Other hobbies

[Deathshead]

I enjoy drinking beer and working on my Dodge SRT-4.

[Denis]

Feel free to drink beer and rebuilt the transmission in my Dodge turbodiesel!

[Highlander]

Oh yeah, and Denis, I don't envy you your task, either... how much are you short on your "DIY kit" ...? 

[Denis]

Oh yeah, and Denis, I don't envy you your task, either... how much are you short on your "DIY kit" ...? 

Short by a lot, since I bought those idiotic Indian parts and these dumb basses!

The truck won't even move out of the driveway by itself and I have no intention of adding a rebuilding to my list of hobbies. I think I'll just pay someone... I'm afraid that it will cost me several thousand unless I get lucky and only the torque converter is toasted. 

[Deathshead]

Feel free to drink beer and rebuilt the transmission in my Dodge turbodiesel!

Uh oh what happened!, 5 speed or auto? I thought only the ford trannys has major issues, lol..

[Pilgrim]

Short by a lot, since I bought those idiotic Indian parts and these dumb basses!

The truck won't even move out of the driveway by itself and I have no intention of adding a rebuilding to my list of hobbies. I think I'll just pay someone... I'm afraid that it will cost me several thousand unless I get lucky and only the torque converter is toasted. 

I don't blame you.  Auto repair is one of my hobbies and has been since 1968 - but I don't mess with automatic transmissions.  I'll take apart a stick tranny and fix whatever's wrong, but automatics are ju-ju to me.

[Big_Stu]

I have hobbies which I devote little time to, but then have a major blast into for a while.

One I gave up on was duplicating the guitars that Slade used to own, very expensive & that's what stopped me. But I do have an SG Junior and a Telecaster both with John Birch mods & also a bass like Scott's also by John Birch. I stopped when my skills didn't justify buying another John Birch (a J1 guitar - like a twin cutout Les Paul).

Then came photography; with a couple of exhibitions, which led onto doing portraits in pencil from photographs which also was mildly successful but not enough to make a living off as I'd hoped.

I'm currently planning out a 1/32 scale diorama featuring a German WW2 Stug Mk3 tank destroyer, since like most here I was crazy about model kits when I was a kid.

[Denis]

Uh oh what happened!, 5 speed or auto? I thought only the ford trannys has major issues, lol..

I don't blame you.  Auto repair is one of my hobbies and has been since 1968 - but I don't mess with automatic transmissions.  I'll take apart a stick tranny and fix whatever's wrong, but automatics are ju-ju to me.

It's a 3 speed auto with overdrive. I remember when these trucks were new (it's a '91.5 with an intercooler) my buddy who was service manager at the Dodge dealer told me that reverse was the weak spot on the automatics. I'd noticed that I could go forward if I gave it a LOT of throttle but it wouldn't back up at all, so I figured either the torque converter was fried or I'd lost reverse. Well, I had it towed up to the shop Friday and they confirmed reverse was gone and it would probably cost $1800-2000 to fix if everything was toasted. I'd talked myself into believing it would cost $2500 so I told them to go ahead. Besides, the truck has almost 300,000 miles on it.
Hearing a Cummins turbodiesel pull out of a parking lot right now brings a tear to my eye. I want my truck back.

[Denis]

Today was the first ride-the-motorcycle-to-work day this year! Could have done it much earlier in the year but didn't get around to buying a battery until last night.

[OldManC]

Awww Denis, you're killing me! I miss my '71 Ambassador:



I had to sell it to help pay baby bills a few years back. I really want another one one of these days...

Nice Eldo!

[Denis]

Your Ambo is gorgeous! It has the small, solid, side covers and the sunburst rear end. Was it an early '71? Looks like it has the small screw in filler cap, big handlebars and big speedo. Was it an ex-police bike?

A buddy in Washington state has one with a 1000cc kit in it he wants to sell...

[Basvarken]

I love Mercedes Benz oldtimers.

Here's my first Mercedes. A "strich acht" (/8) six cylinder 250 from 1968. This car was built one week after I was born!
And I sold it on the day my first son was born: june 24th 2004.




My second Mercedes. A "strich acht" 280 C six cylinder from 1974. I really love the lines of a coupé.
When I bought it, it had some issues. On of them was the gas pedal that couldn't move. I had to replace it (among other things). When I had it fixed I was so excited to finally be able to really put the pedal to the metal, I took for a quick illegal ride on a quiet piece of highway. The car wasn't insured and it didn't even have it's license put on my name yet... I really put my foot down to the floor and at a speed of 190 kmh (118 MPH) I got overtaken by a Police car!! They didn't even bother about me as they were obviously in a hurry... phew!





I sold it to an action painter who painted it for his wedding.





Here's my current pride and joy: a MB 230CE  W123 from 1982. I bought it in Germany for a very good price. When I brought it to The Netherland its value had climbed with 5000 euro without doing one single thing.

[OldManC]

Your Ambo is gorgeous! It has the small, solid, side covers and the sunburst rear end. Was it an early '71? Looks like it has the small screw in filler cap, big handlebars and big speedo. Was it an ex-police bike?

A buddy in Washington state has one with a 1000cc kit in it he wants to sell...

It had all the cop bike appointments but not the siren bracket, so it was originally a civilian model. At some point an Eldorado transmission was put in as well. The previous owner installed the wide bars, but the rest of it was like that when he got it. When I bought it I had been looking for an Eldo, but it was so perfect (to me) that I decided 100ccs weren't going to be a deal breaker for me.

One thing I really like about Guzzis is that, other than a few shops in Long Beach, CA, you can still find nice ones for somewhat fair prices. And they run forever if you're even a little bit nice to 'em!

[Freuds_Cat]

@ Rob. My second car was a 69 280SE followed by 74 280S Then a 76 450SEL. My Dad has had a few as well. Great cars. I used all 3 cars as band member transport for many years. They always refered to them as the Mafia staff car.

[Basvarken]

Wow Bret, you mean like this one?




That is my dream car.

When I grow up I want one of those.