked it once when the motorcycle reached a white marker on the road and again a quarter-mile later. The watch read 4.39 seconds, which Loney calculated to be 205 mph. ``I was in total disbelief,'' Loney told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for today's editions. ``I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I'd never seen anything move that fast.'' Several law enforcement sources told the newspaper that, although no official records are kept, it was probably the fastest ticket ever written in the state. After about three-quarters of a mile, the biker slowed to about 100 mph and let the other cycle catch up. By then Loney had radioed ahead to another state trooper, who pulled the two over soon afterward. The State Patrol officer arrested the faster rider, 20-year-old Stillwater resident Samuel Armstrong Tilley, for reckless driving, driving without a motorcycle license - and driving 140 miles per hour over the posted speed limit of 65 mph. A search of speeding tickets written by state troopers, who patrol most of the state's highways, between 1990 and February 2004 shows the next fastest ticket was for 150 mph in 1994 in Lake of the Woods County. Tilley did not return calls from the newspaper to his home Monday. A working number for him could not immediately be found by The Associated Press today. Only a handful of exotic sports cars can reach 200 mph, but many high-performance motorcycles can top 175 mph. With minor modifications, they can hit 200 mph. Tilley was riding a Honda 1000, Loney said. Kathy Swanson of the state Office of Traffic Safety said unless Tilley was wearing the kind of protective gear professional motorcycle racers wear, he was courting death at 200 mph. ``I'm not entirely sure what would happen if you crashed at 200 miles per hour,'' Swanson said. ``But it wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure.'' --- Information Wrom: FVWRKJVZCMHVIBGDADRZFSQHYUCDDJBLVLMHAALPTCXLYRWTQT

The smoke is caused by one of two things. either there is an oil leak which is bad enough to run down onto the exhaust manifold, or it is blowby. Blowby means blwing by the piston rings. That is really bad and means the engine is terminal. How mechanics determine where the leak is; steam clean the engine, add a florescent dye to the oil and observe under a blacklight.. You can probably buy the dye at Autozone and blacklights are easy enough to come buy. They sell them at Home Depot. Anything you pay the dealer to repair WILL cost a fortune.

As a veteran of patching radiators back when I was poor, I tried several things. I tried soldering it, nope, couldn't make it stick. I tried expoxy, worked okay for a while, but eventually started leaking. The best thing I found to use is JB Weld. That stuff bonds to about everything and is nice and think. JB Weld hardens like steel. It will probably stop your leak but be aware, the radiator really needs to be replaced as if one spot is bad, others usually fail shortly thereafter. In my case, the whole side of the radiator split open. Nauturally I was on an Interstate 250 miles from home. For local use for a year, I'd patch it. If you travel in this car, don't.

I'm not sure if this relates but I know with my Malibu lights around my house that the more bulbs that blw the faster the others blow because of the increased voltage. Perhaps it was a cascade effect. I'd pull a couple of the easist and see if they are blown. If they are well you have work to do.

WAIT Don't check your coolant yet. The Toyota Coolant looks brown. I can't imagine why they did that but theydid. It is a long lasting coolant that is not compatable with the green coolant. Check this out very cafefully first.

My wife grew up in Brookly so we spend a lot of time there. In fact we will be in Brooklyn tomorrow. We had one car stolen, a 69 Baracuda. We went out to a bar and got in a 3:30 or so and parked a couple of streets over. The next morning about 10AM when we went over to get the car to go to a wedding, it was gone. There was a space in the exact spot. That is not all that normal (empty parking space) in Brooklyn. We walked around several other blocks suspecting that we might not remember where we parked, but no, it was gone. The next day the cops call my wife and tell her they found the car in Bushwick. I can't speak for now, but in 1977 you did not go in Bushwick at night. The next day she went over and she couldn't find it after the tow truck got there and they said it was stolen again,

ch is the wonder clay? I ususally use the mothers but that is 15 bucks for the kit just to get the clay. Oh yeah, where did you get it?

I'm bad. I just whip them in the washing machine and use the extra rinse cycle. Then I throw them in the dryer. It works for me.

And that Simoniz stuff was had to apply and even harder to get off. Even though the car is new, clean the paint before you wax. I use Collinite #845 Insulator Wax and have had excellent results. I detail cars for people and they have all be happy as well. Whatever you use, do the prep.

Man Soldier, you did a number on that. Looks like you got him pretty good. I have been in several accidents mostly not my fault. You rarely come out good on an accident. Once, after sitting through a red light on my birthday going to work, I went when the light changed to green. Stupid me not to look for the women trying to make the yellow light. I guess she floored her maxima trying to do it because she got me good. They carried her off in the ambulance then she told her company (Allstate) that "it was still yellow." They wouldn't pay my claim because I didn't have a witness. I gave a very rude message to the President of Allstate.

Parts of Florida certainly DID rock last night! I saw Jim Cantore swaying around.

I didn't realize that they had that many US cars in Japan. I thought their streets were really narrow, their gas was expensive, and the steering wheel was on the other side? Do they make American cars with right hand drive even?

I have never had anyone change my oil ever since I have been driving. There really isn't all that much to it anyway. Call me a skeptic (however you spell it) but I don't trust anyone else to do it, and to do it right,