The Yellowy Eyes

Finally got to doing this!!!

I had made mention a couple of posts ago about the driving lights on Kutcher. I had bought some round yellow aftermarket replacements around 5 years ago, shortly after we'd bought it, but hadn't figured out how I was going to mount them. This is the driver's side original, you can see it's quite fogged and cracked. It's actually pictured upside down, and you'll notice the adjustment screw coming off the back of the mount. That adjustment screw made things interesting in the installation of the replacements!!!

This was the side that had the hole in the lens, and it's gone through two bulbs, both when it had rained. Since it kinda blends, I outlined the hole here.

Here's one of the replacements, after I'd come up with how I was going to install it. Firstly, they came with brackets, and the lights were threaded for them... but it didn't come with any screws to attach them!!! I tried some SAE screws, and it turns out they were threaded for Metric screws, I believe they are M6x 1mm thread. I have a limited amount of Metric screws, but it turns out that the engine from Scruffy had several that fit the bill. They were hex headed flanged, and all oily, but they cleaned up fine. Next, the brackets were made so that there is about a 3/8” space to the light, and that would make it way too tall to fit in the area. A few new holes added, and I was able to more or less get them where they'd fit.

After that... the bracket didn't really sit where it could be mounted, because of that clearance for the adjustment screw!!! I used some of the plastic sheet that was left over from the Scion badge project to make a couple of pieces that fit inside the bracket, and then was wider to where it can screw down to either side of the clearance. You can see the screw holding it onto the bracket right behind the wire.

And speaking of the wire, to keep from having to hack up the wiring, I located two sockets that plug right in!!! One was on the LED bulb I had made mention of in the other post that had been in the side with the hole, and the other was on the converter box for the HID bulb that was on one side of Zonker. The other side, it plugged right into the converter box!!!

And there's the side view of one installed!!! It shows a little of the aluminum housing, and they both look like they're pointed downward. I'm fine with that, they didn't really aim 100% straight, either, but to me, I don't really need anything beyond what the headlights put out, so they're more for looks.

And I really like the looks!!!

In the dark when they're illuminated, they don't even look that much different than the yellow of the halogen headlights!!! And since it's been a long time since I've posted a picture of Scruffy, there you go!!!

A Look Back Recap

Here's some of what has happened recently!!!

Years ago, the boys had been sledding down into the canyon. A few weeks ago I was out doing some yard work, and a trio of neighborhood kids showed up with a sled of their own and did some of their own sledding!!! Nice to see area kids still getting up to outdoor hijinks!!! I didn't take a follow up picture of the unceremonious dismount...

Back in December the younger and I had gone down and visited my mom around Christmas. My sister and her youngest son also came down, and we all met up at the John's Incredible Pizza near where my mom lives. My wife wasn't feeling well, we'd all been off and on sick during that time. My cough came back and hung on for a month or so after, but when we were all feeling better, I wanted to go visit my mom again. Surrogate came along, as well. Haven't made mention, but the restaurant Stacked that we'd been to a few times didn't survive the stupid times, but while we've been in the area my mom lives, I've searched restaurants in the area, and turns out not far away there's another Stacked!!! Naturally, that's where we went!!!

They've done away with the “order on an Ipad” gimmick, but you can still craft your burger to order. I've mentioned that I'll almost always make one with sauteed onions and bleu cheese, and there was a burger close to that already on the menu, for less than I could have one built for, including bacon. I had to specify sauteed onions instead of the raw it came with, and added garlic aioli, and it came out great!!! I also like the building better, as well, it has the same look as the one we used to go to, but the windows towards the street are able to completely roll up for a fresh air dining experience, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect!!! Photos came up with a look back collage of our visit, and Halloween 2015!!!

I did a whole post that was mostly about how the driver's side headlight on Kutcher has always given me trouble. At that time, I had gotten a socket that was touted as high temperature. Back in January, it happened again!!! I found out that there were some places that make ceramic sockets, so I ordered one, and got it going again. Not long after that, the headlight bulb itself burned out!!! Bought a replacement bulb, and took care of it yet again... for now (Jinx!!!)

Oh yeah, there's a shot of the new battery...

