Jan. 11 Weekly Open Thread
As usual, this is the place for conversation that doesn't belong anywhere else.
We had an interesting chat in the comments of last week's weekly open thread in which many of us expressed our collective resolve to do a better job this year washing, repairing, and generally caring for our own cars. I've found that in the past I have benefited from mutual support on this kind of thing, and so going forward I think we'll talk more about those topics on the blog.
It won't be a dramatic change--the sheer uninformed lust for cars is our core, and we'll never be guilty of being a particularly technical blog--but perhaps we can be a support group of sorts. Car Lust is emphatically not a good resource for advice on spark plug gapping, for example, but as I try to figure out how to work on my car myself, I'll share some of my mistakes with you. And if any of you restore a car or simply keep a fading but beloved car alive, make sure to share it with the group. Just speaking personally, your example will help comfort me when I have the Audi's hood up and I'm staring into the maw of the engine with an icy ball materializing in the pit of my stomach.
--Chris H.
Dave7 on January 11, 2010 at 01:43 PM
Screw ups? Yeah I got a nice one from last week. My oh so fancy k-car failed to start one morning. I've been fighting a running rich condition lately so it might be related but I swap around batteries and try a few things before snagging the wife's minivan to take to work. Of course I forget to drop the hood and then it snows ... with predictable results.
picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/4252356749/
Chris Hafner on January 11, 2010 at 01:45 PM
I'm so hilariously bad with maintenance. I'll go more in-depth when I finally do a Car Lust on my Audi Coupe GT, but I've tried several things on that car now with, uh, indifferent results.
Oh, and I washed my '03 Accord yesterday, and that was fine, except I wound up with some strategically placed waxy residue that I can't understand and can't seem to remove.
Argh.
Collin on January 11, 2010 at 02:22 PM
In my short career of owning and maintaining an automobile, I've learned one very important thing. Don't work on your car angry.
That Car Guy on January 11, 2010 at 02:34 PM
Please don't laugh, but I'd love to do a restoration on this thing if it isn't too rusted out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280447288544&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Ever since I wrote the post on these ( http://www.carlustblog.com/2009/08/1969-lincoln-continental-executive-limousine.html ), I've been wanting one bad. Good ones start at $15,000.
At this stage, if the body was sound, it could be built back exactly the way I want LOL.
Am I crazy?
That Car Guy on January 11, 2010 at 02:59 PM
Oh, Chris, where exactly is the unremovable wax build-up? On rough black or gray plastic, by any chance?
Anthony Cagle on January 11, 2010 at 04:27 PM
OMG. I would nearly kill for one of those. . . .
john bono on January 12, 2010 at 06:55 AM
Ok, since this is the open thread, I have a question: Where did all the '80s Audis go? I was looking for a summer fun car, and thought it would be nice to get an Audi Quattro Coupe, or a 200 Quattro Turbo, or a V8 quattro, and I can't find any Audis, of any kind within 200 miles of my house in northern fairfield county.
What happened? Did Audi-stealing aliens come and take them to their home planet?
Anthony Cagle on January 12, 2010 at 07:44 PM
My family has an odd split personality when it comes to car maintenance. My dad and sister are (or used to be at least) abysmal at it, while my mom, brother and I are pretty good about keeping them clean and taken care of. I don't wax as often as I should, but I wash and check the oil regularly. And pay attention for problems (you know, with a '78 it's almost required to keep from being stranded). I used to do a lot of my own basic work, especially when I had that [censored] Buick where I had to clean and/or change the rotator in the distributor cap all the time. My trouble has been lack of garage space and the proper tools. But, you know, I don't mind shilling it out for a mechanic; I have other things to occupy my time besides car maintenance.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on January 15, 2010 at 08:44 AM
Interesting phenomenon in my family: once I acquired a maintenance-intensive vintage car, my 13-year old suddenly got interested in automotive maintenance. He's practically ripping the tools out of my hands and shoving me away every time I open the hood.