thehackmechanic
Well-Known Member
Hey, folks, not only was my book "Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic: How Fixing Broken BMWs Helped Make Me Whole (a memoir with actual stuff)" released last weekend at The Vintage in Winston-Salem, Bentley Publishers is running a special where, if you follow the instructions at www.bentleypublishers.com/hack-mechanic, you can get a gift-wrapped signed copy sent to the father / brother / son / Car Guy of your choice, with a card with your personally inscribed message.
As per my prior post about driving my E9 through drenching rain, I wound up taking the E9 to The Vintage because I ran out of time trying to completely sorted out the cooling system problems in my tii. The more I thought about it, though, it was appropriate that my E9, my lover and companion, the car I've had for 27 years, the center around which everything else in my automotive universe has revolved, accompany me on my book release. There are, after all, three long chapters specifically dedicated to the E9, and the car is on the back cover of the book.
However, there was some excitement on the drive down. While driving in torrential white-knuckled rain, something smacked the nose of my car. I assumed a truck had kicked up a rock, and made a mental note to check below the bumper line for scratched and dented sheet metal. However, when I stopped at the hotel for the night, I found, to my horror, that a clevis pin and chain flew off the back of a truck and hit nose of my car.
Imagine my relief when a) there was only a small amount of scratched paint, b) the pin embedded itself between two cooling tubes of the a/c condenser without puncturing it, and c) Big Al Taylor had a set of used E9 grilles right there at The Vintage for $40/pair, with the left one being in excellent condition. Unbelievable.
Plus, 16" higher and that clevis pin would've gone right through the windshield. The E9 godess was smiling on me that day.
Here's hoping the next trip (like to Saratoga) has a bit less moisture and drama.
As per my prior post about driving my E9 through drenching rain, I wound up taking the E9 to The Vintage because I ran out of time trying to completely sorted out the cooling system problems in my tii. The more I thought about it, though, it was appropriate that my E9, my lover and companion, the car I've had for 27 years, the center around which everything else in my automotive universe has revolved, accompany me on my book release. There are, after all, three long chapters specifically dedicated to the E9, and the car is on the back cover of the book.
However, there was some excitement on the drive down. While driving in torrential white-knuckled rain, something smacked the nose of my car. I assumed a truck had kicked up a rock, and made a mental note to check below the bumper line for scratched and dented sheet metal. However, when I stopped at the hotel for the night, I found, to my horror, that a clevis pin and chain flew off the back of a truck and hit nose of my car.
Imagine my relief when a) there was only a small amount of scratched paint, b) the pin embedded itself between two cooling tubes of the a/c condenser without puncturing it, and c) Big Al Taylor had a set of used E9 grilles right there at The Vintage for $40/pair, with the left one being in excellent condition. Unbelievable.
Plus, 16" higher and that clevis pin would've gone right through the windshield. The E9 godess was smiling on me that day.
Here's hoping the next trip (like to Saratoga) has a bit less moisture and drama.
