Finally!

I was beginning to worry that we were gonna have another winter like last year.

Rally is now officially back-burnered :(

Yesterday evening I registered for classes at Hennepin Technical College In Eden Praire, MN.
That both excites me and dissapoints me. Happy because I am moving on with my life and getting an education. Sad because I am not going to be able to do everythign I want for the next couple years. I will be hard pressed to afford even attending Rallyes for a while, much less building my car.

Still unsure about life in general...but I will try my best I guess.
On a more upbeat note: the E30 lives! Everything Is back together and operates as well as It can right now. The lack of power steering kinda sucks; but makes driving that much more raw and entertaining. I do need to get it patched up though. Possibly a new steering rack as it appears the fluid is simply flowing out the ends of the rack. A factory stereo bumps the tunes and the electrics are sketchy and the thing smells bad. What a car!!

LOL
-G :)

Why are apartment prices so messed up?

Okay so I am reporting live from the Midwest city of twins: Minneapolis...actually New Brighton at the moment. And I spent the last couple days looking over apartment prices and then driving around and actually physically going out to look at a couple this sunday. and...This stuff is ridiculous!!

I went through Hopkins and Eden Prairie to look at places and here is what i got: I will not be living in a half-decent 1 bedroom apartment for less than $600 a month. and could likely pay $750. That is for ONE MONTH of living. That is incredible. Is housing really at that much of a premium that stuff costs this much? Right now I make $11 an hour living in a dinky town in Northern WI and I could afford that if I had too...but that is me living in a rent free house not anywhere near minneapolis. It's crazy and i really don't understand it all.

Its depressing. I'm sure my brother will laugh at this since he has lived in A^2 for a long time...but I also don't know how he affords it either! so ha! :(

so it looks like I will definatley have to up the ante in my life very soon and take on both full time school and full time work just to have a roof over my head. I hope I have it in me.

As for the cars: The Bronze car will hopefully be running again soon now that I have all the head parts to put it back together. Hopefully the rest of the car is in good enough shape for it to run after all this!!!
The red car still is gathering dust. Zero status change.
The Silverado has brake problems, likely warped rotors. Still has a clunk up from somewhere. And the Vent distribution knob froze up...no idea whats up with that.
The KZ is on the eBay Auction block. and if that falls apart then it's parting out time! woohoo. and the remainder goes to Reubens. yay.

Okay, Gabe- out! :?

May the car Gods SMITE the moron!

oh pitiful misery of disaster. May you call on "GLI_ryan" and smite him badly for being such a stupid guy.

So, after a massive injection of money into the E30 prerunner project car; I broke 4 rocker arms and bent at least 4 valves in the head. So obviously I had to find out what went wrong. I discovered the timing marks were off, and after I thought about it I realized they had moved since I first tried to change the timing belt.

and tonight i finally discovered what happened this whole time. There was no key holding the timing gear to the crank. Seriously; that is the stupidest thing EVAR!! It hadn't fell out (they can't) and there was zero evidence of there having been a key in the correct slot any time in the recent past. Gawd I just want to drive up to Duluth and smack that kid for overlooking something that important and then selling it to me! (or maybe I should smack myself for buying the car off him when he was obviously a sub-par mechanic)

so, hopfully tomorrow my valve spring tool will arrive and I can rebuild the head and get it all back together some time before next week! in time for Ze Rallye!!! woohooo!!!

oh look there goes the time!

okay so it has been a forever since I posted on here! whoops. Well I'll give a little recap.

I bought another bmw. a 1989 325i 2dr. So far I have blown up the valvetrain once, and...thats about it. Haven't even driven it out of my driveway! It was supposed to be a cheap daily driver for when I move to the Twin Cities this winter.

Going back to school is still in the plans, so Is moving to Minneapolis area to pursue those dreams. It is becoming very aggravating to keep my life on track but I am trying hard.

So that is the last several months in a nutshell.

In two weeks Leann and myself are headed to Da UP for POR (Lake Superior ProRally) for some rallying action. I hope I can get her a ride in a car!

I'm also debating what to do with BahntechnicII since I will not have enough space for three cars in an aparment complex :( Who knows. Nobody wants to buy it as is...so It might go to the crushers. if thats the case I'm taking some of Dad's garage for an engine stand and tranny storage! heheh.

okay thats it for now. more later some time.

-Gabe :)

The Bike is Alive!!

okay so yesterday I got 4 boxes from the post office...and honestly didn't know what was in them. Turns out they were all motorcycle parts! woohoo!

