The Wanderer

[SuperBuickGuy]

Carl chuckled. "Being an old Navy man, I could go for someth*ing a bit stronger. Maybe a beer?"
It was Stanhope's turn to chuckle. "Oh, I think we got sumpin' that'll clear your throat. C'mon over here behind the shed."

Carl followed Stanhope behind the shed and before he stopped walking, was handed a large clear jug. "Have a sip, said Stan*hope.
Carl tilted his head back and took more than a sip. In fact, more than a slug. What he took was a big, big, super deep drink. And before he knew what was happening, the cool liquid was in his stomach. It was only when he took a deep breath that he realized that whatever he was drinking was certainly not lemonade.
Stanhope hooked a finger through the handle on the jug and took a pull himself, then handed it back to Carl, who took a snap, then handed it back to Stanhope, who took one more drink, to Carl who really nailed a deep one, and so it went, for the better part of an hour, while Emma had some lemonade with a nice lady named Louella.

The afternoon was hot, and Carl was thirsty. After an hour or so of "slacking" his thirst, Carl started getting a bit hungry. "Think I'll jump in The Whale and fix myself something to eat, Stanhope."
"You go right ahead, Carl ol' buddy. I sorta gotta keep an eye on things around here. I'll come an get you when Luke gets back with the welder."

Carl stumbled inside The Whale and extracted some cold sand*wiches from the fridge, then tried unsuccessfully to get them in the microwave oven for a good ten minutes before he realized that he was trying to open the front of the TV.
He giggled, then ate the sandwich cold, and promptly fell asleep with a glob of mayonnaise dangling off the edge of his chin.

An hour or so later, he was awakened by the sounds of thumps on the side of The Whale. "Hey, Carl! Luke's here with the torch*es. Let's get your truck fixed up."
Carl's head felt a little thick, but he figured he'd better get it in gear, so he stumbled out of The Whale, blinking in the bright sunlight. There was an old International pickup backed up to The Whale and it was loaded with welding equipment and genera*tors. Quite a rig! Luke introduced himself and they hit it off well.

A half-hour later, they'd traded some chewing tobacco around and Stanhope brought the jug out again. Carl mentioned that maybe, just maybe, he ought to get busy and fix The Whale, but Stanhope said, "Hey, there's always tomorrow, Carl. Life's too short not to enjoy yourself. Anyways, one of the women is frying up a mess of fresh catfish and ya'll are invited to partake and camp the night, iff'n ya like." Carl smiled a crooked smile at Emma, who sighed once again, then tipped the jug back and took a deep swallow.

At that point, all hell broke loose. Gunshots filled the air and a bunch of men in uniforms charged into the clearing. "Don't anybody move! You're all under arrest for moonshining! Captain Parkins here will read you your rights, but if you make a funny move, you'll hear those rights through an extra hole or two."
Emma squeaked.
"Oh, Carl ... what have you gotten us into?"
***
What, indeed. Will Carl and Emma go to jail? Will The Whale get impounded and sold at auction? Next month, we find out the an*swers to these and several other things too weird to consider this month.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Haven't updated for a couple days. Spent most of Sunday dealing with the sewer smell (resolved with use of a excavator), then my internet connection died (and that's a rant for another day). Despite life getting in the way there has been progress


I had to move it outside for the work and so that a friend could get his car on the lift - took pictures... window wouldn't roll up... (argh) it was a 'sunny day' in Seattle, which means it hailed, rained, and blew.

still, I think it looks pretty good with the lift

bought a new glow plug controller - I'm glad I tore the other apart because otherwise I'd have been irritated when this didn't work (more diagnosis will be detailed later, but for now - new part)



started rewiring issues



lifting the truck and taking the seat out made this so much easier to do

note the signal stalk - there will be more work there too - I need to pull the column a bit more apart to get the new cruise wired down the column

the internet is cool, I didn't know that GM had put a hole in the plug so you could put fishing line through it so it could pull down the column.... I love GM stuff - it's almost like they know we'll be working on it



why put a switch when I put a new glow plug controller? the last one was done somewhere around 2000, so that means this one may fail too - why not save myself a headache?



and this was the problem with the windows.... they had put a resetable breaker in place and it didn't reset.... I still need to figure out why they felt the need for it - but for now I replaced it with another one and the window works

 

[JPaul]

I think the resettable breaker is so that something else gives when your buddy gets his head stuck in the window.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I've run out of dumb friends - they simply don't last long.... unfortunate, really.



