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September 8, 2008
What Did You Do This Weekend?
By John Coyle
Editor
A couple of years ago, I came into a corner a little too hot, and wound up putting my beloved Jaguar into the fence. While the damage wasn’t terrible, the bashed in bumper prevented the hood from fully opening, and that presented a problem when the alternator took a dump shortly afterward. I was a little sketched out about just wrenching the hood open, and as a result, I did the worst thing you can possibly do: nothing. And I continued to do nothing for the next couple of years. But Saturday morning, after visiting my forlorn, dust-covered Kitty, I decided that it was time to do something. Since I figured the hood was going to need to be replaced anyway, I just yanked on it until there was enough room to swap the alternator. Two hours later, Jen—who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the fact that my car is no longer stationary—was driving me to the parts store to pick up a new battery, and we spent the rest of the day working on the car. Of course, there were some issues. The battery had corroded so badly that the positive post actually broke free from the housing while we were trying to wrestle the lead off, and the junkyard alternator I’d purchased awhile back required some different fasteners to be mounted to the existing bracket. But to make a long story short, after a lot of starting fluid, a large fireball, some nasty contact between the alternator fan and the bracket, some filing of said alternator’s fan blades and a few trips to the parts store, the engine fired up and proceeded to run perfectly. You have to love a Chevy 350! I’ve posted a few pics of my trip to the gas station and car wash after the jump, and I’ll be updating my ride page shortly. What did you do this weekend?
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Tim DeLong
Sep 10, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Congrats Buddy!
I’m glad to see that you finally rescued Kitty from the pet shelter you abandoned her in so long ago. I’m very happy that you have Jen there to motivate your ass into doing the right thing. (Thank you Jen) Now you need to get that Fire Chief’s car off of eBay just to keep as a back up!
To prevent this from happening again I would suggest the Nick Hogan driving school. He knows A LOT about going into corners and trees way too hot! Just ask the Drifting team who’s Vipers he destroyed, or look at his Supra!
Later!
GIT ER DONE
Sep 10, 2008 at 3:27 am
what a piece of shit.
Willie Singleton
Sep 10, 2008 at 2:31 am
Did i hit a jag that had too much to drink?
kylestlouis
Sep 9, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I hit a deer, got rear ended, and somebody clipped my mirror.
Fun weekend for the clipse
James
Sep 9, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Nice, my buddy that did the body work on my Civic has a older jag with a Chevy 350 in it. Infact all his vehicles have chevy 350’s lol. Some good motors there. Good job fixing it, I gotta do the same for my teg.
Team JEEP
Sep 9, 2008 at 11:15 am
PIMP!
Nes
Sep 9, 2008 at 7:51 am
I washed my car since it needed it really bad! I put back my amp to find out that it’s not working anymore but the good news is that my uncle is going to pay for my 1200W amp to get fixed. And i also connected my sub into a 1000W amp to see how loud it is, and i can’t wait until i get mine!
Bob
Sep 9, 2008 at 7:33 am
Congrats on getting it back on the road. I can’t imagine a Chevy 350 driving one of those. Wats it like?
GTwildfire
Sep 9, 2008 at 6:10 am
Oh and hey people… got a favor to ask. Check out my red firebird and let me know if I should lower it a little (nothing ridiculous) or leave it as-is.
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I think it sits a little high, especially in the rear.
7urtle
Sep 9, 2008 at 5:39 am
i changed my starter in the parking lot of my job. that was fun having to send my dad back home because i needed a nother tool. found out that i also need a new battery and that my lugnuts are swollen so i cant get to the battery in the fender
cknarf
Sep 9, 2008 at 4:37 am
1. Got baking soda to absorb some moisture in my car.
2. Got dryer sheets to improve the smell of my car
3. Found that my windshield leaks
4. Found that my back floorboard was a lake.
5. Went to a car show, found a smart and a beefy ‘75 trans am.
HB
Sep 9, 2008 at 4:15 am
Finally made one of the doors on Grumpy able to unlock, three more to go.
Stewart
Sep 9, 2008 at 3:53 am
Forgot to mention…
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John, there was a beautiful red convertible ‘59 Jaguar at Saturday’s show…
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Right up your alley
Stewart
Sep 9, 2008 at 3:44 am
Congratulations John!
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Good work Jen!
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It’s nice to see the Jag up and running!
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I went to two car shows, joined a local car club, added more chrome under the hood of the RoadMonster, and had some pin-striping done on the RoadMonster at Sunday’s show at the Oregon Garden.
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Oh yeah, won our seventh trophy out of nine shows this summer!
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Kinda sad though, the show season is nearing the end…
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Only one more and three more cruise-ins for me this year…
Adam
Sep 9, 2008 at 2:59 am
The Jag is looks great, but I can’t believe you used the dreaded foam brush! You never know where that thing has been! lol
Calichevylover
Sep 9, 2008 at 1:26 am
congrats John, long time no talk.
this weekend i came back to my college dorm and found out by suprise that my roommates let their drunk friend pass out in my bed. much to their dismay i told her to get the ***** outta there!
Harrison
Sep 9, 2008 at 12:48 am
Congrats on getting your Jag on the road Jon, it looks great.
Turner
Sep 8, 2008 at 11:53 pm
“I came into a corner a little too hot” apparently thats John’s way of saying he was drifting…. haha jk
Captain Paperclip
Sep 8, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Nice Work Johnny,
Can’t wait for a Gangsta cruise around town with my seat back and the window cracked.
cheers
Jake
Sep 8, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I put the old headers back on the new motor in the Monte, polished the HEI dizzy, and swapped on the MSD cap/rotor. I also painted a few brackets, bolted the motor mounts, and took a bunch of pictures.
swip_over
Sep 8, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Got my ride cleaned up and took it on a photo shoot in Ballard, http://cardomain.com/ride/2584328.
Leatherman944
Sep 8, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Thought about jacking up the Porsche to pull the transmission, decided to build models instead. I think when I finally do get the 944 running again, it will be the same reaction. Why did I wait?
GTwildfire
Sep 8, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Couldn’t stand the OEM speakers in my Firebird anymore. Heard better bass response from handheld AM radios, despite the factory 6+ speaker setup. Was gonna hold off replacing them with something high-end but decided to get 2 pair of el cheapo Digital Audio speakers. I was surprised at how good they sound though! One hell of a difference for 80 bucks…
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Also painted the emblems on the bird black. Trying to find a driver side door latch and actuator off a junker… proving to be nearly impossible. Yards want to sell whole doors… freaking jerks. Replacing the latch and actuator would cost a couple HUNDRED. I’d rather hold the door closed myself than pay that much… it’ll work out, but dealers aren’t gonna be part of that equation…