datsunlover

sorry.. I see that little yellow arrow on the front and think of a warning lable or something; 'Ground goes here' or 'this side toward pavement'.

AAAHAHAHA ha ha ha ha ha... ha... Holy freaking crap... My ins. co is going to get a very irate phone call from me tomorrow... Yesterday, after leaving FOUR voicemails over 6 hours, I finaly got a call back and apparently, they got the proper policy # now, and got a hold of the other company.. guess what? They havn't had a claim reported on that vehicle... Hmm... Guess the old lady is afraid of her rates going up? Whatever, NOT my problem. I get them to FINALY put a call in to have someone appraise my truck, so I know where I stand. Today, this guy calls me and we arange a time to meet at my house. I get home, and the guy has parked his car (a hyundi?!?) just before my driveway, one the road. With no signal or hazard lights on. Did I mention my road is a BUISY 4 lane road and it is 3pm?!?! So I get backed in my driveway and say hello to the guy. He askes if his car is ok there.. At this point, a minivan blares the horn, locks the brakes and barely swerves around his car. Two more vehicles narowly miss it. Horns honking, fingers fliping us off, you know. I said "Um.. maybe you should pull in my driveway?" Then I notice the bungee cord that is holding his hood shut. Thats right, a bungee cord. He looks over my truck, and askes if I can please open the drivers door so he can get the serial #. I explain that, well.. I CANT!! I point out that the fender has been pushed into the drivers door, and in fact I had to get out throught he window after the crash. I said I could probly shove it open, but it's going to damage/buckle the door (which I didn't want to do BEFORE the truck was apraised) He says its ok, and gets the vin from the window/dashboard.. I point out the steering wheel wobles all over the place now, as if the tilt is broken, which it did NOT do before the crash. He said "Oh no, the crash didn't do that. Look, the tires are fine and the steering didn't get hit. That wasn't caused by the crash" Um, excuse me.. NO.. it wasn't like that before!!!! I don't think this guy knows his arse from a hold in the ground.. Anyway, he says he'll put it through and see if they will fix it, with a decent used front 3/4 clip (evrything from the passenger fender over) , and match the paint/pin striping. I already know from talking to my friend (who is a licenced body man at a local dealer) that will cost around $3000. This appraisal guy thinks $1500.. Yah right. So he leaves, and as he backs out of my driveway his bungee corded Hyundi stalls, almost causing ANOTHER accident. I feel REALLY confident that this shmuck knows wtf he's talking about, and I'm not impressed at all. Either way, if they decide to fix it, it's my call WHERE it's fixed, so I'll make sure to get the higest quotes I can from local shops, and see what they say then.

Oh my god, this just keeps getting worse.. I get a call from 'Kim' today (yes, ANOTHER rep) and she tells me that the problem is that the other partys ins. policy # is not valid. ?!?!?! So I call my local police, and get the # from them.. seams as though some 1's and 7's have been mixed up... I call back within 20 mins, but of course I get her voice mail. For the next two hours. You guessed it, I couldn't get back in touch with her before she left for the day. (I'm pretty much foaming at the mouth now..) So I hit the #1 to get ANOTHER rep, cause I think this clasifies as urgent now... I really feel like I'm getting the run around.. This one tells me the FIRST rep I talked to , is well.. new. Seriously. Shes 'in training' right now. This 'Kim', is actually in charge of my claim and is overseeing it though. Great. I left her two voicemails within 2 hours, and no call back. I then tell rep #4 the other info I gathered (I keep wondering why I am doing this crap.... isn't it my COMPANYS job?!?!?!) like the other party's address, phone #, proper ins. policy #, and the fact that the police report HAS been completed, so they can damn well get their ass's in gear and ask for it already!!! Also, I was told last friday that a plate search was going to be done, but today (tuesday) is STILL hasn't come back! (because of the problem with the other ins. co #) Um.. excuse me? If the police can run your plate IN THEIR CAR in a matter of minits, why haven't they been able to do this in the 3 buisness days since the accident?!? Oh, and nothing has been done yet about sending an appraiser to check out my truck. I'll be calling them tomorrow and threatening legal action if they don't start doing their jobs.. And I'm not telling them until this is resolved (my truck fixed, or a decent market value paid out for it) but I will definatly be cancelling my policy and going elsewhere. Just bugs me to think how much worse it COULD be, juging from this fiasco so far.. what if me or my girl had been seriously injured? Hell, my house is insured under the same policy.. what happens if say.. my house burns down, or the neibours tree falls on it.. ? Sorry for all the ranting and raving guys, and thanks for all the response and help. Guess I'll get up tomorrow and do it all over again...

