I Officially Surrender My Man-Mechanic Card

[Deaf Bob]

Pdubby.. Rears are easy..
I'm modifying a 9 inch to run caddy axles.. With caddy side gears..
31 spline caddy does not fit into Ford carrier..
Then I needed to cut off 1-1/2" on one side and 3" on the other and the bearing retainers are in the way so cut off 6" and add 4. Sorta deal..
And change the gears from 3:08 to 4:86.
If I can do it so can you!

[Deaf Bob]

Tell everybody howdy for me.

Whatta blast! Last I heard anythingof you was you were running from a storm..

[pdub]

Mike, at the car shop where Red is currently impounded, he called me this morning and left me a message before I'd even woke up. We played phone tag for a while but finally, he's not much one to talk very long on the phone. He asked, what about this PosiTraction box full of parts you left us?

All I could say was, I don't know. I bought all of the parts that were on the computer screen when I was ordering the rear end rebuild job. I don't even know if I need that or not, I'll leave that up to you. He said, "Does your positive traction work okay already?" I said yes. And then he said, what about all of this brake fluid you had in the box full of parts? What is that....?"

I said, "Y'all go to adjust the parking brake, I guessed y'all will have to take the rear calipers off of the car and may lose some fluid. That's the kind of fluid I run, I threw it in there just in case."

I said, "Mike, that parking brake is gonna be aggravating, I've tried to fix it five times and I can't do it, it's aggravating."

He said "Thanks." That all the info he needed.

[oletrux4evr]

Hey Matt, good to see you.

[pdub]

Hey Charlie Brown, It's the Great Pumpkin! Glad to hear from Ya!

Yep, I sure do wish he'd come see us more often. He's probably avoiding me since he cost me about $100K but I haven't added it all up.

[silver_bullet]

Hey Charlie Brown, It's the Great Pumpkin! Glad to hear from Ya!

[Big Dave]

Howdy Pumpkin!

[pdub]

Tell everybody howdy for me.

I do, every time. Those are great guys.

[Pumpkin]

Tell everybody howdy for me.

[Big Dave]

Pdub I'm with you on working on cars now. The body just won't twist and turn like it once did to get in to those tight places. I installed a lift so I don't have to crawl around on the floor underneath one. And it seems like I take more time looking for the right tool or part than I spend actually working on the car. So let someone else do the dirty work and use yours/my time to enjoy the ride.

[silver_bullet]

I can understand what you're saying.... you just keep going and don't give up ok? Like dirty Harry says..."A man's gotta know his limitations"

BTW...I know what you're sayin' about the bike too...Rode RAGBRAI back in 1978 just to prove I could do it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAGBRAI

[pdub]

WHAT!?!?!?

I like being sore Patrick. I rode a bicycle 30,000 miles across 12 of the United States.. I rode it 200 miles in a single day 3 times, just to prove to myself I could do it.

I know the difference between sore and pain. Sore is a good thing, that means you did a lot of stuff and you're sore from it. Pain is another thing. Pain prevents you from even being able to get sore.

[silver_bullet]

WHAT!?!?!? You are a true hobbyist mechanic whether you see yourself as one or not.... there are things several of professional wrench benders don't do, so, DO NOT sell yourselves short... Hell yes there's the hurt... I'm battling muscle pain right now, because I CHOOSE to replace a damned sidewalk myself, and I'm sure that Tammy is sore from working/finishing it with me...Yes, we are old, but pain is your friend.. it tells you that you are still alive and will not let the bastard called life beat you! I salute all who chose to continue to work, hurt and survive, rather than just give up, lie down, and fix it with a phone call....

[pdub]

Alot of things I can fix, some things I can't. Then there are things I can fix but just don't want to and would rather pay someone else to do it. And that's OK.

Well, Man Card or not, I've done what I can and I sure enjoyed it. Really sure enough when I wasn't throwing tools at the wall and cussing, but that's part of the fun I suppose. Most days these days my hands hurt, I can't turn a wrench. It's hell getting old, but some folks age better than others. And I wouldn't trade any of it for anything. At least the shop is down the road, "Here, YOU fix it."

[Gary 351C]

Alot of things I can fix, some things I can't. Then there are things I can fix but just don't want to and would rather pay someone else to do it. And that's OK.