the Ultimate Panga - Dios Mio

Ok,
this is it.
The ultimate panga.

the ultimate panga

Ok,
let me sub-phrase this.
This is the ultimate panga,
for drug running and illegal alien smuggling.

200 HP poder puro

Check out that engine,
200 HP of pure V-6 power.
This is a hot rod.

the shape of speed

This thing has got to haul ass.
Look how skinny it is,
with just enough flat surface on the back to get on a plane,
even with a ton of human cargo, gas and some extra goodies.

cargo space

This one is about 25+ feet.
with 6 church style bench seats -
easily 3 or 4 to a bench so about 20+ comfortable spots.
Remember the math, that's about 60-100K just for the illegals.

But have you noticed anything, well, awesome about this package?

200 HP of tiller steered goodness - OMG

This one should be called "Dios Mio"
This friggin thing has tiller steering.
No cheesy wire and pulley side console system like some have.
This is sit in the back,
hand throttle like a motorcycle,
bad ass.

That's probably it's give-away as a mule.
The short tiller means it carry's cargo to flatten it out,
usually there's a couple feet extension on a big HP tiller steer,
and the guy kinda stands up,
like riding a huge surfboard.

What a handful!

bummer

Black or grey guys come on!

Haven't you been reading my Panga to the promised land posts?

It's called camouflage.

Even a mellow green or blue,

not this bright stuff. 

In previous posts I've stated the engines disappear,
but a friend has seen them cut the outboards in half.
Basically cut the shaft part.
Damn.
I'm sure this engine was stolen though,
probably from a fisherman on a baja trip,
or even from the driveway, still on a trailered boat!
Oh well.

I want this one.
Chit.

TP

long way down - Libya etc.

With all the crazy shit that's happening in the world,
I realized I didn't know much about Libya,
other than what I've seen on the TV show - LONG WAY DOWN.

Back when "Long Way Round" was being shown,
I figured it was some lame show,
about some prissy "Star Wars" actor and his buddy riding motorcycles.
Since we didn't have cable anyway,
it was easy to miss!

Well earlier this year we Netflixed the first series, "Long Way Round",
and holy chit it's probably the best "reality" TV show made.
These guys are fortunate enough to be backed by a ton of money
to make these rides possible,
and they really do some tough riding.



Sure TV needs to edit in some drama stuff,
but it's good that Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman,
the two riders,
actually want to live the 3rd world countries they're travelling through.

Some of the stuff in Mongolia and Russia is incredible.
Really made me appreciate that someone that is a "superstar"
is willing to almost die or get mamed doing some insane trip.

We're lucky that these guys video'd all this for us to watch.
Most likely none of us will ever get to see or ride any of this landscape,
(england to new york - through asia and north america,
about 19.000 miles!)

Just rent it or netflix it, its worth your time.
Actually if you search YOUTUBE its all there as well.

*****

Ok the second series is "Long Way Down",
and they go from Scotland to South Africa.
Talk about places I'll probably never get to go!

One of their main early issues in coordinating this run was Libya.
Since one of the producers is American,
he wasn't allowed in, and had to fly around it.
A couple months ago,
this didn't really matter to me,
but now that there's all this commotion going on over there,
I realized that what little I know about Libya,
was from a 10 minute clip on this friggin TV show!

So Libya is full of Roman ruins that are on par with anything in Europe,
just cause it doesn't seem like anyone there really cares about them,
since tourism isn't really a huge part of there economy!

Anyway,
inbetween any "major" cities are long stretches of sandy windy highways.

**jump to the 2 minute mark to skip the intro**

Ok,
if you watched it,
you've seen its a ton of desert, sand, wind, mediterranean beaches...
oh yeah and oil.
Libya has the majority of Africa's oil.
I doubt the U.N. is trying to protect those ancient Roman ruins!

