Well, here is my take on the last bit of our adventure:
Here I go again on my own...
Well, I lied, I'm sorry, Steve is with me. This is my side of the story. It was 6:30 AM, San Francisco, California. The early morning sun beamed through the thick San Francisco fog onto our comatose friend in the parking lot. We keep trying to pull the plug on the poor bastard but today will be the day. We boarded a bus at Union St. and headed for B.A.R.T. After arriving at the subway, we purchased our subway passes and headed for Oakland. It can't be that bad in Oakland. The train stopped at the Coliseum/Airport Station and we exited the train. Looking around, the first thing I noticed was an enormous building with the Oakland Raiders banner on it. Cool, this isn't so bad, it looks just like an industrial complex with a coliseum. We left the train platform and headed for the Oakland Pick-a-Part and met a girl there named Kashmir. Kashmir asked us a few questions about the car and we proceeded to explain our situation. She asked to see our papers. The confused look on our face and the disappointed look on Steve's made me realize what was going on. Morris wasn't ready to go to the big Laguna Seca in the sky just yet... Ass. We were directed to the Oakland DMV where we were to obtain proper forms and documentations so the charity could come collect Morris and we could begin the long trek back to the Great White North. While we were waiting in line at the DMV, a man started talking of rumors involving this particular outlet being closed for the day for unknown reasons. I started to panic and immediately got the number for the Canadian Embassy. It was around then that I heard a man's voice complaining about how "cold" it was, a female voice responded telling the man that she is from Canada and that she knows what real cold is. I shot around and confirmed what I had just heard. She told me she was from the prairies, this makes me happy due to the fact that there was a serious lack of Canadians. After meeting another Canuck, we entered the DMV and started the long complex process of registering a car that "was built on Sunday in the United States in a toolshed". I am sure Steve filled everyone in on the rest of the story.
In Sacramento we found that we had a slight problem due to the lack of bluetooths. Steve has teh epic Oakland video on his phone, but we has none way to bring it fourth to the laptop... But I have a plan, there has to be a bluetooth reciever somewhere in the Portland area... A bluetooth receiver for cheap. Steve says that bluetooth and windows xp don't get along, but I has teh computer college under my belt and hopefully that helps me.. If not, my plan B is hit up an AT&T dealer and borrow a USB cable and transfer teh video over... Unfortunately our stop in Portland yielded no results because we had no time. We had only 40 minutes to get a small charge, get Steve some food and find teh Wi-Fi. Upon entering an internet cafe (which I had no idea existed in this day and age), we wi-fi'd and figured everything out. Now it was time to get back to the bus station and get Steve some noms.
-Steve's Sammiches OR Bus Station Bingo-
We ran into the bus station cafe where Steve purchased two ham and cheese subs. I knew this wouldn't end well. Steve took a big swig of the stale (thats right, STALE) water, and took a bite of the sammich that he bought for $5.50, both were ass. About two hours after eating one, I began to feel strange, I woke Steve up and he started laughing hysterically while trying to spit out "That will hurt! About an 8 out of 10 if I am not mistaken!". After some severe lulz and stomach pains... It went away, it just left. Later on that day, I ran into a very angry Vietnam veteran from Texas... Long story short, he was a scary man...
Upon our arrival in Seattle, I sniffed out the arcade and busted out a bunch of games, the most impressing, bad ass one I did was dually pistols in "House of the Dead", I was icing those coagulated gravy and hot dog bun bastard zombies in no time. After that, Steve actually did something productive (unlike me), locating the big giant storage lockers. We put our things in the lockers and hit Seattle, looking for a pub. The downtown district is like a combination of the Granville Strip in Van and Victoria Street in Kamloops. We finally found a pub called "The Whiskey Bar" and went on in. After drinking a pint of the most bitter lager I have ever tried in my life, we left and made a break for the Mc Donalds. Inside the penny dropped for me with a horrible clang. The clock read 8:27, we had to be back at the bus station ready to go in 10 minutes. Our task ahead was pretty much our last aside from fighting off the living dead, otherwise known as the drug users in Vancouver. We made it back to the bus station with only mere seconds to spare. Right now as I am typing this, we are heading north on the I-5 towards Everett. Arriving in Vancouver, we got pwned right off the hop by Niko Bellic, the security guard. We arrived at 1:30 am, hungry, thirsty, and down right tired. He told us that we weren't allowed to leave the train/bus station because it is in lockdown. After a short talk, he pointed us to the head of security. Mr. Gill was his name, he was one of the nicer employees we have met aside from the bus driver. Mr. Gill let us in on a little secret. There was a gate, and when we went through it, we could go wherever we please. After a long night in the Downtown East Side, we were allowed entry into the bus station again. We met up with a girl there named Sacha, who kept us entertained until we parted ways on separate buses and took off on the final leg of our journey home.
The way home...
We were on the bus for about 20 minutes when I passed right out. About 20 minutes before Merritt, the bus started making Morris noises... Great... The bus then decided to just up and quit on us. The driver believed it was the turbo charger in the big gigantic engine in the back. About five minutes later, a rescue bus showed up and everyone but us boarded it. Another 10 minutes after that, a man in a pickup truck showed up, fixed the engine (turns out it was just a hose clamp that came loose giving the engine no compression), great! We were on our way again. After a short cat nap, we arrived in Kamloops, jumped in my car that was waiting for us at the Greyhound station, and ended our journey...
But don't think we are done just yet...
-Mitch
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The B Sides
Just a few pictures more pictures I found on my phone.
Riding a really old streetcar.
Taking a trip on BART (the subway).
Waiting in line at the DMV.
Learning that ICBC really is full of shit.
Riding a really old streetcar.
Taking a trip on BART (the subway).
Waiting in line at the DMV.
Learning that ICBC really is full of shit.-steve
Thursday, August 20, 2009
San Francisco Rush
-in portland at time of posting-
Early Californian sun shot through the bathroom skylight. Shower steam condensing on beer bottles created an appropirate type of fresh morning dew. Droplets on the side of Rolling Rock ale from the night before. Our last night in San Francisco. I was underslept and over-stressed. I knew we would have a massive day ahead. Over 24 hours had already passed since the car was supposed to be picked up and gone. We were supposed to be unhindered and free to return home to Canada.
Stepping onto the balcony, I saw him sitting below. Same spot he stayed parked for the last three days. Morris, you coagulated gravy and hot dog bun eating bastard. Why was he still there? I had called the charity- rather they called me, wanting my registration information. I was told prior to travelling there would be no problem, but they assumed my Canadian car would have a California title. I had to travel to Oakland. The woman on the phone, Brenda. She told me to take my ICBC registration to the tow yard, they would fill out a form, and we would be safe to go see the Painted Ladies.
7:12AM
Bus 41 to California BART
We had walked two blocks to Union st, paid our fare and boarded towards the Bay Area Rapid Transit. A combination subway and above ground light rail system. We had taken it to the airport, SFO, several days before to see a man about a horse. Now we would be travelling beyond the city limits, across the bay to Oakland. Home of the Raiders.
7:28AM
Boarded BART to Colliseum/Oakland Airport
7:58AM
Arrive Colliseum/Oakland Airport. We needed to walk about 1.5km to the tow lot, in the middle of a very poor neighbourhood and industrial district, jumbled between an elevated freeway and two rail lines. First in the office of the yard, it was just after 8 o'clock. The woman had no idea what we should do and directed us to the Oakland DMV. Forunately for us, it was only around the corner. Another 2km or so through some of the poorest neighbourhoods I have ever experienced. Trash and broken bits of cars piled up between the freeways. Open sewers ran beside the streets.
8:30AM
The lineup at the DMV was wrapped around the building. It wouldn't open until 9. We were already running out of time. Not knowing what we could even accomplish we began taking action. I was on the phone with the ICBC in Kamloops asking about forms and policies. Mitch was setting up Greyhound tickets for our departure- at 5:30PM. What if we couldn't scrap the car? How could we pay to bring him back? What kind of forms do we need to find? There were no answers. The lineup built longer and people became agitated. We had decided the Canadian consulate was about to find a happy surprise in their parking lot today. If of course, we couldn't work this out.
9:00AM
The DMV opened, for once. From one line to another, to a ticket dispenser, from one clerk to seats and another clerk in another location. The first woman was sure we would need special documents direct from the state capitol. It would take weeks, she insisted. It wasn't until 9:30 when we began a sort of negotiation with a second clerk and her supervisor. And at nearly 10 in the morning we left the Oakland Department of Motor Vehicles. I agreed to pay 38 dollars and the Great State of California agreed Mitch and myself built Morris in a shed when we arrived here on Sunday, and would issue us an American title.
But first the inspection.
10:00AM
Filling out forms and writing sworn statements set us back. Check-out for our room was 12 o'clock. It would take close to an hour now to return to the hotel. We needed to get the car inspected, return to the DMV, get issued a junk title, call a tow company, and board the last bus to Canada at 5:30PM.
We ran to the train station and returned to San Francisco. Glad to be the flying fuck out of Oakland. Returned too far into San Francisco in fact, passing our stop by three. Wasted about ten minutes but finally returned to the Embarcadero station. There was no time for the bus, our transportation the rest of the day was by hailing taxi's, GTA style.
11:58AM
Checked out of the hotel. Two minutes early! Morris lay in the parking lot. No inspection. I frantically made calls to every body and organisation capable. The police department sent me to highway patrol. Erik Estrada was out of the office, and then fully booked for weeks. The internet gave me the name of a woman in Marin County. At last a break, she picked up right away and fit us in immeadiatly. She could be at the hotel in an hour. We needed to be at the bus station for check-in within 5 hours and then we would be gone. She arrived just after 1PM, inspected the car, completed a form and for this I paid $150. American.
