From: emory!chaos.lrk.ar.us!dave.williams (Dave Williams)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

-> [Yep, though I'm still most fond of diving for goodies in the
-> junkyard. The kind of junkyard where the guy says "Eh?  I probably
-> have it.  GM on that hill, ford on this hill and mopar over on that
-> one.  Get what you want."

 I remember junkyards like that, long ago.  Around here they're all
"auto recyclers" now, and wear white uniforms.  You go up to the
counter, tell them what you want, and they see if they have it, then
call the dealer for a price, knock off 25% from retail, and it's yours,
if you're willing to pay 75% of list for whatever it was you wanted.
Usually I'm not.

 They'd have a fit if you even suggested going back into their
privacy-fenced, employee-only "dismantler storage areas", particularly
without escort.

 Of course, even if you *DID* want the part, it's usually pretty hard to
make yourself heard.  They're all on this local intercom system,
jabbering and swapping parts.  "Monte Carlo front cap, front cap,
what'cha gimme for a front cap?  Lookin' for a blue '91 Toyota door,
Toyota door..."  and then there's a national echo system of some sort
running too, also at earsplitting volume.

 Pfaugh.

[Yep, that seems to be what we have here in Atlanta.  The best place in the
Southeast for junkyards IMNO is Cleveland, TN.  Known as the odometer
rollback capital of the world, there are something like 300 licensed
used car dealers in this town of 20,000.  Yep, this is the place you saw
on "60 minutes".  There must be at least 20 HUGE junkyards around that town.
JGD]

From: emory!sfu.ca!jimd (Jim Davies)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

hotrod@dixie.com (The Hotrod List) writes:

> I remember junkyards like that, long ago.  Around here they're all
>"auto recyclers" now, and wear white uniforms.  You go up to the
>counter, tell them what you want, and they see if they have it, then
>call the dealer for a price, knock off 25% from retail, and it's yours,
>if you're willing to pay 75% of list for whatever it was you wanted.
>Usually I'm not.

> They'd have a fit if you even suggested going back into their
>privacy-fenced, employee-only "dismantler storage areas", particularly
>without escort.

> Of course, even if you *DID* want the part, it's usually pretty hard to
>make yourself heard.  They're all on this local intercom system,
>jabbering and swapping parts.  "Monte Carlo front cap, front cap,
>what'cha gimme for a front cap?  Lookin' for a blue '91 Toyota door,
>Toyota door..."  and then there's a national echo system of some sort
>running too, also at earsplitting volume.

You DID have to mention these places, didnt you :-) Gotta admit, though,
that you can have some fun poking in there core piles.
> Pfaugh.

>[Yep, that seems to be what we have here in Atlanta.  The best place in the 
>Southeast for junkyards IMNO is Cleveland, TN.  Known as the odometer
>rollback capital of the world, there are something like 300 licensed 
>used car dealers in this town of 20,000.  Yep, this is the place you saw
>on "60 minutes".  There must be at least 20 HUGE junkyards around that town.  
>JGD]
>----------
My favorite junkyard in the whole world is at an old Indian reserve called
Skookumchuck. This place is a full 4X4 gastank into the bush north of here.
Like to stop off, get the siphon hose going, move the coleman stove a long
way off from the refuelling, brew up a coffee, then stroll around, enjoying
the ambience of the place. Its remote and hidden, so nothing gets ripped
off. Lotsa cars from '40s, 50s etc, side by side. Come back 5 years later,
and all your old friends are still there. Timeless.

JD

From: emory!chaos.lrk.ar.us!dave.williams (Dave Williams)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

-> Bottom line is ... I think that some of the discount parts suppliers
-> may be able to get the MAFs cheaper than the dealer.

 I'm still getting up to speed on this stuff.  Back six or seven years
ago, all that stuff was dealer-only, and you were damned happy if you
didn't have to special order it.

 Progress..

