The Garage

[blue911]

Think about the gas savings though....

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/05/the-most-controversial-ferrari-ever-meet-the-luce-its-first-ever-ev/

Ferrari Luce: $640,000 EV.

I saw that and thought “Wow a car where everyone thinks you’re a prick”

[imref]

I saw that and thought “Wow a car where everyone thinks you’re a prick”

I'd rather buy the Prius for about $35k that looks like a $440k Ferrari Purosangue.

[English Natsie]

Ferrari were influenced by what was the, then, European political impetus to go full EV from 2030. That now won't happen - Ferrari and Porsche recently announced that they are scaling back, on full EV, to focus on hybrids.

Not even Ferrari can make today's batteries look stylish - they should have waited for solid-state.

[varoadking]

Ferrari and Porsche recently announced that they are scaling back, on full EV, to focus on hybrids.

Smart.  Late...but smart...

[tomterp]

I have a 25hp 2-stroke Yamaha outboard on my fishing boat.  Over time I've done a fair amount of the basic maintenance - changing spark plugs, replacing thermostat and fuel filter, etc.  Raised it up a notch when my water pump impeller fell apart and chunks went all over the place inside the cooling passageways.  I replaced that, and had to disassemble portions of the engine to clear out the debris.  Later I learned that the cheap Chinese impeller I used, though it looked perfect, only pumped about half as much water as a OEM Yamaha.  Had to find a hard to source Yamaha on Ebay but got it done.

So through all these little efforts I had to watch a lot of YouTube videos on outboard engine repair.  There's a whole genre where people buy junked or inoperable motors on FB Marketplace, rehab them and flip for a few hundred in profit.  Started thinking it might be a fun hobby to buy something with low investment to work on.  Ended up buying a 1995 Johnson 3hp for $40.  I've since found some significant issues and have $150 in parts on the way, but I'm hopeful it will run, shift gears, cool.  So I'll have $200 in it and expect it could fetch $400, but I don't really care about that.  Going to rent a jonboat at Occoquon to test once it's running in a barrel. In the meantime it's fun to tell folks I'm down in the basement playing with my little Johnson.   

[varoadking]

...it's fun to tell folks I'm down in the basement playing with my little Johnson.   

 

To a lesser degree, lawn mowers present a similar opportunity...especially now that companies like Honda no longer make ICE mowers...

[tomterp]

To a lesser degree, lawn mowers present a similar opportunity...especially now that companies like Honda no longer make ICE mowers...

I have a Honda mower.  For some years now it's been doing the "surge", when I let it idle the RPM's go up, down, up, down, very annoying!

Once I put it in gear (start the blades spinning) it seems fine, but upon further research this problem is usually caused by carb clogs in the idle jet.  So I tried taking the carb off to clean it, and oh, what a learning experience.  2 bolts hold it to the block, but there are umpteen (3) gaskets and spacer hidden behind the carb, which fell out upon removal.  Not to mention 2 more gaskets in the front behind the air box.

To make a long story short (too late!) after multiple attempts and videos, I finally found the right vid showing the sequencing of the gaskets and got it re-assembled right.  It's running much better now.  But this made me think I could take the next step of tackling an outboard carb.  My Johnson has 1 carb for 2 cylinders. 

First thing I did with it was to siphon the gas out, that was some nasty s&*$.  Sediment, multi-colored.  Just throwing away the gas filter.  I don't have a compression gauge, but feeling good resistance on the pull cord so gonna assume that's okay for now.  Getting good spark.  My big concern is that the gearcase may leak or not shift properly once reassembled.  I think I did a good job cleaning the carb, expect it to start.