If you continue with the show,
they go through these North African countries that are now in revolution,
like Egypt and Tunisia.
It make this show a real slice of history in a way,
as there's some good documentation of how it was before all the uprisings.
This is not to downplay the rest of the Africa trip.
There's some really cool landscapes out there to see,
if you have a small militia to protect you anyway!

So if you have some spare time,
and like tripping on motorcycles,
watch both series,
you'll consider getting a BMW or other touring bike,
or just go riding,
in the rain, with a tent.

TP

how to - popping freeze plugs

Well on my one day off this week,
our Lincoln decided to cry for attention.

It's been a good car,
my wife's been using it for a while now.
I found it at a tow yard for $600 in Ventura 4 years ago.
It's a 1990 Lincoln Town Car with a 5.0/AOD.
It's banged up, only the drivers windows work,
leaks a little oil, and has over 170,000 miles...
But, it holds all five of us,
is really comfortable,
and when it does have issues,
it has so far been cheap fixes.

lincoln town car prepped for operation

I think 1990 was the last year of Ford's 5 liter EFI engine,
after that they went to a 4.6 ohc engine,
which I doubt would take the abuse that this thing has gotten.

A couple years ago,
I actually tore the engine/tranny out,
cause this thing leaked so much oil.

gaping hole - 2008

The rubber compound Ford used in their engine seals basically disintegrated,
this was before the newer blue silicone type gaskets were designed.

ancient history - 2008

Wow the shop was in its infancy during this shot.
You can see the 40 body on the far right, through the walkway,
no loft.
Trippy.

Anyway I kinda screwed up when I regasketed the engine,
as I didn't change the freeze plugs at this time.
Hey,
I'm an "old engine" mechanic, Flatheads don't have a bunch of these!

About a year ago one rusted through,
fortunately it was the easiest one to get at.
I was dreading doing the other ones,
as they were hard to get at,
behind the motormounts.

Fastforward to yesterday,
when my wife had the joy of a Lincoln steambath,
fortunately only a mile from the house.

Of course this was the fun one,
right behind the driver side motormount.

5.0 driver side motormount

First thing to do, (after car is on jackstands and secure)
is remove that motormount.
Raise the engine,
and put a block of wood or something underneath it and the crossmember.

temporary arrangement

Now the problem is obvious,
a rusted through freeze plug.

holey steel freeze plug

The old one was steel,
but the new one is brass.
Hopefully it will last as 21 years!
Pop it out with a long screwdriver or chisel or something.
And tap the new one in with a long rounded metal dowl or...

shiny brass freeze plug

There is one right next to it,
and yes I considered changing it,
but I tapped it to check for soft spots,
and it seemed ok, and it was really clean on the outside.
This spot was alot more difficult to reinstall one easily,
so I passed.

However I did check the other side,
and man am I glad I did.

freeze plug eruption

This one was obviously ready to blow,
so after pulling the starter, it popped right out.

even hole-ier steel freeze plug

If you figure the radiator cap is 14PSI or so,
in addition to the heat of the coolant,
I am surprised this one was able to hold up for this long.

But wow, check this out.

catch-all of rust

It seems like these rear freeze plugs are located where rust and junk settle.
There was easily a tablespoon or more of rust backed up,
and a good deposit of trapped rusty water,
definitely no flow of coolant getting back here.
I scraped the inside with a wire,
and flushed water through until it was clean.

preventive medicine

Again I checked the center one,
and it seemed to be in alot better shape than the outside 4 were,
so I'll wait on this side too.

So that's about it.
The kids helped a ton,
handing me tools made it alot easier.

Now, to fix these windows...

TP

bmw 1600 - seats

Yea,
another sub-par post.
But here it is anyway.

My cousin Brandon dumped these Ford Mustang seats at the shop a while back.
They were full of electronic and air adjustments,
but not anymore.

Yes,
the old seats were cooler,
but they were installed way too low,
would fill up with water when it rained,
and these are really comfortable.

