29 Oct 11 03:52, Richard Webb wrote to Roy Witt:
RW>> YEp, Louisiana has the "brake tag" as they call it, once a
RW>> year as well. THey're quite strict with it, and woe be to
RW>> the inspector that takes an under the table to put that tag
RW>> on your windshield if you didn't pass.
Roy>> I used to pass a $20 to the smog check guy in California to do
Roy>> that. Eventually the state got smart and tied the smog check
Roy>> machine to a main frame in Sacramento. No more cheating...
RW> YEah but remember this is Louisiana . That costs money!
LOL! Not as much as it would cost in California. 8^)
RW>> ONe of those scandals still in the news when I first moved to NEw
RW>> ORleans. Iirc they're not that expensive in Louisiana either.
Roy>> There was a lot of that in California too. The state fixed that by
Roy>> certifying all of their check stations with state inspectors.
RW> Yeah these were regular brake tag places iirc, that's all
RW> they did.
RW>> Louisiana is quite strict with theirs in fact, a hairline
RW>> crack in a windshield or lots of other little issues and you won't
RW>> pass.
Roy>> You can pass here with a cracked windshield, if it isn't a crack
Roy>> that's traveling.
RW> YEah that's when I get concerned about 'em too, otherwise,
RW> it's where they are I worry about. IF they don't obstruct
RW> sight lines, let well enough alone.
I was sitting at a traffic light in Santee, CA when something hit the
windshield of my 88 Camaro. It left a big dinger that could have been
fixed, had I not driven the car any further. As I drove it toward the
coast to home, that dinger began a crack that went all the way across the
windshield, before I got home 20 minutes later. I hate it when that
happens.
RW>> Xyl and I had a FOrd Aerostar that the driver's side door
RW>> couldn't be opened from the inside, you had to crank down the window
RW>> and open the stupid thing from the outside,
Roy>> Those particular vehicles seem to have lots of problems like that.
Roy>> I got a call one time to unlock an Aerostar and I couldn't do it
Roy>> without using an airbag and a reach tool. Normally it's a wedge the
Roy>> window and slip a tool in the door to unlock too. That and the
Roy>> steering column ignitions never work right.
RW> YEah I had our steering column ignition replaced in that
RW> one.
Gonna have to do that in my pickup soon. It's to the point that I can no
longer use the accessory position because it just won't turn that way.
Plus you have to be very careful how you insert the key or it won't allow
you to start it either. This is a common problem with GM pickups.
RW> NEver tried the slim jim bit, never needed to.
Slim Jims don't work on modern (80s and newer) cars. If you look at a slim
jim's flatness and can picture in your mind that the rods that lock and
unlock a car door slide back and forth (left to right and back), you'd
understand why. Besides, most locking mechanisms have a cover over them so
that slim jims won't work...
RW>> guy wouldn't pass us until I went and got the parts, took the stupid
RW>> door apart and repaired it. IT stopped in the required distance at
RW>> the required speed, lights and horn worked, tires were good, but he
RW>> wouldn't pass us without the ability to open that door from the
RW>> inside.
Roy>> In case you needed to make a hastey exit.
RW> Yup, could understand that I guess. I just kept avoiding it because
RW> it was such a pita to take the door apart to get to it.
Kinda like me with my ignition switch...I don't want to disturb what still
works, yet I don't want to be caught in a parking lot, late one Saturday
night without being able to start the engine.
RW>> IN fact, getting its windshield to pass that year entailed a bit of
RW>> a fight with one of those "we fix your windshield on the spot"
RW>> services.
RW>> WE were rolling down interstate 10 in NEw ORleans east when
RW>> a dump truck belonging to ORleans parish without a tarp lost some
RW>> gravel, got a nice little ding in the windshield which would start
RW>> to expand. Lady called this service, because we had like 30 days
RW>> until annual brake tag inspection time. GUy comes out, but it's only
RW>> in the mid forties that day for temp. I ask him if he doesn't want
RW>> to wait on that, because as I've been lead to understand those fixes
RW>> don't cure properly at low temps. HE assures me we're in good
RW>> shape, but then puts in a new windshield as that crack's growing too
RW>> much.
RW>> I think I've seen this one.
RW> YEp, and I might be wrong on the temp, but it was somewhere
RW> real close to the no go mark for temp iirc.
I find this interesting, as I have a resin repair kit in the garage. It
doesn't mention low temps, but it does say that you should park the
vehicle in the shade for a while before attempting a repair. Once you've
done the repair, they say to park it in the sun to let it help to cure the
repair resin. I had a chip in the windshield of my Rodeo a few years ago
and repaired it with a similar repair kit. When I was done you couldn't
even see what was left of the chip unless you knew where to look.
RW>> NOw remember it's colder than I thought you could do that
RW>> job in the out of doors. GUys in the upper midwest I knew
RW>> that did that work had you bring it to their climate
RW>> controlled shop.
Roy>> It freezes up there.
RW> Yep, but I was thinking it was like 38 dg f or something for the no
RW> go mark on those.
I don't think so. Resin creates heat while it's curing.
RW>
RW>> Finally I told him to either fix it right, or I'd run a full page ad
RW>> in the TImes Picayune telling folks of my dissatisfaction with his
RW>> company.
RW>> Third time, he fixed it right!!!
Roy>> Had the guy replaced the window gasket when he replaced the
Roy>> windshield you wouldn't have had that problem. I had a 72 Chevy
Roy>> pickup that the windshield began to get cloudy on me, so I called
Roy>> one of those windshield guys to come to my shop and replace it. It
Roy>> was a top of the line Chevy and so had a chrome strip imbedded in
Roy>> the gasket. There's no way you can remove the glass without
Roy>> removing that chrome first. He did! Of course my chrome strip was
Roy>> all bent to h*** when he finished the job. I asked him how the
Roy>> chrome got all bent out of shape and he said, well, it's just old
Roy>> chrome I guess. Oh hum and off he went.
RW> That don't surprise me none. That's what i think fool did
RW> third time, replaced the @@@@ gasket too, which I knew was
RW> what was needed.
Especially if he ruined it when he removed the glass. Mine was 20 years
old when it was fixed.
RW> HE was the cheapest estimate, understood
RW> why, but I made him do it right. Was telling a lawyer lady
RW> I served with on church board I was gonna run that full page add in
RW> the newspaper if he didn't. She told me that if I could prove my
RW> case go for it, because if I couldn't he might sue. I told her I had
RW> no problem, he didn't fix it I'd have taken the judge for a ride
RW> through a car wash or something .
8^) With no prior warning about how bad it leaks, of course.
R\%/itt
... Only 5% of all humans have the privilege to live in America.
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000-10
* Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:387/22)
|
