nice day at the office, nice day

OK, time for me to brag a bit....I was KILLING on my last Halo 2 Multiplayer game...KILLING. I grabbed the Wraith at the begining on the game and was untouchable. Had it not been for that freakin' turret, I'd probably still be killing folks. Stats? 24 kills, the rest of the team had 33 combined. 2 assists, tied with the most on the team. 5 deaths...second least on the team. Better still were the medals...3 double kills, 1 triple kill, 2 roadkills, 1 Killing Spree, 1 Running Riot, 1 Rampage, and 1 Berserkster...thats 20 kills in a row without dying, and lastly 1 flag steal. Who wants some? Of course, my next game I'll get SLAUGHTERED.

Stats

djayenos.com :: View topic - Fixed pics...

I need some money.....

First I need to get a 2004 GTO (or 05, whenever they come out with performance products for it), so that's about $30,000.

Then I need to upgrade it...for everything I want, $18,230.95, NOT including wheel/tires (close to $8000 alone), stereo (close to $3500), security (however much that costs), nitrous and other misc performance stuff (maybe $5000) shipping and painting...so that's what, like $28,000 on top of the GTO cost? At least in the end I'd have one helluva fast Goat that looked the part, sounded the part, acted the part, and one helluva show stopper to boot. Hmmmm...whats those lottery numbers again?

people....jeeze....

Is it just me or do people just suck sometimes? Man....

mmm, chocolatly goodness

Started working again on an old project, a guide of the history and the changes of the Sport Trac. Why? I'm bored for one, and because it could prove to be invaluable later down the road. Maybe not...but still. I started this a long while ago, but stopped work on it for whatever reason, so I've decided to get back into it. I'm taking a new approach to things as I didn't really like how I was going about doing things last time. Submitted for your approval is the very, very start of the guide. I've only got three pages up, but you can get an idea of the format and set-up I'm shooting for. Likes? Dislikes? Changes? Waste of time? I'd like to know...

ST Guide

The Sport Trac Web Site

What a fun filled weekend it was. Friday nite went to Pizza Hut to hang out with some people from the www.mysporttrac.com website, Deb. T, Sonya, LY, Spaceman Spiff, JeffC, JKII, WFoy (and Ashley), Funmobile, and I think I'm leaving someone out...my bad. Good laughs over good food, recipe for a nice Friday nite.

Saturday was no different. It was the 5th, 6th, 100th? I dunno 'annual' Atlanta Sport Trac Meet. Lots of people in attendence, not sure the finally tally, but over 25 Sport Tracs, and over 30 people. That is an outstanding turnout. Lots of new faces, some old ones, and some ones I never hope to see again...that means you John...I kid, I kid! But seriously folks, it was a really fun time.

Today, went to Turner Field to thrash on some GM products...kinda like the Chrysler thing a little while back. This event was a lot more crowded, so the wait times were a lot longer. The first ride up was the SSR.....worse 390 horses I've ever driven. An absolute DOG out of the hole...that big fat ass of a truck jsut doesn't get moving. Next up was the H2. I was actaully impressed with it...really nice interior. The one I drove was black with black interior...perfect combination. Lots of room on the inside of this one. This course was a little different, you did it in 4WD Low, went over some moguls, went up a 40% grade 10-12 feet up, and back down the other side. That was really about it...but it was fun.

Next up was my GTO...the 400 HP 6.0 version. The wait was horendous...45-hour easy. Anyhow, I get around to the start line, guy's like "Just take it easy out there, OK?" Alrighty....WOT engaging the traction control..took the first chicane barley getting on the brakes, hit the right hand sweeper, nailed the gas at teh apex...tire squaling, hit the esses on the back in perfect rythm, tires sceraming for dear life....it was fun. Then it was my Dad's turn....he went a bit faster then I did, simply cause he KILLED two cones and made two corners into straight aways...cheater.

Next, the C6 Vette. The wait wasn't too bad for this one. But while in the queue you could see the others out on the track...even in the Vettes they were grandma'ing it...at the start there was a slight left bend into a right hander, then right into a tight left hand sweeper....everyone would brake WAY too early, not even really getting into the power of the car, and ease around the sweeper, into the back stretch realy easy like. Not me....WOT through the right hander, didn't hit the binders until I entered the sweeper...I coulda got on the power out of the sweeper a lot sooner then I did, but I didn't and kept it under control onto the back stretch. Guy told me to brake (to test the brakes I reckon), so I did...slam. That was fun. Pops did pretty good as well...he got into the power way before I did in the sweeper and had the car sideways coming out of teh sweeper....nice. My ride-along guy for the Vette told me at the end of my run, "There's not enough 'o's' in smooooth for that run." I guess all them hours behind the controller are paying off, eh?

