Grose Jet – revisited

I’ve been informed that Ansell Grose is still with us and Grose Jets are still being manufactured in Stoneham, MA.  The number to contact him at is 781-438-1789. 

Russ G. Hull wrote us with: “Admittedly, it’s still difficult to reach Mr. Grose by telephone,  but appear in person at his modest residence during most any weekday,  and if you see a large red pickup truck in the driveway,  Mr. Grose will generally be there to greet you.”

Russ has a MOPAR site – http://www.moparts.com

The Small Truck

What this country needs is a good mini pickup truck.  I think.

Maybe it is just because the huge vehicles stand out, but haven’t pickup trucks and SUV’s just gotten larger and larger?  Honestly I don’t know how garages can contain them.  Not the garages that are built these days (but that is another rant).

I think the first mini pickup truck that I remember was a Datsun (now called Nisan).  Prior to that the standard pickup trucks were the Chevy step side or the Dodge slab side and of course, the Ford F150.  These were primarily work trucks that businesses would use.  Painters and electricians would use panel trucks (where did they go?) while plumbers, landscapers, and carpenters would use pickup trucks. 

With the introduction of the mini pickup truck suddenly you could have the versatility and utility that the “big boys” enjoyed but in a practical package and at a practical price.

These small pickup trucks still exist, but they’ve put on weight and in many ways have lost a lot of their practicality. 

Much like when Datsun introduced the 240Z (Fairlady).  When the 240Z came to the US it created a well deserved stir.  It was light in weight, a two-seater dedicated to the joys of driving with a spirited six cylinder engine and a modern suspension.  This contrasted with the English sports cars that still used technology that had not been updated since the 1940’s.  The US choices were the Corvette.  You can also count Shelby’s cobra roadster, but it was half English, too.  The 240Z was relatively cheap and very fast for its time.  It handled well and the factory offered suspension parts that turned it into a very competitive racer.  All of these qualities captured the hearts and minds of the driving enthusiast.

Then something strange happened.  The 240Z became the 260Z, then the 280Z, and finally the 300ZX.  The metamorphosis was from a light butterfly that stung like a bee to an overweight monster filled with unnecessary luxury.  Much of the same has happened to the mini pickup truck.

I think it has to do with something innate in human behavior.  We appreciate the quaint simplicity and utility and then drift right back to the coach potato yearnings.  I saw it happen to Cape Cod.  People would come to visit the place, drawn by the charm and quaintness.  They would love it so much that they would move to the place.  In no time they would be frustrated with what quaintness really means and demand malls, and traffic, and sidewalks, and all that it brings with it.

So the simple utilitarin pickup truck is now only found in want ads and used car lots at a premium price because they know you don’t have an alternative.

The time is right to resurrect the mini pickup truck and in a form that says utility and economy, not one that says “I’m almost the big truck you really want”.

It would be great to have a truck that came from the factory with the bed already sprayed with a Rhino liner.  It would be a truck with seats that could take some greasy clothes and dirt and dust from weekend chores.  It would be a small truck that would carry you, your friend, and your mountain bikes to a new trail a few miles away.  It would have a steering wheel that looked like a truck and wouldn’t care if you had gloves on or dirt on your hands.   The rear tailgate would help you get things in the back.  You could have lots of tie downs for when you carry twenty bales of landscaping straw.  It would come in RWD and AWD and maybe a diesel!

But most of all it would be a small pickup truck that would never have pretentions of being a full-sized pickup, nor a luxury SUV.  It would be what it was, an economical utility vehicle that you could use for getting that Christmas tree without making a mess of your SUV or car.

A Small Job

This time of year when the leaves have yielded to gravity I have to decide if I need to mow the lawn once more or if it will wait until spring.  This weekend my decision was in the affirmative and I rolled my lawn mower into the garage for its yearly preparation for winter.

Understand that I have had this mower for a little over twenty years which I hope is an indication that I’m doing something right.  As a young boy mowing lawns was one of my first ways to make an income.  I learned that you cannot make any money if your mower doesn’t start and you must take care of it if you wish to make money.  This habit also spilled over into my cars.

I rolled in the Honda mower and blew off the dried grass and dirt before I got to the real work.  I keep two blades so I can swap out a sharp one for a used dull one.  Before I changed out the blade I dumped the fuel from the gas tank.  There was not much in the tank and I caught it in a large metal drain pan.  Then I removed the top part of the engine cover so I could get at the tank itself.

