seubanks is now fiasco

[fiasco]

Figured this was the best forum to announce my username change.

In honor of the fiasco I have made of my car over the last few months (water in the EGR, oil cap off - engine replacement, mystery oil on the cam pulleys), my family has taken to calling my care the Fiasco instead of the Fiat. We've always named our cars in my family, but every car has to earn its name one way or another. So it looks like Fiasco is gonna stick, so I asked Mark to change my username on the forum to match.

I'm gonna try to get some variation on a license plate at some point. Unfortunately "FIASCO" itself is already taken here in Cali.

The name is all in good fun - if it weren't for my various fiascos, there are a lot of great guys I never would have met, and a lot I never would have learned about my car. Almost makes it worth all the money it cost...

-- se

[kilrwail]

It has a certain Italian sound to it. Maybe this will break the jinx and you can just enjoy it!

[rlux4]

Fiasco, here's hoping "FIASCO" has no more fiascoes!
Glad to see you were able to keep a sense of humor through this all.
Ron

[mbouse]

if it weren't for my various fiascos, there are a lot of great guys I never would have met, and a lot I never would have learned about my car.

-- se

a truer statement was never spoken. nearly all of us should state the exact same thing....if it weren't for the others at this forum, we'da made a mess out of our cars. because of the forum, we all have met several individuals that enriched our lives.

[kristoj]

if it weren't for my various fiascos, there are a lot of great guys I never would have met, and a lot I never would have learned about my car.

-- se

a truer statement was never spoken. nearly all of us should state the exact same thing....if it weren't for the others at this forum, we'da made a mess out of our cars. because of the forum, we all have met several individuals that enriched our lives.

+1. Well stated.

[ventura ace]

Yep, your fiascos led to a nice excuse for us to get together for a great day of wrenching / problem solving / and generally just having a good time.

And to comment about the Fiascos: Sure some of the things you went through sounded pretty goofy, but we can all come back with some pretty goofy things we've done with our project cars (but choose to forget them handily!). I have to hand it to Steve for his ingenuity. He may not have had some of the background or experiences some of us have had with tinkering with car mechanicals, but he picks it up pretty quickly, and comes up with some great suggestions along the way.

Last Saturday we were having a challenge getting some of the shims out while we were adjusting valve clearances. A little blast of compressed air is useful for this. Steve has a small air compressor, but didn't have an attachment for controlling a little poof of air. So, he digs into his drawers of stuff and comes out with an inflater needle for sports balls. A minute later, he had the thing modified and connected up to the air compressor hose, so we could go about getting the shims out. That little tool he came up with is absolutely the best trick I've ever used for getting the shims out -- I hope Steve will take a picture. The tiny needle is perfect for directing the poof right where it's needed without the undesired side effect of blowing oil all over everything. Good job, Steve!

A

[mbouse]

waiting for those pictures...

and, i do not recall EVER doing anything goofy with my car...except that one time where i ...

[fiasco]

Posted in Fiat Spider Related forum:

Air needle tool for removing shims
http://www.fiatspider.com:16080/f08/vie ... f=3&t=5671

Pics of the seal we replaced
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5670

-- se