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Dan



Last Updated: 4/19/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 40
Sign: Sagittarius

City: Frankenmuth
State: Michigan
Country: US
Signup Date: 3/21/2007

Blog Archive
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 
Well tuesday at our flying field (rc airplanes) is for training and general tom foolery. I usually go to help out, shoot the guff and generally fly and have fun on a weekday. So there I am flying and enjoying myself when someone crashes a plane full throttle three feet in front of me. Now understand these things do on average like 79mph and weigh like 8-10 pounds with metal spinning engines with razor sharp blades in front wizzing at around 13,000 rpm and you get the picture of the possible dangers. Ive been flying for like 13 years and I must say Ive NEVER come this close to killing myself doing it. The trainer that was in charge of the student says he had the sun in his eyes and lost the plane till it was aimed right at my head and at the last second ditched it into the ground!!  WHEW!! I being a part time trainer myself have no Idea how this could happen as you usually keep newbies 5 mistakes high..... ANYWAY It was scary but I didnt loose my plane and landed it kinda in a state of shock. I can truly say I only fliched a little bit when it happened and never lost sight of my plane !! I landed had a few words with the trainer and then sat down for a few min..... and shook out my pants :)  I still flew a bunch more that night and had a fun time but I have thought about how that night might have ended differently.

Dan
Sunday, March 15, 2009 
Well life is pretty hectic and swift right now. The weather seems to get better every day YEA!!! Ally McBeetle has been humming like a sewing machine without nearly a complaint about being pushed into daily service. Im glad I made the switch. As much as I miss the dune buggy (and I do miss it ) I gotta admit if this had happened and I only had the dune buggy as backup this sitch would have sucked x 2. The 66 is a real car and when it rains you dont get wet! While I dont have heat Ive managed to deal with it. Anyway. I got the motor out and have stripped the old one of all the stuff I will reuse. I took the heads off of the "new" motor and it looks very nice inside. Nice to see the last owner took care of it. When I took the intake off of the old motor I nearly gagged as I saw what was under it. Sheesh it looks like a train wreck. I made the right decission to pull it. It is amazing I got 3 years out of the poor thing. You can tell the previous owner was a tool. Oh well.... Monday Ill take a bunch of stuff into work to get cleaned and then the rebuild will begin.
Cassie has a presentation of faith thingie today so Im not really going to do much else today as its her big day.This morning I still snuck down into the basement and finished up an airplane project :)

 
Oh yea I lost 15 pounds in 6 weeks and won the biggest loser contest at work (bug headliner money!!)   :) Im going to ease up on the diet just a smidge and will try to lose another 30 pounds by the end of the summer. That will take me to my perfect wieght of 170 (I was there before the back surgery 10 years or so ago.) Yes to celebrate I went to burger king and had a huge mongo burger :) YEAAAA ME...........


