Never work with a troubled mind

[Bruce Urie]

Well, I'll share this with you guys and maybe it'll help you in the future.

Never do car work when there's too much on your mind. Take it from me.

Today I was installing the beautiful LED taillight assemblies that I got from our own teriffic guy, Scot W. of GNS Performance. I had a lot of stuff bothering me over the weeks and it's built up, but, I guess I'd go out to the garage and see if I can do something constructive and relax a little. No, didn't work.

After I RTVed the taillight lenses back into their respective buckets, I carried the driver's side carfully out of my front garage to the big garage where my beloved GN is sitting. Put the assembly in the trunk carefully.

Picked up the passenger side taillight lens and started to walk to the GN, and was not paying attention to all of the LONG wires hanging out of the taillight bucket, as I was distracted by events still on my mind...you know, how your mind wanders sometimes when you're in the middle of doing something?

And then it happened! I stepped on the long wires, moving forward, and in the process it yanked the taillight out of my hands and slammed onto the nice hard concrete floor....and shattered, both taillight AND the black trim.

I had spent HOURS polishing these lenses, and HOURS sanding, filing and shaping the edges of the black trim before painting with SEM BLACK TRIM 39143, so they were beautiful, better than new. Was so proud of the work I posted some pictures here on the forum of them.

I had taken my time installing Scot's beautiful LEDs in the lenses, drilling the necessary holes, using the templates he sent me (twice) and sealing them with RTV as per Scot's suggestion. A real beautiful job and I was very much looking forward to how these lights would look.

Instead, I was looking at hours, effort, money, hard work laying in pieces before me.

I took out the LEDs and put them aside, I can only HOPE they will still work, but they themselves look alright.

So, now I've got to scour the earth, junkyards, eBay, and Bob (Intercooled88s) and try and find a decent right taillight assembly with a decent black trim.

Of course, I'm out of SEM TRIM BLACK 39143 paint, so this means a 40 mile one way trip to a paint shop near here to get some more.

I didn't get mad at all.....just frustrated to the point that I felt like having a heart attack, which would have been better at the time feeling the way I did.

I got a couple or three of cold Coors beer and sat out on my beautiful deck overlooking the woods, with my faithful cat, Morris purring next to me. Getting mad would have accomplished nothing, just make things worse.

All that meticulous, hard, precise work down the drain. I have felt for years for the guys who have sunk hours and thousands into their cars, racecars, only to have it wrecked, stolen, or blown up. So, now it's my turn. I know it's ONLY a taillight, but the frustration level is so high all I can do is forget about it, and start over once more.

I've been weighted heavily with lots of serious things going on here and I haven't been sucessful clearing my mind of it enough to do a good job.

So, a word of warning for some of you guys....make sure you're thinking clearly and straight before you work on your beloved Turbo Buicks/Grand Nationals.

This particularly felt bad to me as you guys never will no how much my Grand Natlional means to me, as it was my late Dad's and I'm just the most fortunate man in the world to have this lasting memory of him to keep with me.

I appreciate you letting me rant. Good night, and remember, work with a clear mind.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[WH1_T-Type]

That really, REALLY, sucks.

I also tend to work on either my car or my my bike to clear my head..after this I might just start going for a walk instead.

 

[turbofabricator]

I understand what you are saying. TOugh luck man. Sorry about all of life troubles. BUT........My place is IN the garage. I am at peace when there, unless some door to door salesman/Jackwagon interrups me.

 

[Bruce Urie]

Thank you. I do know there are guys, like yourselves, that can work under stress very, very well....my hat's off to you, as you sound like the ones who can do it....I only wish I could be like you guys in that respect. Lord knows I've tried under the most trying circumstances but just can't quite do that....I admire you for the ability to shut out the world and it's problems and relax with what you really love doing. I can only hope I can be like that someday....I guess I'll just have to try harder, as that never killed anyone, only broke more things.....ha, ha, ha.:biggrin:

Thanks for your sympathy, made me feel a little better.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

That really, REALLY, sucks.

I also tend to work on either my car or my my bike to clear my head..after this I might just start going for a walk instead.

Looks like you live near the Chesapeake Bay....I grew up fishing on that bay with my Grandfather from Rock Hall, Maryland.

Every time I got off the boat after a hard days fishing and crabbing, I felt just great....all worries floated out to sea.....so maybe your idea of a walk is real good, walk out over to the bay and just relax by it. Lord knows I really miss the times on the Bay with my GrandDad. Hard work, but it was so great and precious to me.

Sigh. Now you've got me wishing I had a boat!!! Take that walk, it'll really help. Busted Grand National/Turbo Regal parts are expensive!!!!

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[blackmonte]

Man that blows! I understand what your saying though did the same thing with my gauge pod Brand new GS gauges and stepped on the wires and the whole thing right on the floor!!Good luck to you, hope things go well for you

 

[TexasT]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but on the up side you still can duplicate the work you did. Just a little more time and money right. No one was hurt. I know this sounds kinda silly but I wish I had more time to spend on my cars.
Keep on keeping on. You'll find another tail light and then you can work your magic.

