Now with Junior dropped off, JD dropped me off at the bus station for the upcoming 12hr ride to Ocala, FL.
It didn't start off badly...until we reached Atlanta...
For starters, Atlanta's bus station is a stone's throw away from the city jail. There's a bail bonds joint and a "house of gentlemen's entertainment" across from it on the other side--in other words, not exactly the best side of town!
We arrived late, and waited about another 30min or so for them to decide to finally take our bags off of the bus (which is silly because *everyone* on the bus had to get off...). I walked into the terminal about 10min before my connecting bus to Ocala was scheduled to leave.
Now, I've seen bus stations in Cincinnati, Columbus, Canton, Akron, and many cities in between. None of them prepared me for the absolute war zone that is the Atlanta bus station at nearly Midnight! There were people everywhere, and no one seemed to have any idea where we were supposed to go, but were all too happy to bark orders to get us out of their hair. Once I figured out where I was supposed to be, I waited for them to let us back out to catch a bus (even more silly because several people had tons of bags that they had had to lug up several ramps and were now going to have to take them back down to a bus). Once my bus was called, I was startled to see that they had overbooked the bus, leaving a full busload of people--including me--standing in front of the door wondering why they'd just shut it in our faces without saying anything. After another 30min of waiting to hear what they were going to do with us, they finally opened the door and herded us onto another bus.
Our driver was seriously on a short fuse (I'm guessing he hadn't planned on having to drive a bus to Florida). In fact, he actually pulled the bus over off of I-75 and came back to yell at everyone at about 1am because he thought that someone was playing with the little footrests that retract from the seat in front of each passenger! In addition, he got very irate with a passenger who, not having a very good understanding of English, didn't get off the bus at the right stop and had to get off and wait for the next bus to drive him back--unfortunately, that stop was in Tifton, Georgia, and the next one wasn't until we crossed into Florida!
I arrived very tired and grimey in Ocala 4 minutes early at 6:26am--apparently, our driver's rude behavior was good for something...
Showing posts with label Junior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Junior. Show all posts
Friday, April 4, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Meet The Tick, or, How to Cross 4 States In A 4-Day Round Trip! - Day 1
Loaded up the car, first with spare parts that were going to JD, then with my clothes, toiletries, and supplies. Unfortunately, I had a little conundrum...how do I fit all of this...
...into Junior?
Well, here's how:
My bags had to take the equivalent of the "back seat" in the Miata:
Now with the bags packed and the engine running, I took some last pictures of Junior before getting on the road:
On the way to Knoxville, I stopped off to deposit the buyer's check for Junior. When I came out, I noticed that Junior had gotten dwarfed by, of all things, a Ford Five Hundred:
It was right then that the bank teller ran out to tell me that I had nearly left my Driver's License behind...oops!
After an uneventful 4hr trip, I arrived at La Casa de JD to drop off the car:
Before heading off to catch the bus to Ocala, I got a couple pics for the road:
I'll post the rest of the trip diary over the next couple days...writing these posts takes quite some time!
...into Junior?
Well, here's how:
My bags had to take the equivalent of the "back seat" in the Miata:
Now with the bags packed and the engine running, I took some last pictures of Junior before getting on the road:
On the way to Knoxville, I stopped off to deposit the buyer's check for Junior. When I came out, I noticed that Junior had gotten dwarfed by, of all things, a Ford Five Hundred:
It was right then that the bank teller ran out to tell me that I had nearly left my Driver's License behind...oops!
After an uneventful 4hr trip, I arrived at La Casa de JD to drop off the car:
Before heading off to catch the bus to Ocala, I got a couple pics for the road:
I'll post the rest of the trip diary over the next couple days...writing these posts takes quite some time!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Good News, Everyone!
I'm selling Junior! Huzzah!
Scared yet?
His soon-to-be replacement is a 2002 Laser Blue wearing 5Zigen Fn01r-c wheels, a Roadster Sport exhaust, and Tien HA coilovers. He also sports a shorty S2000-style fixed antenna.
I leave to drop off Junior in Knoxville and pick up the car on Wednesday. I'll be making overnight stops in Atlanta and Knoxville on the way home.
Stay tuned for updates...and make way :-)
Scared yet?
His soon-to-be replacement is a 2002 Laser Blue wearing 5Zigen Fn01r-c wheels, a Roadster Sport exhaust, and Tien HA coilovers. He also sports a shorty S2000-style fixed antenna.
I leave to drop off Junior in Knoxville and pick up the car on Wednesday. I'll be making overnight stops in Atlanta and Knoxville on the way home.
Stay tuned for updates...and make way :-)
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Good News!
I was able to sell my seat today! In case you're curious, I was talking about it here. Brian, I hope you like the seat as much as I did!
Oh yeah...one half payment left :-D
Oh yeah...one half payment left :-D
Friday, September 28, 2007
Almost There!
As an aside from the project with Junior, I am happy to say that I am only 1.5 payments away from having the little guy paid off ahead of time! This will be the first time I've actually paid off a car on my own (I paid off Junior's predecessor Monty--but that was only after he'd been totalled; the money came from my insurance settlement).
