Summer Draws to a Close...

Update from Mass, well I've been heading to Maine almost every weekend, nothing like camping on Chebeauge, jumping off piers at low tide, swimming in the Atlantic, cruising on Linda R, spending time on Eagle Island, and partying with friends!

Just picked up a motorcycle on the cheap, from our master mechanic, put in a battery and she came to life, I fixed the left turn signal, all operations go, I may put this on the road if I can get the title lapse worked out. It is street legal, the Trailway debuted in 1987 and is still manufactured identically today, a mainstay in the Yamaha line-up. Hailed for it's awesome reliability, and offroad capabilties, the fat rear tire keeps you hooked up and grinning. While the bike tops out on the road around 55 mph (the rear sprocket was upgraded by a tooth by Joe) this bike is perhaps the best of both worlds, very easy to ride and fun in the mud and sand. This bike has around 8k miles on it, a scary affair had it not been owned by a 30 year mechanic. So for $300 I'll most likely enjoy it for a bit and sell it for a profit in the near future.

Check out the pics below, the mantown stable is full of tools, chemicals, and fun!

Interesting Article

Or perhaps one may deduce such short lifespans may be wrought in the very futility this culture manifests!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/13/life.expectancy.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Weekend Wrap-up

Almost everything on my list was accomplished, I did not get to cleaning the house or working on the interior finish work on the addition room, guess I have to leave something for the week!

The Explorer has been sold, the cash awaits a deposit to the bank, I'll turn in my tags to the RMV tomorrow and will be glad to drop my insurance policy.

The shot of the backyard shows how radical the grape vine has grown, obliterating the view of the neighbors backyard, despite my Greek neighbor's request to trim the bush so it will yield fresh grape leaves, sorry lady, ain't private property a bitch!?

This week will be an interesting one. I will be taking off Wednesday and Thursday for a quick trip to the West coast, for business of course. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Non-Stop Weekend

Well this weekend I stayed at my house to accomplish some major to-do's made the list and started shredding them this morning.

1. Inflate Ford tires
2. Wash Ford
3. Empty stuff
4. Show at 12:00 (guy made an offer)
5. Replace front brake rotors on Toyota
6. Mow the lawn
7. Weedwack

The above have been completed, here is what I have left:

8. Trim bushes
9. Haircut
10. Laundry
11. Bills
12. Finish wiring addition room
-wire in light switch
-install room exhuast fan
-install two wall sconce lights
13. Sheetrock / mud addition room (not sure if I'll get all this done....)

Here are the highlights so far: went down in basement to find 16 inch breaker bar to help me get the caliper brake bolts off, anyways I see a puddle in the corner of the basement, the two connection around the city water meter were leaking, called the town and a guy came and replaced them. One was leather and one was gone! Two fresh rubbers made her dry again.(interesting wording?)

Alright, well I had picked up a couple Brembo rotors on the cheap, some high quality stuff, my Yota had some minor chatter / wheel pulse at high speed braking and I'm not one to let something be wrong for too long, so anyways went at it. The caliper bolts were seized on pretty good, I snapped the male end of a 3/8" 2 inch exension off leaving the nub stuck in the socket! Must have had something to do with the 8ft breaker bar I was using! Levers can make for some super torque! Alas I had a couple back-ups, with my trusty can of PB Blaster (i swear by this stuff, throw out your WD-40! I use PB Blaster for stubborn rusted crap and 100% Silicone for lubing up just about anything, another staple, aerosol white lithium grease in a can! Essentials)
Worked away, well the left front rotor was the learning side, a couple hours to get those bolts loose, I used a vise to compress the pistons, zip tied the caliper to the A-arm (keeps from tweaking the brake lines) popped off the rotor and slid on the new one! I took the oppurtunity to clean the inside of the wheel. I greased the hub and behind where any metal connects, you can see the blue brake specific high temp grease on the surfaces, this makes for easier tire changes and prevents you from having to power slam the wheel off the hub on a highway side tire change, your keeping New England salt from rust seizing your rotors and wheels and hub all together. While every jack will say NEVER USE JACK to SUPPORT vehicle, I just make sure if it gives way there are a stack of wood for something solid to land on instead of crushing your head, hand, or chest under the vehicle. The passenger side was a breeze, it took me about 25 minutes to do the whole thing. Below I attached some pics not in any specific order, the first is the old caliper (the chatter while braking is due to the rotor being out of true, while you can have someone "turn" your rotor, essentially cutting the rotor back to round, it's not worth it. Not only are you taking life off the rotor (removing metal) there is no guaruntee it will be true again, also the removal of metal can sometimes alter the heat dissapation characteristics of the rotor thus warping it back to crap. While generic rotors can be had for $10-$20 each I decide to buy the best, my Brembo's retail for $140 each, I scored them for $55 bucks each. The pads had 90% life left, I just cleaned them with brake cleaner and will run them. So far I've bought 2 rotors $115 with tax, and paid to have my tires re-balanced and rotated $36. Now she rides true without any vibration with nice rotors to last 100k.

Tom's Used Car Lot

It's official, after a long hunt I finally found my next vehicle, just picked up a 2002 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Auto 2.7 4WD, that's the best fuel economy 4X4 in the market, with the least depreciation in the truck market.

The other day I was putting away some piled up clothes that were on the guest room bed, one was a TRD shirt my dad gave me x-mas's ago when I had the 1993 Toyota Extended Cab delux! I knew there was a reason I held on to it!

After some frustrating dealership shopping I decided some scum ball Massachusetts dealers don't deserve to make any money on me, I was the first response on a craigslist post, 5 days later the new Toyota is in the driveway!

Photos will be added only after I get her reconditioned to my standards, needs another wash, full underbody detail, Power buff wax, interior detailing etc. She's pretty dang clean now, but she'll be showroom.

Been so busy I've missed a few dinners lately, between trying to wrap up the final few house projects, and now I'm sitting on 3 cars! I have to unload the Explorer, I'll take a short sack to move it quick.

The Porsche sits on jack stands in the garage, I don't have big enough balls to tackle the timing myself, I'll put some Explorer sale proceeds towards getting the timing, and an oil seal done to get her back on the road. The worst thing for any car is just to sit.

Well that's all, get to enjoy a full two day weekend, that's Saturday and Sunday! WOW, a weekend like the rest of America! But just for the month of August!

Now I've get to trim down my assets and get dynamic, my goal is to be done with the Explorer, have it sold in 30 days. Starting now!