 

[turbo39151]

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... You did it all wrong! Beer first. Then work on the car...
Always calms me right down.

Sucks that you had some breakage. It happens to all of us. Tail light is the least of the some of the terrible stuff I've seen. There was a thread on this some time ago. The one that sticks in my memory was a guy backing up inside the garage with the door open and catching the door and, well... I'm sure you can imagine the rest.

I may have a good tail assembly that may fit your needs if you're still looking... Shoot me a PM.

 

[Anarchy]

i have been there my friend. between the long hours of work the lazyness of not wanting to do any thing the wife bitching and the kids going nuts. i tend to drift to another world and hide and work on my car. its what little sanity i have left for my self. between split days off and crappy weather lately in the north east area. i cant wait to work on my car ansd let the blues drift away. sorry to hear about the accident. but keep your head up you can get new ones.... take care man. it happens to the best of us.

 

[DailyDrifter]

I've had that chit happen to me too Bruce, seems you cant get ahead sometimes no matter how hard ya try. PM me your address, and I'll send you a tail light.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Happens to all of us. The older you get the more stories you have to tell. Here's a good one. Rebuilt a really nice big block Chevy and was moving it out of the garage to install in a car, as I wheeled the hoist to the end of the garage there was just a slight drop off from the concrete to the pavement, 1/2" at most but just enough to jounce the hoist and snap one of the bolts holding the chain from the hoist to the motor. Nothing like dropping a fresh big block with custom oil pan on the ground.

if you don't find a new lense, ttaowner might have something in his stash you could use or check with M233roller too.

Oh yeah, and for your title to this thread. Never work with a troubled mind. Well, guess I would never work!!

 

[scot w.]

Bruce,

I am so sorry to hear of your rough time with the tail lights. The boards should still be okay...

I of all people know what you have been going through and let me tell ya, those damn lights are the Least of your worries my friend..

I just Gave away my last set of tail lights to someone else who needed them, If I still had some laying here they would be yours, no charge..


Scot W.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/parts-sale/343558-87-grand-national-tail-lights.html

 

[Rivical]

MUSIC!

If I fail to distract myself with music I accomplish Nothing in the garage because life slips in and fills the place of the lyrics and tones that help me calmly fulfill my goals.

Maybe it could work for you...

Sorry about your misfortune.

 

[GullsGN]

Well, I'll share this with you guys and maybe it'll help you in the future.

Never do car work when there's too much on your mind. Take it from me.

Today I was installing the beautiful LED taillight assemblies that I got from our own teriffic guy, Scot W. of GNS Performance. I had a lot of stuff bothering me over the weeks and it's built up, but, I guess I'd go out to the garage and see if I can do something constructive and relax a little. No, didn't work.

After I RTVed the taillight lenses back into their respective buckets, I carried the driver's side carfully out of my front garage to the big garage where my beloved GN is sitting. Put the assembly in the trunk carefully.

Picked up the passenger side taillight lens and started to walk to the GN, and was not paying attention to all of the LONG wires hanging out of the taillight bucket, as I was distracted by events still on my mind...you know, how your mind wanders sometimes when you're in the middle of doing something?

And then it happened! I stepped on the long wires, moving forward, and in the process it yanked the taillight out of my hands and slammed onto the nice hard concrete floor....and shattered, both taillight AND the black trim.

I had spent HOURS polishing these lenses, and HOURS sanding, filing and shaping the edges of the black trim before painting with SEM BLACK TRIM 39143, so they were beautiful, better than new. Was so proud of the work I posted some pictures here on the forum of them.

I had taken my time installing Scot's beautiful LEDs in the lenses, drilling the necessary holes, using the templates he sent me (twice) and sealing them with RTV as per Scot's suggestion. A real beautiful job and I was very much looking forward to how these lights would look.

Instead, I was looking at hours, effort, money, hard work laying in pieces before me.

I took out the LEDs and put them aside, I can only HOPE they will still work, but they themselves look alright.

So, now I've got to scour the earth, junkyards, eBay, and Bob (Intercooled88s) and try and find a decent right taillight assembly with a decent black trim.

Of course, I'm out of SEM TRIM BLACK 39143 paint, so this means a 40 mile one way trip to a paint shop near here to get some more.

I didn't get mad at all.....just frustrated to the point that I felt like having a heart attack, which would have been better at the time feeling the way I did.

I got a couple or three of cold Coors beer and sat out on my beautiful deck overlooking the woods, with my faithful cat, Morris purring next to me. Getting mad would have accomplished nothing, just make things worse.

All that meticulous, hard, precise work down the drain. I have felt for years for the guys who have sunk hours and thousands into their cars, racecars, only to have it wrecked, stolen, or blown up. So, now it's my turn. I know it's ONLY a taillight, but the frustration level is so high all I can do is forget about it, and start over once more.

I've been weighted heavily with lots of serious things going on here and I haven't been sucessful clearing my mind of it enough to do a good job.

So, a word of warning for some of you guys....make sure you're thinking clearly and straight before you work on your beloved Turbo Buicks/Grand Nationals.

