$2015 Challenge entry - 88 Accord LXi

Im a marginal father to one. Id be horrible to any more than that.

My hat is off to y'all.

I tried really hard to get Tunakid #2 out in the garage with me last night but it wasn't to be. I promised him some "top of the car" time when he could actually screw stuff together soon.

I got some random brackets and the lower engine mount thing which I forgot last time on last night. I was dog tired and had about an hour.

The good news is that I slept nearly all night, and forgot to set my alarm, so I got an extra hour on top and still made it to work on time.

Four kids is what God had for us. I had a really need epiphany after #4 that said we were done. I also had a really neat epiphany after #3, sitting in the urologists office that said, very clearly, to us, that we were not done yet.

I know parents of 7, 8, 10 kids, all of whom have time to sleep and eat. Only having four makes me feel like I'm not even trying.

I guess by 4 you have that parenting E36 M3 down. 55% of our income is my wife, I just could not see spending all of that on daycare and staying at home is NOT her cup of tea.

My mother was one of 4 girls, 2 boys. quite a variance of personalities.

The jump from zero kids to 1 was enough for us to deal with at the moment. With #1 still in diapers and at the boob, neither one of us can even imagine extras at this point.

That changes. soon as #1 is walking around and playing you start thinking. "Would it not be cool if he had someone to play with?"

Mad_Ratel wrote: I guess by 4 you have that parenting E36 M3 down. 55% of our income is my wife, I just could not see spending all of that on daycare and staying at home is NOT her cup of tea. My mother was one of 4 girls, 2 boys. quite a variance of personalities.

100% of our income comes from me, other than violin lessons and such. We definitely don't have any spending money. Oh well.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: The jump from zero kids to 1 was enough for us to deal with at the moment. With #1 still in diapers and at the boob, neither one of us can even imagine extras at this point.

0-1 is the biggest jump. You learn to really live your life for someone else. After that, there's just more of them.

We waited until it was "financially responsible" to have a kid. I do not care about anything I did pre kid. Truly is the best thing i have ever done. I really do not feel like I've missed out on anything or hold any grudges against my kid. Life is just better when I get home and he screams DADDY and comes RUNNING to me.

Mad_Ratel wrote: We waited until it was "financially responsible" to have a kid. I do not care about anything I did pre kid. Truly is the best thing i have ever done. I really do not feel like I've missed out on anything or hold any grudges against my kid. Life is just better when I get home and he screams DADDY and comes RUNNING to me.

Yup! It's not a sacrifice, you change, your goals, wants, needs, all change.

Although it's never financially responsible. We get by.

Mad_Ratel wrote: I guess by 4 you have that parenting E36 M3 down.

So I potty trained my oldest two, and really successfully. Tunakid #2 was done in one day at 2 1/2 years old. I was the frickin' expert at potty training. I was the potty training guru, and gave other people advice.

Tunakid #3 is four years old now. He did have a real #2 in the potty yesterday, and was dry all night. We've been potty training him for about a year. We have another few months to go.

So yeah, I have it all under control. Other than all of the stuff that I don't.

lololol.

Aint that life for you man?.

Even more OT My sister's daycare gave her some advice. They say the potty training "undies" are horrible. They never feel wet which means the kid never learns control. Their advice is to use normal undies and basically what is a bag over the undies to stop it from getting everywhere when they go. Takes usually a week before kid gets it. (b/c they actually feel wet/dirty).

Mad_Ratel wrote: lololol. Aint that life for you man?. Even more OT My sister's daycare gave her some advice. They say the potty training "undies" are horrible. They never feel wet which means the kid never learns control. Their advice is to use normal undies and basically what is a bag over the undies to stop it from getting everywhere when they go. Takes usually a week before kid gets it. (b/c they actually feel wet/dirty).

Did it. Or something just like it. Resulted in a lot of laundry.

