It's a freakin FIAT not a Ford!

[BALDSNAKE]

:shrug: I had planned on joining in on the action at the So Cal Dyno Day at Swansons after I put on my new Idler pully. Yeah....right. Up 'till now my mechanic George has done all the mods for me. Old age and bad back the culprit. Well I thought I could put on the pully myself. First the belt cover had to come off.
3 hex heads...no biggie. A 1/4, a 3/8s and a ....uhh....uhhh...what the F? 3 freakin trips to the hardware store and finally got a 10mm..freakin metric socket. I sold my metric wrenches back in the late '60s when I vowed that I would never buy foriegn again.

Now with sore as hell back I closed up the hood with the idler pully still on the shelf. Too sore to go to Swansons. George will install it Monday.

Freakin metric....freakin FIAT!:shrug:

 

[stang99]

Some of the nuts and bolts are metric and some arn't. It seems sort of random. You have to have complete sets of both kinds of tools. It is just more deliberate attempts by Ford to make their cars not friendly to the public. Odd fasteners and special tools. That's OK though, because if we can afford an 03 Cobra, we can afford to have it worked on. I consider the pulley cover a nasty little piece to take on and off of the car since I am not coordinated due to injuries and the bottom fastener is difficult for me to deal with.

Originally posted by BALDSNAKE
:shrug: I had planned on joining in on the action at the So Cal Dyno Day at Swansons after I put on my new Idler pully. Yeah....right. Up 'till now my mechanic George has done all the mods for me. Old age and bad back the culprit. Well I thought I could put on the pully myself. First the belt cover had to come off.
3 hex heads...no biggie. A 1/4, a 3/8s and a ....uhh....uhhh...what the F? 3 freakin trips to the hardware store and finally got a 10mm..freakin metric socket. I sold my metric wrenches back in the late '60s when I vowed that I would never buy foriegn again.

Now with sore as hell back I closed up the hood with the idler pully still on the shelf. Too sore to go to Swansons. George will install it Monday.

Freakin metric....freakin FIAT!:shrug:

 

[BALDSNAKE]

No kidding Tetge.....glad I can afford George to bend the wrenches.
Man was I surprised.
Where are you in the high desert? I grew up in Apple Valley in the early '50s. Pop about 300, Victorville about 2,000. Everyone worked either at the cement plant or George AFB (Korean War). My dad had a 1955 T-bird with a Roots blower. When he was "down below"(funny how that expression just came back)...I'd take his hidden keys and burn up that desert. Man those were great times.

 

[Most]

And I was sooooo happy as I installed the STEEDA CAI: My metric tools worked!

Its not only FIAT (Italy) who works with metric tools:
Believe me, I worked almost everywhere in the world :
Switzerland, Germany, Russia, China (all together 1 year!), South-Korea, Thailand, Australia, Ukraine, Italy, Luxembourg, France, Brasil, Canada, USA (California, Atlanta, Nevada), India, Malaysia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Lettland, Holland, Austria, Poland, Israel, Singapore, Turkey, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, Portugal, Tschechia, Ireland, ....,... ,.

What I learned is: French people hate the english language, British people drive on the wrong side of the street and the Americans have "very special" units (miles, gallons, Fahrenheit, inches, feet, pounds, ...) and tools, what makes everything a little more complicate... :shrug:

But the Americans make good cars ....

Best regards,
Stefan

 

[BALDSNAKE]

Hi Stefan....welcome to the California forum. Could not help yourself now could you. What are those crazy Californians up to now? Check out our cruise pics. We had about 40 '03 Cobras out together. I've driven from Paris to Normnadie and from Geneva to Zurich. Great highways and loved the speed! Most Americans do not know how advanced Europe is automotively....autos and highways. I am a big rig truck salesman and SAE member. I was impressed how in many ways the Euros out engineer the USA. I had a chance to drive on the Renault test track in Lyon. That was a blast! Where is your home base?....Look forward to seeing you on this forum and good luck with your new car.

 

[BALDSNAKE]

Hi Stefan....welcome to the California forum. Could not help yourself now could you. What are those crazy Californians up to now? Check out our cruise pics. We had about 40 '03 Cobras out together. I've driven from Paris to Normnadie and from Geneva to Zurich. Great highways and loved the speed! Most Americans do not know how advanced Europe is automotively....autos and highways. I am a big rig truck salesman and SAE member. I was impressed how in many ways the Euros out engineer the USA. I had a chance to drive on the Renault test track in Lyon. That was a blast! Where is your home base?....Look forward to seeing you on this forum and good luck with your new car.

 

[Most]

Hy BALDSNAKE

My "Homebase" is approx. 60 miles (100km) east of Zurich in a very small country: Principality of Liechtenstein (Between Switzerland, Austria, near Germany and Italy)
A very nice place for a Cobra! Today I made a trip into the Swiss Alps (Davos...), greeaaaaat!!

But I also like California.
As I was 21, I made a three weeks trip with a rental car starting in San Diego - Las Vegas - Grand Canion - Death Valley - Reno - Lake Tahoe - Frisco - LA - San Diego. Vas very nice!
One of my brothers studied in San Diego, an other one in San Francisco - where I visited him...
My last visit was last September in LA and Camarillo for work.

...but it got a baaad place for a heavy smoker such as me :bash:

What Trucks do you sell?

Greetings, Stefan

 

[BALDSNAKE]

Stephan, I sell Internationals. I was selling Mack (owned by Renault at the time)
when I visited France, Swis and Italy in 1990.

You are correct about Calif and smoking. We are more to the "left" than any other section of The USA. The gov. here wants to dictate to us...however, there will be a revolt at the ballot box and the real "Terminator" Arnold, should be elected as Gov.

Should you wish to modify your Cobra as I have, you will find great help and friends on this forum.

Regards, Bill The Bald one

 

[Most]

Thanks

"I will be back":coolman: ....

(Mr. Schwarzenegger is from Austria..., the border to Austria is 25 minutes from here with a Cobra...)

Best regards, Stefan

 

[FuShnickens]

Originally posted by BALDSNAKE
:shrug: I had planned on joining in on the action at the So Cal Dyno Day at Swansons after I put on my new Idler pully.

doh, sorry to hear about the trouble trying to find the right socket and the ensuing back pain. you could've had us monkeys do it for you at swanson's. at one count i think we had 4 people working on swapping out jonas' pulley. :-D