Go here, laugh...
More Sex Then Me

not quite there....do'nt move....ahhhhhhhh

I don't hide the fact that I'm a Ford guy...espically mid '60 iron. I mean, common' nothing beats a '32 or '34 Ford hotrod. Until the Tri Five's came out, there was nothing that screamed America more then a hot rodded Duece Coupe. Even with those mid '50's Chevy's, the Ford is still hard to beat. That was then, this is now. Ford, where did you go wrong? The Ford GT's seven deadly sins...aka recalls and TSBs? Leaky engines? Cracking body panels? Leaky seams? Cracked suspension arms? For $150,000? And the going price for $300,000? The car is supposed to LOOK like it's a classic from the '60s, not run and act like it's from the '60s. Now the 2005 Mustang, which I'm not that big a fan of, is the hottest selling sports car since...well, the 1965 Mustang. Here's the problem....it too is suffering from problems. Now I realize that all cars will suffer from problems, but it's not the problem that irks me, it's how Ford is dealing with it. The problem I'm refering to specifically is the faulty fuel tank. No, it doesn't explode or anything like the fuel tanks in Mustangs past, but rather it doesn't take gas. Ford's answer? Only replace the fuel tank IF the customer requests, and don't tell existing owners of the faulty tank. That's no way to treat customers Ford. Espically when you want to increase Mustang production 80% to 175,000 units for 2005. I know you save money this way, and that's what it's all about, the almighty dollar. This is why car companies that build cars for the customer, not for the money, have such a cult following. I dunno, maybe I'm overeacting and this is a common thing...just I notice it with Ford because I keep up with them so much. Either way, given the money, I'd buy neither the GT or Mustang. Ferrari and GTO would be my vices.

funny, you laugh

Blowing Santa. You go, you laugh.

one less day

What have I gotten done to the truck today? Almost got the drivers side seat cover done, needle broke and since the seat was out of the truck, had to wait for my Dad to get home from work to go get one to finish. So the drivers seat should be done and installed tomorrow first thing. The drivers side door is almost 100% too, I've redone the red suede (although the flamed part looked bitchin', it has somehow devloped a diviot in two spots, with one being a very noticable line....DAMN) , and I took of my crappy vinyl attempt and covered the main grey with grey suede...and it looks tons better then the passenger side. Only thing left to do on the drivers door is to repaint the painted portion. With the drivers seat back in the car, it'll allow me to go get some of the things I need for the rest of the truck, including clay bar, window tint, new bulbs, plastic weld, and who knows what else. On a good note, I found about $45 I didn't know I lost, and I counted up $26 in quarters from my change....so thats always good.

On a good note, I was voted Truck of the Month over at RangerEdge.com. Old news I know, but the site has been updated with me on the front. My truck kicks ass.

how many days?

I've got just 4 days to get my truck into shape. And a list the only seems to get longer. Right now the drivers seat is out of the truck and getting it's seat cover redone...the top is finished, with the bottom yet to go. I'm also going to have to remove the passenger side top seat cover to get rid of the top holes for headrest. What else have I got to do? Claybar, buff, polish, wax, drivers door (grey suede and red suede and repaint), finish drivers side seat cover, button up passenger side seat cover, get a new city light for the passenger side, glue the grille down.....again.....HMCSL, clean the engine, maybe an oil change, vaccum, clean the seats, and about 10 other thigns I can't remember at the time. There's time....maybe. I just have to get motivated and hope the weather holds out.

mommy, please make it stop

Ah yes, now I remember why I'm a Ford guy....cause I don't like working on Chevys....Ford's work my way...which is a bit off kilter, so we're good. Chevy's work the way they should...which isn't right. So my brother-in-law and I are tryin to get an '84 S-10 back to running order. Been two weeks now, and what have we (I hesitate to use this word, as I'm doing very little work on this stupid truck) gotten done in 14 days? Pulled the old 2.8 motor out, and put in another 2.8 motor...and just today does it run. How sad is that? This makes me look bad, but I must tell you....I'm letting him do the bulk of the work for a reason, mostly to prove a point, that he doesn't know shit about what he's doing. And let me tell you this...everything I've done is wrong, everything that is wrong I did...and everything that is right, he did. At least that's how he thinks.

So I guess it was Tuesday we got the motor in the truck, doesn't run of course. Well, you either have no spark, no fuel, or the timing is off. Of course we're getting fuel, HE put the fuel filter in....nevermind the fact that he thinks that you can't put it in backwards (the kind with one end closed off that mounts there at the carb). We've got spark, cause he got shocked. OK, so timing is off. Easy fix...right? remove #1 plug, feel for compression, bring piston to TDC by watching for the timing mark, remove the distributor cap to find which way to rotor is pointing, replace cap and install the wires in the proper firing order....right? People been doing that for years on many motors....But that way is bunk. Doesn't work. Stick a screwdriver in the plug hole and watch it till it stops moving up, TDC, right? Yes, but on which stroke? Exhuast or ignition? You have no idea. Pull the cap, do the wires...button it up....blow-back through the carb....guess what, you got the wrong TDC. Which I said...."make sure you're not firing on the exhuast stroke". Three days later bro-in-law comes to the same conclusion.

