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Messages - EricCoolCats

5086
Misc Tech / Re: Mustang vs Tbird
No...they are slightly different to accept the stock 75-amp alternator. You can easily cut your bracket to accept it though. Dremel tool, chisel and hammer, what have you.
5087
Lounge / Re: This is what I got to see yesterday
Quote from: crystal
a kid named shiznithead (read Sha-theed)


LMAO!! That reminded me of a story my cousin's wife told me about some kids their children go to school with. Shi' Thead and As' Shole. Yep, for real, yo. :giggle:

It's definitely a good move to keep a 'normal' name somewhere. Mom and Dad compromised; Eric is actually my middle name. Had I gone by my first name, things would've been confusing with my father. And I just found out that Baxo's first name is not Alex. So you never know how your name will be used. Just nice having options.

Congrats, BTW!
5089
Misc Tech / Re: Windshield Wipers
I usually use a good winter blade all year long. Blades aren't good for more than a year, two if you're very lucky or keep the car in a garage.

It does sound like the wiper motor park fix is in order. But if that doesn't help you may need a new wiper motor governor. Are you having any delay problems at all?
5090
Lounge / Re: Wow...Scathing!
NASCAR is not a sport---it's an event. A sport involves running, or a puck, or a ball, or a baton, or parallel bars, or similar object. NASCAR is more a test of endurance than actual racing and the drivers are not really "atheletes", although admittedly you do need a certain physical condition to fit in one of the cars, let alone drive one for hours on end. It has a checkered history and thus, people try to justify it as something worthwhile. They miss the point: great drivers go in a straight line. Even greater drivers go on a twisty road course for hours. I LOVE to hear people bitching and moaning when the next NASCAR race is on a short road course. They just don't get it.

What has NASCAR provided? Especially lately, they've given us unprecedented insight into the equipment, physics and science that goes into every race and every car. There are fans that probably know more about the cars than some of the builders! It is absolutely unreal how people can make those cars run. They've also elevated their racing into the biggest advertising vehicle in modern history. I've never seen anything get so big, so quickly. But since I'm pretty much anti-advertising, that means nothing to me. NASCAR has also homogenized cars to the point where nothing matters. Remember when our aero 'Birds kicked GM's ass all over the track 20 years ago? That prompted GM to respond with actual street vehicles (Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe, Grand Prix 2+2) to try and gain ground. I never saw anything like that before, and unfortunately I probably never will again.

But most importantly, NASCAR racing has done something I never thought possible: it can clear out a Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon. Man, when it's football season and NASCAR season at the same time, I can waltz in my local Wal-Mart and get all my shopping done without having to see a single stump-jumper wearing a #3 jacket. And this is in Western Pennsylvania to boot! Miracles really can happen.  :giggle:
5091
Electrical Tech / Re: 20th anny light beside grille
My guess: there were no single-filament bulbs available in 1987 when the new front end debuted. Remember, at that time the "aero" flush headlamps were brand spanking new and bulb manufacturers were slow to ramp-up production. I remember even dual-filament headlamp bulbs being very difficult to find in parts stores. I'm sure you could now replace it with a single-filament bulb with no problem. If you also notice, the bulb socket is different for the marker lights and the park/turn signal lights. Again, that was probably because of the new production.

It is entirely possible to rewire either of those lights. You could have both the park and the inner lamps flash with the turn signal, for instance. Or you could switch them and have just the inners flash, and the park lamps illuminate only. Just remember that when you add a flashing bulb to the existing harness, that will increase the load on that circuit and the signals will flash faster than standard. You'll need a heavier-duty flasher pot to correct the situation.
5093
Misc Tech / Re: Passenger window
Shop that does my glass charges $50 per window for new aluminum clips, gluing and alignment (and removal/replacement of door panel if needed). Clips are like $25 each by themselves.
5094
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: option delete bird?
Y'all have to remember that in some years, power windows or power mirrors were standard. So a "stripped" model will vary from year to year. I have seen some pretty stripped cars though. A few years ago there was an '87 T-Bird in the boneyard that was about the most stripped I've seen. Crank windows, V6, no a/c and no rear defroster (back window was smashed though). Amazing that those cars even existed.
5095
Lounge / Re: LMAO, Even dogs hate macs!
Hell yeah, it's a great freebie. It won't be a speed demon in any OS, but it will be reliable and get the job done. I used a 400 Mhz b&w G3 at my old job for 5 years. Photoshop was sometimes agonizingly slow but it still ran fine. That has a PCI video card and it's goofy; should be a Rage 128 16MB card. If that computer has a combo or DVD drive, there's a daughter card attached to the video card that can act up. As far as I know, ATI is the only company still making a compatible replacement video card for it. I have the Radeon 7000 32MB dual monitor PCI card in my similar 350Mhz G4 PCI tower---works fine. They're relatively inexpensive on eBay.

I forgot to mention...if you go to the Apple menu in the upper left, and choose 'Apple System Profiler', it will tell you everything about the computer's hardware.
5096
Lounge / Re: LMAO, Even dogs hate macs!
They're about 35-40 lbs. stock....not light, that's for sure! That's a blue-and-white G3, which was the model right before the G4 changeover. More than likely it's a 400 Mhz machine--not too shabby. It will boot into OS 9 and OS X, another plus. Only thing I'd suggest to check is the connection for the hard drive. In that model it could be either ATA or SCSI. In either case you can throw 2 more HD's in there, but it helps to know the connection first. ;) Unless the HD has been replaced you probably won't see more than a 9GB HD though. It uses PCI 100 memory and should have a total of 4 slots. That's also a ZIF processor so upgrades are possible (500 Mhz for under $200, 600 Mhz for well under $300). It should also have a SCSI card at the very bottom in the back. I believe those had a 100 Mhz frontside bus. Specs are here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58226

I like to think of the blue-and-white G3 as the "magic" Mac. It's the last of Macs with the older Apple ADB (serial) port and SCSI card, but it's the first Mac tower with USB 1.1 and Firewire (1333) ports. It literally has the best of both worlds. You can use either an ADB or USB keyboard, for example. You can literally upgrade just about everything in that computer. Obviously since it's an Apple it's going to be a little more expensive to do that vs. a PC, but if you need pointers let me know.
5098
Lounge / Re: Easy Question...
The 1983-88 Cougar/Thunderbirds are considered 2-door hardtops. In America a 'hardtop' is usually meant for a vehicle whose small side windows retract, in effect eliminating the B-pillar when all the windows are down. In every publication I've ever seen, though, including Ford's own shop manuals, our cars are listed as 2-door hardtops. But technically they are coupes since they have 2 doors, and you have to fold the seats for rear seat entry/exit.
5099
Lounge / Re: LMAO, Even dogs hate macs!
If the Mac is running Jaguar/10.2 or Panther/10.3 OS's, that would explain it Crystal. ;)

Is it a beige G3, or blue-and-white?
5100
Body/Appearance/Interior / Re: t-tops?
Yes they are. Get this Bri..they took the afternoon to make the pipes, in the middle of their busy schedule. As if that's not enough, they made sure both pipes are visually the same so that if you see them from behind, one pipe won't be lower than the other. Yeah, the shop's that cool.

Sorry for the hijack. ;)