[Yep, though I'm still most fond of diving for goodies in the junkyard.
The kind of junkyard where the guy says "Eh?  I probably have it.  GM
on that hill, ford on this hill and mopar over on that one.  Get what
you want."  I go with the bolt cutters and the Carolina Smoke Wrench
(acetylene torch) in the back of the truck.  You outta seen the carcass
after I extracted the air conditioning system for my Z from an old
lincoln :-)  I've had real good luck with getting electronics from the
junk yard as long as the weiners have not opened the intake or exhaust
and as long as the magic boxes have not gotten wet.  JGD]

From: emory!sfu.ca!jimd (Jim Davies)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

hotrod@dixie.com (The Hotrod List) writes:


> Progress..
>
>[Yep, though I'm still most fond of diving for goodies in the junkyard.
>The kind of junkyard where the guy says "Eh?  I probably have it.  GM
>on that hill, ford on this hill and mopar over on that one.  Get what
>you want."  I go with the bolt cutters and the Carolina Smoke Wrench
>(acetylene torch) in the back of the truck.  You outta seen the carcass
>after I extracted the air conditioning system for my Z from an old
>lincoln :-)  I've had real good luck with getting electronics from the
>junk yard as long as the weiners have not opened the intake or exhaust
>and as long as the magic boxes have not gotten wet.  JGD]

Ah, junk yards I have known! God, there are some *class* acts out there.
I still remember the one that demo'd a carbless slant 6 by stuffing a
gas soaked rag into the intake and starting it. Low tech at its best ;-)
Of course, in this neck of the woods, a torch is formally known as a gas axe.
Then there was the time we got kicked outa a hick town by the fuzz for
posession of safebreaking tools (gas axe) and beer (underage) but they let
us keep the 383 we had liberated from some hulk hanging over a cliff.
Ah, nostalgia. I love the smell of burnt type F, in the morning :-)

JD

[Now THAT brings back another old memory.  (Oh gawd, another one)  Back when
I was running heavy equipment for the gummit, my most frequent "hotrod" was
a Cat 6 wheel pan (earthmover).  The huge diesel engine used a small gasoline
"pony motor" to crank it.  Problem was, we got these things surplus off
the express barge from Viet Nam and all of 'em had had the carbs on the
pony motors robbed (among other things.)  Der high command determined
that carbs on pony motors were frivilous, non-essential accessories (as
opposed to, say, air conditioned foreman's shacks) so we had to make do
with what we had.  The drill was to have an oiler stand next to the pony
motor like an old west cowboy with a can of ether in each hand.  Fire
the pony motor on ether and then try to meter the spray so the motor ran
enough to crank the diesel.  Of course, every time the oiler let it get
a bit lean, it would backfire and set the overspray on fire.  All the pans
looked like they'd taken RPGs in the side.  Huge black sploches :-)
Ahh, the good old days....  And yes, we DID dragrace these things.
Trick was dinking with the injection unit to bypass the govenor. JGD]

From: emory!sfu.ca!jimd (Jim Davies)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

>[Now THAT brings back another old memory.  (Oh gawd, another one)  Back when
>I was running heavy equipment for the gummit, my most frequent "hotrod" was
>a Cat 6 wheel pan (earthmover).  The huge diesel engine used a small gasoline
>"pony motor" to crank it.  Problem was, we got these things surplus off
>the express barge from Viet Nam and all of 'em had had the carbs on the
>pony motors robbed (among other things.)  Der high command determined
>that carbs on pony motors were frivilous, non-essential accessories (as
>opposed to, say, air conditioned foreman's shacks) so we had to make do
>with what we had.  The drill was to have an oiler stand next to the pony
>motor like an old west cowboy with a can of ether in each hand.  Fire
>the pony motor on ether and then try to meter the spray so the motor ran
>enough to crank the diesel.  Of course, every time the oiler let it get
>a bit lean, it would backfire and set the overspray on fire.  All the pans
>looked like they'd taken RPGs in the side.  Huge black sploches :-)
>Ahh, the good old days....  And yes, we DID dragrace these things.
>Trick was dinking with the injection unit to bypass the govenor. JGD]


ell, that reminds ME (doddering old fart mode: engage) about how I
found about the effects of ether on diesels. Got sucked into painting
a cement truck in a buddies paint shop. Next morning something else
neede paint, but of course the mixer truck wouldn't start. Popped the
hood on the old Dodge tandem, stared at the 225 horse Claterpillar for
a while, then took the pre-cleaner top off and sprayed in the ether

