But I didn't get any good photos because I was on the wrong side of the car for the trip to the trailhead we hiked at Glacier National Park. Going-To-The-Sun-Road road was a bucket list item for me and I got to experience it. Possibly best known for the opening credits to The Shining as the road to the Overlook Hotel, it really goes over Logan Pass and connects East Glacier and West Glacier. Someday I will drive it myself at stop at more scenic overlooks, but that proved unnecessary on this trip.

I was glad I wasn't driving though when I got back from a long hike 8,000 feet above sea level and 2,200 feet above the trailhead off Going-To-The-Sun Road. Over the course of 10 miles, I ascended Siyeh Pass near the top of Matahpi Peak.

The path we took up was incredible but not overly difficult. It starts off as a climb through increasingly frequent alpine meadows full of Glacier Lilies separated by beautiful forest with burbling creeks and streams fed by glacier runoff.

Then the path switchbacked up a dry craggy trail in the midst of a boulder field. It was above the timber line and was devoid of most plant life.

Eventually the path cut along a cliff and out onto the highest point with a breathtaking view of the valleys below. But it was at this point that the adventure really began.

Fortunately, we had some time to relax at the top and try to ignore the enormous pile of rocks tourists had used to unsuccessfully try to steal the show from the magnificent unspoiled wilderness.

See that lake? We needed to make it to where Going To The Sun Road passes it. The trail became increasingly difficult on the way down. Snow blockage was present but wasn't too much of an issue except in one place.

This shot shows the only place where snow posed a challenge. There was a place to cross it lower down to reach the trail that was significantly less sketchy but I still wasn't fond of the experience.

The geography on the south side of the mountain was much more conducive to diverse plant life. It was still above the timber line but the scruffy grass and beautiful flowers sprouting out from among moss covered boulders between gushing ice cold streams was possibly one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

This gave out to dry rocky terrain and grassy slopes depending on where you were in the valley we descended. The diversity in the terrain was incredible! You can just make out the broad expanses of burned land we had to pass through at the end.

Honestly a rather depressing sight. I was fine up until this point but I got pretty badly sunburned by the lack of shade here.

The verdict? The most beautiful place I've ever been by a longshot and easily the most intense hike I've ever done. 11/10 ultimate bucket list item.

I recently took an overnight road trip with my family to New Orleans to pick up a puppy.

I already made a post on the cars I saw while there.

https://opposite-lock.com/topic/4087/dots-the-cars-of-new-orleans/16

But now, it's puppy time!

Meet Arlo, a 9 week old whippet pup! He's just the most adorable thing while also being suspiciously well behaved.

Don't be fooled, he's an adorable sleepyhead when he's not frolicking around the yard. Arlo's also pretty large for a whippet puppy.

Fortunately, he gets along great with our other whippet, Turkey, who's six years old.

And to send off this year, have the show quality whippets from that litter. There were two pet quality whippets to choose from at the breeder's place outside New Orleans and I believe we chose well.

Bonus puppy picture to anyone who can figure out why we named him Arlo.

I replaced the automatic transmission fluid and front brake pads in my car. It doesn't sound that impressive, I know, but it was more involved than you might expect.

The principle problem I had to face is that the transmission doesn't have a dipstick but rather a weep hole that only functions when the car is completely level. And is helpfully located behind the driver side wheel. AND neither my two jackstands nor my craptastic floor jack can fit under the car on level ground.

This is all the way down. Look at how tight of a fit that is! But even then, the jackstands I borrowed that are lower still won't fit and the car has to be perfectly level front to back and side to side. How does one do this?

I'll admit, this was marginally sketchy getting it standing even on all four corners, but the fact that two patio pavers is the exact right height for the low jack stands to fit under seemed too good to be true.

Oh wait, it was. One is inexplicably shorter than the other. I made up the difference with the floor jack on the side with no tire and let the short jackstand act as a safeguard in case of jack failure.

Anyways, draining the old stuff wasn't the difficult part. The ATF that came out was brown like pre-emptively changed engine oil but not black like many of the videos I watched. so I figure I caught it just in time. I have no idea the last time this was done.

