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How to save money shopping!

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Poboy kartman

Poboy kartman

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Grab some :popcorn: and maybe :cheers2:....'cause this is gonna take a while:

There is (or was) a factory outlet store (a whole bunch together) ....in Hillsboro, Tx. The wife and I decided to make a day trip to shop for the bargains...(mainly reconditioned stuff) ...and loaded up the one year old daughter and made the 56 mile (one way) trip.....

It was pretty disappointing and I think we might have spent $30 on crap we really didn't need....

Shortly after hitting open highway, I heard a loud thump from under the hood....then I noticed the temperature gauge rising....we were in the middle of nowhere....so I was trying to go as far as I could until I could at least see an exit....I saw a sign as the needle was just getting in to the red....I pulled over to the shoulder and the engine died before I even shut it off...

I saw the serpentine belt was off...so I look to how to reinstall it and then notice the water pump had basically exploded...and the shaft and pulley were just sitting there barely still attached....CRAP!

Now I'm in nice clothes anyway, no tools and it's obvious we're not going anywhere anytime soon....I had a rag I put in my back pocket and as I walked over to the passenger side to talk to my wife I see a Highway Patrol do a U-turn....for some reason, I thought the rag might not look good, so I tried to hand it to my wife who dropped it....I reached down quickly so the wind wouldn't get it and handed it to her....

So...it didn't even occur to me until much later but, that must have caught this patrolman's attention....he claimed he thought he smelled marijuana and proceeded to do a thorough search of everything including the one year olds car seat and my wife's purse....

I honestly can't remember if I got a ride from him or walked...but I went about 1/2 mile to the exit and called a wrecker while the wife and kid endured the 100° heat....

Towed to a shop in downtown Hillsboro , we spent the next 8 hours in this exciting 2 horse town.....

Finally got the car back....with a new water pump $200.... and the mechanic started it up....and there were bubbles in the coolant in the radiator....he said maybe if we left the cap off and took it easy we could get home.....

We made it less than 20 miles to a decrepit phone booth with busted out windows in a scary looking area....so ET phoned home!

Finally, mom and dad showed up and shortly after...a wrecker to take the car home....and it's about 10 pm now....$188 tow fee....

Now....I get the head resurfaced....new head bolts, gaskets, ect....(don't really recall...but at least another $100....

I get it all put back together and start it up...no bubbles, but as it comes up to temperature I hear a SNAP!!!!! ....and the radiator starts bubbling....

Well turns out....I had been given the wrong tourque specs by the machine shop that resurfaced the head....and the wrong head bolts by the place I bought them!!!! The machine shop guy told me that I had to have new head bolts because they were "torque to deform".... and the head bolts were at least 1/2" shorter than the original correct ones.....the torque specs turned out to be for the turbo engine and they are torqued to something like 100 ft. lbs. then cranked another 1/4 turn.....(which stretches them).... ummmm....these didn't really stretch much....

So, I pull the head....one hole has the threads pulled out, another has stress cracks....Sooooo....check the head....good news....it's flat so I just need new head bolts, gaskets and a $40 helicoil kit....again....probably nearly $100 and another days work....

Finally got it going and we drove it for years after that....but, for those keeping track....$630 not counting time or gas money for some worthless crap!
 
ezcome-ezgo

ezcome-ezgo

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Mid-90's GM product?

---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:45 PM ----------

Wait don't tell. We should have a guess the make and model game.
 
J_Walker

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Lol that cop thing... EVERY TIME I get pulled over. its the same thing. "are you on drugs?" or "do you got drugs on you?" I have had the stupid drug dog called more then once... and EVERY TIME they find NOTHING!!

I had a cop once try to take apart my pressure flaker I use in knapping because the idiot "swore" that there's a drug device out there that looks just like them...?? picture related, looks like mine.

I also once pulled over next to a car to ask if they needed help [I always do.. even against others judgements of "what if they rob you."] and the lady was having a real hard time with her car and she pushed it to the side of the road. and so she was really over heated and needed some water.

A state trooper pulled over and asked us some questions. and I asked him if he could drive her to the next gas station up to get a bottle of water and some AC and wait for the tow truck. and know what he says?! "If she needs medical attention I can call an ambulance, but she has already said she doesn't. I'm not a taxi service she has someone on the way already." and left..

so I took someone who's never ridden a motorcycle before WITHOUT a helmet. 4 miles down the street... because this lady really needed to get out of the heat, she was physically getting sick. she got a cold bottle of water, and I used one of my extra towels [for wiping off the seat when it rains] and the hose outside of the gas station and wetted it down and gave it to her to put over her neck/head outside in the shade...
 

