Northeast Interlude . . . .

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Amskeptic
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Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:38 am

This one is not as fun as my usual gamboling around in the thickets of Texas under the broiling sun gettin' bit by bugs but good . I lost my storage barn to Chett's need to cash out and retire. Once again, I had a fuel leak spring on me as I showed up. Better even than the Mercedes that had started to leak about 36 hours before I arrived . . . :

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=10708#p190116

. . . . the Lincoln started to leak only at the instant I got that big ol V8 rolling around in its worn bearings.
This leak was met with cool indifference as I chatted with Chet's business manager about the impending sale of New York to the highest bidder come November. At the end of the satisfying conversation, without even a pause, he said, "let's go get you some fuel hose."

It has been fourteen years since I last entered the Lincoln's wheel well to replace the fuel pump, and I have to admit, I was not at all amused by my workmanship. In fact, it was abysmal, with duct-taped refrigerator compressor mounts used as noise abatement, an aftermarket electric fuel pump not even bolted to the car in any way, a brake line jammed to hold the pump sort of in place, and it looked like a teenager's repair job (fourteen years ago, I was but a teenager in the scheme of life):

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Noted that the huge spray of rocks and crap from that dumpster-laden truck on New York 531 to Brockport had indeed dented in the front of the BobD (at the time I was "happy" that I did not hear shattering turn indicator lenses):

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I can't even cry any more. Took the passenger footwell kickboard out, removed the windshield washer bottle and pump, scraped the styrofoam insulation off the nose panel and tried to bash the dent out with a piece of the barn's lapped siding. A very ugly dent, this was, it buckled the edge of the line that is part of the whole surround "crease", so it refused to pop out. I will do a bondo/primer/paint repair somewhere here over the next few days, but today's Get Them Mobile To Move Out Of Here work is to replace the Squareback's front brake hoses since the car will not move after stepping on the brake pedal unless I crack loose a bleeder. Pictures forthcoming . . .

So, I have stored these three cars here for twelve years at $500.00 per year (just upped to $600.00 last year). Current prices for car storage have increased dramatically. This means that I will be taking a wholly unmanagable hit against my finances to store these cars anew and still manage to rebuild the transaxle in Chloe and both Chloe's and BobD's engines. I sit and ponder my life:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by hambone » Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:41 am

Sell that shit and open a VW shop. It can be non-traditional.
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by locoqueso » Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:15 am

Ouch, I cringed when I saw the photo of the dent.
1978 VW Campmobile (P-21) Westfalia - T2 2.0L F.I.- 151,000m
1982 Mercedes-Benz Estate Wagon (300TD-T) - S123 3.0L T.D. - 142,000m
1993 Dodge Maxi Van (190 SLF) InterVec Falcon - B350 Magnum 5.9L F.I. - 70,000m

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by airkooledchris » Tue Sep 09, 2014 3:41 pm

jeez, is it that white spot by the passenger side headlight?

the hell was being thrown from the back of that truck that could cause such a large dent?

can you just kick it from the other side and call it good? :P
1979 California Transporter

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:54 am

This old lion started right up with a fresh $114.00 battery that may be asked to work ten times in its expected lifetime:

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Drained ten gallons of almost ten year-old gas out of the Lincoln and into the BobD ( sorry BobD, please digest this paint thinner). Fixed a vacuum storage canister hose (installed in 2011) that had split (the fifty three year-old original hose next to it is still hanging in there).
Topped off the differential (the new pinion seal lasted maybe a year before it started to leak):

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Exercised the power windows and power door locks:

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Hit the road, registration-less and inspection sticker-less and plate-less and license-less, to the local gas station for a $50.00 half-tank fill-up. Man, this car still has some get up and go, still runs smoothly:

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Speed control works perfectly:

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I cannot believe what a sweetheart this car is after twelve years of insulting neglect:

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Next up was the Squareback, which started instantly:
Stuck the Squareback into the bay and persuaded its storage-induced rusty brake hose connections to please give it up. Pried the caliper pistons free, each letting go with a crack. The Squareback bled its own brake lines through the bleeder screws:

