In a twist that no one on the Earth could have predicted, the F-Type has broken. It's also filthy, but such is the life of an outdoor car in the winter.

Don't mind the squirrel, he eats the fuel lines in the El Camino. Bit of a dim bulb. Whole lot of chopping, not a lot of chips flying. I don't think he's got all his dots on his dice. The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but I don't think the train is coming, if you catch my drift.

Instead of keeping all the coolant juices on the inside, some of them are getting to the outside. It's either the water pump, which would be about a $300 problem, or the coolant pipes (pretty likely) which is a $2000 problem. I have placed an order for new aluminum coolant pipes which the new-to-me mechanic said he would install for me.

He also said he wished he knew they were a thing as he just did the same job in his special lady friends' Range Rover.
I'm probably going to elect to make this a $2000 problem and replace everything because of there's one thing I like doing it's spending money.

Keep it pinned.

UPDATE: it's leaking under the supercharger according to the mechanic. Looks like I'll be getting some aluminum upgrades, assuming they actually ship at some point.

Another Update: As I know you are all on the edge of your collective seat, I have news: the new pipes arrived this morning as promised and I dropped them off. The mechanic was very impressed and was excited to install them so he can get pictures to show potential clients. He said he was going to order a handful to have in stock.

The grand total for the repairs (barring anything unforseen) is $1999. That includes all new seals, intake gaskets, thermostat gasket, two small hoses, and some other odds and ends. I was there at 10:30am and he hasn't started any work, other than having pressure tested it. He claims it will be finished by 6:00pm Monday evening. We shall see! I've been driving my dad's 2000 Tundra and it's a different experience than I am used to.

New wheels and tires finally installed. Took a lot of riding my bike to two parts stores to get lug nuts after the ones I supplied wouldn't work! Oops. Well worth the cost. The guys there are amazing. Can't wait to drive it a bit!

I can't help myself

The repair took a day once the mechanic rounded up all the parts. When I arrived he was just finishing an oil change on a 2020 911 GT3, which felt like good company.

They only added one additional $47 hose to the estimate, which was cool with me. And now I have shiny dull aluminum pipes brightening up the engine bay under the plastic engine cover.

Ooh the guy sent me some pics - they are super boring:

I have owned the F-Type for about 18 months and in that time the AC has not worked correctly. I had a new compressor installed, had it tested, charged, recharged, another new AC compressor installed and it still sucked shit. Or sometimes it blew so cold it would chill my cubes. It was wonky, is the point. It worked, but not correctly.

I read a post recently about a guy who's AC had shit the bed, but only sometimes, so I followed his advice, loosely, and pulled apart a section of the dashboard, located the air temp sensor and cleaned it with a qtip. That process took 6 minutes and now the AC works as it should and I'm thrilled. I was certain this was going to cost a bunch of money.

I also spent a few hours cleaning and ceramic coating the wheels, a thing I should have done before I mounted them. Also gave the car a quick no rinse wash with my favorite miracle worker in a bottle. And I used some Jay Leno rubber trim and tire goo on the tires - I actually really like the product, leave a nice matte finish and is easy to use. A quick vacuum and interior detail and it's ready to go.

Today was my once a year bicycle crash. I had it scheduled for the afternoon when the sun will be shining, but something came up so I took care of it first thing in the morning instead. Wet granite, late braking and bad decision making all conspired to cause me to run out of talent and relearn Newton's 1st Law. I was able to roll out of it and only bruised one palm and scraped one elbow very slightly. Didn't even tear my rain coat.

As always happens, people were there to ask if I was okay practically as I was still rolling.

Do better than me out there, and wear a helmet!

I did some maintenance on my boat today and got to remember the singular joy it is removing the face plate on the water pump to access the impeller. The plate is tucked up under the heat exchanger and the wiring loom, meaning access is gained by lying down and jamming you hand in a small space to access the (6) bronze 8mm bolts. I was able to get (5) out with little drama, but the 6th took an hour. It's no longer an 8mm bolt.

Next you grab your trusty channel locks, grab as much of the old impeller as possible and pull as hard as your little arms can pull. Then it pops out and you cut yourself and bleed and the fiberglass oh the fiberglass.

I usually use a zip tie and some dish soap to slide the new impeller in. I didn't have dish soap so I went in dry and it was easy and went right in with minimal cussing. The zip tie really makes it easy.

I also repaired my aft controls - my boat is set up to troll single handed and has an attachment point at the transom for a tiller, as well as aft engine controls. The bracket the controls are connected to worked itself loose so I had to open it up and sort it out. Now the boat idles a bit too high, so I'll need to chase that down tomorrow.

I cleaned out the cabin too and emptied the pisser. It's too small to sit up in, but makes a nice place to sleep for the night as long as you're cool with spiders.

@ForSweden And it's really expanding my horizons. For instance, I ride a bicycle a lot more since I bought it.

@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4

@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 I have zero understanding of how your apartment is laid out but I'm glad you're okay!!

Last weekend our hero was clad in short pants and armed with a pressure washer.

The heavy cleaning completed, it was on to changing the oil, which I should have done in December, but don't judge me. 2.5 gallons sucked out, spin off the old filter, spill oil in the bilge and all over your hands, new filter on, fill it up with 2.5 gallons of 15w-40 and you're done.

For the next task I utilized the small child labor exemption that says if he's your kid, you can make him do whatever, end quote.
Here is a photo of him changing the zincs on the engine.

And here is a small boat that someone must love a great deal.

The next task is to fire it up and head down the river for fuel. I hope like hell to actually use the boat this year. It's been a while!

@dejock Lol these things are too big to even fit in the parking garage at my work I can't imagine driving it in traffic.

@derp I won't be able to make it, but Happy Birthday! My mom's from Utah and I have never been - I should change that.

@davesaddiction I'm only a 33 inch inseam (and waist!) So my problem is the windshield frame.

@ibRAD lol. It was a closed parking lot. He did get it into 2nd gear though!!

It was pretty amazing - he didn't stall or stutter or anything - said he just did it the same way he does with the driving games on his computer.

@davesaddiction I actually may fit at this point - but at 6'4 I don't think so. I remember a friend's dad got one in highschool and I couldn't really get in with the top up.

They are definitely cool though. My ex has a nice NB - she actually recently sent a video of my 12 year old son getting in, starting it up, shifting into gear and driving off. Pretty cool!

@davesaddiction neat cars but I can't fit in one well enough to drive it. I also don't care for the looks and I don't have any interest in a convertible.

I'd drive a Lotus Elan though.

@farscythe I got you man.

That is actually a custom 8 at-a-time hot dog cooker I call Hotdog-topus, but it has been repurposed to hold hair ties. Stop by for a handful anytime.

@farscythe well he died a few years ago, so your point is well taken!

@farscythe

@Britishvillaininatl I replaced the puddle lights and all the foot well lights with LEDs on mine. The leaper logo looks good! I'm not a huge fan of the growler.