You Meet Nice People

when working on your Volvo parked in the street. 








Though after a while they will begin to think you're nuts.

12.72 Seconds.

"Oh God,

I can do better than that!"

(0-60 time, September 19, 2010)

Relieving Pressure.

I don't want to go home.

I don't have anyone to talk to.

I'm better off thinking to myself, just humming along in my lonesome.

Which is fine.

I drove for 4 hours yesterday.

So incredibly relaxing. 

Small, windy, less traveled roads.

Highways take the fun out of everything.

Plus, I got just a little bit more romantic.

Here, in the Berkeley hills.

The Completedness.

I
HAVE 
MY
DRIVER'S
LICENCE.


April 28, 2010.
11:40 AM.
1996 Ford Windstar.
Concord, CA DMV.


The gods of driving smiled down upon me that day.
I have been waiting 5 years.


DANGER WAGON, FORTH I COME.

New Things.

The trip to the Pick 'N Pull proved fruitful. I got many things that I needed, and then some.
-Air Mass Meter (-016)
-Like new belly pan.
-'CLASSIC' badging and dash insert #238.
-Head rest inserts.
-Various dash light bulbs.
All of that only ran me about $50 bucks, although I did have to venture to a pretty shady neighborhood in Oakland to get it.


Also, it ran. 
It was beautiful. I put my Air Mass Meter in and was just turning it over and over, slowly killing my starter as I have been for the last 18 months. I was just as discouraged as I always got after spending a whole day working on my car. But, as I was packing up my tools, closing up shop, I gave it one last go.
And it sputtered slowly, and uncertainly, to life. It sounded absolutely terrible, and was sending a steady stream of thin black smoke out the exhaust. It sounded as if a cylinder wasn't firing, which was comical because it's a 4-cylinder. It had pretty violent shakes at idle, but smoothed out considerably at about 3000 RPM. I killed it, and packed up for the day.

I haven't been able to bring it back since. But, that's alright, because it's in better hands now. We called up my grandma and got her to call AAA to tow it to the local shop. Now, there it sits, being worked on by the well trained hands of Uncle Jack. Hopefully, he can bring life to it as I did once before. And, hopefully, the clutch will be repaired, too. I cannot race and drive well with so little clutch. :)

Pick 'N Pull

The glorious sight.....of death. 


Yes folks; the pick 'n pull. Acres of former misfortune adding to the glory of owning a car. The potential wealth here is outstanding, with hidden treasures to be found at every heap of twisted metal. Like gulls picking their prey, we swoop in, taking anything we can salvage. A tachometer, a normally-expensive light bulb, an extra anything, things I don't need, things I can no longer live without. It's all here, on dirty, often toxic discarded plots of land strewn about the state. That where I'll be going tomorrow, with a set of tools and everything I need to restore the Danger Wagon to it's former, running glory. And air mass meter my kind folks is what I crave. There are a thousand things I'd like to buy, but I don't have any capital of any kind, although the Danger Wagon could use them dearly. For example, alloy wheels, an unbroken center console, an antenna, air-conditioning parts, taillights, a damned windshield, and most of all seats. God, how I would love the feel of cloth, heated seats under my bum. The 'leather; that Volvo had in the 240's was absolutely terrible. Mine's in pieces. However, I still see cloth specimens in good form.


But, hey; I'll take what I can get.

The List.

This is a post for everything I want. Chiefly concerning cars, because they make me happy.

• BMW 325 E30 (1982-1990) - I'd really like to get me one of these, simply because it would be oodles faster and prettier than the Danger Wagon. It has pretty much the same specifications as the Danger Wagon, but it's lighter, and a bit more high-tech, with things like ABS and 4-wheel drive in some cases. A tighter suspension would also be good, encouraging me to drive much faster than I really should. (0-60 7.5 seconds)

• Ford Police Interceptor (1999-present) - Now this is what I tell all my car friends at school that I'm going to get when they hear I drive a Volvo. It's the beefed up version of the Crown Victoria that the police special order. It has a 4.6 liter V8 rated at 250 hp mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission, which is the same engine-transmission setup as the civilian version. However, the computer is tuned for the engine to idle about 40 RPM higher than the civilian model, and the automatic transmission was also programmed to have more aggressive shift points, and the transmission itself was special built to endure harder, faster shifts. The engine is also equipped with an external oil-to-coolant heat exchanger, allowing the car to idle for extended periods of time. It's only available for fleet purchasing, so I won't be getting one new. The ones available to me are 5+ years old, most with 80,000 miles or more. Still, they're rather cheap, being about $5,000 on average. I don't know if my insurance would spike with such a sporty car, however. I don't have much money to spend, so this might be out of the question.

• Toyota Pickup (1989-1994) - This is another car with similar specs to the Danger Wagon, except it's a truck. It doesn't have many assets, with A/C and power steering as the main options. It's got a bench seat, which is great for a high schooler such as myself, and a 5-speed manual transmission. It's a workhorse, and like my Volvo, they have a tendency to go on forever. They haven't proven to be very safe, though, crumpling like paper in the simplest of wrecks. But, like any driver, I intend to drive it, not to crash it.

• Volkswagen Type I (1954-1966) - While this choice will garner mixed responses from car-lovers and simple broads alike, I still think owning one of these would be a life experience. A windshield 6 inches from my face, a terribly placed battery and boat-like qualities should please anyone. Although with only a 60 hp motor and no more safety than an aluminum soda can, I can't imagine going through life with this as the best thing. My dad owned one, and he has several fond memories from it. I can't imagine owning it for very long, however. I just don't think my reckless driving style would be supported by something that goes from 0-60 in some 20-odd seconds. I guess this wouldn't be a major step up from the Danger Wagon.