1:45PM
The taxi to the San Francisco DMV was just about $15, just like every taxi ride taken today. I lost count how many. We wouldn't leave the DMV for another 2 hours. But we had our forms, they gave me a scrap title to the car. It was a Californian vehicle, finally. Plus, I'm getting sent a cheque for $35 USD, for reasons I do not understand. It will probably bounce anyway, the state doesn't have any money. Their employees are currently accepting IOU's instead of paycheques. No joke.
The time was now 3:45 and we ran up and down Haight St trying to find a cab. Exhausted and nearly defeated, we knew we couldn't catch our bus. A cab finally caught sight of us, and back to the hotel and Morris. During the trip I called the charity that would be taking the car. We would need to return to the tow lot in Oakland with the title. It was then I realised with the title in my hand, any tow company could take the car away.
Bad news for us, it was a 2 hour wait. And since the towing service still didn't fully accept Morris as an American citizen, there was another fee. One Hundred Dollars. And we didn't make our bus.
We cabbed again to the bus station and it was now getting near 7 o'clock. Fortunate for us, a mere $15 fee got us on the very next last-bus-to-Canada. I took a walk down Mission st to relax. And I write this tale now, sitting somewhere between Sacremento and Redding. It's 12 hours to Portland, and another 30 to home. I just "showered" in the handicap stall of the men's room of a Sacremento bus stop. Everything smells like pee.
It cost $290 Canadian, not including fee's, taxi fares, train tickets and late charges, to see Morris off. That is ninety dollars more than we paid for him!
-steve
ps.
and we never made it to the outlet mall in ogdenville!
Early Californian sun shot through the bathroom skylight. Shower steam condensing on beer bottles created an appropirate type of fresh morning dew. Droplets on the side of Rolling Rock ale from the night before. Our last night in San Francisco. I was underslept and over-stressed. I knew we would have a massive day ahead. Over 24 hours had already passed since the car was supposed to be picked up and gone. We were supposed to be unhindered and free to return home to Canada.
Stepping onto the balcony, I saw him sitting below. Same spot he stayed parked for the last three days. Morris, you coagulated gravy and hot dog bun eating bastard. Why was he still there? I had called the charity- rather they called me, wanting my registration information. I was told prior to travelling there would be no problem, but they assumed my Canadian car would have a California title. I had to travel to Oakland. The woman on the phone, Brenda. She told me to take my ICBC registration to the tow yard, they would fill out a form, and we would be safe to go see the Painted Ladies.
7:12AM
Bus 41 to California BART
We had walked two blocks to Union st, paid our fare and boarded towards the Bay Area Rapid Transit. A combination subway and above ground light rail system. We had taken it to the airport, SFO, several days before to see a man about a horse. Now we would be travelling beyond the city limits, across the bay to Oakland. Home of the Raiders.
7:28AM
Boarded BART to Colliseum/Oakland Airport
7:58AM
Arrive Colliseum/Oakland Airport. We needed to walk about 1.5km to the tow lot, in the middle of a very poor neighbourhood and industrial district, jumbled between an elevated freeway and two rail lines. First in the office of the yard, it was just after 8 o'clock. The woman had no idea what we should do and directed us to the Oakland DMV. Forunately for us, it was only around the corner. Another 2km or so through some of the poorest neighbourhoods I have ever experienced. Trash and broken bits of cars piled up between the freeways. Open sewers ran beside the streets.
8:30AM
The lineup at the DMV was wrapped around the building. It wouldn't open until 9. We were already running out of time. Not knowing what we could even accomplish we began taking action. I was on the phone with the ICBC in Kamloops asking about forms and policies. Mitch was setting up Greyhound tickets for our departure- at 5:30PM. What if we couldn't scrap the car? How could we pay to bring him back? What kind of forms do we need to find? There were no answers. The lineup built longer and people became agitated. We had decided the Canadian consulate was about to find a happy surprise in their parking lot today. If of course, we couldn't work this out.
9:00AM
The DMV opened, for once. From one line to another, to a ticket dispenser, from one clerk to seats and another clerk in another location. The first woman was sure we would need special documents direct from the state capitol. It would take weeks, she insisted. It wasn't until 9:30 when we began a sort of negotiation with a second clerk and her supervisor. And at nearly 10 in the morning we left the Oakland Department of Motor Vehicles. I agreed to pay 38 dollars and the Great State of California agreed Mitch and myself built Morris in a shed when we arrived here on Sunday, and would issue us an American title.
But first the inspection.
10:00AM
Filling out forms and writing sworn statements set us back. Check-out for our room was 12 o'clock. It would take close to an hour now to return to the hotel. We needed to get the car inspected, return to the DMV, get issued a junk title, call a tow company, and board the last bus to Canada at 5:30PM.
We ran to the train station and returned to San Francisco. Glad to be the flying fuck out of Oakland. Returned too far into San Francisco in fact, passing our stop by three. Wasted about ten minutes but finally returned to the Embarcadero station. There was no time for the bus, our transportation the rest of the day was by hailing taxi's, GTA style.
11:58AM
Checked out of the hotel. Two minutes early! Morris lay in the parking lot. No inspection. I frantically made calls to every body and organisation capable. The police department sent me to highway patrol. Erik Estrada was out of the office, and then fully booked for weeks. The internet gave me the name of a woman in Marin County. At last a break, she picked up right away and fit us in immeadiatly. She could be at the hotel in an hour. We needed to be at the bus station for check-in within 5 hours and then we would be gone. She arrived just after 1PM, inspected the car, completed a form and for this I paid $150. American.
1:45PM
The taxi to the San Francisco DMV was just about $15, just like every taxi ride taken today. I lost count how many. We wouldn't leave the DMV for another 2 hours. But we had our forms, they gave me a scrap title to the car. It was a Californian vehicle, finally. Plus, I'm getting sent a cheque for $35 USD, for reasons I do not understand. It will probably bounce anyway, the state doesn't have any money. Their employees are currently accepting IOU's instead of paycheques. No joke.
The time was now 3:45 and we ran up and down Haight St trying to find a cab. Exhausted and nearly defeated, we knew we couldn't catch our bus. A cab finally caught sight of us, and back to the hotel and Morris. During the trip I called the charity that would be taking the car. We would need to return to the tow lot in Oakland with the title. It was then I realised with the title in my hand, any tow company could take the car away.
Bad news for us, it was a 2 hour wait. And since the towing service still didn't fully accept Morris as an American citizen, there was another fee. One Hundred Dollars. And we didn't make our bus.
We cabbed again to the bus station and it was now getting near 7 o'clock. Fortunate for us, a mere $15 fee got us on the very next last-bus-to-Canada. I took a walk down Mission st to relax. And I write this tale now, sitting somewhere between Sacremento and Redding. It's 12 hours to Portland, and another 30 to home. I just "showered" in the handicap stall of the men's room of a Sacremento bus stop. Everything smells like pee.
It cost $290 Canadian, not including fee's, taxi fares, train tickets and late charges, to see Morris off. That is ninety dollars more than we paid for him!
-steve
ps.
and we never made it to the outlet mall in ogdenville!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ancient Egypt and China town
Today started off when we went to the neighborhood Wells Fargo to withdraw our funds from our accounts. Upon our arrival, I was greeted by a good looking girl behind the counter, with a smile she asked how she could help me. I asked about withdrawing my cash yadda yadda, and you know what? It worked! It turns out that banks in the United States serve customers not B.S.
After that we decided to hit the local Starbucks Coffee and grab something to eat. When we got there there was a very angry man yelling about stuff that neither of us could really put together, he seemed to like us though and said "God bless you two".
Upon leaving the Starbucks we returned to the motel so we could call a scrap car removal place to remove Morris (memorial services will be held LOL). Now realizing that we have to go to OAKLAND, we get to use the subway again! Anyway, after we did that, we jumped on a bus that took us to a museum.
We entered the museum and it was there that we discovered the biggest archaeological find of the 20th century. It was the King Tut exhibit! We checked it all out and honestly, the replica stuff you see today is only slightly different. It was hard to believe that the artifacts I was looking at were around 3500 years old!
We left the museum, jumped back on the bus and hit up the squiggly part of Lombard st, there were some very nice houses on there but the constant sounds of brakes. It was really REALLY REALLY steep. The sidewalks were full of tourists and at the bottom, we took some pictures of us, keep an eye on the YouTube channel for the videos!
-Mitch
Headed down to the Financial district tonight and saw the Pyramid. It is the tallest building in San Francisco I think, and we discovered it was only a short walk over to China town. Grabbed some trinkets and a large duffle bag to put our stuff in for the bus trip. On the way out we passed the Church of Scientology and a man in a business suit just about abducted Mitch into the building. Literally just about abducted him. I made sure we both got the fuck out of there.
Tomorrow will be a crazy day, I will try to update before we check out at noon. I think our bus leaves for home around 5:30pm, and I am not sure what we will be up to. If we manage to update there will be a couple of videos instead of text. See you guys soon,
-Steve
After that we decided to hit the local Starbucks Coffee and grab something to eat. When we got there there was a very angry man yelling about stuff that neither of us could really put together, he seemed to like us though and said "God bless you two".
Upon leaving the Starbucks we returned to the motel so we could call a scrap car removal place to remove Morris (memorial services will be held LOL). Now realizing that we have to go to OAKLAND, we get to use the subway again! Anyway, after we did that, we jumped on a bus that took us to a museum.
We entered the museum and it was there that we discovered the biggest archaeological find of the 20th century. It was the King Tut exhibit! We checked it all out and honestly, the replica stuff you see today is only slightly different. It was hard to believe that the artifacts I was looking at were around 3500 years old!
We left the museum, jumped back on the bus and hit up the squiggly part of Lombard st, there were some very nice houses on there but the constant sounds of brakes. It was really REALLY REALLY steep. The sidewalks were full of tourists and at the bottom, we took some pictures of us, keep an eye on the YouTube channel for the videos!
