Just One More? little call?

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Amskeptic
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Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:29 am

. . . in Maryland, one more?


Found out that the BobD refused to start for the first time since I have owned it. Pushed it out of the storage unit and applied a wrench to the starter solenoid. Listened to a nasty lifter tack-tack-tack-tack. Hit the Georgia 400 for a wake-up cruise that only eventually quieted down the lifter. Recalled how beautifully these buses can drive when everything is tight and adjusted. Made a note that this car needs some driving (and it needs to have its NaranjaWesty wheels painted):

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Changed the oil in Chloe and thanked it for an exceptionally loyal lap of the country.

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We started the 2017 Itinerary at 188,688 miles. Ended at 206,775 miles. The rebuilt engine now has 18,087 miles on it. Other than replacing the generator bearings with used bearings, replacing a generator brush spring and two brushes, swapping the new pressure plate with a used pressure plate, and tightening up the fan for real at SG Kent's, this engine and the rest of the car just plain ol' did it all with nary a complaint. Repair costs for 2017 were $7.76 for two brand new door latch springs. Maintenance costs were more, like about $55.00 for oil and grease and a set of plugs and points.
For all the anxiety that this trip started with, I am surprised to write this. Thank-you, Chloe:

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The original Post-Itinerary Plan was to drive down to Pensacola in the Lexus, pick up NaranjaWesty, drive it to upstate NY, pick up the Squareback, visit friends and family who I must visit, and drive the Squareback to Pensacola to perform the headliner job and freshen up the engine externals.

The New Plan is currently being executed as follows,
Drive to Maryland to resuscitate cheesehead's Clementine and get to the northeast, now:

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. . . and this'll put the Lexus on my depreciation and amortization schedule for the 2017 Schedule C. :cyclopsani:

:flower:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Amskeptic
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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Oct 19, 2017 7:42 am

So here's what we did. We left the Atlanta metro region swathed in leather and National Public Radio and even some air-conditioning (I know can you believe it?), and took to I-85 north and hit the warp speed button:

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Cruised at about 13 mph through endless construction zones and threw in a little 88 mph to make up for lost time:
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.. .. .. and lickety-split, I was in Virginia outside of the Washington DC metro area (hey look, a construction zone :pukeright: ):

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Had a lovely day with cheesehead working on Clementine, The Raby-Powered Westy, and even did a little diagnosis on the Prius after we discovered that the Westy was feeling pretty sprightly after our minor adjustments. No photographs, which is a shame. Her neighbor came over and ogled the Lexus, noting quite correctly that it was too perfect to be used as a truck. Then I banged out of the Washington metro area listening to some more NPR and enjoying some more air-conditioning until I hit Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania said, "you don't need no air-conditioning no more," and that was true, there wasn't even hardly any leaves on the trees up there on Route 15:

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Do you like my failing use of the language? So, this rolling farmland is just so evocative of timeless afternoons I've experienced in my life. Does everybody get triggered by some longing when taking it in?:

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Route 15 heading to the New York border:

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Even though I am bone-tired, I love strafing this continent:

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Where was I thirty days ago? Texas? Sixty days ago? Wyoming?

Route 15 is tearing up the land out here. That little village used to be the main thoroughfare for sleepy two-lane 15, now it is buried under huge carving of the surrounding hillsides and is cut off from the people passing through:

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At the last Pennsylvania gas stop ( 27 mpg ), my Lexus got ogled again by an old black guy and his wife who could not believe that it was basically brand-new in its 26th year. About 100 miles later, now on I-390 north to Rochester, I get startled by a blast of horn, and it is them, in their 2003 Lexus 430. We caravanned at 80 mph through the Finger Lakes region while I tore through my No Doubt Tragic Kingdom cassette tape (a method of storing and playing back music using magnetic particles embedded in a cellophane tape wound up inside a little rectangular box):

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This is the canal bridge that I have walked over with Cindy in the rain, in the snow, in the summer heat, in the evenings, long long ago in my youth:

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The Erie Canal:

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The road that I have walked over with Cindy in the rain, in the snow, in the summer heat, in the evenings, long long ago in my youth and the day before yesterday:

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The house that Cindy grew up in, that I have lived in, that houses people I love, but don't tell 'em that mushy stuff:

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I'll write more later, must get to mommy in her new old house on the shore of Lake Champlain . . .
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by asiab3 » Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:33 pm

I don't think my original reply went through to your first post; oh well. I talked about adding $4 for your generator brush repair bill. ;)

It was exactly one year ago that I was cresting the hills of upstate New York in way too much of a hurry…… 45mph up and 65mph down…… I do miss those views and small cute stopover towns.

