Dino Saga 080309 _ Cleaning the Trunk

Dino Saga 080309 _ Cleaning the Trunk

Once I decided to go to Bella Italia in San Diego I realized that I hadn’t really cleaned the inside of the car since the repaint last year. A daily driver doesn’t get the TLC that a Garage Queen gets. Trunk of a Queen doesn’t get used for carrying flats of flowers or pool chemicals either. Time to pick the necessities and unload the accumulated nice to haves. Here is the list starting at the top of the pile:

Putter, Sand, 9, 7, 5 irons. Keep the Hidden Oaks clubs handy for play or range.
3 yellow balls. Practice putting and play with yellow. Old eyes see them better.
5 white balls. Pitching and sand practice. Harder life.
Old practice glove. Nice new playing glove.
6 ft. of 3/8 Nylon line. Keeps stuff inside when have to leave trunk open when hauling.
25 ft. of 1/8” Nylon line. Hard to believe but the throttle cable broke, twice, at the rear pulley. First happened when left with Valet and had lunch. Came back and Valet was trembling. Calmed him down, went to chandler and got nylon line, rigged hand throttle and drove home. I reversed cable and spliced break with a piece of brass tubing brazed in place. Cable is straight there and things were fine until cable broke at pulley again. Things like that happen over 200,000 miles. Bought new cable. But you never know. Will keep line.
Jumper cables. Never used. Have loaned. Needed with my Alfas. Old habits never die.
Allen wrench for oil drain. For fools who like to use Channel Locks. Keep.
½” Breaker Bar with a 22 mm deep socket that fit wheel bolts. Lots of OOMPH.
3/8” ratchet, 6” extension, 13/16” plug socket. Used to need with Champion plugs. Now only use to check that NGK plugs are still nice and clean. Fit in bag with Breaker Bar.
Small Tool Bag. Screwdrivers, cutters, pliers, hex wrenches, etc.
Small Combination Wrenches. Two of larger ones.
Large Combination Wrenches. Two of smaller ones.
¼” and 3/8” ratchet sets, Metric and English, Extensions for both, Adapters up and down from ¼” to ½”. ¼” drive handle. ¼” sq. to hex adapter with large screwdriver tips.
A “do anything” ratcheting ¼” hex driver with lots of tips and an extension in the handle.
Jack and crank
Alternator belt
A quart of Castrol 20-50 motor oil. Jack, crank, belt and oil in left fender.
Two nice big bath towels to keep my body off the rocks. A couple of shop towels.
A Multimeter tucked between the towels. Towels and Meter in right fender.
Whew!

Got to thin it out so bag for two, etc. will fit for the ride down South. After looking, looks like some new carpeting would be a nice idea. Got three weeks to clean up. No sweat. Remember, Jon says a Tee Shirt to all Dino’s that show up. See you there.

John
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Anton,
Stop by any time you are in the area. I am in the phone book and Hidden Oaks Golf Course is on all the maps. On Google Earth too. I have never found any Dinos with close to my mileage. There was a black Dino parked most days in the Harbor lot during the early 80s that was driven daily but not maintained. That one was up in the 40,000 range but doubt that it lasted. Mine was at 51,000 when I bought it in 1986. 6,000+ miles a year til then. I just continued the tradition but it has slowed down lately with the work on engine and body and my natural aging. Been a great car under any definition.
John

 

Don't know where my head was when doing the math. Reread, banged head and tried again. 51,000 miles, 14 years, 3600+ miles per year. I upped that some and kept it moving smartly.
John