working to get the Jimmy back on the road

Since my dad passed away, I haven't been very motivated to work on any cars, and most of them have been sitting around - I don't have to drive to get to work, and I'd been occasionally renting cars if I really needed something to get around in - if I didn't have one that ran. I had 6 cars and nothing to drive at many points over the last 5 years.

This Jimmy has been sitting in my front yard, unmoving since at least 2014. It ceased to be able to be pushed around sometime probably in 2016, and I feared that it had drum brakes that had ceased (I never bothered to really look to see what they were- and as you can see, these are pretty dense wheels, not easily viewed with a glance), and remembering how hard that was to deal with on the '67 deVille, I always avoided dealing with it.

We live in a suburban neighborhood that is a bit older and has been chopped up and filled in over the decades, the result is portions of the neighborhood with sidewalks, and portions without. Our house does not have them, our neighbor across the street does. I park a couple of my cars off the asphalt in the dirt in front of my house because there is no where else to park once the driveway fills up (and the driveway is always filled up). This fed into my laziness, as technically I don't have to have the car registered to park there as it is on our property and not parked "on a city street" ... so it sat and sat.

Our neighbor came by one day a few weeks ago and let us know they were moving, and that seemed to be the motivation I needed to get the car moving.

Not wanting a car that didn't look very good essentially smack dap in my front yard, that might dis-sued a potential good new neighbor from buying their house - I called up a repair shop and asked them if they could work on it. they said yes, and gave me the name of a tow truck that would come tow it over to them, even though it was not currently registered. (AAA does not do this because they don't want to tow old non-running cars around - I think maybe I might just cancel the AAA membership at this point - I mean, what does it really get me?).

All Area Towing came by very quickly after I called and took it away to the shop. The car creaked out of it's slumber, and thankfully rolled, with the encouragement of a winch, slowly onto the bed of the truck.

duh

This morning, (well, it was morning for me, but it may have technically been the afternoon...) I went out to get the mail, and there were these three teenage guys in a loose formation, making their way across the street from my neighbors house. They look a little hip-hop, they also looked lost. One of them asked if I could "electrify" his car (um he didn't speak English very well) which was around the corner. I said sure, went inside and grabbed my keys (while trying to scarf down the bowl of cereal I had in my had so it wouldn't get soggy).

I grabbed the jumper cables from the 944, and drove around the corner to their Chevy (Malibu?). I assumed they weren't stealing te car since they had the keys for it. They already had cables, so we used them, and I hooked my car up. It wasn't working though. Hmmm. Then we moved the ground, turns out I totally put the ground cable on a painted surface which does not conduct electricity properly, so once we moved it to a metal grounding point their car started right up. I'm going to claim sleepiness on this one, but really I think it's just forgetfulness.

Awesome Inspiration Poster

here the link to where I found it:
http://jalopnik.com/361677/mad_science-makes-bid-for-project-car-hell-poster-child-award

engine block wine holder

While this isn't a caddy block, it would be cool to make one!
http://www.jag-lovers.org/include/iv3.php3?zx=SdADyw4IiM8ED8ZK%2FZfkxwPOCQCYmM8Czgc41s2j3L1HN6OXvET8PwvO2gpCvAwPi5jc98kfRd3dxDz4QPvS1Qw3CUz81dj998kfQdTHBkW8CxTZ1PdC9kk21doFMQo%2BMdrPBUD2QjzKyw4ExUk21pm8NQJMO6Od9wvMCTCdnsgCBxEEnp%2FPTNAS%2F5iZzgMPDwGWlsYEyTrwoQ%3D%3D

Free Air Compressor

Doug found a guy through his work we was giving away an air compressor for free (because it had a hole in it) Doug took it, welded it up and gave it to me! He dropped it at the house while I was out at a cadillac event today...

another un-Cadillac

Lotus Eclat
This one's half the price of the Lancia posted on June 20th, and double the horsepower...still a 4 cylinder so good gas mileage... and fun!

Car Chase...

This is not really Cadillac related, but it was kind of exciting, so I'll share it. Jim and I pulled into a gas station, and while we were sitting there finishing our conversation this junky old Grand National come racing into the station, and I swear I thought it was going to hit us head on he swerved around us, but luckily there was no one else parked at the pumps or there would have been damage for sure. As he books it past us, four cop cars in hot pursuit followed him through the station out to the other street.



We were talking about how crazy that was, when we see the helicopter come out and start heading toward us, then the car goes by us again coming from a completely different direction, and this time he's got 6 cop cars in hot pursuit, and three more going the other way to cut him off from the other direction.

$50 dollar paint job?

this guys painted his corvair in his driveway for $50

read more on how here:

http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html

It's tempting to try something like this on one of my cars just so it will look nicer for the short-term.

un-cadillac

this is so the opposite of a cadillac, but I love it! I would totally buy it if it was more like $6000.

1976 Lancia Scorpion 53k miles very original, runs perfectly! - $12000 (redwood city)
Reply to: sale-352879426@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-06-15, 11:41AM PDT

Rare 1976 Lancia Scorpion, in the UK and Continent called a Monte Carlo: Mid engine 1800cc Twin Cam, 5 Speed, all Disc brakes, original paint, runs like a watch, passes SMOG, and is very original. Only some 1700 of 7000 produced were imported to the US over a two year span, and many sadly have died a rusty death.

This little Lancia screams Italian all the way, Pininfarina (of Ferrari) design, retro color, funky roll up top ala a Topolino, classic arms extended Alfa Romeo driving position and all the right sounds from the Fiat derived overhead cam 4 cylinder with headers. Try to find another non-rusty Scorpion, much less one with 53k miles that is mechanically excellent. This litle car drives perfectly. Recently SMOGed, passed perfectly.

By the way, new brake calipers, rotors, pads, master cylinder, soft brake lines, new tires, new clutch master cylinder, new throttle cable, rebuilt front struts, new shift bushings, new hoses radiator, heater et all, re-core radiator, new fan sender switch, new shift bushings, new belts, re-built air pump, new Cat, new battery, new plugs, points, oil changed with filter.

Everything works except the old AC. Top, top straps, top hinged panel, latches all work smoothly, interior all superb, no cracks or tears in dash or door panels, carpet in car the trunk mat superb and original, no stains tears wear spots. Seats recovered.

Engine bay and engine are tidy and very correct: no leaks. It runs beautifully, idles nicely, pulls strong to 6500RPM, no smoke on acceleration or deceleration and 55 LBS of oil pressure. Trans and linkage shifts smoothly. So. Cal and AZ car.




http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/car/352879426.html