-Mitch
Headed down to the Financial district tonight and saw the Pyramid. It is the tallest building in San Francisco I think, and we discovered it was only a short walk over to China town. Grabbed some trinkets and a large duffle bag to put our stuff in for the bus trip. On the way out we passed the Church of Scientology and a man in a business suit just about abducted Mitch into the building. Literally just about abducted him. I made sure we both got the fuck out of there.
Tomorrow will be a crazy day, I will try to update before we check out at noon. I think our bus leaves for home around 5:30pm, and I am not sure what we will be up to. If we manage to update there will be a couple of videos instead of text. See you guys soon,
-Steve
Monday, August 17, 2009
Life is a journey, not a destification.*
Here's the low down, straight up. About 300 miles north of San Francisco, our transmission basically went. We could keep it in gear, just barely. It was a lot like threading a needle in the dark, from 5 feet away, using poles to hold both the needle and thread. And it sounded just awful. Now the car still ran, and we got him all the way across the Golden Gate.
But, we made an important decision here. If you were to drop, or image what it sounds like to drop, about a few thousand pennies onto a glass surface, that is what it sounds like when we drive. And we get kicked out of gear randomly and constantly. So we decided it just isn't safe to drive any further. We could cause a deadly accident. So here we are.
I am posting from a hotel room at the Motel Capri, on Greenwich in the Marina district in San Francisco. We are a short walk from the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge, the crooked Lombard Street, the Marina, Alcatraz, historic street cars and downtown. It truly is wonderful.
Every person we have told our story to has wanted to help us in some way. The wonderful folks that run this hotel are giving us a top floor room with two beds at roughly a 50% discount, for instance. So we are staying here for two nights, maybe three. We don't feel like we failed, we feel like we just reached a different goal.
Everyone who reads this really cannot understand how wonderful this city is without seeing it for themselves. It is truly beyond description. After a few days here, we are going to grab a bus back to Kamloops, and should be home on Saturday. We have seen so much already, but have even more left to experience here. Although we aren't posting many pictures or videos on the blog, we are indeed racking up the gigabytes on our SD cards with hundreds of photos and videos.
Before we leave, we are going to try for a tour of Alcatraz, and see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum. Hopefully we use our cunning and charisma to get into both, I've heard we will need it. Until then, enjoy these two video updates of our adventures :)
*Our GPS has a George Bush voice that keeps telling us we have reached our destification. Once he told us to bear right, but he didn't know what kind of bear it was.
-steve
But, we made an important decision here. If you were to drop, or image what it sounds like to drop, about a few thousand pennies onto a glass surface, that is what it sounds like when we drive. And we get kicked out of gear randomly and constantly. So we decided it just isn't safe to drive any further. We could cause a deadly accident. So here we are.
I am posting from a hotel room at the Motel Capri, on Greenwich in the Marina district in San Francisco. We are a short walk from the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge, the crooked Lombard Street, the Marina, Alcatraz, historic street cars and downtown. It truly is wonderful.
Every person we have told our story to has wanted to help us in some way. The wonderful folks that run this hotel are giving us a top floor room with two beds at roughly a 50% discount, for instance. So we are staying here for two nights, maybe three. We don't feel like we failed, we feel like we just reached a different goal.
Everyone who reads this really cannot understand how wonderful this city is without seeing it for themselves. It is truly beyond description. After a few days here, we are going to grab a bus back to Kamloops, and should be home on Saturday. We have seen so much already, but have even more left to experience here. Although we aren't posting many pictures or videos on the blog, we are indeed racking up the gigabytes on our SD cards with hundreds of photos and videos.
Before we leave, we are going to try for a tour of Alcatraz, and see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum. Hopefully we use our cunning and charisma to get into both, I've heard we will need it. Until then, enjoy these two video updates of our adventures :)
*Our GPS has a George Bush voice that keeps telling us we have reached our destification. Once he told us to bear right, but he didn't know what kind of bear it was.
-steve
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Avenue of the Giants
Crashing for the night in a town called Willits I think, few hours north of San Fransisco.
-Steve
-Steve
On tonight's program- I drive a car through a tree, Steve does a wee in a log, and a man thinks we're British!
Didn't get to San Fransisco today cause we spent a lot of time seeing sights along the Redwood Highway.
-mitch
-mitch
Going through Oregon!
Oh, Hai Portland!
Well, It was 3:30 AM, and we woke up after a very uncomfortable four hour sleep... We were at a Wal-Mart somewhere along the giant strech of city known as Washington State. Luckily for us, it was a Super Centre and because of that it is open 24 hours a day. Still in a groggy sleep-deprived state we decided to go in and check it out. We got out of the car and could see our breath it was so cold, the man working in the store told us that just last week they were experiencing temperatures of 110 degrees ferenheit... After getting some really cheap energy drinks, we hit the road again, this time we were aiming for Oregon. After driving for around an hour and 20 minutes, we hit Portland, and we were floored by the sheer beauty of the city. From what we saw, the city was built on the water and had some really tall buildings going up the hill simalar to how Sa-Hali is built, but with skyscraper-esque buildings. Furthermore, the archatecture of the buildings was just stunning, the whole city was just awesome, almost as cool as Seattle. On the far outskirts of Portland we stopped at a truck stop that had hot showers, our morale was very low at this point, but after we retired to our showers and regrouped 10 minutes later, we were infinately happier. The only drawback to the showers was the fact that they are $10 (all US funds here people) but they come with a clean towel, washcloth, and soap. After leaving the truckstop and not feeling like ass from the lack of showers, we drove onward until we found a Jack-In-The-Box. After breakfast, we took off down the highway were the giant megalopolous started to break apart and turn into farm country. Right now we are driving through Oregon, 163 miles (as im typing this) away from our turnoff onto the 101. Well other than the fact that we just passed a truck going in the opposite direction carrying a FORD GT 40!!! The bonus? It also has the Gulf Oil paintjob!!! Well, that's pretty much it. We are pretty far from any civilization as I am typing this, so It may be a while before this gets uploaded, not that anyone will know that until it is but whatever.
This is a two-part post...
Until we see a '59 Chevrolet S-10...
Here we are still in Oregon, We are 62 miles from our turnoff to highway 99 (Known here as the Redwood Highway, but in Canada, we refer to it as the sea to sky). All that aside, we have been telling each other that we would feel a lot better about the trip if we see a '59 S-10... We then came to the conclusion that they probably don't exist... Well we saw an early '60's "Chevrolet 10". After laughing at it, we determined that would have to do... Again, this is another post coming to you from Oregon... I just wanna see California... Right now as this sentance is being typed, we are sitting in a coffee shop in a place called Grant's Pass (due to a bout of dyslexia, we are just going to call it "Grass Pants"
-mitch
Grants Pass is a cool place. For some reason we kept reading the highway signs as Grass Pants for the longest time.... anyway, we pulled in and up to a 76 which is a gas station that is painted just like the car. The guys working were really nice, and spoke with southern accents. One of them swaggered over and asked...
Man: You guys drove here from Europe?!
Steve: What? Europe- oh no, we're from up-
Man: British Columbia right? Yea Europe.
He thought we were from Europe since we are from British Columbia. Anyway, he was a nice guy. We told him and another our story and they loved it and gave us suggestions and directions and whatnot. I told him how we got hosed by the Department of Homeland Security and he, a man in his mid to late 30's, promptly suggested I tell them to go suck a dick.
But they do have guns.
-Steve
Well, It was 3:30 AM, and we woke up after a very uncomfortable four hour sleep... We were at a Wal-Mart somewhere along the giant strech of city known as Washington State. Luckily for us, it was a Super Centre and because of that it is open 24 hours a day. Still in a groggy sleep-deprived state we decided to go in and check it out. We got out of the car and could see our breath it was so cold, the man working in the store told us that just last week they were experiencing temperatures of 110 degrees ferenheit... After getting some really cheap energy drinks, we hit the road again, this time we were aiming for Oregon. After driving for around an hour and 20 minutes, we hit Portland, and we were floored by the sheer beauty of the city. From what we saw, the city was built on the water and had some really tall buildings going up the hill simalar to how Sa-Hali is built, but with skyscraper-esque buildings. Furthermore, the archatecture of the buildings was just stunning, the whole city was just awesome, almost as cool as Seattle. On the far outskirts of Portland we stopped at a truck stop that had hot showers, our morale was very low at this point, but after we retired to our showers and regrouped 10 minutes later, we were infinately happier. The only drawback to the showers was the fact that they are $10 (all US funds here people) but they come with a clean towel, washcloth, and soap. After leaving the truckstop and not feeling like ass from the lack of showers, we drove onward until we found a Jack-In-The-Box. After breakfast, we took off down the highway were the giant megalopolous started to break apart and turn into farm country. Right now we are driving through Oregon, 163 miles (as im typing this) away from our turnoff onto the 101. Well other than the fact that we just passed a truck going in the opposite direction carrying a FORD GT 40!!! The bonus? It also has the Gulf Oil paintjob!!! Well, that's pretty much it. We are pretty far from any civilization as I am typing this, so It may be a while before this gets uploaded, not that anyone will know that until it is but whatever.
This is a two-part post...
Until we see a '59 Chevrolet S-10...
Here we are still in Oregon, We are 62 miles from our turnoff to highway 99 (Known here as the Redwood Highway, but in Canada, we refer to it as the sea to sky). All that aside, we have been telling each other that we would feel a lot better about the trip if we see a '59 S-10... We then came to the conclusion that they probably don't exist... Well we saw an early '60's "Chevrolet 10". After laughing at it, we determined that would have to do... Again, this is another post coming to you from Oregon... I just wanna see California... Right now as this sentance is being typed, we are sitting in a coffee shop in a place called Grant's Pass (due to a bout of dyslexia, we are just going to call it "Grass Pants"
-mitch
Grants Pass is a cool place. For some reason we kept reading the highway signs as Grass Pants for the longest time.... anyway, we pulled in and up to a 76 which is a gas station that is painted just like the car. The guys working were really nice, and spoke with southern accents. One of them swaggered over and asked...
