[Thed]

Well guys I don't know if you have noticed or if anyone cares, but I haven't been on that much recently. Lately, particularly for the last week, I've been busy busy busy. Between thirty hours a week at work, graduation coming up, and finals to be taken, it's been kind of hectic. Alright so what does this have to do with cars? Well this is why I haven't been by a computer recently. Sit back, relax, grab a beer, and read on... because the story gets interesting.

It all starts last week when my bud (Alex) since middle school doesn't have a ride to work. He's 18 but he has no car whatsoever. I couldn't take him because I had to go to work and nobody within an hour of us was available. He even asked neighbors if they could give him a ride. Alex is more of the obnoxious type sometimes, shooting his guns and making whatever noises he damn well pleases, so it was not surprising that he had to skip work that day. His mom actually came to me begging that I help him find a damn car by the end of the month. So on Friday after exams Alex and I go to Five Guys for the bast damn burgers money can buy. Our friend Joel stops by with his '04 GTI and chows down with us. We start talking about sound systems and all that junk because we're both really into it. Then we started to talk about Alex's sound system... OH WAIT!!! Hahahaha we made fun of him. Realizing I had nothing to do for the rest of the day we went over to Alex's house for shits and giggles.

His mom just happened to be there and since she knows I have a strange obsession with cars, she wanted me to find something that was safe, reliable, cheap, fuel efficient, you know, the usual mom list. She asked when I could do that, and well I was already there so why not!?! So we go look up some cars on the almighty Craigslist and we came across some good contenders. But one thing stood out. It was a beautiful 1999 Ford Taurus SE with the Duratec 30 and a new timing belt that was just posted that day. It had every option except leather. It was a car in beautiful cosmetic shape and the dude wanted $2800 for it. It was cheap, safe, reliable, alright on gas, and it had a little get-up-and-go for my boy here.



Yes, that's Alex. Some say we look like each other, almost as if we were brothers, but I don't see it. OK back to the story!

So we call the guy and leave him a voicemail and we get a call five minutes later about the car. We set up a thing to go and see the dude on the other side of town within the hour. So since Alex lives in the middle of nowhere I decide to keep all of my windows open so it doesn't get too hot in there. Plus his mom stayed home so it wasn't like anyone wasn't watching periodically. Also, Alex has guns, and the whole neighborhood knows it.

So we go off to see the Ford and this thing is immaculate. Interior needed only a couple very minor things for it to be showroom-new. Exterior had a couple of blemishes but nothing that detracted from the value of the car. This thing was an ergonomic masterpiece. Wherever you'd think something was, your hand went there and there it was. it may not be the most stylish thing ever, but it worked and worked great. Engine bay was spotless except for a missing clip on the air box. Not a big deal, plenty are at the salvage yard. Engine ran great, transmission shifted seamlessly, albeit a little slow by today's standards. he also had a '64 Corvair (first I've ever seen in person) and a F-Body V6 Slomaro. Things then started to get a little sketchy when he said that they were both for sale, along with the Taurus. This guy wasn't the most trustworthy guy out there, so we didn't buy the car that day. Instead I got the chance to drive Joel's GTI to Wal-Mart so we could go get $100 to deposit on the Ford. We did that because it was too late to take it to a mechanic and everyone felt that this was happening too fast, except for the seller... who was suspiciously pushing for a quick sale. He was saying that there was somebody else coming in fifteen minutes, and he hed that fib for two hours... huh. But about the GTI, that thing is quick. the 1.8T was awesome, but the turbo lag was terrible. But I think it gave it character, and made it even more fun. Unfortuantly, after driving to Wal-Mart and getting $100 cash-back, I realized I already had over $100 in my pocket as I had not deposited the money I got from selling my old speakers... whoops. Oh well that little zhu-zhu pet was a blast. :biggrin:

So the next morning we wake up at Alex's house. I slept over so I wouldn't forget to go see the Taurus first thing in the morning. Well that and mainly after we went to go see the Ford the night before, it started raining, and raining hard. If you remember earlier in the post, I mentioned that I (stupidly) left all of my windows open. Everything was drenched. Everything. The dash, the seats, the center doors all covered in water. And here's the worst part. Both of my amps sit right under the
rear window, which was, of course, left wide open. These things were so soaked that it makes a soda spilled all over a keyboard look like normal wear and tear. Naturally, I flipped a shit halfway home, realizing my mistake. Broke out a hair dryer and rigged it up to blow directly on both of the amps. I actually left it there long enough to trip the internal breaker on the hair dryer, whoops again. So Alex's mom was generous enough to let me use her garage for the night so the truck could fully dry off. The amps are back to working 100% if anyone was curious.

