Category: Cars

I’m still alive

Almost fucking died today.

My car saved me.

My reactions saved me.

An inept mechanic almost killed me, and is now lying to save his job.

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At about 10:00 this morning, I dropped off my car at a local garage called Prasertyon to get brakes on my just-restored Crown fixed. The brake pedal lost pressure yesterday and the brakes were locking on one side this morning, so it needed to be done.

Prasertyon had overhauled the entire brake system for me a couple years before, so I thought they would be familiar with my old car and do a good job… Nam and I piled the kids in her car and went to see if my car was finished at 5:00 pm. The kids fell asleep in their baby seats on the way, and when we arrived a couple mechanics were out testing the brakes on my car. As they pulled into the shop in my car, a good friend was passing by and came up to see what I was doing. This is important because he became a second witness to what happened soon after (the first witness being my wife).

I was told the repairs were complete, then was presented with a detailed bill. It came to a total of 1,000 baht for some replacement parts for the rear brakes, brake fluid, and labor (notably including setting the brakes for all four wheels).

Assured that the necessary repairs had been performed and the car tested by the mechanics, I left for home. I pulled away from the shop, with Nam and the babies in her car behind me, and my friend close behind them in his pickup. Less than half a kilo down the street from the shop, I was cruising at normal speed, within the speed limit, when I tried braking. The brakes completely locked up, unevenly, and the front of my car pulled sharply left. Suddenly, I was sliding sideways toward a curb, going fast enough to get flipped in the air. Instinctively, I wrenched the wheel to the right and the car straightened out enough to get launched in the air pointing forward, knock down a traffic safety sign on a steel pole, then come crashing down onto the asphalt, jump another curb, and finally smash headlong into a squarely-molded concrete power pole.

Nam had started pulling over when she saw/heard my brakes lock and saw the whole thing. She said she just went numb when it seemed my car was going to cartwheel. She was amazed when I opened the door and got out of the car. My friend following in the pickup also thought I must have gotten hurt pretty bad, at least. As it turns out, I hit my head pretty hard and will probably feel whiplash from tomorrow. I was bleeding a bit from a scrape on my forehead and probably scared everybody who came to rubberneck. I eventually went to the hospital to get a CT scan, and just heard back by phone that everything is OK. So I’m physically fine, and will come away from this just being a bit sore, hopefully.

—

After the accident, Nam went back to the garage to get help. A few guys came on a motorcycle and got the car started again, and eventually drove it back to the shop. We talked to one of the (presumed) owners of the shop, who started out saying they would pay for 50% of the damage, but within the period of me going to the hospital seemed to be trying to shirk responsibility altogether. Apparently she told Nam that once the car leaves the shop, the shop isn’t responsible for it anymore. I think I’ll let her think some more and revise her statement tomorrow; it makes me too mad to think about it right now. Plus, the mechanic who actually made the repairs is saying that Nam said something to him admitting guilt on my part, which is ridiculous but I guess he’s afraid of getting fired or something… Anyway, we have a meeting with the shop’s owners tomorrow afternoon, and my ruined car is there. They can conjecture about what happened on the road, and try and place the blame on anybody but themselves because they’re pissed about possibly losing money, but I hope they do the right thing, I really do. Because at this point, I am not to be fucked with. My car is pretty much irreparable (key parts are completely mangled). I almost died in front of my family. I at least want an apology, quick repayment for my medical bills, and some kind of repayment for my ride… We shall see.

—

The funny thing is, I was going to take the first photos of my completed car tomorrow. It just happened a day earlier.

Toyota reviving Nobunaga (Toyota ReBorn), plus killer killer whales

Linkdump follows:

Any modern car ad using a 1960’s S40 Crown is worth watching in my opinion, but the CM being referred to (and uploaded to Youtube just 3 hours ago) is just indecipherable. The making of video isn’t much help, either.

Killer whales attack and eat sharks: In itself, not news but apparently orcas screw with sharks the way that dolphins screw with bait balls, using their cunning mammalian brains

This Chinese Village Is So Rich It Built A Fake Great Wall And Arc De Triomphe: I’m not sure those are signs of wealth by themselves — the small Japanese island I used to live on had miniature versions of those and several other famous structures at their aging amusement park, and the last I heard pretty much every last notable business went to shit (probably entirely coincidental with my leaving, but sorry to all my friends there just in case).

(At least one of the links above are from somebody, probably Mark, on Google+, but I can’t find it now)

doncha wanna come home?

Dear Keys (that I have lost),

I did not mean to lose you, and yet, your being away from home (an assumption based on my 2 hours of frantic searching with a flashlight to check dark spaces) is entirely my fault. I knew you were gone from your safe place (my pocket) from last night, because for some reason, I thought I had left you in the car.

