And more junk.

[cjet69]

Seems like every time I go there for some coupon sales anymore the stuff I try to get is already sold out.

the last few times going there to find out they were out of stock.

I find the store 20 miles from me is out of stock a lot of times but the store 50 miles away usually has it. Then I order it online and don't get the in store coupon price but the gas for 100 mile round trip is more than the savings most of the time. Has to be a more expensive item to make the trip worth it.

 

[chieffan]

Our closest HF store in about 60 miles away. New store but larger population area to serve, council Bluffs and Eastern Omaha area. The usually have things on hand but do run out occasionally. They used to have actual sidewalk sales, where the merchandise is all out under one roof? Now they put tags of the "sidewalk sale" items in the store and you have to hunt for the tag to find it.

 

[chieffan]

WE have the TV, land line bundle also. Price went up to over $220 a month. This includes unlimited long distance continental US calling that was used a lot but not so much anymore. Cell phone service is not all that reliable in this area, especially where we sit on low ground. Junk text crap comes through just fine but try and talk from the same location.

I also looked into streaming TV a few years ago. Most of them are movie oriented or syndicated shows. To get the shows we watch the most we would have to subscribe to and that usually brings the cost right back to where we are now. None of the streamers carry Discovery. RFD, Cowboy Chanel, and 2 or three other channels we have now. Never did get anything out of You Tube as it always bring up a bunch of stuff I am not looking for. When I do find it the video can't be understood, shake and shimmy their way around some shop or some place about like a camera on a dog chasing a ribbit. To get what we want we either pay the price, or sell the TV. The kids have nothing but those TV stick things but have two younger kids too. Don't have a clue what it is how it works, I can't even run the remote for it as none of the buttons are labeled, just stupid symbol on them. Have enough of that now.

 

[olcowhand]

When I dropped my landline phone the cost was around $38 a month, BUT my bill only went down $5! Ripoff for sure!

 

[Toomanytoys84]

Hell I saw an advertisement on my peacock app that said peacock was the place for nascar. Stream everything nascar!

Good advertising because I believed it!

 

[MFDAC]

I think Loree is really leaning towards getting Fubo, not so much for me to get NASCAR racing but she wants local news which they have, and the Colorado Rockies baseball is what really sold her. Our cable dropped the Rockies a couple years ago and she has been mad about that ever since.

Peacock is owned by NBC so they wouldn't carry anything other than the NBC races, Aaron.

Didn't get but a couple hours in the shop today, but got that slot car track disassembled, sanded and wire wheeled the contacts with a dremel. Hopefully can put it back together and give it a test tomorrow.

DAC

 

[chieffan]

Haven't had time to check into any of them yet. Contractor finished his part of the bathroom tub to shower conversion, so I had to get to the rest of it. Water valve was installed but had the shower head bar and 2 grab bars to put in. Spent more time up and down step to get what I needed from my basement shop. Pictures coming. Anybody have a couple of M4 X .7 - 4" metric screws they are not suing? 3" that came with the valve are not long enough.

 

[MFDAC]

Haven't had time to check into any of them yet. Contractor finished his part of the bathroom tub to shower conversion, so I had to get to the rest of it. Water valve was installed but had the shower head bar and 2 grab bars to put in. Spent more time up and down step to get what I needed from my basement shop. Pictures coming. Anybody have a couple of M4 X .7 - 4" metric screws they are not suing? 3" that came with the valve are not long enough.

Wish I could help on those metric screws, Rog. Sounds like you are getting that shower done in good time!

I took the Roku adapter we have in the house and brought out to the shop to test them on the existing TV's. Was hoping I wouldn't have to buy "smart tv's". Fortunately that thing works on them now that there is Wi-Fi out here in the shop. I ordered a couple more since they seem to be out of stock at the local Walmarts. When I get them set up on the shop TV's I guess it will be time to subscribe to Fubo, so I can get NASCAR out here. Will be able to watch dirt track racing too since we already have Flo Racing.

Then I goofed off. Put the slot car track together and wired it up. Used this old T-Jet transformer.


"Ran in" the track with a couple of Tyco 440X-2's.


All these cars got some lap time today. Those X-2's I took the traction magnets out of on the figure 8 were pretty darn ballistic on 18V! The ThunderJets and AFX Magnatractions seemed to like the 18V well.


I need to get back to reality soon and finish designing the racecar I have to letter. This stuff will get put away for awhile again soon.

DAC

 

[Sawdust]

The track project is coming along good. I like them open wheel cars in the bottom of your pic. I like them open idea of fixing that up like a dirt track. I remember fastening down the inside turns and shimming the outside up a little at a time while testing the cars to get a real nice banking. My son always chose the outside lanes because of the guardrails.