***moment of silence***



*taps in the background*

*salute*

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Got some AC parts

poor thing, bent and broken

shiny new chinesium

I had to get creative mounting the signals to the grill

rarely use it, but it's so handy when I do

now with 1985 face.... it's funny, I graduated in 1985 and these were my class colors

I don't know what to do with this.... buy rebuilt or use one that seems decent.... if it weren't a chinesium replacement I supposed it'd be an easy decision

everything set in place like it should fit (and the condensor is installed)

this, is a pain to find

wipers back on

tomorrow we find out if Carl survives

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

THE WANDERERS #9
MOONSHINE BLUES - PART II
By Rick Sieman

When we last left Carl and Emma, Carl had stumbled on a moon*shine operation in North Carolina and they were arrested with the nice folks who ran the still. They were loaded into a large green box van and driven to a nearby town, where they awaited booking and jailing. Emma cried crocodile tears the entire way back, much to the dismay of Carl and his new friends.
***
Stanhope sighed and said, "Shoot, I'm sorry, Carl. They wasn't due to raid us for another three or four weeks. Didn't mean for you nice folks to get your buns busted. Somebody musta forgot to pay off deputy Scumwald. He's supposed to get his two hunnert bucks a week regular as clockwork."
Carl spit a glob of chewing tobacco on the wall of the van. "Heck, that's OK, Stanhope. Wasn't your fault. We used to make our own drinking stuff when I was in the Navy. My favorite was Aqua Velva aftershave lotion and orange juice. Kept me occupied when I was out at sea, ya know. Anyways, what happens next?"
Stanhope scratched his straggly beard. "Well, they'll book us and bust up the still. Then they'll confiscate all the shine and probably make a tidy profit on it when they sell it to our regu*lar customers. Ya know, we're proud of our brew. It's all natural ... no additives or junk like that. Just straight rotgut."
Emma whimpered in the corner. "Will it be the gas chamber or the firing squad, Stanhope?"
"Now, pretty lady, don't you worry none. Way I figure it is this. We post bail and maybe pay five hunnert bucks each in fines, then it's business as usual."
Emma wailed. " But I'll be a criminal! I'll be branded for life! They'll yank my 4x4 Owners Club license and I won't be able to get my 20 year pin!"
Carl looked at the rusty ceiling and sighed.
An hour later, the box van stopped and the dangerous prisoners were unloaded and herded into the jailhouse. A very large officer with several chins and a beer gut the size of a juke box motioned for them to have a seat. Huge patches of sweat stained the under*arms of his shirt all the way down to his belt. A basket of 30-weight French fries sat on a pile of reports and a light layer of oil gleamed on the papers.
He sat down in front of an ancient Underwood manual typewriter and poked one key at a time with a huge forefinger. Every third word or so, he made a mistake and swore under his breath, as he was forced to correct it with an eraser.

