A desolate stretch of two-lane desert blacktop; a rustle in the creosote and yucca on the side and then a mad dash across the asphalt, head and tail twitching from side to side as it goes. Oh sure, in reality it’s just a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), making the run, but for a second there – from the corner of your eye – it’s something else, something so strange that you really should stop and investigate to see if it really was what you thought it was. Only, if it really was then stopping and investigating is probably not a good idea, and so you pedal-down and vow to pay better attention to the road ahead.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image: Go Away Garage
Last Call: Why Did the Prehistoric Chicken Cross the Road? Edition
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48 responses to “Last Call: Why Did the Prehistoric Chicken Cross the Road? Edition”
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CHIRP!
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I bought the Saab this morning in LA and drove it back to the Bay Area.
http://karakullake.blogspot.com/2015/06/400-miles-in-9-3.html-
Goddamn it, every time I try and link to the forum thread on SAAB Central about the ’07-11 9-3 intake valve degradation issue, Disqus marks it as spam.
If you don’t know if that car has had the intake valves replaced, google that thread, read it, and prepare to have to pay for that repair.-
The Saab tech who inspected my car made me aware of it. So far, no symptoms. *Knock wood*
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Be sure to ping him if you hear anything.
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All the white elements in this shot look almost impossibly clean. Best of luck to keep it that way! Great buy!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJpDAkTrqtU/VXeQXoqNxpI/AAAAAAAAhj4/–HGkGZzBP8/s640/IMG_8845.JPG
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The prehistoric chicken crossed the road because he didn’t have a sweet sidecar rig.
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Is that from a movie or something?
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Drumheller AB (about an hour East of Calgary) is near a site where a hefty number of dinosaur remains have been found, so they have statues and sculptures all over town.
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People look like ants when their in Mr. T-Rex’s mouth.
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I’m not sure T-Rex’s did try to pleasure themselves on palm trees.
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BOY OH BOY HOONS, lemme tell you about how goddamn frustrated I am about my 9-5 wagon’s rear springs. Prepare for a lot of text below.
My car has 185,000+ miles on it, and the car was used as a wagon should be, to haul shit. If you don’t know anything about 9-5 wagons, you should know that they’re notorious for having the rear springs sag really badly by as little as 80,000 miles– that’s without being overloaded. Because of that, and how the car was used previously, the rear my car sits an inch and a half lower than stock ride height UNLOADED. I put 160lbs of water softener salt in the back of it today and it was basically on the bumpstops.
See more here:
https://sites.google.com/site/saabfailed/
I had this problem on my 245, but I ignored it for a long time because the 245 has a solid rear axle. Since the 9-5 has IRS, the camber is negatively effected by the sagging springs. Right now, the rear wheels are around -2.5°, which gets worse under load. That’s rapid tire destruction territory.
I fixed my 245 with MOOG CC217 heavy duty progressive springs, which worked great, but unfortunately there’s basically nothing that cheap ($44 a spring at RockAuto!!!) for the 9-5. Actually, there’s basically nothing in general. I’m not going to put new stock springs in, or spacers on my old springs, either, since that doesn’t solve the underlying problem of the stock springs being too damn soft. I also don’t want to lower the car, either.
I’ve found three possible solutions. Lesjofors (the OEM spring manufacturer for SAAB) manufactures an ‘HD’ spring, part number 42 778 15, but I only found one kind of legit looking seller in the US ($88 each). MAD springs sells an upgraded spring set too (part number HV-159218), but at £200 a set (~$308), plus shipping from the UK, that’s way out of my price range. There’s also the KYB RA7004 which RockAuto says is an HD spring that fits the 9-5, but I haven’t found any proof of that anywhere else and it’s only stocked in their Europe warehouses so shipping sucks.
TL;DR SAAB fucked up and put rear springs in the 9-5 wagons that’re way too goddamn soft and there’s basically no aftermarket support outside of bandaids to fix it and that frustrates the shit out of me.-
You own an out of production car with a zillion miles on it. Even when the marque was a going concern they were notorious for high maintenance on boilerplate systems and unobtainium parts. (Erstwhile owner of three B-motor models talking here.)
$200 for a pair of OEM springs that will fix you up just fine? Done deal.-
I have a ’97 900 and this ’99 9-5, plus my ’93 245, plus my girlfriend has her own ’97 900 that I do 90% of the maintenance on. I’m used to the ‘high maintenance’ stuff, and I know where to find 95% of the parts, and usually find the other 5% anyway if I can’t rebuild it myself. I’m just venting my frustrations on what should be a simple fix, even for a worn the hell out 16 year old Swedish luxury car, being way too complicated and expensive.
Putting new OEM springs on is basically pointless because if I do anything more arduous than carry two dogs in the hatch, they’ll start sagging again. I bought this car because towing things with my 245 is too much of an exercise in patience thanks to its whopping 114 crank horsepower and how hilly where I live is. I’ll probably just bite the bullet once I have a steady cash flow and buy the MAD progressive springs, since every other ‘HD’ spring I’ve found isn’t progressive and I don’t want to affect the ride quality.-
What about airbags?
