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Post by Dabeagle on Mar 18, 2023 19:00:48 GMT -5
Some of you may have clicked through when I shared this in another thread recently. Of the two vehicles I have centered characters around, one was Lucien's blue bus (Orly Metallic Blue) and the Quantum from the story of the same name. As many of you know, I actually have a 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon in Orly Metallic Blue, though it's an automatic. I considered selling it last summer as I just don't use it as much as I'd like, and a 30 year old car needs stuff. I recently shared a Facebook marketplace link for a Quantum that was listed here locally...and I'm it's new owner. I talked the guy down from $1200 to $500, but it needs a lot of work. SO if any of you go to placed where they have eighties VWs for parts, make sure to let me know - this thing is going to need goodies. The first thing I did was scrape off th e stickers with the 'Isis' and 'Antifa' hunting licenses signed by the mango Mussolini. Let me know if you'd like to get updates as the car progresses.
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Quantum
Mar 19, 2023 6:16:21 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 19, 2023 6:16:21 GMT -5
Dave, I'm interested in how it goes with your Quantum. Hopefully it is in better shape than the one in "The Quantum", a story I really like and have read more than once. My friend used to get her Audi serviced here. Seemed like nice people whenever I drove her there. www.autohausaz.com/catalog?v=1284869&c=18&b=&page=7&sortby=d
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Post by Dabeagle on Mar 19, 2023 10:18:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the resource! This one needs a lot. It has some rust holes through the trunk/passenger rear wheel well that a friend says he can repair. When I pulled it off the tow dolly the transmission seemed weak - hopefully just old fluid, but I also heard a CV joint chatter. It needs the whole exhaust and various other things like the idle air valve that causes it to shut off when it gets warm. It'll be a bunch of work!
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Quantum
Mar 19, 2023 20:47:35 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 19, 2023 20:47:35 GMT -5
Hi Dave, I GOOGLED "arizona auto recyclers in phoenix" and got a lot of listings. I don't know if there is a similar association in New York. Couldn't find Quantum in a lot of sites but did find this one "http://recycler.car-part.com/ASAutoWrecking/". I'm up for a quest. Let me know if you need someone to "eyeball" something for you. Let me know what the year and VIN number is so I can look around some more.
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Quantum
Mar 19, 2023 20:56:04 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 19, 2023 20:56:04 GMT -5
OOOh! Check this one out. Seems to be nationwide.
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Quantum
Mar 19, 2023 22:54:33 GMT -5
Post by glh on Mar 19, 2023 22:54:33 GMT -5
That's an awesome resource, Neal! I've found a lot of obsolete used parts through car-part.com. Salvage yards aren't all that common anymore and it's great to be able to log in and find what you need and have a pretty good idea how far you'll have to travel to get it. My last Duh-kota had a bad front differential and I found one that was a tad over an hour's drive from here. I need to start looking for spares for my 1986 Ford F150 Lariat. It's dull and rusty, but I'm seriously thinking of doing a mechanical restoration on it and taking it on The HOT ROD Power Tour just for $#!TS and giggles.
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Quantum
Mar 20, 2023 0:11:53 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 20, 2023 0:11:53 GMT -5
GLH
Interesting. I had a 96 Duh Koda. And I had a 76 F150 which while getting a part for it put me in the right place at the right time. I still crack up at what I witnessed. Long story short, while at the dealership a guy with a wheelbarrow full of pennies and a State Cop came in. Seems he was a traveling salesman and had a repair done. The Smug ass Service Manager (Whom I dealt with a couple times) wouldn't take his out of state check for the repairs and apparently told the guy cash, coin of the realm to get his car back. So, I got to see the service manager be forced to count the pennies in the wheelbarrow or give the guy his car back for free according to the state cop. I think it was about $386 in 1976 money. The parts guy, who I liked, filled me in on more details but I won't bore you with those. (Dealership owner made the Service Manager apologize and put the pennies in wrappers himself over the next few days.)
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Quantum
Mar 20, 2023 0:48:13 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by paul on Mar 20, 2023 0:48:13 GMT -5
I have nothing substantive, auto-repair-wise, to offer, so I'll just say I like the looks of the Quantum, and that it's time again for another read of the story.