So I sped home as fast as I could and started re-assmlbing the carbs off my 1980 Kawasaki KZ650B. Things were much better with the assistance of a manual! I rebuilt the accelerator pump and the vacuum pump thingy next to it, and reassembled everything with new float bowl gaskets. A little silicon on the intake boots and some new gas line and presto: looked like new! almost.

I wheeled the bike out into the driveway and went full choke and a little throttle. Kick 1; sputter sputter. Kick 2; ZZZZZZZZIIIIPPPP zam! 4000rpm idle!! woot. choke down and close the hand thottle and sure enouigh the idle goes down and it doesn't die. I give the throttle a twist and sure enough a roaring sound comes form the exhuast instead of the usual rattling gasping death! YAY!!!

Now I need an idle screw so the damn thing stops dieing every time I close the throttle. Then new tires and a headlight and I might have a usable bike!

I am like so excited! yay.

-G :D

Poor Jan...

So...in case some of you haven't noticed I follow things Czech whenever I can. And WRC Finland was last month and poor Jan Kopecky(Czech driver) in his Skoda(Czech car) had a rather nasty little bump. As Follows:

and now...The News!

I haven't posted much lately...since my life is in the usual standstill that it ends up in.

I've been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend lately, which does indeed greatly detract from the amount of time spent moping about over my car and dead motorcycle. But I view it as a good thing.

I need to start planning for my move to the twin cities around christmas, and everything else involved in that, as well as clean out the garage of all my shit and figure out what to do with the Bimmer.

I am also still trying to persue Rally. The bmw is on hold but another Suzuki Swift recently came up for sale for a totaly decent $3000 price tag...which is about the cost for a roll cage...so it would be a crime NOT to! We will see.

and on life goes...

-G :)

Appearantly the bottom line is...

...is that if both your parents are educated people who have some money saved up the government wants you to go fuck yerself and pay for your schooling out of your own pocket.

I recently updated my FAFSA since I want to go back to school and guess what it says: EFC-35,000 something. What a farce!! A real joke. That is way more than I make in a year, and neither of my parents are able to put down that kind of money for me (no matter how I beg them it wouldn't happen).

It all makes me sick. I can't afford a car, an apartment and schooling while going to school full time. It actually kind of depresses me...not like thats really surprising.

meh
-G :(

The new website!!

okay so i just noticed that I made no mention of my new website on this here blog!

Bahntechnic

Yes it is the new home to all of my useless webstuff and an attempt at giving my rally dreams some reenforcement during the down moments in the process.

Currently I have just the basics and generals. Who I am, a notice looking for a navigator, and a little blurb about the car. Thats all for now but I am working on a new CSS layout to kind of spice things up a little bit in the cosmetics department. w00t

-G

still nothing.

Well It has certainly been a while since I've posted here. I've been slowly working on the bahntechnic.com website. And not so much working on my car. I recently messed up the wiring system by disassembling one of the "splice boxes". Hopefully I can return that piece to some extent of functionality. Basically after the wiring is out I can begin the roll-cage negotiations with Davenport Racing. I recently gave up on using specialstage.com for useful information after I got flamed badly by some ass from the west coast who obviously enjoyed the lime-lite. *shrug*

Other than the rally car my life is in a general low right now. My coworker Rob is leaving for Green Bay after this week and then another couple weeks Leann is leaving NETI as well. The first a great coworker who cheers me up, the second an attractive young woman that I have basically ignored all summer. Both of them are bettering themselves and I am still here. I hope that their departure will inspire me enough to get the F out of here and on with my life. Why do things have to be so difficult sometimes?

peace out
-G

Oh my...that was too fun.

http://www.hostpaste.com/mlspr_2007/

There is proof that I was there!! woohoo!

This last weekend was my first ever coefficient! I co-drove for Chad E. in his 88 VW GTI, which as some of you may know is the car I usually crew for.

I am waiting for a copy of the in-car and some pictures...but really I am lost for words in how to describe it all. I was absolutely amazed and so excited and it was SOOOOOoo fun. I hope Chad didn't mind my ballast in the car too much, I'm afraid as a first time co-driving I barely knew what was going on, but I tried hard.

The go-karts afterward were an excellent relief device after a long day in the car. Also thanks to Jeff Moyle for have a couple of us over at his house...and for finding my wallet sunday night. (whoops)

thats all for now,
-G :)

The In-car from stage 7 (the best in-car from the day IMHO) http://www.putfile.com/dtmracerx
Bad video from a sectator (very shakey)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7781343220885169424
More Spectator vid

ups and downs

wow, 11 days since I posted here and so much has happened! ahhhhhhhhh
Lets start at the beginning.