Well, this is 4 days later and my girlfriend is STILL complaining about her neck being a bit sore. Like I said, it's been noted (the very next day) that she has some whiplash issues following the accident, and has a doctors appointment in a week or so.. We'll see how it goes, but if nothings happend in the next few days, I'm gona start to loose my temper and may have to pull the lawyer card with them. I really don't want to get into a legal battle here, but if it takes threatening that, so be it....

Heh.. Well, I called them again today. I got the voicemail of the claims rep I WAS talking to friday (day after accident) and it says "Sorry, I'm out of the office for the next 3 days, bla bla bla..." So I hit the #1 to get transfered to another claims rep. This lady seamed to know what was going on, and sounded a little confused herself as to WHY there was a problem.. I was not at fault as the other party was charged with failing to yield, other vehicle has valid insurance, ect. I told her that although the police report was not complete yet, that they gave me the registered owners name, and that is the drivers HUSBAND. She says the file stated 'awaiting licence plate search' but she didn't know WHY... I told her I was thinking the same thing... I also explained AGAIN that I NEED to have a TRUCK!!! This weekend was perfect weather for what I had planed, (yard clean up, scrap yard run, building suplies pickups, ect) and it just didn't happen, because of this issue. Now the weather is getting nice, my yard/house lookes like hell, and the neibours are sure to wonder what the heck is going on.. (and my smashed truck is in the driveway, not really roadworthy anymore!) I explained that I didn't like the idea of paying out of pocket for a rental truck, and then possibly having another issue later getting my money back for it... so I'd really like for them to get this figured out so I can have authorization to get a rental. She agreed with me, but said there was nothing she could do today.. She said she would check it out though and call the other partys ins. co tommorow and hopefully get this rolling. (gave her my work and cell # again too) Also, she has sent my file to the adjustors, so I should get a call sometime to get my truck looked at. I told her I'd appreciate that, cause if they're gona total it, I need to start looking for something to replace it. If they decide to fix it, (doubtfull I think..) I need to rent something while it's being fixed. Either way, I need a truck/transportation, so the sooner they can appraise it the better. Oh, and it's hard to do any home/yard work with my girlfriends nissan sentra, which I borrowed to get to work today!!! And it goes on...

Heres the chrysler 300 after I 're-aranged' it with my truck.. And how my truck felt about that... Now.. I know this doesn't really look all that bad.. although, that tow hook USED to be hidden under my bumper. Also, the fender was pushed far enough back that I couldn't get my door open.. and when you factor in this is a 91 with 360+ Ks and the rest of the truck is a little rough, (dually fenders are hurt/cracked, and the passenger side rocker is smacked where I had a run in with a snowbank..) I'm pretty sure they'll want to call it a total loss...

Well, I'm tryin to remain calm and not put my foot in my mouth, but it's not too desperate yet; I managed to quick fix the leaking coolant line on the Z, and aside from dumping absurd amounts of oil out the front main seal, it's drivable. ALSO, it is insured by a DIFFRENT company/policy so even if this drags out for a little while, at least I have transportation. If I'm stuck spending some money on a small vehicle that I can't 'work' , I'd rather it be my Z than a pos ford Focus rental heap.. Just hope it doesn't rain too much for a while... (stock Z wipers.. ugg) As for my girlfriend, she's doing much better today, but we've talked about it and she's got an appointment for the end of the month with her family doctor, so she's NOT signing or accepting anything from an insurance company at this point, no matter what. I did make mention of this situation to my company too (no injurys at the time of the accident, several hours later a visit to the ER, and so on) so it is on record, the day following the crash. This really throws a wrench in the house/garage renovations right now though, not having a TRUCK.. Grrrrr Yes, apparently, I WAS 'the guy' among evryone I know who had the biggest/toughest/4x4 pick up. My boss's toyota blew the exhast off yesterday, my brothers chev 1500 (the one I sold him when I got my dually) is only a 2wd AND needs a starter, and my buddys 'dumpkoda' might as well be a little dinky toy.. Did I mention I have a HUGE pile of scrap wood in my backyard right now, on top of a rotting deck I have plans to tear down? Not to mention the remains of my colapsed protable shed and various other 'scrap yard bound' objects... I have already checked out the auto trader as well, and I'm going to print off a few adds to prove what fair market value would be for my truck, before the accident damage. I've already told the ins. people this to, and made it quite clear I'm NOT happy so far, and I'm not going to let them screw me on this if they decide to total it. (nicely of course, no swearing, calm and politely) So far, the only thing close to mine is going for $8000, and thats also the CHEAPEST dually listed. Oh, and there are NO 454's listed right now.. just the diesels. And actually, I HAVE kept it mechanicaly maintained.. Whole new front end, brakes all around, tires in the fall, and I have the bills to prove. Oh, I got some pics.. I'll post them in a few...

