Jim Warman

Without knowing a bit more about the salesman, it's a crap shoot... but let's try... You don't say if the guy is a recent hire or not... could it be that he's an entry level wiener and he's lost his chaperone for a while? Or is he a master of salesmanship and has his department snookered as to what he can and can't do? We're sure your neighbout didn't accidentally say Fiesta by mistake - hey, crap happens... Could it be that the salesman "heard" Fiesta... and aren't they "almost" available in NA now? Just because the guy has a cheap suit and dwells in a showroom doesn't mean he knows anything... Nor does it mean he will learn anything. Product knowledge is acquired... the learner has to seek out this knowledge - osmosis doesn't work... Sadly, it isn't just this business... from the toaster you are considering at Walmart to the fast food gut bomb you want for lunch... from the car in your driveway to the TV you watch.. finding definitive answers to questions can be a chore. The human animal is hell bent for election to do as little as possible while hoping for huge gains... Common sense ain't.... FWIW, I hope your neighbours found a salesman that will do his best for them... All we can do is deliver our best and hope for someone elses best in return..

Thanks for the history lesson Sometime you take things a little too literally... FWIW... most Canadians cannot tell you that the last spike was driven at Craigellachie.. of those that do, few can pronounce the name correctly... however.... I was thinking more along the lines of - power window switches. Now, I'm not aware of the statistics, but a window switch that you push DOWN to make a piece of glass go UP was never a good idea. Kids and/or pets could be seriously injured. Finally (and I recall it being the Europeans) someone came up with a switch that you pull UP to make the window go up... The travesty here is that it took so terribly long for this idea to become the industry standard... hydraulic brakes (if you want fun... find a model T and play with it for a while... adjusting the cable operated wheel brakes was a joy... this car is a history lesson all by itself) - it was years before we saw the split master cylinder... Much safer than the old single master cylinder, brake failure can still be a terminal condition... On the subject of hydraulic brakes... it was common to have a hydraulic switch to actuate the brake lights... Ironically, even these old (they don't make 'em like that any more) switches could start to leak whenever they damned well felt like it... And, since we have come full circle in the discussion, we have these new, improved ways of dealing with old tasks... and wouldn't you know it? Parts still fail... Power window switches... leaving a child or a pet unattended in an automobile is grossly irresponsible, quite possibly criminal and just plain stupid... To do it and leave the fucking key in the car at the same time... unfuckingbelievable. The manufacturers were blamed for any injuries or deaths. Hydraulic brakes... people still run out of brake fluid... people still run out of brakes... again - it is that badly designed car and not due to any perceived lack of maintenance or "situational awareness"... Parts still fail.... wheel bearings, brake calipers, transmissions, motors... you name it... If it was designed or built by a man - it's going to break... it's going to wear out. When we deal with the general public, we are dealiong with people that have only one thing in mind. They want to drive to the store or their friends house or to work or whatever... in most cases, all they are looking for is the car to start and then move... as long as it does those two things, they are pleased.... the car may be a piece of shit, but they are still pleased. Often, you wont get to see the car until it wont move anymore... It isn't just <broken> - it is FUCKING BROKEN. I have to think that there is a real good chance that a BPP that is about to burst into flames is going to exhibit some symptoms.... symptoms that will be lost on joe average... This is the same guy that rides around with his "low tire" light on... All the same.... the problem is failed parts.... there is no design flaw in the part (other than choosing any one particular bidder at the wrong time) We have recalls not only because of design or manufacturing issues, we have them in order to avert litigation..... modern man (homo erectus idioticus) will sue anyone and everyone the exact moment he figures that there could be a free lunch. Failed parts are a reality - from the dishwasher that wont to the light bulb that can't.... Now... where would we be without failed parts?

