We’re late again. Been out talking to the neighbor who said he’s taking the tree that was damaged by lightening down today. He seems to have it figured out and while I’ll miss the old tree it will be safer to have it cut down. Now, every time the wind blows I worry about the tree falling and taking out part of somebody else’s house, or ours.
We talked from around 06:30 on, I moved the car around front just in case, and the whole removal is supposed to start around 09:00. Things are going to get a little noisy around here shortly, and it’s going to be a busy day.
In other news, Sgt. Pepper’s Auto Repair is having a garage sale today through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm each day. If you need something this is the place to look. Signs, tools, manuals, automobilia, some furniture, and much more is on sale for your man cave or spacious garage. The address is 323 E. 3rd St., Davenport, Iowa.
We don’t know what all is included in the sale but what we’ve heard there is a lot to choose from. So, if you’re local, or don’t mind a little cruise to get there, go give it a looking over. Enjoy our Wednesday as we will.
There is an event coming up that we have to mention because if you’ve ever been there you remember the place. The event is the Mecum auction at Elmers Auto & Toy Museum which is located at W903 Elmers Rd., Fountain City, Wisconsin. There will be over 100 classic, muscle cars, 150 motorcycles, 700 pedal cars 1,000’s of toys and much more at this auction.
I remember when Dale was gracious enough to invite me to ride along and visit this place and I can honestly say if it wasn’t in this collection you don’t need to see it. When we visited there were no cameras allowed but during the auction cameras are encouraged! Thanks again Dale.
If this is something that may interest you keep it in mind. It is an amazing collection and the view isn’t bad either. Enjoy our Monday as some of us go back to work.
I’ll be cruising west shortly but wanted mention an event that will be going on later today. Today is Collector Car Appreciation Day, and to celebrate that there is going to be a cruise from 4 to 10 pm tonight in downtown Davenport. Bring out your ride and have some fun.
Please don’t do burn outs or race, you may end up with a ticket if you do. While cruising remember that our our city government wants to change the one-ways back to two-way streets. Many feel this is very bad idea, and we are among them.
A group that I believe is called ‘Save Our One-Ways’ is trying to stop the non-sense these city leaders have and keep things as they are downtown. As someone who attended council meetings, and occasionally spoke out, I know not all the councils ideas are good ones. I don’t have the time now to attend meetings but support fighting this idea. We are losing to much of what used to be and I don’t want our one-ways to another victim of ‘progress’.
Overslept again which means this post it late. Should have been done by 7 am, sometimes it is as late as afternoon, and other times we miss a day. Not a good habit to have yet even when late the post should have been done earlier. We will try to better and may post some new pictures tomorrow if there is anything outside to get a picture of.
I got wrapped up in an article about the Roots supercharger and its history before laying down and couldn’t shut my brain off to get to sleep. It was and interesting tale that went back further than I imagined. Originally used to pump water it was converted to use on automobiles in the early part of the 20th century.
In fact, in 1928, the Roots blower was put on Mercedes-Benz Kompressor automobiles from the factory. Yet they are probably best know for their use on GMC 6-71 diesels from the late 1930s through the 1990s. We’re told these blowers were made according to engine size and the 6-71 was no exception. The GMC six-cylinder diesels had 6 cylinders with 71cubic inches per cylinder which equaled 426 cubic inches. Big six by any standard.
Some say the Roots isn’t a supercharger at all but instead a blower, or pump. Whatever you call it this speed part has been integrated into all forms of automotive history from production cars to race cars. We may go into this a little deeper at a later date but this is what I remember now.
Enjoy our Wednesday. Now for some coffee and a couple of burritos. Comments are always welcome.
Well, the much hyped Ford Bronco has finally made an appearance. It
has been delayed, pushed back, and the subject of much speculation,
but the news is out. The base 2-door model will run you around
$29,995 and the base 4-door around $34,995.
A standard transmission is only available on the base model and
with over 200 options your dream 4×4 could end up costing you over
$60,000. Like the looks but am not putting $100.00 down on one to
reserve it.
The base 2-door and 4-door models come with a 2.3 liter EcoBoost
four cylinder engine that makes 270 horsepower and plenty of torque.
Among the engine choices is an optional 2.7 liter EcoBoost V-6 that
puts out 310 horsepower through a 10-speed automatic.
About the only thing I don’t like about it is dial where the
shifter used to be. First used it on the wifes car and am still not
used to it. The Sport button in the center is fun to play with
though.
If you want to know more about trim levels, costs, and more
information, go to this link.
So enjoy our Wednesday as we will. Now I need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.
Recently our youngest asked me to look for a picture of a car that
we last saw in 2010. Between the two of us we spent about 48 hours
looking and came up with 3 pictures. While the car isn’t included in
these pictures, take a look at what car shows and cruise ins looked
like 10 years ago.
The first is a well-known local car and we have no idea if it is
still around or not. When the shows and cruises open up again we’ll
ask around.
The second picture is of the VooDoo Hellion which I believe was out
of VooDoo Larrys shop. I do remember it had a crowd around all day
as it was a looker.
The blue Model A I honestly don’t remember but I liked the looks of
it so included it here.
The purple A was at the first TorqueFest in Farley, Iowa. Things
have changed since 2010 and the shows just kept coming until the
virus hit. Things will get going again but if you get garage fever
we hope these pictures help.
Enjoy our Thursday as the weekend is just a dream away and more
businesses in Iowa will open up tomorrow. Now for some coffee and a
bite to eat.