Man: You guys drove here from Europe?!
Steve: What? Europe- oh no, we're from up-
Man: British Columbia right? Yea Europe.
He thought we were from Europe since we are from British Columbia. Anyway, he was a nice guy. We told him and another our story and they loved it and gave us suggestions and directions and whatnot. I told him how we got hosed by the Department of Homeland Security and he, a man in his mid to late 30's, promptly suggested I tell them to go suck a dick.
But they do have guns.
-Steve
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Seattle Fish Market?
Went through downtown Seattle. Saw Space Needle. Fish market was closed :(
About a dozen people asked about the car while we were in traffic. Seattle kicks ass. Brb portland.
-steve
About a dozen people asked about the car while we were in traffic. Seattle kicks ass. Brb portland.
-steve
Homeland Security
Finally got into the US. Had to visit the department of Homeland Security. Had to fill out extra forms, have the car totally rummaged through by guards, and answer simple questions about my life multiple times, phrased differently.
At a Shell station right now, need to find my GPS cord since it dissapeared after they ransacked the car. Also need to put everything in the car neatly back where it belongs. There are American flags and churches everywhere!
Oh yea, and a woman at the Shell gave us free drinks for being a couple of hoseheads.
I wrote this a few hours ago but right now I am in Tulalip :)
-steve
At a Shell station right now, need to find my GPS cord since it dissapeared after they ransacked the car. Also need to put everything in the car neatly back where it belongs. There are American flags and churches everywhere!
Oh yea, and a woman at the Shell gave us free drinks for being a couple of hoseheads.
I wrote this a few hours ago but right now I am in Tulalip :)
-steve
Sitting in Abbotsford...
Our journey started at 5AM today, we took Morris through the treachours Fraiser Canyon, snagging some really decent pics along the way, those will hopefully be posted in the book of Morris later today. (Personally, I am looking forward to the blazing fast internet connections of the United States). Upon our arrival in Hope, we hit up the Triple-O's/Chevron and ordered a couple slices of cheese (it is an old tradition, if you REALLY want to know about it, shoot an email...). The workers in the store were very impressed and we are pretty sure we made their day. Right now we have just passed through Chilliwack and it is extremely humid and thick overcast (I am writing this on notepad and when we hit some Wi-Fi, I just upload). Anywho this is pretty much all that has really happened so far, except when we drove by a bunch of forest fire fighters and they all cheered and gave the thumbs up in approval. The other thing that happened, which was really cool to see was the fact that we saw a car WAY older than us, an old MG! (looked to be a late '60's, early 70's)... Anyway that's it!
P.S. Everyone on the highway seems to ADORE Morris.
-Mitch
P.S. Everyone on the highway seems to ADORE Morris.
-Mitch
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
No credit cards, no extra cash... NO FUCKUPS!
You will have to pardon me for the harsh language in the title of this post, but it is true. After realizing what we are about to do, we have started getting a little err... antsy? It has occurred to us what we are actually about to attempt. We figured out that if we never drove Morris at all we could have already gone to Mexico and back no problem... But we also have put 5000 KM on Morris over the course of 5 months... we are going to attempt to do the same distance in 9 days!
Now, I don't remember reading anything in Steve's last post about our CV problem, well... Our passenger CV decided to shit the bed and so we went on another epic journey to the land of busted up cars. Long story short, we had to find a replacement CV joint, and they no longer make replacement bits for a Nissan Micra, so off we went. After fighting with the stupid nut that holds the hub on the axle, we applied some penetrant and I torqued it off with the exhaust from a Honda Civic CRX. Removing the axle was a breeze, you literally just pull it off, do that in reverse to install it and you're done.
It is really starting to sink in for me that we are actually attempting what can only be called a "stunt". Why are we doing this? How did the whole idea come about? Why aren't we just using the Toyota? We are about to leave our nice safe country and travel to a set of countries where our civil rights no longer exist! We simply may very well just not make it back... Maybe only Morris will not make it back... Maybe Morris will make it back. I personally hope he does because I want to take him on at least one rally. The only good thing I can think of that will relieve this stress is the fact that I can get a case of beer at the 7-11 for like 9 dollars, any time of day!
-Mitch
Now, I don't remember reading anything in Steve's last post about our CV problem, well... Our passenger CV decided to shit the bed and so we went on another epic journey to the land of busted up cars. Long story short, we had to find a replacement CV joint, and they no longer make replacement bits for a Nissan Micra, so off we went. After fighting with the stupid nut that holds the hub on the axle, we applied some penetrant and I torqued it off with the exhaust from a Honda Civic CRX. Removing the axle was a breeze, you literally just pull it off, do that in reverse to install it and you're done.
It is really starting to sink in for me that we are actually attempting what can only be called a "stunt". Why are we doing this? How did the whole idea come about? Why aren't we just using the Toyota? We are about to leave our nice safe country and travel to a set of countries where our civil rights no longer exist! We simply may very well just not make it back... Maybe only Morris will not make it back... Maybe Morris will make it back. I personally hope he does because I want to take him on at least one rally. The only good thing I can think of that will relieve this stress is the fact that I can get a case of beer at the 7-11 for like 9 dollars, any time of day!
-Mitch
Monday, August 10, 2009
New old rotor + Health insurance
Picked up an old brake rotor for 10 bones in Kelowna and it solved a lot of problems. Also, I was found to be 100% correct that the reverberation at high speed was due to the winter tires. The car no longer shakes uncontrollably at high speed and brakes a lot better.
Not bad for ten bucks. I mean ten bucks is ten bucks. Sealed up the exhaust too, didn't make a difference. That's the 2nd time trying exhaust sealant. Never waste your time with it, it wont make a difference.
Also, the old rotor was totally seized, but a screw driver and a hammer and a whole bunch of medium-force taps work a lot better than big swings. Basically just try to vibrate it out of place. Felt really good to finally win and get that fucker off there.
Going to Mexico on Saturday. Bought health insurance for the states today. 2 weeks was $27. That's $5 million, zero deductible, anything goes. No medical history check. That is private insurance in Canada. Why doesn't the USA have government run health care again? Fools.
Also, it's starting to set in what I am actually about to do.
-Steve
Not bad for ten bucks. I mean ten bucks is ten bucks. Sealed up the exhaust too, didn't make a difference. That's the 2nd time trying exhaust sealant. Never waste your time with it, it wont make a difference.
Also, the old rotor was totally seized, but a screw driver and a hammer and a whole bunch of medium-force taps work a lot better than big swings. Basically just try to vibrate it out of place. Felt really good to finally win and get that fucker off there.
Going to Mexico on Saturday. Bought health insurance for the states today. 2 weeks was $27. That's $5 million, zero deductible, anything goes. No medical history check. That is private insurance in Canada. Why doesn't the USA have government run health care again? Fools.
Also, it's starting to set in what I am actually about to do.
-Steve
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
T-Minus 11 Days and Counting...
Well, here we are, 11 days until our epic journey begins. It seems like only yesterday we met our dear friend, Morris. And after all the mishaps and follies, Morris has prevailed. From losing a wheel bearing on the Trans-Canada Highway, to losing our entire exhaust going up Columbia Street, it has been good times. The car literally paid for itsself in the first hour or two when I decided to spray the washer fluid whilst Steve had Morris' bonnet up, I had determined that this car has a beauty of a personality as I watched Steve scream while washer fluid rained down upon him.
As for Morris updates, as Steve mentioned, he brazed the pipes together to form a proper exhaust (no thanks to me actually tearing the pipe while trying to bend it). There is one other idea I came up with while trying to organize the disaster I call a living quarters... A portable DVD player hooked up to the tape deck! "Surely you jest!", one might say, "You can't possibly watch DVDs and drive on the superhighways of California!", you are probably thinking. I believe that this will be mighty fine plan thanks to the capacity of the mighty DVD ROM, we will be able to store literally thousands of songs on one disc and be able to navigate them nicely as well. Steve has managed to acquire a sweet ass cassette mixer to make mix tapes and has successfully turned his computer desk into a full blown recording studio using his computer, the mixer, and a small JVC tv that I left there on boxing day claiming that i would be by the next day to come pick it up...
I hope to use my digital camera to film a short video going over all the behind-the-scenes work that we put into morris and didn't quite make it into the blog. Another thing that will be covered by the video (or series of videos) is the other (mis)adventures that we encountered in Morris, going over all the locations Morris has been and the friends he has made. Also, our passports should arrive next week, and we have to go pick them up in Surrey, I would really like to film our trip down there and start posting videos on YouTube. I know I have mentioned this in the past, and the only reason I haven't started is because try as I might, I just can not find the carger for my little camcorder. For now, I think the digital camera will suffice.
Anyways, I seem to be rambling on like I normally do with a blog post (which is why I ususally try and get Steve to do them). With that being said, I am signing off for now.
-Mitch
As for Morris updates, as Steve mentioned, he brazed the pipes together to form a proper exhaust (no thanks to me actually tearing the pipe while trying to bend it). There is one other idea I came up with while trying to organize the disaster I call a living quarters... A portable DVD player hooked up to the tape deck! "Surely you jest!", one might say, "You can't possibly watch DVDs and drive on the superhighways of California!", you are probably thinking. I believe that this will be mighty fine plan thanks to the capacity of the mighty DVD ROM, we will be able to store literally thousands of songs on one disc and be able to navigate them nicely as well. Steve has managed to acquire a sweet ass cassette mixer to make mix tapes and has successfully turned his computer desk into a full blown recording studio using his computer, the mixer, and a small JVC tv that I left there on boxing day claiming that i would be by the next day to come pick it up...
