From mjb@autox.team.net Mon Nov 3 22:50:24 2003 From: mjb@autox.team.net (Mark J. Bradakis) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 15:50:24 -0700 Subject: [Tr-gang] Yikes Message-ID: <200311032250.hA3MoOCx011229@autox.team.net> After one of the hottest, driest summers on record here in the Salt Lake Valley, folks were hoping that the 5 years of drought would end with October rains, one of the wetter months of the year. As it turned out, October was bone dry and continued warm teperatures. This was all quite nice for driving about in Pugs' Spitfire with the top down, quite enjoyable. Now I'm hoping those skinny little mud & snow rated tires actually do a decent job on snow-slick streets. After 42 days of no precipitation, we got some measurable snow at the end of last week. And at the moment, it is snowing heavily and from what I saw out of a window here at the U there is about 3 or 4 inches accumulated. Driving home tonight could be festive! I do hope the Honda parts on order get here this week and fix the ignition problem on the little old Civic. mjb. From Herald948@aol.com Tue Nov 4 00:25:41 2003 From: Herald948@aol.com (Herald948@aol.com) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 19:25:41 EST Subject: [Tr-gang] Yikes Message-ID: <196.2201cc4e.2cd84c05@aol.com> --part1_196.2201cc4e.2cd84c05_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable In a message dated 11/3/2003 5:49:34 PM Eastern Standard Time,=20 mjb@autox.team.net writes: > I do hope the Honda parts on order get here this week and fix the ignition > problem on the little old Civic. Hmmm, mention of said Civic makes me think I should announce the acquisition= =20 of a 1995 Triumph Acclaim, er, Honda Civic CX Hatchback for a combination=20 winter car/replacement (cough) for the Frod Exploder (11/11/90 - 3/7/93, RIP= ). Not=20 bad, really, only 186,000 miles on it. Better still, only $550 (the last $50= =20 was for the four unmounted snow tires). And before anyone asks, no, it's not like my typical sub-$1000 vehicle=20 acquisitions. It runs well, it's clean, and it's road-legal and safe. Toughe= st job=20 so far has been removing eight years of road tar spots from the lower sides.= =20 (Thankfully, Ronsonol lighter fluid is still available, and is still tops in= my=20 book for tar removal.) The Civic should be much better than a Herald in a typical upstate New York=20 winter. --Andy Mace *Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet? *Man: Well, no ... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er, Triumph Herald engine with wings. =A0 -- Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22) Check out the North=20= American Triumph Sports 6 (Vitesse) and Herald Database! --part1_196.2201cc4e.2cd84c05_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable In a message dated 11/3/2003 5:49:3= 4 PM Eastern Standard Time, mjb@autox.team.net writes:

I do hope the Honda parts on order get here this week and f= ix the ignition
problem on the little old Civic.


Hmmm, mention of said Civic makes me think I should announce the acquisition= of a 1995 Triumph Acclaim, er, Honda Civic CX Hatchback for a combination w= inter car/replacement (cough) for the Frod Exploder (11/11/90 - 3/7/93, RIP)= . Not bad, really, only 186,000 miles on it. Better still, only $550 (the la= st $50 was for the four unmounted snow tires).

And before anyone asks, no, it's not like my typical sub-$1000 vehicle acqui= sitions. It runs well, it's clean, and it's road-legal and safe. Toughest jo= b so far has been removing eight years of road tar spots from the lower side= s. (Thankfully, Ronsonol lighter fluid is still available, and is still tops= in my book for tar removal.)

The Civic should be much better than a Herald in a typical upstate New York=20= winter.

