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77 here and too busy for most auto maintenance. Today my wife and I sifted 5 wheel barrow loads of compost. Put the clear coat on paint repairs I did yesterday on the Tesla. Social club event tomorrow morning. Mowing the lawn tomorrow afternoon. Polishing and waxing half the Tesla tomorrow...

When I was a kid many houses had lightning rods on the roof with heavy cables leading down to a ground rod pounded deep into the earth. I haven't seen one in decades. What's up with that? Were they over reacting? Why aren't houses being struck today?

At one point in my career I had access to a small fleet of "company cars". We got a nice new one for our fleet and I had the oil changed at about 1000 km. The finance people gave me a really hard time about that - like that was wasting the government's money. I said (speaking as a mechanical...

One of my former staff, a cardiovascular surgeon, (yes he was that old) also invented the cardiac pacemaker. Only problem was he couldn't figure out how to implant it. The solution was to push the electrode down to the bottom of the ventricle and trigger the ventricle from the reverse direction...

My Birthday is July 1, Canada Day. That's sort of fitting don't you think?

What a bunch of young guys on here. I'm not the oldest, but one of the oldest. Turned 77 a few days ago. Spent today touching up minor stone and careless door opening chips on the Tesla. That and chasing deer off our property. Tomorrow it's driving grand-kids. Life is not as easy as when I...

I have to mow wet grass sometimes (it just never dries out). I bag the grass and scrape off the underside of the mower (with fingers and a wooden stick for any hard bits to minimize any damage).

I'll bet it sounds wonderful.

No. The cooling system including the heater is an almost closed system. You typically get air into the system when you drain and refill the coolant. You fill the radiator and the overflow tank and a few days later you will often find the overflow level is low - it's just getting rid of the air...

If the coolant was changed recently it's just getting rid of the entrained air.

Checking oil levels every few days is going to give you some variation - outdoor temperature, angle, time since last run, etc. If the oil looks good and smells good (and it seems to) the question is "what does it do over a couple of thousand miles?" As for other levels, I check to make sure...

A few years ago we had a situation "somewhere in Canada" where all the leases on highly desirable residential properties were ending on the same date. (I'm not saying where.) The owners did have the option to renew the leases but the previously reasonable monthly lease payments suddenly became...

Good pick up. You really have to look to find that fact.

I have a beer bottle capper that I've never used. Bought it from a neighbour whose wife died from "mad cow disease" and I feel a bit uncomfortable about using it. That's irrational - probably. I also have a swath of wine making equipment I haven't used in 15 years. It may be time to get rid...

A light blasting medium should be fine but still avoid prolonged blasting. Better to take it out and do it again (even a couple of times) than overdo it. I wear an N95 (paper) mask when I use a blasting cabinet (which should be okay without it). Silicosis is a serious problem and non silica...

Do you have access to a sandblaster? - a light sweep takes the gloss right off aluminum and would be an attractive finish as is, or as a paintable surface. A self etching primer (zinc chromate probably) would be the perfect base for paint. PS Don't overdo it because sandblasting/bead blasting...

I think we all own part of them. I just wish they would smarten up. It would be better to be part owners of a growing business.

Does Blue Book suggest 3 prices - dealer, private sale and trade-in? Which one do you "require"?

Another video worth watching:

I used to do the points, condenser and timing in a very few minutes. I got good at that. But I only rebuilt one carburetor, the 2 bbl on my Ford 289 V8. I think the GM carburetors were a bit more complicated, especially the 4 bbl ones.