Ye Ole Coffee Shoppe XXIII

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The scrap yard should have the parts I need for the van by noon tomorrow. They have plenty of steering columns but finding one with a matching key can be tricky. I told them if they can't find one with a key then find one that's had the key switch removed and I'll use the key switch from the existing one. As far as the gas tank goes I made sure they knew it needs an old style one, not one that has the pump in the tank. The title has been signed over to me so next month I'll go in and have it registered.

 

[Steve B]

As Ron says your money buys you a hell of a lot more fuel than here, it's £1.30 + a litre here or £6.50 a gallon which equates to around $10 a gallon TEN DOLLARS a GALLON,,, imagine what that would be to fill your tank to the brim.

 

[bnsf971]

As Ron says your money buys you a hell of a lot more fuel than here, it's £1.30 + a litre here or £6.50 a gallon which equates to around $10 a gallon TEN DOLLARS a GALLON,,, imagine what that would be to fill your tank to the brim.

My Suburban has a 40 gallon tank, and gets just under 7.5 miles per gallon. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count that high!...

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 47 F this grey morning. Our high will be 60 F with the possibility of some rain.

No excitement last night other than my daughter having volleyball practice.

My wife and I did some research for our vacation plans. It looks like we will be going to Myrtle Beach, SC in August. If I am driving I will not take I-95. I’ll head down US 13, use the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Bridge and pick up US 17 ( I think that is the road) in the Tidewater Area. According to mapping websites it will add an hour or two to our travel. Given how stressed out I get driving I-95 I will suffer the extra time.

Tonight my wife is working at the museum so that means I have to take over her Wolf Den at Cub scouts.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

My Suburban has a 40 gallon tank, and gets just under 7.5 miles per gallon. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count that high!...

Lets see now--at .988cents a litre with a 40gallon tank ---oh about $176.78 oughta do it

And you get 7.6 mpg--- Hey! thats better than the 429CJ I had!! I averaged 5.75mpg in that-------with my lead foot

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

As Ron says your money buys you a hell of a lot more fuel than here, it's £1.30 + a litre here or £6.50 a gallon which equates to around $10 a gallon TEN DOLLARS a GALLON,,, imagine what that would be to fill your tank to the brim.

What tank? My van doesn't have one yet! It looks like it's made to carry a 20-22 gallon tank. At $2.86 a gallon it'll cost between $57 to $63. And at 22 mpg (hey, that thing gets better gas mileage than m y Century!) I should be able to about 480 miles on a tank of gas. Might wanna carry a 5 gallon jerry can just in case. And how many vehicles in the UK have a 318 V8 truck engine? That works out to about 807.72 cc's. In an area dominated by 4 cylinders that's still big.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

If everything goes right I should be able to pick the steering column and gas tank I need for the van. That should come to just under $100. I got the title last night so today I'll be contacting the insurance company to have it added to the policy. After the van is back on the road I'll be dropping the Century from the insurance. As I told my father yesterday that thing is about to become a white elephant. He and I did the math on the work it needs and here's how it works out:

Injectors (6) $100 each, not including the seals and gaskets required for the injector system. Estimated cost for rebuilding the entire injector assembly is about $1300. Estimated cost for replacing the piston rings, valve guides and valves, around $800. Replacing the tranny, about $1000. Getting the crack in the chassis welded and strengthened, about $400. That comes up to $3600! After he saw that number the $400 for the van plus $100 for parts looked pretty darn good. Something my nephew said yesterday struck me as funny. He said my Century would the perfect car to give to a guy who's looking for a car for his mother-in-law whom he doesn't like. Personally I wouldn't give it to a beggar on the street. I'll probably sell it to the boneyard for scrap.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Jeffery- Glad to see you are about over the infection in your feet.

From the sounds of it, you were about to have to start walking for transportation. I had a '78 Dodge van with a 318. Plenty of power, but it didn't get the kind of mileage as you predict.