So it was early in the morning and we were off to go take the Taurus to our mechanic. On the way there (it was about a seven mile drive, one-way) I was able to ring out what the Duratec had to offer in the thirteen year-old car. The result surprised me. Torque was surprisingly abundant, especially in the 1800-3500 range. Put some extra gas in and it just easily picked up speed. i was able to get the thing to break traction off a stop light without even flooring it. In short, I loved it. I love this car, and now I love Taurii even more because of that drive. On the way there I notice that the front rotors are a little warped and that the alignment needed to be done. That was no problem, as they are regular maintenance issues. But then we got it on the lift. No rust whatsoever. It was a NC car its whole life and it shows. Front ball joints and sway bar links were shot, though. Along with some new rotors this is starting to get kind of pricey. Then we see something that no sane person wants to see. Oil, and it was ll over the oil pan. There was a leak somewhere, and it needed to be fixed. The mechanic thinks it needs a new oil pan gasket, but I think it needs a new oil pump gasket, a much more costly repair (also rather common with Fords). AS soon as I saw that I new the car had to be let go. I loved the thing, Alex was getting damn near romantically involved with the thing, but the plug had to be pulled. If we could talk him down to $1900 or less, then we'd still consider it. But since this guy was being an ass hole we had to let it go.

Moral of that story, don't judge a book by its cover. Here's where it starts to get awesome. Now as some of you know, I dig grandma cars. If you do too, you'll love this.

Sitting at the mechanic's lot was a little light blue... thing. It was for $1900 and it had no mechanical problems whatsoever. It ran like a sewing machine and was as smooth as silk. Basically it was a couch on wheels. It was a 1994 Buick Regal Custom sedan!!! This thing was awesome! And it had a gem under the hood, the almighty 3800 V6! I see that as I drive off with the dude's Taurus and I came back to the mechanic to take it for a drive. Didn't handle as well as the Ford, but it was noticeably smoother. I liked it a lot, and with some research, I liked it even more. I found out that these Regals commonly needed new water pumps, which this one already had. The tires were new too! And may I add - TORQUE!!! GOBBS OF IT! Interior was typical mid-90's cheap GM crap, but it was a first car so who cared. Visibility was superb. The back seat was a sex magnet, I must say. Rollin' down the highway this W-Body failed to disappoint.

It is the same thing as this, except it had a different grille and different rims.



Since that Taurus turned out to be a dud this was looking very attractive. All it needed was a new owner and some interior TLC. So, after waiting a couple days, Alex gets his license, gets insurance, and buys the car, all before I'm done with exams. So I go over to his house for the millionth time, to go see (and steal for a couple minutes) his newly-acquired old-people's car. The more I'm in this car, the more I, dare I say, love it. Thankfully going over to his house is actually beneficial to me for once, as I learned from Alex's mom (bless her heart) that the mandatory graduation practice I am supposed to attend to be able to walk on graduation night was actually TODAY, and not on Thursday that I initially thought. So Alex just got his license, just got his car, and he is eager to drive. So I get a ride with him so I won't have to pay for parking in downtown Raleigh, and he has much more gas than I do. :: He had no idea how to get to the Raleigh Convention Center, where our graduation ceremony is being held, so I was his helpful GPS.

Here's where things get... interesting.

So we get off of interstate onto South Saunders Street, any of my NC boys out there that know that street know that that isn't the best part Raleigh. But we have to go through that part of town if we want to get to our destination. All of the sudden the "Check Gauges" light comes on... and by that time the light turned green. I told Alex to go, but it wouldn't. The damn thing stalled out on us in the intersection. We got it to turn on once, and moved it a few feet before we had to come to a stop as the light turned red. It stalls out again. At this point we are stuck on a busy intersection on one of the busiest roads going in and out of downtown Raleigh. I don't know what Alex was more pissed at, the car, or everyone honking at him sine he couldn't move. He started yelling and shouting words that I didn't even knew existed. I guess it was his inner Jersey coming back up and taking over. So I told him to bump this, I'm pushing this pile of junk outta here. Now, usually, when there are two people, and a car needs to be pushed, the driver pushes the A-pillar and steers the car. That's the concept, right? Well, the light turns green and I start pushing as hard as I can, up-hill. This was getting hard, really hard. Halfway through the intersection I realize that Alex is just sitting his lard ass right there in the driver's seat. I was going to blow a gasket. I told him to jump out and push too so we don't get our asses run over. By this time a bum and a guy waiting for his bus came running over to help us push it into a car audio shop's rear parking lot. I was slightly distracted with a Chrysler Aspen and a 'Balt SS (auto )both sporting two 12" Orion subs. They sounded fantastic, but that can be touched on later.

