$175 alternator belt (long)

[Scott Fisher]

--- Kent McLean <kentmclean at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> I used to do that, too, until one day I decided I
> never used the spares and that I needed the trunk
> space more.  That was OK for about 3 months. :-(

Ah, the fine art of spares voodoo.  How much is enough
that you can scare away the evil spirits without
taking so much that you tempt them?

> But I think that if I carried all the spares I might

> need, I'd have no trunk space and the car would
weight
> about 400 pounds more than it does.

Famed 356 engine builder Harry "Maestro" Pellow used
to point out that if you remove the passenger's seat
from a 356, you can carry a complete spare engine on
the floor next to you.

The ultimate spares story for me is one that I
contemplated a year ago.  I was buying a funky old
Italian sedan from the Bay Area and, as it turned out,
had the opportunity to trailer it back to Portland
where I could discover its weaknesses in my driveway,
or at least close to home.

Near the time of departure, I found a second model of
my car available for sale at a very deep discount --
not running, but complete, and even in the same color
as the car I bought.

For several minutes I thought about buying the second
car, putting IT in the trailer, and driving in convoy
with my friend with the truck and trailer.  If
anything HAD gone wrong, there was a complete spare
car in the trailer.

I didn't do it, but it would have made an interesting
procession, and an even MORE interesting
side-of-the-road photo shoot if something had gone
wrong: two burgundy Berlinas, parts being swapped from
one onto the other.

To tie in with Kent's subject line the alternator belt
in the car that I brought home that trip has been
squealing in the wet lately (rain? in Portland?), so I
put a spare belt in the trunk to make sure the old
belt doesn't fall off.  So far, it's working fine.  I
suppose eventually I'll actually have to install it,
but in the meanwhile, the peace of mind is blissful.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more
http://tax.yahoo.com