Also, did you know that driving on the shoulder of the road is legal here?
They even have a posted speed limit for doing it!
Also, did you know that driving on the shoulder of the road is legal here?
They even have a posted speed limit for doing it!
I saw this pile of batteries appear at work, so naturally I asked if I could help myself to a couple red-tops :)
I'm sure these things are in a pile for a reason but I have a trick where I hook a good battery up to my charger, then use jumpers to connect that to the dead optimas to try to breathe some life back into them
(I swear these pictures never look this blurry until I see them on the big screen :P)
The problem here is the battery charger needs 110v input and the walls are 220v outputs. I have a small transformer that claims to be rated at 2000w. Unfortunately after about 2 hours of 6-amp charging the poor guy gave up the ghost. Or at least I think it did. I'll put a meter on it later. It's either that or the charger died.
ANYHOO!
So not a lot of electrons went in, but that wont stop me from making unnecessary trouble for myself. I put the red top in the car, and got two good cranks out of it. Which was just enough for it to fire up!
YAY
I let it run for a bit and turn it off when I'm done doing a little bit of yard work (picking up dog poop)
Go to start it the next day? dead again
ugh
Put in old battery. it works! But I'm in a hurry and somehow don't turn my key all the way off when I leave. Go to start it on Sunday for work? dead.
Worst thing is my co worker needed a ride so he saw it being dead. We take Mrs. H's car and all is well.
This morning I wake up a little early so I can jump my car. Which I do (still using the old battery) and it runs.
For about 5 minutes.
Just as my co worker walks up to my driveway the car dies and of course the battery is flat.
At first I was thinking I might have hurt the alternator with the optima shennanigans somehow. but I'm thinking it's probably more likely that the little 35-amp alternator doesn't put out enough at idle to keep the charge.
I'll jump it again tonight and see what happens. (wish me luck!) MONTHS of unnoticed good service and it dies when I need it to shine :P
Ah well, good times.
Good news!
The poor 35-amp alternator just doesnt put out much at idle. The stars finally aligned, and I jumped the car this morning and drove her in to work no problem.
I've also decided to park her in a more conspicuous spot. Previously I parked my car in a different lot than most of my other co-workers because I liked the walk a lot better (same distance, different direction. less traffic). I'd say I moved to the more common lot so the other guys could see my car running every day, but really it's because there's no sun shades in the other spot and the heat soak was getting unbearable! (30-deg C, now a days)
Back on page 9 and 10 I mentioned having stuttering problems with the carb? It was the points...
I went to replace them (spoiler alert. Wrong parts via the mail system again.) and the gap was 1/2 of what it should have been.
The old gap was .007" Should have been .014". I got her adjusted to within spec and now she's running MUCH smoother. I haven't put my dwell meter on her yet to check my measuring abilities, but so far I'm happy with the results. The stutter while starting from a stop light is as good as gone. Next up is a timing light, but first back to those points.
The ones I got from (either pelican or rock auto. Photoed above) weren't just wrong, they were exactly opposite of the orientation I needed them to be in! (They have to be doing this on purpose :P )
Everything I order online is from a 1969 Mercedes 220 (I guess we didn't get the 200 in the states?) so maybe that has something to do with it.
Either way, good times.
Good morning Kuwait.
I love that I can see the sunrise over the gulf on my way into work.
It is pretty, but too damn hot!! Glad to hear shes running better Bill.
Thank you for the excellent read! I'm a fan of the early Mercedes and hope to get one soon.
Good to see a rotor housing in the shipping crate!Never travel without one.
Big day today. Film to at 11:
Sorry for the delay, I was out sick the last two days
Without further adieu here's the first ride without training wheels :)
Last run of the big day:
Good times
java230 said:It is pretty, but too damn hot!! Glad to hear shes running better Bill.
man, it's been a really nice cool season though. I don't think my jackets are going to get much use out here. Definitely a change from the grey-ness of the PNW (which I kind of miss right now)
Good times
bruceman said:Thank you for the excellent read! I'm a fan of the early Mercedes and hope to get one soon.
Good to see a rotor housing in the shipping crate!Never travel without one.
oh yeah, man. Cant travel without your rotor housing! I've been dragging that with me since about 2007.
The story is: I took the intake manifold off my FC and cleaned out all the gum and grime (rats nest removal, same time) and when I put it back together a 10mm nut somehow made it into the combustion chamber! I still have no idea where it came from, but I ended up buying two 13b's off of craigslist for $50 each and made one good engine from three with the help of an Atkins rebuild kit. I kept the damaged rotor and housing for a trophy.
(Much later I found the squashed 10mm nut in the removable baffle at the end of my Apexi exhaust)
Those were some good times :)
Man, I am hurting for automotive related activities lately. So bad I went out and looked for a 4-wheel drive to go play in the desert (I'll do you a favor and NOT post the couple of pictures I have of an FJ40 I went to look at. The bodge was strong with that one)
The internet here isn't as organized as it is in the states. There's not really a page for everything like we have back home, and most of what you do find is 5-years-old and no longer going on.