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Stuck on the wheels and drove away with a firm pedal and no sticking brakes. Finally, I was able to drive freely with no concern over overheating the front brakes. Another sweetheart of a car, the Squareback asks to be driven with verve, even if I was registration-less and inspection sticker-less and plate-less and license-less:

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Last up was the Mercedes. I installed the two new HEI resistors purchased last February, and it started up instantly. As the automatic transmission warmed up and got circulating, I inflated the twenty year-old Michelin MXV tires with an old old belt-driven compressor in the dark barn, then hit the road, registration-less, inspection sticker-less, plate-less and license-less . . . I love this car:

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The brakes smelled like mouse-pee, the interior smelled like beautiful old Mercedes shoe leather and mold:

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Then I pressed it into undignified box carting service to the temporary new storage facility:

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I am still very very busy with this move, so must get going. It is a heart-breaker, because I am tossing my old life out. All of my possessions are being subjected to cold calculus. I gave Cindy, bless her heart forever, all of my books since highschool. She was utterly happy to take them in, and I love her for that.
(edit 11-24-18: then she threw them away)
Colin

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Cindy
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Cindy » Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:25 am

Like I said, at least our books are together. I love you too.

Cindy
“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
Or you don't.” ― Stephen King, The Stand

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Wed Sep 10, 2014 6:24 pm

Love those suicide door Lincolns. Buddy of mine had a '69 in high school. Didn't have all the shwanky options yours had, but was really cool none the less.
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FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
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Amskeptic
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Sep 10, 2014 6:43 pm

TrollFromDownBelow wrote:Love those suicide door Lincolns. Buddy of mine had a '69 in high school. Didn't have all the shwanky options yours had, but was really cool none the less.
The 1961 Lincoln Continental was the first *actually tasteful* American car design since the tailfins chromey sharky teeth bulbo-blob acres of idiocy that had befallen everybody at the end of the 50s.

Here is the precursor Lincoln to mine (you gotta read the ad copy, they are all over this wretched thing as "beautiful"), photographed in Tonopah NV this summer:

1960:
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1962
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Something about "space-age instrumentation":

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An incredibly sloppy engine room, that is pretty much the same 430CID V-8 as mine:

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1962 was the last pretty one of this era. By 1963, the stylists had begun to muck up a clean design, in 1964, they friggen killed it dead with . . . flat side glass!?! because the bean-counters had deemed the beautiful integrated curved side glass to be too expensive. By 1965, the front end was getting heavy and boxy, and the rear was butchered. They actually returned to lighter and prettier by 1966, but the interior was a horror show. 1970, it was all over, body on frame like every other larger Ford.
ColinAlwaysCrankyWhenItComesToQuality
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Sep 12, 2014 7:58 am

I have the cars stationed at a nearby barn:

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Had to ride my 1972 Sutton Supreme ten-speed bicycle (visible beside the roll-away toolbox) back to the old barn to pick up the next car in the series, man, those muscles sure were dormant . . .

The skylights helped to make the BobD look all new-car-shiny:

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Good people out here in countryside New York . . .

Tried to fix the dent in the BobD's nose a bit, then paint in the biting 59* chill:

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It is passable from ten feet . . . :

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Today is all about mothballs and car covers and plastic sheeting and cold cold cold clouds and I miss the desert.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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retro1302
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by retro1302 » Sat Sep 13, 2014 5:27 am

My Dad had a 1960 Lincoln. He bought it new. White with blue leather interior. It was a huge thing. I remember the doors being about a foot thick. I also remember, even at six years old, saying "WTF" when the '61 came out only a couple of months after my Dad brought his new car home. Truly a radical styling change. Even in 2014, the '61 style is the classic look of the Lincoln. Keep that one going Colin. You have a jewel.
____________________

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1971 Super Beetle Convert
1980 Triumph Spitfire

