I feel your pain. My Samsung refrigerator and Thermador stove have been a steady source of explorations of sharp edged sheet metal and confounding choices made by designers. Why do I have to disassemble everything to get to a common service part? So far I've kept the Samsung refrigerator running, but I can tell I'm going to lose the battle soon. ... View more

So the Maxxis tires are the thing we should focus on? Get real. Who cares what tires are on it at this point? Does anyone think the tires are going to effect the final bid? Can you imagine someone saying "Well, I'd up the bid to $275,000 but I'm going to pass because it doesn't have Firestone tires." ... View more

We're having the same conversations, only about our houses in the San Francisco area. The problem comes from the fact that you bought the truck because you wanted a truck, not as an investment. Most of us who talk on this site are people who are vehicle owners because we like them and we use them, and the investment angle is annoying because it raises the prices of the toys we want. There's always that question - "What do I replace the truck with?" If you want to invest in American pickups, do it in the Fall when the makers are catching up and the buying frenzy has run down some. They will be worth more in a few years as the electric revolution continues. One day in the next 10 years we won't be able to buy a V8 anything, and thousands of pickup lovers are going to want to buy one of the 2022 Fords or Chevys or Rams in the barn you filled. ... View more

I have a 2002 NB, in factory special order Laser Blue Metallic. It's a very easy car to live with, runs and performs well and delivers the fun every time I use it, and (at least until now) was pretty much invisible at the curb and parking areas in my city. A Corvette, on the other hand, attracts all sorts of flies, and seems to be a source of anxiety for owners. I can park where I find a space, they feel compelled to park "someplace safe". Score 1 for the Miata. It's a very well worn out phrase, but it's still more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow. ... View more

didn't know I needed a rubber mallet until I got one. So many things need a little persuasion, and with a rubber mallet you can do that without destroying anything. A decent LED head light, that's not too heavy. Find one where the batteries are in a separate case, because they make things heavy and bulky on your forehead. A cheap set of pointy, hand held picks. The cheapo ones are OK. Lot's of situations call for a skinny thing to poke something around. A lap top computer with a wi-fi connection. ... View more

How about the 1948 Buick Sedanette, with a very extreme "fastback" and a tiny jewel of a rear window, or the 3 part rear windows of the 1950 Roadmasters and Cadillacs? Those were very different and somewhat bold ideas for their time. ... View more

I feel like the electric appliance that will move us around in cities and the suburbs hasn't been offered to the public yet. The closest thing that we can see is the electric people movers that shuttle us around in airports. With AI and the growing population, along with environmental issues, it's pretty clear that the commuting function of cars will be served with electric drones that will come to you when you request them - like an Uber does now - and then drive themselves to a waiting area after dropping you off at a place where you join the herd in larger units, or to a place where they recharge. At that point they won't be ours, they will be transportation units that we don't consider at all. ... View more

I have a vague memory of crawling under our 49 Plymouth to help my father wire up turn signals.  I was about 5 then.   ... View more

I also reach for the Vessel Megadora when I have a tough JIS screw to loosen, and so far I've been lucky. I do need to pick up some JIS bits for my Milwaukee impact tool. ... View more

A scam is a scam. What someone has in their pants has nothing to do with it, unless that's what they are selling. ... View more

Thanks for this boost to the rest of us.  For years I've been doing what I call "5 foot" restorations of old Honda and Yamaha scooters and Honda bikes.  They run well, anyone can use them and they look good from 5 feet away.  Rustoleum 2X spray paint has been very good at getting the job done once you finally learn how to use it.  The textured spray really works well on things like rocker panels that are just never going to be smooth again.   ... View more

  I've bought new, cheap carburetors for old motorcycles, knowing they were pretty much crap but that they might contain useable parts.  When they show up I take the old carb and the new carb apart and use the better parts to build the replacement.  The castings of old carbs are fine, it's the valves and moving parts that deteriorate.   ... View more

What about the 65 Honda Black Bomber (CB450)? ... View more

For working on motorcycles, or anything that maybe you can't push hard against without it being unstable,  I finally got a Milwaukee "Fuel" impact tool with their quality bit.  I can hold the tool with both hands, or hold on to the bike with one hand and the tool with the other, and it seems to work well.   I use a 1200 watt heat gun to heat up everything until it's real hot.   A Vessel JIS screwdriver, a good power impact tool and a heat gun have gotten the job done. ... View more

We all have to understand what "data" is and how it's being used to manipulate you to do what others want, for their own purposes.  Yes, information about the operation of a device you "bought" should be provided to you, for whatever reason you might have.  The contents of things you eat should be disclosed, but it is not.  Do you know what's in chopped meat?  Peanut butter? Scotch whisky? No, you don't, it's never disclosed.    John Deere and others now do not disclose information about how their products work and what is happening that causes it to fail, but rather transmit it to the company via electronic data.  When a combine breaks down in the middle of a corn field in Iowa John Deere knows it, and the operator knows it stopped working, but only John Deere can fix it.  The local repair service that would have the ability to go to the field and do the work is left out.  Since most of this type of equipment is leased the people harvesting the corn don't have an ownership interest in the machinery, so they have to wait for Deere.     The bigger issue is that the maker knows who you are, where you are, how fast you are driving, how hard you brake, where you shop and when and whether you are alone or with others.  They can see your face, they can probably get your fingerprints, they can listen to you talk and assess what you want to buy.  They can learn your music preferences from Pandora.   They can know you like Chevron gas, that you shop at Whole Foods or Costco.     The problem is much bigger than cars, and the resolution will come slowly and painfully.   ... View more

