Using WD-40 as a Lubricant: Yes or No? – Clever Creations

 

No.

For the hood cable, I used the same lube as I do for the cables on my Harley (clutch and throttle). It's probably called something original like "Motorcycle Cable Lube"

 

Fixed the flaky fan speed problem in the climate controller. It was teh 4.7K potentiometer.

 

I'll probably need to do this repair when the HVAC Control Module acts up again.

 

I probably need to do this WHEN &/OR IF IT EVER STOPS RAINING!

 

For anyone with AMG style rocker panels.


I was getting my car prepped for a road trip and packed my tool bag with all the travel essentials required for a road aside repair. I looked at the jack and the thought occurred to me that I had never tested it with the deeper rocker panels. Sure enough of, if I had attempted to raise the car it would have crushed the rockers. So I fabricated an “extended” pad for the jack in order to accommodate the deeper rocker.

I went to a local pick and pull and grabbed a few pads from several BMW’s. Every MB Pad was inaccessible because the wrecker had placed the cars on the wheel supports that all yards use and I couldn’t get to them.

I put it together today and tested it out. Perfect.

 

Reminds me of an incident I had a few years back with my 2006 F150 STX 4x4 Flareside. While driving to a social gathering of fellow engineers, my 2006 F150 had a flat on the RR. After I took the jack & raised the truck to get the RR wheel/tire off, I found out that the OEM Jack Handle, which had the socket end to remove the lug nuts, would not work on my aftermarket rims. The holes were too small to gain access to the lug nuts. I needed a deep socket to gain access to the lug nuts. Ended up having to call for roadside assistance to get the RR wheel removed and the spare installed. Needless to say, I've purchased & stowed on my F150 everything I need now to change a tire if needed again.

 

Took about an hour this afternoon to apply Mirror Shine to the 2007 Coupe, prepping it for a Cars & Coffee event tomorrow morning in Greenville, SC. No awards but I like to car to be representative of a car owner that takes extra care of his/her car. PITA getting the car cover back on; exterior surface is really 'slick'! But I like it!

 

After following all the urging of best practices of fixings and upgrades to the Crossfire, I decided to shine up my exhausts and windows, open up the plug at the bottom of the door and check for rust, and road test my new tires.

When I got an email from the VA stating that Veterans were now eligible for free lifetime passes to all Federal Parks, Refuges, and Public Lands…. https://news.va.gov/110751/free-life...ational-parks/, I found a reason for a day trip and the nearest location to pick up the pass was just north of Watkins Glen, always a natural Mecca for car enthusiasts. And not far from the Ranger Station is Interlaken Cemetary where Rod Serling, producer of The Twilight Zone, is buried.

So we hit all three on a sunny Friday afternoon. Didn’t get on the racetrack, but I did get my pass, and an interesting conversation with Rod about the goings on of his TV show.

 

Long reply. This weekend, Eric and I worked on my SRT, my dads “new to him” 6 speed roadster, and a Jaguar F-Type.

my SRT got a supercharger swap, using one from a C32 AMG. It also got a NeedsWings ISO kit & PSK, thermostat, hoses, clamps, seals, basically everything needed when doing a change.

My dads roadster received KYB shocks, a Bilstein steering damper, and a new antenna gasket. Also, thus was the 1st time I’ve seen a Borla/MOPAR muffler on a Crossfire. Kinda cool.

the jag got side skirts. 🤷‍♂️

enjoy pics

 

Family & Friends definitely like the Graphite Gray Paint. The exception being that really good looking Crossfire Coupe in Machine Gray across the street.

 

After bumping the rear view mirror lights accidentally somehow, either with a folding sun-shade or just moving around in the car (yet again), and then covering up the car for a couple of days, came back to a fully dead 'regular' battery.

Not a surprise, as it's s been in there since 2014. While it started to SLOWLY take up a charge after about 4 hours, I figured screw that, it's cashed enough and has gave a good life, that it could happen again quickly and in short order under a similar scenario out on the open road, with repeat bonehead action of bumping something on it happening again.

Went up and grabbed a new Optima Yellow Top 48/DH6 to drop in. A perfect fit, identical to its OEM size in every way, without any future worry of acid seepage destruction. Highly unlikely to ever crap out for a long while. (I've had Optima red top batteries in 3 of my other classic cars for 15, 18, and 21 years respectively and they still give full CCA as if new.) Worth every penny.

