Today I Learned (TIL)

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Instead of gambling on a used unit?

In reply to wae :

I told them that the thing worked except for not receiving an ABS signal from one of the wheels.  That is to say, the wheel speed sensors go to the ABS unit, and the ABS unit sends DISCRETE WHEEL SPEED SIGNALS ON FOUR INDIVIDUAL WIRES, NOT A CAN SIGNAL LIKE EVERY CIVILIZED MANUFACTURER IN THE WORLD, to the steering module.  Which talks by CAN to the rest of the car.

Given that the steering module is underhood in an unsealed module with an unsealed connector, because Mercedes has never heard of corrosion, and only one input was affected, I opined that I'd be willing to pop the case open and see if I could fix a solder joint or bridge a broken trace or something.  If it didn't work, ok, if it did work, charge an hour labor and send the guy on his way.

I have done it before on difficult/impossible to find modules with good results.

No, making money would be too easy.  Can't do that.

Also, WTF Mercedes it is not 1984, get with the program.  Amusingly the Alldata "sanitized for legibility" wiring diagram lists the pinout in German, not English.  L and R are still L and R but you gotta know Vor is front and Hinter is rear.  Hinten?  

- Pete (Forward, to the hinterlands!)

Datsun310Guy said:

NickD said:

TIL that Taiwan still has two WWII-era US-built submarines in their Navy, which are expected to operate at least as late as 2026

Buying used is the way to go.  You know how badly those new submarines depreciate when you leave the dock the first time?

And the warranties really aren't that great new anyways.

Apparently they've been extensively overhauled and modified, including replacing the entire superstructure, to the point that they're the Submarine of Theseus.

TIL my city street has bricks under layers of blacktop, as seen from the water and gas companies digging today.

Old neighborhood much? 

This weekend I learned that in the 70s it was apparently perfectly acceptable to join a hot and neutral wire in a switch because...well I'm really not sure why.

fasted58 said:

TIL my city street has bricks under layers of blacktop, as seen from the water and gas companies digging today.

In 2000 I bought a newly built house the same time my boyhood town had dug up Main Street for new sewers and water lines.  Same scenario- thousands of bricks and they encouraged everyone to dig them out of the piles after hours and grab them.  

Eight pounds x 800 bricks brought home in our S10 Blazer  x 70/80 at a time.  Every brick had the have asphalt chipped off most all sides but it was all free.   I have a side walk and the bricks go entirely around my house as garden edging.   I don't think I'd ever do this again.
 

In reply to RevRico :

Mine has logs. It was originally a corduroy road.  

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Nicely done!

In reply to fasted58 :

Thanks - it started out like grabbing a few dozen to make a garden border then getting nutty and bringing home 800 bricks.  37 year old me did all this and 60 year old me would not do it as 60 year old guy.  

RevRico said:

This weekend I learned that in the 70s it was apparently perfectly acceptable to join a hot and neutral wire in a switch because...well I'm really not sure why.

You can do that for a switch drop (power coming from a light down to a switch and then back up to power the light), the white wire is tied onto the hot up at the light and goes to the switch, the black wire carries power back up to the light. That way the white wire is always hot and the light has a black and white going to it. 

+1 to what Adam wrote above. I was also taught to wrap the wire ends of the white wires so that everyone can see its use as a switch wire. 

fasted58 said:

TIL my city street has bricks under layers of blacktop, as seen from the water and gas companies digging today.

Old neighborhood much? 

A couple of years ago, I had to open a manhole cover to investigate a propane leak and found a really nicely built rectangular brick storm drain tunnel just a few feet below the asphalt street.

It was beautiful. 

TIL that Radical Rick is still a thing.

BMX dorks of a certain age will appreciate this

Today i was reminded just how little most shops know about wiring in the restoration world. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

TIL that Radical Rick is still a thing.

 

BMX dorks of a certain age will appreciate this

When Oakley released the OG style Radical Rick tshirts I grabbed them in multiple styles. Loved that comic strip

TIL that my favorite TV show How It's Made from the History Channel is on Tubi, the free internet station.

TIL that the Trans-Ams used in Smokey & The Bandit were actually 1976 models with the '77 nose grafted on.  They couldn't get the handful of black '77s required for filming on schedule.  Also, the engine's soundtrack is one of Richard Ruth's '55 Chevys he built for Two Lane Blacktop and which were later used in American Graffiti.  If you've ever noticed, the Bandit sounds way meaner than any '77 T/A.

In reply to A 401 CJ :

Just think, only 4 bolts and around 40 screws hold that front clip on.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

...and it's mounted with rubber to the rest of the chassis.

In that pic, I am actually kind of impressed that the windshield broke before the T-top roof folded.  Although, maybe.  If the windshield broke with help, because the roof spine punched the top of the windshield out.... hmm.

Either way those cars were flexible overboiled noodles that are hateful to drive.  They LOOK friggin' awesome and I still want one, of course.  Or a '69, in blue.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Roll cage helping make that happen?

And yes, I remember experiencing automotive fear for the first time in a 2nd gen. 
THIS is not a particularly sharp turn,

but even at age 17 I instinctively knew that I would die if I maintained 85 or so around that bend. 

I know all about that, I had a 68. 

TIL that there are clam chowder vendors at Fenway Park. 
 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

That's good to know! My irritating Y Chromosome always thinks one would be a good idea...

One person's hateful is another person's Heaven.

TIL that the cockpit cover that came with my Miata and I totally forgot that I even had sells for $500 new! Won't fit my car because of the rollbar, but I know it's worth trying to sell now.