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Quantum
Mar 20, 2023 8:58:17 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Dabeagle on Mar 20, 2023 8:58:17 GMT -5
Neal, That car-part.com may be a goldmine. Among the many things the car needs is a new grille - the old one had holes cut into ti to add lights that aren't necessary, even if they sort-of look cool. I'm about restoration rather than modification. The grille I'd found online was $112 and in Latvia (shipping inc.) but I found one on there for $35, so I'm definitely saving that site. The junker may be in CT, too, so it may be close enough to spend a day running down to pick at it.
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Post by glh on Mar 20, 2023 12:19:10 GMT -5
GLH Interesting. I had a 96 Duh Koda. And I had a 76 F150 which while getting a part for it put me in the right place at the right time. I still crack up at what I witnessed. Long story short, while at the dealership a guy with a wheelbarrow full of pennies and a State Cop came in. Seems he was a traveling salesman and had a repair done. The Smug ass Service Manager (Whom I dealt with a couple times) wouldn't take his out of state check for the repairs and apparently told the guy cash, coin of the realm to get his car back. So, I got to see the service manager be forced to count the pennies in the wheelbarrow or give the guy his car back for free according to the state cop. I think it was about $386 in 1976 money. The parts guy, who I liked, filled me in on more details but I won't bore you with those. (Dealership owner made the Service Manager apologize and put the pennies in wrappers himself over the next few days.) Epic tale. I've been there, except it was on a speeding ticket. The deputy that ticketed me couldn't tell the difference between a Ford Fusion and a Buick Lacrosse. I was in Mom's Lacrosse and he pulled me over since I was the closer target, I guess. Paid that fine in $1 bills and when the clerk got lippy with me I told her she should be happy that I didn't present her with 12,000 pennies. She said she would have refused them. Having been active in local politics and law enforcement for most of my adult life, I advised her that she couldn't legally refuse legal tender and again reminded her that she should be thankful for my consideration. She shut up and sat down after that. And yes, if this were reddit I'd happily admit to being the asshole.
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Post by dgt224 on Mar 20, 2023 16:59:51 GMT -5
Epic tale. I've been there, except it was on a speeding ticket. The deputy that ticketed me couldn't tell the difference between a Ford Fusion and a Buick Lacrosse. I was in Mom's Lacrosse and he pulled me over since I was the closer target, I guess. Paid that fine in $1 bills and when the clerk got lippy with me I told her she should be happy that I didn't present her with 12,000 pennies. She said she would have refused them. Having been active in local politics and law enforcement for most of my adult life, I advised her that she couldn't legally refuse legal tender and again reminded her that she should be thankful for my consideration. She shut up and sat down after that. And yes, if this were reddit I'd happily admit to being the asshole. There is, in fact, no legal requirement for anyone to accept any particular form of currency, at least in Federal law, although I think there is a presumption that any form of payment in cash must be accepted in the absence of prior notice of a restriction. So those signs you see occasionally that indicate they won't accept anything larger than a $20 bill are perfectly legal, and a notice that no more than 100 pennies (or four pennies, for that matter) will be accepted would be equally legal. But in the absence of a public notice, you're probably right.
I think there's some confusion over the matter because U.S. law has changed several times. Prior to 1965, pennies and nickels were legal tender only for debts up to 25 cents, and dimes, quarters, and half dollars were legal tender only for debts up to $10. The Coinage Act of 1965 made all U.S. coins legal tender in any amount. There are still plenty of people around who grew up before the 1965 change (me, for example), and how many of them have even heard of the Coinage Act of 1965? So there's a reasonable amount of room for confusion.
Edited to add: The guy with the wheelbarrow of pennies in the post glh was replying to was probably very wise to have a state cop along (and one wonders how he was able to arrange that, but I digress). One of the references I ran into while I was researching the above (You didn't think I actually knew all that, did you?) pointed out that if someone refuses a cash payment for a debt, a court will generally regard the debt as having been discharged, in the absence of a contract that specifies a particular form of payment. Which means it's good to have an independent and relatively unimpeachable witness in a case like that.