Dan
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 
Hi all. Been a fun week so far and I care to share. Due to my trusty vans illness (needs an enginectomy but thats another story!) Ive been drving my 66 bug every day for everything. When I replaced my highly impractical and fun as hell dune buggy for the more traditional bodied bug I was thinking "hey in a pinch this will make a great backup car!!) . And so it is now that I have been forced to drive a car that is in reality a smidge older that I. First impressions? Well for one It is COLD AS HELL!!!  I took it on a nice 2.5 hour drive on saturday to Battle creak and I must say that between all the air that passes through the car at speed (like an old house with leaky windows!) and the sould of the engine and wind noise ripping through the cabin It was fun for around a half of an hour and I was soon deaf afterwards and it didnt matter. Also the veh had its heater that is a simple heat transfer device that has an exhaust tube run through a tunnel and that tunnel would take the excess exh heat (preferably with out the exhaust itself) into the cabin. Well these systems did not age well. Rusted pipes and other age related issues took a very poor design and made it downright dangerous. Like many the heater system was replaced with a HiPo header exhaust system. So in essence the car has not had a heater probably since the 80's. So it is that I have bought a small propane gas heater that I intend to install this week (Ill keep you informed on the fireball it produces!!). I actually had a young lad (17'ish id guess) come up to me at a gas station and say to me, thats a beetle right? DAMN DUDE DUH!!! Geeze the world used to be filled with these things. Well we are in Michigan and furrin cars are not real pleantiful but Sheeeeeze of course its a damn beetle!  So Im very surprised, well maybe not so surprized at the audience this car produces. Im in a clown car so I get attention right? Kids wave and smile. People pull out their camera/phone/thingamambobbies and snap photos, The girls swoon "its soooo cute!" and the guys say gee Id bet itd make a great dune buggy :P  . Anyway other than the cold it makes a fine commuter car. Gotta warm up the engine though. Gotta stab the gas once or twice to get the fuel though the dual carbs to get the thing started. And since she doesnt have a choke I got to blip the throttle a bit after startup to keep her running. After 30 seconds or so its running fine. Im getting 25-27 miles to the gallon. So Im enjoying my beetle runnings and am not really missing the van much (cept the heater). I got my new headliner and side pop out windows but I cant really take the bug down right now. Maybe next month. Im really enjoying the drive though.
Dan.
Friday, February 27, 2009 
Ok when I bought the E150 super dee duper van 3 years ago it was a very nice van with an ailing motor. I got it so cheap I figured even if I put a motor in, it was still a steal. So I got it and eventually the oil pump was not able to do its job due to the previous owners lack of maintinance and the sludge that was in the motor was clogging up, well everything :). So I decided to do a hail mary and try to replace the oil pump as it might fix the low (to no!!)  oil pressure issue. So I opened her up and replaced the pump and removed a basket ball sized bowl of Yuck from the motor (EWWWW) (I shoulda seen this comming then, and frankly I did). So one year of bliss goes by and the damn thing runs like a top and Im thinking I dodged a bullet here. Anyway during a 2 hour drive to Detroit last night The oil pressure gage took a swan dive to the red (uh oh!) then it was followed by the usual clatter and mahem. I knew the engine was toast no matter what at this point so I drover it home (poor dear made it all the way home). So I now have  a boat anchor for an engine and after all the new stuff I put into the van Ill be damned if Ill give up this easily. Looks like a new motor to match the new trans I put in last year. I have a bud who might have a motor so we shall see. Meantime I put the full insurance back on the 66 bug and it is my new transportation for a while, Hope we are done with snow for a while.
 
Dan
Friday, February 06, 2009 
Well we are at the real core of winter at this point. Kinda a turning point where sunshine again starts to invade the land. This weekend we will see 40's again!!! Its been like 15 or below FOREVER!! Im siiked!! Winter projects are getting wrapped up (b-25 is almost ready again), and spring projects are at the forefront of my mind, I found a set of swing out side windows for the bug Im picking up soon. And it wont be long before I put in the new headliner (Im afraid of interior work....oh well my car club will help). Then its just a matter of driving the wee out of her! Kiddies have been busy little beavers at school getting pretty ok grades and cheerleading basketball and other fun activities like puppet shows and hula dance (they are good at hula) and all sorts of other stuff. My better half has been working her butt off at work and karting kids all over creation and helping with dance costumes and trying to keep the house running (I try to help.. really.. she shoes me away). The dog is still kicking (um kinda bummed on this note, 16 years old and its still hacking loogies and making IM COMMIN MARTHA noises..EEEEwwwww).  Basically we have all hit our winter stride. Ive started A monster serious diet (there is 200.00 on the line!) and Ive allready lost 3 pounds (20 to go!) So hopfully Ill take off this winter coat of flab and get ready to party into the spring!!

