--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300011 Date: 02/02/98 From: ROY WITT Time: 07:06pm \/To: ALAN MORRISON (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation On, 29 Jan 98 at 23:24, Alan Morrison was overheard shouting over the engine noise, saying something to Roy Witt about "Vehicle Confiscation",: AM>> These required stops being setup at random times and places, AM>> stopping everyone and asking for their papers just reminds AM>> me too much of the Nazi war movies. AM> RW>> You too? But I don't see the relationship to requiring liability RW>> insurance. AM> AM> Not the requirement, but the random stops and checkpoints. These may AM> be in the name of catching drunk drivers, or a taillight out, or AM> other 'judicious' reasoning. It seems to be a step towards outright AM> papers examination without probable cause and leading to unreasonable AM> searches and now (in NJ, FL, & LA) seizures. We had those type of stops here for years. The CHP was authorized to set up spontanous road side safety check points. I ran into one of those "check points" one time while driving my Corvette to work with racing slicks the Monday after a race. They would have passed muster, as they had two lines all the way around for wear detection. However, the inspector crouched down low enough to read the "Not for highway use" imbossed on the sidewall. Got wrote up for that, told the judge a tall story and got away with it. For some reason they quit doing those "CHP safety lane" checks. But lately, they've begun to do them again and now people who aren't driving with insurance, proper registration or some big mechanical defect, are having their cars impounded. They also get tickets for various violations, including not wearing seat belts, etc.. AM>> -Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States- AM> AM>> The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, AM>> papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, AM>> shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon AM>> probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly AM>> describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to AM>> be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. AM> RW>> All that'll get you is a "Uh-huh" from the cop and you'll find your RW>> Constitutional rights being set aside, while he writes you a RW>> citation. He has a right as an officer of the law, according to the RW>> State of California, to stop you and ask for identification under RW>> any guise AM> AM> That's the problem... a 'guise'. This is sometimes blatant disregard AM> for our rights guaranteed by the constitution. And it breeds more AM> disrespect for authority, especially when the government can sieze AM> your assets, or even imprison those without sufficient means to hire AM> good council. AM> The problem with this Asset Forfeiture stuff (started in the name of AM> Zero Tolerance on drugs), is that they actually arrest the Assets! AM> They have no constitutional rights and may not be returned even if AM> you have proved yourself innocent of any charges. I heard that. Everytime I see some poor souls' vehicle getting towed for no good reason, it makes my blood boil. RW>> that he cares to bring up. Tail light out, failure to signal, RW>> whatever he wants to make it. They (California Cops) even stop RW>> people for not wearing helmets on motorcycles and/or seat belts. RW>> Both were tried and tested as un-constitutional and shot down by RW>> the courts... AM> AM> In the late eighties, when this zero-tolerance stuff started, a Cabin AM> Cruiser was seized off San Diego shores for about three grams of pot. AM> The owner was out for the day with friends and acquaintances when AM> they were boarded. One of the occupants had brought just enough weed AM> for a couple of joints. Little did he know what the outcome would AM> be. I never heard if the owner got his property back. That should never have happened, as California law allows three grams of pot in your possesion, even back in the eighties. Course, if it was on the high seas, California law didn't apply. US law did. If it was seized by Feds as in Coast Guard, DEA or FBI, they wouldn't get the boat back. ... "See the USA in a Chevrolet" - --- T(W)itt Filter Tossed v1.13 * Origin: Bow Tie Racers, #1, On or Off the Track! (1:202/909.13) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300012 Date: 02/01/98 From: MARC GERGES Time: 09:34pm \/To: KENNY HENDERSON (Read 0 times) Subj: Forced Induction Salut Kenny! MG> KH>> 60-0 MPH braking distances MG> KH>> Camaro Z28 112' MG> KH>> Pontiac Firebird Formula 115' MG> KH>> Pontiac Trans AM 116' MG> KH>> Porsche 911 Carerra 1 117' MG>> Mmmh... that's astonishing. MG>> Just to be sure: the Porsche you mentioned is a Carrera _2_, right? KH> Yes, I'm sorry....Just a bit of additional info, my Formula weighs KH> 3602 with me in it and 1/4 tank of gas. I weigh about 175, so the KH> car ways 3430 lbs. I'd definitely have to try such a machine... cu .