Intrepidation

Let's just say it invloved a clogged main pipe full of poo water and toilet paper. Needless to say I gave up, through out the snake, and called a plumber. Let's see, I have my shiny Brute, which objectively is a nothing special besides that it looks brand new and kickstarted the hobby. A Honda Harmoney HRB215 that I got on trade and needed nothing. It's easily the nicest of all the mowers. It's built very well, has a blade clutch so it can stay running while the blade is not spinning, and is super quiet. Then there's the 80's aluminum deck Toro Recycler with the 2-cycle Suzuki engine. The 80's Lawn Boy which is also aluminum and has a 2-cycle engine (I still need to get it running, haven't had time yet). A `79 Simplicity which either has an aluminum or Magnesium deck. It's quite the oddball which is why I like it. And the aforementioned Poulan Pro which I got for free and is built like a tank. Depends on the issue. If it's faded (like teh Prizm's roof) you can only do so much because the base coat becomes damaged, and applying clear won;t fix the issue. In the case of the Intrepid the clear coat literally separated from the base coat, but the base itself is still fine. I'll give a full rundown when its done, but the short version is I cleaned the area, removed all of the loose clear coat, and used liquid touch up clear to cover it, putting enough on to raise it above the surrounding clear coat. Then it will be wet sanded with 2000 grit sandpaper and buffed. Right now its not smooth, but from 5 feet away from most angles you can't tell and it blends right in with the surrounding areas, so its only going to get better. The area we buffed removed the yellowing that occurs over time and brought the luster back to the paint. This requires a radial buffer because a random orbit buffer can't heat up the clear coat, which is the key. When its done I'll have plenty of photos.

...7 If you count the "beater mower" used for tall brush that hangs around until someone buys it. I do miss the Poulan Pro I was using for that purpose. I guess I'll make two with its exact twin (but self-propelled instead of push). Oh the agony. Rights now that job falls to the "ServiceStar" mower which has nifty one lever height adjustment.

I think to be an elite member of said club one must have rebuilt and then re-synced the carburetors one one of those four carburetor motorcycles. I hear the re-syncing part is a real PITA.

Speaking of paint restoration, I'm pretty excited because my friend got a hold of a high speed buffer and we're going to put it to work on the cars. We tested it on a small area this evening and even after a brief use the difference is immense. We're also working on fixing the one area on the car where I have paint issues, which has been a slowly growing area of clear coat peeling off. Gonna be good stuff!

Profit margins are quite good on mowers. This little guy was originally on its way to the dump when it was given to me. I spent $11 on it and sold it for $85. That orange Scotts mower I made $120 or so on. I've found that people will indeed pay more for a mower that looks close to what a new one would as opposed to one that looks like it sat at the bottom of a particularly muddy lake for several years. Plus I take pride in the work I do. I had a couple people tell me they contacted me because mine stood out as the nicest looking mower of the ones for sale on CL in the area. I've also noticed people tend to be inclined to take better care of their machines VS someone who just buys one from the big box mart. I've had a couple come back for service and was impressed to find they were clean both on top and under the deck. The thing about lawn mowers vs repairing other stuff like cars is that they take up far less space and are far easier to work on in my spare time. A car is a complex machine with lots of moving parts and can be difficult to diagnose. They're also quite big and very heavy. A push mower doesn't take up much space, and if i want to work under it I simply pick it up and put it on something or tip it on its side. I tried my hand at plumbing recently and as the exasperated zoo keeper said to the last male panda in the world, f@#k THAT! As for getting attached, no worries. I only have 6 mowers I've kept for myself.

Do lawnmower carbs count? Because I've rebuilt 30 or so of those.

Clearly that guy is a fan of Saints Row 3. I actually like that fascia design.

The new Malibu seems to be far from the car it should have been. Vera of course. Smart car probably takes the award. It may be incredibly safe for such a small car, but it's terrible transmission and pathetic fuel economy for something so small puts it near the top of the list for worst cars I think. I hated the Colorado but then I drove a brand new Ranger and mother of god that is a pile of garbage, especially with the 2.3. So in retrospect the Colorado at least has some guts and doesn't sound like the engine has marbles in it, has some actual legroom and has decent steering.

The `79 is your first car right? I would try to hang onto that one if at all possible. There's no car like your first car.

