So, finally, I relented and got a new set of tires for my Bengmobile. I had to, not because of my Wife keep 'reminding' me but its in a very serious stage of balding. I mean, granted I have not changed them for about 5 years (with three years in storage under the Sun, of course). And so, I decided to call up my old Boss and ask him for directions to the tire shop which he got a good bargain; he traded in the 17" rims for a more sensible 16" and a new set of tires for about RM600 plus.
Alas, when I went to the shop, they courteously told me that my rims are only worth RM150 and it was in fashion since he was in high school. In other words, its old and the design is obsolete.
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There were a lot of rims starting t about RM700
but it seemed to me, none of them interested
me, except the middle one on the left which
came very close.
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As you can see, the front tires are bald. Dangerously
bald which was one of the reasons why I crashed in
to the concrete fencing two months ago. Not only
that, when they checked my rims, three were very
dented and they do not need to run their hands
on the rim to feel it. A visual is already serious.
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Actually, the bad news did not stop there. When
they jacked up the car, I found that both doors
had some resistance when being closed. . . . .
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OK, this is the bolt trick but I relented and let
them change as the threads are a bit worn. I
told them that ever since the accidents, no one
could set the alignments and what-nots to
perfection. But they are welcome to try.
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I mean, after so many years, why not just get
it changed? Yeah, yeah, you could tell me its
a trick by all these tire people but then again,
this is still my car, as far as I can remember.
When he wanted to try his luck with the front,
I told him it was changed before, he used a
new excuse which I said, "No dice." and he
then agreed the front is A-OK. Ha ha.
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Another bad news when I peeped down there.
While he is changing the bolts, I looked up the
engine as I tend to do, due to the numerous
scraping sound when going over humps, I saw
a very strange thing.
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At first I thought the fungus from inside the
car has spreaded to the exhaust but when I
poked at it, its solid. It really looked like as
if bubbles excaped from the exhaust and
then solidified.
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No one at the shop knows what it is and I suspect
it could be some stuff from the exhaust since the
orange colour could be rust.
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Another very bad news is this. And its the most
worrying for me. I noticed it when they start to
jack up the car
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Yes, the gap between the bonnet and the grill/headlamp
increased to about 2cm. Has the engine frame been
weakened bu rust? If I can recall, there were two
frontal collisions before. And in one of them, they
really had to realign the frame but did a bad job.
Hence the wheel alignment problem.
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As a souvenir, I asked the fellow there and he let
me have some valves and wheel covers. I need
some of them for an Iron Man Project.
Still, without much spending, I got away with four new tires and two bolts for RM660.00. Which is not too bad I suppose. And with the Bardahl in the engine and new tires, the car feels very smooth and responsive. So, I really did enjoy my drive back to the house and for the next few days, driving was pure pleasure (provided I do not speed). Now, I have to consider about doing something to the dead shocks at the back and its not only about one at the rear hatch.
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