A friend of mine had bought his car with LED headlight bulbs installed, and a little after I'd replaced the socket, then the bulb on Kutcher, one of his had burnt out. He asked me if I could help him out with it, and I bought him a new set of bulbs and helped him install them. His high beam bulbs were still conventional halogen bulbs, and the set I bought had replacements for both, so I told him my tax for helping him was I got to keep the bulbs that still worked. Shortly after that, the driving light on the driver's side of Kutcher went out again. The lens has a small hole cracked through it, and it had rained, and I theorize that when it rains, cold water will splash on the hot bulb and break it. Anyway, the one low beam LED bulb I'd removed matched the driving light bulb, so it's now in there!!! Of course, it has kind of a bluish cast, while all the other three lights have the yellowish halogen cast, so it's an odd one out. One of these days, I'll get those yellow driving lights installed!!!

My wife had suggested going back to Pie 'N Burger again. Apparently, it is now our just after Valentine's Day tradition!!! They've got a lot of items with chili on it on the menu, and we hadn't tried it last time, so this time I upped my fries to chili cheese fries. It was OK, but I wouldn't recommend them for their chili!!!

We split a slice of peach crumble pie for dessert. Go there for the pie!!!

I had mentioned that one of the pumps at the local Arco had caught on fire last year. They still haven't replaced the pump, or done much with the awnings. They've got the pump boxed off, and it's been tagged up,

I had made mention that the new phone holder in Kutcher had some issue rotating out of the proper position, and I'd put in on the forward part of the center console, with the arm pretty much straight up, and that had done the trick. A few weeks ago, the suction cup came off, and I'd stuck it back. It didn't stay, so I pulled it out, gave it a good cleaning, and it held for a week, then was falling off again. Time to go to the drawing board... I took the arm portion from the previous one (it has the same ball mount for the holder part) and made up a piece of plastic with a little portion that came out, that I could mount to one of the bolts holding the center console down. It worked, but it was close to the emergency brake handle so you had to pull it up with a finger or two, and the phone was almost laying flat.

It kind of worked, but really not acceptable. I bent up a steel angle that would mount to two of the center console bolts, and used the same plastic base to mount it to the upright. Fairly solid, and a lot closer to where it should be!!! I may take it back to the drawing board again, and rotate the base a little farther back. Shouldn't be difficult.

Had the younger's birthday get together last weekend. It was pretty cool, we went on a short neighborhood walk, they played on the swing across the street, and played a little basketball (horse). I didn't get many pictures, and most of the outdoor ones didn't come out good because it was dark out. Here he is in a shirt my wife got him, after he opened the cologne I got him. He's said for years that he'd like to get cologne that smells of petrichor, the smell after it rains, and I found some!!!

A few weeks ago, they did another rocket launch from Vandenberg, and somehow it left this crazy looking contrail!!!

A few weeks ago we'd gone to Goodwill again, I forget what even for, but I found another shirt!!! It was the sale of the day tag, and my size, and in an underrepresented color!!! Interesting, the DeLorean pictured is unmodified!!! I took the picture here with the cam in my computer, possibly the first time I've ever used it for a picture!!!

I had seen this new Mountain Dew flavor, Baja Cabo Citrus, a few weeks before, but didn't buy it. When I was getting supplies for the boy's birthday, I picked some up. It's pretty good, the flavor makes me think it's heavily tangerine.

Projects

I've got a few projects that I've done, or am working on.

The Studebaker came with a ring of keys, but that was all. It has a hidden release for the shaved handled door. My dad had some sort of fob with the mechanism to release it, but I have no idea what became of it. It wasn't hard to make up a design of my own to replace it, but I had to have something worthy.

I bought some cherry wood sheets and fashioned it into a new generation 512 key chain, with the requisite mechanism contained therein. Sanded it down to buttery smooth, and I'm quite pleased with the result!!!

On the subject of key chains, several years ago the younger came up with his alter ego character, Catnip. When I was doing CAD design, I took a few moments and came up with a couple of designs for a Catnip key chain. Back around that time, one of his friends was taking classes for CAD design and machining, and I sent him the file hoping he would have the machine time to whip one out, but that didn't happen. If I get back into the game, maybe I'll get a chance to do it myself.