My recent tour of the western US averaged 31 mpg in a 2004 Impala, mostly without the A/C running. One reason I bought a motorcycle is to make some of the one person trips I make around town of 25 to 75 miles at a time.
A 35 mpg bike is a lot kinder to the train budger than my 16 mpg pickup.

Jim and Rex- are you going to the SER convention in Bessemer? I'll be in a green shirt at the Company Store on Friday evening and Saturday. Stop by and say hello!
Sunday, I'll help out at Frank Smith's layout in eastern Birmingham. Frank's layout is an indoor G scale layout, highly detailed, "X" rated themes, but worth the time to see if you are going on the tours.
Catch y'all later!

 

[RexHea]

Hi everyone!
Finally, we have quiet around the neighborhood. With two day of practice and two days of air show, it got very loud. The show was a complete success with over 150,000 watching the two days of fun. Grandeman sent me some photos he took and I guarantee that you would think a high paid Pro took them. I've never send any Blue Angels photos better. Maybe and if you guys bugged him enough, he would share.

Tragedy struck at the airport Monday night with a private single engine plane crashing short of the runway. A couple from Memphis was returning from a trip in the Dominican Republic and had planned the stop to see their daughter. Both were killed. Cause is still unknown.

My new multi-focal contacts have worked out pretty good. I still have difficulty getting them in, but can remove them fast. I do need to have the "close in" adjusted better and I hope it doesn't interfere with the distance. Any of you guys use them??

Willis: Golden Retrievers and Labs also had Newfoundland in their bloodline, starting back in the later 1800's.

Mikey: Yes, I will be up there on Saturday to spend some(little) bucks and I will try to find you. I will only attend for one day, as I don't want to be tempted too much . I would assume the Wrecking Crew will have their layout???

Steve: an American has to be careful in countries that measure in liters. You see the sign, "x" cost amount per liter and the first thought is, "that's not too bad of a price." THEN you do the math.

 

[Ronzzr11]

I first went to Pennsylvania in 2006, when the pound/dollar exchange rate was £1 to $2.
I ride a Kawasaki ZZr1100 motorcycle over here in England, which at that time was costing me $34 to fill up. The Mazda 6 hire car I had in PA, also cost me $34 to fill.

Ron

 

[vato loco]

As Ron says your money buys you a hell of a lot more fuel than here, it's £1.30 + a litre here or £6.50 a gallon which equates to around $10 a gallon TEN DOLLARS a GALLON,,, imagine what that would be to fill your tank to the brim.

That would explain why your cars are smaller than my lawn mower!

If I had to pay that much for gas I would have to resort to getting around on my sons Mini-bike, 80mpg! Thing only goes 20mph but hell I ain't pressed for time!

 

[bnsf971]

That would explain why your cars are smaller than my lawn mower!

I don't know if I told y'all this, but before we left Kalifornia, I had to go to Home Depot for some bracing for my N scale layout. It was busy there, and parking spots were hard to find--for everybody but the clown that drove his Smart car to the store. I'm pretty sure he didn't get any 2x4's, but parking in the cart corral wasn't a problem for him.
The next day when I went back, there was a sign mounted on the Cart Corral that advised it was for shopping carts only.

 

[vato loco]

I don't know if I told y'all this, but before we left Kalifornia, I had to go to Home Depot for some bracing for my N scale layout. It was busy there, and parking spots were hard to find--for everybody but the clown that drove his Smart car to the store. I'm pretty sure he didn't get any 2x4's, but parking in the cart corral wasn't a problem for him.
The next day when I went back, there was a sign mounted on the Cart Corral that advised it was for shopping carts only.

You know if they put a mower deck on a smart car it would be a nice mower!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I drove the van from my sister's garage to my back driveway today. That thing has lots of power and it has echo chambers on the exhaust pipes so it really sounds off. The rocker arms tap a little but with nearly 80,000 miles that's to be expected. Otherwise it runs great. I went and checked on liability insurance for it today and it's gonna run about $30 a month. The company says that partly due to the vehicles age. Sheesh! It's not THAT old! I was only 28 when it was made.

