Tires, Brake Pads, Library Bentleys

[Wanemardo@aol.com]

A while ago I asked about tires for my '91 2CQ, well here's what I did....
Went into local Discount Tire store (after checking all the adds and
magazines) and got quotes on Nitto, Dunlops, Goodyears with the Dunlop SP8000
225ZR50/16's the target tire.  The sales kid said $94/tire + 7.95 balancing
and if I bring a better price, they would beat it. Decided that's better than
the Costco RE910, and half mail-order for the Bridgestone SO2's on the car.
So went back to buy, and casually mentioned the Tire Rack had the tire for $89
while he was writing (on the computer) the order, and said, well, "He could
beat that," and changed the price to $88+balancing (this includes a 5%
discount deal through my employer, a large aerospace co,).  So wrote the check
and was out the door in 30 minutes for $415, including our sales tax.  I'm
happy with the deal.  For some reason there seems was a price difference
between this tire size and adjacent sizes, go figure........
Did have to wait for shipping from Dunlop warehouse for a couple of weeks, but
I think it's worth the wait.  
These tires have much less tendency to follow road ruts and road noise quieter
than the previous SO2's, seem to be secure in the Seattle rains.  No track
time, but have heard from others they do fine there too.  So for the price,
hard to beat?  Just go in and exercise the local Discount tire guy.  Thanks to
listers for the advice.

My car came with Pagid front pads, courtesy of Ned Ritchie at PIR last Nov and
the previous owner.  They seem to work quite well, but are a little dirtier
than previous pads on other cars.  Really like the feel though, stops well,
use'm, except for the $200+ cost, work good at track days per previous owner.

Son changed springs on his rain water leaking '88 80, and as kids are, says,
Dad, what do I torque these bolts to?  Well, Ole' Dad is good, but not that
good!  With the car disassembled, he says, "What do I do now, my car is in
pieces and my 4kq manual doesn't work on this car, aagggghhhhh!"  Long story
short, Mom (is good), says call the library!    "Whaaat, they wont' have
anything like that."  Well, they did.  So we went there, and while he copied
the pages he needed, I browsed through the three volume set for my '91 2CQ.
Having seen a set, no wonder they cost $, but are excellent manuals with great
illustrations.
So the moral of the story, when in trouble, call your local King County (WA)
Library and go photocopy what you need.  (They are reference books and cannot
be checked out though.)

Thanks to the Listers for the help throughout the digests.  Hope the above
helps out when you need.    Gary A........