THink warm fuzzy thoughts
 
Dan 
Saturday, January 31, 2009 
Ya know people there are certain things in life I enjoy. Things that have been pillers in my life that I can always fall back on for enjoyment. Things like my hot tub (love the damn hot tub 2-3 times a week god love it!), my VW's, my geek watch (casio databank 150 with glow in the dark buttons...LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE.....), and my AutoWeek. Now for those of you that dont do print, I understand. But there is nothing better that sitting on the throne and enjoying an AutoWeek. Its thin (think cartoon mag) and always fresh (its a weekly) and its just damn fun. And now theyve Ruined it!!!!!!!!!  This has been out since the damn 50's and now they are screwing it up and making it a biweekly (BLASPHOMY!!! ) it will be thicker and now named AW hmmmm should be called BW for biweekly but anyway I digress. Why are all good things needing to be made less good and then they charge more for them. Its not right.
 
Oh well.  Theyll learn when their subscription dwindles.
 
 
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 

Hello all and happy holidays and all that jazz. Im kinda non denominational and all that so while I enjoy all the goodwill and tinsel/lights and all that stuff Im not much of a religous dude. Ive noticed a very strange vibe this year at work. It probably started with the boss canceling the christmas party, they replaced it with a sad wed after work get together at work. we had hors de herbs and beer at like 530.  So I went and was thinking to myself that I felt like I was still at work,,,cause I was!!! I thought that after the company saved 6000 by not rolling out the usual shindig we would at least get the christmas bonus like the last 4 years.... um no canceled this year. Tough times ya know!!  Hell we had a good year!! The owner just got a new 5 mil place to add to his other 3 palaces! Oh well, all the best to im eh? Im not starving or wanting so Im not really ready to give up on em yet. I feel the media is making such a big stink about the economy sucking that it gives employers cart blanch to cut back for the sake of better profits. The employees cant bitch too much right cuz they still got a job and all; in the sucky economy! They also cut the matching money into the 401k  :) I dont have 401 k cuz I always knew it was a scam.. Hell it IS a scam. Otherwise the company would not push it.  My brother in law has lost his ass on it. I said to him he could have taken the money to a strip club and would have been ahead of the game. :)  HAHAHA.....  Anyway Im getting a rash of stupid customer stuff, so in order to keep some sanity Im gunna drop some auto wisdom here,,,,,,,

take care of your ass for it bears you!!!!!!

 

Whats that mean??

 

Ok lets see,,,,,,  If your battery in your car is over 4 years old replace it..  you say it still works? What you wanna wait till it does not work? fine then dont be all impatiant and bitchie when it breaks down on you when you need to get somewhere..

Dont change your oil RIGHT before a holiday,  if you do, fine dont be in a rush cuz all the other last minuet weenies are all doing the same thing so its a madhouse and every oil change takes 45 min to do correctly, want it faster? go to a 10 min oil change and suffer the consequences.

When you drive through lotsa snow and slush and crap then later drive on the hyway and you have a monster vibration. dont call me and bitch about it. Go to a car wash and clean out all the ice and snow packed in there.  Schmutz/ice/snow works just like wheel weights but god is a little less accurate on where to place them so it now shimies. It is not a fault of anyone its nature get used to it!!

Now that you have a nice fancy car that has a tire pressure monitor system it will now tell you when a tire is low!! YEA!! cept every time it gets colder than the month before,  the tire pressures will go down and will set the light on. This means maybe you aught to fill it with air. So If one week it is 70, then it goes to 60 the light goes on, you will fill it with air then get this; when it turns 50 it goes on again!!! Hey then it gets even funnier,,, see eventually it will get to like 30 degrees and guess what?? no ... really guess...... AHAH  you gotta fill it up again or the freaking light goes back on !!! HOLY CRAP WHY IS THE FREAKIN LIGHT ON IT SEEMS EVERY MONTH!!! um cuz its getting colder and the vehicle wants 32 pounds of air in it even if it is inconvenient for you to do so,,,,,

Seat heaters are not meant to be on 24/7 yes they burn out when you do that and cost 300.00 to fix.

If the place you get your car fixed looks super busy maybe you should pick a better time to have ADD ons to your oil change. Ya know like Id like an oil change oh and while doing that there is a strange noise when you go through a really deep puddle when making left at 60mph and you gotta be eating a chili dog when all this happens or the noise will never reapear.. Oh and Im waitin on this so I hope you can get right on it eh?  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!!