This stupid weep hole instead of a dipstick was why this was so hard in the first place. The car must be entirely level for it to work. I put in 2.8 quarts with the engine off before it dripped then I turned the engine on and added 1.7 quarts when it started to drip.

And I swapped the front brake pads while I was under there. The rear drum brakes didn't need anything but you can clearly see the front disks weren't doing their best job. Pretty even wear on the rotor, though it might be time to change them soon.

The car stops so much more confidently now. It isn't running out of puff late in the travel like before. I'm sure I could have squeaked some more life out of them, but the quality of the drive is much improved. And I didn't notice any clunky shifts or slippage from the automatic and it seemed to hesitate less on upshifts. I'll have to get some more seat time to be sure, but I feel today was a huge success.

I saved a crap ton of money too. All in, I have a little under $90 in this repair and I'd be looking at quadruple that for a shop to do it. It's my first real "big" wrench and I'm proud of my work.

@hugz Reason 1:

Reason 2:

Reason 3:

Reason 4:

Reason 5:

So it turns out the answer is just almost always Miata.

Last weekend I walked downtown and stumbled upon some people wrapping up a film shoot. I'm not sure of the exact year it is supposed to be but I have my suspicions.

This postwar Ford sedan is quite nice with its whitewalls and everything. The distinctive humpback has a lot in common with prewar cars before designs started getting longer and lower.

The newest car there appeared to be this circa 1953 Ford sedan in a lovely shade of blue.

Unusually, this car has the Fordomatic 3 speed automatic transmission that first appeared in 1951. Those early torque converter automatics were remarkably sturdy things even if they weren't very efficient or fast.

Then we come to this characterfully patinaed GMC truck from around 1953 as well. It could be much earlier which would make the rust and terrible paint a little more realistic.

The chunky but gently curving details on this truck still look good all these years later. The heavy duty GMC trucks are not common sights at all due to their limited appeal to people without a lot of crap to move. And just look at that curly 'GMC' script!

GMC engineers had not chill with their different fonts. This one appears to be a 450 cubic inch version.

A vehicle that would have been old at the time is this International KB5 bread van. The KB series only ran from 1947 to 1949 as it relied heavily on pre war technology. An immediately post war commercial vehicle like this is a very uncommon sight anywhere.

However, I absolutely adore this thing! It might be looking a little too fresh for what most looked like in the mid 50s but it's a rare treat to see vintage commercial vehicles this old actually getting used and driven.

It's hard to get more rudimentary in construction than this! I think these were official upfits but the bread van body really feels like a callback to the low volume coachbuilt commercial upfits of the 20s and 30s.

I guess this shot takes place in Illinois

But due to their simplicity, a shocking amount of 40s and 50s commercial vehicles soldiered on long past their expected expiration date. A junk collector in my hometown used to use a thoroughly decrepit 1950s Ford dump truck that made an alarming cacophony of grinding and rattling noises going down the road. That lasted until the late 2010s when I assume it got scrapped.

There isn't much of a market for these old commercial vehicles in the hands of collectors which is a shame. Sure, they take up a lot of space and are probably pretty stressful to drive, but they're something unique. This particular International isn't heavy on the creature comforts.

This photo is now a desktop background of mine The old International logo was really quite cool with the triple diamonds.

Another commercial vehicle was still parked on the street after the shoot wrapped up: this GM "Old Look" bus. These legendarily sturdy things were used all over the place but good restored examples are quite uncommon.

I was informed by someone walking around that this bus belongs to Tyler Perry and is a replica of the bus that Rosa Parks rode. I can't find any evidence of him having owned this bus though.

The slanted windshield recessed into the bread loaf profile makes me think the bus has a Neanderthal forehead. Hehe.

What do you know, another desktop background! I love this photo.

The setting in front of these old early 1900s department stores is just right for the gentle curves of this industrial workhorse. Why can't our buses be this elegant in appearance anymore?

Everything except the fire extinguisher looks about as it did in the 1950s. The meter is even still there. I think I remember the same shade of green being on the inside of the GM Futurliner.

The replica period ads on the inside are a nice touch.

Now this is a rare one! A 1941 or 1942 only Studebaker President! The very last of the prewar cars, this luxurious sedan seems a little out of place for the setting but it's a very cool design.

