GA_Dave

I buffed my first fire at age 3. That led to a lifelong hobby and a 32 year career!

Spoons, you say? I never used any of them fancy, high-dollar tools! Granted, I didn't mess with big tires like you guys, but I used to remove and install tires with a bumper jack and two tire irons.

Missed it by an hour and a half, but Happy Birthday anyway!

If I need something load tested, I just get my wife to sit on it! There is more to that Celebrity's (#35) story, but I'll save that for another time. After about 30 minutes of prying, bending and pounding, the passenger side doors worked again, even though they looked like crap. The wife drove it like that for about three years. More later.

We can always hope.....

Reading RowdyRebel's misfortune with his mowers (dadgum mower...) reminds me of another story of repeated frustration. This happened back in August of 2001. The previous year, my Mother-in-Law called me, asking if I wanted her 1988 Chevy Celebrity that she had just replaced. Being a Western NY car, it had few miles and ran well, but was a rust bucket. It was mine for the taking. I found a one way flight for $67 to Buffalo and my Sister-in-Law picked me up. It easily made the trip back to Atlanta and became the wife's ride (#33). The following June, we drove it back to WNY to visit family. On the way home, the left front corner began to sag. A quick look revealed that the badly rusted frame was collapsing. The last 30 miles of the trip, every bump resulted in the tire hitting the bottom of the wheel well. That was the last time it was driven on the road. It still had only 72k on the drive train. By August, I had purchased another 1988 Celebrity (#35) that had a blown engine. It was a rust-free southern car and cost me $250. There was one difference between the two cars. The first was a 4-banger, the second a V-6. It would turn out to be a much bigger difference than I had thought. As I got into the job, I came to realize that I had I should have looked before I leapt! I pulled the good engine/transmission out first and set them aside. As I was removing the bad engine and transmission, I began to see how different the two cars were. The job took me almost two weeks to complete, having to change the entire wiring harness and computer, AC system, exhaust system, and cooling system, along with cutting off and relocating/welding the motor mounts. Add to that, it was August in Georgia. It was so hot that I'd lay a wrench down for a few seconds and leave skin on it when I picked it up! Once I had gotten everything put back together, I had to take it to have the AC recharged. Thanks to the clowns at EPA, I had to have it converted to R134, an additional expense I had not budgeted for. Once done, I drove it for a few days to make sure everything was okay before turning it over to the wife. Her first day with it, she jumped a curb and sideswiped a large landscaping rock, smashing in both passenger side doors....

I'm not laughing, because I have been there, but with cars, not mowers. Sometimes, the harder you try, the worse it gets. Best move is to call it a day!

Okay, I found it. I've used 34% of my allotment. Most of the pics I post are lo-res.

No quota, I just like to share!

Today, Georgia became the 25th State to pass Constitutional Carry into law. Thank you, Governor Kemp and Georgia Gun Owners (GGO).

Apparently, Biden no longer knows the difference between the First Lady and the Vice President! Sad. For all of US!

I wouldn't change a thing. For each one of us, our origins, our experiences, and the challenges we face all lead to the people we become. I, for one, am satisfied with my result.

It really wasn't all that bad, just a black eye and a headache for a few days. I took it as a learning experience. I haven't dropped a torque converter on my face since! I've lost count of how many transmissions I have replaced since then. Engines too. About the only thing I will not tackle is going inside an automatic transmission, other than to change out the filter. Once one ventures beyond that point, there are too many pieces for me.

Most of my mechanical skills came from trial and error, mostly the error part! I'm a quick study and I rarely make the same mistake more than twice. Since y'all have been talking transmissions, here's another story from my early days working on cars. This was late 1977 and I had a 1967 Pontiac Executive with a bad transmission. I still lived at home and used my Dad's garage to do the swap. The garage was large, with two bays and a full second floor, but the concrete on the bottom floor was broken up and mixed with dirt filling in the large gaps. This was my first transmission swap. How hard could it be? The front wheels were up on ramps and I had just enough room under the car to get to everything (I'd NEVER fit these days!). I removed all the obvious bolts, the drive shaft, transmission cross member, cooling lines and linkage without problem. With the cross member gone, the tail-shaft almost touched the floor. Not being concerned with the bad transmission, I pulled it away from the engine and it fell right out. Quite pleased with myself, I pulled it out from under the car and wrangled the replacement transmission back under. Using a long pry bar, along with bricks and 2x4's for cribbing, I moved it up into position and discovered my mistake. The torque converter was still bolted to the flywheel! I called a buddy for advice. He told me where the bolts were and that there were 4 of them and to use a big screwdriver on the flywheel teeth to rotate it to each bolt. It was dark when I got back to it and the only lights in the garage were a single bulb in each bay, one of them being directly above the car. I also had a light on a cord under the car with me. My best friend had stopped by for moral support. I found the first bolt and removed it, then rotated the flywheel to the second and so on until I had removed the third bolt. It turns out that GM cars only have three bolts, so when I rotated the flywheel again, the torque converter fell off, landing on my right cheek, slamming my head into the floor. Everything went black..... When I came to, my buddy was pacing back and forth next to the car, not knowing what to do. I told him to grab my ankles and pull me out. The torque converter had landed so that a lot of transmission fluid poured all over my face and it had hit my light, breaking the bulb. Once out from under the car, I told him to find me a rag, so I could wipe off my face. As I came into the light, he saw red all over my face and took off running. I could hear him puking outside! At that point I quit for the night, but installed the transmission the next day.