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Quantum
Mar 22, 2023 6:09:21 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 22, 2023 6:09:21 GMT -5
Epic tale. I've been there, except it was on a speeding ticket. The deputy that ticketed me couldn't tell the difference between a Ford Fusion and a Buick Lacrosse. I was in Mom's Lacrosse and he pulled me over since I was the closer target, I guess. Paid that fine in $1 bills and when the clerk got lippy with me I told her she should be happy that I didn't present her with 12,000 pennies. She said she would have refused them. Having been active in local politics and law enforcement for most of my adult life, I advised her that she couldn't legally refuse legal tender and again reminded her that she should be thankful for my consideration. She shut up and sat down after that. And yes, if this were reddit I'd happily admit to being the asshole. There is, in fact, no legal requirement for anyone to accept any particular form of currency, at least in Federal law, although I think there is a presumption that any form of payment in cash must be accepted in the absence of prior notice of a restriction. So those signs you see occasionally that indicate they won't accept anything larger than a $20 bill are perfectly legal, and a notice that no more than 100 pennies (or four pennies, for that matter) will be accepted would be equally legal. But in the absence of a public notice, you're probably right.
I think there's some confusion over the matter because U.S. law has changed several times. Prior to 1965, pennies and nickels were legal tender only for debts up to 25 cents, and dimes, quarters, and half dollars were legal tender only for debts up to $10. The Coinage Act of 1965 made all U.S. coins legal tender in any amount. There are still plenty of people around who grew up before the 1965 change (me, for example), and how many of them have even heard of the Coinage Act of 1965? So there's a reasonable amount of room for confusion.
Edited to add: The guy with the wheelbarrow of pennies in the post glh was replying to was probably very wise to have a state cop along (and one wonders how he was able to arrange that, but I digress). One of the references I ran into while I was researching the above (You didn't think I actually knew all that, did you?) pointed out that if someone refuses a cash payment for a debt, a court will generally regard the debt as having been discharged, in the absence of a contract that specifies a particular form of payment. Which means it's good to have an independent and relatively unimpeachable witness in a case like that.
Traveling Salesman was probably an understatement. I think he was some kind of account executive. He was very well dressed, and his car was a brand-new Black Crown Vic. I've mentioned this to friends throughout the years and they raised a bunch of questions I never thought of at the time. The parts guy was young and friendly to deal with. (Easy to look at too.) The service manager was a pompous self-important old ass in a Podunk Ford Dealership just north of metropolitan Boston. He hated the credit card machine (do you remember the ones at sales points where they put your card in and a multiple part form and ran a rolled over it?) and stood behind the cashier telling people to bring cash or a Bank of Boston check all the time. The thing I wish I had asked the parts guy about was where the guy got the pickup truck and wheelbarrow from? I saw the pickup truck on my way out. But I didn't see a State Police car in the lot. My favorite Budweiser Powered theory from friends was that the salesman was the cops' brother, and it was the cops' pickup truck and wheelbarrow. Hindsight being what it is, I wish I'd asked the parts guy to dish more details. Indulge me for a moment. Forgotten memories of that pickup and my big adventure in it have come back. I may have spent a wee bit too much of my reenlistment bonus at that dealership getting new wheels, tires and a sunroof added to it. The big adventure was driving it from Brunswick Maine to Oakland California solo. CB radios were a big thing back in "76". Other CBers saw my New Hampshire license plate and would ask me where I was going. My favorite response to my telling them I was going to Honolulu was "Better close your windows. You got some wet wheelin ahead." That pickup was shipped from Oakland, CA to Maui, HI where I served for two years. I went back to Boston at the end of 1978. Sometimes during those 4 years in Boston my brother would come on business trips. He was a medical equipment rep based in Tulsa, OK. I'd pick him up at the airport and he stayed with us while there. I'd take a couple days Leave and drive him around to Regional Hospitals. Our running joke whenever he paid for lunch, gas, tolls, was when I'd say, "So tell me about the new Pulse Dose Oximeter." Then he could claim those expenses for reimbursement when he got back to Tulsa. It was those "Business Trips" with my brother that became the Budweiser Powered Theory years later. Thanks for indulging me.
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Post by Dabeagle on Mar 24, 2023 15:40:49 GMT -5
Short walk around the Quantum, may reshoot it later on but you can get an idea for now:
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Quantum
Mar 24, 2023 23:16:38 GMT -5
glh likes this
Post by Neal on Mar 24, 2023 23:16:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the video. Looks like your "Hobby" will keep you occupied for a while. Best Wishes.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jun 19, 2023 12:39:55 GMT -5
Well, there aren't any updates to the Quantum other than it's in my garage - I had to clean that out enough first and move clock up into the now vacant bedroom. Besides that it's just been too busy, but I have picked up some tune up stuff and had a look underneath. At some point it'll go to my buddy's place and the tank will come down for cutting out the rust and the welding and fashioning straps for the tank as the previous owner used...ratchet straps.
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