New shoes for my Bengmobile

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 In other words, its old and the design is obsolete.

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.

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.

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. . . . .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another very bad news is this. And its the most

worrying for me. I noticed it when they start to

jack up the car

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.

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.