Pioneer SX-9000

I'm backed up here with posts to do!

Here's the stereo update...

Yes another one...

The newer black box NAD sounded clean,

crisp but kinda boring.

The wife even asked why it was there.

We rarely used the cool remote feature.

Bummer too was the quick fix 

was starting to glitch.

Remember that twisty wire?

The right side would occassionally disappear.

Well during a weekend lunch break,

what pops up but an old pioneer receiver.

I'll jump on anything that'll be in the c-note range!

Within an hour of the sellers posting,

it was already dissected on the table.

The insides were dusty,

and a quick vacuum cleaned things up.

Here's a big bomb drop.

I've officially peaked 

and started slippin down the slope.

There's something called the trombone slide,

that has nothing to do with playing music.

My close-up vision was a little fuzzy,

and leave it to the wifey to get on it.

Maybe too many hours on this little phone...

I'm wearing 1.25 readers right now!

Holey Chit...

I'm hesitant on getting throw-aways,

or a really pimp pair that I'll end up trashing.

Whatever the case having crisp vision again is nice,

especially when fiddling with this little chit.

Ok where were we...

Early Pioneer's used this funky speaker plug.

I tried modifying some spades,

and it worked great,

until I plugged it in.

The receiver sounded like a$$.

The seller said it was his pops',

and had it plugged in.

No way!

This needed the contact cleaner treatment big time.

huffing station

Nothin like a huffin Sunday morning!

Bring the whole family for the fun...

I ended up having to cut those spades off,

to plug the Sansui in temporarily.

Basically wasting the last spade connectors.

That's what I get for not testing it out first.

The new wire fix was easy,

soldering the wire ends flat with fresh solder,

making them more ridgid.

Worked!

1972 Pioneer sx-9000

Here's a quick front view.

Dig the trick little secret door,

and the cabinetry level wood.

That distracts from the simple meter-less display.

All hooked up again after some burn in time,

and the early sound was back.

Definitely not as technical as the NAD,

more of a Bloody Mary morning haze.

Grateful Dead bootleg recordings 

are so much better through 70's solid state!

We tested it for flick night,

watching Star Wars 7,

one of the few movies we've seen on the big screen...

Twice!

Hey what can I say,

other than standin in line for the original

Star Wars was passed to the next generation.

The movie was great,

but the AMC theaters sound system sucked.

We're used to getting knocked out by the explosions 

in our home theatre!

Pioneer SX-9000

For now the 1972 pioneer 

will be in the main position,

until the next one!

TP

A Passion for Easter

Brutal Easter for the kids this year,

mainly the boys,

as Macey's still a youngster.

Instead of baskets, candy and eggs,

they got to watch the basis for Easter,

shown in the movie "Passion of the Christ".

Definitely a true "Holy Chit" moment,

the last hours of Jesus...

We had seen it years ago,

brutal and savage.

The wife wouldn't sit through it a 2nd time,

although she did watch parts,

her eyes tearing up within minutes.

And yeah mine too.

If you didn't you've got a heart of stone!

It's arguable whether the movie was too graphic,

basically a gruesome religious horror flick.

Historically flogging and crucifixion 

were examples to subdue the population.

If you're a "bad guy", 

you get nailed to a cross,

you're knees smashed with a hammer,

and you dangle from your dislocated shoulders,

suffocated by your own weight.

Then left up there for a couple days.

That'll keep people in line!

Anyway now the boys can digest as they wish.

America has so many holidays,

but we forget the original reasons.

Watch it!

TP

Utensil Snobs

If you guys haven't figured this out by now,

much of this blog is the quest

to surround ourselves with quality chit,

as cheap as possible.

This path is not the fastest...

One thing we're particular about,

is our utensils,

and I think we found our forever set.

These are made by Robert Stanley in Japan,

so probably kinda old,

as they had production

in Korea and now China.

The handle design is really cool.

The fork shape is curved and awesome,

almost spoon-like.

Long-time readers may remember these,

the last of a set from my childhood.

I loved that fork!

Still need to braze it up...

Well we've been in limbo since then,

trying out this heavy set for a while.

Never liked it.

Too heavy and the big spoons were huge.

I did like the knife with the big blade.

We've gravitated to a hodge podge,

and we each have our favorites.

Wife uses the silver rose pair on the left.

The 3rd fork is Macey's favorite.

My spoon is the 4th...

the orange one is a family fav for yogurts etc.

Jakes locked down the last two at the end.

Jaxon is the only one that's not particular.

Yeah we're picky!!

But isn't everyone?

I mean ya use these every day.

We scored these,

and I'da been content.

Good weight and feel,

but way too expensive for a 5-person set.

So the patience paid off.

$2 for all this!!

That's like $.04 each!

Now the hunt for the missing tablespoons and knife...