--Andy Mace

*Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet?
*Man: Well, no ... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er,
  Triumph Herald engine with wings.
=A0  -- Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22)
Check out the North=20= American Triumph Sports 6 (Vitesse) and Herald Database! --part1_196.2201cc4e.2cd84c05_boundary-- From mjb@autox.team.net Thu Nov 20 02:02:34 2003 From: mjb@autox.team.net (Mark J. Bradakis) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 19:02:34 -0700 Subject: [Tr-gang] A festive drive home Message-ID: <200311200202.hAK22Yvt028498@autox.team.net> Some of you are aware, maybe TOO aware, of the troubles I've been having with my old '87 Honda Civic Si. But last night I finally had it running again after over two months of downtime. Thanks to Pugs' generosity I've been driving around in one of his surplus squaretail Spits, quite nice for what turned out to be a very pleasant fall. But winter is aproaching, and I want the Honda back on the road. So I've got more of an incentive to deal with it, instead of putting it off until "later." Bridgette, a local autocrosser and SCCA board member has an 86 Civic, just like the white one I used to have 15 years ago. She drops it off last night at the house, I shuffle parts between the two cars and finally get the black Honda to where it is running, and running well. With all the new parts and tune up work I've done lately I'm not surprised it is running so strongly - Yee ha! I drive it around a bit this afternoon, meet Pugs for lunch, run some stuff to the shop, head back to the U to work a bit more. Jump in the Honda and head for home. A few blocks down the road the car starts acting oddly again, very much like it had been acting after I put the new crank sensors in and before I swapped in Bridgette's distributor. This behavior lasts for about a block and a half, then the car dies and will not restart. I coast to a stop on a handy side street. I'm depressed and annoyed. I sit there for a while trying to restart a few times, no luck. An occasional huff and puff, but nothing seriously resembling running. I'm positive that whatever burned out in my distributor was caused by something else, and I just burned out the loaner, so now I'll have to fix TWO cars. I am not happy. I decide I'll walk home, jump in the Spit, go get the tools and stuff I took to the shop earlier today, come back to the Honda and see what I can do. But then again, maybe it is just a loose wire, or something else that might be obvious even in this dark parking spot. I open the hood and poke around a bit. I check various wires and connections, then go to pull the crank sensor connector off the distributor. It moves up about an inch without leaving the distributor clamp. The whole distributor moves up about an inch! Hee hee. I guess, uh, one of the staff mechanics working on the car last night failed to snug up the bolts holding the distributor down after setting the timing. I get the distributor seated into its proper place, the bolts finger tight, and get back in. It fires right up, I drive home. I'm not as depressed as I was. mjb. From jimp@CORP.FirstIndustrial.com Thu Nov 20 15:10:21 2003 From: jimp@CORP.FirstIndustrial.com (Jim Pivirotto) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 09:10:21 -0600 Subject: [Tr-gang] A festive drive home Message-ID: Don't you hate it when a close trusted mechanic screws up! Pugs -----Original Message----- From: Mark J. Bradakis [mailto:mjb@autox.team.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 7:03 PM To: tr-gang@autox.team.net; kjb@cs.utah.edu; bridgette_c@mail.com Subject: [Tr-gang] A festive drive home Some of you are aware, maybe TOO aware, of the troubles I've been having with my old '87 Honda Civic Si. But last night I finally had it running again after over two months of downtime. Thanks to Pugs' generosity I've been driving around in one of his surplus squaretail Spits, quite nice for what turned out to be a very pleasant fall. But winter is aproaching, and I want the Honda back on the road. So I've got more of an incentive to deal with it, instead of putting it off until "later." Bridgette, a local autocrosser and SCCA board member has an 86 Civic, just like the white one I used to have 15 years ago. She drops it off last night at the house, I shuffle parts between the two cars and finally get the black Honda to where it is running, and running well. With all the new parts and tune up work I've done lately I'm not surprised it is running so strongly - Yee ha! I drive it around a bit this afternoon, meet Pugs for lunch, run some stuff to the shop, head back to the U to work a bit more. Jump in the Honda and head for home. A few blocks down the road the car starts acting oddly again, very much like it had been acting after I put the new crank sensors in and before I swapped in Bridgette's distributor. This behavior lasts for about a block and a half, then the car dies and will not restart. I coast to a stop on a handy side street. I'm depressed and annoyed. I sit there for a while trying to restart a few times, no luck. An occasional huff and puff, but nothing seriously resembling running. I'm positive that whatever burned out in my distributor was caused by something else, and I just burned out the loaner, so now I'll have to fix TWO cars. I am not happy. I decide I'll walk home, jump in the Spit, go get the tools and stuff I took to the shop earlier today, come back to the Honda and see what I can do. But then again, maybe it is just a loose wire, or something else that might be obvious even in this dark parking spot. I open the hood and poke around a bit. I check various wires and connections, then go to pull the crank sensor connector off the distributor. It moves up about an inch without leaving the distributor clamp. The whole distributor moves up about an inch! Hee hee. I guess, uh, one of the staff mechanics working on the car last night failed to snug up the bolts holding the distributor down after setting the timing. I get the distributor seated into its proper place, the bolts finger tight, and get back in. It fires right up, I drive home. I'm not as depressed as I was. mjb. _______________________________________________ Tr-gang mailing list Tr-gang@autox.team.net http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/tr-gang