\\arc ... Gone Chopin, Bach in a minuet. --- * Origin: sympathy for the debil (2:270/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300013 Date: 02/03/98 From: ROY J. TELLASON Time: 01:26am \/To: TOM WALKER (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation TOM WALKER wrote in a message to ROY J. TELLASON: -> How easy would it be to build a small electronic circuit that could -> alert you to a bulb having burned out? Maybe even which one? I'll -> bet it wouldn't be all that difficult, though getting to the -> appropriate points in the wiring of the car is another matter -> entirely. TW> There are two methods. Both have been used in some luxury TW> cars. One is Fiberoptics. A small fiber is run from the light TW> area to the dashboard and you can see which lights are on. the TW> other involves "Reed Switched in line with the power wire to TW> each light. These are usually set up to activate with Failure TW> of current flow in the wire and light a light on the dashboard TW> warning of a burnt out bulb. That second method was what I was thinking of. It's still not a pleasant prospect to contemplate trying to find the right wires to hook into, though... email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com --- * Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS 717-432-0764 (1:270/615) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300014 Date: 02/03/98 From: ROY J. TELLASON Time: 01:28am \/To: JAY EMRIE (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation JAY EMRIE wrote in a message to ROY J. TELLASON: JE> Speaking of the Cross Bronx - A few year back I was going to JE> New England for the fall colors towing my 32 ft travel trailer. JE> Had intended to take the freeways north on the west side of NYC JE> and turn east after I got north of NYC in order to miss what I JE> knew was the terrible afternoon rush traffic. Sounds like a good plan to me. JE> I think it was the NJ turnpike - any how I was driving in the JE> right hand land - after all I do not normally go faster than 55 JE> towing. How many lanes were there? Seems to me there are a whole *bunch* of them in that area. I don't think I'd stay in the right lane, just as a matter of avoiding ramp traffic. JE> Got locked in that rt hand lane - NO ONE would give an inch to JE> let me get out of an exit only lane: I've coped with that sort of thing before by just _taking_ what I needed out of the adjacent lane. Or slowing down, speeding up, whatever it takes. I had some rather interesting times once in Montreal when I ended up on some expressway up there and going across town when I didn't want to, pulling a small tent camper trailer at the time. JE> Ended up drossing the Hudson on the George Washington bridge, JE> taking the Cross Bronx Freeway to get to New England. What a JE> nightmare!!!! That road was terribly rough, pot holed, and JE> bumper to bumper traffic!! Was I ever glad to get through NYC. Heh. I lived right near there when they were building that road... It upset me because they chopped up a park I used to spend some time in as a kid. Speaking of that part of the Jersey turnpike, the last time I was up that way there was a rather intersting experience, one that I hope I don't repeat any time soon. It was as you say, really bad traffic, and we were headed into the city, my other half had gotten a gift of some show tickets from her daughter and I was to play chauffer, since I used to drive in those parts and she does *not* like driving in the city. Anyhow, we're going along one stretch of road that's solid, like a parking lot, not moving real much, up around Neward somewhere. And there along the side of the road is this car, sitting there on fire! The owner was a ways off, standing there watching things helplessly, I guess he was lucky to get out, and there was no way any fire engine or anything else was gonna get through that traffic. I was just hoping that it wasn't gonna blow or whatever as we were passing by, because there was no way we could get out of that right hand lane either. FWIW, I wasn't driving at the time, or I *would* have. email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com --- * Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS 717-432-0764 (1:270/615) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300015 Date: 02/03/98 From: ROY J. TELLASON Time: 01:35am \/To: MICHAEL SHARON (Read 0 times) Subj: Vehicle Confiscation MICHAEL SHARON wrote in a message to JAY EMRIE: JE> Some had obviously been there for some time. MS> As you're probably well aware, if they've been abandoned, they MS> have to be there at least 30 days before they can be legally MS> removed. Not in NYC, not by a long shot. MS> In some states, where the congestion of abandoned vehicles is MS> a problem, a sticker might be placed on the vehicle alerting MS> the driver that the vehicle will be removed within 24-48 hours. MS> That of course depends on the availablity of manpower allocated MS> to remove these vehicles, and the availablity to store them as MS> well. In PA they stick a red tag on the door handle, or similar. Manpower isn't usually a problem. Most of the time these cars have had their tags removed, and there's no easy way for them to track down the owner. Removal