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Ok, I’ve now heard 10,000 Days in it’s entirety several times. Here are my thoughts …

I don’t know if Tool has the same effect on all of their listeners that is has on me or not. I’m sure that there are some that it does, but I think we’re probably in the minority. Tool (for me) isn’t something that’s heard, it’s something that’s felt, and with each CD that Tool releases, the feelings is more intense.

Having said that — the guys have outdone themselves again. I heard Vicarious before most of the masses, and I wasn’t sure what I thought of it…. That’s because it’s hard to take 10,000 days apart for radio consumption. I mean, it’s not like a Pink Floyd epic or anything, but it’s better heard in it’s entirety, several times. With each pass through “Wings for Marie” I pick up on something that I missed the previous time, and not just lyrically. At almost 18 minutes for both parts it’s quite long, but it’s fucking intense. I (like most Tool nerds) didn’t know the woman that it’s about, but she must have been quite a lady. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a hint — 10,000 Days is a song about the same person APC’s “Judith” is about. If that doesn’t help … well, I don’t know what to say…)

Moving on … The CD is *OUTSTANDING* in my opinion. If you didn’t like Lateralus, I’d say that Tool has left you behind. This CD is *way* evolved from even Lateralus. It’s probably not what you’re expecting, but it’s almost certainly what you’ve been waiting for.

I’m definitely going to be there when the doors open on May 2nd to buy my copy. Hell, I’m going to buy 2, just so I have a spare. Tool is one band that I support wholehearedly. I’m hopeful about getting to see them on the 8th

In the off chance that any of the guys from the band should run across this post, or even someone that knows them – a personal thanks from me to you for all the great music you’re produced over the years. Tool is the one band that has been there through my ever changing music tastes, and 10,000 Days is no different. Excellent work.

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Eye on the the TV
‘Cause tragedy thrills me
Whatever flavor it happens to be, like…
“Killed by the husband”
“Drowned by the ocean”
“Shot by his own son”
“She used a poison
in his tea…kissed him goodbye”
It’s my kind of story
It’s no fun until someone dies

Vicariously I live while the whole world dies
Much better you than I

I’ve been chasing parts for the brake system on the car just about long enough, and I’m now pissed off and doing it the “right way”.

The root of all this madness is that the new rear calipers that I put on the car last … September (?) have a different placement of the hole where the line screws into the caliper body. The old ones entered through the side of the caliper (so that there was no possibility of the wheel coming into contact with them) and the new ones that I put on then don’t. They enter through the back of the caliper. This creates a problem as the lines are *very* close to the spinngin wheel, which could (and now has) led to a hole in the line and a premature failure.

Anyway … I’m repeating myself…

So I called Oreilly auto parts and the nice kid I talked to said that if I can produce the reciept for the ones that I bought back then with the wrong line location that he would gladly credit me for those and sell me the right ones (which should be arriving at the store any minute now). Bonus!

So where does that leave me with the line situation? Well, right where I started. That’s why I called Nick at Buschur Racing and got the ones that are a direct OEM replacement for the lines that are on the car. In other words — once they get here tomorrow, I should have the correct calipers for the car as well as factory replacement lines and all should finally be right in the world. Thank God … I’m having horsepower withdrawls here!!

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Well, Tool’s new single hit the internet today. It’s titled “Vicarious”. I’ve listened to it about 10 times now and I’m still not sure what my opinion of it is.

If you’re a Tool fan, you can watch their music evolving over the years. 2001′s Lateralus was so completely different from Undertow that if not for that signature Tool sound, you almost wouldn’t know it’s the same group of people. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that since it’s been 5 years – 10,000 Days is going to show the next step in their musical progression.

Anyway — Turn on your rock station or look around the internet. It’s a good track that will kind of remind you of Schism, but completely different.

And a happy birthday to MJK tomorrow!

Enjoy

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As if you needed another reason that AOL sucks ass … This is more of the whole “make up the internet as we go along” kind of plan (AOL just happily ignores things like DNS TTLs and cache control headers from webservers).

I’ll let this one speak for it’s self.

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In our last episode, I checked myself into the latest exciting thrill ride in Dallas. Today I’ve got the solution.

Several months back I ordered a stainless steel brake line kit for the car. When I ordered it, it came missing a fitting to go from the caliper to the line (the lines are ~3AN braided stainless with female swivel ends on them). The problem is that the fittings sent with the line are straight. That will work fine for the front calipers as the line enters the caliper at an offset. For the rear calipers though, I need something else.

Jeg’s to the rescue (again). They happen to have the very thing I need:

That’s a ~3AN male flare to a banjo bolt fitting. They’re kind of expensive at $25/pair, but I only need one pair and that’ll make these lines work great. Couple that with the fact that I’ll probably never have to replace the stainless lines as long as I own the car and you’ve got a cheap solution. As an added bonus, these lines will improve the brakes on the car that much more (they’re already “stop on a dime” tight … well, when they work ).

It’s a necessary evil. If you want to go fast, you *HAVE* to be able to stop.

Should be back on the road by Friday. w00t!

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“What the hell does that mean anyway? At-Say, At-Say?”

