Accelerate Mpls

As you would assume, this story comes from experience. What a horrible experience this was! In fact, the experience was such a pain that I decided to share it with you. Hoping someone, even one person, might be able to learn from my mistake – saving you the trouble that I went through.

You see about two weeks ago I got into my Jeep Grand Cherokee on a hot summer day. I went to adjust the rear view mirror and it fell down! After cursing (just a bit), I disconnected the plug in the back of the mirror for the auto dimming function.

After all, I didn’t want the mirror just dangling there, possibly damaging or breaking the wires. I made a trip to my local auto parts store. For me the closest is O’Reilly Auto Parts. I bought a rear view mirror glue kit and headed home (note – the guy in front of me at the check out was complaining that the cheapest brake pads they had were still $19.99…which was way too expensive….).

Upon coming home, I am feeling confident. This will be a piece of cake right? Yeah….right. The old glue from the metal mirror button (I will refer to this as the button going forward) was still on the inside of the windshield. Before cleaning that off, I took a Sharpie and on the outside of the glass colored where the glue was on the inside of the glass. This showed me from the inside where to re-glue the button.

I removed the metal button from the actual mirror and used a knife blade to scrape off excess glue. Then using Goof Off I removed the remaining glue. I used Goof Off and glass cleaner to clean the inside of the windshield. GREAT! Now we are ready to re-glue and be on our way.

At this point I received a phone call. Being the multitasker that I am, I stuck my bluetooth (no, I don’t talk on it in the department stores) head set in my ear and went to work. First applying the glue to the button, I waited 60 seconds and then went to apply the button to the windshield. I held the button on the windshield for another 60 seconds. At this point I sit back to make sure I have placed the button in the correct spot. Huzzah! I got it in the right spot the first time. Terrific! Now I let the glue dry and in the morning I will re-hang the mirror.

In the morning I come out to stick the mirror on the button. I grab the mirror, a screw driver and the screw and go to slide the mirror on the button. Problem is, it’s not working – it just keeps sliding off the button. What the heck is going on? Now, remember how I was on the phone? Well yeah – I installed the button upside down. No, not the easy upside down – like wrong side facing up. I placed it with the tapered edge facing up! Crap! Well I have a meeting to get to, so no time for this stuff.

That evening I went back to O’Reilly Auto Parts and bought another glue kit. The same guy checked me out and definitely gave me a look of “how did you screw this up.” Regardless, I went home and started in on trying to remove the button.

Remember, the tapered side is facing up so I have nothing to grip. I don’t want to crack my windshield (cause that’s no fun). I start by putting some Goof Off around the edges of the button trying to let it soak into the sides. Then I use a knife trying to get under the button – that clearly wasn’t going to work. Then I tried the same routine with Lacquer thinner – and clearly that wasn’t going to work either. At this point I am frustrated and pretty ticked. So what do I do?

I turn to Twitter and Facebook! I posted my issue and the responses started flowing in. Let me tell you, the sledgehammer idea was killed quick. So was the hammer idea and the golf club. Then came the heat idea….this intrigued me.

I grabbed my girlfriend’s hair dryer and heated both the area on the inside of the windshield where the button was, and the outside. I then again tried to pry off the button. No luck. My patience is wearing thin. Maybe I should just take it to a windshield replacement shop tomorrow?No forget that, I don’t have the time and I don’t want them to look at me like I am stupid (quit making that face!).

I then grab my little torch and went to work. I avoided the glass at all costs, as this is much hotter then a blow dryer. I sat on the spot with the torch….just sat there…..and finally the torch ran out of fluid. The button was ridiculously hot, too hot to touch. I hadn’t cracked the glass.

I took the knife and tried getting under the edge to pry it off. No luck. Now I’m done for. I’m out of fluid in the torch. I decided to try and get the torch going one last time! I got it to go for a little longer. I held it in the same spot. It finally died. I went at it with the knife one more time and it went flying off. I quickly went to find it as it was hot enough to burn something.

I let the button and the windshield cool down. I got lucky! The windshield didn’t crack. I cleaned everything the same way I did the night before and re-glued the button. This time I was NOT on the phone. I gave my full attention to gluing the button and guess what, I did it right!

