balthazar

Friend of a friend just bought a '70 Catalina 2-dr hardtop locally. Pretty clean shape, will get a pic since there's a thread to stick one in now.

Time would be fantastic- let me know where to opt in if a source is found. I vote first for a 30-hr day and 2nd for an 8th day of the week. And time travel. My wish list is pretty simple. We have greatly simplified Xmas in my house- stopped exchanging between my parents & my 2 siblings years ago, I personally only buy for my sons & wife. Wife buys for my 2 nieces also. 'Family holidays' are a lot of bother in general but one thing I do actually subliminally enjoy; I 'let go' of what I spend around Xmas (and when on vacation), I don't care what things cost as long as I feel the gift is meaningful/ would be appreciated. The rest of the year Im fairly Scroogish.

It's sad & premature, of course, but I for one never strongly identified with Star Wars, and Fisher never came remotely close to the acclaim she earned in SW. Without checking her IMDB, I would've assumed she went a decade at a time, and more than once, without a billing. When I saw her interviewed in connection with her role in the recent SW, I thought she had aged at an accelerated rate (I don't mean merely appearance-wise).

Cadillac & Olds introduced optional Autronic Eye (automatic headlight high beam dimming) in 1952. Other GM makes gained them for '53. Aparently the GM Futurliners also had Autronic Eye- not sure, esp when you think about the phototube being like 10 feet off the road. Lincoln started buying from GM & installing Autronic Eye for 1957. Cadillac introduced Twilight Sentinel (automatic headlight illumination at dusk) for 1960. I was unaware these features were ever dropped by Cadillac, but by now you guys know anything much past 1980 doesn't prompt me to research/ commit those details to memory.

Progress ~ November 22 : 22K words. December 24 : 34K words. December 30 : 37K words

LaC interior pic is dark enough not to be able to tell much, but the Volvo's is not impressing me via the pic- it looks 'glued together'; I dislike how many components sit 'on top' of each other rather than be/look designed to be better integrated. For example- the wood piece on the pass side of the dash.

^ damn! - - - - - Would love to see ala cart option sheets again, instead of insanely bundled 'packages'. Even mundane pedestrian cars have wild, unique versions built that way.

Will do! It's actually my buddy who's buying- says he's been in love with the Toro since he saw one at age 12 and was knocked on his heels. Looks good via the ad / e-mailed pics but have to judge in person.

Toronado road trip delayed : owner lost title and it'll take 10 days to get new copy mailed.

Just did rear rotors & pads, Pitman & idler arms, external trans filter, checked rear fluid level, checked front brakes, lubed whole truck : '04 SIlverado 2500HD, 162K. Major thanks to my buddy for letting me use his lift. Now the truck is road-ready: off to Wash D.C. tomm to inspect a '66 Toronado for sale

Cool- GARAGE SPACE! Hope it works out you can put a 'toy' on one side in there.

^ Good luck on the house, CaM. A condo, I presume? Today was my first day off since the 2nd. Fiddled with a battery cut-off switch & resulting wiring for the COE, then called it quits- it was 34 in the shop. Very close to getting a wood stove operational in there tho.

$500 for a push mower? Guess it's been a while since I priced them- I think mine (C-man) is about 10 yrs old. I realize Ariens is a higher line mower but; damn. Wish they made wider push mowers- even 30" (non-commercial) would be a benefit over 21-24".

• Godspeed, Horsey. Always advisable to get your house in order. • My degree was in Visual Communications, tho for some reason I never heard it banded under 'Liberal Arts', even in 2 different schools (well, the first school it was Industrial Design). I spent 10 years doing GD professionally, and saw both sides of the digital wave; when I started we were compiling & coloring print spreads manually. We successfully changed over to digital production, but computer capabilities went mainstream and we eventually lost our contract via underbidding and I left the industry. The GD (print) industry is a hollow shell of what it used to be,; you used to have to go to a print shop to get business cards. • I could do it myself, but I don't think I'd ever take on building my own kitchen cabinets. So many choices on the market and they take so much time… unless you are building boxes in very unconventional sizes. Most of the manufactured cabs only differ in the boxes, whereas the faces/doors are of a narrow band of quality, which is to say pretty decent.