For anyone who is curious about how well compounds and polishes work on restoring paint, I thought I'd share a few examples using Meguiar's Ultimate line. Lawnmowers are lucky if they ever get washed in their lifetime. I wash mine after each use, and I also do a thorough detailing of the ones I repair. Check this out.

I happened to find this stuff on clearance for $1.95 a while ago and picked it up for some of the older lawn mower I work on which have chrome handlebars. It actually works very well on chrome, removing surface rust and stains with easy and really shining the stuff up. I'm pretty sure the main ingredient in it magic, and I'll show you why. Today I was detailing the car and had the hood open to top off he washer fluid. While open I got the idea to try this stuff on the aluminum of the engine, recalling it saying it worked well for aluminum. Always wanting to see if the oxidized metal would clean up at all I decided to give it a try. See for yourselves. Mind you this is just using a a rag and lightly doing it for a few seconds (engine was still quite hot). Impressive to say the least. However it gets better. I split a little on the painted cross member, and when I wiped it off I discovered it did a remarkable job of cleaning the paint up. Before (an older photo when the plenum's paint wasn't peeling): You can see the right side has been done in these photos. All done. Looks practically new!

I couldn't stand the CVT in the Caliber I drove. Droned a lot and sucked all the power from the engine.

wut

I've won this.

I try!

Nissan's CVTs are the best in the business, and the only ones that don't feel like they suck all of the power from the engine. I drove a Caliber with a CVT and hated it. Thing is, I'm in that group of people who prefers the engine shift through the gears rather than the rpms constantly increasing. Nothing wrong with good (Nissan) CVTs, its just a preference. Personally, I think 6 or seven speeds is enough for an automatic.

All 2000 Intrepids are created equal, but some are more equal than others. This is a lesson in the importance of keeping your car clean, especially the undercarriage, especially during the winter. This is actually a neighbor's Intrepid. It's got 150k on it, 3.2. It came into the shop next door for the crank sensor and an idle pulley it desperately needs. While on the lift I took a peek at how it's holding up... That, my friends, would be carpet. That's a really big hole in the floor. Not good. Contrast with my car which has 209k on it and has seen its share of winters but gets washed religiously. I swear the stuff they are using on the roads in NE has gotten more corrosive in recent years. I actually plan to clean up and repaint under the car at some point to get rid of what little surface rust has formed.

Cheers and Gears Podcast #2: Loose Screws and Nuts Hello and welcome to the second C&G Podcast! Our weekly podcast comes to you on the second week of July, only a month and a half after the first one! In this episode many important things were discussed...I'm pretty sure. We've provided for you a rundown of what we're discussing and when, so you can skip around if you don't feel like listening to everything. In our new Craigslist Finds segment, we pick out some of the more..interesting finds in our area and talk about them. The links will be provided below so that you too may marvel at the horrors wonders of the classifieds. 0:00-1:11 - Bull$h!/Title/Intro 1:12 - 8:30 Blake's Saturn Astra/Andrew's Focus Experiences 8:30 - 20:38 Craigslist Finds Dan's Submission - http://allentown.cra...3087806600.html Devan's Submission - http://www.craigslis...3083676238.html Blake's Submission - http://eastky.craigs...3051282941.html Andrew's Submission - http://worcester.cra...3104084074.html Bonus Submission - http://www.craigslis...3091802234.html 20:38 - 1:01:45 News and views - *Warning, many deviations from original topics* Paintable Li-Ion Battery Goodbye Rotary Engine Toyota/BMW Spprts Car Acura RLX Cadillac XTS Commercials. 1:01:45 - 1:17:48 Serviceability improvements we want to see in cars Enjoy!

Fisker Karma, Dodge SRT Viper, Lamborghini Aventador, Aston Martin Vanquish, or Nissan GTR, Since the questions limits you to one car but not accessories for said car, mine would come with hired snipers trained on it at all times to shoot anyone who tried to break into it. This is Michigan after all. Oh and a set of winter tires and a private touchless car wash.

Mid 80's to low 90's. Can't complain considering most of the rest of the country is baking. I am very happy my a/c works now though.

What really has my interest is the rumored "LA" platform. A smaller version of LY that could possibly spawn other variants below the LY cars.

Happy belated birthday.

Words to live by.