Weather was great today and the the things you see on the road get interesting. I was out on my bike today and… Summer is definitely coming and along with it little critters start showing up. I found this bad boy on the road today – he was alive and kicking too! Live and let live…
I’m sitting here tonight watching one of my favourite movies: 2001 A Space Odyssey. IMHO Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece. I’m going to date myself, but I remember watching this at a theatre – granted, I was a kid but there was something very special about this movie.
So, I’m watching this movie tonight and the scene where Bowman and Poole are eating dinner and watching the latest transmission from Earth on their video tablets shows up.
Hmmm… Does this look familiar? Apple iPad anyone???
I mean, damn – this movie was made in 1968 and they (Arthur C Clarke/Stanley Kubrick) were already dreaming up tablets that would display video. So the tablet is in B/W. Who cares? This is brilliant!
In case you don’t know or remember what I am talking about, check it:
So, if you are like me and had a chance to see this at a theatre – please, tell me about your experience. I was a kid in my early teens – it was surreal. I remember the big hoopla about the movie. My parents did not know it, but I remember sneaking out to the local cinema and watching the movie. I thought this was awesome. HAL 9000 made a big impression!
Later came 2010 with Roy Scheider, Bob Balaban, John Lithgow and Helen Mirren… “My God, its full of stars”… Remember that?
UPDATE – 05.20.2011 – The car has been sold. New owner has picked it up and currently it is being restored in Atlanta.
Today’s installment takes us to the proverbial “barn find”. Yes the “barn find” is alive and well… You just have to be a) lucky and b) lucky.
The barn find I am talking about here is a 1964 Austin Healey 3000 – the “Big Healey”. This car was found over the weekend by a friend of mine. After some negotiating the car was purchased and brought to my cousin Jim’s shop. The car is 100% complete. The paint you see in the following pictures is all original – it has a very nice patina. The red interior appears to be also original as well as the black carpet.
The part that is interesting is this: the car IS FOR SALE. If you are interested, please drop me a line and I can get you in touch with the owner. However, please don’t pull my chain on this: serious inquiries only. In addition to the car, there is a huge folder full of original sales documents, receipts and period-magazines with articles about the car.
Interested? Send me a message. Here are some pictures:
Magnette, anyone?
Today’s story is about an MG Magnette that my cousin Jim Thompson worked on some time ago. Basically Jim worked on some of the body work (mainly the firewall) that needed to be done in order to fit the drivetrain. The engine is a 60 degree V6 fitted with an automatic GM gearbox. The front brakes have been uprated (a bit) however, the rear brakes are still “original” drums. The car was at Jim’s shop for a few tweaks. I had a chance to check it out over the weekend and took a few pictures.
Here is the Magnette from the front. The grill has been modified and a stainless mesh has been used a la Jaguar. Interesting – looks good actually… Nice touch!
However things go south really quick from there… In the next picture you can see what I mean:
Unfortunately, the V6 has had a carburetor installed rather than EFI. Too bad. A lot of work went into this build, but unfortunately the carburetor is very dated and the full potential of the engine cannot be achieved unless you go EFI.
And that’s the way it is…
Quick note today about Zenith Strombergs…
I have created a new section off the main menu on the blog (see above). It is called “Other”. The plan is to put odds and ends that might be of value or interest to readers. I thought a good place to start would be with my Guide to Repairing the Leaking Dashpot Oil in Zenith Stromberg carburetters.
This is an updated version of the page from my original bowtie6 website. Ever since I posted it, I have received several positive feedback emails from it. If you find this of interest, please leave a comment. Questions, suggestions, clarifications – you name it. This might help others if I left something out…