Shooting Star/Northern Lights Rallies
I drove the 300+ one-way miles to Mahnomen, MN to partake in the Coefficient 1&2 action! I did a midway overnight at Duluth to break up the drive but man that northern MN stretch of US 2 is rediculous.
Got to the rally, met up with Chad and Jay finally (cell phones don't work out there in the sticks) and got the show rolling. The #687 VW Golf got a face lift since the roll at last years Lake Superior ProRally. It now sports a tasty orange/yellow paintjob applied by car owner himself: Chad Eixenberger. When asked about the new paint all he had to comment was "it's fucking yellow already"

Luckily both days were very uneventful for the car. Not even a single puncture the whole event! Overall not the best showing of speed either; but they did finnish!!

Sadly, on Saturday night i came down with a heavy fever while at Service. Which leads to part two:
Probable Lyme Disease.

I had a rather bad night Saturday and could barely sleep through the fever and headache. Sunday I managed to drive myself back to Duluth, stopping only once to sleep for an hour. There I took on some food and pretty much colapsed. From there on out the fever worsened to the point that my father took me to the ER on Monday night. That really accomplished nothing other than the blood work got started (it takes several days). They sent me home and told me to take pain meds for the fever and sleep it off. Typical. The fever and other symptoms kept coming and two days later I went to the Clinic to see and actual doctor. Luckily the two docotors there saw through everything and said "get this boy on some antibiotics" and sent me packin. 5600mg of Docxy later and I am feeling much better. Ultimately I will probably never get a positive ID of what i had but these drugs are killing it off so I don't care!! yay for properly administered modern medicine.

The last, and very positive bit, from the last while is that I was offered a ride with Chad as a Co-driver for this coming weekends MiniLSPR event. Luckily the Lymes cleared up right away so I am able to attend and try my hand at Co-driving. I will be basically using all borrowed equipment and just trying to hang on for dear life. Wish me luck!!

-G

Czech Privateer scores WRC driver points!...Organizers miffed.

Article Here

Miracles never cease it would seem! Jan Kopecky and the rest of the Kopecky team did an amazing job and finnished 7th overall in the leaderboard which scored him two driver's points. Bringing his total this season to 4 which is mightily impressive for a privateer these days with the point scoring positions being dominated by works teams.

I suppose that is one almost advantage we have in the states: only one factory team...everybody else is private. *shrug*

anyway- congrats team Kopecky and yay to all you czech rallyists!

-G

The Penny arrived!

okay so the backstory is: A while back i posted a pic of myself on e30tech.com and said if anybody can guess where this picture is taken i'll send you something...like a penny. And within a day Jan had guessed Budapest correctly so I asked him for his address and sent a penny taped to a Park Falls postcard.

and just last night he posted that it had indeed arrived intact! and he posted a picture of it as well! oh the hilarity. I also noticed in the picture that the card is marked "postage due" which i thought was hilarious since it was already there!

fun with the introweb.
-G

Progress...although slow

Well, I worked on the disassembly for a couple hours tonight. Finished a lot of the interior bits. I still have the headliner/sunroof to deal with though.

I still have a lot of things to cover before I really get anywhere with the car sadly. I have to get seats picked out and mounted so that the rollcage can be fitted around them. But before any tubing gets put in I am going to try my hand at seam welding the interior as best as I can. That will mean a lot once the car is out on course and getting the snot beaten out of it!

anyhow...time for dinner now! Rally out yo!
-G

I got my license! W00T

Yes indeedy. I feel giddy as a 16 year old getting behind the wheel for the first time...oh wait...not really.

anyway I did get my Rally-America Novice license in the mail on friday last week. It is way better than scca's cardboard crap licenses. It even has a cute little picture of me! yay.

The car progress is nil btw...no pictures as of yet.
-G

Rally HO!

Okay...I really really really want to get into rally so bad right now. After much consideration I have decided to apply for a CoDriver's License rather than a driver's license.

why? to save money and time of course! I know my TSD navigating is deplorable, but Stage rally is much different and I don't have to worry so much about doing any math to make it work.

I have spent the last couple days coming to grasp with the staggering cost of stage rally. as of 1/1/08 all competitors will be required to wear Head and Neck Restraint Devices, which cost about $1000 each. Not to mention the $500+ fire suit and other goodies. So instead of worrying about the $8000+ car prep process I can spend a couple years Navigating for other people and getting really in-depth with the rally scene before diving into the car prep bit.

