And what did we buy today?

[Cal Weldon]

Not till tomorrow.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the 2005 Echo. Is has only 28,000 kms on it. Only thing ever changed is the oil and the battery once. Stored indoors most of its life. It was great for the Mrs. the past 3 years but she's going to get the Escape.

Eureka! I get to play the part of one of the most slandered and stereotyped persons on the planet.

The Used Car Salesman.

"Hey buddy I got a deal like no other here. See that price? A steal at double that. Tell you what, if you buy today, I'll not only cut it from 3 easy payments, down to 2, I'll even do a spit and polish for ya, no charge. But wait, if you act now, I throw in the brand new snowies at a discount so good, I might as well give them away. I'll even give you new wiper blades. So wadaya say buddy, can we go inside and get the papers ready?"

 

[leadbelly]

Tony, do you still drive like a teenager?

I drive pretty slow nowadays as I wait for some demerits to expire.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Tony,

Big body
Big heart
Big foot on the pedal

I hope these demerits came while you were living the dream of days gone by. Kids in the back make that kinda horsies almost impotent.

Me? I can't wait to get totally ****-faced and drive down the freeway in the wrong direction in my new vehicle. Tony, you know I'm an attention who*e, and no better way to get that, right? Especially if it's a divided highway where I have no escape (pardon the reference to the old vehicle) and hafta dodge the others at 120k. I'm sure you bin dare.

Seriously now, what are the rest of you doing tonight before my heart medicines run out and I have to stop typ

 

[mkane77g]

Wheaton Triplaner & Sota Nova

 

[Tubelab_com]

do you still drive like a teenager?

As life draws me closer to my expiration date, I have lost the need for speed. I rarely exceed the speed limit by more than a few MPH......30 years ago it was a different story, I took on most challenges.

The highlight, I was cruising up the Florida Turnpike headed for a a surplus electronics deal in Orlando. I was driving my very modified Turbocharged Dodge Omni. Miles from nowhere something bright red comes up quick, and as it draws close, I see a mid 80's Corvette.

It blows past me at 90+ MPH. I look over to see a John Ravolta look alike that was still living the Disco Dream complete with about 10 pounds of gold chains around his neck, so I did the right thing.....put the pedal down.

I still remember the look on Mr. Chain's face as a ratty looking 1982 4 cylinder Dodge Omni passes him, and my speed is still increasing. I got pretty far ahead of Mr. Chains when my car started missing and acting weird.....I was running into the 7200 RPM rev limiter......time to slow down. I let Mr. Chains pass and never saw him again. 7200 RPM in overdriven 5th gear mathematically works out to 154 MPH (248 KPH) Freakin fast for a chit box dodge.

 

[phase]

He probably went to the nearest Chrysler dealership...
My favorite was the ‘80s camaro z28, those guys really believed what the ads for their cars said about them. Was great fun racing them with open Weber carbs on an old German Opel.

Sleepers are great fun indeed.

Wasn’t that Echo a bit of a hot rod? I recall that the 0-60 times weren’t too shabby for what was the lowest priced Toyota sold. I know that they have a bypass in the muffler to add power, not too many cars have that feature.

 

[Tubelab_com]

My favorite was the ‘80s camaro z28

They weren't even a challenge for the turbo Dodge.

I had an old 73 GMC van. I bought it cheap in about 1975 because the engine wouldn't run right. As predicted, it got worse until I decided to rebuild. Autopsy revealed the scourge of early 70's GM V8's, a plastic timing chain gear which was coming apart, but the real problem was one severely worn exhaust lobe on the camshaft...... I needed a new cam, so what does a 25 year old do? New cam, manifold, headers, carb, valve job with some milling of the heads.....

The van now runs good, and was a toss up when racing a friend's 1976 Corvette, also with a GM 350 cubic inch V8. A coworker trades his college car, some crappy Oldsmobile, for a brand new 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. By this time my 10 year old van is a collection of rust and ugly, but Mr. Trans Am could never beat it in a drag race. When the van had outlived its usefulness, I saved that engine and stuck it in my 1968 Camaro. It's old 327 V8 had accumulated nearly 200,000 miles.

