Friday night I realized that I had put less than 500 miles on the B in
the past year. I resolved, rain or shine, to take the 'B to work
Saturday. It deserved it, and I needed a change of pace.
So Saturday morning, dressed in starched pants and tie, I crawled into
the B. The engine started on the first try, and I succesfully engaged
reverse.
I began to back out of the garage, and applied the brakes to slow for
the slight crest that is the threshhold of my garage. The pedal eased
to the flor without a but of pressure, and my rearward movement was
unimpeded. Luckily, no damage occurred, but the Pathfinder was my
transportation to work.
So last night I found myself roving the aisles of the local Discount
Auto Parts. What a place to get lost! Aisles and aisles of stuff I
really don't need, but what the hell! You only live once!
I found myself underneath my car early this morning. What a great place
to forget your worries: no hurricane damage to deal with, no angry
customers yelling at you, no girlfriends to mess with your mind. It's
just you and the car. Turning wrenches will always be, for me anyway,
the best way to relax.
One of my purchases at the store was the much-heralded PB Blaster. The
can invites you to spray some in a styrofoam cup and watch it work. I
happened to have a Sonic Drive-In cup handy, including the remains of a
long-time-ago slurped strwawberry milkshake. I sprayed it with PB
Blaster, and yes, much like gasoline does, it ate through the styrofoam
cup! Suitably unimpressed (I have trashcans to dispose of styrofoam
cups), I proceeded to attack the spokes on the spare wire wheel I have.
PB Blaster was succesful in loosening 2 of the 8 spokes I tried. My
analysis is that PB Blaster is great if you have a LOT of styrofoam,
less useful on critical rusty applications.
Thomas James Pokrefke, III
1970 MGB
1995 Nissan Pathfinder
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