Solo Adventure

Mike reporting back from the drying out northern VA area.  Well, it was sort of an adventure.  After getting some work done on the T/A and some yard work done, Saturday, I was going to reward myself with a trip to the local Burger King car cruise and a shopping trip to Pep Boys.

I had slaved away during the day making a slow cooker full of fall off the bone apricot ribs with some Bush's baked beans and throw in the oven rolls.  That was some stressful cooking.  hahaha   After getting cleaned up, I chowed down on the grub with an ice cold Corona.

I had grabbed the keys, camera, some cash, my shopping list and headed out in a very dirty Cadillac.  It's all good.  I parked it near the BK with all the commoners.  The selection of classic cars wasn't great because I showed up a little late.  There were a lot of newer Corvettes and Camaros, a CTS-V like mine but red, a new CTS-V coupe and a hodge-podge of classics.  Here are some of the pictures from the show.

Pontiac representing nicely.  1964 GTO, 1962 Catalina Safari, in the background you can see a 3rd gen Firebird, G8

These showed up on one of my trips back to the car to leave.  This is for Sherry, our tattoo artist.

I would love to build a rat rod Bug like this.

Other pix from the show.

Notice the lady mannequin passenger.

If you look where the trunk is open, you can see a tatted guy with a Pug.

Walmart must have closed early.  At least she has an airbag with Elmo up front if the leash snaps.

After this, I left the show before it got any weirder.  I successfully avoided some of the guys from another car meet.  One was Ryan's BFF with a twin GTO to his.  I was in disguise (sunglasses and hair was a mess).  Off to Pep Boys I go looking to spend some money.  I get there at 8:30pm and notice no other cars in the lot.  As I get out two others pull up.  I find the door locked.  Who closes at 8:30 on a Saturday night?!?!  At least I wasn't in a hurry for a part or I would have been pissed.  Something must be telling me not to shop there.  This was the second time I tried to go and got derailed.  I tried earlier in the week, but a massive rain storm had me abort and head home.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Fast Food and Fast Cars.

A Planned Day for Indecisiveness

    Hello, this is Ryan.  Mike threatened my life if I didn't write a post.  The weekend started off great when I decided that I wanted to buy a set of headers for the GTO.  I set up to meet the seller in Maryland, and asked Mike if he wanted to go with me to pick them up.  What actually happened, you ask?  Ha.

    I pulled up to Mike’s house a little later than 2:30 to pick him up.  Before we headed out on our journey, I wanted to stop in and checkout Mike’s T/A.  He’s in the process of tearing the engine apart before sending it off to a machine shop to get it rebuilt.  I was in awe as I stepped in the garage to see parts all over the floor.  It looked like a car crime-scene, with all the parts scattered, yet very organized.  Seeing the car without a front end was so strange to me, as the last time I saw it, Mike had only begun the tear-down process.  We hung out out in the garage for a while before deciding to finally hit the road.
    Leaving the neighborhood, we spent a bit more effort than necessary trying to decide where to eat.  This was only the beginning to the indecisiveness.  After some debate, Mike and I finally decided to stop by the Buffalo Wing Factory to get some lunch.  McDonald’s just wasn’t going to cut it...especially after the last McDonald’s run we had.  While we devoured our boneless wings (which Mike wasn't too happy with his), I started to get the “I’m not sure I should spend this sort of money” feeling on the headers.  After quite a bit of back-and-fourth, I finally decided to can the whole trip up to Maryland.  The fact that the GPS told us it would take 1hr 45 minutes each way, instead of the estimated 1 hour I thought it would be, was enough to put my decision over the edge.  Did I feel like a total idiot?  You betchya.
    So after finishing lunch and waiting for the waitress, who kept bringing us refills even though we were ready to leave, we hopped in the GTO and started to drive.  We had no idea where or what we were going to do.  We decided to swing by the parts store to browse and look for some oil, however they didn’t’ have the oil that I wanted.  So, after some thinking, I decided to try AutoZone later on.  The trip to the parts store wasn’t a total waste though; we had fun laughing at some of the “Guido” parts, such as stick on air vents, cheap shifters, and funny license plate frames.  But our fun ran out once we made our way down all the isles.