If your car is not working well when its nice out it will work even less well when it is freaking cold out.

Do not ever EVER EVER EVER <<<<<< lower a window down when it all covered with snow and front and crap.. Why? Well a window regulator will be 350.00 will that be cash check or charge, paper or plastic. Have a nice day and dont bitch about how you never had this problem with your 70 plymouth, they were not designed and made by chinese to save a few bux like your current wopper chopper wondermobile. sorry that the global economy sux so much. Have a nice day :)

DO NOT EVER>>>>EVER EVER EVER turn on your wipers to brush snow off of your windshield unless you have taken the extra 3 seconds to pick them up off the windshield to make sure they are not glued to the windshield. hell just dont do it period, get one of those huge ice scrapers with the brush on it and learn how to use the brush.  Otherwise that will be 250.oo to fix your wiper transmission, sorry your an impatiant idiot ...pay up :)

Take care of your car and it will take care of you. Or treat it as an inconvenient expense and it will fail you guaranteed. I got a 43 year old bug I could jump in right now and drive anywhere in it whithout fear. I got a 98 bug with 168,000 miles on it and same gig, My 95 E150 with 158,000 ditto.

 

Happy holidays to all .....treat others like you would like to be treated and when someone is being a complete raging asshole slow down look at em and smile and say how may I be of service. if that doesnt work, say I can understand your concern let me get my manager :) Smile think happy thoughts it will be spring before you know it.

 

Love to all.

 

Dan

 

 

Saturday, November 15, 2008 

When I was like 18 I had a 64 sunroof and one of the few mods I made to it was a single quiet exh. It looked cool and sounded cool and was cheap as hell at the time. Now I got this 66 sunroof and it came with a mondo muffler. At Idle and around town it sounds much racier than the quiet from my "YUTE" ever did but at speed 45 and up, it just makes the whole interior (and my head) vibrate with a very loud LOUD soundtrack. Even my kids (who have been subjected to 3 years of tri mill exhaust on a convertable tub buggy) say "Dad this thing is too LOUD"!! To which Id reply "WHAT? I CANT HEAR YOU OVER THIS DAMN EXHAUST!!!!" So the search began for a single quiet (used as I am still trying to pay of the initial purchas of this thing!! Thanks to all that have helped me almost make it by buying some of my old but beloved crap!!).  Well as usual it was Ebay to the rescue, yea Ebay!! I found a single empi quiet that with shipping came to 36.00!! It arrived and was as described (like new man!! cant have more than one season on it).  I installed and started her up this morning. WOW What a diff. It sounds very pleasent now. Of course at speed I can now hear all the wind noise from the sunroof that will no doubt drive me batty (note to self, fix sunroof seals).  ALso the sound really took me back 32 years (damn Im getting old!) It is a very distinctive sound that I really have not heard in a long time (dan smiles and thinks back to 80's music on sparkomatic radio)   :)
Anyway another thing happened to fix itself and im real happy about it. With the mondo, the engine had a real hair trigger between low speed idle circut and mid range circut  that would make you go Oof and make you real careful on the throttle. I found that by smashing the gas at just the right time got you past it smoothly. The single quiet seems to have smoothed that right out of the motor (assumed that the duel carbs were not set right and was going to fix next spring). While I still intend to tune the thing to within an inch of its life next spring I gotta say it was a nice drive. I dont think too much power was lost either. Any that was, I dont miss, pulled up to 70 like nuthin just like before but without the boooming.  Well just wanted to share. Everyone have a great weekend.

