My trucks brakes decided to self destruct today.
I have already purchased way too many tools that I already own at home, so does anyone have a C clamp suitable for spreading apart the pistons on my brake calipers? I will only need it for a few hours, I'll buy you a beer in exchange, and you can have a can of brake clean if you want it (it was buy one, get one free and I have 2 cans at home). Thanks a bunch.

Happy Birthday Gerald!

It's because of your vision, energy, and stubbornness against JMU bureaucracy that MM exists. You've created quite an opportunity for a ton of gearheads and I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say thank you!

Happy Birthday man!

Hey guys, couple of my pocket knives are getting kind of dull and was wondering if anyone knows of a place that does professional knife sharpening. I know I know, i could buy a sharpener and do it myself but I would prefer a professional job instead. Shipping back to the company is an option but it takes to long( especially for someone who carries a particular knife everyday..like me)

thanks

I have a question for you super smart fellas -

In my office damn near every VP owns a BMW bought in the last ~3 years. Except one guy who knows cars, he has two BMWs from '93 that are just ridiculously spotless (and one's is daily driver / track car).

Anyway, Smart BMW Owner subscribes to various BMW publications I've never heard of. It has commented multiple times in the past year about how, when BMW decided to "cover" the costs of maintenence items (specifically fluids) they also magically lasted longer. For instance, the transmission fluid in a new BMW is good "for the life of the transmission." It seems like people are starting to realize that that means - the life of the transmission is drastically shortened because the fluid is never changed.

One VP doesn't care because he leased with no intention to purchase. However, he brought it up with the dealership and they maintain that he shouldn't touch the engine oil or transmission fluid because it's somehow specially sealed and he could ruin things. These publications that Smart BMW Owner brings in all claim their dealerships tell them the same thing. Then their transmissions fail at ~80-90k miles.

Have y'all heard anything about this or experience anything like this? Seems pretty amazing to me. A quick google mentions a product named Dexron that claims to last 100k miles, but I've never had a car that said I could go past 30k without a change. Even if Dexron lasts 100k miles, seems to me a transmission should last longer than that if maintained properly and driving properly.

We simply speculate that so few BMW owners would even think of this and have enough money that after 80-100k miles they won't care to drop $5k for a new tranny.

Just a heads up, we have a (somewhat) OG member in town who wants to go for a little drive! We're planning on doing a little 33 West cruise as today is probably the last day for decent weather (possible snow showers tonite). If you're interested, we'll see you at the Rockingham Lot, at 1pm

I know I could go do a ton of research, but I figured you guys might have some quick answers to my questions before I start.

I've got an Inspiron 700m laptop I bought from John that's been absolutely awesome. It's still hanging in there but it's noticeably slower than when I started with it. I've got a couple of quick questions:

1) It has 1.23 gigs of RAM right now. I'd like to buy a little more for it. How much am I looking at for a decent upgrade? Is there a specific type of RAM that I need to buy for the brand / laptop platform?

2) I've heard a lot about people reformatting their hard drives but I've never actually done it. Is there anything I need to know? Do you know of a good resource that outlines how to do it safely? I'm not sure if I have the XP OS cds around here or not. How do I back integrated programs up that I don't want to lose? (virus scanner w/ paid subscription, etc.). I've got an external HD that I can back up a lot of stuff but those integrated programs I'm not sure how to do

3) Anything else you can think of to give it a spring cleaning? What do you all do?

TIA!

Just watched this documentary on Hulu, Speed and Angels. Its an hour and a half long as you follow the journey of two US Navy F14 Tomcat aviator recruits (including the only woman), from training to deployment. Awesome cinematography, and stunning views of dogfights, carrier landings, and air to ground support that you've probably never seen before.

If you have any interest in flying, fighter jets, etc., watch it!

Speed and Angels

is the 2010 Porsche Panamera

:vomit:

First: Don't ask.

Second: this kind of "started" over in this thread:

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Third: lets build!

This frame was a little less assembled than the Fondriest was when I got it. I had to install the headset cups. Normally you'd take a new headset to a shop with your frame and they'd use their $150 headset press to charge you to press in the cups.

Being selectively cheap, I hammered the old headset cups out of the my old road frame and made a homemade press from nuts, washers, and threaded rods. I froze the cups for a few hours and went to town:



The finished product:



Then on went the bearings, split preload washer, spacers, and fork:



Next, put wheels on so it can hold itself up and let your visiting Dad take a blurry picture of you:



I've got the front and rear derailleurs on it now, but I've got to pick up a seat post and some more headset spacers before I can really make it ridable.

Ginger is excited.