Comments are always welcome.
Been trying to post the last few days but have been so tongue-tied
that I can’t get the keyboard to work right. And it all started with
the Democrat ‘debate’. No, I didn’t watch but can’t avoid the clips
during the news. That’s enough to put me off politics for a while.
So let’s mention a car show. Tomorrow and Sunday the 51st Annual
O’Reilly Rod & Custom Car Show will be held at the Berndes Center.
The address is 766 N. Maple St., Monticello, Iowa, and Dave Palmer
from 3-D Sound will be providing the music.
We have been to this show many times and have always had a good time and seen some great rides. We can’t make this one but the weather is supposed to be good if you feel like cruising up there.
And we figured out we’re getting old today. Cruised over to get
groceries at our regular store and realized after we walked in that
we didn’t know where anything was, and didn’t like the feeling. We
did manage to find what we needed but feel the place is getting a
little too fancy for us.
After all, the place has had a cafe but now they have a Starbuck’s
too! One employee even had the nerve to tell me the pizzas are going
to get moved during the remodel. Oh the humanity. I’m sure the place
will look fancy when done but I’ve always said ‘why fix it if it
ain’t broke?’.
Enjoy our Friday as we will. Now for some coffee and a short break.
Comments are always welcome.
Overslept a bit but when I went out to feed the cats a car was in
our driveway that I didn’t recognize. Besides being parked at an odd
angle it had a smashed front end and no plates. So I went over to
our neighbors to see if it was theirs, it wasn’t, and called the police
station.
After describing the car, the damage, and the fact it had no license
plates I was told the car was reported stolen and was involved in a
police chase last night. So after the first policeman arrived and
confirmed the car was stolen a crime scene technician quickly followed
and a short time later the owner.
Pictures were taken and the tech dusted for fingerprints then took
more pictures before declaring herself done. The owner had some
running to do but told me he would have the car out of here today. I
hope he does. The cats don’t like the car parked so close their food
bowls and the wife wants her parking spot back.
The police were happy to find the car, the owner thanked me several
times for calling it in, and hopefully it will be a memory later
today. The sad thing is it looked like it was a nice car before the
theft and accident occured and insurance will probably total it.
The car probably will get totaled as it’s an orphan brand. If you
don’t know what that means, it’s a brand no longer in production so
parts are probably hard to find and expensive.
Enjoy our Wednesday as we’ve made it half-way through the week.
Now for more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.
When I stepped out yesterday afternoon and ran into this critter who
was giving me the ‘sad puppy dog eyes’ look. I almost fell for it then
came to my senses. So I stomped my boot on the sidewalk and told
him to git.
The raccoon had other ideas and showed his teeth while hissing at me
to get the point across. I started laughing at the thought of this
small creature trying to scare me off. We had a stare down until he
finally waddled off as only raccoons can.
This morning I stopped to get donuts for Dad on my way over and the
lady at the counter told me the price. Then she said she didn’t know
why she told me the price as I always have the exact change. When I
left we were both smiling.
Over at Dads I noticed he had a new coffee pot. He told me he didn’t
know who got it, or why he needed it, but there it sat. So I made him
some coffee in his new pot and got him some juice out the refrigerator
to wash down a donut.
Then we sat and talked for a while about the rising cost of just
about everything and how back in the day you could leave your car
unlocked all night with nothing missing in the morning. We agreed that
the best anti-theft device on cars today is a manual transmission.
And how on some older cars the keys just turned on the ignition and
you have to put your foot down on a button on the floor to actually
start them. We talked of cheap cars back when and some of the
inventive ways used to keep them running. It was all good for a laugh.
Then when I got home the wife wanted macaroni and cheese while I was hungry for burritos. We compromised. She made her mac and cheese and I cooked up some burritos. All in all a perfect day. Enjoy our Tuesday as we won’t see another until next week. Now for some coffee and another burrito.
Comments are always welcome.
Late yesterday afternoon went to see if the moon was visible in the
blue sky, get a picture, and have a chat. After returning inside I
realized I hadn’t eaten anything so fried up a couple cheeseburgers.
Add a Coke, a big helping of potato chips, and a Snicker’s ice cream
bar and it was the perfect meal.
The food made me drowsy so I turned in early at 8 pm. Decided a good nights sleep was in order and woke up refreshed but noticed it was still dark out. Thinking it was early morning I made coffee but when I looked at the clock it displayed 11:15 pm.
But all was not wasted as I had a dream that needed to be thought
about. In the dream I built another vehicle, a Model A pickup this
time. And this one was different as it had no windows. Everywhere a
window opening should be was covered with metal.
It was a masterpiece. Until I tried to drive it. Plans of putting
rubber bumpers all around the truck was quickly dismissed as I
imagined that while said bumpers may prevent some body damage the
owners of vehicles hit might get a bit angry.
So another path was taken. I enrolled in the Roy Orbison School of
Driving for the Blind. When that didn’t work a periscope was rigged
that stuck out of top and swiveled. This worked reasonably well but
still left a huge blind spot.
So I chopped the top to allow 4 inch tall windows all around and believed the problem was solved. It was not. The cab was now so short I couldn’t get skinny old body into it, but it did look sharp. It may be for sale in my next dream.
Enjoy our Thursday as it means we’re that much closer to the weekend. Now I need more coffee to solve the problem.
Comments are always welcome.
Posted by cruisin2 
Just Cruisin 2 