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I’m not well aware how they work, do you use these with shorter springs (Old-school leveling systems (W124?) worked like that, iirc.), or will they replace them fully? The latter would be a solution indeed, but for lesser money one could have a spring maker, well, make springs.
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It depends on what you are trying to do. Typically they would be used to add load capacity in conjunction with existing springs, but they can also be used to improve ride quality of a vehicle that has been lowered.
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If the car didn’t have coil-over rear suspension, I’d look into airbags. There was a stock load leveling system standard on the Gary Fisher 9-5’s and optional on others that used airbags, but the suspension components are like, $550 for a pair.
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On a related note: This is how my former 245 looked with 600kg of tiles and two grownups in it:
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/600x450q90/163/7boh.jpg
It was a B230FX though – powerful enough for whatever I did to it. Have you considered a V8 swap for your 240? Doesn’t sound like you’re going to sell it any day soon anyway.
Good luck with the Saab!-
I plan on putting a VX3 camshaft in my 240 to make it a B230FX at some point. Not gonna do a V8 swap because that’s not in the spirit of my tractor of a car.
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Any word on how the VX camshaft behaves in a daily driver? Is it enough of a power gain to make the swap worth it, and how does it affect gas mileage?
My 245 is getting extra love this month, as I’ve finally given up on my quest to find a low-mileage Transit Connect that isn’t ridiculously priced. New windshield, some new suspension bushings, etc. It seems very happy about the whole thing!-
From what I’ve heard, it bumps the power on a stock setup to around 136hp. Torque stays about the same. If you add a turbo exhaust setup, it’ll go up another 5-6hp and 5-6lb.ft. of torque. No idea on gas mileage or emissions.
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Here’s the mileage of my ’93 B230FX over 15000+km:
http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/detail/424538.html
The spikes are due to a broken Lambda sond setup – and they spoil the average. It wasn’t a rocket, but I found it to be more than adequate. The backend can be trigger happy on everything but dry tarmac. The sound of a cold FX engine is something for itself, too: Sounds like a 50 ton mobile crane doing hard labour. I actually overestimated the engine once and broke the massive, tractor like clutch into two pieces when I tried to haul a massively heavy trailer up our 35 degree driveway.
@FTC, good call on the V8 then. Figured it’s a popular move and 240’s aren’t rare enough yet for me to judge.
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Hm, I’ve already got the turbo exhaust! Maaaaaybe later? I’m working with a K-Jet, which I now remember reading would have an even lumpier idle with a VX cam than the L-Jet.
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That must have handled interestingly.
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Felt a bit “dead” and said driveway was very scary to move down. But everyone recovered…
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As for rear camber on a 9-5, genuinesaab.com makes rear camber shims (made in-house) that’ll dial out up to 1.1 degrees camber. Very inexpensive, very effective, nice quality bits.
I found that around -1 degree rear camber is ideal on a 9-5. I used the shims on my previous 9-5 Aero sedan (’01) which originally ran 2.2-2.5 degrees negative camber out back, even unloaded, with new shock inserts, etc. Tire life increased exponentially–I even managed close to 50k miles out of the last two sets of tires (mileage for each set, replaced in 12-16 month intervals) on that car before I retired it a few years back. I was also able to increase tire rotation intervals from 3k to 5k miles.
I desperately need to put camber shims on the GF’s 9-3 convertible and then install a set on my new-to-me 9-5 Aero.
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Yeah, I’ve got camber shims from Taliaferro on my 900. They worked great there, but I’m going to go with adjustable lower cross-stays on my 9-5, since I need to replace the lower ones anyway (bushings are shot and they’re a little rusty).
I wasn’t planning on driving the ST on the track this weekend but my bravado was rampant. I saw an open space in the grid for the instructor’s group and I had to take it.
Headmaster Dean asked if I could take a student. I was only going to go 4 or 5 laps since this ecoboost gets too hot. I turn around and young lady is in the passenger’s seat.
Alright. I introduce myself, apologize that I’m not driving a Porsche racer and we’re off. Warm up lap halfway thru then I get busy. She’s already impressed with the hatch’s moves. I start aiming for curbs- hit one, we’re 2 in the air. She laughs when I mention Super Touring Cars. I commence to nailing all the curbs. My passenger is enjoying my warranty voiding driving.
Oil gauge says to back off and I’m down to about 10oz fuel. Cruising back to the grid we talk. I ask what she is driving this weekend- 335, but usually has baby seats in the back.
Dang- married. But I managed an “All Right, Momma” thru the disappointment.
This is bothering me. Why does this ad have NASCAR in the title? Is it a special edition? Is it just the rebuilt engine?