I know that they have a bypass in the muffler to add power, not too many cars have that feature.

We bought a new 1999 Pontiac Sunfire GT convertible in 2000. The car had a version of the old Oldsmobile Quad 4 engine, and came with the bypass feature. A single cat and pipe went into the muffler, and two pipes came out. One pipe went through the muffler core, the other didn't. It had a weighted flapper valve that opened when the pedal was on the floor and the engine went over about 3000 RPM. It was only in the GT version. The car let out an awesome scream once that activated that got the attention of every cop in earshot.

Unfortunately the car was a POS which spent more time in the dealers repair shop than my driveway. We got to drive it for 4,000 miles in two years and it got traded for a 1999 Mustang Convertible that was the exact opposite......I changed only the battery, tires and oil in 7 years.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Wasn’t that Echo a bit of a hot rod?

We affectionately call her Putt Putt Zoom Zoom and yes she has her share of spunk. A really fun drive, like an enclosed go-kart. Only thing is, I need a can opener to get in and out. While I'm not quite Tony's size, the Echo really was made for the fairer sex.

 

[jfetter]

Found a new sealed in box Teac A4010S for $100.
It's not a hi-end model but still nice to have.

 

[soundbrigade]

I dunno if it is a purchase, but I paid the USD14 to finish my ESTA registration.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Found a new sealed in box Teac A4010S for $100.

Very nice. Rare as I like my steak to find one NIB.

 

[Cal Weldon]

The horse is in the stable.

 

[TheGimp]

Nice Cal.

I spent the day replacing a commode in the main bathroom. Started at 9am and just finished at 5pm. Three trips to thehardware store.

1 buy comode
2 go back because it was opened and missing parts
3 needed a longer hose from the cut off to the commode tank, had to change the cut-off valve as it was from 1973, and I could not find a longer hose that would fit.

Yes, I used Tin-Antimony lead free solder.

I have learned over the years that a two hour job will take all day just because. It was that way with my father, and is with my brothers.

I think Murphy likes me.

 

[mondogenerator]

Looks about as much fun as a prostate exam!

In my British way I always giggle when I see the word commode
🙄

Kudos for bothering to solder copperwork!

I've bought my first house (2nd home) and despite being 120 years old, there's far too much of that awful push fit plastic cr@p around for my liking

 

[TheGimp]

Also two new vanity counter tops. One granite for the master bathroom.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Is that a low-flo with top flush, elongated seat and hidden mounting bolts? I had fun with the Caroma one I put in too. They remind me of airplane toilets. If it is a top flush, they're great on water but take a bit of getting used to. Ours is 4.5L and 3.0L. They do the job but you can't flush at night or you'll wake up the neighbours let alone your wife.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

Found a new sealed in box Teac A4010S for $100.
It's not a hi-end model but still nice to have.

Whoa, that is sweet. Nice catch.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

The horse is in the stable.

Hey Cal, looks nice! My landlord has one just like it (same color even), and he loves it.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

..I have learned over the years that a two hour job will take all day just because. It was that way with my father, and is with my brothers.

I think Murphy likes me.

I find that in estimating time, it helps to break down a job into its smaller tasks, making it a bit easier to predict the time required for each one. Then I just add them all up.

And multiply that by 3 or 4. 😕

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

So I grabbed a copy of Robocop on Blu-Ray as I was running past the bargain barrel at ConHugeMart the other day, for like 6 bucks or something. Get it home, pop some corn, settle in for a sci-fi classic...it's a damn remake! No Peter Weller, no Nancy Allen... Grrr.

Hell, I don't think I even knew they remade this one! The Robocop on the cover looks about the same - false advertising, I say! 😡

(Actually, this new one isn't terrible, but mumble gripe cuss words...)