Two hours later, he had all the reports done and herded the men into one cell, and clanked the door shut. He turned to Emma. "M'am, we ain't got no cell for women, so if you'd like, you can just sort of hang around the A&W Root beer stand next door. Or take in a movie. You don't look like the criminal type to me. Just make sure you show up here by tomorrow at nine AM when Judge Pinrod shows up. Okey dokey?"
Emma sniffed back the tears. "Can I call my lawyer?"
Carl yelled from the cell, "Emma, we ain't got a lawyer. Now go see a movie or something. Better yet, find out where they impounded The Whale and make sure it's OK."
Emma shuffled out, head hung low.
Carl looked around the cell and took a seat as far away as he could from the three winos sleeping on the floor. Stanhope alrea*dy had a game of cards going with Luke and one of the deputies. Carl slumped down against a wall.
***
Three hours later, Carl was rudely wakened by the huge officer with the huger sweat stains. "Hey, you the guy what owns the big four-wheel-drive truck?"
"It's a Suburban, and yes, that's me. Why do you ask?"
"Well, seems that we just got a call over the radio. The Judge is stuck out in the woods over by Blister Creek. He went off the road trying to miss some stupid deer and he's stuck bad. Couple of guys tried to get him out and now they're stuck, too. Feel like lending a hand?"
"Why should I even think about helping that ... "
Ooooof! An elbow to the ribs by Stanhope stopped Carl in mid-sentence. "Sure, Officer Blint. My friend here would be glad to help out his honor. All we gotta do is make a small repair on his radiator first. Fred at the Texaco station can fix it up quick, and then we can get the Judge took care of."
Officer Blint grunted. "Good. But I'm going with you clowns, and if anyone makes a break for it, or tries anything funny, I'll shoot you a whole bunch of times and throw you back in jail later on. Got it?"
The men gulped. They had it.
***
The trail was rougher than Carl had imagined! A dirt road deteriorated into a miserable dirt road, which in turn degenerat*ed into a sloppy muddy two-track bordering an evil-looking yellow water creek.
Officer Blint and Stanhope were wide-eyed as Carl fought the steering wheel and The Whale wallowed from side to side. Officer Blint spat a huge glob of tobacco juice out of the driver's side window and said, "We ain't gonna get stuck, are we? it gets worse further on up. We had us a lot of rain the last two weeks and this is lowlands, ya know."
Carl emitted a hearty laugh. "'Officer Blunt, I ... "
"That's Blint."
"Yeh, that's what I said. Anyway Officer Bonk, this here Suburban has a 454 under the hood, and it ain't even close to being stock. And those 44-inch Gumbo Mudders ain't on the wheels for decoration. I could probably idle straight up the side of a redwood tree if you'd clear the brush off."
Stanhope looked a bit green around the edges as The Whale's front end lifted over a rise, then slammed down to the ground.
"Are you gonna rip the front end off this thing, Carl?"
"Hey, calm down, Stanhood. I got 14 Ranchos up front and 18 of the puppies in the rear. The Whale can take a bump!"
Officer Blint pointed a finger straight ahead. "Carl,
we got to climb up this steep hill after you go around this here bend coming up. When it's dry, you got a 50/50 chance of making it to the top. when it's wet, well ... if it's just the same to you, I'll get out and walk up while you take your shot at it""
"What! And let me escape! Nope, you just hang on Officer Blimp and ... "
"That's Blint!"
"Yeh, that's what I said. You got one of those French fries stuck in your ear? Just hold on to the door real good and I'll give you one a those Disneyland E-ticket rides up the hill."
Carl saw the hill up ahead, and it was, indeed, a nasty one. He knew that the only way to conquer this hill was to use momen*tum. Muddy slick uphills do not usually offer a great deal of traction.
Carl stopped and studied the hill for a few moments, with the engine idling comfortably in neutral. He put The Whale in reverse and backed up as far as he could and lined The Whale up straight and true with the hill.
He then smiled an evil smile and said, "Hang on, Officer Blintz . We're goin' hill climbing!!!"
Carl clicked the shifter into second gear in four low, and pinned it. The mighty 454 hesitated for a micro-second, then The Whale lunged forward like a Top Fuel dump truck. The tach read 6500 rpm and the Econo-meter blipped red lines and told Carl that he was getting 1.2 miles per gallon at the moment.
The Whale charged up the base of the hill and hit the first jump wide open. The engine screamed its guts out as all four wheels cleared the ground, then snapped the heads back on all the occupants as The Whale hit the ground and threw four giant rooster tails.
The Whale continued its charge up the hill straight and true. Carl kept the wheels in the ruts and the pedal stayed right on the metal. About 50 yards from the top, The Whale started to bog down in the deep mud and Officer Blint yelled, "We're gonna die!"
Carl just smiled and reached over to the dash and flipped a chrome toggle switch. Immediately, the engine barked and emitted a huge roar. "Nitrous oxide, Officer Blump. Kicks in another 250 horsepower or so."
Stanhope clawed his fingers into the seat back and started singing Rock Of Ages at the top of his voice, and Officer Blint merely closed his eyes while his sweat stain doubled in size.
Amazingly, The Whale clawed over the top cleanly and sailed 30 feet past the crest, landing neatly on the downslope.
Stanhope stopped singing and clapped Carl on the back. Officer Blint let out a mighty breath of air, that smelled like a MacDon*alds counter.
Ten minutes later, they came upon the carnage of the Judge stuck off the side of the road and two other trucks buried to the cross-members.
Carl got out and took charge. "Which one a you guys is the Judge?"
"I am. Judge Pinrod at your service. And I thank you for coming to our rescue."
"Well, listen up, Judge Pinhead ... "
"That's Pinrod, sir."
"That's what I said. Anyways, you get in that truck of yours and point the wheels up toward the road, I'll get the winch out. Don't fire it up until I tell you. And when I do tell you, I want you to pin it. I hope you got a V8 under the hood of that Dodge."
"Nope. It's a six. But it's a good one."
"Judge Pinwheel, there ain't no such thing as a good six. Whatever. When I give you the signal, floor it."

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Carl strung out the winch cable and hooked it to the front of the Dodge truck, then gave the signal. The engine roared and the winch whined ... and the bumper of the Dodge ripped off and flew over the trees, out of sight.
Carl grunted. "Maybe I should have hooked it to the frame instead. Let's give it another shot. And this time, pay atten*tion."
Stanhope looked up at the sky and moaned quietly.
Carl rooted around underneath the Dodge and hooked the winch around a frame rail, then got the winch taut. He nailed the winch lever and gave the Judge the signal. The winch whined and strained, but started pulling the buried truck out of the goo.
Judge Pinrod screamed the throttle and the Dodge shuddered and shook, and eventually rose free from the mud. Two minutes later, the Dodge was up on level ground again, blowing steam like a 200 year old train.
Ten more minutes of work had the other two trucks free, and hearty smiles were exchanged by all.
***
An hour and a half later, they were back at the jail and the Judge decided to hold the hearing right there on the spot.
"I find the defendants sort of guilty, but because of their willingness to help a neighbor in need, the charges are official*ly dropped. Now, if'n y'all will join me down at the Rusty Nail Bar and Grill and Bar, I'm buying drinks for the house."
Carl beamed and Emma beamed even more. "Oh, Carl! We're not criminals. In fact, we're heroes! I'm so proud of you!"
For the first time in his life, Carl blushed. "Hey, don't thank me, honey pot. Thank Judge Pinhead, here."
"That's Pinrod."
"Yeah, that's what I said. Now let's go have us a couple or three beers."