Hmmm, all the above is fine and dandy if you know which way the rotor rotates and the firing order. So I look it all up online...find the firing order to be 1-2-3-4-5-6?! Odd, yes...but it is a Chevy. Finding which way the rotor rotates is no biggie...remove the cap and bump the motor...problem solved. Lets not try that till the second day, shall we? And the firing order HAS to be wrong...NO engine is 1-6 in order.........at least that's what all his buddies say, what he thinks--er knows--, and besides, I rely too much on books and computers to tell me what to do. Regardless of the fact that I use neither (except for electrical-wire color tracing mainly) when working on cars...everything I know my father taught me. Well guess what the firing order is? Have you guessed it yet? 1-2-3-4-5-6. Very good. Where did my brother in law find this knowledge? From the $12 book he went out and bought today. Hypocrite? Indeed.

OK, so.....the rant continues. Finally after buying a book today, finding out the 'proper' firing order, how to find TDC on the ignition stroke, how to reset the distributor if the crank has been turned with the distributor removed, and several other things....the motor finally fires off. I still think it was mostly luck, as the way he found TDC was using one of the three timing marks on the balancer....Chevy's suck. So any who, the motor is running. But whats that classic rod knock you hear? Could it be rods? Nope....exhuast leak. So he thinks. Even though I said it could either be bad oil pick-up, or a bad bearing. Lets go to the book! (Which, lets remind you, I rely on too much...his words). Hmmmm, what does the book say? Clogged oil strainer on the oil pump....yes indeedy...bad oil pick up. The book makes no mention of rods, bearings, or anything in the crank case. Even though this noise is clearly crankcase derived...a long screwdriver on the oil pan and to my ear confirms that the crankcase is louder then Rage in concert. Hand bro-in-law the screwdriver to listen...he doesn't know how to use it to listen...and is convinced it's exhuast. Fast foward a few hours to when my father gets home. I barley even have to turn the motor over for him to hear the knocking and diagnose it as bad rods. Note the S. Ever see that Quaker State commercial with two white Taraus's on a rolling dyno, and the one guy falls asleep and dreams about that hot assistant in the lab coat? And racing a heads-up drag race with her as the flag girl? Remeber the noise the motor in the car w/o Quaker State was making right before it dies? Now you know what the S-10 sounds like. Motor shouldn't even be running in fear of ruining the crank or throwing a bearing and seizing the motor....much less be ran for say 20 mins straight and constantly being revved up to near full throttle....

So what does this all mean? First off, I know nothing about fixing an engine, or cars in general. That I rely too much on books and computers. Everything wrong is my fault. What else? I forget....but it also means that the motor will have to be pulled out and the bottom end --at least-- rebuilt. Can you guess what else? Starting on Sunday, I won't be working on the S-10...I've got a laundry list of things to do to the Ranger before Friday/Saturday at the latest. Up shit creek? Not me.

OK, rant over, continue on with your lives. At least I feel a little better.

in memorandum

My spelling sucks, leave me alone...

Thought this was worthy of a new post, so here it is. Not only have I given you an new version of the GTO emblem wall paper, I have given you small screen folks a version as well...enjoy. Also I've given you smallies a version of the '59 Eldorado. The things I do for you people...Wallpaper section (located uner the 'OTHER" header) is all updated as well. Yippie!...or not.

and that's why it all sucks

Been working the last week or so on an S-10 with my brother in law, taking the engine out and putting a new one in..same size and everything. This procedure that should take about 3 days, max, is now going on a week. To say his work ethics are different then mine or my Dad's is an understatement...with us it's you see what needs to be done and do it, you don't sit around and talk about it, think about it, look at it, etc, etc...you just do it. Anyway, I'll be surprised if the motor runs like it's supposed to when all is said and done, lol.

More wallpaper fun for you, based this latest one on a GTO emblem from RKSport. I'm not too happy with the carbon fiber effect, I'll work on that later though, but I kind screwed up and merged the brushed aluminum and carbon fiber layers so now I can't go back easily...oh well. It's a bit on the large size as far as file size, but any lower and the mettalic/vignette effect looked blocky. Hope you likey...6.0 GTO emblem. Will update the wallpaper page shortly.

**EDIT**
Updated the wallpapers page (I think....can't rememebr if I uploaded it to the server or not...hmmmm) and got a BRAND NEW version of the GTO emblem up. I like this one better...a little more drop shadow, some shadow on the brushed aluminum innards, a different kind of vignette (probably have spelt that wrong twice now), and a much better looking CF. If you've got the old, keep it, it's a collectors item! I don't even have it still, who-hoo!

news, get your fresh and aily news, breaking!

Well, nothign of much to say...Been kinda looking at the prices of airbag stuff, and when it's all said and done I'm looking at probably the neighborhood of $3,000 for parts alone. Considering I'd be getting some trick parts, it's not too bad. If I had some fabbing equipment, I'd be able to build my own stuff like notches. I'm not really happy with a generic notch. I was also looking at maybe getting a 2 gallon Moon Dragster Tank...how bad ass would that be sitting in the bed? Very...that's how much. It'd take some modding to get it to work with bags...but the cool and unique factor is on up there. Hmmm...anythign else? Oh yeah...my emergency brake doesn't work like it shoudl anymore...truck fell off the jack and pinched the brake line up against a body mount...now it's FUBAR'd. Damnit....