Heh.. yah, what shady said.. I'm ok, a little stiff.. but my girlfriend ended up at the emerg last night, complaining of a sore neck/shoulder. The doctor checked her out and said she's definatly got some whiplash and should take it easy for the next little while... hopefully no long term issues.. SO... I got ahold of the insurance co. today to, and wow.. I'm gona kill someone I think... First off, there is a little problem with the lady who was driving the ill fated 300 (actually a 2006 btw) acording to my ins. co. they looked up the policy # I got from the cop, but she isn't on the policy?!?! Now, because they can't get their heads out of their own arse, and figure it out (I'll explain) I have to pay OUT OF MY OWN POCKET if I want to get a rental car (as I don't have 'rental coverage' on my policy) and I 'should' be re-imbursed in the end... sure... I went to the police station and asked some questions, told them my situation, and find out that the car was actually registered to... dum da da dum.. the ladys HUSBAND!! Duh... wow... they can't figure that out?!?!?! Anyway, by the time I ran around and talked to various idiots on the phone all day, it was too late to even get a rental, and I really don't want to fork out cash from my own pocket anyway! I mean, this whole thing was in NO WAY my fault, and now I'm left without a vehicle. Basicaly, they won't authorize a rental for me till the particulars are figured out, and they need the police report to prove the other lady WAS at fault. (I told them what happened, that SHE was charged with 'failing to yield', ect..guess it doesn't matter though...) So the cops are telling me to talk to the insurance co. and the insurance co. is saying I need to get the police report, and I have a smashed truck in my driveway that I can't drive....... Yes it is techicaly 'drivable' but with a smushed front end, no lights and a grill smashed to bits, it's just begging for trouble.. and apparently I'm good at finding trouble! Oh, and my ins. broker has been of little to NO help.. They will take my money evry month for the house/truck policy but if I have a problem, well.. thats not what they do; I have to deal with the actual insurer for a claim.. blah blah blah. So why the hell am I using them? what does it do for me? Heh... I think I'll be changing companies in the near future. At this point, I wan't rid of it anyway, so I'll get as much $$$ as I can for it and send it off. I don't feel like putting it back together, and fixing the other issues it had/has.. and I wan't something smaller and better on fuel anyway so this seams like a good oportunity to me. PS; No wories Scott, I'm actually a little ashamed that I didn't do it in more so.. but it's defiatly more than a scratch anyway... I'm gona take a few more tomorrow with a proper digicam if I can, as the cell phone pics arn't very good quality.