I hope to use my digital camera to film a short video going over all the behind-the-scenes work that we put into morris and didn't quite make it into the blog. Another thing that will be covered by the video (or series of videos) is the other (mis)adventures that we encountered in Morris, going over all the locations Morris has been and the friends he has made. Also, our passports should arrive next week, and we have to go pick them up in Surrey, I would really like to film our trip down there and start posting videos on YouTube. I know I have mentioned this in the past, and the only reason I haven't started is because try as I might, I just can not find the carger for my little camcorder. For now, I think the digital camera will suffice.
Anyways, I seem to be rambling on like I normally do with a blog post (which is why I ususally try and get Steve to do them). With that being said, I am signing off for now.
-Mitch
Monday, August 3, 2009
I really do exist :O!
So I got some pic's from Mitch somehow. Of me. Holy shit.
Here I am looking very on-guard. Manly!
And here I'm looking at the same thing! Or something different!!
Finally here I am hiding my chin behind my shoulder.
That last one made the car at least 50% quieter. I'm brazing! The new exhaust is held together with the fearsome might of brass! I bought some pipe from Knowles for $20 and actually did I thought a fairly well job repairing the car given the budget, tools and circumstances. Still nowhere near decent though but much better. Might work on it tomorrow a bit.
-steve
Here I am looking very on-guard. Manly!
And here I'm looking at the same thing! Or something different!!
Finally here I am hiding my chin behind my shoulder.That last one made the car at least 50% quieter. I'm brazing! The new exhaust is held together with the fearsome might of brass! I bought some pipe from Knowles for $20 and actually did I thought a fairly well job repairing the car given the budget, tools and circumstances. Still nowhere near decent though but much better. Might work on it tomorrow a bit.
-steve
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Canoeing? It's probably good.
Went up to Paul Lake today for some canoeing. The park was packed to be sure, and the water was a little choppy. For the better part of an hour or two, we were the only ones on the water. I guess everybody else was scared of the wind and overcast, but sure enough it cleared up like we predicted, and it was a mad rush back to shore.
The wind was gusting up pretty strong pushing us back across the lake, away from the launch and Morris. Paddling back was tricky to say the least. It was hard as fuck, but so are we. Numerous people enjoyed the amusing sight of the car, and some little kids were ecstatic at the sight of a race car.
Because of how haphazardly the canoe was affixed to Morris, at various times one of us would not be able to open our door, and had to enter and exit the vehicle like the Duke boys. For some reason the door that couldn't open always seemed to be selected by fate, for whoever would find it the most inconvenient at the time.
Bunch of pics of the adventure in the Book of Morris, of course. But here are some ones I like:
-steve
Monday, July 13, 2009
Minor upgrades
Finally upgraded the front suspension and it's totally night and day. The car can corner and doesn't bottom out when we both sit in it. Rides about 3 inches higher now as well. Had to drive to the pick-a-part in Kelowna and picked up the shocks and springs for $25 each.
Also got some sort of pipe that is meant for the vacuum system, though nobody knows what it does. I think it measures exhaust pressure, and the car seems to run better. Picked up some proper headrests from a scrapyard in Vernon as well, $15 each.
So nice to be able to lean my head back.
Need new rotors to stop the car from shaking. It will cost about $100 though. Still, we will likely do this before we leave anyway.
-steve
Also got some sort of pipe that is meant for the vacuum system, though nobody knows what it does. I think it measures exhaust pressure, and the car seems to run better. Picked up some proper headrests from a scrapyard in Vernon as well, $15 each.
So nice to be able to lean my head back.
Need new rotors to stop the car from shaking. It will cost about $100 though. Still, we will likely do this before we leave anyway.
-steve
Friday, June 26, 2009
Morris, allow me to introduce you to the President of the United States.
Well, today was actually a very eventful day! First things first, Michael Jackson is dead and Farrah Fawcett kicked the bucket... But other than that, Morris almost got a kill on Tranquille when he attacked a man crossing the street, we never even saw him until it was almost too late. After that we went downtown for a while, when we were down there we found a Barak Obama bobble head who now lives on the dash board of our car. After putting the president on the dashboard, we found that the heater now works in the car! This is important because now we can drive Morris in the winter without fear of hypothermia/death. After discussing the whole heater thing, we discovered that it only started working lately, almost is if the president fixed the car! Another epic thing that we managed to pull of was the fact that we drove the car though a break in the curb up in a construction zone in the far end of Westsyde, the curb was less than 2 meters wide, and we managed to move Morris through without an issue at all, we still had lots of room!
On another note, we still have a few things to do to Morris. As we have discussed before, the car is a project thus it is never actually complete, we just improve upon it. We really need to do our rotors because they are what is causing the whole grinding/vibrating problem we are faced with. Also, we have to deal with our ventilation system, we have a giant hornet in it for starters, but, we need to fix the flap behind the dashboard that controls what vents spit out air because they are not working properly. It turns out that the vent at our feet works when we turn on the window defogger, which really doesn't bother me. Also we are going to work on getting the rear wiper working, we have the sprayer working but no wiper, so it is kind of useless. Well, for fear of rambling on, I think it is time to end this post. More pictures will be added to the book of Morris soon (once I find the cord to my iPhone...)
-Mitch
On another note, we still have a few things to do to Morris. As we have discussed before, the car is a project thus it is never actually complete, we just improve upon it. We really need to do our rotors because they are what is causing the whole grinding/vibrating problem we are faced with. Also, we have to deal with our ventilation system, we have a giant hornet in it for starters, but, we need to fix the flap behind the dashboard that controls what vents spit out air because they are not working properly. It turns out that the vent at our feet works when we turn on the window defogger, which really doesn't bother me. Also we are going to work on getting the rear wiper working, we have the sprayer working but no wiper, so it is kind of useless. Well, for fear of rambling on, I think it is time to end this post. More pictures will be added to the book of Morris soon (once I find the cord to my iPhone...)
-Mitch
Monday, June 15, 2009
"Morris? It's Tom. I'm here to help you."
I took some time the other day to try and work out a route on my GPS, a TomTom OneXL. I wasn't going to bring it, but it really saved the day in Vancouver last week and now I don't think I can travel without it. Working out the route was fairly annoying on the device, seeing as how Morris has a lot of special needs. It's not just as easy as saying "Go to Mexico" like it would be in almost any other vehicle.
The trickiest part was San Fransisco. We had to do two things here, cross the Golden Gate bridge, and drive down Lombard Street. There was no real way to tell TomTom that, and then once it was done, TomTom liked to auto route back to the I5 and down to San Diego. We cannot take the I5 through California. We figure it's going to be much to dangerous in a car like Morris.
So I just sort of guessed my way back to what I thought would be a good highway and went from there. TomTom says it is going to take us a solid 36.5 hours of driving. That's no traffic, no stops, just continuous driving of Morris. So it's for sure going to take like 2 days to get there. We figure, I think anyway, that we will just drive until we hit California, and if it's not dark, we keep going until it is.
On the plus side, I know where every 7/11 in the United States is. Plus all the major travel centre's with pay showers, and all the Wal-Mart's where we can sleep for free in the car without being bothered.
I honestly think I'll go back to San Fransisco though, maybe next year. I don't really care if it's touristy. I'd love to do the 49-Mile Scenic Drive. I mean just look at this fucking palace. Plus of course, one of my favourite videogames being Rush 2049, I really want to drive some of the streets that inspired the tracks, and see the locations for myself.
This is going to take a loooooooooong time.
-steve
The trickiest part was San Fransisco. We had to do two things here, cross the Golden Gate bridge, and drive down Lombard Street. There was no real way to tell TomTom that, and then once it was done, TomTom liked to auto route back to the I5 and down to San Diego. We cannot take the I5 through California. We figure it's going to be much to dangerous in a car like Morris.So I just sort of guessed my way back to what I thought would be a good highway and went from there. TomTom says it is going to take us a solid 36.5 hours of driving. That's no traffic, no stops, just continuous driving of Morris. So it's for sure going to take like 2 days to get there. We figure, I think anyway, that we will just drive until we hit California, and if it's not dark, we keep going until it is.
On the plus side, I know where every 7/11 in the United States is. Plus all the major travel centre's with pay showers, and all the Wal-Mart's where we can sleep for free in the car without being bothered.I honestly think I'll go back to San Fransisco though, maybe next year. I don't really care if it's touristy. I'd love to do the 49-Mile Scenic Drive. I mean just look at this fucking palace. Plus of course, one of my favourite videogames being Rush 2049, I really want to drive some of the streets that inspired the tracks, and see the locations for myself.
This is going to take a loooooooooong time.-steve
Thursday, June 11, 2009
"I think we should drive Morris." (Part II)
On Sunday we took Morris back up to the mountaintop we were at the night previous. I thought it was really amusing to see a little tiny car driving up the side of the hills, on 4x4 roads, right to the top.
There are a lot more pictures of this little excursion in the Book of Morris. Must work on getting myself and Mitch in photos and getting in-progress shots, though. Maybe we need a third person. But I guess we never know when stuff like this happens. On that note, on the way down we decided to drive to Logan Lake and park next to the giant dump truck.
The big earth moving bucket thing next to it was actually the visitor centre. There was a girl inside. Also there was a small water cooler. So we started driving back via Merritt, and took the old highway back into town since Morris does not care for hills. A loud clunk and swerve later the muffler was off again, causing havoc on the highway. Mitch went to get it, but it was too hot to touch. He found a Burger King cup on a side post, which was perfect for grabbing it and taking it back to the car.
I think it looks like a really poor version of the Olympics.
-steve
There are a lot more pictures of this little excursion in the Book of Morris. Must work on getting myself and Mitch in photos and getting in-progress shots, though. Maybe we need a third person. But I guess we never know when stuff like this happens. On that note, on the way down we decided to drive to Logan Lake and park next to the giant dump truck.
The big earth moving bucket thing next to it was actually the visitor centre. There was a girl inside. Also there was a small water cooler. So we started driving back via Merritt, and took the old highway back into town since Morris does not care for hills. A loud clunk and swerve later the muffler was off again, causing havoc on the highway. Mitch went to get it, but it was too hot to touch. He found a Burger King cup on a side post, which was perfect for grabbing it and taking it back to the car.