 

[MFDAC]

The track project is coming along good. I like them open wheel cars in the bottom of your pic. I like them open idea of fixing that up like a dirt track. I remember fastening down the inside turns and shimming the outside up a little at a time while testing the cars to get a real nice banking. My son always chose the outside lanes because of the guardrails.

Thank-you Jim! I built 4 of those old school modifieds over 20 years ago.



The 85 car was the first one, Basically a test to see if I could build these. Body from a '40 Ford Tyco hot rod, on a Aurora "Specialty" chassis.

The other 3 are tribute cars to racers I liked back in the day. The 61 is a tribute to a New England NASCAR modified racer named Richie Evans. It was an Aurora Pinto funny car, also on a Specialty chassis.

55 was a tribute to a local racer back in the late '60's. It was an Aurora Hot rod roadster. I had to build the roof out of sheet styrene. On a Thunder Jet chassis.

777 is a loose representation of a car my favorite country artist, Marty Robbins raced in the early 1960's. It was the same body as the 85 car but butchered up even more. On a Thunder Jet chassis too.

I cleaned and oiled up some more including the 777 and 55 cars above.


Used the redneck variable speed Dremel to clean pickup shoes. I need to see If I can get a battery for the cordless one. Warmed the motors up on a early 1970's Tyco transformer.


I had planned on wedging the turns up like you did, Jim, when it comes time to mount permanently. The guardrails are sticking far enough away from the track that there is no "leaning on it" for an advantage. One of the reasons why I wanted to do this 1/32 Eldon track. Problem is that the outside lane, the contacts overlap the correct direction. The inside lane they overlap opposite. Makes some bumps at the track joints on the inside. I race alone so not really a big deal, but it would be cool to have both lanes smooth if I'm going to put in the work to mount it permanently. Got a couple ideas but it will take a bunch of work.

Had to run around in town again this morning, got home made a few phone calls and ate lunch late. I picked up a Roku device for the oldest TV in my shop. 20 bucks. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it working but I have the "Chili Bowl" on in my office! Biggest open wheel midget race in the country. Christopher Bell has done good in first day qualifying, and Kyle Larson is struggling again. Of course there are 400 cars there so it's not between just those two.



That's enough of this nonsense. Got to be in town again for lunch with some cousins Wednesday and Thursday for a funeral. Just want to have a week at home for once!

DAC

 

[Sawdust]

You done a good job on those cars Doug. I remember Marty Robbins racing. What channel did you watch that race on.

Growing up an old guy had a car shop a couple of blocks away. He raced dirt track at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana. His car was a 56 Ford. Me and my buddies couldn’t wait to get out there on Monday to see how wrecked it was. I built a 1:24 scale model of his car. He would let us hang out and help him work around his shop.

I’ve been watching some of the old NASCAR races on YouTube, I sure miss them old racing days dirt and asphalt.

 

[MFDAC]

You done a good job on those cars Doug. I remember Marty Robbins racing. What channel did you watch that race on.

Growing up an old guy had a car shop a couple of blocks away. He raced dirt track at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana. His car was a 56 Ford. Me and my buddies couldn’t wait to get out there on Monday to see how wrecked it was. I built a 1:24 scale model of his car. He would let us hang out and help him work around his shop.

I’ve been watching some of the old NASCAR races on YouTube, I sure miss them old racing days dirt and asphalt.

View attachment 90034

Thanks again Jim! That channel is a streaming app called Flo Sports. Comes with a lot of other type of sports but I only watch racing.

FloSports® - Official Site - Live Event Sports Streaming‎

The essential destination for live streams and on-demand replays of your favorite sports, plus original content, real-time stats, game clips, rankings, news, and much more.

www.flosports.tv

I think we pay $150 annually.

I was still pretty little, probably around 6 or 7 when I discovered a guy that had a ramshackle house out on the road in front of our trailer court that was building Buicks for the dirt track. I remember they were Buicks because his homemade headers stuck through the holes in the fenders.
About the only other memory of it I have is he showed me that cutting a 55-gallon drum diagonally made 2 racing seats! Still would be a few years before I saw my first race. After we started going regularly in 1968 I built several models of local racecars but they all went down the creek in 1972. One of those models helped get me my first job in 1973, working in a race car shop. The shop owner remembered me bringing the model
into the pits to show him. He probably was trying to help us out since we had lost everything in the flood. Worked there until I graduated high school when the company went bankrupt.

Flood damaged Polaroid picture of that model.


We found one other picture of some of my models back then.


Polaroids don't take great pictures, much less being washed a couple miles down a creek---LOL!

The Roku devices that were compatible with a TV in the house and the lift bay TV came in today so I ran some laps on the track and had more Chili Bowl on TV Wasn't as bad to get them going today since I had done the shop office one yesterday. The next step will be biting the bullet and subscribing to "Fubo" to get the local and other networks that carry NASCAR channels. 80 bucks a month but we will still come out ahead over cable.