And No Doubt? Really? That tape had to have come with the car…………

RobbieOffToMPLS
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by hambone » Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:20 am

None of us are immune to sentiment as the clock ticks away and feebleness is the only reward. It is a lonesome world.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:35 pm

hambone wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:20 am
None of us are immune to sentiment as the clock ticks away and feebleness is the only reward. It is a lonesome world.

We'll get to that, Hambone.
But first, my feeble attempt to extricate the Mercedes from behind the travel trailer that was inadvertently parked in front of my cars.

Pushed the dead Squareback 1/4" from the side of the travel trailer:

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Stood on the driver's side door sill and inched the Mercedes forward until the Squareback's bumper just cleared the inside radius of the front wheel arch:

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Checked progress every 1/2" forward:

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Had a fully warmed up engine by the time I pulled out into the sunlight:

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The Lincoln, which I never had the time to start back in mid-June, started right the heck up, let's go let's go:

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Pondered windshield rake, aerodynamics, progress amongst these three fine motorcars:

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Decided that progress tells us that a raked rear window is best for aerodynamics, and though you can't see it, rear brake lighting has advanced from 42 watts across two bulbs in 1962 to 151 watts across nine bulbs in the Lexus:

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Eventually roused the Squareback to life with jumper cables scarfed from a battery box on a tractor:

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Noted that the interior looked good, but mold has made its appearance and the smell of mouse pee had infected all three cars:

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And, a mouse had eaten through the fuel line downstream of the fuel pump in the Lincoln, behind the front wheel splash shield. This is so not good. Repaired the fuel line in the nippy 48* wind, and had a breezy trip to the gas station to air the car out. It drove so fine . . . :

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Then went back to the house for the evening to Google Search mouse eradication tips.
This poor little car needs to be attended to. They all do:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:32 pm

hambone wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:20 am
None of us are immune to sentiment as the clock ticks away and feebleness is the only reward. It is a lonesome world.

Drove up the Adirondack Northway to visit Parents on Lake Champlain:

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View from the front "veranda"(?) looking down towards the lake:

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View looking up towards the sunset and Route 22:

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This is my mom's autumn, and as ever, I get all nervous that she is slipping away from the threads that hold us together.

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It appears that she is nodding off as we converse in front of the fire. I refuse to talk "brightly" and I refuse to succumb to that dopey simplistic cadence like you witness in kindergartens and nursing homes alike. Problem is, I can sum up my life in five words, "still driving around in circles," which never much impressed her. Yet, as the evening progressed, my step father and I exercised her memory banks and needled her into a give and take that brought her out of her Alzheimer's fog. We didn't do the 3:00AM philosophy marathon which has been a tradition since I was 21 and overly earnestly idealistic. But we did do a 1:00AM Review which is pretty good for a 58 year-old weary traveler and his 87 year-old mom and 76 year-old step dad.

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Of course, Hambone, it looks like feebleness is the only reward and it looks like the clock is ticking ever faster, but there in the fall evening with all of the antiques and paintings (some of which I have known since I was five years-old) as witness, the sheer stupifying beauty of life on Earth calls forth anew to just experience it, to take your place in the passage of time, to fulfill your new place as dodderer-in-training, and to promise to grab it as it comes towards you.

It is exquisitely painful to see the vital giants of my youth contract into their Waiting, to see them confront the Loneliness which we all know, which we all have known every single step of the way, what the heck, Hambone, let's explore it.

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All of my silly little toys, which I attached great meaning to, which I hung my dreams upon, vehicles upon which I deigned to arrest the assault of time, they too shall succumb to my very own loss of focus, loss of interest, fatigue, loss of ability, and I read somewhere something about dust to dust, ashes to ashes, or somesuch. Meanwhile, I will keep the oil fresh and the windows washed, the better which to greet and to see what's coming.

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For now, that means I visit this creature .. .. .. :

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.. .. .. at her college tomorrow.
Colin

edit: (10/24) "tomorrow" is now the day before yesterday:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by 71whitewesty » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:55 am

Fantastic story. But those mice have got to go. :geek:

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by lilpig88 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:34 am

Well said.