is more often than not handled by a private firm, who's got a "contract" of some sort with whatever government is taking jurisdiction. They come pick 'em up, take 'em to a scrapyard, and more often than not end up crushing them. Some years ago I had a '67 Catalina, which had been restored to wonderful mechanical condition, and it was a *great* cruising car for getting out on the highway with, though I hated taking it into the city, where gas mileage really sucked. Musta had something to do with that 400 under the hood, I guess. We had an accident involving some ice and messed up the front of the car. At that point the easiest thing would have been to get a new "nose" for the car, basically a whole front body assembly, and get it painted to match. Going across the Whitestone Bridge at that time, I saw an identical car (except for color of course) sitting in the grassy median before you got to the bridge. No tags on it. Well, by the time I got through the layers of bureaucracy and got a hold of the private firm that was responsible for picking up cars on that particular chunk of road, they'd already picked it up and crushed it, less than 3 days later... :-( email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com --- * Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS 717-432-0764 (1:270/615) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300016 Date: 02/02/98 From: JASON WEDEHASE Time: 04:20pm \/To: MARC GERGES (Read 0 times) Subj: 225 hp Neon? Marc Gerges told the story like this: MG> I have here the February issue of Car and Driver, and it has a lovely MG> concept car on the front page. MG> Now the text says this car has a 225 hp engine in it, and that the MG> engine is from a Chrysler Neon. Is there a 225 hp Neon in the US? If MG> so, how much does it cost? MG> I'm just wondering, as we only get 133 hp Neons here, and they don't MG> sell at all. They are in the price range of an entry level (100 hp) MG> Audi A4, so I guess that's the reason. I see in the magazine you have MG> 150 hp and two door Neons, so could anybody please tell me about all MG> engines available for the car and their prices? That's abnormal... AFAIK, the engines available here are the 2.2 (133hp) and the 2.5 sport model (150hp). 225 would maybe mean turbos or something of the like. Dodge is soon supposed to come out with a Neon R/T coupe. It's only available in a manual tranny, and perhaps a higher engine output. Jason Wedehase strife66@Psynet.net http://www.Psynet.net/strife66 ... Learn from your parent's mistakes - use birth control. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 --- QScan/PCB v1.19b / 01-0154 * Origin: MicroLink BBS * Dinuba, CA 209-591-8753 (1:214/80) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300017 Date: 02/01/98 From: JOHN ZORTMAN Time: 07:05pm \/To: GARY HALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Timing GH> JF> Is this to say that on an older engine that the timing GH> JF> light will show the correct timing when it may be off a few GH> JF> degrees due to stretching? GH> No the timing marks are on the crankshaft the specs are for GH> piston position. The chain wont change it. Uh, the timing light is triggered by when the #1 plug fires. The distributor is driven by the camshaft which is driven by the timing chain. On an old V8 with a real slacky ready to jump timing chain, the timing mark on the harmonic balancer will appear to "move around" at idle as you watch it via a strobe type timing light, because of the chain slack... Official Nitpick Message Of The Day... John Zortman * SLMR 2.1a * What if there were no hypothetical questions? --- Platinum Xpress/Wildcat! v1.3 * Origin: Seventh Star - York, PA (717)-225-7256 (1:2700/111) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300018 Date: 02/03/98 From: MICHAEL SHARON Time: 02:35am \/To: CHARLES BOWMAN (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: Vehicle Confiscation -=> Quoting Charles Bowman to Michael Sharon <=- CB> MICHAEL SHARON wrote in a message to SEAN DUNBAR: MS> All you said above are just lousy excuses. Just like in another MS> post of yours on the same subject, where you said something about MS> not having enough room on the tollway to change the light. Ever MS> thought about getting off the tollway at the next exit, where MS> you'll have plenty of room? CB> That would work but the argument was that you can't move your vehicle CB> at all once that light is out. Trying to wait until the first exit CB> would still result in violating the law. Let's get realistic here shall we? First of all, when you are moving the vehicle to correct the matter, hardly can this be regarded as violating any law. Even if you were pulled over in the process, admitting that you are aware of the problem, and that you've expressed concern, whereas your explaination that you were only going onto the next exit to correct the problem, would most likely be acceptable. Secondly, laws governing this situation do NOT differ from state to state. It is pretty much common that they all exercise the same tolerance for this matter. If a cop spots you driving with a burnt