Meet Rosie!

 The newest edition to the family: Rosie, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4xe Rubicon!

Options include front mounted trail cam, tow package, cold weather package, gorilla glass windshield.  The strike gray color is very similar to Bessy.

2021 Jeep 4xe

Glass and Metal Weekend

• Changed the shocks in Bessie
• Made a tumbler at an awesome glass blowing class at Stone and Glass

Bessie is Back!

After searching for a good candidate, I finally found another Bessie!  This is the same year and color but is the Isuzu mode with an automatic transmission.  I will need some work to stop some leaks and other minor stuff but it is pretty clean compared to most of the other Passport/Rodeos I have been seeing for sale.

Socialist in Training

I recently partook in the government's Cash for Clunkers program. I was able to turn my nearly useless and extremely clunky 1991 BMW 750iL into $4500 of my kids future tax dollars. The car was falling apart and got terrible gas mileage. My new Kia Spectra is exactly the opposite.
Now that I have a taste of getting government handouts for no work, I can't wait for health care or the next deficit busting program.

Bessie Has Left the Building

After 14 years of loyal service, Bessie has been passed on to another owner. May she live long and prosper.

Fathers' Day Activities

* Started a big maintenance job on the BMW: fix two leaky hydraulic hoses (more on this in a later post), replace the transmission filter and fluid, replace the front brake rotors, fix the front brake squealing, and replace the rear brakes.
* Fixed the front garden irrigation system.
* The kids had their final piano concert until classes begin again in the fall.
* Had a PTA transition meeting from the old board to the new board (I am El Presidente).

Hyundai Sante Fe Review

After driving the Santa Fe for a few weeks, I have some initial thoughts on the car.

Cons
* No backup sensors, would be a nice option
* After putting the car into park, it rolls an inch or so; this can be disconcerting
* Auto transmission just like all other wimpy automatics
* I hate that new car smell
* The option package we got includes the tow prep package which has an enlarged radiator and a transmission cooler, but no hitch; how about throwing in the hitch for a couple more bucks so I don't have to go back to get it installed

Pros
* Love the styling
* Leather is very nice
* Pre-tinted windows keep the interior cool
* Nav system is cool
* Third row of seats very handy

Hyundai Spam

Here is the first spam we got after buying our new car. Notice the professional mail merge. You can tell Hyundai is a big company when they have the money to spend on quality correspondence with their customers.

Hi,

I’m the Sales Manager at [Dealer_Name]. I wanted to drop you a quick line and personally thank you for allowing [Dealer_Name] to recently satisfy your new vehicle needs.

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase or the treatment you received from my team, I would like to personally hear from you. Your satisfaction is my number one priority.

I also wanted to give you a heads-up that we will be sending you a satisfaction survey regarding your purchase experience with us. Please take this opportunity to give your opinions regarding our dealership and my team.

If there’s anything I can do, please email me or call me at [Dealer_Main_Phone].

Thanks again for your business.

Sales Manager
[Dealer_Name]
[Dealer_Main_Phone]

New Car

I ventured onto a new car lot for the first time in over 13 years to get me one of those fancy new horseless carriages.

Honda Passport Rocker Arms

Here are some pics of an exhaust rocker arm and the hydraulic lash adjuster from a 1995 Honda Passport 3.2L V6.

Car Repair Tip #234

When you change your windshield wipers blades, place a towel or other padding on the glass. If you don't and the arm happens to snap back without a blade, it can crack the windshield.

Under 3 Dollar Gas

I saw the local Chevron had gas for $2.99/gallon which almost 20 cents cheaper than a month ago. This seems to contradict the rising cost of crude.
Is the refining capacity picking up?
Are we using less gasoline?
Are the oil companies suppressing prices to keep us mollified?
I guess a combination of the first two.

Traffic School

As a result of a recent speeding ticket, I had the pleasure of attending traffic school. I opted for the weeknight version that consists of two 4 hour sessions. Better that than kill an entire day. Apparently the online versions aren't much of a time saver. The instructor was a former cop and provided some interesting insights. Not so much how to get out of a ticket but how to avoid them in the first place (mainly by obeying the law). The best part is going around the room to find out everyone's ticket. Half of the class had speeding infractions while other had mainly red light violations. The red light tickets where mainly from the cameras and very expensive, $300 and up! There was one older fellow who got fairly belligerent when discussing (more like yelling) about his ticket. The instructor almost had to throw him out. All in all, it wasn't the best time I had, but it could have been much worse.

More car work

Just a couple of weeks ago, I spent the better part of a weekend changing the timing belt on my Honda Passport. Right afterwards, the water pump starts to leak! My brother warned me to change it while I had everything apart but did I listen? Noooo. Off came the fan, belts, timing covers, timing belt and finally the water pump. I am getting quite proficient in this procedure now. The only real difficulty was in removing the gasket from the old pump as it was stock on the block pretty good.

Car work

I did some major surgery on my Honda Passport this weekend. It was due for a new timing belt and had a leaky valve cover gasket.
The gasket was fairly straight forward, but time consuming since some of the bolts are hard to reach.
The timing belt was another matter. The job was going good until I got to the crankshaft pulley. The bolt holding it on is quite tight as you can imagine but the hard part is keeping the pulley from turning while you try to get it loose. The Haynes guide says to simply hold the pulley with a big set of channellocks. This is nearly impossible. I first tried putting on a strap wrench with the handle up against the frame to keep it in place. I broke two strap wrenches this way. Plan B. The Passport board had a good suggestion: stick your breaker bar down through the bottom of the car, slip on a long pipe and hit the starter (make sure you pull the ignition so it doesn't start). I had to get a pipe from Home Depot, but it worked like a charm. The second major difficulty was getting the new belt on. I had inadvertenly left the camshaft pulleys inbetween strokes so when I removed the belt, they snapped into a new position, throwing off my timing markings. I had to turn the sprockets with one hand and weave the belt with another; it took about an hour to get it right. Then I realized I couldn't get the hydraulic tensioner back in so off came the belt and I had to repeat the exercise. The last diffuculty involved reattaching the crankshaft pulley bolt. I had to find a way to stop the pully from turning while I torqued the nut. Since I was out of strap wrenches, I jury-rigged a solution. The pulley has a flange on it with two threaded holes. I imagine this is for a tool that the dealers use to keep the pulley from turning. Since I don't possess one of these tools, I screwed in a small machine bolt. I then borrowed a large pipe wrench from my neighbor and gripped the screw with it; the handle of wrench was up against the frame to keep from moving. I then was able to torque the nut a good deal. My breaker bar is 28" long and I was able put full strength into it, so I imagine I want over the specified 123 foot-lbs.
I haven't decided if all this was worth the $600 bucks or so my mechanic would charge.

Dream Car

I want to build one of these before I turn 40.