This particularly felt bad to me as you guys never will no how much my Grand Natlional means to me, as it was my late Dad's and I'm just the most fortunate man in the world to have this lasting memory of him to keep with me.

I appreciate you letting me rant. Good night, and remember, work with a clear mind.

Bruce '87 Grand National

I know your pain well, Bruce. For my baby's 100,000 mile birthday I took her off the road for 6 months and meticulously took every part off and sanded every part to bare metal. The very last part was the header panel, which my buddy took to his body shop to sand and prime. When he returned it we put it on the floor behind the GN. I was so excited to have the whole car completely primed and ready for paint I said "Lets put the bumpers on as the beginning of the assembly process." Well, we grabbed one of the bumpers off of the saw horses and as soon as we lifted, the saw horses tipped and dropped the other bumper square on top of the header panel, flattening it into a million pieces!

 

[Vampire]

You're a good guy Bruce. You should write an advice column

 

[Bruce Urie]

My God, what a teriffic group of guys here!!! I so much appreciate your offers of free tail light assemblies and that really brought tears to my eyes!

But....I could never accept something free like that, I'm no better than anyone else here who has to pay for things, so that's what I would prefer to do, pay for one. It's just the generous outpouring of understanding and your stories of your own bad luck you guys have had with these cars. I have to agree, the tail light problem will be the least of my problems....I'll start over.

Going tomorrow to the other side of the world to pick up some SEM TRIM BLACK 39143 and some plastic paint remover from a SEM dealer. Then going to go buy my sick Mom a rug shampooer....since I'm going up Saturday to visit her and have her sign her tax papers, doing something nice for one I love will make me feel better....but I sure will tell her about you wonderful guys here.....man.....your offers, Mark, Scot, Dave, Turbo39151, it just touched me so much and will be a nice thing to share with my loving Mom.

All I need is a right side with black trim, and trying to find a lens that is not stress cracked and scratched up. The one I busted was in great shape, but I spent a few hours polishing it up to look great. I did a great job as I was scared to death to melt the plastic, so I took my time. I got a great deal on it on eBay for only $35 with the trim. That was about five months ago so I guess they went up in cost.

Next post I'll share the pictures of the mistake I made.

I had no idea that others (Mark, Black Monte, GullsGN) had such horrible bad luck. Now I don't feel so stupid, just human like you guys. Mistakes happen and I appreciate being told that I'm not too much different from any other GN/TurboBuick owner. Thanks all for the uplifting support from you. You are a great bunch of guys. I think the world of you. No kidding.

Vampire, thank you for the kind words.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

Here's a few pictures to WARN you guys to BE CAREFUL when you're working on your Buicks!!!!!





Look at the shine on this sucker...all gone to waste



The housing was OK, and the back-up lens was not broken, just a small chip on the inside left of the housing (I painted them silver)



This is the shot of the long wires you have to watch out for when you're carrying them around like I did and STEPPED on them, ripping the light out of my hands and slamming it down on the cement floor, and I fell pretty hard, too. (still hurt like a SOB!) Once again, my honest opinion for you fellas: Cement is hard!



Hope you all enjoy these shots, as it should be a reminder that even the smallest mistake can be costly. For me it's finding a another lens, hopefully a black trim, polishing the lens for hours again, sanding and painting the trim, and then correctly drilling for Scot W's beautiful LED boards. Then resealing the lens back together. I can only hope I can wire the whole she-bang up without setting fire to the GN! Wish me luck.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

Another shot of the angle brackets that I took off, sanded, and painted, then re-rivited them back to the black trim assembly. They were pretty rusty, but I got them back to OK shape....more time consuming stuff





I know the brackets will probably never see "eyes" for admiration, but I want it so if I die in the next few seconds/hours/days/years, my wife's next husband will see that I went through a lot of trouble to fix things up nice the best I could. I have a bad habit searching for perfection...but I've only found it twice....the LORD and my wife, Shirley...other than that, I'm lost. (well, a perfect Grand National would be great, but even having the one that belonged to my beloved late Dad, I'll have to call that kind of perfect for me)


Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

MUSIC!

If I fail to distract myself with music I accomplish Nothing in the garage because life slips in and fills the place of the lyrics and tones that help me calmly fulfill my goals.

Maybe it could work for you...

Sorry about your misfortune.

Funny you should mention that....music in the garage, I do the same thing...I've got a 200 watt BGW amp and a couple of big Yamaha speaker cabinets with 15" speakers with high frequency horns in them mounted on large stands(from my old rock and roll band days).....it's LOUD! Ever seen a grown man play "Drive My Car" by the Beatles with three foot ratchet extention? Some songs come on and I'm doing my "air guitar" routine big time, even from under the car!!!! Thank GOD the garage LOCKS from the inside or Shirley would have me commited to the nut house!! But music works for me in the garage, too...a long time dream finally realized! Really helps me when I'm working....funny.....the stereo was OFF when I was transporting the tail lights....there's my problem right there!!!!!

Bruce '87 Grand National