The rear of the car reminds me a lot of the Lincoln Continental with the humpback and split rear windows. It has the unmistakable exterior running boards common on basically ever prewar car.

The car's owners had a little trouble with running it out of gas but it was fine. Man, what a beautiful car! The front end tapering to a distinctive point makes me think of a ship's prow.

What a wonderful and unlikely collection of vehicles! It would be hard to pick a favorite out of the bunch but I'd probably drive home in the Studebaker. Usually film shoots don't leave so many cool cars just lying about.

It's a 2008 Volvo XC70 with 140,000 miles on it that's in better condition than I might have hoped.

For $5,000, you can do a whole lot worse in the land of fully depreciated European near luxury cars. There is a good deal of sun damage around the car but it's evident it was well taken care of for most of its life.

This particular one is a green 3.2 with the tan interior. The exterior is actually in excellent shape. I know some of you expressed concern over the mismatched headlights but I found no evidence of crash damage anywhere. No overspray, missing trim, color gradients, or anything that I could see.

Minor scrapes and dings. Only major one is this blemish on the side and some scuffs on the plastic bumpers. The paint actually is in fantastic condition.

The mirror caps have some clearcoat failure. It's clear this car spent a lot of time outside.

Which should have wreaked havoc on the notoriously fragile tan interior. But somehow hasn't? Don't get me wrong, there's a good deal of sun damage on the plastics. But usually this leather gets all dry and cracked but it's actually still supple. Someone cared enough about this car to condition the seats several times.

It's got freakin' push button start! This is the future!

The biggest issue with this car is that it's dirty. The thing needs a very thorough professional detail. The seller does a lot of mechanical work on his own but doesn't seem so adept at the cosmetic stuff. Yes, that's a lighter, but not a hint of smoke smell.

The list of recent work includes a fresh timing belt and water pump. This thing drove like it was brand new, tracking straight and true and rocking some impressively firm brakes.

The seller had been using it as his daily for the past two weeks which does give me confidence.

Well, when he wasn't driving this Jeep Grand Cherokee that he swapped a Mercedes diesel into himself. That gives me some confidence in his abilities but the car will get a thorough check with our Volvo indie soon.

So, yeah, I really tried but I couldn't get them to take it for a PPI. It makes me a little nervous honestly but we drove it a while with no problems at all. It needs new tires and some cosmetic work but was a rather impressive example of the XC70 for its age. The only issues I could find were ones all Volvos of this vintage have with nothing really caused by owner neglect other than a need for a detail. And since a Volvo of this vintage was literally the only option for some reason, the sagging headliner, sunburned plastics, and dubious build quality are something I couldn't avoid.

So thus ends the remarkably short tale of needing to replace an unreliable Volvo with much cheaper reliable Volvo. But the car really did impress me. It feels like what the XC90 should feel like: immovable and solid. This thing was unshakable on the tight winding high speed roads the test drive was on. And it was comfortable, quiet, and not-slow. It wasn't fast, but I thought the linear torque curve of the 3.2 suited it.

Anyways, I'm excited about this latest acquisition, even if I won't get to see it again for several months. Ask me anything and feel free to share any concerns you might have.

What's this? Who actually did something automotive?

Well, yeah, I changed the oil in my dad's 2002 Tundra using what you see here. I technically didn't have to jack it up but I got an extra inch for some more room to move tools around. I'm glad I did because there was an unforeseen hard part.

Wow, you can actually see everything in the engine bay!

The oil itself looked surprisingly good. It leaks oil like a sieve so it constantly has to be added, which we all know isn't the same thing as changing it. Still, this indestructible brute lumbers ever closer to the magical 300k mile mark. It's about 4,000 out from that now.

The annoying part came when I had to take off this skid plate to get at the oil filter. You can tell by looking at it how much off roading has been done in its 20 years on the planet. It's also entirely covered in oily residue because one of the profuse leak points is above it.

It's actually held to the truck by just two screws with two more attaching it to the secondary rubber splash guards. It's really hard to wrangle into place on your own.

