Car Lust

June 17 Weekly Open Thread: More "Study Hall" Drawings

Last week, we Car Lust automotive designers doodlers presented a couple of high school "Study Hall" drawings for your amusal and perusal. We're hoping to do a presentation with a bunch of these in an upcoming post, and need your help with this historic deed.

Any vehicular rendering is welcome. Planes, trains, trucks, wheelbarrows, rickshaws, whatever. Also, something was said about customized erasers, and they are invited as well.

So please forward any artwork images to the office at: CarLustInfo@Amazon.com, or send them on to me at cpl-1617@Hotmail.com. Maybe we can put something together for a post around the 4th of July.

On an unrelated note, somebody in my home town has purchased one of the original TV Batmobiles. It has been seen driving around town and was also spotted at a local car show. I hope to see the car in person soon, meet the new Bat-owner, and do a follow-up story.

And as usual, this is also the place for any fair discussions on anything else even remotely automotive related.

--That Car Guy (Chuck)

Image Credits: The "Study Hall" drawing is courtesy of Tigerstrypes; the Batmobile Bat-picture was taken by my friend Kelly Harwood on his Bat-cell phone.

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June 10 Weekly Open Thread: High School "Study Hall" Drawings

June 10 Weekly Open Thread: High School "Study Hall" Drawings

We've all done it. Let's admit it.

And while cleaning out the attic a few days ago, I found some of mine... the old high school study hall car and truck drawings. Survivors of decades of heat, cold, arid air, and neglect.

They weren't plentiful... I'm sure more are around somewhere. In fact I remember at least two more sheets of these developmental designs. And they do give a period insight, having been scribbled in the early to mid 1970s.

My car was called the Targa Cheetah, being the fastest car on the planet, and it had electrically-operated sliding roof panels. The car was available in either the 2-Door Sport Model or a 4-Door Luxury Landau. I was later quite saddened when I found out Lamborghini was going to use my car's name on a truck.

The Targa roof style always had me enamored, but it took almost 40 years to write about it. And when Aston Martin copied my straight-lined beauties for their Lagonda... well, the case was gonna be in court for years.

One Big Project (Finis)

Last week, as you recall, I started yapping about replacing the folding top on the 12-year-old Miata. The top was dirty and worn, was beginning to let light through, it leaked, and it stank a little bit. The leak had soiled the rear deck carpet and turned it from tan to moldy black, so that was to be replaced as well.

I had decided to replace the front floor carpet while the seats were out with a new piece from the Mazda dealer. And, by chance, I found some brand new Miata floor mats online from an out of state Mazda dealer. They match perfectly and even still have that "New Car Smell."

So, off we went. The fiddly bits and the old top were removed, and soon the new one was being screwed, glued, bolted, squeezed, and riveted on. I saved the old top for a while for references.

A Miata is tiny until you bring it into the house. Luckily, I had an empty room to store the carpets, seats, the old roof, and the small parts.

May 27 Weekly Open Thread: One Big Project

The little Miata is over 12 years old now. And I believe it still has its original canvas top. The reasons I say that are because the top is well worn, it's starting to split and come apart, and it kind of stinks.

I did some research into a new top. One from Mazda costs about $1,500, plus the labor of putting it on. Also, while the car was to be apart, I decided new carpets were in order, especially the piece under the rear window. Parts of it had turned from tan to black due to mold.

By chance, I found some new old stock (NOS) tan Miata floor mats online; they were close enough (the original Miata SE model had green embroidery on tan mats; they are no longer available). And in case you wondered, just the carpet pieces were about a thousand smackers. Oh the pain... the pain.

But a neighbor down the street has had three Miatas in the family at one time. They are down to one now, as the kids have either sold off their roadsters or moved away. Their son has replaced three Miata tops, but he now lives about two thousand miles away. But at least I knew the project could be done at home.

I did more research and found a suitable, similar, tan canvas top. With an installation kit that included new springs, some glue, and an instruction manual, plus an extra fastener removal tool, the tab came to about $600. Soon a couple of big boxes arrived, and then yours truly went to work.

March 18th Weekly Open Thread: The Borg Edition

With this entry, we continue (sort of) our series of Star Trek Cars, although this one may actually be more deliberately Trekkian in origin than those others. For those unfamiliar with this whole "Borg" thing, I direct readers to the relevant Wikipedia page:

Borg is a collective proper noun for a fictional alien race that appears in various incarnations of the Star Trek franchise. The Borg are a collection of species that have been turned into cybernetic organisms functioning as drones of the collective or the hive. A pseudo-race, dwelling in the Star Trek universe, the Borg force other species into their collective and connect them to "the hive mind"; the act is called assimilation and entails violence, abductions, and injections of cybernetic implants. The Borg's ultimate goal is "achieving perfection".

