dear tom and ray,
one night a tooth cap loosened while i was asleep and i swallowed it. since the replacement cost was around $600 i decided to “find” it. my dentist said it would take three days to come it’s way ‘through’. i ‘went’ in a colander for three days until it showed up. after much disinffectant and such it was reinserted but nobody ever comes over to dinner when i mention we are having spaghetti. Skip Tyrrell
In 1974 I was lucky (or so I thought) to find a 1972 Fiat X 19 with only a few miles on it. I knew nothing about Fiat but as a former MG Midget owner I was game for anything that Car and Driver described as having ?superb handling? and ?spritely tendencies?. Unfortunately for this poor little car I wound up using it for my primary transportation year-round for the next three years. I replaced more and more parts and repaired more and more rust with every passing mile and, even though the process was ridiculously difficult, I changed the oil religiously every 3000 miles.
Even on ramps, with only about 6 inches of road clearance, this car was pretty tough to crawl under. Draining the oil was hard enough but the real challenge was changing the filter. It was not accessible from above, so from my back, on in this cramped space I would strain up and just be able to get my hand around it. It was always stuck tight of course and it was too close to the firewall to get a filter wrench over the end. I had to resort to the old ?stab the filter with a screwdriver? technique. Since my working angle was directly overhead the resulting dump of dirty oil was pretty much directly on my face. I learned to wear a pair of goggles and a face-mask. Even after it was loose there was so little room between the engine and the firewall that I had to wrestle the filter off the filter-stem and then wrestle a new filter back in place. Getting just the right angle was like solving one of those impossible metal bar-puzzles only without the benefit of having been drinking. Remember, this was a transverse, mid-mounted engine mount and the firewall was directly behind the seating. I always thought that there had to be a better way ? but being a ?guy? I never resorted to the owners manual. Who needs that ?!
After about 5 years of ownership and oil changes and after the advent of having my first child and buying a second (real) car (a Eurosport Wagon ? yes, still a glutton for punishment) I decided to clean her up and sell her. As I was cleaning every nook and cranny, I pushed the passenger seat forward to vacuum the carpeted wall behind it. For the first time ever I noticed Velcro holding the carpet in place. Curious, I pulled the carpet back revealing something else that I had never before seen. There, under the carpet, right behind the passenger seat, were 4 thumb-screws holding an access panel in place. ?Hmm- what could be behind this little door?? I wondered though I knew in my soul what I was about to find? YUP!! There was the oil filter, conveniently located, at about knee height and easily accessible and removable.
Since I had just completed an oil change in preparation for the sale I quietly closed up the panel, pushed the carpet back into place and let her go to the next owner, never breathing a word of this. I just figured the next guy would either be as obstinate as I had been OR he would read the owners manual. Either way, I would have felt pretty dumb telling anyone this - but after 30 years it doesn’t matter anymore 
Dear Tom and Ray
Here is a funny story for ya.
It was maybe 8 years ago and I was working on my pride and joy a little 2 seater convertible. I had the tires off and I was checking the brakes. The telephone rang and it was my girlfriend saying that she was home early and in the mood if you know what I mean so being the red blooded american man that I am I threw the tires back on the car hopped in and took off towards her place. It was a great day the sky was blue the radio was jamming and I was on my way to a… “wink wink” rendezvous. Well about half a mile down the road I heard a terrible KABOOM and white smoke started to pour out the side of the car. A blown radiator hose?? I thought. I turned the steering wheel to get to the side of the road and wouldn’t you know it the front drivers side tire kept going straight down the road without me!!
In my boiling testostrene driven haste I had forgotten to tighten the lugs on this wheel and one by one they had come undone. I walked down the road to retrieve the tire, more like a walk of shame and rolled that back to the car I then went back up the road and collected the 4 lug nuts. I was so embarrased and really kicking myself and worse yet I didn’t have a jack! Luckily I had landed in front of a house were a guy had heard the KABOOM and he offered his help. Soon enough I was back on the road but not to the rendezvous but back to my garage to check the car out in case I had really broken something with my stupidity. Come to find out luckily the only thing that was really damaged was my pride and my wallet for the $250 it cost to touch up the burned lip of the fender. The KABOOM was the car frame hitting the ground and the white smoke was where the tire had started to burn the fiberglass on the wheel well. I still have the car, but not the girlfriend and I’m still a bit embarrased to tell the tale but where else better to share my sorry story than with Tom and Ray and Car Talk.
PS always check your nuts.
I run a marathon every year. (Not quickly, mind you.) Stationed along the route every couple of miles are goodies: water, gatorade, disgusting runner’s “gu,” and perhaps most important of all: vaseline, for application to chafing body parts. As the race progresses runners often get less coherent, and I’m no exception. Once I became so incoherent (and hungry) that I thought that the vaseline on a stick that I was handed was sweet, delicious honey. It wasn’t. Human-drinkable fluids like water and gatorade do not dissolve petroleum jelly, so in spite of my attempts to spit it out, that lovely taste stayed with me until the end of the race.
–Jeff in Seattle
I retired in 2004. This left me with some options. One of which was: keep my car and all it’s attendant costs, or eat and pay rent. I opted to eat and pay rent. I’m sure other Social Security/Medicare people can relate. Since then I walk, take the bus or “car-ride-barter” for my travel. I also write a weekly church bulletin article on Earth Care in which I advocate many earth friendly activities, like, “car-ride-bartering” and riding the bus. You might think that I would be the last person on Earth to listen to your show, but I love it! I confess! You two are very funny and I end up laughing and walking about my small apartment in relief that I do not now own a car. Actually, you guys raise my spirits so much I then feel inspired to do my sit-ups and push-ups, etc. I also have more empathy for my friends who do drive. btw-“car-ride bartering” is when I beg a ride for an errand and then pay for the driver’s gas and/or lunch; and also listen to their tales of woe about their cars. Most Grateful for your show, Ms. “Gabe” St.Clair, Durham, NC
Years ago, I put a new radio/CD player in my '92 Dakota. I set the time on it and figured out how to make it say 2:15, but it said 2:15AM. I tried for a while to make it say 2:15PM, but I finally gave up. I know whether is morning or afternoon, so I just accepted that it’d be 12 hours off.
Later I went for a drive and found my favorite station on the radio. AM, changed to FM. Doh!
There’s no 215 AM or FM on a car radio. Bogus.
I’ve put wheels back on a truck w/o putting the drums back on…that’s stupid. I’ve seen someone put mudflaps on the front side of the wheel-house…embarrassing for sure.