Ermm... weren't we replacing switches that we could identify as leaking? Is this a factlet that we missed? Right now, there is a chance that you will have a flat tire in the next 10 or 15 years... you should rush down to Canadian Tire right now and have your tires replaced with tires that are gaurranteed to never leak.... oops... ain't gonna happen... my bad.... OK... so let's change all of them switches with switches we can be sure ain't gonna leak... What? If we built it, it might go bad? Naw... you're shittin' me.... The switches that were installed weren't supposed to leak.... let's find that purchase order that says "please send us a million switches that will leak"... It is easy to criticise... what is hard is offering a better way to do those things we see as being "bad".... Something I see far too often is someone saying "that is a fucked way of doing that".... The question becomes "how would you do it different?" Soooooooo..... without an alternative solution, we are saying... "let's not do that"... Let's don't do anything because it may not be the "right way". Let's bear in mind that all we have is the advance notice... and all the advance notice indicates is a "modification".... And we will say that this is bad even before we see what it's all about? Call me fucked up... if you tell me I am doing something wrong, show me how to do it right... Don't tell me that I'm fucked and walk away... Criticsm is criticism... (opinions are like assholes) CONSTRUCTIVE criticism... THAT is what built the land we live in.

Kieth bought some !?@#%!????? Did she have a tatoo?

Mice and wires... buncha pussies... you haven't lived until you've seen what a bear can do to a snow machine seat.... Many years ago, there was a woman... One winter, when she started her car, she heard a horrible sound and her generator light came on. She drove straight to the dealer I worked at.... "Did you use to own an orange cat?" "Yes, I have an orange cat....". "OH no you don't....". Life gives us so many opportunities.... to be kind - to be faithful - to be truthful - to be complete assholes....

Sometime this year, we taxpayers may receive an Economic Stimulus payment. This is a very exciting new program. I will explain it using the Q and A format: Q. What is an Economic Stimulus payment? A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers. Q. Where will the government get this money? A. From taxpayers. Q. So the government is giving me back my own money? A. Only a smidgen. Q. What is the purpose of this payment? A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy. Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China? A. Shut up. Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the Canadian economy by spending your stimulus check wisely: * If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China . * If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs. * If you purchase a computer, it will go to India. * If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras, Chile, California and Guatemala. * If you buy a car, it will go to Japan or South Korea. * If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan. * If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore. Instead, keep the money in Canada by: 1 spending it at yard sales, or 2 going to ball games, or 3 spending it on prostitutes, or 4 beer or 5 tattoos.. (These are the only Canadian owned businesses still operating in Canada.) I'm going to go to a ball game with a tattooed prostitute that I met at a yard sale and we're going to drink beer all day!

Robert... what has happened to me... you do a driveway diagnosis... maybe scan codes, chat with the customer... maybe even take the thing for a drive and the concern MIGHT happen if you're lucky..... You come back and say "it is most likely the turbo-encabulator... ". That diagnosis is now CAST IN STONE. The guy changing the part figures he is going to flag a bunch of fake diag time and gets his panties in a wad when your educated guess comes up short. Then somebody prances around cackling about how you were wrong.... all the while forgetting that you had a total of .1 alloted to diag the concern... <SIGH>.... lifes a bitch and then you put your pants on....

It's not going to take much for them to open the pump and notice any lack of lubrication.... a "broken" pump is a lot different from a "worn out" pump.

for removing EGR valves from the 6.4.......

You young'uns... In all honesty, my mind kept reaching back to Jungle Jim Liberman (actually Jungle Pam... but what can I say). Today we have some very powerful cars... but they are like yogurt and tofu.... Electronically refined, they take people and knowledge out of the picture.... tap a computer key here, buy some bolt on thing there... done deal... no knowledge required - but bring your wallet... "Back in the day"... multi engine diggers... "tipping the can".... 71 series Detroit Diesel supercharger (do you realize that, for several years, the exchange price of the blower was LESS than the core deposit?).... "back in the day" the driver would pedal the car just about every run... Cars were "gut bomb" burgers and fries. You couldn't buy a lot of parts... you made 'em.... you couldn't buy a timing curve or a fuel curve or a fuel curve off the internet... you went in search of your own... Matter of fact... you couldn't buy a lot of stuff because you didn't have the coin.... Todays world... you and I are affluent.... yesterday.... nobody was in real good shape, but everyone 'got by'.... Yesterday, we didn't have a real big population of "needy" people... today they are a burgeoning social class. And now I am threatening to hijack my own thread.... If you do not learn from your history - you are DOOMED to repeat it... Yes... I'm fucking talking to you... Jungle Pam was bitchin', the modern world sucks and everybody wants to get paid more for doing less, pay less yet get more.... do all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons.... get forgiven for it.... and act indignant when someone else breaks the moral code we have already broken... Did I mention that lusting after Pam was a 'minor' sin????

