Category Archives: Editorial

Question of Motor Oil Qualities

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I decided to change oil on bowtie6 and headed to AutoZone with three jugs of used oil and responsibly disposed of the old stuff in their recycling tank.  Since they let me do this, I try to keep business with them so I picked up an Ecotec compatible K&N oil filter and a 5 quart jug of Mobil1 5w-30 oil.

The fellow behind the counter scanned the goods and said the bill was almost $50.  This didn’t make sense because the posted price for the oil was $29.  He said that is the price with a Mobil1 oil filter; otherwise the price of the oil is $38.  This is a scam because the Mobil1 filters are slightly double what the K&N filters go for.  So at the end, the price is almost the same.

I told him I would pass on the oil; instead I just bought the K&N filter.  This is when I asked him why the price discrepancy because I can buy the same jug of Mobil1 oil from Wal-Mart for $23.

His reply was very interesting…

Before he started answering my question, he informed me he was a previous manager at a Pep Boys and had also been in charge of an automotive department at a Wal-Mart before working at AutoZone.  And, he gave me the “look”, as if to say what he was about to say was the inside dope on matters.  Then, he proceeded to tell me that Exxon-Mobil makes two different qualities of oil.  AutoZone gets the premium batches while Wal-Mart gets the scraps.  Thus the difference in price between the two.

According to this fellow, the AutoZone Mobil1 oil gets certified as premium oil.  He then informed me that the Mobil1 oil sold at Wal-Mart is of a lesser quality.  In his words: “the Mobil1 sold at Wal-Mart is the bottom of the mixing vats and the size of the molecules is not up to par with the batches they sell at AutoZone”.

Hmmmm…  Again, I did some Google searches on this subject and indeed it is a matter of debate.  All I have to say is that given the law-suit friendly climate prevalent in our nation today, why would a huge company like Exxon-Mobil expose themselves to loss by making two qualities of oil branded under the same name?

Yet more food for thought:  what about the Mobil1 sold at Costco?  They don’t sell the jugs, instead they carry the six-packs.  Yet the price is comparable to the Wal-Mart price.  Reckon this has to do with volume of good sold and not necessarily quality?

What are your thoughts on this?

Like my Dad used to say, “Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one”.  😉

Until next time…

Shooting Clay Pigeons

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This past Saturday, I got together with some good friends and spent a few hours shooting clay pigeons.  We had a nice collection of shotguns:  from vintage models to state-of-the-art; from 20ga to 12ga.

I took two vintage shotguns that have been in my family for a very long time.  My grandfather’s 16 gauge double-barrel and my Dad’s 12 gauge pump.  About 35 years ago (damn that’s a long time) I took it upon myself to dismantle the stock and fore-end and sand it down.  At the time, I had a distant relative that owned a wood-shop, and he showed me what to do.  Three and a half decades later, the gun still looks great.

Today’s featured image was taken by a drone.  My friend Doc has an awesome drone:  the drone has its own remote control unit including a mount for an iPhone, self compensates, is GPS aware, the works.  As the drone flies, video is transmitted and one can see images real-time on the iPhone.  Very impressive stuff.  Oh and if you look close enough, that is me next to the open door on the red Chevy pickup.

I have great respect for our 2nd Amendment and this past Saturday I was reminded yet again of how precious this right really is…

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

 

Blog Performance/ISP Issues…

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So far it has been an interesting week…  About a month ago, you might have noticed performance issues with this blog.  For example, pages were slow to render.

I called my ISP (Danica’s prior sponsor) and things did not go well.  After much back-and-forth, they agreed to “move” the site to a less crappy server.  Good enough, things worked as expected but this was short lived.  This week the problems returned.

As it turns out, the bowtie6 blog was running on sub-par equipment.  I was advised that for a price I could “upgrade” to a state-of-the-art SSD based hosting and all would be peachy again.  I realize this blog is far from anything of consequence but, hell…  I enjoy posting my little stories.  I upgraded and after a very painful ordeal my WordPress files have been migrated to a this new gee-whiz server.

Please let me know if you find any broken links or have any “issues”.  This new plan I bought is supposed to be the shit so if anything is not working properly, please let me know.  Gotta love technology!  🙂

 

2016 Mileage Roundup

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I’ve thought about a post summarizing the 2016 mileage roundup of the fleet.  Questions such as “who will read it?” or “who cares?” came up, but then I read a post on DriveToFive and I changed my mind…

So borrowing Tyson’s idea from his blog, here is my 2016 mileage roundup:

Totals for: RedRock

Totals for: S2000

Totals for: bowtie6

Moral of the story, I need to drive MORE!!!

The daily driver is RedRock (duh!) and it did very well considering a 6.2L V8 with 400hp is under the hood.  The Camaro really does well on the open road though with an all time best of 24 mpg.  The S2000 and bowtie6 get driven only when the sun shines.  Matter of fact, the S2000 has seen the rain on the road only three times since I bought it.  Poor bowtie6, it got neglected big-time!  New Year’s resolution is to do something about this!

In closing, here is a gallery of all three dashboards taken on New Year’s day, 2017.  Should be interesting to see how this compares a year from now…

Note:

This might be one of the first times I post a picture of the mileage on bowtie6.  It shows 22,612 miles and this is a bit misleading (adding this as a reminder to myself too!):

  • I’ve driven my TR6 for 22,612 miles since I put it on the road after the full restoration.
  • The first engine – a 3.4L V6 from a Camaro –  ran for 14,513 miles.  That is when we discovered an irreparable frame failure with stress cracks and my cousin Jim built the new frame from scratch.
  • The 2.4L Ecotec engine/gearbox came from a Pontiac Solstice with only 8 miles on the odometer.  This powertrain was then installed in a new frame built at Jim’s shop.  On October 15th, 2011, bowtie6 left Jim’s shop and has been a hoot to drive.
  • The new Ecotec powertrain has 8,091 miles so far.

Engine Rebuild in Time-Lapse Video

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Some time ago, I posted an engine rebuild in time-lapse video of a Triumph Spitfire motor.  In case you want to see what that looks like, click here.  Well the history of Triumph engines is not exactly “stellar”.  You see, Triumph engines are not much more than glorified tractor motors.  In some cases, they started life as pump engines.  Want to piss off a Triumph purist?  Tell them their engines are tractor motors!!  😯

So back to today’s post…  My friend Michael sent me an email today with a very interesting link.  The link points to a YouTube video showing a rebuild of a classic Chrysler HEMI engine.  No tractor or pump engine folks!  This is the real deal; truly legendary stuff.  So kick back, and enjoy.

There is so much to see in this video.  I’ve watched it many times and every time I see something new.  But most impressive is:

  • The Intake –  the intake plenum and runners are all made from scratch from tubing.  Those long runners are for a reason:  produce torque.
  • The exhaust – check those tubes!!
  • The empty cans of beer – beer good!
  • The green MG Midget – pump motor anyone?  LOL!

This is an awesome video.  Thanks Michael!!

Incidentally, custom intakes and custom exhausts…  Been there done that.  My cousin Jim made both intake and exhaust from scratch in bowtie6:

Saving the best for last…  Here is a Chevy engine rebuild in time-lapse video…

Long live the Chevy Small Block!!

Somebody please give me a cigarette!  😉