I will still be facing $1500 worth of safety gear right off the bat, but that is much easier to come up with than the 10,000 worth of a car.

anyway I am babbling because of all the coffee I drank so i will stop now before I go completely off the deep end or make another typo.

rally out, yo!
happy Gabe :)

Gumball 3000 canceled

Gumball Canceled(Jalopnik)
wow. thanks a lot car 74 for being a couple of real shitheads. Thanks to you two one person is dead, possibly a second, and one of the worlds greatest social-elite rallies has been canceled.

If I were a member of the social-elite Gumball club I would want the both of you to rot in that Macedonian prison for a long time.

immigration rallies...are these people out of their minds!?

I see this stuff all over the news today- "immigration rallys" which should read- "mass hysteria over ILLEGAL occupants"

I consider myself a fairly open, easy going person...and I have nothing against people who are down-trodden and attempt to improve their position in life my moving to a different country. BUT...and there is always a but. I do not approve of their illegal activities. All of these protesters are pushing for the United States government to make all of these illegal aliens residents...why?

I read a great analogy today from one of my coworkers of which is basically transposed below:

---

-
Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting
the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely.

Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests. Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house). According to the protesters:

a. You are Required to let me stay in your house
b. You are Required to add me to your family's insurance plan
c. You are Required to Educate my kids
d. You are Required to Provide other benefits to me and to my family

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.

It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house.

And what a deal it is for me!!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior. Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you to learn MY LANGUAGE!!! so you can communicate with me.

Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?!

---

-

Please, if you agree with this line of thinking spread this gem of an analogy around to your friends and keep it going.

On a side note- If they want to bring these illegals into our country as citizens we had better go through every last one of them with a fine tooth comb and take care of all the criminals and psychotics right now. We have enough loonies in our midst as it is, we don't need Mexico's problems too.

ciao,
G

Shipping annoyance

Even though I haven't worked in the car parts industry for, like, 3 years I still deal in parts an aweful lot.

Lately I have been trying to clean out parts i have been accumilating over time. Performance BMW parts are at a premium right now i guess. Several people overseas want some of the parts I am selling at this moment. In particular one buyer in the UK and one buyer in Hong Kong stick out. here's why:

USPS is the only reasonable shipper for international shipping so I go to usps.com and get some shipping quotes for these guys. Hong Kong- less than $20. UK- $170.

Who is smoking the crack here? the UK is technically closer to me by hundreds of miles and yet the shipping cost is almost TENFOLD that of mainland Asia!? WTF.
-G

Are you tired of media? I sure am.

First off; my condolences for the families of the deceased from the recent VA Tech incident. The world gets more and more complex every day and it is sad when innocent people get mixed up in it.
Now on to my rant of the day-

What the fuck is wrong with the media? Some people died...innocent or not there are only 32 of them. How many people died that day in Iraq/Afghanistan? How many people died that day from traffic accidents? From AIDS? I am sorry but this media frenzy is totally misplaced and overinflated!

It was a random serial killing. They are only going to get more complex and more devastating as time goes on, people. You better come to grips with that soon. The amazing technologies and social climates that we live in today provide for a ridiculously volatile mental state for nearly everybody and when somebody whose not all there to begin with gets put in that mix things like this shooting are going to happen. I heard a guy on the radio today commenting on how "he was surprised this doesn't happen more often considering the freedoms Americans have," like access to guns&ammo, access to drugs, access to a million things that other people around the world don't have access to.

I hate the media most of the time and this is just another event for them to blow up on. laddy-frickin-da.

-G :/

I'm back.

I've been back since last Monday actually but haven't realized any writing, much less posting, since.

Being in AZ was an absolute blast and the weather was nearly perfect, sadly the trip itself sucked and cost me somewhere in the $1000+ range thanks to not one; but TWO automotive mishaps during the drives. I survived thanks to capital one, patience, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Perhaps I will post a more in depth post later but i need more pictures first.

-G

Bullitt

I am amazed. I just watched the movie Bullitt for the first time tonight. I thought it was a most amazing movie. Some movies are okay; but they are basically bearable junk. This is one of those movies that are just outstanding because of, not only, the way they are seen on the screen but also they way they are viewed inside yourself. Being a car guy I love the way the cars are so obvious..and yet there is a romantic underlayer that plays with the emotion. A classical good versus evil story line, cutting edge 1968 filming technics, an incredible cast and remarkably good dialogue for movies of the period.