Dan

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 

Well lots going on. I finally and grudgingly put the 66 to bed. Ill still start her up once a month or so. But winter has now oficially begun. Ive started E flying once a month and have one comming up this sunday, we fly in this mongo sized gym. Its more of a small stadium actually and Id say its about the size of a football field and pretty high up, though if I could Id ask for another 5 feet or so for better loops. I gotta get on rebuilding the landing gear on the B-25 which has been moreof a pain in the ass then its worth but it is so damn pretty and sounds nice so I guess Ill fix it. Kiddies are done with cheerleading for football and are getting ready for basketball cheering (RAH RAH!!). My wife is all into this girls of grace thing. Its a religious dance group (troop?) and she is really into making costumes and stuff for them. Work is slowing down as it always does this time of year. Ill get back into heavy guitar playing (allready started on Tom Petty stuff and Wheezer stuff). Im really into my new I pod touch (iphone) and recommend it strongly to all. I can check E mail all day and the joys of watching youtube in bed when I cant sleep is amazing!!! Also works as a handy flashlight when trying to find the lou :) Ok too much info!! Anyway Im excited about the new pres though Im feeling we are on a precipice of a depression and hope he is up to the task. Its a crappy sitch but if your into a crappy sitch its best to have qualified people in charge, I feel good obout our choice. Lots of holidays and other annoying things comming up, Im sure Ill have more to share soon.

 

Lata

 

Dan 

Sunday, November 02, 2008 

This is stuff I sent to my car club The GoodVolks Michigan

http://thegoodvolks.com/

..TR> ..TR> ..TABLE>

 

When I bought my 66 it had an electric fuel pump hooked up as well as a mech pump. I just assumed that either the mech pump was inop or the dude felt that with duel carbs it needed extra help which I know from past experience with the dune buggy is unnecessary. I never had any problems working the mech pump on the dune buggy which had an almost identical setup. So I replaced the mech pump on the 66 and turned off the e pump and everything seemed ok, UNTILL I took an hour long drive today. I did like 60 miles at around 70mph. Engine oil temp was up to 210 and everything ran fine untill I got off the hyway. Idled ok but when I accelerated it fell on its face and stalled out. I was able to start it only with full throttle. Then gave it a few revs and it seemed ok. When I stopped I opened the hood and found that the fuel filter was almost empty!! I flipped on the E pump and everything seems ok even though when I got home I noticed the fuel filter still looks awful empty. Overnight it will fill again. Fuel tank blockage issue???

time goes by.......

 

HA!!!!!!!!!  I figured it out. While Ill probably still replace that pencil filter in the tank; when the tank is empty that is.  I started doing some web reading on the subject (as I do when Im too lazy or its cold out or well whatever excuse I come up with to put something off) I do this for 3 reasons. 1.. I can put something off while feeling Im doing something that is related to doing it. 2. I actually learn something about what I am about to do and it keeps me from setting the house on fire! 3. It gets me geeked to do the job.
 Well I was reading about this fuel pencil thingie in the tank that Id never heard about before untill I was given some great insight into some areas Ive never delved into, when I ran across a post that talked about a fuel delivery problem and fuel filters (im in) and it stated to replace your old fuel filter in the engine compartment even if it looks good. Then it goes on a rant about how a fuel filter really is not necessary due to having one in the tank and one in the fuel pump and how it can pull the feeld line out of the carb and its the major cause of vw fires, yadda yadda... Since I have a duel carb setup none of that really applies to me as the feed line tees off to the carbs but if I had the old setup I may have relocated the filter to the trans area (the dude has a good point). ANYWAY I figured the filter looks wicked clean but hey.... listen to those with knowledge right?..... and I have a new filter Ive been meaning to use anyway. SOOOOOO I take out the old clean filter and guess what? The end that points torward the pump is crushed into a smiley face from the clamp!!!!!!!!!!!  THE IDIOT >:( (pryer owner this time) !!!!!!!
I tryed to take pics but it just does not do it justice. Ill take it to the meeting as it is very interesting how it failed. It may have been a chemical reaction or the clamp or both. Ill tell you this It only had about 1/3 the fuel volume it should have had!!! I cant wait to try it out today (ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!) I think that this is the cause of the problem. ;D

Dan 

..P>

TheGoodVolks Michigan
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Saturday, October 25, 2008 
Thursday, October 09, 2008 