I think it looks like a really poor version of the Olympics.
-steve
Monday, June 8, 2009
"I think we should drive Morris." (Part I)
This weekend was full of Morris-driving, and we made sure to take lots of pictures! It was far too long since are last misadventures and hopefully we made up for it this weekend.On Saturday we hit the road north to Barriere. We chose the destination because of how close it was and how flat the highway was, wanting to see what our fuel economy was now like. On our way we learned that Morris isn't too fond of speeds over 80km/h, and often times only a brisk seventy is what he has to offer. It will certainly take longer than expected to reach Mexico, but when driving Morris it becomes very clear- all that matters is we reach the destination. Morris is old, he's got arthritis. If we push him hard he will never make it, we need to just sit back and be happy to let him reach the end on his own terms.
Arriving in Barriere, we promptly left. However, we found we accomplished a respectable 46mpg! I'd like to see us reach 50, keeping in mind our theoretical best is 62mpg. If you were wondering, that 46mpg puts our current fuel bill for Mexico at about $350 for getting there and back. After leaving, Mitch decided it would be much nicer to drive in the shade on the other side of the river, but how would we get there? Lucky for us there was a ferry, and we caught the final sailing! The operators loved the car.
Returning on Westsyde Rd had other advantages as well, like visiting the Whispering Pines raceway!We stopped in at Whispering Pines briefly, but it looked like they were finishing up for the day when we arrived. Doubly-unfortunate for us, while leaving a large hornet decided to make a home in our air vents, and now we are petrified at the thought of a nest of bee's inside the car. We have the controls set to inside air, hopefully preventing the bugger from entering the car, but are constantly worried if we turn on the fan it will shoot bee's at us. We returned home, and Saturday ended off climbing mountains in the dark, swearing and telling each other we'd return with a good camera the next day.
Morris silently watches over North Kamloops under cover of nightfall.-steve
Friday, May 29, 2009
udpated pictures
added 8 new pics to book of morris. this time they actually show the whole car :O
-steve
-steve
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
What doesn't hurt it...
Kind of a whacky post today. Yesterday, Steve and I had to drive out to Chase and pick up his Focus. The night before that Steve had to work a graveyard, and with no Focus, it seems like Morris would have to suffice. The next morning at 6:30 AM Steve shows up at my place, where I jump in my Echo and back out of the driveway... And right into Morris! Seems to me that hitting cars with cars is actually a lot of fun! So anyways, I am definately going to get a shit car so Morris has a playmate. Like I said, it is kind of a whacky post and a bit silly but oh well!
-Mitch
-Mitch
Saturday, May 23, 2009
fuel light bingo!
well it'd help a lot if we had one, a fuel light. we don't. remember before i said we were running rich? well we thought we fixed it. the car went 150km and the needle went from nearly full to nearly empty, then after some tinkering we went another 200km until it ran out of gas.
so we had to push it out of the a/w parking lot to the safeway gas bar and hilariously realised neither of us were in the car to apply the brakes.
put in another $15 and it should have given us nearly half a tank, but the needle didn't move. so keeping track of km we set out driving thinking we should get at least 300km. well i was going up columbia today with mitch off to his house and after 150km morris started sputtering to a hault. some fancy driving we made it to mitch's house thinking it was something much worse than running out of gas.
car ran completely out of fuel right outside his door, and we ended up coasting down the parking lot and down summit to springhill, hit a red and mitch pushed it the next 2 blocks to the supersave gas station.
put in another $15 and the needle didn't move. also nearly impossible to start the car running. the attendants were looking at us like the car was totally broke, and after about 15 minutes of trying to start the thing, about the same time i think they were getting fed up, mitch roared it to life and we spun out of there.
it was pretty awesome seeing what we thought was a compeltely dead morris triumphantly rocket back to life in front of a small crowd of gas station workers that gathered to see what was up.
-steve
so we had to push it out of the a/w parking lot to the safeway gas bar and hilariously realised neither of us were in the car to apply the brakes.
put in another $15 and it should have given us nearly half a tank, but the needle didn't move. so keeping track of km we set out driving thinking we should get at least 300km. well i was going up columbia today with mitch off to his house and after 150km morris started sputtering to a hault. some fancy driving we made it to mitch's house thinking it was something much worse than running out of gas.
car ran completely out of fuel right outside his door, and we ended up coasting down the parking lot and down summit to springhill, hit a red and mitch pushed it the next 2 blocks to the supersave gas station.
put in another $15 and the needle didn't move. also nearly impossible to start the car running. the attendants were looking at us like the car was totally broke, and after about 15 minutes of trying to start the thing, about the same time i think they were getting fed up, mitch roared it to life and we spun out of there.
it was pretty awesome seeing what we thought was a compeltely dead morris triumphantly rocket back to life in front of a small crowd of gas station workers that gathered to see what was up.
-steve
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
My Bright Idea...
Well... It seems that I have come up with a new hair-brained idea. In my line of work (delivering pizzas), I seem to burn a decent share of fuel trying to speed through traffic. So here is my idea, I'll keep this post short because it is only slightly relevant, but why not fill up my car at the Canadian Mafuka? If I were to fill up my Echo there, Steve were to fill up his Focus there, and we were to put gas in Morris there, the Canadian Mafucka "Money" would add up quickly, leading to better stuff for Morris! Like I said, just a hair-brained idea, but it may be useful!
-Mitch
-Mitch
Saturday, May 16, 2009
cost analysis
below is a chart that shows my best estimate as to the costs for the car so far. our initial expected cost was $500 for a vehicle, so buying morris at 200 gave us roughly 300 for repairs. i included the cost of paint in this even though technically it wasnt needed to get the car in a reliable driving state but its on the chart because everyone agrees racing paint makes the car faster.
as you can see we have currently used roughly $545 dollars to date to get the car in the position it's in. subtracting the paint we are at $505, very close to our budgeted amount. further breaking this down we get to roughly $465 by subtracting the cost of oil, and subtracting $40 for the cost of some tools, putty, cleaners and bits of pipe gives us $425- the cost at which the car was perfectly drivable.
how do our costs so far compare to our self-set challenge of simply flying south? let's take a look:
rundown of costs from air canada. click for big.
as you can see we have currently used roughly $545 dollars to date to get the car in the position it's in. subtracting the paint we are at $505, very close to our budgeted amount. further breaking this down we get to roughly $465 by subtracting the cost of oil, and subtracting $40 for the cost of some tools, putty, cleaners and bits of pipe gives us $425- the cost at which the car was perfectly drivable.how do our costs so far compare to our self-set challenge of simply flying south? let's take a look:
rundown of costs from air canada. click for big.we can see a return trip for 2 adults lands us at $1,546 simply for air fare! so then, we are now left approximately $1,000 to drive us to mexico and back before it is more economical to fly. this money will have to be used to gas, food and shelter along the road. it may also be used for more repairs, it's really up to us. what i wont include in the final tally is the extra days it takes to drive that need to be taken off work, because i think that is just getting too silly. after all, i think myself and mitch both consider the time on the road to be part of the vacation as well. so sure by flying you get more prime time in mexico, but if you enjoy it just as much travelling there by car then that shouldn't be considered an addition expense in the form of time taken.
and yes i'm aware there are the usual travel packages people can buy, say about $799 for a week at an all inclusive mexican resort somewhere. i think i could argue this fairly strongly into my favour but would you believe with the outbreak of swine flu i can't find a single resource around town that is stocking a mexican travel package?
but regardless, considering the journey part of the adventure is what swings things to heavily in our favour in my opinion. added benefit of the ability to sell the car upon return further reduces total cost.
mind you it might not make it....
-steve
and yes i'm aware there are the usual travel packages people can buy, say about $799 for a week at an all inclusive mexican resort somewhere. i think i could argue this fairly strongly into my favour but would you believe with the outbreak of swine flu i can't find a single resource around town that is stocking a mexican travel package?
but regardless, considering the journey part of the adventure is what swings things to heavily in our favour in my opinion. added benefit of the ability to sell the car upon return further reduces total cost.
mind you it might not make it....
-steve
Quick Update
Not a tonne to post about lately mainly cause the car is getting better and there is just less work to do. Well its got a really rough idle now, when it does idle, and for awhile we were running really rich so we need to play around with some bits under the hood to try and get things right, but it will take a lot of trial and error.
Setting the idle there are some hoses under the hood that have to be disconnected and capped off and turns out the perfect tool for the job is the cap from a Dr. Pepper!
Also found out we are running very much the wrong oil so will be changing that today and we put in a new thermostat last night about 1030 and got the car running just in time to go to the bar. Awesome!
-steve
Setting the idle there are some hoses under the hood that have to be disconnected and capped off and turns out the perfect tool for the job is the cap from a Dr. Pepper!
Also found out we are running very much the wrong oil so will be changing that today and we put in a new thermostat last night about 1030 and got the car running just in time to go to the bar. Awesome!
-steve
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Pulled over... Again...
Well, Steve and I were concerned about the condition of our carburetor because whenever we put the clutch in, it would stall out at red lights, so we decided to put some fuel additives in the fuel tank. With the fuel additive in, we needed to run the car to let the additive clean out our carb. A few minutes later, we hopped in the car and went for a burn around the city. Heading downtown, we attracted a little bit of unexpected attention. Driving down Seymour St. there was a red and blue flash followed by a chirp of a siren. "COCK!" I exclaimed, thinking I had done something wrong... Long story short, the officer thought it a little suspicious to have my window rolled down. It has now been determined, police keep stopping us because they just want to see Morris, and the awesomeness that the car projects onto its surroundings...