    Mike, being the old man that he is, had to make a bathroom run and so we pulled over at Wendy’s.  We walked out with some awesome Frosty’s…just couldn’t resist!  Back on the road we go, still trying to figure out what to do…until we pass a car dealership.  Mike and I had talked about test driving cars just for fun, with absolutely no intention of buying.  Today was the day this became a reality!  We did one lap around Chantilly Auto Park.  First stop was a Dodge dealership, where we looked at some Challengers.  I wanted to test drive one of these real bad, however the workers there simply weren’t interested in us.  So after some lingering, we crossed the street to check out the Ford dealership.  Same thing with Ford, absolutely nobody walked up to us to offer us help.  I guess Dodge and Ford’s customer service is just the same as their cars: total crap. 

    Disappointed, we vowed to travel to a distant land to test drive some cars.  Our destination?  Manassas (or as Mike calls it, Manasshole).  We made our way to perhaps the most ghetto car dealership where I did a lot of test driving when searching for a GTO.  This place was the most “run-by-night” place you can imagine.  Unfortunately, there were no real interesting cars there..but that didn’t stop us from sitting in almost every car in the lot, including the ones in the garage.  Who knows if we were even allowed in there, but we went in anyways.
    Before we made it to our final destination we tried out Eastern Motors.  Their selection was very poor.  The sales guy comes out and asks us what we are looking for.  Mike says "sports cars."  The guy replies with "sporty as in Eclipse sporty or sporty like these Jettas."   LOL

Mitsubishi Eclipse:  Sporty?  Yes.  Sports car?  Not really

Volkswagen Jetta:  Sporty?  No.  Sports car?  HELL NO!!!  DUMB EASTERN'S GUY!!!

 

    After much searching, we finally came to a Nissan dealership, where out front there was a shiny new 2010 Camaro SS.  “I’m not going home till I test drive that Camaro” is what I told Mike.  

   This dealership was very nice; the people who worked there just threw us the keys and told us to have fun.  I piloted the car first, and once I was on the parkway I gave it the beans.  This Camaro SS had the 6-speed and 426hp LS3 engine.  The car, however, has one downfall.  It is heavy…very heavy.  The car was very sluggish and didn’t pull anywhere near as hard as I thought it would.  I was very disappointed with the new Camaro.  Performance just wasn’t there.  Next up, the interior:  For GM interior, it’s definitely a step up, however I feel that it should have been in an SUV, not a Camaro.  The windows were narrow and up high (plus the passenger one was covered in dealer stickers), you couldn’t see the hood, and the rear window was pointless.  It felt like I was commanding a tank, and since the Camaro has no turret, it was nowhere near as fun.  Mike thought the Camaro felt fast from the passenger seat, so of course I had to let him actually drive the car.  I knew that there was no way the CTS-V was slower than this heavy pig of a Camaro.  Once he hopped in the car, he romped on it a bit and immediately agreed.  Our fun with the Camaro was cut short due to the “low gas” light flashing at us like an annoying gnat in our eyes, so we took the SS back.
    We had to drive with the passenger window down and put the driver's one down to try to hear the exhaust (which isn't too impressive either).  It wasn't such a bad idea since it was in the 50s, but once moving it got cold.  This is part of our conversation as I was driving:
Ryan:  "Can you turn the heat on?"
Mike:  "Let me see what I can figure out."  He starts working buttons and knobs.
Ryan:  "Turn them off!!  TURN THEM OFF!!!  TURN THEM OFF!!!"
Mike:  "WHAT?!  WHAT?!?!  WHAT?!?!?"
Ryan:  "The hazards!  You turned on the hazards!"
Mike:  "SHIT!!!"  He starts pressing all the buttons again.
So, Chevy thought it would be a good idea to hide the hazard flasher button with the heat-a/c controls, same color and all.  It didn't even flash when it was turned on.

