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Theory of Dumb Design


EC-Bills

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You're really giving yourself an awful lot of undue credit.

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Please...you and your pal have made a career out of that.

 

And Tom....youve worked on cars, too...huh? What HAVENT you done?

 

Tell us....how were The Crusades?

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Really?  What do we do for a living?

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Well, you are John C. McGinley in real life.

 

And CTM is the man behind the curtain in Oz (on the side, he writes all the questions for Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit).

 

All this from a comment about engine design, when anyone who's actually worked on a car in their life has probably invented swear words. But, I do remember my dad used to have his '70 LTD with a 390, and you seriously could change the oil on that while wearing a tuxedo on your wedding day. Some things have been made more simple, but every good feature is not collected in any one car. Most engine designs now involve there being about 1 inch of space after taking the filter off the screw, hand contortions, and having to do a balancing act with the filter. And this is just for a fuggin oil change. Ahh... the tribulations of playing Shady Tree Mechanic. :rolleyes:

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Well, you are John C. McGinley in real life.

Close. More like Perry Cox. My wife is convinced the character is based on me.

 

And CTM is the man behind the curtain in Oz (on the side, he writes all the questions for Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit).

 

All this from a comment about engine design, when anyone who's actually worked on a car in their life has probably invented swear words. But, I do remember my dad used to have his '70 LTD with a 390, and you seriously could change the oil on that while wearing a tuxedo on your wedding day. Some things have been made more simple, but every good feature is not collected in any one car. Most engine designs now involve there being about 1 inch of space after taking the filter off the screw, hand contortions, and having to do a balancing act with the filter. And this is just for a fuggin oil change. Ahh... the tribulations of playing Shady Tree Mechanic. :rolleyes:

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It's almost pointless to even mess around with these things now. Too many computers. When I was a kid it was nothing to rip the ol' 350 apart and put it back together. I've contemplated building a street rod in the garage just so I can get my chops back but my wife would lose it after the first trip to buy a bitchin' set of new tools.

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When I was a kid it was nothing to rip the ol' 350 apart and put it back together. 

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My first car was a hand-me-down, my brother's "winter car" because he didn't want to drive his Trans-Am in 3 feet of snow. Anyway, it was a '73 Chevy Impala with the "427 Hydrajet" engine. The thing was a lead sled, but man, you could stand in the engine compartment with both feet on the ground while you worked on it. Super easy to work on.

 

My second vehicle was a Toyota Celica GT with some mods - sport suspension, 4 banger out, the Supra 6 cyl in its place. The first time I tried to change spark plugs I damn near killed myself. It was a 5-spd, a real blast to drive but working on it was a knuckle-busting beeyatch.

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My first car was a hand-me-down, my brother's "winter car" because he didn't want to drive his Trans-Am in 3 feet of snow.  Anyway, it was a '73 Chevy Impala with the "427 Hydrajet" engine.  The thing was a lead sled, but man, you could stand in the engine compartment with both feet on the ground while you worked on it.  Super easy to work on.

 

My second vehicle was a Toyota Celica GT with some mods - sport suspension, 4 banger out, the Supra 6 cyl in its place.  The first time I tried to change spark plugs I damn near killed myself.  It was a 5-spd, a real blast to drive but working on it was a knuckle-busting beeyatch.

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My sister bought a Dodge Omni 024, which was a gigantic piece of stojan (shockingly). It had a transverse engine. When she got it it had a ton of miles on it. I was going to change the oil and when I went to take off the oil filter I found out it was the original one on the car. That was because it was impossible to get the wrench over it to get it off.

 

I ended up sticking a long screwdriver through it. Wasn't easy to get the new one on, either. Nice engineering on that POS. I vowed that day to never buy a MOPAR. Stuck to that so far...

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I ended up sticking a long screwdriver through it.  Wasn't easy to get the new one on, either.  Nice engineering on that POS.  I vowed that day to never buy a MOPAR.  Stuck to that so far...

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I wouldn't blame Chrysler for that, since it was on for so long. I've done the same with several makes through the years - stuck filters are pretty common, and the screwdriver removal method is time-honored. :rolleyes:

 

Always look out for the quick-change outfits, as well as dealers - for the double-gasket problem. The o/f gasket sticks to the block, the new o/f with gasket gets put on, so it's not rubber on metal but new rubber on old rubber. Leaky.

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Please...you and your pal have made a career out of that.

 

And Tom....youve worked on cars, too...huh? What HAVENT you done?

 

Tell us....how were The Crusades?

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Hmmm...I haven't flown a helicopter. Haven't performed any invasive surgical procedures, either. Nor have I worked as a mortician.

 

That's all I can think of, really. I mean, aside from the obvious stuff like "Haven't developed a quantum theory of gravity" that no one's done.

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That's all I can think of, really.  I mean, aside from the obvious stuff like "Haven't developed a quantum theory of gravity" that no one's done.

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You never will work out that theory if you use quantum mechanics math. Gravity is analog. Consider it the music of the universe.

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