I actually find this to be a fascinating concept, something of a melding of different science fiction end-of-the-world scenarios. Instead of a purely biological (e.g., Invasion of the Body Snatchers) or machine (e.g., The Terminator, The Matrix) entity or collective taking over humanity, with the Borg we have a combination of the two. I should also point out, however, that this isn't an entirely new concept. Among probably others with which I am unfamiliar, the Dr. Who series also had a species of cyborg -- the Cybermen -- attempting to absorb other species into their collective, although the Borg took the concept to a higher level, being possessed of a 'hive mind" rather than justa large collection of autonomous beings with a common goal.

Admittedly, this is all just a nerdy prologue to the car of the week provided here. I have no idea what the story behind this car is; the photos were sent to me by a colleague from the University of North Dakota. I've not even determined what make/model/year it originally was. Apparently, this "Borg car" has often been seen parked near the engineering building, and she decided to snap a couple of photos. An engineering student's project car? A Trekkie's project car?

Or could it be. . . .

Car Lust Classic: Project: 2001 Dodge Caravan headlight lens restoration

Well, it's winter here on the North American continent, and a few inside repair jobs on the cars may be in order. Here's some great information from Big Chris on headlight lens restoration. This is timely advice, since we're in some of the shortest daylight of the year right now.

If you have a comment, please go to the original post and add it there. Thanks!

On a steamy July night I decided it was time to fix the headlight lenses on my 2001 Dodge Caravan. As you will see in the videos, over time they have gotten very dingy and yellowed. My solution to the problem was to use 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System which is available through our hosts here on Amazon.com and for my final step I used Meguiar's #10 Clear Plastic Polish.

I used the Meguiar's #10 because I have that on hand from polishing the windshield on my motorcycle. Another final step option is Meguiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish which might have a wider application of uses, but I didn't have any on hand.

The 3M system is awesome in that it uses a drill to do all the work. I had previously attempted this project on my wife's car by hand with other products (a hand sanding kit with multiple grits and polishing compound) and halfway through the first lens my arms were shot, and the lens was only about 20% better, not nearly totally clear like they are with this 3M setup.

1985-2005 GMC Safari / Chevrolet Astro (M-body platform)

(Submitted by Car Lust reader and commenter Tigerstrypes)

 

Car Lust has discussed a bit on the M-body twins, the Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari (but mostly the Astro) on the Face-Off series as they battled it out with their cousins, the “Dustbuster” minivans. Judging by the results and by the comments, the Astro/Safari won, though it must be said that the “Dustbusters” gave them a ride for their money. In said article, we find this rather summarizing piece of information:

“The Astro and its Safari twin debuted in 1985 and represented GM's first response to the revolutionary and amazingly successful Chrysler minivans. The Astro was an odd fit in the segment--perhaps unsurprisingly, considering it was a 1980s GM product, the Astro represented an attempt to compete with the ground-breaking Chrysler minivans without really capturing what made them so special.

October 22 Open Thread - Fine Line Between Awesome and Insane

It's the internet.  Full of entertaining things that run the razor's edge between nuts and "Why didn't I think of that?"  As the father of a 3 year old, I'm tempted to replicate the following video but we'll do it as a father-son trike.  Neighborhood walks will never be the same again!

 

 

I'd make room in my garage!  Anybody any have any fun projects you are working on?  Projects sitting gathering dust in the corner of the garage?  Waiting for parts, time, or more likely money to move to the next stage?

 

As always, this is the place for all the other things that might not fit under our other threads.  Pull up a seat, crack your favorite relaxing beverage, and share with us for a spell.

--Big Chris

In the Garage of the Mountain King

YouTube user "nothinghereok," who lives in the UK, made a visual record of his rebuild of a Triumph four-cylinder engine. The music is "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Teardrop Trailers

Recently, in the top-secret Car Lust underground bunker, garage, test facility, and broken soft drink vending machine storage area, one of our own contributors said that maybe we should write more about "forgotten or bizarre cars."

Well, I thought we had been doing that, at least a little, but ok. So in response to that challenge, I'd like to present one of the least known and used forms of RV travel and camping ever... the mighty mini Teardrop Trailer.

But first, a lot of folks share the Top Gear presenters' opinions of RVs... that they are slow, they clog up the highways, and use up too much fuel. They have even done several films showing their dismay of "caravans" and the like. A teardrop does none of that traffic hinderment... these miniscule mobile homes are extremely lightweight, and add almost no drag at all to any vehicle that is pulling them.

I was first exposed to these moving microbial mansions in 1979, when my friend whose family had the '69 Buick Riviera brought one home. Each of our group had RVs of some description during our high school/college days, and this trailer was his contribution to our makeshift campground. I had a '68 Ford 1/2-ton pickup with a small camper on the bed, but that's another story.

He bought the trailer as a "fixer-upper," and we helped him where we could. Electrically-minded Dave ran wires, attached lights, and installed a 12-volt fan. I could use a jigsaw and a drill, so installing the panelling and the skylight/vent were my jobs. So was reattaching the hatch when it fell off which, luckily, was only once.