The next morning I put the mirror back up and was good to go. All of this experience was chronicled on Twitter and Facebook. Many friends and followers got involved and were mostly helpful. What was the lesson here? Pay attention when doing a simple task. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

This past weekend, Autorama’s World of Wheels show came to the Twin Cities.  This show travels around the nation and is one of the premier custom car show series.  The show itself is put on by Championship Auto Shows.  Sponsors include everyone from O’Reilly Auto Parts to Meguiar’s.  I went with Jason Pawelsky and we agreed, without question, that the show had its high points and low points.  So! Let’s get to it.

1970 Mach1 Mustang

Without a doubt, there were some really nice cars there.  A Ford Mustang club was in attendance with a booth filled with Mustangs.  One that really stood out was a 1970 Mach1 with gorgeous canary yellow paint. It was one of the highlights of the show and was just a great looking car. It looked terrific and was sitting next to a fourth generation Mach1 (circa 2000).  Not to be outdone, the Mustang section had competition from their fierce rival,  Camaro.  A Chevrolet Camaro club had a section with classic Camaros from yesteryear including a gorgeous Camaro SS featuring a 427 in the engine bay.  Of course, quite a few new Camaros were on the show floor as well, sitting next to their vintage elders.

A number of old Chevrolet 210 sedans, along with the older Corvettes, were scattered throughout the show floor.  A 1961 Chevrolet Impala was getting quite a bit of attention, probably because it was un-restored and yet looked great for its age.  The car’s paint was not terrific and the interior was slightly faded but many of these cars on the floor were full restorations so it was nice to see something that was original and in rather good condition.

Supercharged LS9 V8

Another highlight was a 1957 Chevrolet 210 2-door sedan.  This car was being done by L’Cars Automotive Specialties in Cameron, WI.  A customer brought the car to the fine people at L’Cars and they have created one heck of a beast for the lucky owners.  Starting with an Art Morrison GT sport chassis and a Ford 9 inch rear end, including a limited slip differential as the base, the engine is a crate supercharged LS9 V8 from the Corvette ZR1 with a Hennessy cold air intake feeding the engine.  The supercharged LS9 is pushing out 700 hp to the rear wheels and 650 ft-lb through a GM 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission.  The exhaust is a polished stainless steel set up from Borla with dual 2.5 inch oval tips in the rear.  The exhaust system has an electric cut out system with straight outlets under the car.  Bringing all this to a stop is 13 inch Wilwood drilled and slotted rotors in the front and rear with 6 piston calipers in the front and 4 piston calipers in the back.  This whole vehicle was 99% completed and they were just working out some fuel delivery issues.  Without a doubt, this was one of the coolest cars at the show.

1957 Chevrolet 210 2-door Sedan with supercharged LS9 V8

Then there were the low points.  One of the saddest things I saw was a GNX and, if you know me at all, you know how much love and respect I have for the GNX.  It was just this particular GNX that just made me sad all over. I was excited when I saw it across the show floor but as I got closer and closer, my excitement turned to devastation.  The paint was in terrible condition with swirls all over and the rear window had a tint job that looks like a child performed the deed with a break in the middle of the rear window where a new piece of tint was spliced in.  The interior was actually in fairly decent condition but the engine bay, which needs no help after leaving the factory, was chromed out. From the ugly, oversized manifold in black and chrome to other oversized things, it was all over the place under the hood. Do not even get me started on the stickers! The thing was just a hot mess, except for the interior. There were more low points because several cars had terrible paint jobs with swirls in the finish.  It is one thing when you have original paint, but to restore a car with a new paint job and improperly use a buffer is just sad.

OMG its Doc Hudson!

Overall the experience was fun.  People were enjoying the cars and the atmosphere. A special attraction for the kids was the Hudson Hornet aka, Doc Hudson, from the movie Cars.  Friends know I am a huge Cars fan and so seeing Doc Hudson was yet another highlight for this big kid.  Overall, the show was a great way to spend a Winter Saturday afternoon as Spring and the season for fun cars approaches.