I'll stop there since I can't describe it very well other than to say: Go watch it now.

New parts...

well, my recent phone conversation with my mother left me rather down about how quickly my upcoming trip to AZ is! It finally struck me how fast im gona have to work to get the bimmer ready for duty. Luckily my new front apron came today so maybe I can have the front end fixed up by next week some time? That leaves the suspension, and recently assumed water pump, not to mention an oil change and general cleaning. Plus removal of the flasher that seems to be using my reverse lamps as brake lamps. :(

So I ordered a water pump off eBay when I got home...$50 plus a bunch of coolant. Right now I am researching using E30 parts on the steering rack (they are not only cheaper but also a more robust build thanks to BMW not putting polyurethane dampers in the ball joints on E30s) but that will still cost me upwards of $180 plus ANOTHER alignment. so something like $300. UNLESS i decide to get a new steering rack as well which will run an additional $150 for the rack and probably $50 worth of PS fluid and headaches getting it to work correctly.

and the biggest question of it all: can I do it in 3-4 weeks? I honestly don't know. right now the freakin Jeep is still in the garage. I can move it but it would be nice to have THAT done so i can use it while the BMW is appart.

I'm getting rather worked up just writing this...doing the work will shorten my life considerably! LOL
having fun in cyber-autoworld,
Gabe :)

Rally: Canceled. Party: On.

Well as the snow continues here in lovely northern WI, my back hurts from so much shoveling and the rally for this saturday has been postponed.

I spent approximately 2 hours this morning shoveling a maybe 100 foot driveway. by the end I could have been doing it in a T-shirt and there was a small snow bank in my hair. ah so much fun!....NOT

And Scott's Kewenaw TSD is postponed until the 17th...likely due to a lot of people not wanting to brave the elements. I was about to leave when Joe called me to let me know...good timing I guess. Sadly I won't be able to visit Mum this weekend, which i was kind of looking forward to.

There has also been some disturbances in the Arrowhead SCC group lately concerning the season point standings/apointments. They put this Dave Courtwright guy in like 3rd place even though he DNF'd the first rally of the season...rather rediculous. Brian and Joe seem rather up in arms with Tim (the MAN) and I voiced a little concern on the forum as well since I think it is TOTAL bullshit. *shrug* unfortunately I like Tim and everybody and I think they will take it rather personally. which sucks because it makes drama.

anyway thats all for now from up north in snow country Wisco,
-gabe :)

So a celebrity died this week...

and I honeslty didn't think much of it. I felt the pangs of death at a younger age but no sentiments over somebody I never met and do not envy very much. I frequently scoff at celebrity figures and they way they act or operate. I think they are so far removed from reality in their own little bubbles that there is no coorelation between them and "normal" people such as myself.
I came across this blog post and it seems to about sum up my feelings on the subject:
"Mirathon: ANS dead at 39"
The one person in this whole bit the really, authentically, and wholeheartedly deserve good prayers and best luck is her daughter. I am the son of divorced parents and that was dificult enough...I can't even comprehend what the future holds in store for that girl; But I wish her the best and hope she can perhaps salvage some sort of reality better than her parents (whoever they end up being).
so best wishes to you, Dannielynn, for leading a life more stable than that of your parents.
-G

Blah,..

admittedly despite my cheerful, hopeful, and optimistic last post things have slowed considerably on the Jeep projekt. Last night i did nothing in the garage...I watched The Transporter (with commentary) instead.

Tonight I wrenched for about 1-1.5 hours before deciding I was gettign freakin cold fast. thanks Wind. :( On the upside the venison cheesburgers I made were very tasty. Peter stopped by and had one on his way through and also thought they were alright.

Other than that nothing much is happening aorund these parts. I want to go down and visit my brother in MI...

-G

Jeep Update

Good News! (for me!) the cherokee engine now resides in the comanche shell! after much persuasion the tranny crossmember came off the body to allow the transfer case to fit and the motor mounts lined right up.

So about 3.5 hours of work went a long way tonight. I began work on the Novak Adapters Sk2X Tcase shift but when I discovered I didn't have the correct alan wrench I decided now would be a good time to quit.

Tomorrow is time to finnish up the shifter, reconnect all electricals, and reinstall all structural bits and pieces that hold everything in. WooHoo

-G :)

Red Bull isn't as bad as it used to be...