TP

Halloween Anniversary

Remember when you guys 

had to read about cops and code enforcement?

This past year has been quiet, 

less stressful,

all thanks to the best neighbors we could hope for.

This Halloween marks their first anniversary

in the neighborhood.

Matt, Gina and Corbin are seriously awesome,

the exact opposite of the old neighbors.

Instead of sly videos and 911 calls,

they actually go outside and hang out.

The Whaler projects couldn't have been considered before.

The Skolaski's are interested in the progress.

After a year and a half of tiptoeing paranoia,

what a huge relief.

We were probably months away from giving up!

Visiting their house for the first time was surreal,

like going into the evil lair.

They've succeeded in lightening it up.

Now we can wave, 

drink a beer or two...

Most importantly the kids and wife are more relaxed.

They were excited to decorate for Halloween.

Thanks Matt, Gina and Corbin,

you've made it a neighborhood again!

TP 

mini-truck love

The first day I drove the truck to the shop,

the mechanic Alex said I'd better get a cut-off switch.

On the coil not the battery,

so it takes longer to find.

On our monthly trip to the TJ dentista,

we decided to drive the truck,

save some gas.

I locked it up and hoped it wouldn't get stolen.

In the past two months,

they've bricked the walkway to the border.

It's hard to see how wavy it is,

I don't feel bad at how our bricks line up!

When we got back to the truck,

the door was unlocked.

Could've sworn I locked it.

And what was this in the key slot?

Great.

No tools,

just a homemade nail blow-dart from the kids,

the perfect extraction device.

The wife was amazed,

she thought The rip-off comment was a joke!

Out of all the cars on the street,

never had this problem with the fakey p-71.

Must be the rims.

Fortunately nothing was missing.

And we have a new shank!

TP

Whaler Resto pt X - fine tune

The sad thing about having a boat,

is realizing how much time we don't have

to actually use it.

When it comes down to it,

would I rather spend a couple hours laying bricks,

or zipping around the bay burning gas?

Yes I have been caught by the wife...

The perfect excuse to go out,

even for an hour buzz,

is tuning up the engine placement.

The third high bolt hole aligned the cavitation plate 

a couple inches above the stern edge,

typically a good spot.

The water would shoot straight up the engine,

spraying the back of the boat.

Now the engine is as high as possible,

almost 4" higher than the stern edge!

That's a lot,

and one of the benefits of the extension bracket.

Supposedly less drag is less friction is better efficiency or speed.

In addition,

The prop is in solid water,

not a the bubbly after-flow.

No more waterworks!

The 50 hp Johnson is a sufficient cruiser,

topping out about 28 mph on a rough day,

and plane cruising about 20.

Sure faster could be more fun,

but using 2-3 gallons for an evening jaunt is nice.

We even christened the Whalers first Humphrey's concert,

Steve Miller Band,

and brought the wife out for the first time in the boat!

The first time in any boat,

which is a weird reality.

She's a landlubber,

but we had a good time.

One thing nice about evening cruises,

is having the launch ramp to myself.

I've been able to practice pegging the trailer,

not one of my favorite things.

In the day people go there just to watch us hacks!

And here's a root cause of a hack.

This Morse Control is a sneaky unit.

This whole time it'd been reversed!

Forward was reverse and reverse was forward,

which really wasn't that bad after a few minutes,

but was like translating English to Spanish.

Thankfully this unit was designed to be ambidextrous,

and flopping the levers over was easy enough.

Good thing the side plate wasn't glued on!

Of course I did it twice,

as the red cut-off switch had to be flipped too.

It's much so much cleaner now,

and easier to maneuver.

Yeah ya think?

And now for the wild card...

I grabbed this bitchin 2-stroke 90 hp yamaha,

on a sweet time-trade deal.

A low hour yacht club Whaler Montauk

the guy wanted a 4-stroke for lake use.

Ya know I like projects,

but deciding whether we need a hot rod boat,

or a gas sipping bay cruiser...

Hmmm.

TP

lady workhorse

I've called this place the sweat factory many times before,

definitely hasn't changed.

This time I did nothing.

No oil change or tune-up,

just checked the gas cap for cracks.

The numbers were surprisingly low,

passing way below the averages.

Now we may have the lady workhorse 

for another two years!

Time to give her a little attention.

I had mined a clean motorcraft alternator 

at the last junkyard visit.

The battery light was starting to flicker every now and then.

Out of the dozen or so Crown Vic's,

this was the best one.

That is the key to a budget daily driver,

pick a model that has cheap and readily available junked parts.

This custom tension bar is a key tool,

although a breaker bar may have worked.

Even with the late summer daylight,

projects always end up with a single bulb!

If Jaxon's lucky this may be his first car.

Actually that would make his mom the lucky one,

that is if she'd give it up.

TP