Back a little before Christmas, he had made mention that he was interested in getting a wood Catnip medallion made up. It would have been cool to have made it up and had it ready before Christmas came around, but that didn't happen. I'd started in on it, but it wasn't ready for prime time yet. In both of the pictures I've got of it here, it's on the jig saw that my dad had gotten from somewhere and didn't have a place for or a use for, so he had given it to me. I've done a few things on it, and I did a lot of the medallion on it.

When I was drilling the eye or string holes (I'm pretty sure it was one of the string holes) it split down the length of the left side. I used some wood glue to put it back together, and it came out pretty good. I can still see where the break was. Bought a length of leather string and set it up on it. Kind of looks like he's got a headband on with the leather string!!! I was pleased with the way it came out (other than the break) and the younger likes it.

It's been more than 10 years since I had the windows replaced by the most incompetent and crooked contractors shysters I've ever done business with, YYB Construction, and I'm still cleaning up the mess they left!!! They always say you'll save so much money with double pane windows, but I haven't seen it. They are better than what we had, but not so much on the savings. Oh, and naturally the rat bastards never made with the actual window price information so that they could be deducted from our taxes. The window frames were left a mess, as you see.

They had been behind some light blue curtains, so they were largely out of sight, but I knew the shoddy condition behind them and have wanted to fix them up for a while. That's been another project that's still in the works. So far I've finished the two in the corner where I had my work desk, and they came out excellent!!! The two behind the couch are still in process, and their location behind the couch makes it a bit more difficult!!!

We have 5 panel doors in several of the rooms, and I've painted the transitions around the panels and the door frames in different colors for various rooms. The bathroom is black, the kitchen is green, and the front room is orange. If I get to it, I'll probably do the bedroom purple and the laundry room yellow. The doors have been used as the backdrops for a few of my shirt posts, as well as the costume the younger had on the most recent Halloween. The frames of the windows are also to be painted to match. The orange had been a quart that my parents had left over from some project, and the original paint had gone over, so I had to pick up another quart.

Oh yea, don't know if I ever made mention, but I bought a window mount air conditioner years ago, and took one of the sliding window panes out and added plywood sheet with a 12” x 24” Plexiglas window (the largest size my previous employer carried) installed. In the upper portion I put in an electrical junction box with a motion detector light over the outside stairs. This may be the first picture I've posted of it!!! I've been thinking for a while of getting a mini split air conditioner system installed, and if I do, I'll have to find a new way to mount the motion detector light.

I'm really happy with the way the two that are completed came out!!! It will be nice when the other two are done. I'm also thinking of doing an accent wall on the wall with the heater and TV on it. I plan on using the same orange, but starting at the top with the full color, and fading it lighter as it goes down. That wall has been splotchily repainted when the crap improvements were going on.

The final touch, my wife found some curtains that go nicely with the color. I repainted the curtain rods black to match the rings, and it came together really nicely!!!

Winter Wrap Up Random

So as usual, there's been a lot that goes on!!! Figured I'd go random and encapsulate a bit of it!!!

I'd mentioned that I bought a new set of tires for Kutcher, and took 'em to get aligned. I had the whole motor mounts fiasco with that, and still had the rest of the front end to rebuild. I bought all the stuff, and managed to get it done in two days, one for each side, with nearly no damage to myself!!! It was before our anniversary getaway, I saw and took this picture of a bruise I'd given myself while we were on that trip.

I was making good progress, and would have continued onto the other side, but this time of year the sunlight fades far too early. Plus side, the weather was good for it!!! Don't think I've ever mentioned, but I bought myself a cool little LED work light years ago. It has a built in battery, and came with a wall and 12-volt chargers. I broke it out when it started getting dark, but I think it was the first time I've tried to use the 12-volt charger, and it isn't working. Not long after we got Sidney, he hopped up on the counter and ate through the wall charger cord. I had bought some sleeving to re wire it with an armor coat. I laid it on the floor to take a picture of the light and the repair, and Sid had to come along and posed with his victim!!!

Here's one of my favorite new shirts that I've recently bought from a thrift store, the Polaroid of Shrek and Donkey after they've just listened to the “Welcome to Duloc” animatronics!!!

The final segment of Scruffy's dashboard lights finally decided to get with the program!!! Looks good!!!