Nobody can see how full the wheel wells are? Or the T bars... I'm trying real hard to pretend I can't see the cage... Pretty close to the ultimate sleeper, for sure... Let me furble around and see if I can find something here... Somewhere, I have some RoadRunner pics... the car will pull the front wheels but it isn't caged... don't worry about them cracks in the metal, son - just get in, hold on and shut the fuck up.....

When they started painting your dial in on the windshield is about the time I said phuque it... recreational pharmacology, getting laid and going fast were what I was all about... From where I was sitting, it cost more money to slow a car down than it did to make it to the track... I must be a pretty strange breed of cat... a time slip speaks volumes... if you get a good slip and get beat by something you ain't gonna beat... ya done good.... if you get a shitty slip - ain't nothing matters, anyway. You guys run a pro tree or what? I feel less anguish about that now than I did way back when.... FWIW.. I thought I'd heard about some guys pulling the timing back to slow the car down at the top end... I could be mistaken but then I'm the idiot that can't understand slowing the car down period....

Brutal, indeed... nice car... However, having to apply the brake or rely on a throttle stop or a device that backs up the ignition timing or do any other thing to avoid "going too fast" to win a race is plain wrong.... Todays society is busy breeding mediocraty... nuff said... Yes... fuel stand off is the visible symptom of intake reversion.... (gold star for Aaron... taken away for being a spoiler.... ). You must have also noticed that fuel stand off is more evident on engines with "long" cams. I will admit that back then, we didn't dream of running much over 11.5 or 12. Some of that 13+ has come from both fuel improvements and cam timing improvements (but I'm sure there is something in the heads I can't see... ). Hopefully, I'll get the chance to tune the 500 before I get too fucking old... I'm going to buy some viagra and cut them into quarters... I don't want to start pissing on my shoes....

As a feeble attempt to stop hijacking the previous thread.... Bruce... once you get old (or is that "older"?) you will find that one thing you do very, very well is reminisce... The Boss 429 was a very inpressive sight... even more impressive if you saw one with the valve covers off... But it was the FE series engines that were the most fascinating. It started with the 352 introduced in about 1958 to supplement the Y block engines.... available as 360, 390 406, 410 427 (the 7 liter Ford) and the 428. There was also the 361 and 391 offered in midsized trucks (F600 and F700 IIRC). Most of these were available in two and four barrel attire and some appeared on showroom floors with multiple carbs... two 4 barrels and three 2 barrels were not all that rare (though at prices approaching $500 dollars as an option, they were spendy). Without a doubt, the most intriguing motor would have to be the 427... Most desirable was the side oiler block with a race bread oiul ssystem... IIRC, this was the block you got with the "tunnel port" heads - the pushrods (push tubes to you diesel wieners) passed through the intake ports... in cast in "tunnels". But THE 427 was the SOHC... This engine (along with the Chrysler 2nd generation Hemi.. more later) drove NASCAR into conniption fits and started the steady demise to their current 358 CI engine size limit... but, as usual, I digress... In my reminiscing, I stumbled across this little cornucopia (it IS Thanksgiving in Gods land) http://www.wediditforlove.com/Dunlap.html of drag racing lore.... About half the way down the page, there's a few pics of a Ford Cammer front engine rail car... This is taken after the NHRA fuel ban was lifted.. truly THE Golden Era of Drag racing (unlike the homogenized, mechanical, "timed-clutch-event" racing we see today). However, I understand that this car was, indeed a gasser... For exotic.... the Cammer beats the Boss engines of all sizes hands down... The sidebars (years ago, there was a British TV series called "Up Pompei".... each episode began with Frankie Howerd playing the slave Lurkio unrolling a scroll and saying "the prologue".. the show would be a series of interruptions to that)... The Chrysler Hemi is enjoying it's third generation.... The current generation has squat to do with the 426 and the engines from the era of the horsepower wars (back then stock cars were very much closer to being "stock" cars rather than special built race cars) and the 426 Hemi has nothing to do with the early Hemi(s). I always get fuddled when I think of early Dodges and Desotos... but I do remember being involved with a 331 Hemi and a few 392 Hemis... The big giveaway is the number of head bolts .. also the 392 was a very wide motor. Now... looking at the Cammer... we can be sure we've seen that spark plug arrangement before... Why Ford has chosen to ignore any kind of link to the past while Chrysler plays the Hemi name for all it is worth???? And one last side bar... In the early 50s, Zora Arkus-Duntov (known as the father of the Corvette) designed and marketed cylinder heads for the Ford flathead V8. Made of aluminum with spark plugs in the center of the combustion chamber, these heads could make it hard to distinguish a Chrysler "FirePower" V8 from a Ford flattie conversion in photos of the day. Yeah... that average family sedan vid is awe-inspiring... but, I'm sad to say that this electronically derived, computer generated horsepower is too much like having sex without a partner... Mapping a distributor curve... jet and power valve changes... adjusting valves to affect cam timing... Life was tough... but it was great... Thanks for letting an old guy ramble... Bonus question... who can describe "fuel standoff"?