 

[LotoQuestions]

Rex - Multi focals

My new multi-focal contacts have worked out pretty good. I still have difficulty getting them in, but can remove them fast. I do need to have the "close in" adjusted better and I hope it doesn't interfere with the distance. Any of you guys use them??

Rex, I have been using Baush & Lomb Softlens Multi-focal for a few years now. The only difficulty is that the Add High (max == close in) is not quite high enough for me as well. Still they are like magic!

During the day I often go around with only one lens and if doing a bunch of really finicy model work then I will take both out.

What brand are you using?

take care ,,, ken

 

[Steve B]

My ride is a Suzuki 1300 ha ha ha not a bike a Jimmy lmao, it's a bit gay but it is so reliable and never lets me down, and for a roller skate on wheels it is really comfy to sit in, even larger than life folks have a ton of room up front, the back is deisgned for umpa lumpas though, OK for the kids but thats it, no good for romantic encounters either

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Rex said-
Mikey: Yes, I will be up there on Saturday to spend some(little) bucks and I will try to find you. I will only attend for one day, as I don't want to be tempted too much . I would assume the Wrecking Crew will have their layout???

Rex - the Wrecking Crew layout will only be open on Sunday. Too many members involved in convention activities to open it all weekend.

Be sure to look me up! I'll help you spend your money.

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 51 F when I headed out this morning. Our high will be 65 F.

My daughter was selected for a group called the Challengers for her middle school. The Challengers is a group of about 50 students. They are selected based on their grades, community service, school activities, and outside of school activities. They also have to complete an application and an essay. As a reward for being selected she will be taking a two day trip to Williamsburg, VA. This will also include a day at Busch Gardens. This is something that she has wanted since she heard about it in the fourth grade. Needless to say we are very proud of her.

My son passed his Boy Scout Board of Review for First Class Scout on Monday night. He had advanced three ranks since crossing over in April of 2009. He is halfway to Eagle, but that is a long road.

Last night since my wife had to work at the museum I had to substitute for her at the Wolf Den meeting.

Tonight my daughter has volleyball practice. On Sunday she has a tournament at Albright College in Reading, PA. I am going to have to leave work early today to take care of a leaky tire on my van so there goes the hobby budget for the next couple of weeks.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

My ride is a Suzuki 1300 ha ha ha not a bike a Jimmy lmao, it's a bit gay but it is so reliable and never lets me down, and for a roller skate on wheels it is really comfy to sit in, even larger than life folks have a ton of room up front, the back is deisgned for umpa lumpas though, OK for the kids but thats it, no good for romantic encounters either

LOL! The first car I bought on my own was a 1974 Honda Civic CVCC. I didn't have to 'TRY' to get close to the girlfriend in the front seat since we were already pushed together to start with. There wasn't enough room in the back seat to even sneeze so even the thought of anything happening back there was out of the question. I mean, that thing was smaller than a Mini and I was like a bean pole in those days. Next car was a big Chevy Impala. Compared to the Honda that was a mansion on wheels.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

LOL! The first car I bought on my own was a 1974 Honda Civic CVCC. I didn't have to 'TRY' to get close to the girlfriend in the front seat since we were already pushed together to start with. There wasn't enough room in the back seat to even sneeze so even the thought of anything happening back there was out of the question. I mean, that thing was smaller than a Mini and I was like a bean pole in those days. Next car was a big Chevy Impala. Compared to the Honda that was a mansion on wheels.

mmmmm--My first car was a 1966 Ford Fairlane I got from our next door neighbour. Had a 390 in it--and was way bigger than that undersized breadbox!. The next one was that 1968 429CJ Mustang Fastback. Now that was loud---