Well...after discovering the disaster zone which is my BMW this weekend, work on the Jeep projects has increased many-fold. The short of the Bimmer story is that after the -30F temps of this weekend when I did not drive my car anywhere, the entire coolant system appears to be frozen solid and possibly have wreaked more extensive damage than just the radiator holes increasing...more on that at a later date when I have the Bimmer in a less windy garage than my driveway.

About the Red Bull-
After sunday nights Jager-bombing there was still a case of RedBull left over. So I took it home for later use. When Monday rolled around and I needed to work on the Jeeps I thought "hey, I could use a little ambition" TA-DA: RedBull.

I recall days past when RedBull was the new and cool thing to drink and I thought it tasted horrible. Now these many years later I have grown to rather enjoy the taste. With so many highly caffinated, rediculously named, self labeled energy drinks on the market it is nice to be able to enjoy the Original. (...which would be coffee of course, or that drink in the black can with the jaguar on it that always boasted abou the guarana, which sounds like guano to me) Oh the humorous fun!

On the Jeep note- the replacement engine is out of the cherokee and nearly ready to be put back into a Comanche. A couple more bits and pieces from NAPA and an exhaust once its all bolted in and it should be golden....for at least once off-road excursion. Total budget spent to date- way to much...somewhere approaching the $800 range I believe.

-G :)

I called in Cold today...

Well for the first time in my career I called in Cold today. I knew it was cold outside from the feel in my bed, but I didn't know till i got up and fired up weatherunderground.com that I found out it is -26 F!! And the forcast is for sub -10F temps until noon AND 10mph winds.
I simply do not have the proper outdoor wear to handle temps like this, nor do i even want to be out in weather like this. I know its no -50F but it is well over 100 degrees difference from the temperature of my body, and that is important to me.

And yes I did use the internet to look up the temperature; because to read my thermometer I have to go outside my back door.

So yeah, if anybody is bored today gimmie a call...im going to be bored out of my mind at home. Did I mention that my car didn't start last night when it was a measly -15F? I'm not even gona try this morning. LOL
-G

The Right Tool?

I am watching one of the great car movies: The Fast and the Furious. And in the scene where Brian drops off the Supra at Torretos shop an amusing thing happens.
Dom-"If you can't find the right tool in this garage, Mr. Arizona, you don't belong near a car."
And while he says that he shakes a crowbar/wrecking bar at Brian.

A WRECKING BAR. granted I have used one in my own garage on rare occasion but that is just too funny. I doubt many people have wrecking bars in their garage to begin with!!

Along the same lines is a rather amusing add from when the Saturn Ion Red-Line was just released that featured a picture of a "car-guy" standing in front of a peg-board wall with a jumble of tool outlines on it. In the "guy's" hand is an adjustable crescent wrench. Another of the actual auto enthusiasts anti-tools.
Link To Said Saturn Ad

Bad Driving? I think not...

I recently came across this video while browsing the car blogs-
HmmVVE Driving
At first I thought what most of these people were saying in the responses; namely that these are some dumbass americans giving the rest of us a bad name. But then I started paying more attention to the details of the video.
1) The hummer is constantly honking it's horn. Assuming this IS an American hummer I would know that the vehicle is not equiped with any sort of emergency lighting (ie- police light bars, ambulance lights, etc...) So if they were actually in a hurry trying to get somewhere or getaway from something the other vehicles would have very little warning other than the sad little horn those GMs have.
2) Everybody on the streets appears to be completely oblivious to a 3-ton, 7 foot wide, camo painted vehicle rushing down the street. Pedestrians, vehicles, even the bus (which doesn't appear to have any mirrors anyway) are completely un-phased by the appearance of the vehicle. As the voice comments towards the end of the video- "There goes a guy just picking his nose; not a fucking care in the world"

Then in the responses the majority of the people insult and belittle the video. It's annoying. My favorite reply is quoted as such:

I love reading some of these comments from safe little sissys who have never been to Iraq. To stop, for any reason, is to make yourself an easy target. RPGs and IEDs hit stationary or slow targets more easily than they do ones moving fast, DUH! I led a convoy security team in Iraq. Most Iraqi drivers do there best to get the hell out of your way for two primary reasons. One, they understand your sense of urgency and common sense tells them you are at risk. Two, they do not want to be anywhere near you when some "freedom fighter" as so many of you like to call them, desides to hit you. Because the Iraqis know, unlike most of you, that their "protectors" and "freedom fighters" kill far more of them with their bombs than americans. By the way, how do you call people who threatened voters, tens of millions of them at that, freedom fighters? At this point in the war Iraqis who do not get out of the way are very dumb or part of an ambush. Speed is life. Hairy vag is like most Britts I knew in Iraq. They believed that if only we were more like they were in Basra and Northern Ireland, that is to say more gentle, the locals would love us and the insurgency would go away. These people hated us long before we were in Iraq.