Disconnecting the tank gave me a chance to get any remaining fuel out and clean the filter.  On this Honda there is a small filter that is in the fuel line that attaches to the tank.  That way the debris that normally gets into the tank never sees the carburetor.  I cleaned out the tank and spayed down the outside of the carburetor with cleaner.   The air filter is a combination paper element covered with a foam element.  I cleaned the foam and re-oiled it. 

Then I pulled the plug and drained the crankcase into the large metal pan that the mower sat over.

Since the Honda is an overhead valve engine I also adjusted the valves.  Pulling the spark plug I put a wooden chop stick in the hole and turned the motor over slowly by hand.  That way I could easily tell when I was at top dead center and the valves were fully closed.  The intake was set at .003″ and the exhaust was set at .005″ after a bit of adjustment.

With the spark plug out I sprayed some Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner in the hole to disolve the carbon that accumulates on the piston and combustion chamber.  If it had been a Brigs and Straton flat head motor I would have pulled the head and scraped the carbon off by hand.

The valves were adjusted, the combustion chamber cleaned, the air filter prepared, a sharp blade installed, the fuel tank cleaned and re-installed, and the spark plug checked.  I put everything back together and filled the crankcase with Mobil 1.  Especially for winter storage I think it is important to use the best oil. 

Then I put in a quarter of a cup of gasoline into the tank and started the mower up.  I let it warm up and then set the idle and the mixture.  In about three minutes it ran out of gas and was done.  I wheeled it into the storage shed and it will be ready to crank up in the spring after the grass wakes up.

I have performed this routine for twenty years and my reward is a mower that I can continue to use with out issue.  With the cost of a new one at over $400 that makes sense to me.

Car Movies – Two Lane Blacktop

The end of the year is full of holidays and consequently provides time to sit in from of a TV and watch a DVD.  Earlier this year I put together a list of “car movies” and gave Two Lane Blacktop the short shrift.  This 1971 movie deserves better.

First of all finding a copy of the DVD release is a challenge in and of itself.  Whether it is worth the time and the cost is a matter of opinion, but I invested both and had the pleasure of seeing this classic thirty five years after it was originally released.

Easy Rider was a movie that lost itself in making a statement about drugs, counter culture, and the disparity of America’s regional cultures.  American Graffiti was a movie that used the small town car culture to illustrate how it was to come of age during the Vietnam conflict.  Two Lane Blacktop let the audience into the world of the young Americans who were looking for what all youths yearn for; a way to make their own mark in the world while retaining their own identity (which has yet to be defined).

The cast includes two cars, a ‘55 Chevy with a 454 big block and a Muncie 4-speed (you can hear it as the Driver bangs through the gears), and a new GTO with a 455.  The contrast between the two cars is magnified by the contrast between the two drivers. 

James Taylor is the Driver and Dennis Wilson is the Mechanic of the Car (the ‘55 Chevy).  Warren Oats is GTO, the driver of same.  Dean Stanton makes a cameo appearance as the token gay hitch hiker (far more realistic than the ones in Vanishing Point).  Laurie Bird plays the Girl perfectly.  The epitome of the era’s hippie chick.

The movie opens with a California street drag race in which the Car wins, but the event is busted by the police sending the Car on its trek east.  Along the way the Girl enters the Car in typical hippie chick fashion by just getting into the back seat area of the Car.  The Driver and the Mechanic drive off without giving her a question or a glance.  It is amazing how well the California Beach Boy meshes seamlessly with the Martha’s Vineyard music artist.

On the road east they encounter Warren Oats and the GTO.  Warren picks up hitch hikers just so that he can have someone to tell his stories to.  It becomes clear that GTO is a lost soul who cannot understand when his materialism cannot support his fantasy.  He feels he must challenge the Car and what it represents in order to prop up his insecurities.  So the gauntlet is thrown down in the form of a race for “pink slips” or titles.  GTO picks Washington, DC as the destination and the slips are mailed to the post office there for the fastest car to pick up. 

As they head east they establish a relationship of cooperation that Warren Oats is clearly uncomfortable with, yet drawn to like a moth to a flame.  Its as if he’s never had a friendship before and cannot understand why this one establishes itself without his having to create a personna to attract with.

Later it is revealed that the Car never mailed its pink slip to DC as the race becomes more of a partnership than a competition.  At Deals Gap, the start of the Tail of the Dragon, the Girl leaves both cars and drivers for a motorcycle and GTO and the Car head for the things that have always drawn them.  The Car goes to the nearest drag race and GTO picks up more hitch hikers while he tries to make up a new fantasy for his passengers to be drawn in with.

Emerging Markets – Its not just about the USA

Today the global automobile market is about 65 million vehicles and by 2010 it is predicted to rise to 73 million.  This growth will be principally in four countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China.  All the car companies will be wading in to get the biggest piece they can.  In 2001 the annual car sales in these four countries was about 5 million and the prediction is that by 2012 it will be 18 million or more.  That is huge.

