Otis

Maximillian's

I don't know of anyone in Baltimore, but Brian Murphy of Murphy Brothers Automotive in Kensington, Maryland, does a nice job. But he, like all other auto restorers, is $$$expensive$$$ -- repairing rust is a by-the-hour charge with these guys, and shop time can (and does) get expensive.

Nice to meet you, JWM. Sorry to put the scotch tape on your windshield, but I didn't want the post-it to blow away. I work in Lafayette Center, 8th Floor, North One -- are you nearby? Also, come on out to Herndon and meet the gang -- great group of folks, great bunch of cars. There's even this one escapee in an orange jump suit and, well . . . long story, never mind. As noted, your car is really, really pristine -- eveyone will enjoy seeing it.

Okay, must be my day for spotting 02s -- I go for months without seeing one around here, and then, two beauties in one day. The blue one below in the Kensington, Md. thread, and now, this evening, a beautiful '72 red roundie tii, D.C. plates, parked downtown D.C. on 20th Street outside the Layfayette Center (near Gold's Gym). I left a yellow post-it on your ride, under your wiper, asking you to post here. Hope to see you in Herdon. Your car is gorgeous.

Cool. Let's meet up and motor on over for the Herndon event. We live in Chevy Chase View, 5 blocks North of Saul Road.

Light blue squarie, traveling North on Connecticut Avenue in Kensington, Maryland, this morning, 8/15/06, about 8 am. Big guy in white t-shirt driving. Give me a hollar; it'd be nice to make your acquaintance, since there are not too many 02s in the 'hood.

You certainly could get me to a rallying point in Princeton, if you were to meet up at that pancake house on the main drag by the University (the one with all the names carved into the tables). Love that place, just can't recall the name.

Great picture. Wasn't there a picture in Roundel a while back, of an 02 between two Hummer H2's? I think it was subtitled, "Bodyguards" or something like that (getting old, losing my memory).

Ah, now we're talking. The A-pillar will help (that's what I did on my E-30); Otis' imaging seems fine, but I had to play with the angle of the enclosure (I made some prototypes), and therefore, I'm not running the tweeter on the A-pillar. A center-channel speaker also will help the imaging. Also, several years ago, Boston, Canon, and MB Quart all made some pretty cool self-contained tweeter pods that you could mount just about anywhere, and therefore aim them anywhere you wanted. Not sure if they still make them (Canon went out of business, I think). Is your trunk sub firing backwards? I'm curious, because Otis' 3-8s fire backwards and vent up throught the deck, and there's no "boom" car effect. I usually don't like subs in the passenger compartment, since the sound (to my ear) is a bit too intense; I like to put the subs in the trunk and play around with the gain on a separate amp feeding the subs, so that I can fine-tune the "boom" right out of the system. But that's just me.

The Great Cornholio -- Nicaragua! http://images.google.com/images?q=cornholio&hl=en&lr=&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title I had the same problem with Otis -- no, not that he needed TP for his bunghole -- I'm talking about the passenger side door. It simply wouldn't close without giving it extra "umph." It was, however, far more serious - the pins and welds were all giving way (that "r" word). We had to reweld everything. Hopefully your problem is not that, but I'd give the door a serious surgical going-over, in case something is giving way.

Sure -- you can make plug wires. You just need the proper crimping tool, and the components (boots, etc.). Any local speed shop can do this for you -- I use Douglas Speed Shop, for example, a local guy here in Silver Spring, Maryland. I just tell Larry Lint (yes, that's his real name) what length wire I want, and he crimps it right up. I'm sure you have some local speed shop where you live; most of the guys, however, are Ford or Chevy guys, so all you need to do is convince the guy behind the counter to do work for a "foreign car" (Larry had an 02, so he's cool with it). Also, if you attend any of the local NSRA events, they always have at least 4 or 5 vendors who can make plug wires, on the spot -- and looms, etc. Hot rodders are really into the "clean" look on their engines, so making plug wires is "old hat." The advantage to those guys is that you can get just about any color that you want. So, that's where I'd go -- either to the speed shops, or to a vendor booth at a street rod show.

Scott -- Thanks for the word. Just for that, Chef Turbo Ohtwo is going to make you a "special ingredient" omelet at OBX. Anyway, as I've noted, I'm glad that Roundel found a use for the pictures (they were intended for the V@V web site, as you know). Also, if anyone really wants to help next year, you can figure out some way to get a bigger, badder, better, portable slot-car track for the kids. I'd build it myself, but since we live in Maryland, it'd be kind of hard to haul it down 95-85. And besides, you wouldn't want me to build it, anyway, since I'd go way overboard (you doubt that? Look at the trunk of my cars). You see, I was a HUGE Tyco guy as a kid -- not Auroro, mind you, but Tyco, since it snapped together (as opposed to Auroro's pins-and-clip system). I had a world-class setup in my parent's basement -- and it took up the entire basement -- and I still have all the equipment (tracks, cars, transformers, you name it). But logistically, it's just not possible to haul something down to Winston-Salem. So, if someone can figure out how to build a great, portable layout (with due regard to the space limitations at the Vineyard), that would be great, since the kids really seemed to enjoy the slots. Maybe something laid out on 4x8 ply, that folds on a piano hinge - or else, something modular (like the O-guage model train guys do). Anyway, it'd be nice for the kids.

