Rained out Bloo Project
was dilly-dallying last night and it was late, sun droppin’ over horizon, gettin’ dark, and I realized “I don’t have any brake lights! OhSheeit!”
Well, anyone that has owned/worked on a late 90’s early Aughts GM anything knows about that screwy brakelight switch buried behind the column and underneath the dash, where you can just barely see it, almost touch it, and can JUST get a screwdriver in there to pop things loose,,,
Yeah, THat thing!!!
At least this one is ‘feild servicable’. Had one or two (other makes, not GM) that weren’t, R&R was your only option.
The Guts
The Offending problem child!
Now, some of y’uns might say “Dio,,, thats a $20 part, WTF? Just replace it!”
Sorry, not sorrry, If’n I can fix it, I FIX IT! Replacement will be bought but I could just as easily repair/add to that contact with a dab of silver solder (and I need to buy some more.) but at this stage, a little super fine sandpaper and polish the contact: good to go. I even used some sil-glide to make sure the little bits and peices slide on each other and not gall on each other.
I has brakelights again.
More laters,,,
LLLLL!
(, ‘)
Dio's Workshop 
I classify that ‘fix it if’n I can’ thing ‘being a gearhead’. Thataway, all’s well and functional, and when the new one shows up, instant spare with the old one. 👍
L’s!
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
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May 11, 2026 at 9:28 am
Gearhead and Frugal Squirrel are similar in function though not always in the same vein. I cover a lot of territory in my small world.
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May 11, 2026 at 9:17 pm
Good job. Gonna be a lot more of that sooner than people are ready. The oil crunch affects more than gasoline and diesel. Plastics are made from petroleum too. And most of that stuff is made in China… And they get their oil from… The mideast!
The latest estimate I read was around July 4th the reserves and buffers will be gone. Not low, gone…
In the past there were millions of barrels in your in tankers. A seaborne buffer. That buffet is dry now. Even if they declared peace tomorrow and opened up the strait of Hormuz the world is still behind the eight ball.
The civilization busting event will be the non existent harvest this fall and no way to transport it… It’s gonna be hideous.
Buckle up baby, it’s gonna be a bitch of a ride!
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May 11, 2026 at 9:04 pm
I doubt it not at all. One thing to consider to: most plastics used in the automotive industry now are not petroleum based, but SOY. There is a huge soy Agroindustry in the US, but there is a downside and a serious one.
RATS
Park your car in a garage for a week and the packrats will move in and all of that soy based plastic and wiring insulation is a frellin’ smorgasbord for the littler critters. Anything made before 1996 might be safe, but not long after that, the change was significant and shortly system wide as the old materials were replaced with the new ‘plant based world saving’ stuff.
Ask any over the road driver if they can tell the differnce between plant based Diesel and the old dino stuff. Some are saying that the new “DEF” regulations are to cover the lack of power in the one. Personally, I dislike the DEF shit. I get stuck behind a new Longhauler and within minutes, my eyes are burning. Doesn’t happen with the old smokies (though,,, I don’t like the smell of diesel in any form.) And that DEF? Its urea based,,, those are nitrogen compounds, and many of the same used in making fertilizer, of which we are seeing declining supplies due to this shut down of the ME.
Allow me to step up on my soapbox for a small minute: “THE PROBLEM IS THE GOVERNMENT!”
‘clears throat’
thank you for your ears.
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May 11, 2026 at 9:14 pm
There’s not a problem anywhere in the world that can’t be made worse simply by adding government.
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May 11, 2026 at 9:51 pm