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March 18, 2008
Mean Green Machine
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| Image: A technique that hasn't been tried to get
people to live more "green". I'm going seriously green this week. While all of you capitalist pigs are fuming up our blue skies I'll be kickin' it sustainable style. Call me Chico Velon from now on. This massive lifestyle change isn't based on a new moral compass. No, this is a much more powerful mechanism for social change. I broke my car. Now might be a great time to head down and buy a Prius. Or I could order one of those funny road-worthy golf carts. I think they are probably unsafe for my kids. On the other hand, if my entire family can achieve a moral superiority over the rest of you, the risk is worth it. However, since I'm old school green these new fangled technologies don't cut it for me. I'm all about the recycling. And that's why my 44 year old car needs to get back on the road. Oddly enough it was being green that knocked it off the road. You see, one fine day I was driving around town, using all 390 cubic inches of FoMoCo power to get somewhere important people like me have to get. The 44 years of accumulated 8 cylinder vibration finally took its toll on the '64 Galaxie. The right turn signal, which had always been a pleasing and morally correct green, had a sliver of white showing at its top. As I drove over the next few days the white sliver grew until all green was missing from my life. Every right hand turn was accompanied by a blinding, flashing, white light. It was like the ozone layer in my dashboard had disappeared. The immense carbon footprint emminating from the drivers seat had finally reached a tipping point. It was probably pushed there by massive methane releases that occurred last Monday. I knew I had to act locally but think globally, and emote universally. I had to get green back in my life. So I began to disassemble my instrument cluster to find the little piece of green cellophane that slipped from in front of my right turn signal's bulb. While I was at it I figured I'd take a look at the turn signal cam switch that would sometimes turn on my left hand signal when I hit a bump. Also, my gear selection lever had too much play in it. Driving out the roll pin and checking out the spring might be worthwhile. And I couldn't forget that my driver's side upper control arm should be replaced since I replaced the right hand one last summer. Should I try to find a new torsion bar for the trunk? I'm kind of tired of propping it up with a kite holder my kid got for his birthday. The list does seem to get bigger the more I think about it. Unfortunately, some of the parts I need are not easily found. My car is in pieces. So for the next week or so all of you Subaru driving enviro-snobs can kiss my hairless hiney, because I've gone green. And if any of you high-brow policy makers want to pass a law to make people use alternative transportation I've got an idea for you... ban professional mechanics. |
| Spotlight: Jolly Green Giant: Round table discussion on how the military can make the Iraq war more green. Very interesting. Sarah Smile: E-R starving student Sarah Kingsbury makes some interesting observations of taco truck patrons. She also expresses annoyance with enviro-snobs, at least that how I read it. There is at least one clarification the story needs... "roach coach" is not a term specific to taco trucks, but is applied to all mobile food vendors. In the mid-west and east taco trucks don't exist yet, but roach coaches do. For full disclosure the taco truck she reviews catered our company Christmas party in '06. |
 CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Nobody, see comments below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at March 18, 2008 07:14 AM
Comments
Posted by: Gregg Payne at March 18, 2008 08:48 AM
Gregg,
You are a champion. I don't need the instrument panel since I can buy replacement lenses from autokrafters.
I may buy the steering column.
What I really need is this part, but for a 1964 Galaxie...
And a torsion bar for my trunk which probably has to come from a junk yard.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 18, 2008 09:06 AM
Lon,
I just read that starving student piece yesterday and I found Ms. Kingsbury's ignorance quite offensive. As far as I'm concerned, she can her little racist attitudes right back to Tennessee where they belong. The only problem I have with roach coaches, as far as I know, is that they don't contribute to city revenue .
Posted by: Sean at March 18, 2008 10:14 AM
That was great.
Posted by: Jim - Just a Guy at March 18, 2008 12:38 PM
Sean,
I didn't have a very strong reaction to the taco truck review. Except to note that it wasn't your usual food review. She also picked the best taco truck in town that I'm aware of.
