Ok, looks like I have to apologize to Italy, almost. That water pump for the AE86 installed last night is correct, almost. I mic’ed it along with the new Japan one I picked up and the shaft measures the same. Must be Italian metric, just a hair too big. Taking a file to it, coating it with oil, and it finally went on. I sure hope it doesn’t become a problem to remove in the futur
(0)Monthly Archive for April, 2009
Former manga-ya minion Roy became a dad at 13:21 today to 3.1kg Zolie Akemi Heiser. Congratulations!
(0)Excuse me while I let loose a stream of obscenities over here. I just spent the last four hours cleaning and installing the new water pump, gaskets, associated fittings, and then I discovered that the water pump does not fit. Actually everything fits except the fan. The first thing I did was compare the pumps and the usual dimensions matched. Not used to working on car with mechanical fan, I did not realize the end of the shaft does not fit in the depression on the back of the fan! Needless to say I am super annoyed. And having installed the pump, I cannot return it. I’m going to have to get a new pump, gasket, take everything apart again. It’s past midnight and I’m having a beer. &!^%@#^!@$# (Oh, the pump was made in Italy)
(0)Word of a new Taiwan Style hot pot restaurant had been circulating around for a while, so after reading and deliberating, and schedule making, I rounded up some of my eating buddies (K and J) to go check it out a few months back. We found it to be very economical, and every left with a Euphoric Sense of Well Being™. Unfortunately that time noone had a good camera with them. We finally managed to get everyone back together again for another visit this evening
sweet home cafe
Sunday morning was cool and cloudless, which meant the day would shape up to be sunny and brutally hot. What better a day to go on a long ride in central O’ahu! I met Ckucke, Kevyn, and Root for a recon ride out in the forbidden zone where we used to ride back in the day. Rumors through the grapevine indicated that the former tennant who had erected fences and signs was no longer in leasing the property, either because of an upcoming housing development in the area, or perhaps from repercussions over alleged illegal activity in a structure on the property. Continue reading ‘Outlaw Deathmarch’
Dang it, see what happens when you get old. Both my Corolla’s have developed leaky problems now. My FX suddenly has started leaking rapidly. I had replaced that water pump not too long ago also, but didn’t have all the gaskets & o-rings so I guess my half-ass job is now coming back to haunt me. Bah. On top of that the starter/ignition key is really krapping out. I had to hot wire the FX four times today. At least I have all the gaskets, if I don’t take off the intake manifold…. Curses!
(0)So after friday eve’s rumblings about shaving the door handles on J’s ’51 Chevy, the call went out to do it in the afternoon, when its not as hot.
So the basic idea is to smooth the lines of the car by removing the exterior handle.
Lots of Cut! Weld! Grind! involved. Lots of re-learning how to weld.
It all went pretty fast, and after the project, we’re pretty confident we can do more difficult projects, like frenching the headlights, or replacing the doorskins.
Heres a video of the project. Five hours in 3 minutes.
[flashvideo file=media/chevy_door_renewal.flv /]
Difficultly: Moderate (you need someone that can weld)
Stuff required: Welding gear, angle grinder, Bondo, and related accesories
The weather report on Wednesday called for locally heavy showers beginning midday Thursday, so heavy in fact that a flash flood watch was in effect. With a reasonable expectation of bad weather, I packed my ride kit and brought it in on Thursday. Throughout the day, the cloudy skies grew progressively darker. Webcams showed the H3 corridor and the windward side socked in and shiny with rainwater. As quitting time approached, I went outside to check visually on the top of Tantalus, and lo, even though the thick ceiling of clouds was an ominous dark grey, it was high up and not in the act of relieving itself of its precipitable moisture. The air outside did however feel thick and heavy: It felt like it was going to rain any minute. Ckucke and I had eaten heavy lunches from Young’s in ‘Aiea, so we were feeling lethargic. We kept waffling on whether we should call it or go. In the end, inspiration won out over apathy and the call went out that it was mission “go”. Continue reading ‘Flash Flood Ride’
Discovered by Scat, just newly opened at 1145 South King Street, a new ramen-ya, Raraya. located next to The Bike Shop and across the street from Precision Radio, near the intersection of S. King and Piikoi. The sign notes that it is iekei ramen, which some quick Net searching indicates it’s a style of ramen from the Yokohama area and seems to have originally been a chain of ramen shops. It features a broader flat noodle, slices of cha siu, spinach, sheets of nori and the options of specifing oilyness, saltyness, and firmness. Continue reading ‘Raraya’
Had this hoppy Pilsen from VBL Tien Giang Limited, Vietnam with dinner at Hale Vietnam. This beer has a convoluted history, originally being a product of the Lao Brewing Company in Laos until 1990, but now produced by various breweries and sold in various idiosyncratic markets around the world. The particular USDM-labeled specimen I had was labeled that it was brewed in Vietnam. It still had the LBC tiger logo, but it was all-red, instead of the brown tiger inside a red circle that is the current LBC logo. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – “33” Export Lager’