Well got tired of the missing door panels so I put them and the new door handles and window cranks back on. Then I was like staring at the dash. Its kinda stock but not really. Like the rest of the car it had been cut and rigged and although it looks stock I know that 4 bolts hold the whole hokey thing in place. Im like.... I can do better than that. One of the greatest things about the 66 is it has been so screwed with I dont feel bad about modifying it (it will NEVER be in a museum unless something really wierd happens). So I pulled the gage cluster out. then pulled the fake original dash panel and started a new one out of wood. I saw this dude on EBay selling a rebuilt and painted speedo head that looked great. I thought to myself, I can do that!! and I did. I like the smiley face, its soooo cheerful, and shouldent we all be cheerfull?? I dare to sit in my car and not smile....double dog dare if you open the sunroof  :) So Im letting things dry. tommorow Ill paint the dash and install it and then install gages and wiring (yea! god Im tired of wiring :(   Anyway its gotta get done sometime why not now.

Oh yea work sucked today. that is probably the real reason I worked on the car with pasion today. I like working on MY car and focusing on problems that dont revolve around some airhead that does not take care of there car and then there whole world comes crashing down when it breaks down.which ends in a hissy and them asking for credit (I aint a bank)

.... But I digress

 

(dan looks at speedo and smiles)

 

 

Everyone have a nice day   : )

 

Dansam  

Tuesday, October 07, 2008 

Well Ive been a wirling dirvish trying to get the 66 ready for the road. Yes it always drove, even when I bought it but it had (has) a lot of goofy stuff going on. Especially with the electricals. Well yesterday I tore into the rats nest of wires and now everything works. It still aint pretty but those cool in headlight parking lights now work. and the headlights now work correctly, and the wipers park when turned off. And most importantly, WE HAVE HORN!!! So Im going to drive it to work today in celibration. Next issue is making the fuel pump (mechanical one) work again so that the electric one can be an annoying noisey backup instead of an annoying noisey unreliable main pump. Anyway it can be turned on and off with a switch. Then we are on to the carbs which are so close to being right but are not. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm What else. I allready took care of door realignment and seals. got some very cool ass keys from vwkey.com (check em out kick ass guys there!!!). Really I think the snow will be flying soon and it will be time to put the 66 to bed sniff sniff. Till then the rebuild continues.

 

Dansam

Thursday, September 25, 2008 

..TR>

 

..P>
Body repair continues.
Checkout the repair I did today (check pics).... Im real happy with the progress, I repaired the only real body rust I had. Lots of welding and a little patching. No filler used to repair as I wanted some structure repair for the right bottom hinge as well as plugging up a big hole. Check the before and after pictures on the blown up screen and you will see what I mean. Mission accomplished. Time to start really sanding and filling and such. Built the paint booth fan system. Its a large gonzo fan I picked up for 5.00 and built a surround for it that houses a home heater filter. Gotta start on the frame for the booth as well. Still hoping to start shooting it this weekend but we shall see.
no rushing!!!!

DansAm
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008 

Well first off the kids and I have come up with a name for the 66 bug.

Ally.......   McBeetle

It was mentioned by the kids that me painting it yellow with a red interior would qualify it for Mcdonalds sponsership (kids not amused) anyway they started calling it the Mcbeetle. I said Ah...... Ally Mcbeetle as it looks so skinny next to the wifes 98 beetle.
HAHAHAHA


Anyway Ally got her first taste of the sand blaster today and I found no less than 6 colors of paint!!!!!!, green (original), white (strange looks original white on roof and rear bumper support and green on the mid body very strange) yellow, red, black. I think it was originally green, and have no idea what the white represents but the white looks very original on the roof and rear bumper frame.

If all goes as planned I aught to be able to  START laying paint this weekend or so. Still lots of work to do before that.

Got the pin out of the door hinge on pass side and put in the new mirror pin (YEA) so that was a big deal today as the door had to come off to do it.

DansAm