The drag along is even far larger.  With cars comes the need for a fuel supply infrastructure to feed all those gas tanks.  That means more refineries in these countries and an network of retail distribution that will be there when the cars need to be refueled.  It also means that the demand for crude oil will be far more than it is today.  We’re not just talking about fuel and lubricants for cars either.  There are so many components that go into the manufacture of automobiles that use petroleum and byproducts.

Paint, brake fluid, antifreeze, cloth, wiring, electronics, and more go into today’s cars.  The demand is just going to ramp up.

More cars will change these countries in ways they don’t expect.  With all those cars demands for better roads will become an absolute.  This will result in demands for more heavy equipment and the skills of engineers and surveyors.  People with cars and a road to go places on will drive and then they will need to eat and shop.  More food franchises and consumer shops will appear along with credit to allow for purchases beyond ready cash.

It will also impact pedestrians, perhaps literally.  Look at how the layout our our towns and cities have been altered by the need to accommodate motor vehicles.  Usually at the expense of people who walk and people who ride bicycles.

In a pedestrian-based town the dwellings are often incorporated in the commercial buildings or at the very least they are in close proximity.  When motor vehicles are introduced the roads get paved, they get wider, and parking lots appear.   Weather is accommodated by gutters and a sewer system to deal with run off.  Traffic controls appear and so do traffic laws with a complexity that introduces new rules to behavior and every day life.

All these cars will need servicing.  New tires, and lubrication changes.  People will require new technology and training to go along with the additional electrical needs and access to the Internet.

What we developed in an iterative fashion over decades will rush into the lives of these populations in less time than ten years.

 

Coming – Wedge Brakes

Hydraulic brakes were a huge improvement over the mechanical brakes originally used in motor cars.  Disk brakes replaced drum brakes and braking capacity was further improved. 

In the last thirty years ABS has gone from an option on exotic cars to a standard on most vehicles.  Each of these steps has resulted in shortened braking distances, enhanced control under braking, and proved to be more reliable.

Now comes a brake technology that might prove to be a quantum improvement over what is available today.  It is called Electronic Wedge Braking and the prototype has been developed by the Seimens Corporation of Germany.

This isn’t the first time that electronic braking has been explored.  The problem had been the limitations of the 12 volt systems being used in automobiles today being unable to drive a motor with enough power to stop your average car.  Siemens method uses the cars own energy to slow it down. 

As with most things in cars today, it relies on sophisticated sensor technology and micro processing to ensure that the brakes don’t just lock up.  Using the vehicle’s own kinetic energy, the new system claims to need only one tenth of the actuating energy used in today’s hydraulic systems.  The bottom line is that it should allow your car to stop in about half the distance you can today. 

This new electronic wedge braking system will integrate ABS and electronic stability programs with a reaction time 50 to 100 milliseconds faster than existing ABS systems.  Shorter braking distances will be combined with better vehicular control in adverse conditions.

This promises to save weight, eliminate the problems with hydraulic fluid, and provide you with a higher level of braking performance.  By 2009 you should start seeing them offered on cars and trucks.

Just make sure your battery stays in good working order and see that you have vehicle design protection from being rear ended.

The Salt Flats

A few years back I picked up a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX.  I spent a half a dozen years working to improve what was a fantastically fun car to the point that I had to bring it to a real road racing track and find out what it (and I) could do.  I liked it so much I participated in four two-day events that year.

Mitsubishi had a partnership with Chrysler Corporation and along with the Eclipse there was a practically identical car manufactured as the Eagle Talon.  The partnership was called Diamond Star Motors and so the cars produced were known as DSMs. 

A good friend of mine still has his Eagle Talon and it became known as the “Mile High Talon” because of the altitude of the Colorado area where he lived and drove.  He now has over 280,000 miles on the car.  Now by this time in a cars life many people would see about getting the most out of it and putting it up for sale.  Others would  pass it on to a child or relative to use as transportation.  Not this guy.  No, he has turned it into a salt flats competition car and is about to join the 150 mph club.

Read more at:  www.partsandpeople.com/articles/mountain/Colo%20driver.htm

 

Tools

Key to maintaining the health and vitality of your car is being sure that you have useful and appropriate tools at hand.

It is also important for your own safety and well being to make sure that you invest wisely in what tools you get and what quality they are.