Case and point, when I looked for "autotest in kuwait" (Autocross to you and I) I eventually found the q8 racing forum (yay): http://www.q8racing.com/autotest.htm
You have to join the forum to read the threads, so it wasn't until AFTER I signed up that I realized the page has been lifeless since 2014. (gluh)
There WAS another drift event though! The RedBull Car Park Qualifier!
Even finding info about THAT was hit and miss (we discovered it by accident somehow only one week prior. And even then the time it posted for a start was off by an hour)
Same track layout as the last event, but much more fun as these drivers weren't nearly at the level that the finalists were at last year. Lots of body damage, a couple broken cars, spinouts, the whole works. Drift isn't really my cup of tea but it was nice to smell the track-like smells for an afternoon 
(I wont tell you that I falsly claimed the RX-7 there was still a rotary and that the Subaru we saw still sounded like a boxer. I was very wrong on both accounts. See what I mean about needing automotive activities?)
I found a group called "Drag 965" (965 is kuwait's telephone country code) but haven't found any other information as to when or where they might drag race. More to follow on that one. I did see pictures of legitimate tracks AND some super powerful boosted v8's on their facebook page though.
A little more digging online gave me pictures that may point to the possible existence of a skid pad. We're a bit busy this weekend but I have every intention of going to check that out.
My initial thoughts were "AUTOCROSSS CLUB!" but I need to go out and see it for myself first. Also, that's a big commitment. And then there's all the things (like cones and timing equipment) I need to find. And then there's the fact that Zsolt and I are really the only two people I know here who would even be interested in such a thing. And then you have to have a way to keep the local hooligans out. And then.. and then... and then... 
BUT, it's somethin!!! I figure worst case would be us two guys with a stop watch on our smart phones doing out and backs for kicks. More to follow there too.
Speaking of automotive...
We went up for a nap (we being Mrs. Hungary, the youngest hungarling, and I). When we came back down, this is how we found the eldest.
Good times.
Weekend update and an odd twist of fate.
First, we spent the whole weekend prepping the place for our first annual gulyas party (so not much car related going on). I was waaaaay too busy to take pics so I'm stuck showing you guys the one or two pictures that other people shared with me.
(That's Balazs in the picture. He's another Hungarian I worked with then and now)
We bought this HUGE gulyas pot when we decided to leave Hungary. Every spring in the Hungarian town we lived in people would get together in this park and have a wine festival and gulyas party. Pot after pot of gulyas was being cooked over open fires contained in steel car rims (glass after glass of wine was being sold from local makers for about $1). We knew we were going to miss it so we snagged a pot and started hosting our own after we moved. 'Cept we're all fancy so we used a propane burner.
Anyhoo, we invited about 30 people but only 20 showed up. We easily had 10+ gallons of gulyas and 5 gallons of skeeter pee (see red cup behind my leg?), we dialed in a Hungarian radio station... It was gooooood times. Party started around 3 and wrapped up around 8. No one got out of hand, and even the kids had fun.
And then it started raining mud!!!
But that's not the odd twist of fate from the weekend. That's just a "everybody in doors, and someone help me carry this damn pot!"
The odd twist of fate from this weekend is here:
https://248am.com/mark/automotive/kuwait-motor-town-opening-march-28th/
There's a track here that's called "kuwait motor town" and it's opening in 10 days. There's even mention of public track days!
I am teh excite!!!!
(quick note: The picture of the car was taken after the eldest hungarling rinsed it off. We were washing people's cars as they left because the mud turned every window opaque. He got in the action and decided to wash my car for me. It looked super clean when it was still wet, so I made sure to say "oh dude, it looks brand new!" and rush him inside before it dried. :P )
Good times.
Hungary Bill said:Good morning Kuwait.
I love that I can see the sunrise over the gulf on my way into work.
That is a beautiful sunrise in the sandbox sir.
I'm so pleased to see your sense of "how much gulyas to make" hasn't improved since your Tacoma Gulyas. Thanks for the good memories - I want some of that right now.
When I get home tomorrow I'm breaking out the elderberry flower syrup and making a cocktail in your honor. 
'84: It's definitely not a bad way to start the day. Going this route adds about 10 minutes to the morning drive, but I think it's worth it.
Mezzanine: oh man, meeeeeermories! I really need to order a bottle of that for use out here. That was some good stuff!
I may be growing old, but I'm not growing up:
How’s the Benz coming along? I’m hoping to get my 72 250c on the road soon.
Cotton said:How’s the Benz coming along? I’m hoping to get my 72 250c on the road soon.
Sorry man, sold it and bought a 2003 BMW 330ci.
With traffic the way it was I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before she got hurt so I figured I better part with her while she was still pretty.
I ended up selling the BMW when I moved to Hungary in March and bought another 4Runner.
I was right about the traffic though. I traded paint twice. Once at 150kph.
It was good times
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