Sleeping Bag . . .

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It may not be feasible, soon, to drive my old muscle car – the Great Pumpkin, also known as the Orange Barchetta – courtesy of the maniacs pushing the price of gasoline to $5 and probably a lot more to come, soon.

But I’d like to be able to start it up every now and then, to remember. And so that it’s ready to drive again, someday.

The Pumpkin needs premium – 21 gallons of premium unleaded. That’s $100 to fill ‘er up at current (today) prices and while I love to drive it I love to eat even more. But I remain hopeful the day will come – eventually – when I’ll be able to afford to drive my car again – and eat. It may be a long time coming, though.

Hence, getting gas. And getting ready.

I wrote the other day about servicing the transmission. Today, I change the oil – which for my car means changing it with specialty (read, expensive) oil made for old cars that have engines that need the additives no longer generally available in the oil available at Wal Mart and other such outlets, courtesy of Let’s Go Brandon!

The Pumpkin uses AMSOIL (Z-Rod formulation) and it costs about as much to change out six quarts as it costs to buy 21 gallons of $5 per gallon Let’s Go Brandon!

But I got those six quarts before they cost as much as 21 gallons of Let’s Go Brandon! will probably cost a week from now. I recommend you consider taking the same preemptive measures, before you are no longer able to afford to take them. Fill ‘er up now, while you still can. While you can still afford to fill ‘er up. Ideally, with non-ethanol gas, which stores better over the longe haul.

Adding fuel stabilizer is smart, too.

Carefully rationed start-’em-ups once a month or so and you should be able to make a tankful last year, maybe even longer. To circulate fluids in the rest of the drivetrain – the transmission, rear axle – use a floor jack under the differential to raise the rear wheels up off the ground; safety stands under the axles tubes or frame rails are a good idea. Now you can “drive” your car a little, for a little while.

Watch the odometer click over the “miles.”

It’s probably a good idea to buy some tires now, if you’re even close to needing them. Tires being made of rubber and rubber being derived from oil. You won’t get far without tires, no matter how much gas you’ve managed to sequester. Keep them aired up (assuming they don’t kibosh electricity, too, your compressor still ought to work) and not sitting on the same contact patch for too long. So as to avoid flat spotting them.

Fans belts, hoses, fuel filters  . . . keep in mind all of those things you may need but which you may not be able to get, in the world of artificially scarcity being created by Let’s Go Brandon! – who is desperate to keep the public from realizing just how hard and deep they got it over the past two years, in the name of “stopping the spread’ of a “virus” that was never much of a threat and far less a threat than what was done to us in the name of “stopping its spread.”

So desperate he may just trigger a war – one that comes here – to keep the public’s mind off of it.

I never thought, all those years ago, when I first heard the Rush song, Red Barchetta that I would one day be living it.

Just orange rather than red.

. . .

Got a question about cars, bikes or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in! Or email me at [email protected] if the @!** “ask Eric” button doesn’t work!

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Wish I had the luxury to buy – everything – ahead of time & to be able to drive 20 miles when I only need to go 10 miles.

    …Just doin’ the best that I can with what I’ve got. On the plus side, I have a good amount of experience from when I was young of driving with bald tires, fixing flats on the go, driving vehicles that were falling apart as I drove ’em & using soup cans as exhaust pipe patches. Maybe that’ll be useful? Idk.

    Rush – Red Barchetta Music Video [HD]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZ73q9M-Gk

  2. I know how you feel but this change I made with the premium Amsoil and the filter that goes with it I realized I had gone over a year since the last change. It’s guaranteed for 6 months or 26,000 miles, whichever comes first. I had never run it a year but being sick I had forgotten it. It was still running 50 lbs and quiet as ever. I probably didn’t do it any good but Amsoil is the best bargain I ever found.

    i had 4 friends who stayed on the road for an insurance company and put several hundred miles on their cars every day. They rave about the money they used to save(retirees now) just changing to Amsoil. It’s one of the few companies that make your specific kind of oil.

    The post office is 10 miles away. I make sure to never drive it less than 20 miles. My parents would drive their vehicles a few blocks and cut them off, then drive a few blocks and cut them off again. They went through exhaust systems like crazy. My muffler on my 2000 Z71 is original. Even if you have a place that’s rotting out you can drill a hole there and the damage that was done will be the only damage done for years.

    • Hi Eight,

      I could prolly get away with 26k but I change it out once a year, even though I don’t drive the TA 500 miles in a year. Reason? Respect for the 455 – and the getting hard-to-find 455 block and crank! I admit to being more than a little OCD about maintenance. But that’s because I love my machinery!

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