ALSO.... in the process, pulled the battery tray which had been afflicted with acid corrosion in a small 3" area around the lip, cleaned that area up with a wire wheel, and re-painted the whole thing with VHT semi-gloss black epoxy chassis paint.

AND... like many others, repaired a cavity in the gray plastic micro-hose that runs under the battery tray and into the firewall, by cutting the obliterated 1/2 inch section out and fitting each fresh end over a similar sized copper micro vacuum tube as a joiner.

For what it's worth, everyone seems to assume acid leak is causing this issue; I don't think so.

If you look directly beneath the battery tray, there is a large exit/drain hole for debris, acid, water, etc. which has a clear pass through indirectly to the underside of the car. It's also quite roomy in that space under the battery tray for a tiny creature to get some habitational enjoyment away from the elements.

In all the photos I've seen of the suspected acid destruction of the hose, they certainly look more like they were chewed on by a mouse, rather than from chemical burn, which was also evident with my own on real close-up examination. From a distance, it look like natural dried out decay or acid ate through it, but looking at it closely I could see minute rows of 'carvings' around the holed out areas, leading me to suspect that may be a hot target area for mice to explore. I've also heard many of these modern cars use plant-based plastics for such hoses and wiring harness insulation and wraps, that its possible that further invites some nibbling.

And that's what I did, good as new again.

---

 

Those little rodents always have to chew or their teeth get too long, one built a nest in a daily driver I had before I retired. It was behind the headlight, he figured he had no use for electricity and chewed through the loom. I wondered why the light was out and then I saw the damage, easy fix but something I could have done without. Another little rascal stored his winter cache of seeds in a spare engine cover for the Crossie, luckily I found them before fitting it back on the car when I removed the single NeedsWings CAI. My garage now has poison and mouse traps spread around all over. But something is skipping them and eating the bird seed.
You just cannot win, they are just two smart.

 

I installed that same exhaust some years ago. I was rather disappointed since I thought it was as quiet as the stock exhaust. I removed the muffler in front of the back wheel to get some sound.

 

What did I do to the Crossfire today? Nothing,
I did walk by it though and thought how dusty it had become since washing it last year. Washing needs water and water causes rust and we can do without rust. I have now fell just below driving it for 2,000 miles a year and I have had it for eleven and a half years. The longest it has been driven is from Fort Lauderdale to Toronto in one long spell with my son, that was almost a years total miles in nearly thirty hours. It left FL at seventy degrees plus and was welcomed to Toronto with freezing rain as it sat outside that night. Welcome to Canada. It never sits outside now, sits in the garage which never gets below thirty five degrees.
I took it out last Tuesday though for ten miles.

 

I'm right there with you. Over the last 13 years, I've averaged 1802+ miles per year. And that included trips to various Crossfire GTGs.

If I go back & look at the overall miles driven in the nearly 15 years I've owned the 2007 Coupe, I'm averaging 1901+ miles per year.

 

Unfortunately, we original Crossfire owners and enthusiasts are beginning to fade into the sunset.

 

Crossfire owners to fade into the sunset ?……I hardly think so.
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. "

Dylan Thomas 1947
And special rage to other darknesses including Chrysler Dealerships, electric cars, and the dreaded no starts.

 

Maybe so, but when I was in my teens, and a 16 year old used Chevelle SS could be had for around $2,000, those original owners were often thinking the same.

So when I'm out with my SRT-6 at a show, or even the gas station, there is no shortage of kid-like voices within ear-shot excitedly exclaiming 'What's THAT?" followed by some current rendition of "COOL" or "AWESOME" which is either "That's DOPE" or "That's SICK" by today's teen vernacular, subsequently followed by genuine interest and questions in learning about a bitchin' car they have never heard of or seen before, especially when the only SRT anything they know of is a Charger or Challenger - that is, those of that genenation who are not married to TikTok and/or video games, actually want a girlfriend, are out of the house more than they are in it during hours of wake, and don't see Uber/Lyft as an option for self sufficiency.

The red-blooded American male is alive and well, if given the chance; maybe not in the numbers there once had been, but they're out there, ready to keep the 'fires' stoked and burning - don't count them out yet.

They are pining to get ahold of your Crossfire, and under the hood of it.

---

 

Fade into the sunset? I think it is moonlight that I see.