1990 Chevy NASCAR Passenger Van (383)
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDgwMA==/z/FmMAAOSw~OdVd3Nn/$_27.JPG
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It has the multi-hued stripes between the tires. Hard to see the details in those pictures, but could it be based on a NASCAR logo?
http://www.abstractfonts.com/forum/images/f5a0467e1d4d3ec1073aa321c00800d4.jpg
Maybe it was used at a track for a season or two so shuttle workers to their job assignments, then sold as a used vehicle when a newer model replaced it. That doesn’t seem worth any extra money, but the ad succeeded in grabbing your attention.
Well it’s an unnervingly exciting week in Batshitbox land. A man was killed on my block two days ago and the police found 7.62 x 39 casings, which are AK-47 ammunition. Not something you want skipping around your block. Just 45 minutes ago there was another burst of gunfire at the end of my block, where my corner store is; I was in there not two hours ago.
My housemate was just getting home when it happened, as was our neighbor who doesn’t speak English. When we tried to convey to him there were more shots fired he pointed to his back window, which had a bullet hole in it from Sunday’s shootout. We all went inside.
So I tuned in to the police scanner and evidently there’s a guy on a black dirt bike firing shots here and there around my neighborhood; not sure if that’s related. I’ve advised Honey Bunny to stay where she is instead of coming home, since she rides a grey dual sport.
It hasn’t been this exciting since last 4th of July, when my neighbor got shot 4 times in a house across the street. He survived, but two other guys didn’t. That was a couple days after another guy got shot to death three blocks up the road. I was away in the country for that week.
What can I tell you? Despite the violence this is still the only neighborhood of SF I would want to live in. It’s the last working class neighborhood. It was run down, but is now rapidly being colonized by Yuppies, and the last holdout of San Francisco’s dwindling African American population, who revolutionized SF politics and culture way before the hippies. My neighbors, though they might get involved in some shady dealings, are all solidly my neighbors. When one of them gets all shot up, it’s not just a news report and a nonsensical name, it’s yer neighbor.
UPDATE: As I was writing this the scanner said they apprehended a motorcyclist a couple miles away associated with the shooting in my neighborhood (though there were SUVs involved as well, evidently) and Honey Bunny is holed up in a bar a mile or two in the other direction. I don’t know whether to give her the all clear to come home or go join her!
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Wow, that’s wild. I applaud you for holding out and being willing to stay – I’d have left a long time ago; as I ran from unemployment prospects and a degrading social system when I moved from Germany to Norway.
Any word on the motive? Stay safe! -
And now the weather: Early morning fog, burning off later in the day, ground fire light to moderate, high near 60.
So I guess the norm Geococcyx californianus-avoidance test looks a bit like this anyway?:
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It didn’t knock over any cone, so the prehistoric chicken would be safe.
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Just some good old modern age electronic sweat here. And I’d have a look at that rear tire.
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Scientific explanation: This happens when people dimension their sidewalls like a kid’s bicycle (18..24″ of metal plus 1″ of rubber), but forget that bicycles can tip over.
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Keeping with the theme of all things Swedish, I just bought a new bangernomic cheap daily, it’s the 2.0T 5 cylinder auto.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s319/crankcase75/IMG_20150602_202527552_HDR1.jpg
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Beautiful! How much do these go for in Ireland? Figuring that license plates’ main function is to be remembered quickly, I assume the Irish have an excellent ability to remember numbers?
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This one was €800 with two months road tax and NCT (roadworthiness certificate) until the end of the year. Not sure if I’ve made an awesome purchase or bought a moneypit, but it’s not like I’m going to lose a lot on it.
Our number plate system is reasonably logical I guess, Year – County – sequence number, but falls down on memorability for sure.-
What a screaming deal! S80’s aren’t even available below about 2500€ in Norway. Is it expensive to get a car inspected for a new NCT?
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No one wants large 2 litre+ petrol saloons over 10 years old here. The annual road tax is almost as much as the purchase price, but considering people are looking for silly money in comparison for poorly kept small cars, the “man maths” still added up. NCT inspection doesn’t cost too much about €56, but it is a lot of hassle to get an appointment. The test centres just don’t have adequate capacity for the number of cars on the road.
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I looked at the plate and thought Baile Átha Cliath must mean something like “In God we trust” or “Party until the sunrise” but Google says it means…..Dublin? Isn’t that city known as Dublin, in Ireland?
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Yes it is, but we persist in keeping Irish (Gaelic) alive as an official state language so while everyone calls it Dublin, they put the Irish language version on plates and under the English language name on road signs, which is probably confusing as hell if you’re a tourist. The weird thing is Dublin is derived from the Irish Dubh Linn, but they don’t use that name. I guess this is what happens when your town is 1000 years old and had several different regimes, sort of an Istanbul/Constantinople thing. Dubh Linn literally means Black Pool, shame we couldn’t have called the place that and got the knockoff eifel tower and the roller coasters and stuff. 😀
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Plus you would have had TVR!
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Damnit, I really felt we drew the short straw now. 😀
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Do you want to look at this Russian Lada Samara ad from the early 90’s featuring uniformed soldiers playing clarinet and carrying electric guitars upside down on their backs? What a silly question, of course you want to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0vfkwQYm-E
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