“… It’s an ancient Navajo word … it means stop …”

– Young Guns 2

That’s what I thought of yesterday as I pulled into my parking space at the apartment still alive. You see dear readers, I’ve been tinkering with the car recently getting the fuel system up to snuff and various other things. I recently had new wheels and tires put on the car, too (tires because it needed them, wheels just because). I don’t know if the new wheels had anything to do with this (in fact I doubt it), but here we go …

Last night I decided to go to see Britt at work as she had been having a pretty rough day and I wanted to cheer her up a bit. I take off in the DSM, just like I always do when it’s running, and everything’s great. I pull out onto Greenville to get onto 75, but there’s a big ass truck in the way. I do what I always do in this situation, which is push my right foot down a little further. ‘whoosh!’ goes the turbo and I’m in front. I hit the brakes, and they go to the floor and I don’t stop …

!! Fuck !!

Luckily, there wasn’t anyone using the far left “straight” lane, so I jerked the car over there, just in time to realize that this light had gone red like the left hand turn light and that I had no where to go (cross traffic was flowing at this point).

!! Fuck !!

Thinking I’m surely going to die, I jam the car into first gear, yank the emergency brake handle as I’m engine braking and stand on the brake pedal just for good measure. The rear end locks and starts sliding, so I have to correct our forward *and* sideways motion at this point. Luckily, I do, and get it shut down about 3 feet over the line.

I limp it into a parking lot and discover that my brake fluid is in fact empty and that the reason for this is because the right rear brake line has been in contact with the wheel, which promptly resulted in a nice little hole.

Luckily, I have some stainless replacemets that I think will work. If it ain’t one thing it’s something else …

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I’m pleased to report that at approximately 19:00 last night, the Talon fired up and ran with it’s new fuel system and no leaks!!

I have a *lot* of tuning to do now, but I have the SAFC adjusted to the point where it doesn’t choke going down the road. It’s still running pig rich, but it’s drivable. Once that’s all adjusted out it’s time for the safety/emissions inspection (sure hope it’ll pass) and to the Texas DMV for tags and a Texas license.

This has easily been the most painful upgrade I’ve done to the car yet, but it’s finally over.

w00t

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… More from the fuel system upgrade saga …

So, I have 5/16″ steel line coming out of the fuel tank that has a hole in it. I remedied that by cutting the line into two pieces, putting a nut on the end in the tank and flaring it, then a union and then a new piece of pipe from the tank through the plate and up to the fuel line.

Ah yes, the fuel line. The thing that started this whole disaster… I found the perfect thing to do this though:

Now… I order this and a ton of other miscelanious stuff mentioned in my last post, only to find out that the part pictured above (the piece I *desperately* need) is out of stock for three weeks. This *WILL NOT* do.

Ring a ding ding up to Jegs … They don’t have a compatible part, but they do have this thing:

So, when that $30 part gets here tomorrow (ok, it’s a $5 part with $25 shipping on it (damn it)), I’ll go to the hardware store and get a 1/4″ – 1/4″ NPT coupler and bolt this bastard together once and for all!

Sometimes, it’s just easier to drive a honda…

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In our last episode, I was upgrading the fuel system on the DSM. I still am.

Last night I installed the new set of 650CC injectors in the car, put the ~6 AN adaptor on the fuel rail (note that I had to dremmel out the bolt holes just a little bit to get it to fit). Then I ran the new ~6 AN line from the fuel tank up to the engine compartment and cut it to fit. I then cut the line from the filter up to the fuel rail and started assembling the ends. (For those not familiar with flexible stainless line, see here). Everything was going great until I got to the 45 degree elbow that attaches to the fuel rail, which stripped while I was putting it together … And then, I was screwed.

Now. Let me take a moment here to advise you that if you were to try to do the same fuel system upgrade that I’m attempting here (taken from stevetek.com), you’ll be *very* hard pressed to find these hose fittings, or anything to screw them into anywhere but a heavy truck (Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, etc) dealership’s parts department. You’ll pay about twice the price that you would pay jegs at a truck place, but when it’s 11:00 PM and you only have one fitting holding up the show, you pay the premium. Oh, and you’ll need the base from a “Stratoflex” fitting (I’m using #6) and the swivel from an “Aeroquip” style fitting.

Anyway — I bought the 45 end from Kenworth of Dallas and went home to finish up the project. I got all the lines in the car, put all the ends on them, tightened everything up and thought “Groovy! Now to test for leaks.”.

There is a steel line that comes through the plate that mounts the fuel pump/sending unit (for the fuel guage) into the tank [pic]. Apparantly in the process of getting the sending unit assembly out of the tank, I put a *tiny* pinhole in the line right where it comes through the plate, which under pressure, sprays a nice mist of gasoline just about right to cause a very nice combustion incident if a spark were to hit it.

And now, I’m screwed again … I guess I’m going to try JB Weld’ing it as the hole is very small, and if I get the surfaces clean enough (and let it cure out for the full 24 hours) it *should* be fine. My Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator won’t be here until tomorrow anyway, and I’m pretty sure that between the 255 pump and this bigger line, I’m going to overrun the stock regulator at idle.

Maybe I’ll have it back on the road by this weekend …

UPDATE: I JB Kwik’d the hole over lunch break, so I should be able to test it out again tonight about 8:00 PM. Hopefully it’ll hold.

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