Sidney is as people cat as ever, even though he never become the shoulder cat I'd hoped. Younger will pick him up and baby carry him, he's been doing it since we got him, and he... tolerates it. He's not really much of a lap cat, either, except when I'm in the bathroom!!! He's also a big fan of sink drinks. He does leave his mended leg sticking out straight when he's lounging, though, I hope it doesn't bother him. Got this shot of him sitting with it sticking funny, and a cat yawn!!!

I've picked up a few more books to read. I was in the midst of one when I bought The Left Hand of Darkness, and my wife thought it looked interesting, so she had started in on it. I don't remember exactly when it was, but I always watch Jeopardy, and one of the contestants was a science fiction book fan, and said that it was her favorite, so that was the impetus to get it. I have yet to start in on it, because when I finished the one I was reading, my wife had it. She's since declared it “too weird”, so it's next, but in the meantime I'd picked up Wuthering Heights, since it's one of those classics that's spoken of often. I read it, and was able to track it without any difficulty, but it seemed like a bit of a slog reading through it. I see there's a movie of it coming out soon. I don't think I'll be going to see it. Atlas Shrugged, I'm reading right now, and within the first few pages, I knew I'd like it!!! It is just so well written!!! I'll probably be reading more Rand in the future!!!

I'd mentioned looking into getting a Kangol hat, just because it was mentioned in a Counting Crows song, so of course they keep coming up in my suggestions. I went back and looked again, and once again didn't see any I'd be willing to pay the asking price for, but there was one that had “Make an offer” as an option, so I did, and now I've got a Kangol hat!!! It was a reasonable price to me, but still may be one of the most expensive hats I own!!! So far, I've worn it once.

We made a follow up trip to the junkyard!!! Primarily, it was to get the $10 core for the hood, but they also had the correct year Saturn SL2 there, and I was able to get the bumper bracket. Not mentioned on that post, surrogate had it parked at his work, and something fell over and cracked the passenger side fender, so we were finally able to get a replacement fender as well. I put the bracket on, but the fender still needs sanded down and painted, then installed. I think the window for the core on it will expire soon, if it hasn't already. Anyway, a couple of cars over was a Cadillac, with a full set of center caps. I didn't know if they would fit, but I grabbed them anyway. Unfortunately, when I was trying to get them off, one of the faces came loose. I used double stick tape on the back of it and got it back in place, but it's since parted ways. They extend a bit wide, but at least I had a full matching set for a while!!!

I bought this shirt at the same time I got the Shrek and Donkey one. They were both tagged with the color that was on sale for $1.99 that day, and I liked the design on this one. I tried to use the Google Lens to translate it (since I didn't want to have something I didn't know what it was, or if it was somehow offensive) and it came up with something like “Let summer bloom”, which sounded good to me, but I found out later it's a Bad Bunny album title, more something along the lines of “A summer without you”. Cool artwork.

For Halloween the younger wanted to go as a character from Team Fortress, the Scout. I think there had been talk among his friends to go as various characters, but that didn't happen. We went to the thrift store to try and find some headphones, and located some black and white shoes and the red shirt. I hacked off the one side, and fabricated a boom mic with some wire and a cork.

Surrogate went as a bank robber from another video game franchise, and another friend of theirs re purposed the goat skull mask from a couple of years ago.

On the same shopping trip that I got the aforementioned sale shirts, I also saw an aloha shirt with gray tone background. I took a closer look, and the print is of different colored monorails!!! Sold!!!

7-11 has been featuring Mountain Dew Pitch Black on tap. I quite like it!!! It's been a regular go to for me for a while now. Don't believe I've ever mentioned, we've been to Applebee's a few times, and they have a Dark Berry Bash flavor there that I also really like. Interestingly, the Pitch Black flavor is actually a fairly light blue color!!!

We went to Subways for the first time in quite a while recently. When it was topping time, I told the sandwich artist to give me as many olives as he was allowed to, and he came through with flying colors!!! I had to take a picture, then I whispered to surrogate, “This is going in the spank bank!!!” I usually don't tip at fast food places, but for all those olives (he did my wife's up proper, as well) I stuck some in the tip jar!!!