The whole "annoyingly white" thing made me laugh. Most of my friends are white (as are most Chicoans), and most of them enjoy the taco trucks often enough to know where the good ones are.
I thought it was interesting to hear our petulant college youth railing against "the man". And in this case "the man" was all those flourescent bulb buying, Wal-Mart hating, Al Gore quoting people that seem to have all of the answers, not to mention a lot of the money.
I'm not sure if she was trying to make that point and got lost in the race thingy by accident. Or maybe she meant whitey should eat more tacos. If that's the case I'm part of the solution and not the problem.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 18, 2008 01:22 PM
Gregg,
You can stop googling for part number C3AZ-13341-D. It is obsolete and no longer manufactured. However after putting my internet sluething skills to the test I found spoke to a person with a solution and a part.
The owner told me that Ford used the same part in a van up until the 1980's.
I have a line on the the torsion bars, but not a price yet. The indicator lenses should be on order this afternoon as well as my upper control arm shaft. Sometime after Easter I'll be mobile again.
Until then I'm all about the B-Line and the bike ride.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 18, 2008 01:28 PM
Jim,
What was great? I'll just have to assume it all was. Thanks.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 18, 2008 01:29 PM
there's most likely one in that steering column
Posted by: Gregg at March 18, 2008 03:39 PM
I loved the whole post.
"You see, one fine day I was driving around town, using all 390 cubic inches of FoMoCo power to get somewhere important people like me have to get."
Just set the tone for what was en enjoyable article.
"So for the next week or so all of you Subaru driving enviro-snobs can kiss my hairless hiney, because I've gone green. And if any of you high-brow policy makers want to pass a law to make people use alternative transportation I've got an idea for you... ban professional mechanics."
This was a brilliant way to close the piece. because it is often these types of people that own SUV's or luxury cars that are not exactly built for fuel efficiency.
I could on with a point by point break down however in all the whole thing was great.
Posted by: Jim - Just a Guy at March 18, 2008 03:51 PM
Lon perhaps you should try this:
http://www.mailordercycles.co.uk/smsimg/20/1900-2817-main-465-20.jpg
Posted by: Anthony at March 18, 2008 04:19 PM
Lon,
have you checked for any parts on ebay that may come from left overs from the comedy classic SHORT CIRCUIT, from the mid 80's
http://www.jeffbots.com/shortcircuit6.jpg
Your dash seems to have the same similarties that "Johnny 5" had for a head.
Note: He ran on some sort of self renuing energy.
Posted by: Jason Bougie at March 18, 2008 05:35 PM
Anthony,
I might give that a go. In fact I think all CI readers should purchase one of those, and will have a parade through the downtown fountain.
Or we could make it some kind of protest, that seems to suit Chicoans better than parades.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 19, 2008 07:02 AM
Jason,
Here's a YouTube tribute to the Short Circuit robot featuring Bonnie Tyler's "I need a hero". It made me cry, but didn't really help me find car parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kiq_-MUTOE&feature=related
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 19, 2008 07:11 AM
Gregg,
That steering column does seem to have the turn switch in it. I can see the wiring cut just as it exists the column about half-way down. They cut them so short that it would be a huge pain to splice them. I'm still considering buying that part. It might have a shifter lever spring in it that isn't busted and the collar might be in better shape than the one I've got (although I would have to powder coat it to match).
So far I've found the...
Turn signal switch $75 - from Greg Donahue in FL
Trunk Torsion Bars $40 - I got these from the President of the Galaxie Club of America. because when I need parts I go straight to the top.
Upper control arm shaft, horn brushes, lens kit for instrument panel $100 - from Autokrafters.
That's everything I was looking for, so now I just have to wait for them to come in, and then install everything... correctly.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 19, 2008 07:22 AM
Jim,
Thanks for the blog review. I'm glad you liked it, and I hope it helps you and others find parts for your 1964 Galaxie.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 19, 2008 07:26 AM
No winners on the CIC. The challenge was the John Deere logo. The tail of the deer to be exact.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 25, 2008 05:07 PM