Lotsa ether, cause it was a long way from the pre-cleaner to the
engine. Cranked the key and that sucker lit on the first rotation
of the crank. It pinned the tach at 4000 revs, for a LOONNGGGG time,
hammering like hell. Sounded sorta like a healthy smallblock chevy for
a while ;-) Didnt pop, though. Was expecting to see the 14 inch clutch
appearing in the cab, as it headed for the moon.

JD

[Should I?  Nah.  I won't go into when I used to run the gummit's locomotive
and how one could rock the thing up on one rail with a leeetle bit too much
ether.  :-)  JGD]

From: emory!sfu.ca!jimd (Jim Davies)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

hotrod@dixie.com (The Hotrod List) writes:

>ell, that reminds ME (doddering old fart mode: engage) about how I
>found about the effects of ether on diesels. Got sucked into painting
>a cement truck in a buddies paint shop. Next morning something else
>neede paint, but of course the mixer truck woulbdnt start. Popped the
>hood on the old Dodge tandem, stared at the 225 horse Claterpillar for
>a while, then took the pre-cleaner top off and sprayed in the ether.
>
>Lotsa ether, cause it was a long way from the pre-cleaner to the
>engine. Cranked the key and that sucker lit on the first rotation
>of the crank. It pinned the tach at 4000 revs, for a LOONNGGGG time,
>hammering like hell. Sounded sorta like a healthy smallblock chevy for
>a while ;-) Didnt pop, though. Was expecting to see the 14 inch clutch
>appearing in the cab, as it headed for the moon.

>JD

>[Should I?  Nah.  I won't go into when I used to run the gummit's locomotive
>and how one could rock the thing up on one rail with a leeetle bit too much
>ether.  :-)  JGD]

Thank you for ending this, before I was forced to tell the story about
barrel-rolling a Whiting TrackMobile. You know its time to change jobs
when your life sounds like a bullshit story heard in a bar ;-)
JD

From: emory!cbnews.cb.att.com!adh (andrew.d.hay)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Feb 1993
Subject: Re: How to detect/prevent le

sfu.ca!jimd (Jim Davies) writes:
"[Now THAT brings back another old memory.  (Oh gawd, another one)  Back when
"I was running heavy equipment for the gummit, my most frequent "hotrod" was
"a Cat 6 wheel pan (earthmover).
[]
"Ahh, the good old days....  And yes, we DID dragrace these things.
"Trick was dinking with the injection unit to bypass the govenor. JGD]

so what did they do in the quarter?  enquiring minds want to know...

[Oh, probably about 10 minutes :-)  These races were usually a combination
of top speed runs and chicken.  The latter because there was the lake at
the end of the run and the guy who shut off and dumped the pan last (can
you say brake?) won.  Yes, I've scooped water :-)  Then there was the
F*ck-up Contest.  We had a $500 pool to be paid to whomever screwed up
the worst (this WAS a union job, after all).  The guy that won it
was a 400 lb black ex-football player we called "Big'un"  Big'un would
go by the grease rack every day and find the biggest, whitest rag in
the rag bin and tuck it under his hardhat to shield his neck.  Whizzing
away on his pan, he looked like a huge, black Lawrence of Arabia.  Anyway,
he won by running a pan full of dirt off in the lake.  Those pans would
do about 60 mph wide open.  He must have hydroplaned an eight of a mile
before sinking.  I can still see that huge white towel and the huge-er
toothy grin as he slowly went down with the ship :-)  He didn't even
get fired.  JGD]