It is probably about as founded as the anti-american responses but to me it is much happier thought (since I am an American whether I like it or not)

Don't get me wrong- I am not a supporter of "the War" or the bush administration, but I do believe in supoprting people whos lifes are in danger, aka soldiers. They are just doing their job and making a living while trying not to get shot or killed while they are there. Two of my good friends from High School did tours in Iraq with the US Army and neither of them ever want to go back; for them it was one of the most horrible experiences they ever had.
I believe this bumper sticker says it best:

Project Jeep; 1/3 complete!

Whew. What a day.
I sucsessfuly pulled the motor/tranny/Tcase combo out of the comanche today. By myself. It was quite a chore I must say as the whole unit probably weighs 2 or three times more than I do!

Right now the donor cherokee is in the garage awaiting a similar treatment while the Comanche carcass waits outside in the snow for the crucial transplant bits. I am very hopful that everything comes apart as easy on the cherokee as it did on the comanche. Both were residents in the more salty areas of the midwest so they are both quite rusty I just hope it's not to crazy on the cherokee seeing as I have never washed it (well there was this one time...but it barely counts)

Thats all for now.
-G :)

BUggered Jeep

So i had a short day at work today and I took advantage of the time to continue my Jeep engine project. I managed to get a couple (flimsy) straps to hold the engine on the hoist and then removed all holding devices and cabling.
I eventually got the engine up in the air but sadly about half way out of the front end the strap snapped and the engine dropped down. The bad part is that when the strap broke something got messed up inside the engine hoist and now I have no lifting power. Totally buggered.

So a little discouraging. I was minutes away from having the engine out too. Oh well. I will try again tomorrow to see if I have any power.

Now I need to sleep but pete and matt are here so I feel resposible to stay awake till they leave. I will endeavor to listen to some Avenged Sevenfold for now. I have found them to be very neet.

adio
-G :)

Project Jeep: underway!

Well for the last three days I have been slowly progressing on "Project Jeep" It's a 1988 Jeep Comanche which I purchased this summer and then found out it had a busted tranny.
A rough guide of the project is as follows:
1) Removal of engine/tranny/Tcase
2) Prep of Chassis (if there is anything but rust)
3) Sourcing of new engine/tranny/TCase
4) Preping new engine
5) Reinstall of engine.

It is a very daunting task and I have picked about the worst time of year to do all this...whoops. Hopfully Janes house doesn't sell halfway through the project! LOL
Currently I have an engine/tranny/Tcase combo in my Jeep Cherokee which is earmarked for the swap. I am just hopful that everything important runs when I am done with it all!!
WHooHoo!!

-G :)

PS- Sno*Fall was a bust this year, as there were only 6 entries Tim didn't want to waste the workers time for only that many entries. Me and Father have also decided to not attend Sno*Drift this year either since the 10 hour drive isn't worth it to road marshall. :(

Rally Ho!

Wow i just posted this morning? weird.

anyway, after much investigation and random internt browsing I think I'm going to go ahead and apply for a Rally-America competition license. I know I have wanted to road race forever but the simple answer is that Rally is easier and cheaper to start in...not to mention having a competitionj license will make an SCCA license much easier to get if I ever get that rich.

The license costs $100 and a driving suit will run somewhere in the $400 range, a legal helmet I already have...the only thing left would be a HNR and a car...both of which would be rediculously expensive!

thats all for now,
-G :)

Rally goes bust

Well just in case you didn't notice that I am online this weekend; the 2007 Sno*Fall TSD was canceled due to sub-standard attendance. :(

I was relaly looking forward to the two day rally extravaganza! Plus it would have furthered me and Dad's point lead in Class C. oh well, we will just have to wait for the next rally i guess!

Other than that I noticed the 2007 AKA rally is now accepting reservations...at $1500+ per person it's a bit crazy but it could be cool. Better than the 28,000 POUNDS STERLING that the Gumball3000 costs this year. If i can find somebody willing to front a big chunk of change perhaps i will do the AKA...if only I oculd convince Sam to "borrow" me the GTO I would do it in a heartbeat! LOL I think my little 2.5L leaves a lot to be desired against supras, subis, porsches, and lambos. *shrug* maybe in the next life.