This old Chevelle T-Jet was the most versatile car I ran tonight. I need to figure out what made that one drive so well on both lanes!




DAC

 

[Cvans]

Looks like a pretty good sized step up for that Chevell after crossing the finish line or does the camera make it look worse than it is. Those cars sure turn out nice after you get done with them.

 

[MFDAC]

Looks like a pretty good sized step up for that Chevell after crossing the finish line or does the camera make it look worse than it is. Those cars sure turn out nice after you get done with them.
View attachment 90058

You are correct Chris. That is the issue I discussed above about the contacts overlapping the wrong way on the inside lane. I have a couple ideas how to modify that but it will have to wait awhile. Took the track apart and put cars away so I can prepare for racecar panels to put stickers on.

For some reason that Chevelle handled them pretty good but it's still not right.

DAC

 

[Cvans]

You are correct Chris. That is the issue I discussed above about the contacts overlapping the wrong way on the inside lane.

Thanks Doug. We had the Aurora sets and if I remember correctly some of those track pieces needed attention before they would line up correctly. Fun to see what your doing with these cars.

 

[MFDAC]

Thanks Doug. We had the Aurora sets and if I remember correctly some of those track pieces needed attention before they would line up correctly. Fun to see what your doing with these cars.

You're welcome Chris. Aurora tracks needed a lot of work too so it's nothing new. The six lane I built in 2001-2002 was Aurora AFX. Took a lot of work so get it smooth, and it needed regular maintenance to keep it that way. It was soldered and glued even. The plastic they used expanded and contracted in temp changes drastically. In the sun that track would expand so much it would grow enough it would hump up between screws holding it down. Saw that when I sold my track and the buyer came and picked it up on a bright sunny day!

Shifted gears from toys made for 8 year olds to man stuff today. Had to go to a funeral this morning. He was a coworker at my former job but also a long time racer and builder of sprint cars, modifieds and even some stock cars. Didn't actually get to see the service. Got there a half hour early and it was already standing room only. We ended up going outside and waiting for the folks to come out. It was too hot standing shoulder to shoulder in the lobby. The deceased guy's son is going into a World of Outlaws full schedule as a car owner for 2025! Not because of Daddy's money either. Daddy had put all his money into his own racing. Somehow he raised the funds himself.

Anyway I didn't go to interment or reception. Had a racecar body being delivered to letter since it was a beautiful weather day, and tomorrow it will be turning really bad for awhile. Probably will get pretty tough to keep the lift bay warm for about a week it looks like. This is what the car looks like with the panels on.






This is what I have to work with here at my shop.


Since it was so nice outside I started the 3 trucks that don't get driven much. Surprised me the '55 fired right up. Last time I tried to start it the battery was low, and needed a boost. Figured that battery was going dead. Scraped ice off of concrete areas that don't get sun since it was softened up a bit. Checked tire pressures and fluids in the Denali and parked in a different spot. There is standing water from s-word melt in the gravel right under the drivers side so it will be freezing solid tonight and I don't want to break my neck falling on it. Probably bash my head into the '55 on the way down. It sure could have stayed pushing 60* from here on out but them Canadians are pushing a big cold front this way---LOL! Just kidding!

DAC

 

[Sawdust]

Is that the finished colors black and white.

 

[MFDAC]

Is that the finished colors black and white.

Yeah, Jim. I have to add graphics to make it more interesting. He added orange skirts so I will use some in the graphics. Last years car was blue and white. This guy doesn't want to spend a bunch of money on a full body "wrap" like most of them do now. Most of the people that design wraps, make them look "badass" up close but have very little advertising value to sponsors. This guy has no sponsors besides his engine builder which will go on the nose panel. It won't be real fancy but will read well. Even numbers don't have to be readable nowadays since there are no scorekeepers. Some guys don't even have numbers now. Transponders do all the scoring.

DAC

 

[Sawdust]

Yeah, Jim. I have to add graphics to make it more interesting. He added orange skirts so I will use some in the graphics. Last years car was blue and white. This guy doesn't want to spend a bunch of money on a full body "wrap" like most of them do now. Most of the people that design wraps, make them look "badass" up close but have very little advertising value to sponsors. This guy has no sponsors besides his engine builder which will go on the nose panel. It won't be real fancy but will read well. Even numbers don't have to be readable nowadays since there are no scorekeepers. Some guys don't even have numbers now. Transponders do all the scoring.

DAC

These are the guys that I root for. Will you see him race.

 

[MFDAC]

These are the guys that I root for. Will you see him race.

We will get to the track a few times next summer, Jim. The track owners do a terrible job of track preparation so the quality of racing suffers. I was on this guys pit crew for 17 seasons, 80's, 90's and into the 2000's. He is 71 now. Worked on some ideas for numbers for a while this afternoon.

DAC