Looking out the window from my living room "study" I see snow. First major snow of the season. The roommate's 01 Cobra is now a Snowbra. He didn't get it covered again this year. I'm excited to head out. Last night it was fairly hard sleet which made driving interesting. In cold weather all the windows of the car fog up. Add the fact I only have a mirror on the drivers side and it doesn't really work. If it's really cold the windows not only fog up on the inside, they frost. So it's a learning curve for me around this time of year. There is absolutely none of the conveniences that a "modern" car gives you. You can't afford to get behind the curve because everyone else is not dealing with what you are. Working defrost front and rear, ABS, traction control, etc. I have none of this. It's a challenge attempting to integrate a vehicle such as mine into traffic in poor weather.
Gotta keep reminding myself to keep my head on a swivel, maintain my distance and be prepared for the unexpected. Those who ride with me notice I become very clipped in my responses and bark orders. It's a matter of tremendous concentration and I don't have time to let them know what I'm dealing with. A full time co-driver during the winter would be awesome. Sadly I can't hire anyone who would be willing to do that. So my passengers suffer a bit but they also get to experience what driving was like four decades ago.
It amazes me that my car really isn't that old. Only eleven years older then me. But for a car it's ancient. Compare it to a "Beetle" (SPITS) today and the differences are startling. The combined mileage for the 2012 2.5L Beetle is 25mpg. And my car gets "An honest 25mpg". This is progress! But the new car is also substantially heavier, safer, and larger. But is it worth the trade off? I'm not sure but if you'll excuse me I have to go find my second ice scraper. I have errands to run.

So there is is this great show up in Canada called Ice Pilots: NWT. It follows the team at Buffalo Airways flying vintage WWII piston pounders. DC-3/4, Curtiss C-46's and the turbine Electra. It's nothing but plane pornography if I'm to be honest. Seventy year old air craft in the far north, the roar of a radial engine and the sheer work it takes to pull it all off.. I torrent it because it's not here in the states and am up to date at the moment. There is just one small problem with the show.
Being the engine nut I am I see these guys wrenching on these engines, getting oil covered, hear them run and something in my brain just snaps.  I think "I have an old engine and wrenches" and before I know it I'm in the gravel with a spanner trying to set my valves. All the while wearing my mad bomber cap and talking out loud in a terrible Canadian accent. I sure hope no one ever gets a camera on me when I'm doing this!
But is it really so bad? When you have a car with eccentricities, that you use as a daily driver not a show piece and rely on it, it's times like this, these man and machine bonding times that really cement your understanding and appreciation of this time machine you're driving.
Sure he's still hesitating off an idle no matter what I do but it's now more manageable and the idle itself seems to have smoothed out a bit. I've been adjusting the timing by ear and so far have been pretty pleased with the results. Still not sure why it slides off so badly but I now have a dedicated socket and wrench for the distributor pedestal so it's a simple matter of opening the engine bay and having a good listen.
I speak often of the joy of being able to interact with your vehicle, not just "driving" it. When you know it's good moods and bad moods, can sweet talk it or can fix a problem as it happens that's a great feeling. I know a lot of people who carry a tool box in their vehicle but how many can actually truly effect change on the side of the road?
I'm not the greatest at this mechanicing stuff but I'm trying to not shy away from it. Sadly we have snow on the way here soon and not sure how much longer I'll be able to be a driveway mechanic. Oh did I mention I "fixed" the hole in my floor with Gorilla Tape? Well that'll be another post. Because permanent temporary fixes are just a fact of life in the Old Car Club.