DOTS: Bored to Death Edition

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
05/25/2020 at 22:32 • Filed to: Dots, Big Chicken, Thunderbird, International Harvester

Today wasn’t the greatest day after I started delivering for Doordash on this rainy afternoon. I got almost no orders and only one person gave me a good tip. Oh and I have learned to absolutely loath this combo hookah/sports bar called Harry’s Chicken Shack. How can such a small amount of food take so long? Every time I get sent there, the customer doesn’t tip and lives in a confusingly labeled apartment complex too far away. But those were the only orders so I have to accept them.

Things I don’t like in restaurants:

loud and profane music

long waits

too much hookah smoke

terrible customer service

grimy surfaces

terrible atmosphere

Harry’s is all of these things.

But let me not bore you too much. I was the one bored enough with the lack of orders to stop and check out a few cars. First I saw this cool and reasonably rare 5th generation four door Ford Thunderbird. The four door was only offered on this generation and it uses suicide doors!

Such an amazing color. I think the pastel yellow fits it perfectly. Needs a bit of a clean though. I’m concerned about the window having been left down for a week full of light showers though.

The overall exceptional condition can probably be attributed to the 33,000 miles. Unless the odometer rolled over and it’s an older restoration. Considering the dealer’s other inventory this is possible.

As you can see the interior was color matched to the cream colored exterior and was in pretty decent shape. The few missing trim pieces are doubtless hard to find though.

Next to it was an exceptionally tastelessly modified Chevy Blazer. Are those BMW center caps? Eeeeeeeeew.

Quickly, let’s move on to this old International Harvester Loadstar. I stopped to check it out up close because it had been almost an hour since my last order and I was getting antsy.

I’m not usually one for black and white photography but I thought I’d give it a try.

Yes, I know

The subject works pretty well with the added grittiness.

This drift missile style RX8 was in pretty bad condition but was just behind the IH.

Hmmm I have never seen this party bus around before.

All of these were in the shadow of the Big Chicken off Roswell Road. The beak and eyes move in this landmark. It wasn’t always a KFC but the structure just fits.

DISCUSSION (35)

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 22:39

That chicken building is fantastic.

I’m bored out of my mind right now and totally unmotivated to do anything about it.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 22:41

T-Bird interiors were on point in the 60s. Too bad that one has seen better days, would have been stylish when new.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > smobgirl
05/25/2020 at 22:53

Fortunately I have Snowrunner.

The Big Chicken is basically the only way people give directions around here.

Contains video of the eyes moving, which are pretty cool because I think it uses magnets because there 8s clearly no track for it to follow.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/25/2020 at 22:55

And the four doors are pretty rare. Only lasted a few years and this one has an almost perfect body and most of a good interior. We were just talking about how the sedans don't get as much love. These were way less common when new so now I can't even imagine how few are left.

Noodles > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 22:57

I used to deliver pizzas long ago and bad tippers are just part of the job. One of my worst experiences was where the bill was $15.96, the lady gave me $16 and impatiently waited for her change. Some people are just cheap. I hope you get some decent deliveries. I once delivered 15 pizzas to a warehouse and got a $50 tip. It'll even itself out eventually. Just remember that karma will get those cheap bastards in the end.

Jim Spanfeller > fintail
05/25/2020 at 22:58

The tilting steering wheel in mine would be a really fun unusual feature if it worked... I’ve only seen it tilt once, before I bought the car, and it got stuck in the tilted position and took forever to get back up again. Now I can’t get it to tilt anymore... I think there’s a loose/worn bracket that keeps getting caught on something. Oh well... At least the rest of the interior still has all the cool retro space-age styling. Heaven forbid you get in an accident in it, but it certainly looks cool.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Noodles
05/25/2020 at 23:04

I have got some real good jobs (9 bucks for a quick pickup and 1 mile travel) but apparently Monday is just not a good day for take out. I am also learning how NOT to label apartment buildings. Geez would it kill them to put some numbers on the outside. That change story is just tragic.

At least I got to check out some cool cars before it started raining.

