About brians356

brians356

Haywood seems like a very personable and attentive chap. I love his description of Peter Gregg's personality. The more I learn about Newman, this more I like him. Like my dad he played trombone in school and became a radioman in the navy, something musicians excelled at due to the Morse code.

brians356 · ‎03-05-2021

That's a somewhat conspiratorial "Haves" vs "Have Nots" point of view you express there. The term "Elitist" alone is a tell. "Blocking people out of the Hobby"? Really?

brians356 · ‎03-05-2021

Ed, I've owned my '59 356 for 22 years now (and owned my first one in 1980) and, believe me, your estimate of how long it's been since stateside folks "could care less" is laughable. Sure, many Porsches' values have soared, but so has the stock market. An investment only 20 years ago in the S&P 500 index would be worth 10x more today, notwithstanding several "crashes" along the way including the so-called "Great Recession". Twin-cam Porsches have been fetching big bucks perhaps since before you were born.

brians356 · ‎28-04-2021

I have no problem with having hybrid options available, if there's a market for them. A hybrid makes a lot of sense for a lot of people, depending on where they live and their driving patterns. Bu the statement "the greenest SUV in the world" is just soooo stupid and misleading. The notion that driving a hybrid (all variables considered, including mining rare earths and manufacturing/disposing of batteries) is better for the environment than driving a modern ICE vehicle is pure virtue signaling and statist propaganda. For starters, human activity is not heating up the planet. Yeah, I said it. Even better, more CO2 = a greener planet, since CO2 is pure plant food, over and out.

brians356 · ‎23-04-2021

Climate has changed many times naturally. Did you know we're in a relatively cold enough period today to be called an "ice age"? Search "Quaternary Ice Age" and read all about it. Only about 15,000 years ago much of what is our America was under an ice sheet. We've been gradually warming since. Perfectly natural, and positively uncontrollable. Also, CO2 concentrations have been much higher in past epochs. If CO2 were to drop to about 250 ppm most life on Earth would die off. This is easy to calculate because plants live on CO2 and are relatively simple to understand. It's much better that we're gradually warming (and plants are getting more food) than gradually cooling, believe it.

brians356 · ‎22-04-2021

You lamentably lumped 900s in with 356s as "air-cooled". Several of the most desirable 356 colors were not even available in the 900 series.

brians356 · ‎17-04-2021

There was a GMC truck 400, I had one that someone had swapped into a '64 El Camino w/ Powerglide.

brians356 · ‎12-04-2021

Good article, but alas hastily prepared and not copy edited, as witness the many typos, in particular mixed singular/plural phrases. How about a cleanup pass?

brians356 · ‎08-04-2021

It removes only loose rust scale. It's obvious from the photos that it leaves rusted surfaces rusty. So this is not a substitute for more aggressive blasting media where rust-free steel is the goal. The title of the article probably should omit the word "rust".

brians356 · ‎26-03-2021

You beat me to the steel wool part. Useful but nasty stuff as it always fragments. Also, scrubbing with a toothbrush and brake cleaner without eye protection can become very unpleasant. And I clean parts outdoors to minimize breathing cleaner fumes.

brians356 · ‎23-03-2021

"plebeian" if a crude edit function existed.

brians356 · ‎23-03-2021

I feel your attitude toward Dr Porsche's legacy is more than a little plebian. Given more consideration, reality may well intrude.

brians356 · ‎23-03-2021

Perhaps you could tell us: How many roads in Germany were gravel vs paved? Roads have changed since WW II, not just tires.

brians356 · ‎23-03-2021

If you live anywhere near Reno I'd sure love to have a ride in that T-87. I'll swap you a Porshe 356 A drive. (Another swing axle car that, curiously, did just fine even in frantic competition. Just ask Jim Clark when you arrive there.)

brians356 · ‎10-03-2021

I say this as a friend, but the cute has worn off the Randomize Caps and Obfuscate Syntax buttons. If you're really German, pardon my intrusion and carry on, sir.

brians356 · ‎10-03-2021

My '92 Civic VX with 250k miles on the original 1.5L mill can beat any Long Range version Tesla from my Reno home to Las Vegas by an hour, the EV driven as fast as desired, and me abiding all speed limits. Zero to Starbucks elapsed time is irrelevant in the back of beyond.

brians356 · ‎10-03-2021

I'm making a WAG here that you didn't vote for Trump.

brians356 · ‎08-03-2021

Sarah Fisher. I met her in the pits at Phoenix.

brians356 · ‎04-03-2021

If it was paint, I'd be impressed. Vinyl transfer? Meh.

brians356 · ‎26-02-2021

There are people who will tell you your oil will go bad in the sealed original container in a few years. That strikes me as crazy, but there it is. In your crankcase, try to get the oil temperature up to at least 185f for about 20 minutes, to boil off any water or other light compounds. This is per Lycoming air-cooled aero engine insrtructions.