    Back at the dealer, this is where it got funny.  Of course, the sales person asked what we thought.  I said I liked the car.  I had made the worst mistake you could EVER make when test driving cars for fun, with no intention of buying.  I said these words: “What’s the lowest you can go on it?”  Into the office I go, to somehow break it to the guy that I wasn’t going to be buying this car.  At this point, I pretty much wanted to just run out of the place, but the possibility of me being put up on the “don’t do business with this man” bulletin board, I refrained and I stuck it out.  During this time Mike is in the showroom laughing at me.  I simply told him that the price was too high, and I would have to think about it.  Being engaged, I got to pull the “I have to check with my fiancée” card.  He even offered me to take the car home for the weekend to show her.  That is great customer service, too bad I didn’t to buy the car though.

    So…if we go back and remember how this all started, it was that I was going to be driving with Mike to Maryland to pick up some headers.   Definitely not what we both expected, but it was an awesome day full of laughter, fun, and tire-kicking!
    Oh, and the next day, I decided I’d take the headers.  The seller drove them down from Maryland for me, and cut me a better price on them as well.  Indecisive?  You know it.
     Stay tuned for our next adventure.

It's a Shiz 300, yo!!!

While Ryan and I were out to lunch on my birthday last week, we saw this pimped out Chrysler 300 pull up outside the restaurant.  Funny thing was, it was an old white guy in a cowboy hat that got out.  Cowboy hats are meant for trucks.  We went to Spanky's in Leesburg, VA for some awesome Buffalo Chicken nachos and fried pickles.  We make a lot of jokes about these cars and I figured it deserved a post.

Me and Ryan have a mutual dislike for pimped out Chrysler 300s.  All the things done to these cars are cliche.  You've all seen one.  The 300 with the large chrome wheels, dark tint, Bentley grilles, stupid paint and cheesy stick-on chrome trim.

Here is a "how to" guide to make a shiz 300 to pick up some bitches.
1.  Find a base 300.  Yeah, nothing screams style like a V6 Chrysler 300.

2.  Buy a fake Bentley grille on Ebay, like this.

3.  Get stupid looking wheels and stick-on chrome pieces for your doors off Ebay.

4.   Paint your dope ride an ugly color.

5.  If you want to go all out, add a set of Lambo door hinges, that can be found on, of course, Ebay.

6.  You are now ready to take your sick whip out and cruise for some honeys, like this.  Sure she wants you for your money (all $3000 you spent on Ebay), but you won't be spending the night alone in your mama's basement.

7.  This is your "OH SNAP!!!  SOMEONE JACKED MY SHIZ 300, YO!!!" face.

8.  These are the tools you can thank, with a kick to the sack, for causing this phenomenon.

My Space Saver Workbench

Well, it's been over a month since we started this blog with no new posts.  Shame on us.  Life is always getting in the of way fun.  This post is only about me this time.  Sorry, Ryan.  You'll be in the next one.

Those of us with garages always come across the issue of running out of space.  I wanted a workbench in my garage, but didn't have enough room to fit it along with the V and the T/A in there.  So I came up with the idea of building a folding workbench.  I had all the leftover lumber in there from past projects.  So, I got my sketchbook, pencil and tape measure and went to work.  When build time came, I changed the location in the garage to accommodate the fact that the T/A would be in the way when I start the major engine work.