Noodles > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 23:08

That tbird is pretty sweet.

I was really close to snapping on that lady about her 4¢.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 23:11

Parking in a no-parking area is kind of a dick move. Unless you own the building.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Noodles
05/25/2020 at 23:13

I would have just walked away. Or maybe dropped a nickel and said keep the change.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 23:14

Probably not a lot of nice ones - when even a pristine one isn’t worth a lot, there’s zero incentive to restore one, so the good ones are mostly the lucky survivors.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
05/25/2020 at 23:14

Likely the owner owns the Model 3 and is selling the T Bird.

fintail > Jim Spanfeller
05/25/2020 at 23:15

I’ve never experienced a tilt-away wheel, but I have seen them. I am sure there’s a way to restore the function, but it would be priority number 76656. For an accident, hope it is low speed with a smaller lighter car. I have the same concerns in my fintail - a very safe car when new, but modern active safety features are hard to beat.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/25/2020 at 23:16

You would have a hard time finding one like this if you were looking. You could find a coupe easy but a suicide door sedan is a rarity. Maybe it does only have 33,000 miles. I still think it rolled over but the paint looks so good.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 23:24

It could be a low mileage car that sat outside for a long time. The sun and humidity there can’t be easy on old cars.

Noodles > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/25/2020 at 23:25

Ha! I wish I had given her a nickel and said keep the change.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/25/2020 at 23:35

It has sat there with the window partly open in the rain for a few weeks but before that I bet it was a “barn find” or garage find or had just been off the road a long time. The paint seemed really good but maybe a little old. Sun and heat cycles would have taken a much greater toll of it had been outside.

Even just the pollen heat and rain combo has got some cars looking absolutely terrible right now. Like I see lots that are in the same boat as abandoned cars I've seen around.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
05/25/2020 at 23:49

So what does it do exactly? Tilt up to get out?

I don’t think you’ve ever shown a picture of Phoebe’s interior (sounds really personal when phrased that way. . .). How is it? Most cars her age tend to get some scuffed and irreplaceable plastic bits. If it is anything like in the 5th gen that is a sight to behold.

EDIT: I just noticed the opposed wiper arms. Why on earth?

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 00:03

That could be it, sat for 40 years in a barn/garage, now has been outside for a month, but time is not on its side. The wheels have a 70s/80s look, too.

The climate here can be damp, but is gentle, with no extreme temperatures. Even then, when the fintail takes it yearly shop visit and sits outside a bit, it seems to go downhill a bit within a week or two. One or two winters outside can really harm an old car, sometimes beyond the point of no return. I bet it is even faster there.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/26/2020 at 00:13

The humidity and heat cycles can turn that vinyl padded dash into a damp cracked mess in no time with the window down.

Clearly this car was someone’s baby but this car dealer doesn’t seem to be treating it well. It needs to be garaged as soon as possible. Or someone just roll the window up.

It’s the heat cycles and humidity that really take their toll and the UV is just the opening blow.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 00:20

I noticed the dash pad on this car looks like it is gone already, while the seats don’t look bad. That southern sun at work.

I assume this is a power windows car, there could be other related problems. But at least put some plastic over the hole.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/26/2020 at 00:31

Sad to say but that cracking may have happened while the car sat there. They should take better care of it. Put a sunshade in there or something.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > Noodles
05/26/2020 at 00:45

I delivered Chinese food a million years ago. Lunch shifts generally su cked, in particular because there was one office that ordered at least once a week - and every single person at this place insisted on paying for their order separately. ( Of course, if they’d ordered individually, any single order wouldn’t have met the minimum for delivery, but the cheapass prick who owned the restaurant wouldn’t tell them it had to be paid for as one order.) These douchebags couldn’t even manage to round up all of the money & have one person pay , but insisted that we come up & deal with each individual. This was stupid on so many levels, to the detriment of everyone involved, not just me . The BEST part? No tip. Not even once. It was either multiple checks - that none of them would ever bother filling out in advance, because WTF? - or cash, and of course they all needed exact change.

