clay - not just for making ashtrays!

Posted by redfordie, Sep 12 2006, 02:01 PM

Well, i mean a different clay. Yup! Clayed the car last weekend. Who'd have thought a piece of what looks like silly putty would do such wonders?? Car looks better now than when I bought it second hand from the dealership. I used the Mother's kit that included the bar,detailer and carnauba wax for $16 at Advance Autoparts. Most important of all, it got rid of the mess the Fuxit wash had left me with. Never again will I take my car to one of these places! As for mods this week: First off I dyed the rear deck a cherry red to go with the dash etc. Took a bit of time and a couple of star drives but looks really good. I had thought about replacing the deck with new carpet or something, but Im an impatient bastard, so there we have it. Also while I was in there, I removed the center seatbelt. Currently waiting on the clearcoat on my spoiler to cure so I can get that put on soon. Ordered some red/silver decals for the wheels and emblems and also a Remus stainless dual tip muffler for the ass end. The wife wont like it, but then - she 'aint drivin' it !!

Will probably have some new pics next monday.

You're the manager? PFFFFTT!

Posted by redfordie, Aug 28 2006, 03:51 PM

Well, after my close encounters of the tractor-trailer kind! I decided to take the 'tour down to the local carwash-a-torium to use a 30 buck giftcard I had recently accquired and get the girl all nice and shiny through someone elses labour, not mine. I wish I hadnt filled up with gas that morning so that I would have ended up marooned on Route 10! That way my car would not have made it to the place where they wash and try to remove any color from your vehicle location. Oh, before I get to the results of said cleaning, I must comment on tipping once again. This was the first time I have ever let anyone other than me wash my car, therefore this whole valet wash deal is virgin territory to me. (In Scotland you never have to wash your car as it perpetually rains. And if you do, all you need to do is to throw some carwash solution on it and walk away!)
So as im watching a small army of terry-cloth armed teens buzz around my motor, I notice a sign on the wall that says: "Tipping Greatly Appreciated". "Fair enough I muse....wait!...oh F*ck.. I dont have any cash!..bollocks!" Its at this time I hear some music, "catchy tune - that.....wait a moment.....those F*ckers have my stereo cranked up!!" "Bastards!!" Knowing fine well I turned the volume all the way down, someone decided to put my tunes on. Im like "well there goes your non-existant tip" I guess i am partially to blame for not removing my head units faceplate, but theres no need to use my stereo like a display model at frikin' wal-mart!. So I jump in the car and drive home. When i get home, i find to my horror that my paint now looks worse than when it was dirty. Albeit clean, theres these nasty opaque dribble lines and smears from the ass-end to the front. Its on the headlights and everything. I lost it when i looked at my once perfect OEM alloys. They are spattered white with what looks like acid or some sh*t and none of this is wiping off.
Livid, I phone the fuxit-wash place to complain. They say they are closing in 20 mins, can I make it?
Yeah I'll be there in 5 (BTW its a 15min drive!) 7.9mins later I get there and ask to see Phill the manager. Out comes Phill, he's 17 with an IQ to match! He looks at my car, "...oh yeah, ...yeah this will come out....yeah...you wanna know why this happened?" Phill asks. "Yeah, wtf happened" I ask. He says " Yeah this happened 'cause your car, like didnt have any wax on it when you brought it here." In my head im boiling over, I just want to punch him in his spotty face! My car has more coats of wax on it than my dining room table! " Yeah if you wanna like bring it like back tomorrow, I can like put a coat of wax on it" Phill utters. So I accept his feeble offer and tell him I would be back on sunday. I never went back, not cause im a pussy or anything. I just did not need another thing going wrong. So this labour day weekend, im going to take my time and all day if necessary and give it a proper detail with all the trimmings.

NB No seventeen year olds were harmed during this episode, this was a select idiot and I apologise If i generalised all 17 year olds in this manner. Sorry.

Dave.

"Im calling for backup! NO wait! Dont backup!!"

Posted by redfordie, Aug 22 2006, 07:53 AM

I thought I'd add a copy of my entry in Readers Rides here.

Been working on my 'tour for a while, and she hasnt been driven for a week or so. So decided to take it down the jet-wash and get the grass , pollen and other garden related muck off. Got down the end of my street and came up behind this tractor-trailer, and we both sat there for 5 mins waiting for the traffic to clear. Eventually the truck gets a spot and starts moving out. As he gets to the midddle of the intersection, this A-hole comes across from the other side of the street and blocks the truck off! With traffic now approaching from his left hand side, the trucker slings it into reverse and starts backing up quickly! im like " WTF!, oh, you're F*@#king Kidding me!!" Im now scrabbling to get the tour into reverse, but too late.
CRUNCH! So I stand on the anchors and the horn whilst cursing a blue cloud 'till he finally stops. There was the sound of 4 tires sliding and things goin' crunch. I thought the trailer was gonna end up coming thru the windshield. then the truck starts pulling forward as if he's gonna go off down the road, so I jump out and yelled..." HEY, WHERE THE F@CK DO YOU THINK YOU"RE GOIN????" he shouts and says he's turnin it about.
So after about 5 smokes in 3minutes i start to calm down and have a look at my front end fearing the worst.
The only thing damaged was the license plate holder, the plate and a fake chrome trim, two crease lines in the paint and that was it. he got his boss out and we agreed it wasnt worth the cops and i got all the damage paid for with new OEM parts and a full detailling out of the drivers pocket. Needless to say, Im giving truckers a wide berth, If you wanna be between me and a trailer, go for it, rather yours than mine![/size]

ATX Shifter LED....

Posted by redfordie, Aug 8 2006, 11:06 AM

Ok, heres my how-to on putting a small LED in the ATX gearshift selector for a pre'98 center console:

Once you've removed the facia from the console, flip it over and this is what you'll be staring at:

You will see seven black spots on the white plastic, this is where the white part is joined is joined on to the facia. I chose to carefully drill these out and then use a blunt end screwdriver and a bit of gentle persuasion to pry the two apart. The white plastic and facia are fairly forgiving but just take it easy as there are two small springs that are between the P/D/N/R/2/1 plate and the facia. Then gently lift this plate on the left hand side and slide out and to the left. You should now be looking at this:



The red rings indicate recesses for the two small springs.



Now where the Orange selector is, I removed the orange with an Xacto knife. Then drilled a 3mm hole in the center of the clear plastic and inserted my chosen LED. Due to my own daftness I used same coloured wire for both sides! Whoops! Choose a wire that is flexible enough as it has to move with the shifter. After soldering to the LED with a suitable resistor be sure to make it look like this as your resistor and wire have to run in a channel in the white plastic. This I will show you below.

please excuse my soldering ability

The arrow points to the channel where you will run your wire. Its also where the resistor will nestle in for clearance issues.

Now your're ready to put it back together, remember the two fiddly bastard springs and put it together in the reverse of how you took it apart. In the picture below, mine isnt complete as i havent glued the facia to the white part yet as Im painting the facia ( need to color sand it etc etc..) but when back together on the front it should look like this:


Yes i am aware that the slider surround for the shifter has a dirty big split in it. I accidently poked my finger through it ! Again, Whoops! Im gonna fix that with some heavy duty black electrical tape.

Now as to hookin' it up in yer motor, thats up to you where you run 12v from. I plan to draw from the shifter light with a couple of snap-on bridge clips. This means that when it turn on all the interior lights, the shift selector light will come on too. I will be posting a picture of how it finally looks soon.