Hey all,
Whelp, just got back from a voluntary trip to Maggie's Heart
of Texas Dodge here in beautiful Austin TX. I had 22K and change
on the odometer, so I figured hey, take the Silver Streak in
for a tune up and have them look at some TSB work. My laundry
list for the day:
- Check the cab bolts for tightening/replacement (TSB)
- Check the ball joints on the front end (TSB)
- Popping in steering column (can't remember if TSB
or not, but still warranty work)
- Tune up
This was a rough day - Maggie's was busier than a one legged
ass kicker today. They got the tune up done and checked the
column (diagnosis: correctamundo, popping was not my
imagination, warranty work, parts on order). They didn't
have time for the TSBs, but will check them when I take
it back in for the repair. They did catch the dead battery
(actually, it caught them - they had to jump the truck to
roll it into the garage. Perfect timing :-) ). Warranty
work there as well, the Streak gets a new battery.
So much for caring and feeding, on to the spank. Our
protagonist is:
'97 SLT+ CC 239 v6 5spd 3.55 LSD (fresh tune up, synthetics
in the pan - Mobil-1 10w30)
Our antogonist was (the key word being "was"):
Some dumbass in a late model Chevy Silverado (the
new body style).
So, I pull out onto the frontage road and make the left
turn to head for the 183 on ramp. Chevy lover comes roaring
up and fills my rear view with his I-will-never-leave-the-road
ranch hand bumper (friggin' yuppy scum). Then, for some
reason, he gives me the one finger salute. What? What the
hell did I do? Fine, whatever, I just wave and smile. We
hit the last light before the on ramp. It's red. He pulls
along side (cutting off some poor old woman in a Buick
in the process - yeah, that was slick, show me how big
they are cowboy).
At this point I'm laughing my ass off, 'cause it's some
punk kid who obviously got daddy's truck for the day.
He doesn't take too kindly to that, and points at the
on ramp. Sure, I feel frisky, let's test the tune up.
Red... GREEN
1st - dump the clutch at 3000rpm. *Squall* *hook* *rev*
2cd - speed shift. *BARK*. WTH??? That's new... by now
I have a fender on him.
3rd - fast running out of room. He can't make up the
fender lead, and the ramp is coming up fast.
4th - and that's where it stays, all the way up the ramp
and up to 80mph on 183. At this point Chevy man
misses his chance to get onto 183 by being cut off
by the Mayflower semi that I just outran. Down
back to the frontage road he goes, never to be
seen again.
After declaring the tune up a success, I remember that
I am a father-to-be and calm back down to "grampy"
driving mode. I pat the dashboard of the Streak, and
say, "Well done". Then I reach down to turn the AC
on. Hmmm, it was _already on_. With the windows down.
Niiiiiice.
Oh well, just thought I'd share. All 6ers take heart ;-).
Have fun,
-- dak
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:16:47 EDT