Thats all for now motorheads.
-G

I Blame the Internet

After long thought and "introspection" I do indeed blame the internet for much of my own lifes current stagnation, along with the lives of so many people I know and live around. For people of my generation and stature, who have "grown up" with the internet and TV and video games, It is often a hard vice to rid oneself of. If only the internet were a dump truck I could hop in and drive it out of my life!

One can get so wound into the ensnaring mesh called the computer age so easily. When you can conduct all manner of communication, find dates, buy car parts, buy groceries...why leave the house? Why strive for more? I find it rather sickening at this point, since I am indeed writing this on a blog; a brainchild of the internet community itself.

So what about myself? "I thought you were a car guy, Gabe?" You're right! I am a moderistic car guy...with massive internet experience before I got into cars...it actually helped my budding enthusiasm for cars by giving me access to WRC footage and BB's for rally people. So for that I thank it. But now I sit on the ocmputer for hours every day browsing eBay looking at "what I might be able to get" and parts that I could never get access to around here. For that; I hate it!

Instead of actually going out and doing something productive i sit here on my ass dreaming about what I would have if I actually wnet out and did something with my self. WTF!? Is that not a totaly stupid and irrational train of thought? It is assinine! So from now on I am doing everything within my will power to change all this in my own life. (as for my friends; I am not their owner or guardian...I can only change so much)
So. I am hoping to turn another page, and move on. This Blog may suffer and my eBay raitng may suffer, and I am all the happier for myself.

thanks,
-G

What is modern chivalry?

I was browsing the web, in my usual manner, and after many train-of-thought google searches I came upon this website promoting the author's yet unfinnished book about modern chivalry-here.

I read through most of the short prose he has and then did some of my own reading on the subject. I got to thinking and the end result was that I agreed with his views. True it is an all male kind of thing, but in the end why is that bad? I found one bit on a British site that asked for women's input;

I like it when gentlemen hold the door open for me. I'm sorry, it is sexist, but I like and appreciate that level of courtesy. I don't assume that a man holding the door open for me believes I'm too weak and feeble to do so for myself. In return, all I can promise is I won't let the door slam back in his face (or anybody else's).

I cannot defend this position, so I won't try to. Gents, I appreciate the quandary you are in. But any woman who berates you for your courtesy is:

• Overreacting
• Aggressive
• Rude

So, thank you to all men who have extended this courtesy to me in the past, and may it continue!

I know that in a discussion of personal beliefs there is no right and wrong, but I do believe the base ideals behind this should matter to people.

Chivalry spells out certain ethical standards that are needed to foster the development of manhood. Men are called to be: truthful, loyal, courteous to others, helpmates to women, supporters of justice, and defenders of the weak. They are also expected to avoid scandal.

That is it in a nutshell. But shouldn't these standards be standard? I certainly wish they were!! and not just in men, in EVERYBODY. truth, loyalty, justice...sounds a bit like some documants involving the phrase "our forefathers," right?

What the site says on a grander scale is that a base key to solving problems is understanding and respecting yourself and then doing the same to ALL persons you encounter in your daily doings. That sounds pretty damn good to me. I end this repetative post with the book's author's closing words.

We often take who we are for granted—as if our beliefs and behaviors are fixed in stone. The truth is that we are creatures constantly in the making. We either move forward in our development, or backwards. Staying still is the same as going backwards. Why? Because the movement of time never holds still. We either progress with it, or are left behind.

-G

Hello Again

Ahoj all. I hope you all had a happy holiday season. Mine was okay, but a little heavy on the driving. Surprised? :)

I have not been up to much lately since the holidays put my regular life on a sort of standstill. I have spent the last several nights thinking about car mods and watching GiS 3, 5, 6 and 7 all of which are spectactular exhibitions of driving. I would relaly love to meet up with those guys and find out how they do alot of things. I have noticed that all the cars they use have been "featured" in the very subjective reviews. Slightly confusing. Either way the Gatebil shows are my favorite part since it is just the kind of thing I would love to have here in the states.

I am also back in "move the hell away" mode. After late nights talking to my brother and some friends I have again started the trying to move process. It is really stressful for me but I need to do it and wish i had more direct support of it. (rather than my dad always saying how nice PF is. fuck that)

So anyway, happy non-holiday season for now. 10 days to the next TSD and two weeks to Sno*Drift! Hope to see all you gearheads out on the roads!
-G :)