So here we are in a bad part of Raleigh, with just about everyone we know already at the convention center. Greeeaaaaaattt..... Well first thing I think is that the car was not getting enough fuel. When it was alive (we got it to turn over a couple, brief times) it was able to rev freely, but if you let the RPMs drop too low, it'd just stall out again. So maybe the gauge is broken and the tank is empty? We look for a gas station and... great. Three gas stations! But all are on the other side of the damn road. So, after waiting a few minutes we were able to make it across seven lanes of traffic and buy a gas tank and a little bit of gas. We made it back across somehow and gave the Buick a gallon of the clear stuff. By this point the mandatory rehearsal was in ten minutes, and we were three miles away. So after the gas was put in we said a prayer and... no luck. I just said fuck it, the fuel pump is shot. At this point we needed to get there by whatever means possible. So we called our friend who was already at the rehearsal and he didn't want to risk not walking on Friday night, so he didn't want to pick us up. Thankfully his girlfriend made him go pick us up. But our dear friend Jake didn't know how to navigate downtown Raleigh to save his life. So his blonde girlfriend came with him to give him directions, as her phone had GPS. So they pull out of the parking garage and she says take a left. So he takes a left. "Go left again." He turns left... "Take a left here." Oh boy... "Take another left." Long-story-short they end up being NASCAR wannabes going in a square for five minutes. At that point tensions were getting high in the car because my friend was pissed that he had to go get us and her directions made him go over-the-top. They ended up breaking up and his ex-girlfriend was stranded two blocks away from the convention center. You guys can gather how good she is with finding her way somewhere. Now it's 3:30 and rehearsal is supposed to be starting. We're kind of screwed. Alex wants to hitch-hike. I say hell no. Alex said why not? He did it back in New Jersey! I pointed to a specific person and yelled, "I AM NOT HITCH-HIKING FROM ANYONE WHILE WE ARE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH A USED-UP PROSTITUTE!!!" The lady I pointed at was indeed a hooker. She might have heard me, but I didn't give a shit. So now what? We're screwed right? Not exactly. It may not be THE big city, but it is A big city... and what do big cities usually have? Yep, taxis. I saw one of the local taxi companies roaming around and I gave them a call, "Yeah we can get a cabby out to you in 10-15 minutes." I got pissed and hung up. At this point I was furious because my grandfather is flying in from Omaha, NE while leaving my crippled uncle up to my grandmother. If he's coming out here I have to find a way to get to rehearsal. At this point I really am open to all options, because we sent Jake back to rehearsal because we didn't want to screw him out of the graduation ceremony. Then one of the guys at the sound station said he could take us over in five minutes. I was relieved. But still, we still had to waste valuable time so he could get his sound system tuned. Then a miracle happens. "Hello this Jaun from Green Taxi. I am by interstate. Are out at station?" "Yeah we're at the sound station! Over here at the audio shop!" "Ahhh great! I be there in ten seconds!" HALLELUJAH!!! We found a ride! One problem dipshit Juan parks over at the gas station ACROSS THE STREET. So we risk our life (again) crossing Saunders and get to him right as he walks out of the convenience store, looking for us. So we got there at 3:45, which happened to be right on time.

So that was basically what has been happening lately.

Some side notes:
-Alex's mom went Jersey on the mechanic's ass and is getting the car repaired for free.
-Jake brought us home along with his girlfriend and her friend. Jake and his girlfriend got back together when we all went out to eat at Golden Corral afterwards (ew)
-If we waited five minutes and let the sound station guy take us, we would not be walking on Friday night.
-This took over two hours to write
-Juan had the most stereotypical cabby conversation with us
-cab fare was $8 with tip, and parking cost was $7
-if the Buick never broke down then Jake would have never gotten into that whole episode with his girlfriend
-I made a blonde joke and got a swift slap from her. It was worth it.
-I drove an Audi A4 1.8T over the weekend, I loved that car. Clutch was softer than the GTI but the brakes were better. AWD made the Audi slower but it did not make it less fun. Turbo lag was still very apparent. Steering was damn near perfect. Great driver's car.
-I saw a Fisker Karma on the way home today. Dead sexy car.
-Alex still loves the Buick, although the radio is by far the worst I have ever heard.
-I got new drums put on over the weekend.
-The examiner's last name that administered Alex's test was Hooker, and we happened to be stranded next to a hooker.
-if babies attend the graduation ceremony, they need a ticket too.

[96s-10ss]

Quick note,they never made a Balt SS automatic. All true SS's were manual only with the F35 transmission.

[Thed]

Well then I need to go kick that guy's ass. He had Kicker speakers too!!! All the more reason...

[96s-10ss]

HEY NOW! What's with the kicker hate?

[MOPAR74]

I cant believe I actually read all that shit

[Thed]

96s-10ss;210687 Wrote:HEY NOW! What's with the kicker hate?

If it has a voice coil, I hate it. I couldn't stand my Kicker subs or speakers.

[docCarter]

I sort of scanned downed to the hooker bit and lost interest.

[AudiR8]

Jesus. You need new friends.

[docCarter]

^^^
His friends are practically saints compared to the dickheads I hung out with.

And I read through and saw the bit about downtown Raleigh, how hard is it to drive around there? It would probably seem simpler than driving through the suburbs here.

[96s-10ss]

Driving in Raleigh is a bitch and a half.
The roads make about as much sense as a two year on crack...

[docCarter]

Chicago's road network was designed by the Polish.

Remember, Chicago is one of the only cities to be ruled by dictators (Daley #1 and #2).

[Thed]

I can navigate Raleigh just fine. Durham is a wee bit harder, but downtowns were always easy for me.

[docCarter]

those aren't downtowns.

[AudiR8]

docCarter;210921 Wrote: those aren't downtowns.

You're not downtowns.

[MOPAR74]

All you whiny bitches go drive around down town Houston, then come talk to me. Houston is the 4 largest city in the country


talk about a bitch


Chicago is the 3rd largest by population..... but Houston is physically larger