Every kid is different. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't have enough kids to realize that yet.
We had them early, we had them often, staying home with them is the best thing I will ever do in my life.
0-1 was interesting, but coincided with me quitting work, so it was all rolled into one big ball of chaos and adjustment.
1-2 16 months later was 3 times as much work. At least.
2-3 was fun, I had to learn how to baby while taking big kids to preschool.
3-4 was easy, I was good, kids were good, we knew it was the last one and I really worked to live in the moment and enjoy all of the good parts of having a little baby.
Not sure what this has to do with Tuna's Accord, but I think it's a metaphor for the four pistons cyclically going up and down and keeping at it and fixng problems as they present themselves. Or something.

tuna55 wrote:

Mad_Ratel wrote: lololol. Aint that life for you man?. Even more OT My sister's daycare gave her some advice. They say the potty training "undies" are horrible. They never feel wet which means the kid never learns control. Their advice is to use normal undies and basically what is a bag over the undies to stop it from getting everywhere when they go. Takes usually a week before kid gets it. (b/c they actually feel wet/dirty).

Did it. Or something just like it. Resulted in a lot of laundry.

Not sure why, but this has me cracking up after a really depressing "state of the office" meeting...

Mad_Ratel wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

Mad_Ratel wrote: lololol. Aint that life for you man?. Even more OT My sister's daycare gave her some advice. They say the potty training "undies" are horrible. They never feel wet which means the kid never learns control. Their advice is to use normal undies and basically what is a bag over the undies to stop it from getting everywhere when they go. Takes usually a week before kid gets it. (b/c they actually feel wet/dirty).

Did it. Or something just like it. Resulted in a lot of laundry.

Not sure why, but this has me cracking up after a really depressing "state of the office" meeting...

Glad it could bring SOMETHING positive to the world. It hadn't yet. Just a lot of poop in places where I wouldn't want it.

mazdeuce wrote: Not sure what this has to do with Tuna's Accord

The metaphor was hilarious, but I think it's more just that everything in my life interacts with everything else.

So next on deck, before the keeper gets here, I guess, is to reattach the water pump, swap out the timing belt tensioner, and re-install the PCV thing. That thing broke, so I'll need to repair it as I reinstall it.

Then once the keeper gets here, just the head and about thirty thousand connections which I have to remember. And the alternator, power steering, A/C, distributor, thermostat housing thing, and airbox.

I decided that I wanted to be an environmentalist and save the planets resources. But I also happen to be very lazy by nature and did not want to have to work at it or give it much though.

So I had only one.

Mission accomplished.

Now.....

where was we?

In reply to NOHOME:

Dude, how much can we really talk about when the subject at hand seems to be "I installed some bracket that I forgot about and have to do the water pump while waiting for the keeper"?

When the subject is "The POS only took a 100 shot before blowing the new pistons out of the block" we will have more exciting things to talk about.

tuna55 wrote: In reply to NOHOME: When the subject is "The POS only took a 100 shot before blowing the new pistons out of the block" we will have more exciting things to talk about.

That's more like it!

By the way, what happened to the keeper that it would no longer stay in place? I mean, it was doing its job just fine and then would not go back after the break. Is the wear/damage observable or measurable?

Are you sure the valve tip is not involved?

I don't mind the pistons exiting into low orbit out the side of the block after the nitrous hit, I just hate a dropped valve.

NOHOME wrote:

tuna55 wrote: In reply to NOHOME: When the subject is "The POS only took a 100 shot before blowing the new pistons out of the block" we will have more exciting things to talk about.

That's more like it! By the way, what happened to the keeper that it would no longer stay in place? I mean, it was doing its job just fine and then would not go back after the break. Is the wear/damage observable or measurable? Are you sure the valve tip is not involved? I don't mind the pistons exiting into low orbit out the side of the block after the nitrous hit, I just hate a dropped valve.

Tuna55 (from the last page) said: All of the head is done except this valve. The keeper is gone. The springs, retainer and keepers hit me in the face on this, attempt #2. The keepers are gone.

You missed it. I was compressing the valve. When I did, it slipped and everything shot up. The retainer got stuck in my shirt, the springs landed back on the freezer, and the keepers disappeared.

"...and the keepers disappeared."

So, they hit trans-dimensional escape velocity. Got it.

i went from 0-2 kids, i couldnt imagine doing it all over again! My hats off to you guys with large familys who still somehow manage time and budget to tinker with cars!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ST-Suspensions-86-89-Accord-4cyl-1-8-2-0-Lowering-Springs-63005-/281702573185?fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item4196c82481&vxp=mtr

Those might help you out.

Last night was just buttoning some stuff up. I attached the water pump, some brackets which go under the intake, and the timing belt tensioner. Neat design, by the way. Here is what it looks like now.

Still slimy, still nasty, but with a few important new parts.