Well, I'll see if I can get the pics off my g/f's phone, but suffice to say, my truck is probly going to be wrote off. Picked up my girl tonite, we drive a few blocks from her house to pick up a burger and fries for dinner, and about half way back this little old lady decides to pull out and turn left in front of me. I had right of way, (as she was at a STOP sign!) and saw her pulling up.. but I guess she didn't see me.. I don't know HOW you miss a 1 tone dually coming at you.. It looked as if she was going to stay put, but at the last second she pulled out. This is a two lane residential road, and I had no where to go.. When I realized she was doing it, all I could do was jam the brakes and then the horn. Upon hearing a loud horn and 6 screaching tires, she turned to look.. I have to say, she did the right thing and kept her foot in it, (probly saved her life) but it was too late.. I hit her 300M just behind the rear tire with my drivers side corner, and spun it around like a top. Actually, I pretty much drove THROUGH her car.. didn't change the truck's direction at all, and hardly slowed it down. (I was doing about 45k) Amazing what shear mass will do.. Anyway, I checked the girlfriend and despite doing the ragdoll in the seatbelt, she's fine. Put truck in park, hazard lights on, turn off engine, ect... Then I try to get out... well, no such luck.. It seams the drivers fender has been jamed into the door, and I can't open it. Ok.. here we go. I calmly roll the window down and climb out. The elderly lady is shaken up, but to my amazement she's fine! She's very upset and sorry for this hassle, ect, but I just told her I'm fine, and vehicles can be replaced/fixed.. no wories. No one hurt, nothing to get excited about. So the cop gives her a ticket, and me the ladys info for my ins. co. Now, while my truck is still drivable, it looks terrible.. Grill and lights are destroyed and hanging, hood and fender are pushed back/up and the bumper is bent back and up pretty badly. The tilt in the steering column seams to have let go from the impact (wheel flops around) and as soon as I hit the lights, the fuse panel LIT UP bright blue.. (big spark, now NO lights work anymore.) The cop says I can drive it home, but I shouldn't drive it anywhere else.. uh, yah! I got it home and after a small battle, got the hood open. Rad saddle/suport is bent, rad is questionable (twisted) and I think some wiring may have been pinched/jared cause it sure is runing like a bag of arse! Unstable idle, shaking and gurgling, ect.. ??? A body shop buddy came by to check it out and figures around $3500 to fix just the damage.. never mind the REST of the truck.. So seeing that it's a 91 with 360K on it, (I know, not much for a 454), the dually fenders are rough, the tailgate is dented, and the body isn't the greatest, and now it's smacked in the front, I'm pretty sure it's gona get 'tottaled' by the insurance. Only thing now is to see if they try to screw me on a settlement.. The way I see it, this truck was still worth some $$$ and I have to replace it now because of someone else's poor driving.. hopefuly they do something for me.

See, it's funny with 'tools' cause evryone uses tham diffrently.. Working in a machine shop, makes me expect a lot out of your average tool, even if it's just for my personal use at home.. Not that I'm overly rough on tools, but they shold perform and last as far as I'm conserned.. Up here, there are a few stores simmilar to Harbour freight (Princess auto, Buisy bee tools) that sell.. for the most part, what I would call sub standard tools. Poor assembely, bad/weak designs, lots of crappy flimsy stuff.... Mini mills, lathes, drill presses, air tools, wrenches, ect. You really have to look at what you're buying and sometimes, you can get something decent. My electric impact gun (yes, it works quite well!) was dirt cheep, and has a sticker on it that says 'power fist'. Now, this is a brand that for the most part, is absolute JUNK. Thing is, SOME of their stuf, is actually decent name brand's simply re-badged. (seconds, scratch/dent, ect) I have a set of ratchet wrenches I'd SWEAR were Benchmark, but have diffrent badging. My 1/2" impact gun is a 'Dewalt' brand gun with a diffrent sticker on the side. (I have compared it side by side with my boss's Dewalt, and it IS identical, save for the scratch in one side, and a broken case.) I paid $59 and my boss paid $229.

Yup.. I've got LOTs of flack over the years for the two RX7's I've jamed V8's into.. "Oh.. that's aweful man, why would you do that?!?" well, it's a fun ride and it SMOKES your stock RX7! But probly MORE people who were into it.. "Holy crap man... thats cool!!" or "Wow... how do you hang on to that thing?!?":icon14: I am attracted to the RX7 for the looks; it's a nice looking sports car, with a decent suspension. ect. Now... I think the rotary engine is a really cool ..thing.. interesting at the very least.. but in stock form, NOT a great power house, or very reliable.. So, why would I want a SPORTS car with that in it?!? hell.. if I wanted 'strange quirks' I'd buy a British sports car!

The L6 would be a bit tight in there, but a VG from a 300zx goes right in.. or a 302 mihgt be nice.. heh heh.. I had an 85 200sx hatchback and I loved it. One of the best cars I ever owned actually.. reliable as heck, pretty peppy, and good milage from the 4 cyl. (I had a 5 gear in mine, I'm not to find of the nisan autos from the 80's...) I always wanted to put a turbo V6 in it, but sold it before I got the chance.. That one looks almost mint too!

This is calculated from tire size and gear ratios, but I 'feel' that it's about right.. 1975 280z, stock suspension, front air dam and rear 'whale tail', zx 5 speed and 3:90 rear, mild 2.8 w/cam and SU's (running pig rich) a long straight road, and a heavy right foot; 140 mph and still pulling slightly, but the 'front end float' came on strong at 125 and it was a narrow 2 lane road at night so I backed off. I havn't driven over 70 mph in 6 months.. (stupid slow ass 1 tone pigup truck..) I miss the Z..