Check back a few pages, for John McW's response in a thread, providing a link to a company that makes kick panel enclosures. John and I agree - put the front speakers in the kick panels. That makes for the best sound stage (i.e., the best imaging). No cutting necessary with the right forms (I custom-built the ones for Otis, but John provided the link for the correct, ready-buitl forms). If you don't like the ready-built forms, but also don't want to start from scratch with fiberglass custom-builts, a company called "Rod Doors" makes custom speaker enclosures that you can adapt (with a little glass work) to make your own custom panels. I think I posted the link, a few pages back (might be in the same thread with John's response, I can't recall). That same company has some really cool fabrics and coverings, in case you want to do something unique.

As long as everyone understands, and to be clear, and as I stated in the "I've been outed" thread, I snapped over 150 pictures at V@V, including EVERYONE'S car, playing no favorites, snapping even the post-83 rides in the parking lot. I did so for personal use, since I just plain dig cars, and also dig people having a good time (and geez, I just bought the camera -- I simply love new toys). I had no intention of taking pictures for use in a magazine article. I gave the disk to Scott, for the V@V web site. The rest was out of my control. I also recall that the author asked me for my opinion of the current makeup of club membership, in general. But it was a sunny day, and Patti kept handing me glasses of wine, and the speech started to slur, and "then that lowdown Suthern' whiskey, yeah, began to fog my mind" (okay, it was wine, not whiskey -- but I love that song). And what I recall of my answer, was not printable or useable (you probably can get a general flavor of what I said, from the "Dear NCC Chapter" thread elsewhere here -- except I wrote that one last night while sober). Anyway, whatever the case, I'd like to switch gears and move on to another rather unhearalded aspect of V@V, which I think has gone with far too little recognition. That aspect is, the wine. As I sit here writing to you, my friends, Patti stands before me and -- what's that in her right hand? Why, a corkscrew. And what of her left hand, you ask? A bottle of the Yadkin Valley's finest, perfectly chilled -- Westbend Vineyards Chardonnay, Barrel Fermented, 2003. We are about to pop it open, and pour ourselves a glass or two (or three) in our genuine souvenier Westbend wine glasses. And we don't plan on stopping the pour, until the bottle is a dead soldier. So with that, I leave to others the raging debate regarding the relative merits of the V@V article. Me, I'm just happy to have shown my ass in a National publication -- after all, it's my better side. So to that, Roundel, I raise a glass and say "cheers" -- a toast to my ass picture (which Patti snapped by the way), with a glass of Westbend. After all, it's some mighty fine stuff (and I have an entire trailer full of it).

Indeed, here's to Scott - the Fearless Leader himself. Salute, my brother! (Scott -- Good news -- after seeing the article, DeNiro signed on to reprise the role as Fearless Leader, but this time, in your life story.) All hail the Fearless Leader.

(nt)

VIXENS!!!!! YEAH!!!

But any old fender from just about any old car will do. At least, it worked for my Ford. Also, Uncle Rick and Crazy Dave (my two neighbors) taught me a trick -- use the biggest, heaviest, meanest looking piece of metal that you can find, as a heat sink. When we rewelded Hector, I stood behind the panel, pressing as hard as I could with this big, obnoxious thing that looked like Maxwell's Silver Hammer on steroids. Uncle Rick then hit a spot with the tig. Then, he relaxed, we sat around, shot the breeze, complained about Fords, and generally BS'ed until the panel was cool (no quenching allowed). Then, another quick hit with the Tig -- hit and cool, hit and cool. Otherwise, your metal will warp. Experienced welders can go faster; but Uncle Rick is just about the baddest-dude welder on the planet, and he takes his sweet time. And the results are glass-smooth -- he gets pissed if he even has to TOUCH it with a grinder. Other welders disagree -- but that's okay. Just relaying what Uncle Rick does. PS -- he also bought an $8,000 spray welder. Now, that's a tool and then some. No bondo necessary -- just tack up a patch panel and hit it with the spray welder, and grind away. He uses that on the parts that don't show that much, since it moves a lot faster. True, not many people have access to one of those (let alone, own one). So I am fortunate. If you have someone around with a spray welder, that will make your life a lot easier, especially for the parts that don't show.

I checked the official stats in the back of "Performance BMW" magazine, and confirmed my suspicion -- BMW made only 457 M1's. Whereas, there exists a veritable plethora of middle-aged man butts. Thus, while I thank Roundel profusely for my rear end's 15 minutes of fame, had it been my editorial decision, I probably would have featured the M1 in lieu of my butt. Just my personal view, however.

Indeed, I saw Dame Edna at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Thus, I am officially a "possum."

It is a little known fact, but the Chief Design Engineer for the 5 series is none other than Dame Edna. You doubt me? Exhibit A -- Edna's eyewear; Exhibit B -- the 5-series headlights. www.dame-edna.com/

Vixens! A Vixen TD is the ideal vehicle for the Ultimate Ruling Idea Class. Vixen mania will rule the world. Mark my word.

My neighbor has a vintage RX-7 that he wants to sell. Sorry, I know absolutely nothing about these cars, so I won't guess at specifics. And, we're East Coast. But -- want me to check it out?

This banter -- this is some funny stuff. I can't top some of these comments, so I won't try. But . . . I will "ad" this -- have you seen the "UmpimpMyRide" ads? Me likes them, lots . . . www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_sort=relevance&search_query=vw+unpimp+my+ride&search=Search