Getting it up in the air – safely

One of the best starting points is a good floor jack and set of four jack stands. At a minimum you want a floor jack with a 2 and a half-ton capacity. You should also look for one with a large saddle. The saddle is the round piece that touches your car. You should also have some good size wood blocks around like a short section of 4×4 and 2×10. With the ride height of some cars it often helps to get the front end up a couple of inches before you jack it up. If you have some carpet remnants or a couple of pieces of 2×10, you can use them to drive up on with the front tires and that will allow you to roll a floor jack underneath to a good jack point.

I won’t get into just where on the car you should place the jack and push up. Check your owner’s manual or consult with your favorite mechanic, but by all means use your head and eyes. Most importantly USE WHEEL CHOCKS!

Your jack stands should have the capacity to handle at least 3 tons (measured in pairs) and 5-ton capacity is not crazy either.  This is not the time to use concrete blocks.  Use the real thing.

A creeper is just what you need if you are working on a garage floor. There are so many different styles to choose from now. Shop around and find something that suits you. When the car is up in the air on jack stands it makes life so much easier to be able to roll under and get to where you need to be with a creeper.

Hey, how about a fire extinguisher! I know what you are saying, “what kind of tool is that?” It is the kind of tool that will save you garage, car, and possibly your house when you do have a fire. Of course you are safe and conscientious, but things happen and there are a lot of fluids besides gasoline that are flammable that you will be working with. Get one rated for B and C and it should only set you back about $19. Keep it where you can get to it fast.  Cheap insurance.

Wrenches and Sockets

Shop around and be careful what you invest in. I personally have a mix of Craftsman, Snapon, S&K, etc. What I look for is good quality that has a no hassle warranty. Sockets should be 3/8” drive and six point. I would get a mix of regular depth and deep well sockets. Half-inch drive sockets are best for some of the tough big nuts. Combination wrenches are a good choice so that you have both an open end and a box end on each wrench. Some very nice (but expensive) wrenches are available that have a ratchet action built into the box end. These are excellent in many situations. We call them our “happy” wrenches because they have made life so much nicer.

For the sockets you will need a couple of different length socket wrenches as well as a variety of extensions. Start with a couple and add to your collection over time. You will also need to get a universal joint to go with the socket extensions.

One important socket to get is for the O2 sensor. This is a specialty socket that has a slot in the side to accommodate the wire attached to the sensor. Be careful here. Some of these come with a rather wide slot that allows the socket to flex too much. Opt for a slot that is about an eighth an inch wide. Another socket to get is a good spark plug socket. You may want to get a couple of different ones. I have found that some brands of spark plugs are gripped better with one design rather than another. Try them out and see for yourself.

For those half-inch drive sockets you will need a breaker bar. This will come in handy for taking off wheel lugs and the nuts that hold on the down pipe. When things get really bad you can always slide a length of steel pipe over the breaker bar for some extra leverage. You may be able to find a ratchet adapter for the breaker bar. This will allow you to use it like a very big ratchet wrench. I bought one many years ago and it has served me well.

Torque Wrench

While you are thinking about half-inch drives, think about a torque wrench. When putting fasteners back on, you need to ensure that you do so to the proper torque. This is especially true with suspension parts, head bolts, and lug nuts that hold your wheels on. Get the best quality torque wrench you can afford. The click types are very easy to use, but the deflection bar wrenches are just as accurate.

Flare wrenches – if you plan on upgrading to stainless steel brake lines or need to change your fuel filter these are the only things that will do. You cannot scrimp here. I have seen too many of the cheaper flair nut wrenches that are not made to close enough tolerances and just bugger up the flair nuts. Not a pretty site.

Pliers, wire cutters, and vice grip-style locking pliers. The vice grip line now comes with one that wraps around nuts and is great for breaking free flair nuts that are just way too tight. Get a pair of needle nose pliers as well as some slip joint pliers (sometimes called channel lock pliers). Never use pliers when you can use a wrench.

Chemicals are Tools Too

Sometimes bolts and nuts just don’t want to come apart. Be sure to have some PB Blaster around and let it soak the part. It is amazing stuff. WD40 and Liquid Wrench are also good, but so far nothing can beat PB Blaster for effectiveness.

When you put things back together you will want to treat the threads with anti-seize. Don’t be a slob with this stuff. A little can go a long way. This is particularly good for exhaust fasteners that are exposed to temperature extremes.

Another good lubricant to have available is silicone spray. If you ever try to get the rubber exhaust hangers to slide on or off the metal exhaust hooks, you will appreciate how easy this will make the job. It is very slick, yet doesn’t attack the rubber parts like oil will.

