Category Archives: Automotive

98 Jetta TDI

I’ve been searching for an economy car for over a year now. I wanted something reliable, cheap, and of course, economical to drive. My target price was under $5000. I finally found one: A one-owner VW Jetta TDI (turbo direct … Continue reading

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Mercedes W123 300 Fuel Sender

The list price of a sender unit is $340, so when my fuel level gauge stopped working, I was not very happy. I bought a portable 2 gallon tank and kept it full of fuel in the trunk of the … Continue reading

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New Life for Old Headlights

If your plastic headlight lenses are looking hazy like mine were, you can probably recondition them so they look near-new for about $15 and 30 minutes of time.  I used the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System, which comes with 500 … Continue reading

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Vehicle Fuel Economy Comparisons

I drove a VW Jetta last weekend are really liked it.  I hate little cars, but this is one of the few I’ve even been in that I liked.  I seemed to ‘feel right’.   So that experience and the … Continue reading

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Quadzilla Eats Batteries

In just one hour, I changed clothes, found my overalls, wormed into my overalls, removed the battery, drove to Autozone, argued with them, obtained a new replacement battery (for free), drove home, and installed the new battery.  Sometimes, I impress … Continue reading

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Yup, It’s Mine

I changed out the belts on quadzilla today. Without the supercharger, this is a 4 minute job, with the supercharger, it takes me a couple of hours. I have to take off the intake tubes, the fan shroud, and finally … Continue reading

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BMW K75

My blue BMW K75RT.  I think it was an 1988 model, but can’t remember.

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Virago 1000

May 1992:  My first motorcycle (that I really owned) 1984 Yamaha Virago 1000.

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More Rear-End Fun

Today was filled with lots of assembly, measurement, disassembly, re-shim, assembly, measure, repeat. I think I have everything within spec now, and my mesh pattern looks good (to me at least). Tomorrow, I’m going to add an extra 5 thousandths … Continue reading

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Differential Damage

Here is what the differential carrier looked like while still mounted in the housing: The ring-side bearing fell apart as soon as I took the carrier out of the housing.  Here are the bearings and the carrier. Close-up of the rollers.

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