Free Association Thread 5

[SamScribble]

One mom's remedy is another mom's poison. The Castor Oil plant is in the genus Ricinus, from whence we derive ricin.

I'm sure that Mother meant well

 

[Mister_Song]

I'm sure that Mother meant well

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a241/Avisionaire/ohmom_zpsibjutazn.jpg

 

[Handley_Page]

Castor Oil

That's what we used in motor-cycles, back in the day.

 

[JKendallDane]

That's what we used in motor-cycles, back in the day.

I remember how we use to do automotive carburetor "tune ups" by slowly pouring a half quart of 30 weight oil in them while running at high idle. Lots of smoke but it sure cleaned them up too.

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[SamScribble]

I remember how we use to do automotive carburetor "tune ups" by slowly pouring a half quart of 30 weight oil in them while running at high idle. Lots of smoke but it sure cleaned them up too.

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I can remember when the first thing that you did when contemplating the purchase of a new (or used) car was to lift the bonnet (‘hood’ to you girls and boys on the other side) and inspect all of the ‘bits’. Now I lift the bonnet and wonder which (if any) of the parts I’m looking at is the VANOS. And a millisecond later I wonder: What the hell is a VANOS anyway?

 

[Handley_Page]

I remember how we use to do automotive carburetor "tune ups" by slowly pouring a half quart of 30 weight oil in them while running at high idle. Lots of smoke but it sure cleaned them up too.

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We used a lighter oil for a similar job.
"30 weight" oil ?
Do you have an SAE number for that ? (or is that SAE 15/30 )?

I can remember when the first thing that you did when contemplating the purchase of a new (or used) car was to lift the bonnet (‘hood’ to you girls and boys on the other side) and inspect all of the ‘bits’. Now I lift the bonnet and wonder which (if any) of the parts I’m looking at is the VANOS. And a millisecond later I wonder: What the hell is a VANOS anyway?

If I look under a modern bonnet ('hood') all I see is acres of plastic cover, secured by bolts with a very strange head. I cannot even get to the plugs, these days.

 

[JKendallDane]

We used a lighter oil for a similar job.
"30 weight" oil ?
Do you have an SAE number for that ? (or is that SAE 15/30 )?

5W30 was the typical way to say it, HP


If I look under a modern bonnet ('hood') all I see is acres of plastic cover, secured by bolts with a very strange head. I cannot even get to the plugs, these days.

I cringe anytime I look under the hood of anything built since the early 1980s. Today's cars may well be state-of-the-art, but I long for the days of when you could rebuild an entire engine with little more than a couple of screwdrivers and set of socket wrenches. Now you need a degree in electrical engineering to just do a tune up.

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[MagicaPractica]

I cringe anytime I look under the hood of anything built since the early 1980s. Today's cars may well be state-of-the-art, but I long for the days of when you could rebuild an entire engine with little more than a couple of screwdrivers and set of socket wrenches. Now you need a degree in electrical engineering to just do a tune up.

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Hell, you need a computer degree.

 

[SamScribble]

Hell, you need a computer degree.

Or a seven-year-old

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Hell, you need a computer degree.

Back in the day, a basic tool box kept my 405 V8 Chevy running cross country. Now I rent a car, and if it breaks down, I just get a replacement from the agency. I couldn't possibly carry enough mechanical and electronic equipment to keep my own car running, even if I knew how.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

How to replace a headlight...



http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/ebrock63/2010-08-07_182103_2010-08-07_121755.png

Exactly! But how do you know what brand of car I have?

 

[Handley_Page]

And now we know why a new 'bulb' in the headlight costs a fortune and a day in the workshop.
Please Mr Honda (aka Ford, Volvo, etc..), can we go back to the simple Joseph Lucas or Miller headlights ?

 

[JKendallDane]

And now we know why a new 'bulb' in the headlight costs a fortune and a day in the workshop.
Please Mr Honda (aka Ford, Volvo, etc..), can we go back to the simple Joseph Lucas or Miller headlights ?

There were a few older American cars that had shitty engineering as far as what should be "simple" access to standard maintenance items too.

There was a Mustang in the early 1970s I believe it was, that literally required you to put the car on a rack, remove the engine bolts, and use a floor jack to shift it up an inch or two in order to be able to change the oil filter. Great planning with that one!

I had a '77 Pontiac Grand Lemans that had the engine compartment so packed full, the simplest way to change two of the spark plugs during a tune up was to put it up on a rack, remove the right front tire, and get access to them through the wheel well opening. That was actually easier than fighting with multiple socket wrenches while splayed across the engine for fifteen or twenty minutes.