I had a close call when way more oil than I expected came out of the filter hole, far more than my wad of paper towels I was holding could manage. I didn't quite have the drain pan in the right spot so that was fun.

Kitty litter it is! The big one though was a classic mistake: I put my oily paper towels and old filter in a plastic bag that had a hole in it. The third one is just where my cardboard missed one of leak spots.

Spot the wagon

Seeing as how I was already sweaty and outside, I gave the Cruze a quick wash. The wax I put on two months ago was holding up great.

I still absolutely adore this color. It makes washing it in the evening light so much more fun even though I keep discovering new scratches.

Obligatory whippet content. Arlo is on the left with Turkey looking on to the right.

Fellow Oppo and collegiate @Taylor-Martin dropped by yesterday on his way through Atlanta. We saw some cars, some graves, and an accident.

He couldn't get to where I was waiting because a car had rear ended another car and was blocking traffic. The driver was so traumatized by the airbag going off she didn't want to move the thing, so he offered to. Problem was, once it was rolled back out of the way, the parking prawl and handbrake refused to function, meaning we couldn't disengage ourselves from the situation. Some nearby rocks chocked the wheels and we were off. What a nice man.

We ended up at Oakland Cemetery for a bit, but it's not as pretty in the winter.

Took a wrong turn and ended up at the famous Krogg St Tunnel, which I've never been to before. It's quite an experience, being rather long and rather dark plus having every inch covered in street art.

Now, for the cars. This has got to be a classic Mini, but I don't think it's the red one I saw a while back.

Then we saw a very nice bright yellow Land Rover Defender. @Just-Jeepin would approve.

Not only is it yellow, it's a rather uncommon LHD Defender 90 with only minor modifications. The few I do see tend to be ludicrously overdone four door high budget restomods. Plus, this one was a manual and most of the ones I see tend to be LS swapped ones with the accompanying GM slushbox. It probably is still rocking its original powertrain, which is a rarity in NA Defenders in my experience.

Anyways, I can confirm his TSX Sportwagon named Iris is quite a beauty and was clearly living the #wagonlyfe carrying all that camping gear.

Masks were worn, fun was had, and good was done. What more could you ask for? Oppos are the best people.

@mark-tucker said in A good chuckle at the tire shop:

how to drive a stick not a prerequisite for working on cars?

Because very few normal cars have sticks anymore. I recall someone having trouble at a Mercedes dealership because they haven't sold a manual car in so long they had to call someone in on their day off.

. . . to please not throw away your dog in this receptacle. No mangy mutts may be put in this bin. Thank you.

How many Hot Pockets can fit in your mouth at the same time?

@pyramidhat I never see pre 900 Saabs. That's a great shade of blurple too.

@kiltedpadre But, they're not first in flight!

@benn454 It can't be as bad as that time I was the third person in the back of a four seater VW Eos but yeah, not great. My Cruze's 5th passenger won't be comfortable but it's actually not as bad as you might think. But they also don't have a cupholder in their groin like the Volt. But at least it's there.

@essextee said in School me on the 2016+ Chevy Volt:

@no-longer-golfr-guy I hear they were not as well-reviewed as the 1G Volt

I don't think it's that the car got worse, but that the competition got better. The 1G Volt was ahead of its time for sure but the 2G can at least carry 5 people.

@sovande Maybe my impression was exaggerated as I haven't driven it a ton but you really should test drive one. They're not known for being nimble .

@sovande It's not just slow. It's very very slow. It doesn't matter if the chassis can keep up because it'll be a lot of work to even get to the limits of grip. Maybe the regular wagons have a faster steering box.

@longtime-lurker Are you implying the Cruze was crap? I wouldn't want all that extra weight but mine is well engineered, well built, and very pleasant to use.

@jarrett I hear even in Canada they're rare spots because they sucked when new and sucked worse when used.

@sovande said in Car is fixed:

The 3.2L naturally aspirated 6 is way too slow for me and mileage is abysmal.

It's neither fast nor efficient but it is smooth and torquey. And it certainly doesn't feel slow next to my car. Power you can fix, but I somehow doubt even a stiff anti roll bar will liven up the driving experience. The steering in the contemporary XC90 was quicker. It is soooooo slow though it doesn't lack feel.