-Mitch
-Mitch
Monday, May 11, 2009
Timing should be good
rolled out of bed today and under the car. rented a light from walmart to do the timing with and im pretty sure i got it right. car pulls a lot better, starts on the first try and i can ride 2nd gear over 5000rpm which is about 80kph.
when we first got the car 2nd topped out at about 40kph around 3500rpm. but now with timing and valve issues fixed we've got a lot of power back. just need to fix the idle now since it was adjusted when there was bad timing by the old owner and now it runs perfect when the engine is cold but once it heats up the idle drops to about 500 which is about 250 too low and the engine almost stalls.
i ghetto fixed this just recently by turning on the rear defroster which jumps the idle back up to 1000rpm lol. that worked for about 25 min though and its still rough but not as bad. there is an idle screw, i just dont know where it is : (
also had to add a new alternator belt to the list of things to pick up.
-steve
when we first got the car 2nd topped out at about 40kph around 3500rpm. but now with timing and valve issues fixed we've got a lot of power back. just need to fix the idle now since it was adjusted when there was bad timing by the old owner and now it runs perfect when the engine is cold but once it heats up the idle drops to about 500 which is about 250 too low and the engine almost stalls.
i ghetto fixed this just recently by turning on the rear defroster which jumps the idle back up to 1000rpm lol. that worked for about 25 min though and its still rough but not as bad. there is an idle screw, i just dont know where it is : (
also had to add a new alternator belt to the list of things to pick up.
-steve
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Valve Clearance & Timing Issues
Since we bought the car we knew we had to reduce the valve clearance since everything about the car sucked and the lifters were very loud. In fact I didn't notice how loud they were until we fixed them and the car is a lot quieter now. Cool. I knew we'd need a feeler gauge so I picked one up for about 7 bucks at Canadian mafacka, of course.
After taking off the intake and valve cover Mitch asked me if I've ever done this before. Never in fact have I ever done something like this but it ended up being really easy once we discovered some things. We took out the spark plugs which we will likely replace in the future but with the plugs out and battery disconnected we were pretty safe I assume to turn the engine by hand from the crank shaft pulley. Interesting to note it appeared as if our 4th spark plug wire wasn't connected properly, and possibly the car was only firing on 3 cylinders. Mitch jacked up the car and took off the front passenger wheel to access the crank shaft pulley. Some cars use special tools to turn it but we just grabbed a 3/4" socket and a little bit of man power.
Since we don't have a timing light we sort of guessed where top dead center was on our numbers 1 and 4 pistons for adjusting the valve clearances. We carefully just placed a long screwdriver where the spark plug was, turned the engine by hand and watched it go up and down. When it was all the way up and both the valves were closed we knew we had the TDC of the compression stroke. (I think, if you know this is wrong drop me a line).
Lucky for us we only had 8 valves to do since our engine is so small and old. We almost very easily could have had a car with 24. We also had 2 replacement valve cover gaskets that came with the car, so we made sure to throw another one on when we sealed it up, greasing it in oil first. Closed everything up, reinstalled the intake and we also changed out the fuel filter. Our fav. Lordco was surprised to find they had one in stock, and it was only $5 or so.
As you can see from Mitch cutting open the old fuel filter, it was very much clogged up.First starting up the car we found we had no need to prime it anymore and the engine was of course much quieter. Our idle was still very poor however and so was our fuel economy and performance, so we decided to start messing carefully with our timing. Again since we don't have a timing light we were just guessing by rotating the distributer. We started getting close to what we want, but I think we will need to go get ourselves a light and do things properly.
Lots of updates to the Book of Morris!
-steve
well I'm blind and mitch is glued to the car
Sort of. I'm not really blind but I did have to go to the ER for 2 hours 'cause I got paint thinner in my eye when I was cleaning up the paint on the ceiling of the car. We tried to spray paint it white but it didn't look that great and the paint never dried since I guess it wont stick to vinyl. So it was easy to clean but yea, I had to go to the hospital and a doctor put strange things into my face. Found out I lost or got 5 vision points or whatever and now I'm rocking some 20/25 not bad though considering the intense burning of my eyeball at the time.
Got some tea + a newspaper when I was waiting so that was pretty good. Got out and fixed the neons with some krazy-glue I found at a truckstop and Mitch constantly warning me I'd go back to the hospital with my face glued to the steering wheel ended up with his finger glued to the dashboard.
Also, not wanting to fuck around with our fuel gauge anymore since no matter what we put in, it never went past 1/4 tank, we topped it right up and found out it works very poorly and we're only getting like 32mpg which is garbage so we need to try and fix that otherwise are gas bill to Mexico just doubled.
-steve
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Too Legit
Officer: Can you step out of the car please? May I search your vehicle?
Steve: Uh yea, sure- nothin' to hide.
Officer: You guys goin' for the Herby look eh?
Steve: Actually it's painted like a '66 GT40.
Officer: Can you open the trunk please?
Mitch: Yea here ya go.
Officer: And the glove box?
Mitch: Okay, yes. BUT for the love of GOD just don't laugh at our MC Hammer tapes.
Officer (shines light): Hmm... that's okay, I can't touch this.
Suspects in a drive-by!
-steve
Steve: Uh yea, sure- nothin' to hide.
Officer: You guys goin' for the Herby look eh?
Steve: Actually it's painted like a '66 GT40.
Officer: Can you open the trunk please?
Mitch: Yea here ya go.
Officer: And the glove box?
Mitch: Okay, yes. BUT for the love of GOD just don't laugh at our MC Hammer tapes.
Officer (shines light): Hmm... that's okay, I can't touch this.
Suspects in a drive-by!
-steve
More painting...
I figured, since we have painted the dash white, why stop there? The idea was I would paint the cargo cover for the hatch, and the other little bits that go with it white as well. After a quick stop at the Dollar Store, I had some men's razors, then off to the Canadian Mafucka for some white enamel paint. This is where it goes wrong... I bought the rust paint and went over to Steve's, to get started.
After removing the cargo cover from the boot, and the other remaining bits that go with it, I went to the laundry room in Steve's basement. The cargo cover, after having most of the fluffy stuff shaved off with the razors was ready to paint. After the first coat of paint it was more of a light grey than white, but no big deal right? I started on the other bits and once I was done the first piece, I had a slight problem.
As I walked out of the laundry room in a haze, due to the lack of proper ventilation I was getting a little silly. After the ordeal, Steve decided to take a whack at it, realizing the paint he used on the dash in the laundry room was enamel, which was much faster drying and had WAAAAY less fumes. And after a slight buzz the final bits were finally coated and we were able to get out of the basement and sit outside for a while. We really needed the fresh air.
I realize this was kind of a whacky post, but I figured since we could have died, it was worth putting up. I also have more pictures to add, and I am thinking about starting up a YouTube channel to further catalouge our follies and other whacky adventures. But for now, everyone will just have to imagine us all whacked out on paint fumes.
-Mitch
After removing the cargo cover from the boot, and the other remaining bits that go with it, I went to the laundry room in Steve's basement. The cargo cover, after having most of the fluffy stuff shaved off with the razors was ready to paint. After the first coat of paint it was more of a light grey than white, but no big deal right? I started on the other bits and once I was done the first piece, I had a slight problem.
As I walked out of the laundry room in a haze, due to the lack of proper ventilation I was getting a little silly. After the ordeal, Steve decided to take a whack at it, realizing the paint he used on the dash in the laundry room was enamel, which was much faster drying and had WAAAAY less fumes. And after a slight buzz the final bits were finally coated and we were able to get out of the basement and sit outside for a while. We really needed the fresh air.
I realize this was kind of a whacky post, but I figured since we could have died, it was worth putting up. I also have more pictures to add, and I am thinking about starting up a YouTube channel to further catalouge our follies and other whacky adventures. But for now, everyone will just have to imagine us all whacked out on paint fumes.
-Mitch
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Great new dash and awesome old tapes
Today we replaced a few bulbs and tore out the dashboard and painted it white. Used a can of Armor Coat enamel that was $3.99 at Canadian mafacka's and it took Mitch about 15 minutes to paint all the parts really well and another 5 to dry. The result is simply stunning the picture simply cannot do it any justice. I also reran the oil pressure gauge and Mitch made some holes and I wired it up to power so it lights up when we turn on the neon's with a toggle by the steering wheel.What sucks though is that we screwed up the vents and our vent-selector is caught somewhere so I plan on ripping it all out tomorrow and fixing that, and since a lot of this grease and dirt from off our hands is hard to wash off I'm thinking another coat of white paint which will look great. Also planning to tidy up all the wiring because it's a total wirey reach-around at the moment...
We also shampooed a bunch of carpet with some Head and Shoulders and it looks FANTASTIC that was the best idea ever. Looks brand new in spots and smells great without any dandruff. What is also fantastic is my dads old tape collection which super awesome cause we got a tape deck in the glove box. Seriously look at this list:
- CCR's greatest hits
- Dire Straits greatest hits
- The Doors
- Rolling Stones
- Nirvana
- Gun's 'n Roses
- NWA - Strait Outta Compton (HAHAHAHAHA)
- Pantera
- The Beatles
- Deep Purple
- etc....
Mitch actually lost the dashboard today.
ps- more pic's of dash deconstruction added in Book of Morris
-steve
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Our True Colours...
FINALLY!!!!!! Painting is done!!! Steve put the finishing touches on the paint today (Wipers, 2nd coat on bumper etc.). Before that, we took the exhaust to my step-dad and he brazed the pipe for us, brazing is a lot easier than welding it seems. Well, the car seems to be nearing completion, we hit up the junkyard and picked up a set of headrests for $5 (because a broken neck is a sad neck). Later on, disaster almost struck, Steve found a transmission leak but fixed it immediately, so no harm done. There will be more pics up SOON! Stay tuned...
-Mitch
-Mitch
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Painting is Almost Over...
