Looking at the C-130 fuselage disappearing into the belly of the C-5
above reminded me of a somewhat similar photo involving a good buddy's newer
GMT800 3/4 ton Chevy pickup (with the tasty 8.1/Allison combo) ...and
in the bed is the decommissioned shell of one of my very favorite street legal
'go kart with a license plate' -- The Mk. 1 ('78-'80 here in the states) Ford Fiesta:
Factory Signal Orange shell on it's way to a Burlington boneyard
Q: Why is this on-topic for the safety wire thread?
A: Prior to losing the car to rust (ie: air where metal should have been for one
of the front suspension connections) this was an ultralight sleeper. 1600cc crossflow,
upgraded to big valve head, 'fast road cam', 4-1 header, lightened flywheel, engine
lowering kit to improve CG & straighten the halfshaft angles, always tuned to juuust
this side of peppering the spark plug insulators, full suspension upgrade including
adding a 19mm rear sway bar from BAT (British American Transfer) all sitting on a
set of Ford of Europe 13"x6" steelie rally wheels shod with sticky 185/60-13 Yokohamas
in the summer, and Hakkapelitta directional snow tires on the original 12" wheels in the
winter. (The paint was worn off of the handbrake between the seats in the winter...and
yes, I kept the e-brake cables adjusted to perfection. Of course these memories fade
with time, but on the snowier days I think I spent almost as much time looking out the side
windows as the windshield itself? It was ridonkulus. :0)
it was an 1800lb ultralight that punched way above it's weight. This was back in the day when
the old VW Rabbit GTIs were comfortably sitting at the top of the hot hatch pecking order,
especially when compared to a bone stock US-spec Fiesta. (Think Mustang vs. Camaro kind
of natural rivalry back then.)
All the time spent putting go-faster bits on in the driveway was worth it...when the
GTI guys would start it while wearing their best smug mugs...only to have the expressions melt
as I finished it by wailing away into the distance, revving that motor to infinity & beyond... :0)
Mechanically, the drivetrain was all but unbreakable -- the harder you drove them,
the sharper they ran. Only cars I ever owned that I never bothered to install a radio.
(And I love music.) That motor wailed like the powerplant in your favorite motorcycle.
Thinnest sheet metal I'd ever seen up to that point. One of my discerning buddies
remarked after slamming the door & hearing the tinny Whaaaaang' that it was a
Tuna Can on a Skateboard. The whole interior was stimulated by the engine when
it was running, so Engine operetta through the twisty mountain roads all the way
to work. Same-same on the way home. So much dirt-cheap fun!
...but I digress. Remember Erik the Awful's story about the BMWs that they were
racing were loosening the bolts on their CV axles? Well, on the mountain roads of
VT I managed to stimulate the same exact failure in my warmed-over Fiesta.
I thought the first time was an assembly error on my part, so this
time I just put everything back together (always using a torque wrench)
but this time with loctite & went on my merry way.
On the 2nd failure (on I-89N IIRC) fortunately I had a baggie in the back with
some 'just in case' spare bolts and barely managed to get it running before
the snow storm hit. (mea culpa: Schurkey, I am 99% sure that I did not use
the Loctite activator/primer, my bad. :0)
My permanent fix? Safety wire. (I was happy that the fasteners were metric Allen bolts,
(aka: Socket Head Cap Screws) which made drilling the holes for safety wire
at least 10x easier than a conventional bolt head.) Problem solved, lasted
all the way to the decomissioning ceremony seen above.
So, between the safety wire story plus the Chevy truck doing a pretty decent
C-5 imitation, I think that this really is the best place for my tale of Go.
"That's all I've got to say about that." -- F. 'Road Trip' Gump
above reminded me of a somewhat similar photo involving a good buddy's newer
GMT800 3/4 ton Chevy pickup (with the tasty 8.1/Allison combo) ...and
in the bed is the decommissioned shell of one of my very favorite street legal
'go kart with a license plate' -- The Mk. 1 ('78-'80 here in the states) Ford Fiesta:
Factory Signal Orange shell on it's way to a Burlington boneyard
You must be registered for see images attach
Q: Why is this on-topic for the safety wire thread?
A: Prior to losing the car to rust (ie: air where metal should have been for one
of the front suspension connections) this was an ultralight sleeper. 1600cc crossflow,
upgraded to big valve head, 'fast road cam', 4-1 header, lightened flywheel, engine
lowering kit to improve CG & straighten the halfshaft angles, always tuned to juuust
this side of peppering the spark plug insulators, full suspension upgrade including
adding a 19mm rear sway bar from BAT (British American Transfer) all sitting on a
set of Ford of Europe 13"x6" steelie rally wheels shod with sticky 185/60-13 Yokohamas
in the summer, and Hakkapelitta directional snow tires on the original 12" wheels in the
winter. (The paint was worn off of the handbrake between the seats in the winter...and
yes, I kept the e-brake cables adjusted to perfection. Of course these memories fade
with time, but on the snowier days I think I spent almost as much time looking out the side
windows as the windshield itself? It was ridonkulus. :0)
it was an 1800lb ultralight that punched way above it's weight. This was back in the day when
the old VW Rabbit GTIs were comfortably sitting at the top of the hot hatch pecking order,
especially when compared to a bone stock US-spec Fiesta. (Think Mustang vs. Camaro kind
of natural rivalry back then.)
All the time spent putting go-faster bits on in the driveway was worth it...when the
GTI guys would start it while wearing their best smug mugs...only to have the expressions melt
as I finished it by wailing away into the distance, revving that motor to infinity & beyond... :0)
Mechanically, the drivetrain was all but unbreakable -- the harder you drove them,
the sharper they ran. Only cars I ever owned that I never bothered to install a radio.
(And I love music.) That motor wailed like the powerplant in your favorite motorcycle.
Thinnest sheet metal I'd ever seen up to that point. One of my discerning buddies
remarked after slamming the door & hearing the tinny Whaaaaang' that it was a
Tuna Can on a Skateboard. The whole interior was stimulated by the engine when
it was running, so Engine operetta through the twisty mountain roads all the way
to work. Same-same on the way home. So much dirt-cheap fun!
...but I digress. Remember Erik the Awful's story about the BMWs that they were
racing were loosening the bolts on their CV axles? Well, on the mountain roads of
VT I managed to stimulate the same exact failure in my warmed-over Fiesta.
I thought the first time was an assembly error on my part, so this
time I just put everything back together (always using a torque wrench)
but this time with loctite & went on my merry way.
On the 2nd failure (on I-89N IIRC) fortunately I had a baggie in the back with
some 'just in case' spare bolts and barely managed to get it running before
the snow storm hit. (mea culpa: Schurkey, I am 99% sure that I did not use
the Loctite activator/primer, my bad. :0)
My permanent fix? Safety wire. (I was happy that the fasteners were metric Allen bolts,
(aka: Socket Head Cap Screws) which made drilling the holes for safety wire
at least 10x easier than a conventional bolt head.) Problem solved, lasted
all the way to the decomissioning ceremony seen above.
So, between the safety wire story plus the Chevy truck doing a pretty decent
C-5 imitation, I think that this really is the best place for my tale of Go.
"That's all I've got to say about that." -- F. 'Road Trip' Gump
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