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

[FONT=&quot]well nuts.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Finding the tube from the condensor to the evaporator was not an easy task. GM doesn't make it, neither does anyone else. What is available is NOS. I got, what I thought, was the correct tube - one for a vehicle without rear ac - but it turns out it is not. Now to find a plug, quickly. There is someone online who offers plugs to plug rear ac, but they're in Minnesota and I need this tomorrow.... it will be my choice if I have no other choice, but I could sure use a suggestion of what that line is and what the plug is. The plug kit is simply an aluminum slug that has the step like the normal fitting. You put the o-ring on it, then run a standard fitting over the top.... simple and elegant all at once... just in Minnesota. I could weld up the hole - but I'm not that great of an aluminum welder, yes, I've welded motorcycle frames together and those have survived quite nicely - but are ridiculed by the pros.... this needs to be a pro deal.... hmmmm... what to do?[/FONT]

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

So the truck is at the shop getting the ac system charged - so while it's gone time to get some other stuff accomplished.
before it left, I modified a heat shield from (I think) a 79 Fiat Spider to protect the a/c box from exhaust heat



then started knocking apart a leaking camper to get some good bits. In the end, I think about all I'll use is the water pump and misc. other stuff - the plan with the rest that I save is to build an overland trailer






this may come back in a fabricated housing - dunno yet



and a drawing of the rack and internal lay out



dash fix



the passenger seat will rotate to face backwards when camped... the first bits of that plan

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

funny. Today I was dealing with a title issue on this rig - I bought it from someone else, who signed the wrong line - and he was talking about being sorry he ever sold it. I didn't have the heart to show him what it looks like now because it sounds like's exactly what he was hoping for. It was funny because that is pretty much the response of everyone who has ever owned one of the square burbs.... first one was a "mistake" then the rest were a mistake to ever sell. I told him not to worry, he'll have another

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

THE WANDERERS #10

THE ULTIMATE SPEED TRAP

By Rick Sieman

When we last left Carl and Emma, they had just escaped the long arm of the law in South Carolina, when they were arrested by accident with a bunch of friendly moonshiners. Because Carl was able to rescue the Judge with his 4WD Suburban, all the charges were dropped. After bidding a fond farewell to Stonhope and his group of distillers, Carl decided to head south. Deep South.

***

Emma looked up from her knitting and turned to Carl, who was sitting in the captain's chair of The Whale, lumbering down the road at exactly three miles over the posted speed limit. "Carl, would you mind telling me where we're headed?"
"Well, honey pot, I figured we'd wander on down to Florida. Maybe do a little fishin' and then hop on over to Disney Town and see Mickey Moose. "
"You mean `Disney World,' dear ... and the character is named Mickey Mouse. "
"That's what I said woman. You got bugs in your ear or somethin'? Now tune me in some good music on the radio. Somethin modern, like Herman and the Hairnets, or maybe some of that funky Creedence Tapwater stuff."

Emma started to correct Carl, then thought better of it and hunched forward over the horribly complex sound system on the dash of The Whale. She eyeballed the forty odd buttons, 28 knobs and 114 blinking lights, then reached out and poked something.
Carl snorted. "Emma, you just changed the clock and the date. Move that fat little finger of yours over to the left and hit that button surrounded by the little blue lights. Yeh, that's the one. Jeez, I wish you'd take the time to read the manual that came with the Blitzkreig Woofmaster Screaming Decibel Mark 7 Sound System."
"Carl, it's bigger than the Lorain, Ohio phone book. I still don't see why need an eleven thousand dollar radio."
"Hey, it's more than a radio, Emma. This puppy not only gets AM and FM, it Sets PM and AC and DC and a coupla other neat things."

Emma hit the indicated button, and lo and behold, the digital station indicator readout changed and sound emitted:

" ... so if you want to save big bucks on poultry feed, you just got to stop by Hen City over where Highway 93 crosses Inter*state 15 and ask for ... "

…dial, dial, dial…
" ...our next selection will be the Valdosta High School band playing all the themes from the Pink Panther movies, and after that, we'll have ... "

…dial, dial, dial…
" ...and then my husband ran off with two cheerleaders. Dr. LaPlant, I just don't know what to do. I've gained another 85 pounds and feel terrible and ... "

…dial, dial, dial…
" ... now the worst thing you can do when your poodle starts to get a skin condition, is to ignore it. These sensitive little darlings need ... "

…dial, dial, dial…
" ... if you really want to make it big in real estate, you're going to need these tapes that tell you how to buy entire city blocks for no money down and ... "

…dial, dial, dial…
" ... next up is Lester Stump and the Possum Hollow Jug Suckers with a classic: Don't Lean On My Tractor 'Cause I Caught You Cheatin' In The Back Forty ... "

"Hold it right there, Emma. I can live with some serious country music right about now. After all, we're almost at the Georgia State Line."
"I'd be careful In Georgia, Carl. I read in one of those magazines that they have all kinds of speed traps. And you're always driving faster than the posted speed limits. After that close call we just had, I'd hate to have another brush with the law."
"Emma, you see that box of kleenex on the dash? Well, that ain't exactly a box of kleenex, ya know. Inside that empty box is the most sophisticated piece of radar detector known to man, the Whistling Fox Escort Cop Sniffer Mark 12. It can pick up radar 28 miles away inside a tunnel in a rainstorm. Cost me a month's pay."