So first was to modify the bottom for the old seats tracks.

bmw to mustang conversion

This was a PITA,
there is a 3/4" riser and a bunch of cutting & welding,
but they were parallel enough to slide together.

bracket-os

The BMW floor is not flat,
so I thought way to long about how to make some risers.
Than I remembered I'm only 145 lbs,
which is less than 40 lbs a corner.
As long as those right angle pieces don't pop through the floor,
it should be strong enough.

uh nice seats.

Yes they're ripped, they were free!
They slide fine,
and now I can move on.

The 40 is waiting!

TP

panga to the promised land III - motherlode

Who says San Diego doesn't have an immigration problem?

10 captured pangas

I don't remember seeing these last week.
All the other boats i've shown you were destroyed.
That's 10 pangas!

coyote wasteland

So lets do our coyote math.

10 pangas - 20 - 25 people each - 200 - 250 illegals.

200/250 x $3/5000 = $600,000 - $1,250,000

Holy Chit!

Throw in a couple bales of weed or coke,
and that figure shoots right up.

Wow.

TP

200,000 miles

Most major mileage rollovers are on the freeway,
or in traffic,
and you just miss it.

199998 miles! - ford van

This is THE major odometer rollover in this van,

and somehow it happened to be in a spot worthy of a few pics.

2001 ford e350 - 200,000 miles

Yeah this is the ultimate jinx for this workhorse of a van,

but it's well deserving,

and I need something to post up here!

2001 ford e350 van - 200,000.2 miles

This is the wonderful south bay area of chula vista.

Lotsa shady stuff goes on.

It's like a wildlife refuge, hobo camp, body dumping ground.

200,000 miles

I think the old girl deserves a total fluid change.
Hopefully this weekend.
We're on borrowed time now!

TP

bmw 1600 - holey floor pans

I'd love to be able to show some pics of something cool.
Nope.

Remember this pic of the Beemer floor?

holey floor pans

Probably not as I never posted it.
Anyway the floor had some ridiculously large holes,
patched with basically cover plates tacked in.

non-spec floor patches

Well I am happy to say the holes are almost gone.
Don't go looking for some concourse quality work here,
they are strong and have some anti-oil-can circles hammered in,
but that's about all.

beautiful

It's amazing how thin the original sheetmetal is.
Lotsa fun to tig weld too.
It's actually been great practice, more for speed though.
So far each panel is one after-work night, about 2 hours,
and 3.5 feet of welding. each...
3 nights later!

camouflaged hole

Of course the little patches hide the worst problems.

quick and dirty

Just what I wanted to see.

holier chit

I tried to be sneaky and make a smaller hole,
but it was just too half-ass, easier to make a big one.

ok, that's it right?

At least the floor is done,
now to just get rid of that pink-red paint.

Real quick,
I've got to give props to the stool...

good ole stool

Ya know,
anyone can weld on a table,
with clean virgin metal...

Unfortunately this is just the start of the rust repair.
Did you see that subrail part on the underneath shot?
Ok look now.

subrail? who needs a subrail

That brown rusty thing with the holes in it.
That's the actual "frame" that extends to the front suspension,
basically a fragile shell of what it needs to be.
Fortunately only one side is this bad.
Maybe this weekend...

All this work for a car that will be a tough sell even at $2000!
Great.
Just let me rack up some miles on it...

TP

panga to the promised land II

You remember this post a week or so ago?

perichbrothers (and sister): panga to the promised land

So 3 or 4 new panga's showed up in the past week.

not this time

The guy with the grey boat had it right.
Grey is a good camouflage color for the ocean,
the Navy uses it right?

What's up with the Charger blue and yellow striped boat though?
Cmon guys,
if you have a 15 or 20 person haul,  x ($3-5000) -
that's a $45K to $100K boat ride.
Buy some friggin black or grey paint, cheap!