It took well over a year of increasingly piss-poor service from us aggravated delivery guys to get these chucklefucks to stop ordering.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 00:48

I can believe it. I recall years ago I had the fintail out on a cold sunny day. The temperature change in the car under the sun gave my dash a new crack. I wasn’t pleased.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/26/2020 at 01:02

UV, moisture, and heat cycles are basically the worst thing you can do to something. That was unfortunate that that one trip was directly responsible for the crack. Probably soured the rest o f the drive somewhat.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 01:11

The heat cycle did it for me, no doubt. Another quirk of old MBs, the blue dashpads like to crack, hard to find a blue one from the 80s or before without some little issue. A friend has a W123 with a pristine blue dash, and he keeps it covered in fear of damage, a chemical issue might have been at play too.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 01:53

The tilt-away steering wheel works like this:

Kinja'd!!!

Well, in theory at least. I still gotta fix mine. But I can confirm it would make entrance and exit from the car easier. It was a pretty fancy and uncommon feature for the time, and one of the Thunderbird’s most famous quirks. I’ve also heard that it helped the steering wheel/column collapse in the event of a collision, thus improving safety, though I don’t know whether that’s actually true or not.

Phoebe’s interior is actually not terrible for her age. Idaho’s climate is dry enough to make rust not a huge issue without being so harsh that interiors suffer, s o Phoebe’s interior is all original, actually usable, and looks decent from outside the car. There are a couple spots on the seats where seams have separated, vinyl bits such as the padded dashboard and parts of the door cards are cracked in places, and the headliner has a tear in the back, but otherwise it’s not bad.

Noodles > Dead_Elvis, Inc.
05/26/2020 at 08:42

Haha. That sucks

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
05/26/2020 at 10:33

I’m not convinced the wheel would really be much of a safety feature but I guess every little bit of extra area to spread the force over helps.

Is Phoebe an older restoration or still mostly original? I think you said she’s had at least one respray.

That reminds me, I have a friend whose dad has a gen 1 Bronco. The interesting thing is it had a frame off restoration when it was only 10 years old (just why???) and hasn’t had much done since.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
05/26/2020 at 10:34

So the blue dashes were much more fragile than the other colors? I guess that makes sense based on what they used to make it blue.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 13:08

Yep, there’s something in the chemical composition that doesn’t like age and sun/heat etc. As you live in an area that is harsh that way, the next time you are scoping out old cars, check for MBs from the 80s and prior with blue interiors. Betcha won’t find a crack-free dash there.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 23:29

A t some point in her past, someone re sprayed her and someone who didn’t know what they were doing tried to rebuild the engine. Neither of those people did a great job, and in the case of the previous engine rebuilder, some of their mistakes manifested themselves as problems I’ve had to fix now. But other than that, she’s all original and unrestored. I wish I knew more about her history, all I really know is that she was originally bought in Georgia on January 28, 1966, and used as a daily driver until someone else, presumably in the 1970's, decided to keep her as a garage queen for about 20 years. I think it was around this time that the respray and crappy rebuild happened. Then she was sold again to someone who daily drove her until selling it to an old guy who wanted to restore her but suddenly needed surgery, who sold her to me to pay for the surgery. And thus the saga of Thunderbird continues...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
05/26/2020 at 23:37

That is still a whole lot more known history than most cars have. Ah, so she's a southern gal at heart. So the paint is uneven and faded? Someone had more aspiration than brains or bucks. So she's been a daily driver for almost her whole life. Not many classics are.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/26/2020 at 23:43

I also know she was originally candy apple red... Which makes sense, given that she has a red interior. But yeah, when I bought her she had 96,000 original miles. So other than the little 20-year nap somewhere along the line, she hasn’t exactly been babied. My plan is to keep driving her regularly (cars are meant to be driven, after all), though I’m going to try and take better care of her than some of the previous owners did. I want this car to last as long as possible :)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller
05/26/2020 at 23:56

96,000 seems about right but clearly some of those were rougher than others. I am sure you'll do your best to give her a long and happy life.