It'll sure be nice to be able to put the money I was spending on payments towards something else--like getting Junior back on the road!
Speaking of money, I've decided to try once again to sell my Axis Power Racing full carbon-fiber race seat:
The seat by itself is good for about 9lbs and does a very good job of holding the driver in place. It also allows the lowest seating position I've ever seen on the stock seat rails. If you look at the following picture, you can see the difference between the Axis seat and a de-foamed stock seat:
For reference, my friend Shenna (sitting in the passenger seat) is about 5'3", while I am a leggy 6'1"! Imagine the difference if I gained another inch or so by taking the seat off of the stock rails!
In the end, I'd like to get about $400 for it. Its MSRP was $900 and I bought it from a friend for $600 a year or so ago. I have one person so far who has inquired about it, but let me know if you're interested!
It'll sure be nice to be able to put the money I was spending on payments towards something else--like getting Junior back on the road!
Speaking of money, I've decided to try once again to sell my Axis Power Racing full carbon-fiber race seat:
The seat by itself is good for about 9lbs and does a very good job of holding the driver in place. It also allows the lowest seating position I've ever seen on the stock seat rails. If you look at the following picture, you can see the difference between the Axis seat and a de-foamed stock seat:
For reference, my friend Shenna (sitting in the passenger seat) is about 5'3", while I am a leggy 6'1"! Imagine the difference if I gained another inch or so by taking the seat off of the stock rails!
In the end, I'd like to get about $400 for it. Its MSRP was $900 and I bought it from a friend for $600 a year or so ago. I have one person so far who has inquired about it, but let me know if you're interested!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Musings on the Next Step
Today I went over to Chad's house hoping to reclaim the 90-93 "Daisy" alloy wheels that I had given him after moving up here from Kentucky. They had been in use during the winter holding my winter tires that Junior rolled on last winter:
Once I got Harvey (my 99 Civic DX), I had the bright idea of putting the alloys on him. This would require having the hubs bored out an extra 2mm to accomodate the Civic's slightly wider diameter setup. Once that was done, I was going to paint them and replace Harvey's ugly steelies with these bad boys...
...Well...not so much, it turns out :-(
The machine shop I had paid to do the wheels did a wonderful job, and I got exactly what I asked them for. The wheels were bored perfectly--which was the problem. I hadn't accounted for the fraction of a millimeter of rust on the hubs. Thus, the wheels would fit only if I forced them down (by bolting them), and while fitting just fine, would need to be hammered off...no fun. In addition, the paint I had selected was going to come out way darker than I planned. Staring at paying more money to have the hubs re-bored and more money on paint, I decided that it really wasn't worth it.
Crap.
In any case, it was nice to see Chad and Linda again. I hadn't seen them since before the wedding, so it was good to spend time with them, the cats, and Yasmina. I also got to see Junior (who is spending time at Uncle Chad's house until he gets an engine transplant). It was the first time I'd seen him since Christy and I got home from our honeymoon. Needless to say, I'm more antsy than ever to get my boy back on the road!
To that end, I really need to start thinking about what I want to do. Here are the options as I see them:
1.) Buy an engine and plop it in along with all necessary parts (with all necessary hoses, seals, etc.)
2.) Buy an engine, have it rebuilt with stock parts (pistons, rings, seals, oil pump, etc.)
3.) Buy an engine and add non-stock parts (for example a 97 block with 01+ pistons and MBSP)
The 1st approach would be easiest, but is risky--especially if the history of the motor is suspect. At the very least, all hoses and front and rear main seals would need to be replaced. Optionally, I could replace the oil pump as well. The 2nd and 3rd approaches would require me to pay a shop to take the engine apart (once I buy it) and reassemble it. I'd like to mess with it myself, but I would have to borrow someone's garage time (which I'm already going to have to do to remove and replace the engine) and tools that I don't have--and let's not think of how much time it'd take me to do the rebuild! However, doing things like overbore or higher comp stock pistons will have more risk built in than going with stock parts. It sure would be nice to lighten the parts up while I'm in there, though!
I guess we'll just have to see!
Once I got Harvey (my 99 Civic DX), I had the bright idea of putting the alloys on him. This would require having the hubs bored out an extra 2mm to accomodate the Civic's slightly wider diameter setup. Once that was done, I was going to paint them and replace Harvey's ugly steelies with these bad boys...
...Well...not so much, it turns out :-(
The machine shop I had paid to do the wheels did a wonderful job, and I got exactly what I asked them for. The wheels were bored perfectly--which was the problem. I hadn't accounted for the fraction of a millimeter of rust on the hubs. Thus, the wheels would fit only if I forced them down (by bolting them), and while fitting just fine, would need to be hammered off...no fun. In addition, the paint I had selected was going to come out way darker than I planned. Staring at paying more money to have the hubs re-bored and more money on paint, I decided that it really wasn't worth it.