And then there is the car I currently have...a 2004 Dodge Intrepid. Some brain dead engineer decided to literally BURY the battery under several metal hose lines and AC lines. Instead of fixing that screw-up, they instead came up with the "solution" of cutting an access door in the right wheel well...which requires pulling the tire and removing a half dozen bolts to get it open so you can slide the old battery out and the new one in. Replacing the battery in a car should take all of fifteen minutes at worst. With this clusterfuck, it's a 45 minute to hour job.

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[Handley_Page]

There were a few older American cars that had shitty engineering as far as what should be "simple" access to standard maintenance items too.

There was a Mustang in the early 1970s I believe it was, that literally required you to put the car on a rack, remove the engine bolts, and use a floor jack to shift it up an inch or two in order to be able to change the oil filter. Great planning with that one!

I had a '77 Pontiac Grand Lemans that had the engine compartment so packed full, the simplest way to change two of the spark plugs during a tune up was to put it up on a rack, remove the right front tire, and get access to them through the wheel well opening. That was actually easier than fighting with multiple socket wrenches while splayed across the engine for fifteen or twenty minutes.

And then there is the car I currently have...a 2004 Dodge Intrepid. Some brain dead engineer decided to literally BURY the battery under several metal hose lines and AC lines. Instead of fixing that screw-up, they instead came up with the "solution" of cutting an access door in the right wheel well...which requires pulling the tire and removing a half dozen bolts to get it open so you can slide the old battery out and the new one in. Replacing the battery in a car should take all of fifteen minutes at worst. With this clusterfuck, it's a 45 minute to hour job.

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There have been suggestions that certain military aircraft have a similar problem of access for maintenance.

 

[MagicaPractica]

There have been suggestions that certain military aircraft have a similar problem of access for maintenance.

Well, when a wrench is $450.00, I guess you hope you won't need one.

 

[SamScribble]

Well, when a wrench is $450.00, I guess you hope you won't need one.

Oops! For a moment there, I thought that you said 'wench', Mags. $450 for a wench? Bit outside my budget.

 

[Handley_Page]

Well, when a wrench is $450.00, I guess you hope you won't need one.

Ah, well, you see, some wrenches (and similar tools) have to be non-standard [mostly because the engine makers cannot get their heads round simple maintenance], so it means a costly 'special'. And yes, you sure hope you won't need one!

Oops! For a moment there, I thought that you said 'wench', Mags. $450 for a wench? Bit outside my budget.

$450? That's about £350 I guess.
I have seen reported some wenches charged a great deal more than that per night (£1000 was mentioned in one report).
More Bang per buck!

 

[JKendallDane]

$450? That's about £350 I guess.
I have seen reported soe wenches charge a great deal more than that per night (£1000 was mentioned in one report).
More Bang per buck!

I'm suddenly visualizing something like a restaurant menu board in the windows of Amsterdam's red light district.

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[SamScribble]

I'm suddenly visualizing something like a restaurant menu board in the windows of Amsterdam's red light district.

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'Would you like fries with that?'

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm suddenly visualizing something like a restaurant menu board in the windows of Amsterdam's red light district.

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'Would you like fries with that?'

Given my [very] limited experience in Amsterdam's "Canal Strasse" [*[ I think that the answer was a resounding 'Yes Please'.

[*] Well, that's what we called it!

 

[JKendallDane]

'Would you like fries with that?'

I wish I could find the photo I took in Berlin back in 2002. At first glance, just a typical commercial European street scene. But when you look closely, you see a Burger King sharing a building entrance with a sex shop complete with display windows.

It was so funny since one side was filled with posters for Whoppers and the other side filled with inflatable dolls and a dozen or so giant dildos.

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[Handley_Page]

I wish I could find the photo I took in Berlin back in 2002. At first glance, just a typical commercial European street scene. But when you look closely, you see a Burger King sharing a building entrance with a sex shop complete with display windows.

It was so funny since one side was filled with posters for Whoppers and the other side filled with inflatable dolls and a dozen or so giant dildos.

.

I never made it to go "down the Reeperbahn."
Amersterdam's centre, yes - once.

 

[JKendallDane]

I never made it to go "down the Reeperbahn."
Amersterdam's centre, yes - once.

I just realized I screwed up my post. I meant Hamburg, not Berlin.

I guess my age is finally catching up with me.

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[Handley_Page]

I just realized I screwed up my post. I meant Hamburg, not Berlin.

I guess my age is finally catching up with me.

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I find age is a very 'catching' problem.

 

[SamScribble]

I find age is a very 'catching' problem.

Age is contagious? Maybe I shouldn't have spent so much time hanging out with my grandfather after all.