Since your boyfriend’s Hummer isn’t going off-road anyway, why not fit it with wooden wheels?
Via Cars and Motors
I’m so hungry, I could eat a Wagon Wheel
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Doing it in the dirt
Pretty sweet video of some bricks racing in Germany. But can you stand the German techno? Tragedy at 1:50.
West Coast Brick Graveyard
The pickings haven’t been too bad at the Pick-n-Pull I frequent on the east coast. I’ve managed to find mint tail lamps, a clean grill and the holy grail of 240 parts; intact door pockets. Most of the junked 240s I see are over 20 years old, so I hope we still have a few more years of parts to pick.
Jalopnik has a theory for the proliferation of junked bricks on the west coast:
Berkeley and its nearby East Bay cities… have long been inhabited by legions of folks who swear the Volvo 200 series was the Best Car Ever Made… that is, until the Prius arrived. Once a bulletproof hybrid Toyota enters the stable, paying Sven the Volvo Mechanic $1,800 every six months to fix a car that gets 18 MPG no longer seems like the bargain it once was… and thus begins the long tow-truck ride to the junkyards of Oakland and Hayward.
Thus begins their tragic photo essay of 240s decaying in the California sun.
NY Times doesn’t want you fixing your car
With the title “Even to Save Cash, Don’t Try This Stuff at Home“, an article in Sunday’s NY Times reports that frugal consumers think they’ll save money doing their own repairs but wind up screwing things up worse. The photo above shows a jerry-rigged part a mechanic pulled from a car he had to correct.
“We open the hood and can tell the guy tried to do it himself with
cheap parts,†Mr. Tommasone said. “We see at least one a day like that.
At least. The No. 1 part replaced: the battery.â€
I’m not sure how you can screw up the installation of a battery. Wrong polarization? Wrong size? Spilled acid? Sorry, but battery installation is one of the easiest things to do for car repair.
The articles comments are a great source of opposition against getting charged an arm and a leg for simple repairs, however:
I tend to have quite the opposite problem. Every time I pay to have
something done I wind up redoing it myself. New brakes squealed at
every stop. After three repeat visits to the shop failed to correct the
problem I did it myself – no more squeaks. The shop skimped on parts.
…This is asinine. Plenty of people replace toilets or hang molding without doing serious damage to their homes.
…The idea that only the professionals should handle simple jobs is what
is wrong with the USA (I am a flaming liberal, so no comments about me
being a right wing nut case). Yes, amateurs make mistakes, especially
the first time they try a job. They will get better at repairs as they
take on more jobs themselves. Even pros make mistakes, and some do
sloppy work.
…Is this article proposing that we make money out of nothing “to do the
job right the first time?” We don’t have the money to spend on hair or
a handy-person anymore.
and
What is so difficult about replacing a car battery?
Indeed.
Time Lapse Red Brick Bath
The Bailey washes another 240 in Washington, this time an ’85 four door. Total transformation in less than a minute.
Jalopnik saves a wreck?
It’s been four months since the guys at Jalopnik rescued this ’75 242 and started a V8 conversion similar to their Black Metal V8olvo. The plan was to “make a super-sleeper drag car out of it.” How’s that working out for you guys?
Brake Job Video
I documented the installation of new brake pads and rotors with my buddy Andy last month. I edited the footage and here’s the video.
The brakes have held up well. No squealing, solid feeling, quick stopping.
Ye Olde Volvo Crash Tests
This ad has been posted and pulled from YouTube before, so we’ll see how long it lasts. 45 seconds of crash-porn, showing old bricks being thrown, crushed and rolled to test for safety. The twist is that this is supposed to show how BAD those cars were, because drivers needed to push the brake pedal themselves. With “City Safety” your car will stop for you. Meh.
Time-Lapse White Wash
I just joined Vimeo and found this cool vid documenting a drive around Spokane Washington in a white ’88 245. It’s a nice, jerky time-lapse and shows two car washes over the span of about 1/2 hour. The first wash was touchless, so the second wash actually cleaned the car.
The Bailey’s “Fridge” looks pretty sweet. 5 speed manual, contemporary mags and clean white paint. Slick.
WTP: 240 Pickup
Jalopnik’s roving band of auto flaneurs always manages to find the oddest vehicular creations. This pickup-junk was a 244 stripped of its rear seat and the rear hatch of a wagon was morphed into the back window of the now two-seated… thing. Creative.
Via Jalopnik