Crap.
In any case, it was nice to see Chad and Linda again. I hadn't seen them since before the wedding, so it was good to spend time with them, the cats, and Yasmina. I also got to see Junior (who is spending time at Uncle Chad's house until he gets an engine transplant). It was the first time I'd seen him since Christy and I got home from our honeymoon. Needless to say, I'm more antsy than ever to get my boy back on the road!
To that end, I really need to start thinking about what I want to do. Here are the options as I see them:
1.) Buy an engine and plop it in along with all necessary parts (with all necessary hoses, seals, etc.)
2.) Buy an engine, have it rebuilt with stock parts (pistons, rings, seals, oil pump, etc.)
3.) Buy an engine and add non-stock parts (for example a 97 block with 01+ pistons and MBSP)
The 1st approach would be easiest, but is risky--especially if the history of the motor is suspect. At the very least, all hoses and front and rear main seals would need to be replaced. Optionally, I could replace the oil pump as well. The 2nd and 3rd approaches would require me to pay a shop to take the engine apart (once I buy it) and reassemble it. I'd like to mess with it myself, but I would have to borrow someone's garage time (which I'm already going to have to do to remove and replace the engine) and tools that I don't have--and let's not think of how much time it'd take me to do the rebuild! However, doing things like overbore or higher comp stock pistons will have more risk built in than going with stock parts. It sure would be nice to lighten the parts up while I'm in there, though!
I guess we'll just have to see!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Bad News...
In the spirit of bringing everyone up to speed, Junior has been laid up at my friend Chad's house for about a month or so now. By about the end of June I was sure Junior was suffering the beginnings of an oil pump failure. This was evidenced by slow to no change in oil pressure on the first start-up of each day. The gauge (a "real" one that I salvaged from a wrecked 1992) would then read relatively normal values for every subsequent start. As Junior has already suffered a crank nose failure (yes, it can happen to a 1.8 liter car!) and is over 125,000mi old, an engine rebuild/replacement is in order.
For reference, here's what his engine bay currently looks like:
For my rebuild, I'd like the end product to be a near perfect stock engine. I'd love to have a high-compression rev monster with IRTB's, etc. but right now, it's neither in the budget nor really where I want to be. I haven't driven Junior in anger in several months now (including passing on bringing him to Miatas at the Gap this year), and his crankiness was really just getting on my nerves. I miss just being behind the wheel! Sure, he may not be as fast as the other kids on the block, but, with the engine woes out of the way, I can concentrate on making up for that lack of power, eh?
I really want to do this right, so I'm spending the time now to do the research and budgeting ahead of time. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment!
For reference, here's what his engine bay currently looks like:
For my rebuild, I'd like the end product to be a near perfect stock engine. I'd love to have a high-compression rev monster with IRTB's, etc. but right now, it's neither in the budget nor really where I want to be. I haven't driven Junior in anger in several months now (including passing on bringing him to Miatas at the Gap this year), and his crankiness was really just getting on my nerves. I miss just being behind the wheel! Sure, he may not be as fast as the other kids on the block, but, with the engine woes out of the way, I can concentrate on making up for that lack of power, eh?
I really want to do this right, so I'm spending the time now to do the research and budgeting ahead of time. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
An Introduction: A Boy and his Car
Just to give some introductions, my name is Bryan and the little green paperweight--and star of the show is Junior, my modified 1997 M-Edition Miata. For the three years before I met my darling wife Christy, Junior was my main mode of not only transportation but entertainment, excitement, and friendship...ok, as much as a car can be!
Why "Junior"? Well, I bought Junior on July 1st, 2004 to replace his "father" and predecessor, Monty. Monty was my first Miata, a 1997 Montego Blue car. He unfortunately suffered from what I like to call an excess of bravado and a shortage of common sense:
I decided that Monty's replacement would be either "The Batmobile" (if I got a Black car) or Junior if I bought another 97. As you can see, I got Junior ;-)
In three years, we've been to seven states: from the frozen north of Wisconson (where Junior's rollbar came from) to the humid heat of North Carolina, we've autocrossed, roadtrip'ed, and otherwise caused general automotive mayhem:
This was my first post, and it took quite a lot of time! I apologize for the not so hot layout...as I have more time, I'll post more. Until then, take care :-)
Why "Junior"? Well, I bought Junior on July 1st, 2004 to replace his "father" and predecessor, Monty. Monty was my first Miata, a 1997 Montego Blue car. He unfortunately suffered from what I like to call an excess of bravado and a shortage of common sense:
I decided that Monty's replacement would be either "The Batmobile" (if I got a Black car) or Junior if I bought another 97. As you can see, I got Junior ;-)
In three years, we've been to seven states: from the frozen north of Wisconson (where Junior's rollbar came from) to the humid heat of North Carolina, we've autocrossed, roadtrip'ed, and otherwise caused general automotive mayhem:
This was my first post, and it took quite a lot of time! I apologize for the not so hot layout...as I have more time, I'll post more. Until then, take care :-)
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