Nope... this is a different guy... he owns three or four helicopters. He's currently concemtrating on late 60's Mustangs. Dennis is talking about building a bigger garage... but we're worried that putting in a hoist is going to be too much of an attraction for work trucks... Speaking of which... three days of snow and I have to get a scooter over to Dens house...

George, unfortunately, is the man that owns these three Mustangs... I can only lust after these kinds of things.. I do alright, all the same... I get to borrow some pretty exotic rides during the summer months... including an 06 Viper an 06 'Vette (no, not the ZO1 - but exciting enough for old timing man) and a host of mid 60s cars whos owners I "mentor" (while swilling some very expensive booze). Better yet most of these guys bought these cars to "play with".. we expect to break parts, if you catch my drift.

[img:center][/img] Admittedly not a BOSS, still, there is nothing like the sound of a big block V8 to get your juices stirred up...George has three Mustangs and is currently looking for number 4.

Happy whatever to whoever.... I'm heading for the store for the last ingredients for my world famous turkey dressing... and, of course, more beverages...

Not exactly a tiled floor, but IIRC Dwayne has worked on this guys truck....

Back in the day.... we would install the Code Alarm units - the guys that did them lots (Kenny was one) got them down to IIRC about 4 hours or so... tough to compete when the hack down the street is pounding them out in a hour so we just stopped... I spent a long time installing mine (I have done several brands in several makes... not many "repeat performances")... and I'm still not real pleased with the look of the install...

Kenny is the guy in the know about these installs... I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong... The wiring is installed by a third party after the car is built... It isn't done real well (as you can see) and rates right up there with most stereo shop installs

At a place called Indian Cabins, there use to be a little ESSO station... overpriced fuel, mosquitoes so big you'd have to chain your dog down and the best fucking clubhouse sandwich in the world.... That was just this side of the Alberta NWT border... back when you were travelling from one of daddies nuts to the other, I was pulling switches to Indian Cabins when the barges were running.

Ask Dwayne about them grilles....

T'would have been about '94... I walked around the back of a truck that was up on a hoist and did a massive face plant on a big, ugly trailer hitch.... the glasses went down for the count and my sinuses gushed for an hour... At that time, I wore my glasses from the time I got up in the AM until I went to bed at night. Three hours away from a decent optometrist, I could survive for a "while".... Four years ago, I finally addressed the issue. I was told I needed bifocals... since my biggest concern is that my arms aren't long enough to read a book, I opted for reading glasses.. When I had them fitted, I did make it so I could look over the tops of them.... The best part about getting old.... there are more fine looking ladies to gaze at.... with or without spectacles...

Josh... there's often more'n one way to skin a cat.... got any pics of the offending installation?