brians356 · ‎26-02-2021

Mobile 1 15W-50 has the desired 1200/1200 ZDDP levels we require for flat-tappet cars.

brians356 · ‎13-02-2021

How about a model? https://livecarmodel.com/products/1-43-ig-ignition-model-toyota-sprinter-trueno-te27-green-car-model.html

brians356 · ‎13-02-2021

Another article about this car: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/toyotafest-spotlight-mike-munizs-1972-sprinter-trueno/

brians356 · ‎13-02-2021

The details of this restoration are incredible. He must be a really nice guy to have enlisted that much support from so many people. I wonder how this model would have done in Trans Am racing against the Datsun 510?

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

> Are you supposed to flatbed your EV somewhere when it dies? No, a Best Buy store will recycle it for free. 😉

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

You must believe that mere best guesses about future climate qualify as scientific theories. Hunches are not even testable hypotheses. There's no proof that humans affect global climate at all. The planet has swung wildly between glaciers and tropical jungles for millions of years. Climate science has become politicized. You can take your fingers out of your ears now, I'm finished.

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

Not since she met me.

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

> range anxiety is a thing, but it is generally overblown in comparison to the actual miles driven per day. I take it you don't live in the wide-open West, or have to drive 700 miles across the sparse western interior to visit an aging parent. Without efficient ICE cars, people in the West will largely be tethered hamstrung.

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

> I know some will say that it is worth it to save us from running out of oil They're not saying that. They're trying to save the planet from globull warming. They'd be happy if we ran out of oil.

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

> Then you have CO2 being classified as a greenhouse gas. Worse. EPA classifies CO2 as a "toxic pollutant".

brians356 · ‎11-02-2021

Gas lasts a long time in the 5-gal containers I keep topped off. And my older cars will likely survive an EMP.

brians356 · ‎10-02-2021

And that entire grid will be taken down a millisecond after a bad CME, or an EMP from an Iranian nuke, or a Chinese cyberattack on our grid control. You laugh.

brians356 · ‎08-02-2021

One fly in the ointment is that a Model T has a gravity fuel feed, and must be backed up steep hills. But, that's a problem with or without snow, so ... why not? 😉 -

brians356 · ‎04-02-2021

My 1992 Honda Civic VX w/ 250k miles on the original engine can beat any EV from my home in Reno to Las Vegas, handily, even if the EV driver speeds as fast as he dares, and I adhere to all speed limits. If we both "top off" in Las Vegas and count the time required (the fair comparison), my time saved is even greater, on the order of 45 minutes.

brians356 · ‎16-01-2021

Uh, the fabulous Harrah's Automobile Collection was in Reno, not Las Vegas. Doesn't Jay Leno own a T87? Surprised that's not mentioned here.

brians356 · ‎18-12-2020

My driver's training car was a '68 Olds, with dual power brake pedals, nothing else. In the final analysis, as long as the instructor was ready to stomp on his brake soon enough, that would be sufficient in most circumstances. That and the fact he was in easy left-hand reach of the steering wheel.

brians356 · ‎08-09-2020

The "1950" Porsche is a 1960 to 1965 356.

brians356 · ‎15-08-2020

The TR6 is about $3k less valuable than the equivalent 1969 Datsun 2000, but I'll take the Japanese reliability, and the Fairlady is oh so pretty!

brians356 · ‎13-08-2020

"... the river from which all tributaries flowed." Eloquent, but impossible. Tributaries flow to the river, never from.

brians356 · ‎11-07-2020

What, no Isuzu Trooper? Somewhere Joe Isuzu is crying in his Fuji beer.

brians356 · ‎26-05-2020

How many of these Metros are still on the road? Darn few. I'm still driving my '92 Civic VX (1.5L VTEC-E 5-spd Hatchback) which was EPA rated 48/55 (later revised down to 39/49), best in the US fleet that year I believe. Today with 245K original miles on the engine, it gives me 38 around town, and I'll wager 50+ highway if I set out to prove it. And with 92 hp in a 2094-lb car, and a low CD of 0.30, it runs circles around my '59 Porsche 356.

brians356 · ‎21-05-2020

That Route 17 commute is one of the most dangerous in America. Officially. So I would not want to spend a couple hours on it every day in a car that doesn't offer substantial occupant protection. For a nimble, extremely economical commuter I could recommend my '92 Civic VX which (at 245,000 miles clocked) yields me 38 mpg around town, and 50 mpg on an open highway. It runs circles around my '59 Porsche 356. But it's very wispy, the doors oh so thin, and road noise high (zero acoustic insulation.) The single airbag - will it even still work? No, not a good commuter for a family man. I'd stay in that LR3, and leave the Prius home for the missus.