6 full years with my business credit card, and I've received $3450 in 'cash back' monies. Add to that I have carried a balance only maybe 3 or 4 billing periods over those 6 years. Pretty good deal if you can swing it.

Rear is very dated- has an old Solara vibe with those throwback thin horizontal tails. Front is carbon copy of CLA, just like nearly all MB cars now. Bad idea to copy your cheapest model for all the more expensive models. So in other words, a typical minimal effort from MB on the exterior.

14 & a half years. It's the retainer checks that keep me coming back. Thanks, DD!

"Model 3 is the vehicle that will save or break Tesla" is a very real & common-sensical statement. The Roadster was a fun, 'get yer feet wet' experiment, the model X is still flirting with becoming an actual market entity… basically the company is where it is today because to the Model S. Which sells well & has made a major thrust into it's segment, but is needs Generation 2 now. The 3 however, is a massive leap forward, and all indications I have read say that Tesla is NOT ready for it. That in & of itself would be fine…. IF they hadn't taken a half billion in deposits a years ago already. Underpromise & overdeliver, not the other way around.

MB has over 20 models that get 16 or less city. If the diesels go and a towering gas tax kills off the 16 MPG gas vehicles, MB would lose 2/3rds of their vehicles.

This starts at around $87K IIRC : This starts at $199K : Sorry, I'm not seeing $100K+ difference here. This is wherein the problem lies, there's a diminishing rate of return above, say $75K. - - - - - This is (IIRC) a million two in today's dollars : Plenty to see, plenty to do. You don't have to be told it's special. This is a million in 1952 dollars : Same comment applies here. :)

Too plasticy, too small & too homogenized. And too commonplace. A luxury car should be distinctive, detailed and rare (among the other 'givens').

The Buick shown here is not FWD. Leno's '55 Roadmaster has a 650 HP 572 underhood; it's no slug. Neither of the Lincoln's shown here have any smog equipment. It seems a number of people here have their 'comfort zones'…

I find the Bentley's styling language beyond bland. I see them frequently in my area, they have no uniqueness, to the point I've pointed them out to passengers who were amazed at the price range. This is where both the general impact and the specific details should shine and they just don't. For the money, both in interior & exterior, they are HUGELY overhyped. For the money, I'd expect concept-caliber detailing. S63, unfortunately, is wearing the nose of a $30K model. It's not ugly (tho it's also not especially upscale), but MB failed to differentiate it. Again, for the money; it's disappointing. I have no pick between these 2.

Fiddle-putzed today. Changed out the throttle return spring for a stronger one. Believe the carb was not returning to idle speed. Also adjusted idle speed setting. Shortened some fuel hoses, adjusted & secured fuel pressure regulator by tying it off to the fuel pump. Started & ran truck twice again, is starting quicker, down to about 3 secs vs. the prior 8-10. Idle speed is back to spec, still running very smooth. Less exhaust smoke. Going to get anti-freeze so we can reconnect & fill the coolant system, and run the truck longer. To recap; 2 owners ago bought this truck in 1977. It was wearing a 1963 NJ municipal license plate, so my assumption is that owner never put it on the road, as that old steel plate was nearly rusted on and not replaced with another. To me that means it's likely this truck hasn't run at length since then, maybe earlier. 1977 is now 39 years ago. I continue to be amazed at the longevity this truck, to date, has displayed as far as it's mechanical willingness to get back on the road. • will pick up anti-freeze tomm. • going to mount a battery cut-off switch so it's easier to disconnect (battery is under passenger seat). • more talk about brake bleeding, just about ready to go. • have access to a dealer plate for temporary road testing. 11.26.16.MOV