I'll bet the smaller bits wobble to, you just can't see the wobble. If you want a decent chuck that will last a lifetime, buy a Jacobs. Pricey, but like the thread states, you DO get what you pay for. A 'Golden Goose' can be decent too, but a Jacobs would be my choice.

Yah, it's been weird weather up here even! Last two weeks it was a perfect spring.. temps steadily going up, the 4 feet of snow (6' banks in my driveway) had ALL melted, hot rods and street bikes were out, I actually wore just jeans and a t-shirt to work a few days! (as opposed to long johns, two shirts and a sweater, ect) and now, it's like the begining of Feburary again! Been snowing pretty steady for the past 3 days now, I'd say about 10-12" has dropped, and it's friggin COLD again!! Oh well.. if it's the 'end of the world as we know it' (and I feel fine... ) there isn't much we can do about it NOW.. If this is 'it' ..well.. I just want one more sunny day to drive the Z!

Hmm... well, thanks for the input.. although.. for the rear (long) span... you're saying.. 2x12?!?! wow.. I thought maybe 2x8's with bracing down to the flat roof (where the joists run, 16" oc) about every 4 feet.. Or would that not work? Either way, it seams I' may have to get a permit regardless.. I've been talking to some people localy, and it may not be too much hassle.. I'll have to go down to talk to the building inspector, explain what I want to do and he'll probly want to come have a look at it. He may say 'nope, you don't need a permit, thats a 'repair' job. Go for it." BUT; if I just go ahead and do it without asking about a permit, well.. apparently the local inspector can be a really big dink... and cause me all sorts of crap. Also, from what I'm hearing, since the structure is already exsisting, they can't make me change too much, maybe put in extra 2x4s for strength.. but the way I see it, I'm tryng to make it BETTER so why would the town have a problem with it? Just means they can raise my taxes a bit next year...

Well, a few reasons.. First, it's not shown in the drawings, but the side of the house has a section that 'pops out' from the wall about 2 feet, only one story high and has a small roof section on it. (It's actually part of the kitchen where the sink and some cabinets are.) If I were to build my garage roof like I've drawn, the front of it would match up well with that existing (house) roof, making a nice 45 between the two. (no crazy angles to try and build, not to mention possible water leaking issues in the future..?) Second, more pitch would mean more lumber, sheeting, shingles, ect... A bit more $$$, but my main concern now becomes weight... And at some point, it's probly less weight and almost the same cost to put engineered trusses up there! I'm just trying to keep it simple and not too expensive... At one point, I had the thought of building a sun room of sorts up there, as a second story bedroom is in that top corner, and the floor would be the right hight for a nice walk out... but AHHHGG!!! the 'while I'm at it' syndrom!!! You know?

Ok, so I got some sketches done up and uploaded.. lets see if I can post them now... First off, the 'floor plan' such as it is.. (The pencil wasn't very dark, so it didn't scan well..) The red is extra bracing/work I've done already There was nothing but original 2x6 joists, saging pretty bad, and two were cracked in the small addition area. (after I jacked evrything up level again and put the beams in, I added 'sister' boards to the sides of the cracked ones) The blue is the other beam I'm hoping to add tomorrow/this weekend. Another pair of 2x10's laminated together with a post on the far side wall, and a hanger bracket on the first beam/header I put up already. I'm thinking I may also put another post to the floor, roughly where these meet, for extra support. (say about 2.5 ' from that rear corner, cause there will be a work bench there anyway..) As I said, the current joists are almost 10 feet from the floor, so I'm not concerned with loosing hight, I just want this thing to be sturdy and not fall on me! The next two are my basic idea of what the roof could look like.. The peak being built off the flat rof, and directly on top of the current front wall; Curently, the facia borads are there (about 8" and wrap around the whole garage) and the front has a 2' overhang towards the driveway. The 2x6 roof joists continue past/over the front wall and create that overhang, so I figure it'll take the small weight of a short pitch. It's the main roof that has me woried, as the water pools right in the middle now, and you can see a definate sag to the pair of dinky 2x8's they used in the middle of the span. (the blue lines on the first drawing) So.. whew... What do you guys think?