Twenty eight miles away, inside a tunnel, sat Officer LaRue Honker in his squad car. On his dash was the most sophisticated radar equipment known to man. The township had just bought the elaborate electronics for Officer Honker and he wasn't quite sure how it all worked.
A bewildering array of dials, lights, buzzers and gauges hummed, buzzed and beeped. Officer Honker had tried to read the manual ... he really had. But it was close to hopeless. He did remember one thing, though. When the yellow light in the upper left hand corner came on, it meant that a vehicle with a high bucks radar detector was heading toward him. And that light was now blinking accusingly.

As Officer Honker recalled, when the vehicle in question pulled into view, he was supposed to grab his radar gun and point it as close as possible to the center of the
offending vehicle. He fidgeted and wished that he had graduated from grade school and was able to read better and understand the manual.

A short time later, The Whale rumbled into view and the yellow light on Officer Honker's dash started blinking madly. He reached down to his seat and grabbed the radar gun, aimed it dead center of the grill of the approaching rig and squeezed the trigger.
A booming sound rang through the cab of the squad car and Officer Honker realized with a sickening lurch in his stomach that he had not squeezed the trigger of his new hyper-zoot radar gun.

Instead, he had just squeezed the trigger of his trusty old 357 Magnum handgun. For a moment, Officer Honker closed his eyes, hoping against hope that he had missed.
But he knew better. All those hours on the shooting range had made him relatively accurate. Pretty damned accurate, actually. He opened his eyes and his worst fears were confirmed; a huge cloud of steam billowed out from the hood of the approaching Suburban and black streaks squiggled out from the rear wheels.

The Suburban squealed to a stop ten feet in front of the squad car and a stocky figure hopped out, obviously very upset. Officer
Honker groaned. This was not the best way to start a day with his new speed equipment.

Carl strode up to the squad car and saw the smoking 357 Magnum in the hand of Officer Honker. "Hey, Dirty Harry. You want to tell me why you just shot my Suburban?"
"Uhh, I really didn't mean to ... you see, I thought I was aiming my radar gun and I grabbed my pistol by mistake. I'm sorry about that. Hope I didn't do much damage. Maybe we just put a little bitty hole in the radiator. My brother in law runs a garage in town and he can fix it up for you real quick. Let's take a looksee, OK?"

Carl and Officer Honker walked over to the huge Suburban as a cloud of steam hissed out from underneath the hood. A wimpering sound came from inside the cab of The Whale.
"What's that noise?" asked Officer Honker.
"Well, that's either my wife, crying her eyes out, or the
dog is scared enough to have puppies, which is a pretty good trick, seeing as it's a boy dog. Lookee here, Officer ... ?"
"Honker. The name's Honker."
"Well, well look, Humper, you scared the hell outta us. Good thing I got some military training, or I woulda panicked and started shootin' back."
"Oh, was you in the service?"
"Yup. 28 years in the Navy. Came out as a Chief Petty Officer. Backbone of the fleet, ya know."
"You bet I do. I was Chief Bosun's Mate on the Antietam in the Big One. Double-ya, Double-ya Two."
"Hey, put her there, Hinkler. Always glad to meet a fellow swabby, even if he is shootin at me."
"That's Honker."
"At's what I said. That gun ruin your hearing? Anyways, lets pop the hood and study the damage. Emma, come on out and meet
Officer Honda."
Two eyes peered from the door edge. "Will he shoot me if I come out? I told you not to speed, Carl."
"Naw, don't worry about anything. This here's a good guy. Just a little trigger happy."

While Emma cautiously got out of The Whale, Carl lifted the hood and they both peered through the steam. Both men let out low whistles. "Whoa," Carl said. "We got us a problem here. That gun of yours makes a serious hole. Went in the radiator the size of a dime and came out the back like a grapefruit. Then it went in the timing cover like a grapefruit and came out of the side of the block the size of a lemon meringue pie. That brother in law of yours a real good mechanic?"
Officer Honker sighed. "Yup, he's as good as they come, but it's gonna take him some time. Not too many 454 blocks sitting around Log Jam. Georgia. Look, I'd consider it a favor if'n you and the missus would be my guest while we fix your rig up. I got a nice 4WD Land Cruiser and could show you some of the finest trails in the world!"
"Well, I don't know ... "
"And I'll take you with me out on the job and let you help me trap some speeders. Whattaya say ... uhhh ... "
"Carl. The name's Carl."
"Well, Carl Do we got a deal? I'll even get the judge to get you a temporary deputy's badge and put you on the payroll while they work on your truck. You get a percentage of all the tickets we write. They's some pretty good money to be made. Deal?"
Carl smiled, and stuck out his meaty hand. "Officer Honkley, you got a deal. Looks like we re gonna have some fun."

