RyanIrwin.com

Coley and I on the couch yesterday…

December 29th, 2009 | Tags: Coley, laughing, video | Category: Family, Videos |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Lindsey’s mom bought us a Flip for Christmas.  I have a 1MB filesize limit on this site, so all the videos will be linked through YouTube.  For now, at least…

Here’s one Lindsey took on Christmas morning of Coley laughing on the bed.

December 29th, 2009 | Tags: Christmas, Coley, Flip, video | Category: Videos |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Over the past month, Lindsey and I have sold both my 2004 Passat and her ‘97 RAV4.  So, now we’re down to her 2000 Mercedes, my ‘77 Mercedes, and the two Celicas.  Living out in Chatham County demands that we take our trash to the dump by ourselves as there is no waste collection out here.  So, I began a hunt for a beater truck.  Or, at least, a beater Volvo wagon.  Something to haul trash in that’s not Lindsey’s E320.

A week ago, I put a ‘76 Jeep Wagoneer on the top of my list.  My hope was to find an old diesel Suburban or a VW Cabby.  But, as with most old diesel vehicles, their price fell outside of what I cared to spend on a beater.  So, I drove out to Asheboro and test drove the Wagoneer.

It’s nothing special.  It’s big, it’s old, it’s an ecological (economical?) abomination.  But, It can move stuff and tow cars, so it’s officially joined the family.

December 20th, 2009 | Tags: Jeep, mule, Wagoneer | Category: 1976 Jeep Wagoneer, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Personal Life:

Lindsey and I moved to Chapel Hill recently so I could pursue a college program in Biofuels.  We found a nice little apartment (part of a private home) with plenty of area for me to continue work on the cars.  Our daughter is getting bigger and our home got smaller.  It seems counter-intuitive, but the stress of keeping up with 1600sqft and a 12 pound attention sponge got to be a bit much.  So, we cut a thousand square feet off of our worries and found somewhere where we could truly put the needs of our daughter first.

Furthermore, I resigned from my job this week to, again, be able to devote more time to my family and pursue my collegiate aspirations.  Given my increased availability, Lindsey has begun looking at a few part time positions.  All in all, the changes in our life have made it immeasurably more enjoyable.

The Celicas:

As you may know, my friend, Matt, and I aquired the pair of RA29 Liftbacks last summer.  Matt was in a serious motorcycle accident in September and the Celicas went on hold.  Matt was holed up in the ICU at Winston-Salem’s Baptist Medical Center for eight weeks, struggling to recover.  On November 5th, Matt passed away.

Matthew’s cubicle became even more difficult to walk past.  There was no way to avoid it, as it was next to mine at the end of the dead-end row.  A week later his name placard was taken down and the area became hollow, dispite Matt’s unfinished projects still lying on his desk.  To say that this did not influence my decision to leave the company as quickly as I did would be an outright lie.  I don’t start school until January, but without Matt’s presence as my cubicle neighbor, my job satisfaction hit an all-time low.

After talking to Matt’s family about the fate of the Celicas, it was decided that I was the only person with both the space to store them and the drive to revive them.  In Matt’s memory, I will strive to create the vision he saw for Janus and Julius.  Janus, formerly Janice, has a new namesake: the Roman two-faced god of gates, doorways, beginnings, and ends.  This one’s for Matt.

November 25th, 2009 | Tags: biodiesel, Celica, Chapel Hill, Janus, Julius, Matt | Category: 1977 Toyota Celica, Announcements, Automotive, Family |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Friday morning I took the E320 down to the repair shop down the street to see if they could remove the broken stud.  They looked at it and fitted a grabber socket over it and started torquing on it with an 18″ breaker bar.  120° later, SNAP!  The 3″ Craftsman extention sheared in half.

They had me pull the car into their bay and he hammered a socket over the grabber.  Inside, they had access to air guns.  Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.  Nothing.  Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat.  Nothing.

Okay, bigger air gun.  Rack-ack-ack-ack-ack-vzzzzzzz.  Finally, we had the bolt out.  At least the broken extension was a Craftsman and he can just go swap it for a new one.  I gave him $10 for his troubles and drove back home to change the brakes.