I was out in the yard recently, and Candy Pain drove by in what I assume was the same Toyota she had before. The fuzz has been removed, and it's been painted red, with a Coca Cola swoop on the the side and her name. It was there and gone before I could even think of taking a picture, and the only ones I've been able to find have the old look.

We had Thanksgiving at my mom's retirement home. She reserved a private room, and we had our own server. It wasn't that late, maybe noon or so, but you know, old people apparently eat early. They had traditional Thanksgiving fare, but when the server gave us the menus, he apologized and said they'd already run out of turkey. He was taking our order, and my mom asks for turkey. Once again, he apologizes and says they're out of turkey. My mom replies, "Oh. Well, I'll have the turkey!!!" I don't think her hearing is very good. Afterwards, we headed out to the patio and played a couple of card games, then played a Jeopardy card game my wife had given me for Christmas a couple of years ago that we hadn't played yet. I took the first game in a runaway, then played Alex for the next round, and the younger took that game, also in a runaway!!! Makes a dad proud. I'd also brought a game the older had down in the basement, Cards Against Humanity. We'd played it before with surrogate, and maybe Wolf of Cheese Ball (or maybe both, it was a while ago) but my wife and mom had never played it. We had a blast!!!

We have a friend who is a single mother (of 5!!! and recently adopted an infant from someone who couldn't properly care for him!!!) who was having some car issues. She said her brakes needed work, and when she had a tire replaced recently, the guy told her the bushings on one of the front control arms were shot. I offered to do the brakes and replace the control arms (figured both sides would probably be in similar condition), and did it a couple weeks ago. I had some difficulty, but nothing like the motor mounts fiasco. Got another nice bruise, this time on my arm, so I get a chance to show off my tattoo!!!

I had gone out to get some burgers back in October, and stopped in at the Arco AM/PM for some beverages, and it had burned!!! It didn't take the whole place out (amazingly) but it charred the underside of one awning and melted the sign!!! They had the point of origin pump boxed up with plywood, and have yet to do anything with it. I told the girl at the counter I was glad I wasn't around when it happened!!! I have a history with fires at Arcos...

When I was doing Kutcher's front end, I had the windows down and the radio playing, which is what I usually do while I'm working on a car. When I finished up, the battery was low enough that it wouldn't crank. I boosted it, and didn't have an issue from that point on. A few weeks later, surrogate and the younger had borrowed it, and had left the lights on while they got some lunch, and once again, the battery was too low to crank. They jumped it, and had no more issues, but I was wondering about the battery's condition. I stopped in at an Auto Zone and had them check it, and they said it indeed was beginning to fail. It was a 3 year warranty battery, and I asked when I'd bought it. They said it was three years back in July or August, so it was out of warranty. It was still working, so I let it go while I shopped around to see if I could locate a Die Hard battery. It doesn't appear that you can get them anymore, but I found that Wal Mart has a AGM battery with a 4 year warranty for $20 less than the 3 year Auto Zone battery!!! Sold!!! I had it shipped, and it has a $12 core that I still need to cash in on.

And finally, the second shirt I picked up on our anniversary. It's a Detroit Muscle shirt, and it has a lot written on it, and the profile of what looks like a 30's sedan delivery rod. It's roomy on me, and has a faint smell of oil to it which doesn't go away no matter how many times I wash it. Which I kind of like.

The Return to the Junkyard

It's been a long while since I've made a junkyard run. The last time was when we'd just bought Kutcher. This time, I brought along surrogate son, it was his first time. He enjoyed it, there are a lot of cars to see, and in various states of disassembley.

The trip was prompted by our Catalina vacation. Last year, I'd borrowed my mom's car to be able to transport four, our luggage, and my wife's wheelchair. That plan was torpedoed by Gretchen's Automotive (where elder financial abuse is the name of the game, the epitome of shady mechanics) and we ended up having another friend give us a ride to the landing. This year, I'd checked with another friend who has a Honda Pilot to see if we could swap cars for the week, and that was the plan. Incidentally, it was the same friend who was going to take care of the cat while we were out. Around a week before, surrogate's mom offered to drive us, instead. She's got a mini van, so it shouldn't be a problem. The morning that we were leaving, her van was acting up, and unbeknownst to us, she contacted the friend with the Pilot to borrow it to take us, instead. Pulled up in the Pilot, and we were like, “huh, she's here to feed the cat kind of early”, then we got it figured out. Went out to load our stuff, and tried to open the hatch, and it wasn't opening. Pulled harder, and the handle came off!!! The junkyard had two on the lot that could have the correct handle, so that was the main objective.

First off, there were a couple of classics there, first up was a Olds Toronado!!! Always thought they were a cool car. A few days later I was driving with surrogate in the car, and he spotted one parked on the side of the road, and was able to identify it right off!!! It was a proud moment.

And a Ford Galaxie. Not much left, but that front bumper looks like it's in great shape, probably worth a good amount to the person who needs one!!! There was also a VW Squareback, and an old Ford truck that I didn't get a look at.

I've long had the idea to put a couple of white stripes on Scruffy, and call it the skunk mobile. My beard grows with black in the middle and white stripes on the outside, so I'm already Skunk Man!!! Anyway, someone beat me to it, and got the plates to go with it!!!

Found the first Pilot, and it was already missing the handle. I'd seen one on Ebay for something like $160, so I was thinking it was a hot item, and might be resellable for a decent amount. Found the second one, and it was still on it. Success!!!

The back glass and inside panel were already removed, so the hatch was up and wouldn't stay down without the extra weight. I was wondering how I was going to do it, but I was able to unscrew the two nuts, and stand up on the back through the window opening and pop the press in fasteners off. It was the wrong color, but the recipient is black, so I was able to color match it fairly well with a spray can.

Anyway, I was in the trucks, vans, and SUV area, and spotted a Pontiac front end. Core memory unlocked!!! I recalled that, when I was swapping gauges in 3, I'd read that the Pontiac Torrent, a rebadge of the Chevy Equinox, had another compatible instrument panel, with another different look!!!

Looking back, I realize that I didn't have any shots of the original Saturn gauges, so I took a day and night shot of it before it was removed this time.

The Torrent instrument panel has the chrome bezels like the white face Vue gauges had, but with black gauges with a gray perimeter. Goes nicely with the aesthetic of Scruffy, I think.

The night illumination is where it really shines, pun intended!!! Red glow. Bonus, no check engine light with this set up, only the ABS light is illuminated, since it doesn't have it. Unfortunately, didn't check the illumination before I had it all the way in, and the center sections weren't lighting up. After a bit of driving, though, one of the sides came on, so it's only got one un lit area now. I feel like there were never that many out there, so it's something of a rare instrument panel.

Another fairly high priority item, Scruffy had lost the driver's side plate that holds the bumper onto the pins. There wasn't the correct year there, but I got one off the second generation, hoping that it was a part that wasn't changed. It was.

Back when I had the instrument panel apart on Kutcher for the stupid check engine light, I had unknowingly somehow borked the second digit on the odometer. It had the segments for a backwards “7” that don't display. Also, a couple of the illumination LEDs weren't lighting up anymore. Got a replacement for it, too, and it's really nice having it back!!! Got rid of the bright white check engine light, too.

Something that's always bugged me on Kutcher, though, is the damned dent on the front of the hood. Compounded, the clear coat on the hood has started coming off, so it's looking pretty bad. I picked up a reasonably straight hood while we were there, too.

My original plan was to just primer it black and let it ride thus. I sanded it down, sprayed some gray high build primer, took some glazing putty to a couple of spots with bad rock dings and scrapes, primed some more, sanded it smooth (all the while doing similar with the Pilot handle). Finally got it to a pretty decent finish. At some point in there, I recalled that back when I had bought the second set of Ion rims for 3, I had bought a can of metallic charcoal paint to try and match the dark that the polished front rims have in the recessed area. It was gone before I ever got a chance to use it, so it was still around. Dug it out, and sprayed a test sample. The color isn't really close to the body panels, but it is very close to the faded bumpers!!! I surveyed the family, and they said I should go for it. Fortunately, there was enough in the can to cover it completely!!!

Another minor annoyance, one of the wheel center caps had gone missing not very long after we bought it. I was looking for the same style, but none of the Matrices (Matrii???) had the aluminum rims with them. I did find a cap that ended up fitting. Doesn't match the others, but it's decent!!!