***

Stay tuned. because next month Carl and Officer Honker run into a big-time crime wave. Can they handle it? Only time will tell.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

[FONT=&quot]progress[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

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[FONT=&quot]still need to find the control wires... I presume they're in the loom (crossing fingers)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]poor thing has to wait for parts (that I got today)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]the solution to the rear air issue was a line-repair kit - cut the offending tap out, put the line repair in place.... [/FONT]

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Oh how I hate photobucket. 14 pictures to upload, only like 4 made it. I'll update later, but for now....
first I worked on the dash
before

after

oh wait, that was one of those that didn't make it.... oh well....

then there was a whole series of pictures of diagnosing the vacuum system - with a really cool pump that I made from discarded medical devices.

yeah, not those pictures either

good news, the pump is bad

Then I worked on the carpet

pretty nasty
I have no idea why this is soaking wet with a sticky substance.... probably won't ask the mechanic - mostly because I'd probably not be able to sleep for a few days after


the new carpet looks good


well, you'll have to mostly trust me on that too... all I know is I have a long way to go and I want to go play at least one weekend a month...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

thread repairs
the dash



the medical vacuum pump


wonder why the old carpet smelled?


and it gets nastier


fortunately the floor seems to have cleaned up okay... maybe it was soda? dunno

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so I had 50 minutes to get stuff done... here's what happened


first, carpet was marked

mind you, this is a GENERAL location - if you follow this method cut all this out at your own risk.

middle carpet won't get many holes because I'm not putting the seats back in

while waiting for the vacuum pump, I got the T I broke (and a couple spares)

and then finally started on gauge placement on the pillar... I may not actually use these, but it was a good view of how to do this

why, you ask? because the gauges may not fit.... I have a plan B however, I'll dink with this a bit more before I give up...


at that was 50 minutes.. thanks for watching

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I feel like I haven't gotten far enough this week - ah well...
worked on the dash cover

used all manner of clamps to get it to adhere tightly

decided not to repaint it a darker color... we'll see if that lasts

out with the crappy old speakers

I must admit, I'm impressed with this - not good impressed, but impressed nonetheless

and new Rockford Fosgates installed

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

THE WANDERERS #11





JUSTICE ON THE ROAD

By Rick Sieman






When we last left Carl and Emma, The Whale had been shot right through the engine block by an over-eager Georgia traffic officer who aimed his .357 Magnum by mistake, thinking it was his new radar gun.
Needless to say, Carl was more than a bit upset to find a hole the size of a bowling ball in his 454 engine. He was mollified somewhat, however, when Officer LaRue Honker offered to have his brother-in-law fix the damages.
It would take some time, so Officer Honker invited Carl and Emma to be his guests in the friendly town of Log Jam while a new motor was being shaped. Honker also offered to make Carl an official deputy (on the payroll, too!), and let him trap a few speeders.

The two men had a lot in common, being ex-Navy men and off-roaders, alike. Honker even had a Land Cruiser and promised to show him some of the nicest trails in the area.

***

We join them now, as Carl is sitting in Officer Honkers' patrol car, a black and white AMC Marlin with a gumball machine on the roof the size of a fireplug. Carl displayed an ear-to-ear smile as Officer Honker pinned a deputy badge to his shirt.
"Carl, you are now an official officer of the law, ready to do battle against speeders and such. Now, I'm not telling you to be prejudiced or anything, but I sure like to nab law-breakers with New York plates, especially guys in those bucks-up Mercedes and BMWs and such. I pretty much don't like to pester hard-working local folks. I mean, they got to get to work and all that."
"I can understand that, Hinkler. I personally find New Yorkers rude and bad mannered."
"That's Honker."
"Yeah. that's what I said. Anyways, I also don't like people who drive Volkswagen busses with peace signs on them. They are not only a hazard on the roads, they're usually filled with dope-smoking hippies playing that trash music."
"Carl, we are gonna git along just fine, I think. By the way, looks like your missus and my wife, Velveeta, hit it off right nice."
"Yup. She's really impressed by your wife's book collection. It's not everyone that can claim to own every TV Guide ever printed, as well as all the Sears mail order catalogs back to 1941."
"They should be busy while we're out working. Velveeta is also gonna take Emma to a knitting club later on today. They been workin' on a quilt 60 feet by 35 feet with a Confederate flag pattern for six years now. "
"Well, enough chit-chat. Let's get to work. First thing we do is synchronize watches. I got 8:47."
"Mine says 9:05."
"Close enough. Now here's the drill. I point this here radar gun at that downhill about a mile off and you read the miles per hour on the dash. If they're over the speed limit, you get out and wave 'em over to the side of the road. Then we write 'em up and take 'em to the judge."
"Great. What's the speed limit on the downhill?"
"Well, it's 55 approaching the crest and 25 on the down hill side. There's a sign by the side of the road telling them the right speed to travel."
"Where?"
"Over there under that Mail Pouch sign. It's got a little bitty bush in front of it, but you can see it real clear if you look hard left as you go by."
"Uhh, just a question. How come you make that stretch of road 25 mph when all the rest of the roads are 55 mph?"
"Oh, about six years ago, some pinhead in a Winnebago lost his brakes coming down that hill and took out a pecan pie stand at the curve at the bottom of the hill. The judge's sister owned that stand and nearly got splattered. Pecan pies were everywhere. It was ugly."
"Okie-dokie. Whoops, here comes a car now. Looks like a big Caddie-lack. Git your radar gun pointed, Honda."
"That's Honker."
"Right. OK, that Caddy is doing 68 mph and straddling the centerline. Do we grab him?"
"You bet your shorts! Wave him over. "

