Sunday, March 17, 2024

NMS Lights up the Garage! Very Illuminating!

Lead Project Manager for Operation LIGHT 'EM UP, Brian Nixon!
Back left of this photo is one of the old fluorescent lights. 


This weekend's garage time had the crew installing new lighting in the NMS-North garage. When we bought the house a year ago, the two-car garage had a grand total of two fluorescent light fixtures, with only one of them really over where the cars park. OK, the new garage door opener has a new light in it, and I can always open the two window blinds for more sunlight during the day, but the garage, I mean, the NMS-NORTH WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF RACING was still kind of dark. 


No lights in this picture, just wanted to show off the NMS Red Team Porsche Cayman and BMW 135is.

We managed to easily install 8 LED lights in a pattern around the garage, so things are looking much brighter now! One of the old fluorescent lights is still way over in the corner by the water heater, where cars don't go. In addition to more light, we turned the previous light fixture wiring into a normal twin outlet that powers the two chains of LED lights. 

OK, the lights! Like most things we do, this is not a step-by-step guide, and besides, I forgot to take any "before" pictures!

These lights are not expensive, easy to install (if you have a ladder or are 8 feet tall yourself) and convenient because they work off the same wall switch that the old lights did. Oh, and did I mention it's a lot brighter? It is!

Ladder. You are going to want to have a ladder for this job. My other thought was to get a pair of stilts like the dry-wall hanging guys use but take my advice and stick with the ladder! Oh yeah, the Honda Accord Hybrid has joined the conversation. 

These lights come with all the hardware you might need, which includes two methods of hanging them! We used the simple little eyebolts that you could hand screw into the ceiling, attached a chain, and hung the lightweight lights. Each fixture has its own electric cord and switch, so it's easy to chain up to six of them together. 


We considered putting ALL the lights up here at the camera end of the garage, thinking that's where you usually work on an engine, but, well, there ARE some things you work on at the tailgate end of a car. OH, and one of the cars here is a mid-engine, so we spread the lights all around. 

Once we converted the old light wiring into an outlet, we ran one chain of six lights in one direction, and a second chain of two lights going the other way to encircle the space. No muss, no fuss, and as baseball hall of famer Johnny Bench used to say about Rust-Oleum, "no runs, do drips, no errors." We even managed to complete this job with only ONE trip to Home Depot! 





Saturday, March 9, 2024

Cars and Coffee? Exotics and Espresso!



Lamborghini Aventador SVJ in the rain, the title of my new album. 

After attending many Cars and Coffee events from coast to coast, today I tried something TOTALLY different! At Lamborghini of Charlotte, they host an event titled Exotics and Espresso! Did the rain stop me? Did I drink a free coffee and see some cool cars? Let's go!

Thanks to Lamborghini of Charlotte for hosting and providing free coffee and donuts! The large enthusiastic crowd came out in the rain, ate, drank, and took about a
gazillion photos of their great cars! Those of us working to avoid a 2nd heart attack stuck with the coffee and skipped the huge donuts. 

There was a big crowd for the rain, and it was amazing to see so many automobile fans attend this event. With the combination of snacks and exotic cars, well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised since this was FREE. Did I mention that "free" is my favorite flavor too? Well, it is!

Lamborghini draws a lot of attention with their sports cars, but their high performance the Urus SUV has a lot of fans also. Maybe you're not a fan of the purple, but I'm sure it's an awesome ride!

The Huracan in blue. 

The Huracan interior looks to be a nice place to be!

Back outdoors in the raindrops, there were a handful Lambos and about a dozen new Lotus Emiras on display. Here's a Lamborghini in another color. 

The Lotus Emira is a new car, and it starts at $99,000 in the 1st edition model. What-a-ya get for that? You get a car that goes 171mph with 360 horsepower. Read all about it at this link: 
LOTUS EMIRA USA

I liked the First Edition badge, and the raindrops look cool too!

Emira side view, yes, the engine is behind the driver. 

Obligatory SPOILER ALERT!

The Emiras I saw were in yellow, blue, dark gray, lighter gray, and a dark green, I think. 
Their website has 13 color options!
LOTUS CONFIGURATOR

Engine cover under the rear hatch.

My Oxford English Dictionary and Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia don't tell me what a group of Emiras are called. Herd? Bunch? Pod? Pack? Lotta Lotus?

Hmm, front view of the Lotus, looks to be air intakes like most cars. 

Two-piece brakes.


Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Automotive Technology Update #2

Can you believe that some people put stickers on their car?

Here's the latest from our NMS college student with what's new in the Automotive Technology program at York Technical College. I wrapped up the Engine and the Introduction to Automotive Maintenance classes, and managed to both disassemble and assemble the same engine and started work on some other cars with various issues. Some highlights include stuff I've never done before, like replacing motor mounts, head gaskets, and replacing a lower control arm. A few other things I have done before, like replacing a broken wheel stud, spark plugs, oil change, or operating a lift were a bit easier!

Start with something simple, draining coolant before checking for a leaky head gasket. 

With two automotive classes complete (yes, I passed, thanks for asking!) I feel like I've learned a lot so far, but there's plenty more to go too! Last week kicked off Ignition and Fuel System class, so we'll find out what happens when you turn that key or push that start button on the car. At home, our new Honda Accord has push button start that works great, as long as you have the key fob in your pocket. The other two cars have the "old-fashioned" ignition key that you have to actually stick into the car and twist to turn it on. So many cars have the push button convenience that I have seen comments online complaining about the Maverick pickup using a real key. Those dang young people today complain about everything! Another recent complaint I read in a car forum was someone that wasn't sure if their windshield washer fluid sensor was working properly. On behalf of us older drivers, that made me laugh to think that someone has to rely on a dashboard light to know that they are out of washer fluid. Oh well, things change, and that's a good thing, because then we all have more stuff to laugh about!

Chrysler V6, going to check for head gasket leak. Let's go!



Intake, power steering reservoir, and center gasket are out of the way, so you can see into the V of the engine. 

Let me just say a big thank-you again to my wife Julie for supporting me in going back to school, and thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill for paying for the first two semesters. After that I'll have to pay for it on my own when my GI Bill is used up (total of 36 months of school.) The good news here is that the State of South Carolina (and some other states I'm sure) have a program where senior citizens can attend or audit college classes pretty much for free, so I'll be learning more about that this coming fall semester. Shoot, if that works out, I could complete the entire Automotive Associates, and then move on to more fun things like body shop, welding, or diesel engines too!

Here's the front bank, pretty good for a lot of mileage!

Here's the rear bank, much dirtier. 

Pro Tip from our instructor: on an Overhead Valve engine like this, you want those pushrods to go back in the same place, so if you don't have a fancy tray for all engine components like pro NHRA drag racers, at least punch some holes in some cardboard and label them! 

This is NOT going to be any kind of step-by-step series or instructional stuff, so I hope you like seeing a little of what we're working on in class.