Now that I’m driving the Jeep every day, I’m starting to notice small things that will need attention. For example, the brake pedal is so close to the accelerator pedal (and both are loose) that pressing on the brake can press on the accelerator at the same time.
Author Archives: Steve Mays
Jeep: First check-up
Most people who buy or restore an old vehicle don’t plan on making it their “daily driver,” for a lot of practical reasons. Reliability, comfort, financial… just to name a few. But for the last few years I’ve driven the Land Rover or the pickup every day. Leaving a cherished vintage vehicle in the garage would be like having a good dog you never played with. So when I added the Jeep to my little fleet, I knew I wanted to drive it regularly so a trip to the mechanic was high on my list. Just to make it safe-ish to drive. After an agonizing six weeks I got the Jeep back this week.
- Lube, Oil and Filter change
- Replace front and rear differential oil
- Replace steering bell crank
- Replace drag link repair kit
- Replace headlight switch
- Replace brake light switch
- Replace brake master cylinder
- Adjust radiator fan
- Reseal right rear wheel (losing air due to rust on bead)
The parking brake doesn’t work and the oil pan is leaking bit so we’re not quite finished but it’s about as good as we can make it for now.
1962 F100 4×4
AM radio is being removed from many cars
Following are excerpts from a story in The Washington Post:
Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla and other automakers are eliminating AM radio from some new vehicles, stirring protests against the loss of a medium that has shaped American life for a century. […] Automakers, such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda and Tesla, are removing AM radios from new electric vehicles because electric engines can interfere with the sound of AM stations. And Ford, one of the nation’s top-three auto sellers, is taking a bigger step, eliminating AM from all of its vehicles, electric or gas-operated.
Some station owners and advertisers contend that losing access to the car dashboard will indeed be a death blow to many of the nation’s 4,185 AM stations. […] From the 1950s into the 1970s, Top 40 hit music stations in many big cities maintained astonishing shares of the audience, with 50 percent and more of listeners tuned to a single station. […] Ford says its data, pulled from internet-connected vehicles, shows that less than 5 percent of in-car listening is to AM stations.
Of the $11 billion in advertising revenue that radio pulled in last year, about $2 billion came into AM stations, according to BIA Advisory Services, which conducts research for broadcasters.
Some of the best years of my life were spent in and around radio. But I haven’t listened in years. The Land Rover doesn’t have a radio and the pickup truck has one but it’s never worked.
It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that radio –in one form or another– paid for every stitch of clothing I ever wore and every bite of food I ate. But it changed and I changed. I suspect FM radio will disappear some day.
Hiking trail update 5.9.23
We added another 40 or 50 feet to the hiking trail today. I remind myself (and others) that this project (?) is more about clearing cedar trees than creating a trail. Cedar trees are the crabgrass of the woods. They choke out almost all other trees. I quickly discovered I enjoyed cutting them with my trusty chainsaw, but getting rid of them hard work. As noted in previous posts, the wood chipper changed that. But I quickly generated big piles of wood chips and that was when the idea of making a hiking trail “paved” with cedar chips came to me.
My routine goes something like this:
- Use marking paint to flag the trees to cut
- Fire up (battery powered) the chainsaw and cut the marked trees
- Drag the trees/brush to a pile near the wood chipper
- Fire up the chipper
- Line the hiking trail with rocks to keep the chips from washing away. Works better than you’d think.
- Drag the chips to the end of the trail, dump and rake.
The rocks part is the most physically demanding. There’s no shortage of rocks on our property but there’s no easy way to get them to the trail. It usually comes down to picking them up one at a time and carrying them to the end of the trail.
I find all of this satisfying in a way I can’t describe. Mindless, physical activity out in the woods with no clear plan for where the trail leads.
Sheryl Crow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
“I don’t feel like I’ve been doing this that long. It’s gone so fast. I really didn’t see this coming”
On November 3rd (2023) hometown girl Sheryl Crow will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside George Michael, Missy Elliott, Rage Against The Machine, Willie Nelson, the Spinners, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, DJ Kool Herc, Al Kooper, Bernie Taupin, and Don Cornelius. From the Rolling Stone interview:
I could not have predicted it if I tried, especially in the early days of my career, coming from a town with three stoplights. Having grown up listening to Willie on my radio station, I just couldn’t have predicted it. There’s no way.
First and foremost, Willie Nelson is my favorite person to sing with in the universe. But if I get to stand and sing with Chaka Khan, I’m afraid I will lose my shit. [Laughs] She’s one of the greatest singers of all time and just a badass.
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opened up in Cleveland in 1995 with a massive stadium concert featuring Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, and countless other rock veterans, Sheryl Crow was one of the youngest artists on the bill.
New septic tank
After 35 years our septic tank developed a leak. (In my book, there’s no such thing as a small septic tank leak. Any odor is unacceptable.) Two years ago we had our tank pumped and an aerator installed. We’d had a little odor and hoped that would fix the problem.
It did until a few months ago when the smell returned. The company we used found a leak in our aging concrete tank and tried to patch it. Worked for a while …then it didn’t. Today we had a new tank installed.
Living “in the country” means a big old propane tank, a very expensive water well, and a septic system. There’s no where I’d rather be.
Chevrolet 3600 (Advanced Design)
“The Advance-Design is a light and medium duty truck series by Chevrolet, their first major redesign after WWII. Its GMC counterpart was the GMC New Design. It was billed as a larger, stronger, and sleeker design in comparison to the earlier AK Series. First available on Saturday, June 28, 1947, these trucks were sold with various minor changes over the years until March 25, 1955.” (Wikipedia)
“Do you smell gasoline?”
Gasoline has always been a bit of an issue with Minty Fresh (my 1977 Ford F-150). When I bought it (4 1/2 years ago) Paul warned me it drank a lot of gas but no more than you’d expect for a 40-year-old truck.
The gasoline smell reached a peak last summer when I noticed a stream pouring from the rear tank (the truck has two). Less smell after I had a new tank installed.
But it’s gotten stronger in recent weeks/months and I chalked it up to “old truck.” Oh yeah… and my gas consumption was worse than ever.
I mentioned this to Paul yesterday and he popped the hood to take a look. What we saw was a stream of gasoline coming from a carburetor hose down onto the manifold. Which gets very hot. Why I never had a fire is a nice mystery.
Paul replaced the ancient leaking hose in about five minutes (and adjusted the idle for good measure.)
“Your gas mileage will probably double,” Paul speculated.
High tech car theft: Relay attack
A friend of mine had had his truck stolen recently while on a business trip to Dallas. He parked his truck in the parking area of the motel where he was staying. When he came out the next morning, his truck was gone. Obviously stolen. Here’s what the police told him probably happened.
One of the thieves stays close to the vehicle to be stolen with an electronic device that connects to the electronic ignition system. The other thief –armed with a different electronic gizmo– walks up and down the hallways of the hotel, sending out a signal that connects to the electronic key fob of the truck. A signal is then sent to the device in the parking lot, unlocking the truck and starting the ignition. It’s called a “relay attack” and here’s some video of a car being stolen from the owner’s driveway.
The key was probably on a table near the front door so the thief didn’t have to get any closer than the front porch.
My friend asked the investigating officer what could be done to prevent this kind of theft and was told his best bet was a Faraday pouch. Amazon has hundreds of them.