The long Caddy pulled over to the side of the road with a squeal from the tires. It sported a set of New York plates
that read "LAWYER". The driver got out, red-faced, and started yelling and howling up a storm. He had an open shirt and wore a lot of gold chains around his neck.
Honker put on his mirrored sunglasses and casually strode over to the fuming driver. "License sir, if you please."
"What is this? Some kind of hick speed trap? I was doing a steady 55. You guys short on your quota or something?"
"Please remove the license, sir, and hand it to me."
"Look, my name's Murray, and I'm a lawyer and I know how the system works, guys. Why don't we just have a little understanding here, and I'll be on my way. Here's my license."
Murray the lawyer handed the license to Honker and a one hundred dollar bill fluttered to the ground. Officer Honker bent down and picked up the bill, handed it back to Murray and said, "You dropped this, sir."
Murray gave a hurt look. "Oh no, not me. Can't be mine, Must be yours. Yep. That C-note is definitely yours. Well, look, I'll just be on my way now and I'll sure keep the speed down." And with that, Murray winked.
Officer Honker bristled. "It appears to me, sir, that you are attempting to bribe an officer of the law. This is not a good thing to do. Not here, in Log Jam, Georgia. You folks up in the big city might do that sort of stuff on a regular basis, but we run things different down here."
Officer Honker flipped open his ticket book, licked the end of an Eberhard-Faber #2 pencil and started writing: "Lessee. Sixty-eight in a 25 zone, crossing over the center line, attempted bribery of a law officer, reckless operation of a ..."
Murray exploded: "Why, you *#@#*$#@ geek slime-ball $##+@*&%#$ ,rat-faced #@$&*@# hill-billy porker #@#+@##@+#@ %$&!* red-necked$#%$#%# son of a ..."
Officer Honker remained unfazed : " ... profanity in public, threatening a law officer, and it appears that you have a turn signal bulb burnt out. Perhaps we ought to do a full safety check on this vee-hickle here before we proceed on down the road to meet the judge."
Murray dropped his jaw all the way to the third chain on his chest.
"Now, wait a minute officer, I apologize for popping off, but why don't I just sign that ticket and let's go see the judge? After all, we're all Americans, right?"
Carl walked over to the Caddy and peered inside. "He's got a six pack of beer on the seat, LaRue, and three of the cans are crushed up and one appears to be half full. We got us a menace here."
Officer Honker continued writing: " ... driving under the in*fluence of ... "
Murray went nuts. "You dirty %#%#$&$#$#, I'm gonna sue you for every dime you got. I'll buy this hick town and then burn it to the ground!"
" ... threat of arson, and that should just about cover it for now. Sign here, sir. And then follow us down the road to the judge. We'll try to get this over with as quickly as possible."

As a fuming Murray the lawyer followed the police car into town, Carl talked with LaRue.
"What's gonna happen with this guy, LaRue?"
"Oh, the judge'll nail him on the speeding and the open con*tainer with some pretty stiff fines, then when he starts to panic, the judge will offer to drop then rest of the charges if he apologizes to us and promises not to ever do it again. That guy will be so happy to get out of here, that he won't even snivel about the fines. We could slap his sleazy butt behind bars, but it might disturb Jimmy the Wino who sleeps there every night. Wouldn't want that."

Later that afternoon, Murray paid $788.49 in fines and headed south to Miami, five miles per hour under the speed limit, with his head searching the horizon like a prairie dog worried about red-tailed hawks.

Four hours later, Carl and LaRue had caught and delivered seven more speeders to the judge, but they were all rather sim*ple, straightforward deals. Carl bit off a chew of Big Dog chew*ing tobacco and offered LaRue a chunk. The two men chewed and spat brown slugs for a few minutes, then Carl asked, "Larry, do you ever ... "
"That's LaRue, Cal."
"Right. Say, do you ever get any really weird cases out here? Even weirder than that New York weasel?"
"Yup. We got one real problem that crops up every now and then. There's a couple of crooks from the next county over, and they've been stealin' 4-x4s off'n the folks around here. Every time I try to catch 'em , they just head off road and I lose 'em. They musta got a half dozen rigs in the last four months."

As the words left Officer Honkers mouth, the radio crackled. "This here's Deputy Durdblatt back at the station. We got another 4x4 theft. They took the hardware store owner's Blazer and they're heading your way. Blue Blazer with a white top. See if you can get 'em!"