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:03 am

retro1302 wrote:My Dad had a 1960 Lincoln. He bought it new. White with blue leather interior. It was a huge thing. I remember the doors being about a foot thick. I also remember, even at six years old, saying "WTF" when the '61 came out only a couple of months after my Dad brought his new car home.
Yes, even a six year-old could wonder at the excess of the 50's Hubris. Did you like the '61 better? Did you keep it yourself? :cyclopsani:
retro1302 wrote: Truly a radical styling change. Even in 2014, the '61 style is the classic look of the Lincoln. Keep that one going Colin. You have a jewel.
Yes, I did have a jewel . . . way back before the 12 years of Itinerant Neglect:

Before Clearcoat Failure (c 1998):

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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jcbrock
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by jcbrock » Sun Sep 14, 2014 7:11 am

I'm glad you found a safe and convenient place for your collection, that could have been a big hassle.
'76 Type II Station Wagon - in the family since new!
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by energyturtle » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:57 am

I had a 1986 mark VII. 5.0 H0. I loved that car, and it gave me unmatched service and reliability for 360,000 miles. I was 20 years old then. One day I came around a curve and there was a kid on a bike in the middle of the road with his pant leg caught in the chain. I swerved, missed him and knocked down a telephone pole. I walked away with a black eye and 17 stitches in my nose. That car saved my life with its excellent build quality. I am still in the market for another one......Black on Black with sunroof. I cant seem to find one:(

Scottie

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Amskeptic
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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:09 pm

Still interluding here, slowed by the sociability of the people here in upstate New York, the people with whom I shared thirteen wonderfully rich years of life. For example, this creature standing with me . . . . . . :

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. . . . . . . . is THIS creature standing with me:

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It is weird to get into the rhythm of my old pre-Itinerant Air-Cooled life, and to just knock about within the confines of it, recalling the prior era of my life that did not know this country like I do now, the prior era that did not know where my dad was, that did not know anything about Steinway E-strings, or the Dan Ryan Expressway, or Anaconda Montana.

While I am wistful for the days I used to have a steady paycheck and A GARAGE (I used to ignore rainy days, now I HATE em), I can't imagine the sum total of my life without this itinerant era, the sometimes brutal discomfort, the many mornings of waking to a delicious disorientation "where am I?" the knowledge that this today is mine to make, and the sense that the entire country is now my backyard.

Cindy's cousin's oldest son sure did score today. He was three or four years-old the first time he got to steer the Road Warrior down the road in West Virginia. Today at 21 years of age, he got to drive all of my New York-stationed cars, here in order of preference:

"this thing does better than I thought it would . . . "
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"I don't know why, but I really like this car."
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and the ugly duckling of the bunch?
"I think this is my favorite one."
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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Northeast Interlude . . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:16 am

We are done with the Car Move.

I said to myself, "you really should wax the chrome in the Lincoln, it is in good condition and it needs protection." Little did I understand that there is more chrome on that car than a cursory glance would suggest. It took all day. All day. It is several miles from the rear of the car to the front of the car:

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I even had to wax the valve covers and the air filter and the braces:

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Sure, chrome splatted all in the driver's view is not a safe thing when the sun is out. Sure, all of that metal in the interior would cause Ralph Nader to swoon in a faint. Yes, the steering column is a straight battering ram from the front of the car. All of that is true. But, I had to respect that this chrome-festooned car is exceptionally high quality. It is a 52 year-old car whose sun visor clips will never ever break:

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Somehow, this car misses the "excess" and hits the American Interpretation Of Luxury c. 1962, precious little in the way of modern gadgets, but it does provide a restful and quiet ambience:

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Anyways, there was a lot of waxing:

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For some unknown reason, this car was running well. I did about fifty miles on back roads to exercise the transmission and engine. It shifted smoothly, steered with fingertips and managed to haul itself down to stops with aplomb. I did a video of the Lincoln accelerating from rest to 60 mph on one of the back roads. Without a power-launch or flooring it, this poor old neglected car hit 60 in 15 seconds with no drama. Wait until I overhaul the engine . . .

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All of the cars are now fueled up and tucked under car covers. And I am on my way to a wedding.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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