Yes buy a couple gallons for the inside too,
that bright baby blue doesn't cut it,
remember helicopters!

panga graveyard

So just for this week,
let's say we have 4 boats at 20 people each paying 4000,
that's about 80 people paying $320K in failed border crossings,
last week about the same.
Holy Chit!

Yeah I realize that money is dispersed throughout the Coyote heirarchy,
the driver prolly only gets a tiny fraction,
but wow.
So, is there a free 2nd chance option?
I think the illegals only get sent across the border.
Than what?

Anyway,
this is the candidate for the best quickee job between jobs job.

holy chit

Nah that's not crap,
its just the sediment from the bottom of the bay.

Good times.

TP

Mcintosh Addict

A friend of mine, Chip, came by the shop a couple months back.
This was before I found the Sansui 9090,
but the 85w Kenwood kr-7600 blew him away.

What it did,
was crack that time hardened shell that was covering a dormant seed,
like an almond, or a walnut. or a macadamia nut.

This was a dangerous nut to crack,
as Chip had suppressed his desire for McIntosh sound equipment for years.
Well this is what happened.

McIntosh C26 preamp
MC 2505 50w amp
MR 73 Tuner
$20 home depot shelf

like a fast growing vine,
not a slow growing tree.

This stuff is nice. Real nice.
Too nice to know if its smarter to use it or just store it away.

Tanner with his inheritance

When you crack the upper crust,
the only guy to work on McIntosh stuff is Terry DeWick,
so this stuff has all Certified repairs stickers too.
DeWick Repairs
McIntosh Home Audio For Sale, McIntosh Labs Used Audio Equipment

One night I dropped by,
and he threw some tunes on,
pushed it  about halfway up the volume dial.
Loud.
But distorted at a certain point.
Damn.
It did sound fine though at normal listening levels,
the ones that his wife would actually allow over a long term.

Well not one to back down from a battle.
A short while later...

MC 2205 200wpc amp

Holy Shit Chip.
You win.
200 watts per channel!
Geez.

90lb. mother of all amps

I have yet to go by to hear it,
but it just looks loud.
The guy said this could power a hockey rink!

Now I need 2 rubber bands on my wrist to snap.

I am happy with my Sansui 9090.
Yes.
I am perfectly content with what I have now.
Yes.
110 watts per channel is plenty.
Yes.

Snap.

TP

Liar's Club III - sharpie sketch

Ok,
this Liar's Club edition is gonna be a little tough.
My brother's drawing far exceeded any previous vagueness.
Very reminiscent of heiroglyphics or cave paintings.

birthday cake

Stay tuned...

TP

unforgiving - Japan Tsunami

While watching the destruction caused by the tsunami in Japan,
I realized how little I know of the topography of Japan.
Most of us have seen the pictures of destroyed cities,
but may not realize this is along an almost 400 mile coastline,
not just an isolated section,
covering at least 5 "states" or prefectures of Japan,

On this map,
its #'s - 3 - Aomori, 16 - Iwate, 24 - Miyagi, 8 - Fukushima, 14 - Ibaraki.
A long stretch of the north eastern part of Honshu Island.

Minamisanriku - Miyagi prefecture

Incredible the amount of force needed for this level of destruction.





You see these pics of large ships sitting far inland.

Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture

The kids were wondering how they ended up there.

News Video - West TV - The West Australian

Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture

Supposedly the wall of water was at least 34 feet tall!

Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture

wow

Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture

Just watching this video is mesmerizing.
Not much I can write that it doesn't show.

Just puts the issues in our lives in a different perspective.

Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture

 Sad to see how many lives are effected,
not to mention the nuclear threat.
Simple things like food, water, shelter, power, sewage...

Rikuzentakata - Iwate Prefecture

I've found there is alot of information and videos from RUSSIA TODAY.

RT

There YOUTUBE channel is way more thorough than America's repetitive CNN.

YouTube - RussiaToday's Channel

Nice that its in English.




Thoughts and prayers go out to the Japanese people.

TP