Another great chemical to have is brake clean. This is amazing stuff. I don’t know what we ever did before this stuff was around. No matter how careful you try to be when doing a brake job it is always possible to get foreign matter on the pads or rotors. The brake clean will rinse this “bad” stuff off and not hurt the pads. It is also great for getting grease and oil dirt off the engine block. This can be essential for figuring out where the source of a leak is. For the most part, brake clean has a high flash point. That means that it is hard to catch on fire. Still, you must be careful and be sure to read all cautions on the label.

Persuaders

You will also need some hammers. A good ball peen hammer will serve you well in many situations, but you should also have a good-sized rubber hammer. If you can, get a dead blow hammer as well. The dead blow hammer is made so it doesn’t bounce off what ever you are hitting.

Over time you will find that special situations will require you to seek out and find a special tool, but for the most part, the ones I’ve mentioned should handle just about all your needs.

The Expensive Stuff

Some of the tools that you can move to as your projects grow will not only speed up your work, they will lighten you wallet! So do your research on them carefully and weigh the cost with the need for basic reliability and quality.

An air compressor adds a whole new dimension to your garage and what kinds of projects you can tackle in it. Even a relatively small compressor, that can power a a few basic air tools, will be a real asset.

If you can’t afford all that right now, there are some excellent 110 volt electric 1/2 inch impact wrenches that will be very effective on loosening and tightening front axle nuts. There are also affordable versions available through outlets such as Harbor Freight and Northern Equipment.

Air driven impact wrenches can provide an important boost with some of the bigger projects such as clutch and flywheel replacement. They are also sometimes the only way to get off the axle nuts when doing suspension work. 

There are specialty air tools such as nibblers, grinders, and drivers. Whatever you decide on, keep it clean and oiled properly and it will provide you with years of service.

Every one of these tools will come with a warning that you should wear eye protection. Let me repeat that… WEAR EYE PROTECTION. No one likes to take the time to put them on and often we find them uncomfortable, but that is trivial to having to go to the emergency room to have a piece of metal removed from your eyeball.

A Lift

When you are ready to go way over the top you can see if your garage will accommodate a lift. There are many styles to choose from and some may not fit if you don’t have the ceiling height or floor space. 

There are some relatively small ones that will lift your car a little over two feet. Great for rotating wheels, doing oil changes and maybe even a tranny swap.

  These will range from $900 for a good used one to over $2000 for a new one.

If you ceiling is high and you have plenty of space then you can be just like the big boys and have a two post lift that will allow you to do all kinds of new projects. The price for these will vary according to style, and whether it is new or used. Used lifts can be a very economical alternative to new. Keep a lookout for tire store and the like going out of business.

Just remember. These things have the capacity to lift thousands of pounds very easily. If you take them for granted or use them in ways they were not designed, you will find thousands of pounds coming down in spectacular and lethal ways.

Speed Bumps

I hate them.  Does anyone really like them?  Do they really do any good?

Then there are the “traffic calming humps”.  Tell me, does anyone feel calm after transversing those things?

I think the theory is that the humps are such an irritant that you won’t travel the road unless you really have to.  Negative reinforcement.  I look at it as punishment on the assumption that you are going to violate the speed limit.  That is quite contrary to what I thought our basic legal premise was.  Innocent until prooven guilty.

And why punish the poor residents of the neighborhood?  They must find it excruciating to live on a street where they are forced to endure humps.

Why do they insist on building speed bumps and humps so high?  Is there any standard?  Really, an inch over the distance of a speed bump or hump should be enough to remind folks to calm down.  The deflections of four to five inches or more are not justifiable. 

Some people look at speed bumps as something magical.  I remember talking to a person working in a store in a shopping plaza where speed bumps were being installed.  She remarked how glad she was to see them and shared an anecdote about a woman who had just that day run her car into the front of a store.  I pondered her story and asked her how a speed bump would have changed the outcome and she admitted that it would not, but she thought it still seemed like a good idea to have them.  Go figure.

How many folks would rejoice over having speed bumps and humps in place while they were being transported in an ambulance?  With a potential back injury? 

The purpose of these irritants must be to modify our driving behavior.  Since when does negative reinforcement work?  Especially when you live on the street and must transverse these obstacles no matter what.  I would think that would engender some kind of neighborhood road rage.  Coming into your street after suffering the ignominies of commuter traffic only to be forced to slow down again to avoid feeling your suspension hitting the bump stops.

That is just it.  These traffic calming devices are supposed to benefit the neighborhood and what they really do is punish the folks that live there. 

The wrong problem is being addressed I think.  If you want to discourage people from using a particular route make the one you want them to use more attractive.  Don’t just make the one you want them to avoid a miserable experience.  That just builds anger and frustration.