A trip to Home Depot to pick up the hardware was all that was needed.  No better way to "butch-up" for a project than a trip to the home improvement store with the SUV.  I started by gluing the table top pieces together to make it strong.  Once dry, then the fun began.  POWER TOOLS!!!!  YES!!!!!!   A few cuts, and drilled holes later and the bench could have been mounted to the wall, but I had some black stain I wanted to use on it.  I got to have a cool black bench to go along with the cool black cars in the garage.  I got one coat on with no problems.  I went for the second coat and that's when things got interesting.  The can slipped out of my hand and landed bottom down on the floor.  No big deal, you think?!?!  Well, the stain that was left erupted out of the can.  I got a splatter on my chin and the rest went on the floor.  Here's the aftermath.

After a little clean up to make sure my chin didn't turn gray, I finished the 2nd coat.  That dried and I mounted it to the wall.  Here is the finished project.

Folded down against the wall.

Here it is in working order.  I used 2" joist hangars to hold the legs in place.  Check out the sweet vice Suzanne bought me for Christmas.  The best part is I can store the legs behind the bench, between the studs.  The main stud (me) was taking the pictures.

Total cost $35 for the hardware.  To keep with the food and car theme of this blog, I took a break for lunch as the stain was drying.  : - p

2011 Washington DC Auto Show Outting

The cohorts in crime have had their 1st adventure since the start of this blog.  Ryan and I decided to go to the Washington DC Auto Show.  We went on a week night to avoid the large weekend crowds.  The day started a bit iffy with the weathermen predicting an ice storm, but we forged ahead with REALLY cold rain we ended up getting.  Ryan showed up all chipper in the GTO to pick me up and of to work we went.  On our way we spotted a red GTO with the license plate BIG ONE.  I promptly made a joke that everyone knows GTO owners don't have "Big Ones," which set the tone for the rest of the day.  The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We spent a portion of the day chatting on IM at work reliving some of the most hilarious things we have come up with.  A certain "Real Man of Genius" Budweiser commercial we made up seems to always leave us in stitches.  Work, FINALLY, ended after a long 9.5 hours and we were on our way to the Metro, with Red Bulls in hand, to get into town.  The train time was spent talking about projects we have in mind for our cars and a few past crazy experiences we have had.  Hmmm, I have been kind of boring until later in life.  Most of the time spent at the show was talking about what we liked/didn't like about the cars we were checking out.  While we were checking out some of the cars, we were being checked out by the representatives, both male and female, at the display.  Today was the day for me to be hit on by the gay man, which is fine.  The ladies were checking us out at the Chevy truck display.  I thought it would be funny if we asked the next person for their phone number, if the representatives asked us if we had any questions.  But, alas, I thought of it on our way out.  There were quite a few "that's what she said" remarks when shift knobs were mentioned.  With our feet and butts tired from all the walking and sitting in cars, we called it quits and headed back to the metro to go home.  One epic moment had me hunched over laughing my ass off.  As we were transferring trains, we saw this group of teenagers that were pretending to arrest each other.  The one comment that stuck out was when the one girl said, "You're under arrest for solicitation."  I looked at Ryan asking, "Why the hell would you pick that?!?"  His reply was, "They are just practicing for the rest of their lives."  An instantaneous roar of laughter exited both of us for a good minute or so.  Even as we're sitting there one of us would just start chuckling about it.  In my tired state, I left the door open for Ryan to make a few jokes at my expense.  Not sure exactly what they were, but I think they were about me being older and bigger (body shape and height, of course).  We made it back to the car and Ryan decided to adjust his suspension to the stiffest setting to let me feel how the car felt.  Needless to say, I think we're an inch or two shorter.  Our fine dining experience took us to McDonalds.  Hamburgers, McNuggets and fries were heartily consumed.  After our four star meal we trekked back to my house to get dropped off.  With a mighty growl Ryan and the blue GTO sped off.  Now onto our car picks and pictures.


