| 1/31/09 Wonders just never cease. I brought the Regal down from the upper rack and washed it up yesterday, with the finish looking PERFECT. Randy came by, and we went to Bob's. The night was warmish, and the place was packed. After a few circles around I found a place under the waning, pulled, up and started backing in. Jim, a fellow I know who has a Foose-built 56 Chevy, was standing in the space. I watched him in my rear view mirror step aside to the left and I was CREEPING, particularly as my left side clearance was tight with an Chevy parked to my left. All of a sudden I hear a sort of yell and the sound of something unknown, kind of like fiberglass crushing. I pull forward, and Jim has thrown his coke and ice all over the back of my car, and claims I bumped him on his bum left knee. This is all just such a crick of crap. I finally just pulled out and parked at the end, not in a space, and started working on drying off the car. Jim's son comes over and apologizes and brings out a towel and just manages to smear whatever Jim threw all over the back of the deck, meanwhile apologizing for Jim's behavior. Mind you, I had it PERFECT when I pulled in. A cop walked up and sees the situation and leaves me alone. Later, this cop comes up and asks for my ID claiming Jim has inquired as to whether he should file a police report for me "hitting" him with my car, claiming he has a witness who is NOT his son that I backed into him. This is an assault with a deadly weapon charge. The cop finally just ceases all inquiry and hands me back my license. Meanwhile, Jim has come up to me and says he admits that was a dumb thing to do but that he'd been waiting for the parking place since 4:15 PM (it was now 6:30 PM, etc. I agreed it was real dumb. Meanwhile, Jim twice walks up to Laur and asks what he should do. Randy first noted for him that you cannot save spaces, to which Jim agreed, then claimed he was NOT saving the space. Then why was he blocking me from pulling in? And why did he say point blank to me he WAS saving the space? Jim just lied up one side and down the other moment to moment. Randy told him both times just to get the hell away from him. This was one of the stupidest things I have ever encountered there, and it certainly cost Jim any friendship from my side. Can you imagine if I walked up to his Foose car and threw a Coke on it?? He'd go ballistic. Oddly, I have several times in the past negotiated a space for Jim and his car. Utterly mindless. I just drove across the street, parked at Boston Market, and had dinner. Randy and I later drove back and got a spot, and at about 8:30 PM I had enough of the evening and we split. After my loosen-up tub this morning I'm going to pull out the Regal and wash the back half and see if I can get the gook off it. Just idiocy. 6/28/09 I have been back to Bob's many times since in the Buick and Hemi, and now just avoid Jim altogether. I had some paint scratches repaired by Frankie this week, and Frankie's brother Candy came by and detailed the car on Friday. So I had it sparkling and bright for Bob's. I took it down to the All GM Car Show today at Woodley, and promptly got it dusty parked out near the entry road. Good visibility, lousy for cleanliness. I had the same thing happen at the Johnny Carson Park Show last week. I still would like to detail the roll bar paint, replace a missing plastic trim piece on the left seat belt clip, and other than that just sell it. Just a GREAT car. It's like having the Gremlin and the Studebaker again. Hidden treasure, no hunters. I have let go of any fiscal survival based on selling the cars. While the economy has probably just bottomed out there is no massive resurgence as yet in the used hot rod market. 7/3/09 A fellow named John Beck from Huntington Beach contacted me, saying he had seen the car at the GM Show. Short story: he came up and I took him for a drive. I played him some organ music, we chatted about a variety of things, and he appeared very interested. He emailed me later to tell me he was considering it, and could I get him a paid copy of the organ CD? I offered it free if he buys the car! I'm taking it to Bob's tonight anyway. 9/6/09 The temps have been BLISTERING, so taking the Hemi out has been out of the question. The AC in the Regal was not great, so I have twice had it recharged, and a leaking pressure switch replaced. This ran a few hundred. At this point it cools OK, but oddly is running around 210 most of the time. The fans are sucking LOTS of air, there is no boil over, not a drop, but just hot. It is about 105 out there when I'm driving, so maybe that explains it. But I suspect there may be a problem with the thermostat. The coolant looks brand new. Perhaps it is not circulating. The car drives fine as mentioned, just seems a little hot. It has run like this before with no ill effects, but I find it curious. Getting at the stat is a bit tough. But as I have found new discipline and initiative in the absence of any work, I might just dig in, replace the stat, and see if that helps anything. At Bob's last Friday the car got a fair amount of attention, and just as I was leaving a fellow named Miguel inquired about the car. In short, I took him for a ride, scared the crap out of him, and he PROMISED he would be calling me with an offer. So perhaps it is time. 9/7/09 No call. Wow, just more tire kicking. Sad. 10/25/09 The day after the above entry the Dodge was stolen. Today, I had a flash of nostalgia as I viewed the front end of a green car at the Moorpark show. The Buick runs great, although hot. I will endeavor to remove some plumbing and get the thermostat out tomorrow. 12/12/09 After some struggling, John and I changed out the thermostat. This is really somewhat tricky, requiring removing the intake tube and filter, and some other items. The stat housing is sealed by a O-ring. I found a 160degree unit, we got it in, had some real challenges getting the hoses back on, and found after all was done that it still ran hot Randy came by and asked if the fans worked. I flipped the fan switch on the dash and all seems good since then. Duh! I had no idea that switch had any effect on the fan, as I thought we had long ago disabled that switch. Apparently this was not the case. Runs fine now. However, the tail lights do not come on. NO power to the lights. To access the light switch is a BIG deal, requiring some serious dash dismantling. The weather has been prohibitive, although I COULD do it in the garage. I will try getting a portable 12-volt source and finding out which wire(s) need feeding. I might need to carry a rear battery for a while until I find the actual culprit. |
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