DonaldSmith

I bought one of those wonderful non-stick frying pans once, so that I would no longer be one of those klutzes who couldn't fry an egg without it sticking and making a mess. (There is a large Klutz family that appers in the various ads, demonstrating their difficulties with the simplest of challenges.) Anyway, the frying pan package said diswasher safe, but the instructions said, not only wash by hand, but work in a coat of cooking oil. Huh? But the new ones are really, really, really dishwasher safe. My operating premise is that, if it is advertised on TV, the actual product will fall short of its claims. And any day now, Silver! will jump 200 percent! Hang on!

Here's my description: Description of front seat track repair: The track on each side of the seat is formed from two heavy gauge pieces, which when placed together form two outer races for small ball bearings and a middle race for large ones. It works like a drawer guide. The upper piece has three recessed bolts for attaching the seat, and the lower piece is riveted to the base. (I replaced the base, so I drilled out the rivets.) The upper piece rides over the large race and one small race. The lower piece hooks over the upper piece, so that the upper piece rides under the other small race. There are two large balls in the large race, and two small balls in each small race. Travel of small balls limited by indentations in track. Travel of the large balls is restricted by the heads of the bolts for the seat. Disassembly: Remove the lever that goes from the handle on the side of seat to the latch under the track. Drill out the rivet that connects the lever to the latch. (I forget why I had to do this.) Slide the track toward each extreme position, and push out the upper bolts at the ends, making room for the large balls to come out. (If the large balls do not come out, drive the large balls to the center of the track, to provide slack for popping out the small balls. (A 3/8 drive extension works well for this.) The small balls should be visible in their race. Use a large screwdriver or similar tool to pry the tracks apart and pop the small balls out. With the small balls out, the pieces will separate, releasing the large balls. Assembly: (It’s sort of reverse of disassembly.) Grease the race surfaces of the track. Grease the four small balls to hold them in place. Slip the two pieces of track together. Tape them, so they won't separate. Drive a large ball in each end. Slide the track toward each extreme, and install the seat bolts. Draw the seat bolts home with nut and washer, so that square end of the bolt fits in the square hole. (I used small bolts to replace the rivets to the base. For some reason I left the two end bolts out until the track was otherwise reassembled.) I hope this helps. w

You can fix the seat track yourself, if you have the balls. I repaired one of my seat tracks ages ago. I got the balls from a junk seat track. Somewhere in antiquity is the thread on how I fixed the track, and how to get the balls in and out. Maybe someone can find ithe thread, while the other Don makes some juvenile comment about balls. Mind you, I am a connesseur of juvenile comments, being quite good at it myself.

I revel in ridiculous redundancies. Years ago, the head secretary couldn't stand it when I said things like , "Thank goodness it's TGIF Friday." I especially like "the international House of IHOP Pancakes". I also like "Estimated ETA Time of Arrival". But I can't stand "ten-year anniversary" instead of "tenth anniversary". "Anniversary" already means the turning of the year. So "VIN number is an incomplete reduncancy. It should be "Vehicle Identification VIN Number".

Per the service manual, lubricate the Windshield Wiper Pivots every 10,000 miles or once a year, whichever comes first, with "Light Engine"Oil".

Oil hole. Part of the routine maintenance.

My clock had an open solder joint. I re-soldered it. Clock runs.

I have the Pertronix ignition with the semi-automatic transmission. Yes, the distributor is momentarily grounded on the upshift, but Pertronix recommended a resistor for that circuit. I've had the Pertronix ignintion for four years now, no problem. Again, contact Pertronix for recommendatins, and tell them if it's for a semi-automatic transmission.

The metal strips at the top of the radiator are to support rubber strips to close the gap between the radiator and the hood. Maybe it's not rubber but something stiffer, but resilient against the bottom of the hood. I haven't figured what to use on my car, but it's way down on the to-do list.

So, you had to have your head examined, but they found nothing? I was saying the same thing about myself, a year or so ago. I had some transient event, where I could not think of the words for going into the next room and getting the tool tote. Funny how the mind thinks in words. I got off lightly, with only an occasional wrong word, like classic cars being "erotic", insted of "exotic". So, hang in there. Glad to see you're posting. Keep up that sense of humor. God has a sense of humor. He created us, didn't he?