Michael's Car Picks

Biased Pick:  2011 Cadillac CTS-V line, since I have a V-1.  The design is more in-your-face than the 1st generation car.  It still has the chrome mesh upper and lower grilles, giant brakes and engine (556hp, supercharged V8).  They had the coupe, sedan and wagon on display.  I am actually partial to the wagon.  There is something about the wagon that makes it cool.  Maybe the sloping roof line.  The interior looks fitting for a Cadillac.  GM is trying to grab new buyers with offering an automatic transmission as well as the 6-speed manual.  The only issue, other than the price tag, is the poor rear visibility of the wagon.  There is a huge blind spot.  So, opt for the back up sensors.  I think I just heard my V honk in disapproval over my liking the new car.

Truck Pick:  Ford F150 SVT Raptor.  The only thing longer than the name is the amount of suspension travel you get in this truck.  I was drawn to the blue one with the black graphics.  I have a thing about blue cars/trucks.  I have a bad man crush on Ryan's GTO.  This truck was designed after off-road race trucks.  It's got the lifted suspension, aggressive off-road tires and widened fenders to cover the tires.  It comes with a 411hp V8.  The interior is also a big step up over the previous model.  If I wanted to go off-roading, this is the truck I want.

Sporty Car Pick:  2011 Audi TTS.  This is a departure for me.  I usually don't care for German cars other than Porsche or some Mercedes models, but this one is cool.  It's actually a 4 person car, though the back seat is pretty much non existent if tall people are up front.  The interior is very nice and laid out logically.  There is a good bit of cargo space in the hatch and the rear seats fold flat for more.  It comes with a 265hp turbo 4 cylinder engine and sports suspension.  I dare you to call this a girlie car.

Odd Ball Pick:  2011 Nissan Juke.  The odd balls need their love too.  This is an AWD compact crossover.  I like it because it's just a funky design.  Not funky like the Cube, but a sporty funky.  It doesn't have a lot of power or space, but would make a great commuter car with 24/30 mpg.  The model that was at the show had red interior trim that complimented the exterior.  I think that is available on some of the exterior color choices. 

Ryan's Car Picks

Biased Pick:  2011 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.   Growing up as a kid, I have always been in love with GM muscle.  Having owned 4 different GM performance vehicles, 2 of which having LSX engines, naturally the Z06 is my top pick.  I have always wanted one, but only after sitting in the car am I sure that this is the car for me.  The seating position is perfect, and the shifter sits in the most convenient position for my arm.  Everything is within reach, and the interior feels like a true cockpit to a very fast car.  505hp backs up that feeling!

Truck Pick:  SVT Raptor F-150.   I am definitely going to have to go with Mike on this one, SVT  wins this by a longshot.  The truck screams “Do not mess with me” and clearly shows that SVT did not cheap out on any aspect of this truck.  The bold colors are catchy, along with the “Ripped/Torn” graphics along the side and on the hood.  The interior is very nice, considering this truck is made to do some serious offroading.  Inside the truck, you’d never suspect this.  Now, if only I could drive one…

Sporty Car Pick:  Hyundai Genesis Coupe.   Surprisingly enough, I have to go with the Genesis Coupe.  I’ve seen a few of these cars on the road, and have thought “Okay, it looks like a new Tiburon” and this never really drew my attention to the car.  However, after sitting in the car, my entire view changed.  The interior is very nicely done, and there is a lot to look at and it feels great to sit in.  Both paint color on the red and blue cars that were on display were really impressive.  Never thought I’d say this, but awesome work Hyundai! 

Odd Ball Pick:  2011 Honda CR-Z.   I’ve never been a Honda fan, as they’ve never really released any vehicles that have grabbed my attention.  I’ve seen a few of the new CR-Z’s on the road and didn’t think much of them, same as the Hyundai.  Once I sat in it, my view changed.  The interior is very neat, colorful, and quite unique.  I’ve never seen another car quite like it.  Probably the best quality interior for any Honda I’ve ever been in.  Starting around 18k, the price is very reasonable…however they are pretty deep into the “slow side” of the car world, I’ll wait to see what the sportier version has to offer.





















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