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by zabo » Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:23 pm

i think you need to start wearing tht necklace again. cool dude
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78 bus

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by asiab3 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:19 pm

Ha! Still in college! Not dropped out! Not living at home! Not ran away!

Congrats,
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Oct 22, 2017 1:41 pm

asiab3 wrote:
Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:19 pm
Ha! Still in college! Not dropped out! Not living at home! Not ran away!

Congrats,
Robbie
She has been there all of eight weeks thus far . . . a freshman still adjusting to her new life.
And no, Robbie, no, the No Doubt "Tragic Kingdom" tape was purchased by me, and I like it.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Ronin10 » Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:19 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:35 pm
Decided that progress tells us that a raked rear window is best for aerodynamics...
Thought I'd weigh in on this since I put many thousands of dollars into two degrees in Aerodynamics. Might as well put them to use...

The closer a vehicle can get to an airfoil-like shape, the better the aerodynamics will be. The increased rake angle of the rear glass increases that approximation which is why it's better overall and why auto companies have migrated to more and more raked designs as the desire for increased fuel economy has grown over the years.

That said, when it comes to the rear glass angle and aerodynamics in general, automotive aerodynamicists don't have much control over rake angle or most of the other high impact aerodynamics design choices. Computer-based aerodynamic analysis does occur early in the design process, but inputs to the design process are almost purely advisory and take a distant back seat to styling, market research feedback, and the whims of Vice Presidents. Where aerodynamics gains some small measure of relevance in automotive design is in tweaks near the middle to tail end of the design and validation process when you have wind tunnel models and often all the way into prototype vehicles operating. It's here where shortage in fuel economy numbers start to appear. So in come aerodynamic treatments, essentially band-aiding a design to get tiny incremental improvements that will help those fuel economy numbers a bit.

So here the rear glass rake angle re-enters the discussion. Through wind tunnel testing, you often find the separation point of the flow (where the wake initiates) over the vehicle fluctuating on the rear glass or rooftop of the car. You can put "trip lines" in place to energize the flow, keeping it attached to the vehicle longer or if management won't buy into that, crease or sharpen a radius upstream to get it to separate at that point, giving a fixed, reliable flow structure that will provide an lower wind resistance overall. For example, it looks like your Lexus has a little raised area on the edge of the trunk lid. That's a common technique to recapture the separated flow so you just get a little swirling ball of turbulent air off the lower glass and a new separation point position lower on the car, off the trunk edge instead of much larger overall wake starting halfway up the rear glass.

Another impact on the rear glass angle would be what happens upstream. The blunt front end of a bus makes the rear glass angle essentially irrelevant. Likewise, to a much lesser degree, I doubt the Lincoln rear glass angle is much of a consideration as the blunt front nose, raised edges off the corners of the hood, and steep windshield angle likely lead to a separation pint somewhere near the front of the roof, if not at the leading edge of the roof itself.

Cheers,

Andrew
Oscar: 1976 Sage Green Bus, Stock Motor, Solid Lifters, Manual Transaxle

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Jivermo » Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:40 pm

Wow, very cool explanation. Thank you for the detail; it’s quite interesting.

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by asiab3 » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:06 pm

Andrew, thanks for that awesome explanation. It's rare I get to learn about something complex that I know so little about so easily on the internet. :)

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Just One More? little call?

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:16 am

Ronin10 wrote:
Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:19 am
I doubt the Lincoln rear glass angle is much of a consideration as the blunt front nose, raised edges off the corners of the hood, and steep windshield angle likely lead to a separation point somewhere near the front of the roof, if not at the leading edge of the roof itself.

Cheers,
Andrew
Visited the college student and now have two more photos tacked on the above post.

I was surprised to see that the Lincoln's windshield is actually raked a good twenty years ahead of its time, but the thirty feet or so of flat hood just behind the chrome cheese grater bow is indeed a huge vortex of separated air that stalls water removal at the base of the windshield. There clearly were no aerodynamic considerations whatsoever applied to that car. None. Whatsoever.

Both the Lincoln and the Mercedes have pretty brutal undercar aerodynamics that cause lift at high speed

The Lexus has unusually good undercar aerodynamics at high speed with the plastic engine tray and front spoiler yielding a .29 drag coefficient right at launch in 1989.
Yesterday, in the rain, Lexus engineering and Rain-X worked together as a team at 75 mph:

(correct photo uploaded 10/26)
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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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