I struggle with a pattern of putting things down without thinking. Lately I've been experimenting with a work apron, so I'll put common sockets and wrenches, screwdrivers and a rag, a ball of steel wool, etc., in a pocket instead of on the floor or a shelf or wherever. ... View more

Always bring your reading glasses and a small tube of Vaseline.   ... View more

What impressed me about the piece I just read is that Baruth has actually internalized the mediocrity and then mocked it with his language.  Any article that can pull off the use of the phrase "immanentize the eschaton" without being a chest beating heap of crap from someone who is trying to impress with a vast knowledge of foolishness is a winner in my view.    ... View more

Saying this sort of comment is the same as criticizing a stamp collector because they don't use them to mail letters, or a collector of English china because they don't use it to drink their morning coffee.  ... View more

My projects are all smaller size because they are two wheelers, but there's always a moment when I'm taking things apart to fix A, discover B, take some more stuff off, and there's problem C and D, and I realize that I haven't been taking pictures along the way and I've got parts and tools all over the place.  Panic.  Stop unscrewing things, break out the plastic bags and start putting stuff into groups, and then the thought that this time I've gone too far and will never get it all together again.  That has never really happened, but the worry has never gone away.  I tend to put things back together too soon, just to be sure I can, then I have to take them apart again.  Walking away doesn't help, then I worry more.  So I just keep on, muttering to myself and wondering what the heck makes me want to do this.  Over and over, all my life, I've been taking things apart and putting them back together.   ... View more

Opel GT was the first to pop into my head, too.  It was beautiful. And the first generation Miata?  Not so beautiful, but there sure were a lot of them.  ... View more

I have very limited work space so I can really only work on one project at a time.  Also, I can't store a non-running project other than the one I'm working on.  Sure, with a bigger rented garage I could do more, or if I owned a truck so I could easily move a non-runner from the garage I do rent away from the house.  But this is my set-up and I'm trying to keep inside the lines.  And I have a Honda Gyro that does run now, not beautiful but solid,  and I can't realistically get it to my house because I live up a very long steep hill.  Admit the truth, you're a collector.  You just are.  Try not to be a nuisance to anyone else and try not to run yourself into bankruptcy.  And don't start buying mid 60's GM convertibles.   ... View more

There's nothing much to add, but when the head is going back on be sure to check the valve lash.  It's a picky job and this is exactly the time to do it.  The performance benefits of having it right are tremendous.   ... View more

I had a Spitfire Mark III, later 60's era, that burdened my life for some years in the later 70's.  It had no power, no room, no decent weather protection.  It was useless in the Winter.  I somehow destroyed several clutch disks, probably putting them in wrong.  It mostly started and ran.  Mostly.  I loved it.    But then life interfered and I sold it.  Like most of my vehicles I was happy when I bought it and happy when I sold it.  I do not miss it, ever.  My Miata takes care of what the Spitfire tried to do, and it does it without endless failure.  ... View more

Wow!  This is exactly right.  Buying a car today to double your money in 20 years is a terrible investment.  For those 20 years it pays you absolutely nothing, and it costs a lot.  If you love the car and get joy from looking at it in your storage place then great, but never forget you are paying for that joy.  We all pay for pleasure, but to call it an investment is just fooling yourself.   ... View more

I do know I'm just as nuts as you are, and just as nuts as most of the people who posted here.  It doesn't help at all.  I just this week rejected a 66 Honda 160 Dream project because it was literally a pile of rusty junk disguised as a motorcycle.  Even so, I still find that I am thinking about it.  When every fastener was rusted to the point that it was mostly just red-brown lumps, and the rims were completely rotted, spokes all peeling and rusty, every cable jammed, headlight broken, bars bent, fender crumpled, exhausts rotted through.  You get the picture.  Why am I still wasting a moment on it?   ... View more

It's very, very easy to stumble into a dark hole like this.  California can be difficult about some things and easy about others, so it's impossible to be so confident that it's always terrible.  I mess with old motorcycles and the documentation I get is pretty sketchy sometimes, and certain things can cost you a ton of money.  If the Cal. registration is expired for a few years be prepared to go to the DMV website for a calculator to find out the tab.  It's available with the license number and the last 5 of the VIN.  It can be close to $1,000.  On the other hand if the owner put it into "Non-Operation" status ever, even decades ago, all you do is pay the fees for transfer of title and registration and off you go, no inspection at all for a motorcycle.  For cars and light trucks you need a smog check.   Gotta do the homework. ... View more

I agree that Mazda deserves a great vote of support.  They make cars that are actually fun to operate, without being troublesome or expensive or precious.   ... View more

I'll never understand GM.  This car sums up my problem.  They build a fun, weekend play car for people with some disposable income, they make it attractive and different enough to be a standout in a parking lot full of silver Porsches. and they they make it completely useless for a large segment of their target buyers by providing absolutely no storage for a bag of golf clubs or tennis racquets.  Who did they think was buying these cars?   ... View more

For me, buying something in serious disarray and putting it back into good solid running condition is satisfying, and makes me happy.  When it's finally done enough to be reliable and reasonably good looking, either it's really fun to operate or it's gone.  Owning the vehicle you rebuilt, only to find out you don't like it much, is just not smart.  Sell it, take a loss if you have to, and move on.   The hobby is the process, not the product.  My father was a life long stamp collector who would spend years and money assembling a complete collection of something, and then sell it because he was done.  He was finishing off his collection of the postal stationary and postmarks of every single post office from the years when Germany colonized Tanganyika.  After he died he directed that everything be sold at auction in small lots so the 10  other people in the world who cared could cherry pick what they needed.  He was right.   It's the process, not the product, for me.  ... View more