I went to the shop to look for you in my Crown, but since I did not see you right away, I figured you were in my wife’s car. Now that I’ve searched my wife’s car three times with increasing levels of thoroughness, the last time even checking under floor mats and seat backs, I’m truly sorry I did not look harder through my Crown when I had the chance. I’ll do it tomorrow, I promise.

Please be there. Please wait for me. I will come for you, I promise (especially the spare key to my wife’s car that’s laser cut and has an embedded IC chip which has the twin qualities of being both [A] a great theft deterrent and [B] outrageously expensive — I’m coming for you, babies). Whether you be in daddy’s Crown, or at the copy shop behind the university, or at my desk at work (probably not, I just called a late-working coworker to check for me), or at the car audio shop, or at the body shop, or at one of several 7-11s I buy the human baby’s milk boxes at, I WILL COME FOR YOU!

My word is bond, yo.

All I ask is that you give me another chance.

Love,
J

P.S. I must admit that if it weren’t for you, you goddamn chip-embedded laser-cut bastard darling, I wouldn’t have bothered writing this.

Crown build progress

Post-respray, aged trim parts removed for chroming

 

Cutting a new rear speaker shelf

 

Perhaps the original (40 year old!) rear speaker shelf, at some point apparently modified by an epileptic monkey with children's scissors

 

New interior door panels and glove box being fitted

 

A pump we found in the passenger-side door apparently for a Mercedes-style pneumatic door lock system. I've never heard of this being used on Crowns and doubt it is original, but as they say, Crowns are Japanese Benzos

 

The taillight frames were apparently very difficult to chrome because they are made from strange 1970's not-quite-metallic material

the car, she is black now

Car Restoration Vertigo

I finally got my Crown out of the body shop that had taken her hostage for five months… Now she’s in my friend’s car audio/accessory shop getting shit done that was supposed to be done by the body shop, plus getting shit fixed that the body shop screwed up… They even lost a bunch of parts: Interior panels, various covers, the entire glove box (!), plus pretty much every type of clip, screw, bolt, pin and other fastener needed to keep everything together.

My pal, Ot, and his guys at Wattana Sound are busy refitting chrome parts, repaneling the interior, crafting new doors, making a new glove box (haha), plus fitting a bunch of cool secret stuff.

I actually have to take the Crown back to the shitty body shop to attempt to get some of the paint job fixed (they couldn’t even get the paint done right in five months). They promise it will be fixed in one day. We’ll see. Meanwhile, I’m taking build photos whenever I visit Ot’s shop and am getting obsessive about certain details, which is a good sign of progress… It shall be done soon, I swear.

Dogs and Cars

The story of restoring my beloved Kujira Crown is long and unimportant. The sad fact is that the shop promised to be done in a month and a half and it’s been four and a half months with it still not quite done. On the upside, I won’t feel bad for getting it done so cheaply because promises are being made and broken on a weekly basis. I’m a simple guy. Don’t waste my time and you will be duly compensated. Fuck with me and I’ll make you suffer… Is this somehow on me? Did I ask for too much? No. The owner of the shop has some family issues and let it affect his business… He has acted most egregiously and will have to pay for it. But really, that’s not the most important thing; I JUST WANT MY FUCKING CAR BACK!

Soon, the Crown will come home. Fuckin’ eh.

UPDATE: This is what my MS-60 Kujira Crown looks like now: http://cosmicbuddha.com/2012/03/the-toyota-kujira-crown-reborn/

Bang up

Ah, dammit. Today started off kinda bad, and I’m flat out busy. I went out in the Cefiro to buy fried dough crosses for Max and Mina before they woke, and rear-ended an old pickup with no bumper, at low speed while exiting our neighborhood. He decided to run away and I let him since I was at fault anyway… Cracked a headlight lens, scratched the bumper kinda deeply, bent the goddamn hood, but it all looks easy to fix. Luckily, the HID bulb didn’t break so hopefully the repairs won’t be too costly… but my other goddamn car still isn’t out of the shop!

Damn.

Things I replaced on our car over summer vacation

You may understand part of the pain and frustration we experienced if you can recognize the complete set of gaskets and ferrofluid engine mounts (replaced with solid urethane mounts). Yes, the whole front end of our Cefiro A33 (USDM: Infiniti i30) was taken apart and put together again. It runs really sweet now, except for a noisy power steering pump, another set of wheel bearings, some paint bubbling up on the roof, etc., etc., and so forth…. And my car, the 40 year old Kujira Crown, will be totally done sometime this year, hopefully (that’s a story in itself; not enough space or patience to cover it here).