The birth of Orange Krate...

[Orange Krate]

Originally Posted by speedster

Jim -

You always have the greatest photos and such heartfelt, upbeat stories to share. Thanks for both.

Orange Krate is looking and sounding awesome !

Originally Posted by andredmg

Luv the video brotha, I so wish I could take my whip out on a nation wide trip and meet all the cool Camaro peeps on C5, you,re on my top ten list Jim. Happy to see you still enjoying Orange Crate and thanx for sharing.

Thank you folks! I have enjoyed watching your posts and progress. I have a car mount camera I need to start my music video. Have developed a script and a buddy of mine has a HD video cam so we want to do a multi camera shoot and go to a variety of places and feature the Orange Krate as the car in the song... old song but classic!

[Orange Krate]

Every year at this time we look forward to celebrating the life of one of our favorite people on the planet! This unflappable spirit is my GREAT AUNT LOIS!Today she celebrated her 96th birthday!!! What made this particular birthday special was the fact that it was the first one she had where she got to feel, touch, smell and ride in Orange Krate!

Before the cruise and power run Auntie modeled her Lakers Championship hat and in photo #5 got a bit daring for 96 years and showed a little leg! HA HA She will always be a SUPER STAR in our hearts.

We took photos and a quick couple of video bursts to capture some of the fun. Unfortunately I did not have the camera in the car to capture the power run! But she was a good sport and at 96 got a little thrill in the 1st to 2nd power band! Go Auntie!

We got back and it is fully documented... 96 year old PERMAGRIN! Auntie is very healthy, vibrant, extremely clear of mind and thought and so very happy and positive. She knows Orange Krate was produced up in Ontario, Canada where her great grandmother was from so there is a bond. She says hi to all the folks at Oshawa.

Auntie Lois (as we call her) was born at Spirit Lake, Iowa on August 21, 1915! We wish Auntie a very happy birthday with many more, surrounded by family and friends. We will see you here at 100 Auntie!




.

[andredmg]

Awesomeness!!!!! That smile says it all, says a lot about your character too Jim. Way to go brotha, very cool video!and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOIS!

[JoeP@TeamBeckyD]

Thanks for sharing Jim - great way to start my Monday AM'
with a smile watching Auntie Lois.

[Dr Jkel]

Jim-Love the story about Auntie Lois, does the heart good. To think about all she has seen in her life in absolutely amazing. I hope she makes it to a 100 and beyond.

[Orange Krate]

I received a new custom signature today from Nikki! Thank you! My brother took the photo and Nikki reworked the art with the photo. Fantabulous! THANK YOU BOTH!

[Orange Krate]

My cousin Pam came out to California for a surprise visit on my Great Aunt Lois' 96th birthday. Although this is just a snippet video, Pam and I ended up taking a 1 hour ride out to our old childhood haunts. We actually did a whole day trip the following day in Orange Krate. We had a blast and covered a lot of real estate in our journey! Orange Krate got some very impressive MPG (22) as we drove over the valleys, canyons, Pacific Coast Highway on a big circuit ending back in Calabasas, CA. Pam leaves for Kentucky, her home, in the morning. We will miss her until next time!




:P (thats for Pam and she knows what it means!)

[macc24]

Krate

Haven't checked on you in awhile....so many great memories and experiences for you and your family - thanks for sharing the goods times with us.

[Orange Krate]

Originally Posted by macc24

Krate

Haven't checked on you in awhile....so many great memories and experiences for you and your family - thanks for sharing the goods times with us.

Thank you for dropping back in and visiting the Orange Krate journal. We had big doings tonight. My daughter's boyfriend, Jon, is leaving in 4 hours for Afghanistan. We had a going away dinner party for him this past evening. We are going to plan for a welcoming home party. Hopefully he will be home by Christmas. He is in the Air Force. He is a good man.

[Orange Krate]

My Technostalgia Tail Lights arrived in the mail today! I am stoked. Will start process of installation tonight. Don't know how far I will get as I am beat tired and got up at 4 AM. Says allow 2 hours for install. So here we go! I'll get back to you. Orange Krate is quivering looking at me holding the box!

[jrpxxii]

Originally Posted by Orange Krate

My Technostalgia Tail Lights arrived in the mail today! I am stoked. Will start process of installation tonight. Don't know how far I will get as I am beat tired and got up at 4 AM. Says allow 2 hours for install. So here we go! I'll get back to you. Orange Krate is quivering looking at me holding the box!

Cant wait to get your feedback as I have been wanting to see them before I buy them. They are super easy to install and shouldnt take u any time if they are just plug and play as the say.

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by Orange Krate

Orange Krate is quivering looking at me holding the box!

Love It... Too Kool....

[Orange Krate]

Originally Posted by jrpxxii

Cant wait to get your feedback as I have been wanting to see them before I buy them. They are super easy to install and shouldnt take u any time if they are just plug and play as the say.

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

Love It... Too Kool....

OK so far so good. Hardest part is getting the nut washers off the outside lights the inboard ones are not that bad. The bezels around the light itself are tough and I could not use just thumb pressure as suggested to get them off.

Solution: I took a very small slotted screw driver and put a detail cloth around it and gently (operative word gently) used the inside housing to apply micro pressure to the bezel. It came out like a breeze.

Suggestion: I also used a sharpie pen to mark the inside of the bezels as to which one is which so I don't have to guess when putting back on.

I started closer to 8:00 pm and walked in the house at 9:25 and I am about 3/4 of the way through. New drivers side lenses are all installed accept for top plastic lense inspection cover and bezels.

Technostalgia has good color instructions and that added new inserts for the install which directs you to take off the light sockets from the old lamp assembly and install them on the new lamp assembly before pushing the assembly into the housing. You will clearly see why they did that if you have to change bulbs on your existing lights.

A second insert shows the installation of the two (rectifiers?) that press on with pressure tape to the inside body panel behind the tail light assembly. No problem applying but it is tight with all the wires. Just be careful not to crimp a wire when re-installing.

I will update again tomorrow and show before and after using my Nikon camera for better pix.

**NOTE**

I don't know if this is a widespread issue but I discovered that out of the 12 nut/washers that hold the tail light assembly in place, 9 of them were not even thumb tight. They were all sloppy loose. It feels like they backed off a few turns. Perhaps a small dab of mild locktite might be appropriate on these but I thought I would bring it to your attention. Owners check those if you change your bulbs.
Jim

[aarpdlnkqnt]

Originally Posted by Orange Krate

Today I took the Orange Krate, wife and youngest daughter to Lake Casitas up near Ojai, California. It was about 140 mile round trip by the time the ride, picnic and sightseeing were over. On the way towards home we detoured through Ojai and looked at where I used to work in the 1980s. Then I drove Orange Krate up the notorious Highway 33 towards the Los Padres Forest and Mount Pinos Summit. We only went as far as the Friend's Ranch roadside market where you can buy citrus, nuts and candies etc. It was closed due to the late hour. My wife had her digital camera and I asked her to capture a brief video of us coming back down Highway 33. The quality isn't that good but you can get an idea of the Orange Krate motoring down that long lonesome highway. It was a great day for riding.

.

Jim, Oh, Jim! The video! Aiyee!!!! Man, that was awesome and knowing that it was out in California just made it that much better. I near bout had a cargasm there. Wow! I might have to talk California! (I think I may be over-using exclamation points too much.) Wow, I'll be dropping back more often to just this post to get a thrill from that video. Take care, my friend.