Krazy repair of an armrest

Broken armrest for the driver side of a Regency Brougham

Prosthetic wooden plates (I guess)

Wooden plates in place to replace missing plastic

A whole heap of Krazy Glue

Reconstruction in progress

More reconstruction with Krazy Glue

Looking good

Done deal -  Honestly, I was trying to avoid a trip to the junk yard

Unusual Trunk Location for a Leaky Situation

Well I think I finally solved a problem that totally bewildered me for the past six months. In hindsight, I guess I could have done what I did today six months ago and the bewilderment would not have lasted that long. Every time it rained, there would be a puddle of water in my trunk, and I figured that it could not have come from around the edge of the trunk because the rubber strip lining the edge was intact. So today, I decided to empty the trunk and await the rainy forecast.

 

Sure nuff, the puddle of water reappeared. But from where was the million dollar question.  

 What I noticed was a trickle of water running down from the inside of the trunk just above the left tail light. When I checked the outside, there was really nothing overtly noticible. But when I checked the trickle of water (during the rain with my trusty umbrella in hand) it seemed to be coming from NOWHERE. Upon futher inspection, there was a channel of water that would drain from the rear windscreen into a pathway behind the trunk edge, then down the left side of the trunk edge and then down to the right side of the left tail light. Here's the kicker - there was an unwelded seam just above the tail light  through which water was entering, hence the souce for the trickle of water inside the trunk. - Water (I mean 'what a') kicker.

 I shined a light on the inside, and again quite unnoticible, the  corner was not covered with tan sealant and also one could see the light glow from the outside.

The corresponding seam on the right side of the trunk was welded.

So I did the next best thing to welding. Out came the caulk gun and the elusive hole was sealed. I must say that this is an extremely unusual location for a hole through which water can enter the trunk during a rainfall. So alas, let us await the next predicted April shower for some success and an end to the bewilderment of this leaky situation. :)

PS: the tiny crack in the seam line (shown below) was cause for major puddles in the rear floor behind the driver seat. Caulk to the rescue!!!

Substitute Influence?

Question: Why are you here?
Answer: Because there is no substitute for my presence as a positive influence on others.

Till I get the real deal - I'm ready to tune

Well this is gonna really do for now - Call me a modern day MacGyver but a brotha's gotta do what a brotha's gotta do. So I got my 2 mutes (in green actually from a foam sponge used to kneel on). I got the Muting felt temperament strip( in grey, imma cut up the sock into strips). I got my piano tuning hammer (don't know why they call it a 'hammer' but my 3/8" ratchet wrench, 3/8" to 1/4" adapter, 1/4" socket, 1/4" connector bit, 1/4" socket held together with black tape will do the trick). Turns out that the 1/4" is the size of the piano tuning pin.

Once educated, it is OK to think outside the box. So till I get the real deal, I'm tunin'

Celebrity Apprentice - "Off The Hook" episode was off the hook!!!!

Well I was truly blown away by last night's episode of the Celebrity Apprentice featuring my company, ACN. I was truly impressed with Lil Jon's management of his team. Like he says, "this is what I do!" His experience in the video making business truly played itself out with respect to the assignment. It was right up his alley. Let me just say that his 'think out of the box' mentality is the mentality of winners, leaders and success, hence his win last night. He was in tune to exactly what the ACN executives wanted, as well as what the 450 judges wanted, and well as what the world would want. His analogy to creating a "superbowl" ad was ON POINT. He definitely covered all the bases, and as a leader that is not a very easy thing to do. But - he did it, covered all the bases. Long story short, once one covers ALL the bases one can think outside the box all one wants and call it a gamble - one will be successful. I think Lil Jon has a lot that we all can learn from, and last night's success with Team Backbone (name so à propos) was a testament to that.
If  one thing, I learned from Dionne is this - "Quitters never win" - and with a Trump quirk, "Quitters get fired" The beauty of ACN is that you can't get fired, but you can definitely get 'quitted' and that's a 100% subjective choice. Remember that the world is like a giant "Netropolis" (I think I just invented a word here). Not only did she quit on herself, but also on the potential benefit due to others in her potential charity had she continued on in the show. Quitting is bad all the way around, no matter how you cut the cookie. Quitting basically is a proactive way of expressing selfishness (damn, I'm good - I need to copyright that phrase).
So with that - Let us not quit on creating out own "SUPERBOWL AD"
Thanks Not So Lil Jon

Rastafari (July 19th, 2001)

RASTA - Rastafarian - A culture, a state of Being.
Not restricted to dreads, feds, or respect of the dead,
Nor associated with wasted seeds, terrible deeds, or natural weeds.
But more of a totalitarian, equalitarian, a wholesomeness - represented by the one called Rasta.
What is a Rasta you may ask?
Someone who Loves Jah, and lives in His blessing.
Nothing more than that.
Someone who experiences a change of life,
For blessed are those who live Jah's law.
A Rasta by definition lives Jah's law,
And therefore, blessed is He.

Atrini Philo Sopher
July 19th, 2001

Positive Vibes

Ok - So I tell my friend that I'm going to make someone happy. Next thing I know is that I'm at the local community center checking out the piano and the office folks heard my playing. After a bit of conversation, they were happy that I agreed to entertain pro bono at their upcoming function. (I happened to be in a great mood that day :)

Ingenious genius

     Well, yeah - I do consider myself a genius - at least some sort of a genius - a combination of the intelligence I acquired in Pres (PRES FOREVER - prayers forever) plus the innate God given talent of  'figuring things out back to working order'.
     So herein lies one of the problems - my transmission shifter was stuck in park. No details will be provided as to why it got stuck in park , but needless to say, that situation could be one's worst nightmare. Well as it turns out, (after some internet research - which means exposure to the experience of others) I was quickly able to zero in on the culprit - a stuck, rusted out BTSI actuator (pontiac coil 5176231) aka shifter interlock. After checking out the patent with schematics from the inventor, it appeared that there was no way that the central rod in the device could slide freely and easily to allow movement of the transmission shifter.
    Well, after removal, the two obvious options at this point were either to repair or replace the device. Removing wasn't too hard of a challenge, it was located just left of the steering column near the floor just where the transmission cable is attached. The device is actually coupled with the cable via a steering column brace. It is supposed to stay locked in place and prevent inadvertent motion of the cable when the brakes are not depressed. So after removing the 4 steering column brace screws, and disconnecting the power connector, I was able to uncouple the actuator from the transmission cable. It was completely jammed probably from all the rust inside the hard plastic casing. I was able to take the device apart and separate the electromagnet from the rod.

Brake Transmission Shift Interlock (BTSI) Actuator - Pontiac Coil 5176231

The plunger in the electromagnet was stuck and the rod in the plastic casing was stuck also despite repeat trials of WD40 and a file.

Solution - replacement.

So next stop - on to a junk yard - repeat the same steps in another LeSabre. As you can see below, the rod slides in and out unlike my old rusted out BTSI. (BTW, this was a steal for $6.)

Stay tuned for another exciting adventure in the world of an ingenius genius doing what others get paid to do - for a hobby?