out light, he has the right to pull you over and notify you of the situation. RARELY, if even EVER will you be cited with a ticket for the situation. You will however, be issued either a verbal or written warning. And, as many others have said in this regard, you have at least 5 days in which to rectify the problem, resulting in no financial fine to you whatsoever. Provided, you received a written warning. As I said to Chris Zychski in a previous post, if it were possible for the driver to know instantly when the light burned out, then he has the responsibility to correct the situation ASAP. There simply are too many variables which do not allow immediate correction. The most common one is that not every vehicle is equipped with a device to alert the driver. Another, is that many drivers don't think of carrying extra bulbs in the vehicle. CB> I don't know what Warren, MI is like but most major cities have a CB> heavy traffic flow and narrow shoulders reserved only for emergency CB> use, one out of two headlights burned out is not an emergency by CB> any stretch of the imagination. Of course, driving with a burned out light doesn't always constitute an emergency. But, that all depends on the circumstances. If it's a headlight, does the parking light on the same side work? If so, than the oncoming driver has the ability to see that the vehicle without a headlight is not crossing the center median, and he can distinguish the silhouette of the car coming toward him. Many collisions involving a vehicle without one headlight resulted in the driver of the other vehicle not knowing what was actually coming at him, a motorcycle perhaps, or was it error because s/he wasn't able to see what headlight was out, resulting in the driver to panic and move too far over to the right. Or, to move into another vehicle or (sideswipe) the vehicle in the right lane of their side of the road. MS> Like I said in an earlier post, too much blatant disregard to MS> exercise YOUR responsibility as a responsible driver. ;) CB> That's your opinion. My opinion is that there are quite a few people CB> that will reach at anything to justify the heavy handedness of current CB> law enforcement types. You are most certainly entitled to your opinion as well. However, if your implying that there is "heavyhandedness" from law enforcement individuals when it comes to this particular situation, then I completely disagree with you. Unless one provokes the situation by mouthing off to the cop. Sincerely, Michael Sharon ___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] --- Platinum Xpress/Win/Wildcat5! v2.0 * Origin: Tonys Corner Wildcat! Warren, MI. 99:1/530 (1:120/13) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300019 Date: 02/02/98 From: RONNIE THOMPSON Time: 09:37pm \/To: ED BROWN (Read 0 times) Subj: OX sensor -=> Quoting Ed Brown to Ronnie Thompson <=- -> Sorry, but I've never seen one go 100K. I routinely change mine -> every 40K, as I have had two (one on each car) go bad, when many -> miles from home. It's cheaper to buy one and put it on than to have -> to limp to a service center and pay outrageous prices, to have one -> installed. The ole "Pay me now or pay me later" defense. EB> Thanks Ronnie for the input I will look into getting a new one and EB> have it handy.. They can not be to hard to put in as they are selling EB> them in the auto parts stores now and I have a friend of mine who owns EB> one... Thank again for the input Most of them aren't too hard to replace. Just look for your exhaust manifold and find the thing that looks like a spark plug sticking out. Ronnie in NC ... Bend over, America--Clinton's in charge! --- AreaFix Fido MILITIA * Origin: Thor's Retreat/2 BBS Fayetteville, NC 910.424.0956 (1:3634/37) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 246 AUTOMOTIVE Ref: F2300020 Date: 02/02/98 From: RONNIE THOMPSON Time: 10:06pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Mazda Miata For Sale * Crossposted from: North Carolina For Sale (NC Only) Listing this for a friend. Bought the car for his wife who is extremely sick. Please, serious inquiries only. 1997 Mazda Miata M-Series (Special Edition) 5-speed, Leather Seats, all the options. Dark Forest Green with Special Edition Mazda Chrome Mags. This thing has 748 miles on it. Yes, that is not a typo, only SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY EIGHT miles on the thing. I told you his wife is extremely sick. Convertible top. Absolutely beautiful car. He paid $24,400 for the car. Will sacrifice it for $19,000. Contact Joe Whaley at 910-485-3360. Car is located in Fayetteville NC. Call after 5:30 pm, weekdays. All day on weekends. He is a Sheriff Deputy, and is on the road weekdays until 5:30. Thanks all, and if anyone knows of anyone else who might be interested in the vehicle, please pass this on. It would help them out to have this car payment off their shoulders, with the medical bills mounting. Thanx.....Ronnie ... Ronnie Thompson PO Box 65191 Fayetteville NC 28306 (910)323-8716 --- AreaFix Fido MILITIA * Origin: Thor's Retreat/2 BBS Fayetteville, NC 910.424.0956 (1:3634/37)