Log 2014070101

So my E85 experiment was botched because I still have 5qts of dirty motor oil in the car.  But with that oil, I can say that at 65MPH, my 6 year old 2008 Chevy HHR LS was averaging 33MPG, which is right where it should be with regular 87 octane unleaded gasoline (what it's rated for).  I just got off the road about 20 minutes ago and the car is in the garage bay on ramps and cooling off before I attempt to drain the oil pan.

My day started with a 27mi trip to the VA medical center in Cleveland of Cuyahoga County.  Afterwards, I purchased a drill bit extension with a hex end and a 4 flat trailer lighting harness test connector from Harbor Freight in Eastlake of Lake County.  I then realized that I needed to replace all of my metal drill bits and drivers with one's that have hex bottoms.  Harbor Freight didn't have any that came with a case, so I drove down to Sears in Mentor of Lake County and picked some up there.

A couple of days ago, I cut out 8 holes in the trailer's floor for some big recessed hooks that will secure the bins when their transported over the axle.  They're metal D-rings on a 5" square plate.  Well initially, I purchased four of them and forgot where I got them from.  So, I drove to Tractor Supply in Chardon of Geauga County and they didn't have them.  But I did get some steel strips that I plan on cutting down to help brace recessed hook mounts.  Because after cutting the floor, I realized that I made two rows of four holes and the only thing that supports them are little edges of 1" thick ply wood.

I then went to Auto Zone in the same city to see if they had my hooks... and they did not.  But one of their employees gave me a lead on a hardware in Montville Township of Geauga County.  I called them up and found that I had 55 minutes to get there before they closed, so I left Chardon immediately.

When I got to Hemly Hardware Store, I found that not only did they have my other four recessed hooks, but they sold the nuts, bolts and washers by weight.  And they had an assortment of steel, both plates and strips in what I estimate to be a 20' x 30' area.  I told people on Facebook that I "struck gold."  Tractor supply has some steal strips at retail, but this place has much more and at different widths, too.  The other thing that I liked about them is that they had a better selection of metal cutting reciprocating saw blades than Home Depot or Lowes.  They had a box of Diablo's there retailing at $85 on the shelf.  I really wonder what those could do???  As somebody who's still inexperienced with that saw, I was rather impressed with the Diablo's that I currently own that I used to saw through a 17mm bolt head which connected the stabilizer bar link to my front struts and stabilizer bar (itself).  Finally, there's a good assortment of trailer supplies there, too.

Hemly Tool Hardware Store
16445 GAR Hwy
Montville, OH 44064
(440) 968-3717

GAR stands for the Grand Army of the Republic and is routed as US-6.

Log 2014062802

The DC jack on the Midland WR-100 is 12V and tip positive. I purchased a DC  car power adapter for this unit today and confirm that it works. It will be replacing my former weatherband radio which did not tune well. This one is digital and performs better.

The bad news is that I don't know if a marine head unit would perform better? It would need to have its own GPS, or actively scan for the nearest station and interrupt whatever I'm listening to when a weather emergency occurs. I just haven't found a head unit like this.

Today, I purchased an eyelet to screw in to the tailgate latch plate that will route my paracord so that I have an easier manual release. Also, I purchased some silicone.  The plan is to drill through the hull of the battery and spare tire compartment to run my trailer lighting cable out of the car so that I don't have to slam it in the tailgate door anymore. On the trailer hitch, I'll be installing a mount for it. I also purchased a small flashlight with a key ring small enough to to fit the loop hole on the HHR's manual tailgate release.

All of the trailer lighting connectors that I previously prepared for the tounge, separation point and lighting had to be replaced. I didn't keep track of the color coded wires that I snipped off and thought that they were irrelevant. 

Earlier, I found a set of orange side marker lights that have and actual ground wire.

The drilling is going to require lifting the back end of the car up. The only way to safely do without a lift that on my Chevy HHR LS is to back it up on ramps. So, I got those out of storage today, as well as some hiking gear. Once I get The Cramper's equipment out of there, Storage B will be pretty thin.