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Thirty seconds later, a blue Blazer blazed (what else?) down the road and passed our two lovable peace officers. LaRue flipped on the gumball lights and yelled, "Buckle up, Cal! Let's get 'em before he can hit the back roads. With the siren wailing, the Marlin lurched from behind the billboard and smoked the tires in pursuit. Lights flashed, the engine wailed and the Marlin started gaining on the big Blazer.
Three miles later, they were right on the tail of the Chevy 4x4. Carl yelled over the engine noise. "Can I shoot the tires out, LaRue?! Like Dirty Harry does!"
"Better not, Carl. Let's just stay right on his tail and try to get him to pull over."
A hundred yards later, the Blazer slewed hard left and darted down a dirt road. The Marlin stayed right on his bumper as LaRue sawed at the steering wheel. The Blazer made another sharp turn and went through some tall bushes, short-cutting to a rutted dirt road.
Officer Honker uttered some vile Navy curses that even Carl had never heard. He was impressed! The Blazer started pulling ahead, and when the road criss-crossed a few streams, the Marlin simply could not keep up.
Finally, LaRue, was forced to stop. He pounded on the steer*ing wheel for a while and swore some more. "That's the fourth time those bandits have gotten away from me. I just don't know what to do."
"Well, why don't you try to chase them down with your Land Cruiser? That thing will go anywhere."
"Yeah. But it's too slow. They'd just stay on the highway and leave me in the dust. Frankly, I'm stumped."
Carl scratched his chin for a moment. "Listen up, LaRue. My Suburban should be done in a week or so, and it's got a serious 454 motor under the hood, plus nitrous oxide. You seem like a pretty good guy, so I'm gonna offer the use of The Whale to chase down these pond-scum crooks. Whaddaya think?"
Officer Honker stuck out a big meaty hand. "It's a deal. Carl, we're gonna git em!"

***

Shades of Bullet! What will happen? Will The Whale be able to catch the 4x4 thieves? What will Emma say when she discovers Carl's plan? Will our heroes succeed? I can hardly wait until next month to find out.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

and had a few minutes after sundown to drop it in
but first, what is it with Hondas and oil? this is my second in as many months that is peeing oil



vacuum pump

this should be fun

even better, slightly different

but it fits and works

one thing I did learn - I don't like Oldsmobile oil pumps because they use a star that, if you do it incorrectly, will not properly connect to the oil pump if you pull the drive.... this one is that design so I'll really be watching oil pressure so I don't have another meltdown like I had with my 455 in a boat.
pressure is fine for now

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so I bought this because I couldn't find any used air ducts - it's a molded bit that goes from the center HVAC to the left of the driver - I was doing a bit of whining and then thought "I wonder if I can find a new one" the answer is yes, yes I can... so it's on its way and this will be used for the passenger side



first job was one I've been avoiding because it's such a pain to do - running the cruise control wire down the column. I guess I'm going find out why they just didn't run it down the same hole as the signal wires... until then, I should have cruise control again

I was smart, I left the wire

then I wasn't when it detached on the way through
so time to take the column a bit more apart

hey look, new stalk installed

dash cap on... except for the aluminum-ish bit ... oh yeah, it broke into a thousand pieces



I think I'm going to retract my comments about the cap. It's a functional cap, but it's not terribly accurate so there are issues



started installing my HAM radio



and my radio



radio is now wired, I just need to make the hole and get an antenna adapter. I still don't know what I'm going to do about the broke bit. Probably should just glue it together... we will see.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

this update hardly seems worth it, but here it goes

fortunately, I didn't forget about the need to fix the ground before I put the dash back together

it all even works - I have to take it apart one more time and get the antennas for the HAM quad band radio (it transmits on GMRS, FRS, and CB frequencies along with commercial (aka race radio) bands, and technician frequencies) - I decided to use 2 antennas and a switch so that I don't have the same issue I'm having with my one-antenna-to-rule-them-all-easy-to-break issue.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

fixes and gauges - or, how many ways can one fix plastic parts?


first the aluminum looking panel that snapped...

gorilla glue is a good thing

this is already making me itch

aiming a bit too high

but wait, I have sewer pipe

Buick isn't sure

meh, what does he know - he's just a dog

the purpose of the bondo is to keep the fiberglass from leaking through when I cover it all with a coat of fiberglass

thus it just gets smeared on
looks like the gorilla won again

one of the antennas for the dual antenna setup

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Opinion?

[h=3]Specs:[/h]

• 1/3 hp compressor motor, the most powerful in the RV industry today
• Running Watts for Cooling - 1225 to 1450 Watts
• Approximate full load amps - cooling - 11.1 amps
• Evaporator Air Delivery on high speed - 200 CFM
• Dimensions: 44 2/25" L x 32" W x 10" H
• Weight: 92 lbs
• Optional 5,600 Btuh heating element to take the chill out of cool mornings.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

and this is exactly what I'm doing except not a hearse
A Corvette LT1 engine, rebuilt and upgraded transmission, rearview camera/monitor, HID conversion headlights, 23" TV/DVD player, 9200 BTU 120V A/C, 100 watt solar panel w/control panel, 4-100 amp/hour battery Bank, 2000 watt Xantrex inverter/charger/transfer switch w/control panel, 30 amp 120v service, latex foam/memory foam mattress, porta potie, battery inter-connecter switch, receiver hitch, and all the creature comforts the 1996 CADDILAC FLEETWOOD luxury vehicle provides the driver and passenger.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-CLASS-...ash=item2f0243c2d1:g:6WwAAOSwE0JY-UxI&vxp=mtr

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

And yet another solution (though this might be for my wife's Jeep)
​https://climateright.com/air-conditioning-heating-4/popular-applications/rv-trailer-air-conditioning-and-heating/climateright-5000-btu-a-c-heater-2.html#product_tabs_product-specs