Well... we were going to get some of them ghetto fabulous hubcaps from the Canadian Mafucka... Esthetically, it is a good idea, financially, not such a hot plan, at $80 for some chrome hubcaps (13" ones apparently only come in single units). So... PAINT THE STEELIES ORANGE! Long story short, we hit the Canadian Mafucka and grabbed some orange spray paint and spray bombed them wheels! Other than that, we added a blue neon light in the interior, which is apparently so awesome that it made some girl lift up her skirt and show us her ass... Awesome, just awesome... Hopefully on the weekend we can find some busted up Civic and snag some more neon lights out of it.
-Mitch
-Mitch
Car fell apart again : (
Yup the exhaust again. Our ghetto fab lasted just over 100km. I rigged it up again in about 25min, this time no cement, bigger bolts, this time more than just finger tightened, and an extra metal clamp ring around the brackets that were once cemented to the pipe.
It looks less sturdy but I'm convinced it's going to be stronger since before we were relying on the cement which apparently is pretty weak, and this time we're relying more on bolts.
Mitch also flushed the rad and replaced the coolant to try and get our running temp down but the car still reports to be running hot. We're starting to think it's just a bad thermostat. Also discovered the problem with our door chime never turning off is because the modern keys we got cut aren't quite right and we just need to jiggle them a bit in the ignition and it will stop the chime! :D The keys were like 3 bucks each and look just like modern car keys which is awesome since our ride clearly is not.
Mitch took the car to Wise Guy's and washed it down and sprayed wax for a solid 4 minutes. Car is looking great in a shit box sort of way. Might try and touch up the paint later, I dunno.
One of my fav shots ----^
-steve
It looks less sturdy but I'm convinced it's going to be stronger since before we were relying on the cement which apparently is pretty weak, and this time we're relying more on bolts.
Mitch also flushed the rad and replaced the coolant to try and get our running temp down but the car still reports to be running hot. We're starting to think it's just a bad thermostat. Also discovered the problem with our door chime never turning off is because the modern keys we got cut aren't quite right and we just need to jiggle them a bit in the ignition and it will stop the chime! :D The keys were like 3 bucks each and look just like modern car keys which is awesome since our ride clearly is not.
Mitch took the car to Wise Guy's and washed it down and sprayed wax for a solid 4 minutes. Car is looking great in a shit box sort of way. Might try and touch up the paint later, I dunno.
One of my fav shots ----^
-steve
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Car fell apart today
But in a very specific location. We patched a hole in the exhaust with some muffler cement and a Pilsner can but it didn't take, and literally our entire exhaust up to the cat dropped out of the car when I drove over a speed bump.
Well I ripped out our cat and sold it to the yard for 25 bones which was cool, but what about our exhaust? Morris sounds like a chopper and vents into the cabin! Crap. Well I bolted up the muffler in the center of the car to the only mount we have and ran about 18 inches of pipe between it and what was left of the exhaust that fed into where the cat was.
With our "don't give a fuck" mantra and a budget spent entirely on fixing the wheel bearing this would have to do. The two of us cemented it in place and cement some brackets to the pipe and bolted that to the point where the cat bolted on. Sounds just like it did when we bought it, and to take care of the exhaust fumes in the cabin we plan on just grabbing a $5 pre-heater hose for a carb from Canadian mafacka's and clamping it on the end of the muffler and venting it out the side by the rear wheel.
Oh yea, we also already had to replace the pre-heater hose on the carb but that was just a few bucks and dead simple.
-steve
Well I ripped out our cat and sold it to the yard for 25 bones which was cool, but what about our exhaust? Morris sounds like a chopper and vents into the cabin! Crap. Well I bolted up the muffler in the center of the car to the only mount we have and ran about 18 inches of pipe between it and what was left of the exhaust that fed into where the cat was.
With our "don't give a fuck" mantra and a budget spent entirely on fixing the wheel bearing this would have to do. The two of us cemented it in place and cement some brackets to the pipe and bolted that to the point where the cat bolted on. Sounds just like it did when we bought it, and to take care of the exhaust fumes in the cabin we plan on just grabbing a $5 pre-heater hose for a carb from Canadian mafacka's and clamping it on the end of the muffler and venting it out the side by the rear wheel.
Oh yea, we also already had to replace the pre-heater hose on the carb but that was just a few bucks and dead simple.
-steve
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Success!!
Finally fixed our electrical problems from earlier. Three fuses got fucking incinerated, removed a strange device from behind the speedo that kept catching on fire and rewired the tach. Learned that in cars without an ECU the tach goes to the neg terminal of the ignition coil! :O
Took me all fuckin' night though and still need to replace 2 bulbs in the dash so we can see the gauges better at night. And our oil pressure wont light up which is an issue since we really need to watch it in this car.
-steve
Took me all fuckin' night though and still need to replace 2 bulbs in the dash so we can see the gauges better at night. And our oil pressure wont light up which is an issue since we really need to watch it in this car.
-steve
All Good Things...
Some pretty lame shit happened today. First off Mitch went to wire in his CD/MP3 player and wicked speakers from his old Colt. Trouble is the wiring in the car hasn't survived kindly or intact these past 20 or so years and we had a fire. Smoke went everywhere and he lost his stereo.
But then I tracked down and re-ran the burnt wire and Mitch wired a tape deck into the glove box! 180 watts for $15 is a steal imo. We just threw a cassette adapter in there so we can use our phones/mp3 players for sound. Awesomesauce. We also decided to clean out the engine bay with engine cleaner, but even though we covered the important bits I fucked it up somehow and after trying to start it discovered we lost our gauges, horn, half our turn signals and our hazard lights. And now our door chime wont turn off. Shit.
-steve
But then I tracked down and re-ran the burnt wire and Mitch wired a tape deck into the glove box! 180 watts for $15 is a steal imo. We just threw a cassette adapter in there so we can use our phones/mp3 players for sound. Awesomesauce. We also decided to clean out the engine bay with engine cleaner, but even though we covered the important bits I fucked it up somehow and after trying to start it discovered we lost our gauges, horn, half our turn signals and our hazard lights. And now our door chime wont turn off. Shit.-steve
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Makeover Makeover! (cont.)
New paint was the second part of the makeover! Just grabbed some rollers and foam brushes and the cheapest paint we could find which happened to be rust paint so that worked out well. Painted to resemble the best car in the history of everything, the Ford GT40. It's inspiration won Le Mans four times in a row from '66 to '69, and our Morris has already won the hearts of literally dozens!
-steve
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Makeover Makeover!
When we bought the car it was full of garbage. The hood didn't match the body. The paint was all wrong. Mitch set to work cleaning the fuck out of the car. Here is what it looked like shortly after we bought it:
Seats are still kind of gross. Still kind of smelly. While Mitch was cleaning I fixed an oil leak. It was pretty easy, the line leading to our pressure gauge in the cabin had come barely loose and I just had to tighten it. Also did an oil change and filled it with some No Smoke + Stop Leak. Engine runs kind of hot and kind of loud but hopefully it works out.
-steve
Seats are still kind of gross. Still kind of smelly. While Mitch was cleaning I fixed an oil leak. It was pretty easy, the line leading to our pressure gauge in the cabin had come barely loose and I just had to tighten it. Also did an oil change and filled it with some No Smoke + Stop Leak. Engine runs kind of hot and kind of loud but hopefully it works out.
-steve
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Backyard Mechanic's
Morris is staying at my place, which is sweet. Mitch works just across the street, and there's a Canadian mafacka's just a couple blocks away so we're set for repairs. Plus there's lots of mechanic's around. All costs with the car we're splitting in half, and we're both on the title and insurance.
We lost a wheel bearing on the highway so we hit up the Lordco at Northill's for some new ones and started ripping the wheel hub apart. We got pretty far into it but ended up needing some custom tools and an oxy torch to finish, so it was wiser to take the car across to a garage to get it finished. All told it was a $200 job to fix the wheel. Our car that was once worth 40 hot-dog's is now worth 80 hot-dogs!
We also replaced the front shocks/strut assembly with ones pulled from a scrapyard that we found in the car when we bought it. They aren't much better but the body roll went from ludicrous down to simply atrocious. Don't have to break for the corners on Fortune anymore! :D
-steve
We lost a wheel bearing on the highway so we hit up the Lordco at Northill's for some new ones and started ripping the wheel hub apart. We got pretty far into it but ended up needing some custom tools and an oxy torch to finish, so it was wiser to take the car across to a garage to get it finished. All told it was a $200 job to fix the wheel. Our car that was once worth 40 hot-dog's is now worth 80 hot-dogs!
We also replaced the front shocks/strut assembly with ones pulled from a scrapyard that we found in the car when we bought it. They aren't much better but the body roll went from ludicrous down to simply atrocious. Don't have to break for the corners on Fortune anymore! :D-steve
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Our Story Begins....
It's Saturday.
Me and Mitch took the Focus out to Salmon Arm to see a man about a car. We didn't get any pic's at the time, but turns out the car sat for at least 2 years before we came to look at it. And the engine sat for even longer since it was just pulled from a scrapyard. The man said 3 and we said 2, and later that day we were on the highway, me in my car and Mitch driving our $200 dollar bastion of glory the 130km or so back home.
About 50km out of town a bearing exploded in the front right wheel, smoke went everywhere. The grease cap shot like a cannon ball across the Trans Canada. Mitch swerved. I died laughing. Pulled over, cleared the smoke, realised the problem and drove it home, grinding away doing 45kph down the highway.
Insurance was $80.
-steve
Me and Mitch took the Focus out to Salmon Arm to see a man about a car. We didn't get any pic's at the time, but turns out the car sat for at least 2 years before we came to look at it. And the engine sat for even longer since it was just pulled from a scrapyard. The man said 3 and we said 2, and later that day we were on the highway, me in my car and Mitch driving our $200 dollar bastion of glory the 130km or so back home.
About 50km out of town a bearing exploded in the front right wheel, smoke went everywhere. The grease cap shot like a cannon ball across the Trans Canada. Mitch swerved. I died laughing. Pulled over, cleared the smoke, realised the problem and drove it home, grinding away doing 45kph down the highway.
Insurance was $80.
-steve
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