The Dodge in Post No 5 is not a Plodge. No sharp Vee in the grille, no creases under the headlights. Maybe Saiers' Dodge shares the Dodge-Desoto-Chrysler body and is not Plymouth-based. Mother Mopar sold both varieties in Canada.

I opened this thread, went to "last page", and wondered why GG40Desoto would resent an e-mail. A look to the previous page showed the context. He re-sent the e-mail. Whew. I thought we had another fight going.

My son-in-law, the oldest of the bunch at his mid-50's, remarked that 50 is the new 35, but 9:30 is the new midnight. Which reminds me, for New year's, my wife and I stayed up til 10:00.

The Fluid Drive was made for stately driving. With the 3-speed transmission, a person could take off in 3rd, and leave it there. Cars with the 4-speed automatic would automatically shift between 3rd and 4th. No clutching except for the initial starting off, backing up, or if stuck at a railroad crossing for more than five minutes. Mother Mopar's answer to the Hydra-Matic. So, don't go through the lower range-upper range shifting unless you really have to move out at the traffic light, or if you can't get out of the clutching habit.

Yes, "Average" IS. What was I thinking?

An average of 15 hrs of family time ARE sacrificed. The original word was correct. Common grammatical error. The subject is "hours". Hours are sacrificed. Back to my corner.

When I'm worried and I can't sleep, i count my blessings instead of sheep. Hey, there's a song that goes something like that. I tell my wife, when she can't sleep, to think beautiful thoughts. Gee, thanks, she says. I find myself lying awake some nights. I tell myself that maybe I didn't need that much sleep, figuring all the naps I took that day. So, I'll get into mind games. Systematically plan that minor home repair; anticipate some upcoming event; remember something from the past, until I remember what I should have said; think of something else . Consider bowling pins and the rule of 78s. The pins are set up in four rows; one in the first row, 2 in the second, etc, till there are 10 pins. Next would be 15, then 21, etc. If you set up 12 rows, it would take 78 pins. Our antique clock chimes the hours. Each half day takes a total of 78 chimes. In the old days, before computers, the rule of 78s was used when a car loan was paid off early. Something like a number of months divied by 78 would determine the proration for the last month's interest. Are you asleep yet?

I put several mini-breakers in the original fuse box.

Wiring through the years. My house was built in the 20's. 6-circuit fuse box in a kitchen wall cabinet, flexible metallic conduit. Updated panel in the basement, (1950's?) circuit breakers, large breakers for range and to feed the old panel, 15-amp for newer circuits. Non-metallic-sheathed cables. Newer 100-amp panel a few years ago, large breakers for range and other panels; several newer circuits. Newer cable, with thinner but better insulation. Wire connections - soldered back in the day, wire nuts lately. Old ceiling boxes flush with the plaster, with the wiring connections housed in the fixture canopies. New recessed boxes. Wall switches with ceramic bodies, supplanted by thinner plastic assemblies,with all manner of gadgets. GFCI outlets guarding circuits. Dimmer switches. Incandesent bulbs, fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps (junk!), LEDs.

I've seen Don's deleted punch line in another setting that did not have a politlcal image attached. Something like: "Nothing's made in America any more. I bought a new TV, and it said, 'Built in Antenna'. I don't even know where Antenna is." Such humor should be preserved.

The briefly posted "American Gothic" painting had too close a resemblance to persons living. It seems this thread is skirting the limits, keeping the moderators on their toes.

My son had a house with electric wiring. We corrected several outlets by splicing short lengihs of insulated copper wire to the bare ends of the aluminum wire, using special wire nuts with sealant to prevent oxidation. Then we connected the short copper wires to the devices. He sold the house decades ago. I don't think he ever checked to see if the house was still there. I understand that aluminum cable is used in high voltage distribution lines, with special connectors for sure. Appparently aluminum domestic wiring systems were put into the market without sufficient testing. It would not be the first such system.

Boom. A few years ago, trying to set my timing, I got it off by almost one plug. My ears rang for a half-hour. I was able to get a standard muffler at the local O'Reilly's. I have a collection of various pipes with various flared ends, and I have a tail pipe expander, so getting a muffler to fit is a small challenge.

Yep, my 47 DeSoto pitman shaft has the four wide slots. But even I would have trouble putting the arm on, 90 or 180 degrees off.

"Plug"? You mean "receptacle"? As a kid we called it the "plugger-hole". "Never assume"!