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J_Walker

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landuse said:
So the moral of the story is that you should not go shopping with the wife
Click to expand...

no you ALWAYS go shopping with the wife.. as they do to you, you do to them. "Do you really need that...?"

expect in my view. a 100 dollar tool is gonna last a lot longer then a 100 dollar dress. :lolgoku:
 
Poboy kartman

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J_Walker said:
Lol that cop thing... EVERY TIME I get pulled over. its the same thing. "are you on drugs?" or "do you got drugs on you?" I have had the stupid drug dog called more then once... and EVERY TIME they find NOTHING!!

I had a cop once try to take apart my pressure flaker I use in knapping because the idiot "swore" that there's a drug device out there that looks just like them...?? picture related, looks like mine.

I also once pulled over next to a car to ask if they needed help [I always do.. even against others judgements of "what if they rob you."] and the lady was having a real hard time with her car and she pushed it to the side of the road. and so she was really over heated and needed some water.

A state trooper pulled over and asked us some questions. and I asked him if he could drive her to the next gas station up to get a bottle of water and some AC and wait for the tow truck. and know what he says?! "If she needs medical attention I can call an ambulance, but she has already said she doesn't. I'm not a taxi service she has someone on the way already." and left..

so I took someone who's never ridden a motorcycle before WITHOUT a helmet. 4 miles down the street... because this lady really needed to get out of the heat, she was physically getting sick. she got a cold bottle of water, and I used one of my extra towels [for wiping off the seat when it rains] and the hose outside of the gas station and wetted it down and gave it to her to put over her neck/head outside in the shade...
Click to expand...

I don't even know what that's for....but I'm afraid I would be apt to say...."Well officer, if you'll just bend over, I'll demonstrate what this device is for!"
 
Poboy kartman

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J_Walker said:
no you ALWAYS go shopping with the wife.. as they do to you, you do to them. "Do you really need that...?"

expect in my view. a 100 dollar tool is gonna last a lot longer then a 100 dollar dress. :lolgoku:
Click to expand...

Well there's a huge flea market in Grand Prairie, Tx....called 'Trade Days'.....I used to take my wife there, but I never got a decent offer.....:thumbsup:
 
Poboy kartman

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ezcome-ezgo said:
Mid-90's GM product?

---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:45 PM ----------

Wait don't tell. We should have a guess the make and model game.
Click to expand...

Wrong decade, wrong make.....

EDIT: Here's a clue....my daughter is 25 now!

BTW: $630 was a pretty good chunk of change in 1991!
 
OzFab

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That sounds like a car I once owned, a Mazda 929 coupe...

I bought it in about '95; within 2 months, it blew the head gasket; in the process of replacing that, I inadvertantly crushed one of the locator dowels so, within a week, it blew again; repaired it again... $100 & 12 hours

A month or two later, the rings went; thankfully, it had a forward sump so I could repair the engine in the car; on removing piston #4, I discovered a major part of the problem, the top ring had shattered & there were two small pieces of the ring (around 3/8") ON TOP OF EACH OTHER; $200 & around 16 hours later, new piston, new rings & I was back on the road... for a week... until it spun a big end bearing...

Another $100 & 4 hours later, I'd cleaned up the journal & replaced all the big end bearings; I already know what all of you will be thinking right now, "why didn't I replace the bearings when I did the rings?" the answer is simple: I was young, stupid a BROKE...

Some time later (I can't recall now, by this stage, time was a bit blurred), let's say a month, my radiator cap exploded because the head gasket had blown AGAIN...

Time to sell this heap; a wrecker offered me $400 for it, still registered; it owed me $3000; Ironically, the guy who bought it offered me a reconditioned engine 6 months previous for $400 which I couldn't afford at the time... do the math :lolgoku:
 
Poboy kartman

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Interestingly, this car wasn't very old when we got it, my brother in law bought it new....but only knew how to put gas in it....ran it low on oil AND coolant AND ignored the gauges until it simply stopped running...

We got it for $600 and I rebuilt the engine. Other than the above mentioned problem, the only other issue we ever had was the trans going out and I picked up a used one for $100....

After I helicoiled one bolt hole in the block....(I just ignored the one with stress cracks) we had that car for at least 10 years....sold it to a friend and neighbor who drove it another 6.... and no telling how many more miles that thing kept going after that...because they moved and we lost track of them.
 
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