I took the wheel off, then read the repair proceedure.  Bad idea.  I needed a T45 Torx bit that I didn’t have. Goddamnit.  I went to work and stopped at AutoZone on the way home to pick up a T45 bit.  Thirty minutes later, I had both brakes done.  Finally.  A simple brake job should never be so difficult.

Now, I can get the new ContiTourings mounted on the front and we’ll be good to go.

September 12th, 2009 | Tags: 2000 Mercedes E320, brakes, goddamnit, lug, Mercedes, Torx | Category: 2000 Mercedes E320, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

On Thursday, Matt was nice enough to drive the forty-five minutes out here to pick me up for work.  I drove the RAV4 home and bought some new tires for the Mercedes.  I found four slightly used Continentals for $100 so I figured I’d just replace all four. Well, I now have two new tires on the rear but the lug is still stuck on the front.

I drove all across town this morning trying to find a machine shop capable of removing this lug bolt but to no avail.  No new brakes; no new tires.

September 5th, 2009 | Tags: 2000 Mercedes E320, brakes, lug, Mercedes, tires | Category: 2000 Mercedes E320, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Well, after drenching the hub in rust buster and giving up on the tugging/bashing approach, I took the jack from the 240D and slid the support through one of the holes in the wheel in question.  If you’re not familiar, Mercedes come with classic style crank jacks.  So, with the jack from the 240D ready to force up on the hole at the 3 o’clock position, I cranked until the tension on the jack supporting the car was almost completely on the jack supporting the wheel.  And the rust broke.

Unfortunately, since I was already using the spare on the passenger side, I planned on swapping the wheels from the 240D to the E320.  However, they don’t fit over the calipers.  Sigh.  Still stuck here.

September 2nd, 2009 | Tags: 2000 Mercedes E320, 240D, Mercedes, rust, wheel | Category: 2000 Mercedes E320, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

These goddamn wheels!  Last night I blew out the rear driver’s tire pulling into my driveway.  So, this morning, I go to change it so I can go to work and, unlike the front wheel, the bolts actually came out without too much effort. However, that’s where the easy part stopped.

The wheel is frozen to the hub! I’ve sprayed it with rust buster, I’ve whacked it with a hammer, I’ve pulled and yanked and I can’t get the damned thing off!

If my daughter hadn’t been born in the passenger seat, this may have been the last straw for this car.  But, I know that this car has more sentimental value than most and I have to get the tire fixed either way.

Urgh.

September 2nd, 2009 | Tags: 2000 Mercedes E320, goddamnit, Mercedes, rust, wheel | Category: 2000 Mercedes E320, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

1977 Toyota Celica

I started rebuilding the carburetor on the 20R.  I got the top portion put back together with the new parts and gaskets, except for the needle valve set.  It’s stuck pretty good.  Plus, it’s brass so it’s hard to get a good amount of torque on it.

Three weeks ago, Matt and I tore the interior out of the other Celica in order to find rust and rust we did find.  The rear driver corner of the trunk is completely gone and the drain under the passenger seat is rusted into a 4″ hole.  Pictures will follow as we keep on the hunt.

1977 Mercedes-Benz 240D

I removed the glow plugs, as noted, but haven’t replaced them.  I’m going to try my hand at a valve adjustment, so I put a valve cover gasket on my Autohaus order along with updated glow plugs.  I don’t feel like spending $80 on the specialized wrenches, so I took the fuel lines off.  The rubber hoses need replacement, anyway, and I may as well clean the diesel injectors.  So, as soon as I find a 26mm deep socket, those will come out and go in a solvent bath.

2000 Mercedes E320

Still no new brakes.  Any suggestions on the aforementioned lug bolt issue would be greatly appreciated.

August 31st, 2009 | Tags: 2000 Mercedes E320, 20R, 240D, brakes, carburetor, Celica, diesel, glow plugs, injectors, Mercedes, rust, Toyota, valve adjustment | Category: 1977 Mercedes 240D, 1977 Toyota Celica, Automotive |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment