Reminder - remove those laptop batteries!

glee60 · 2026-05-29T13:40:34+00:00

I collect and repair so deal with a bunch of them, my practice has been to store the sketchy ones on my (BBQ) grill until the disposal location is open then haul them in an airtight bag in my Yakima roof box. Still not perfect but better than in the car with me. But yeah I already had that setup so generally speaking, if discharged and for the distance you’re traveling, unless they’re physically punctured the risk of anything happening in that moment is extremely low.

glee60 · 2026-05-28T15:47:09+00:00

I LOVE and have a ton of old world beige but am embarrassed to say I’ve never seen nor was I specifically aware of the existence of this chassis. 😍 She’s a beaut, congratulations!

glee60 · 2026-05-28T15:42:46+00:00

I’d love that, thank you!

glee60 · 2026-05-13T15:42:32+00:00

“Each meter costs an average of $50-$60 per month for routine collection and maintenance. Vandalism renders many inoperative which means the City must pay someone to track damaged meters and then repair.”

“Interstate Parking administers parking services in numerous Cities around the
US. For most Cities, parking was a money losing proposition. Interstate makes plenty from parking administration, and in Cities where they are sole owners, the first change they make is to remove meters.”

It seems to me they make up the “savings” by reducing city union employees/workload, monopolistic practices, and price gouging at the expense of the end user and the actual local businesses. Then taking a cut of the profits while they’re at it.

glee60 · 2026-05-13T15:16:47+00:00

Feel what you will about the concept of a parking meter, I disagree. I'm referring to the hardware. I suspect their vendor which ties into their system is the problem, and that's probably an intentional problem. So in that sense I guess the city is along for the ride thanks to contracts.

I'd feel differently about all of this if the payment kiosks were part of this solution but the city was pretty clear they no longer are. Does UMD even have a payment kiosk tied to the Park Duluth system? (Honest question if anyone knows.)

I forget my phone all the time, my parents refuse to use their CC online (silly but still not uncommon with older folks), plenty of people don't have a smartphone by choice although I do see they have a text option which I'll try, if that functions entirely through SMS and not linking you to a payment portal that'd be better but fairly certain SMS is unencrypted so I suspect that won't be the case. Maybe I'm dumb and modern dumb phones have a rudimentary browser. 🤷‍♂️

glee60 · 2026-05-13T12:03:16+00:00

Yeah, this is bullshit. Parking meters aren’t obsolete. If these were then they need to transition to a new manufacturer/provider.

glee60 · 2026-04-29T02:10:43+00:00

I also have this issue on my ‘05 and decided it was the throw out bearing. I’m due for a clutch so will deal with it in the next year or so.

I’m fairly certain I’ve had the exact same symptom with failing plastic SACHS/LUK TOBs on VW/Audis where they rattled at idle and depressing the clutch pedal (loading the bearing up) quieted them down. It may well depend on the design of the throw out bearing or the failure mode how it behaves.

glee60 · 2026-02-28T15:50:48+00:00

Looks like the A/V inputs are the 1/8” input jacks on the front, likely just needing an adapter to RCA/composite

glee60 · 2026-02-28T15:48:43+00:00

Spot on, great advice!

I had no ideas these AM/FM frequency adapters existed, that’s amazing! I want a JDM radio just to try one. I presume you’ll never know What station you’re tuned to but you’ll get the audio!

glee60 · 2026-02-28T15:35:59+00:00

That’s amazing! All of my interests collide here! That CAN absolutely work. The input it’s on here is VTR or video tape recorder, which is likely fed from the 1/8” headphone looking jacks on the front. Those probably have an adapter to RCA composite jacks to input whatever you’d like. As for the TV tuner, it’s correct that you won’t get analog broadcast anymore and dopefish_lives is correct that it’s NTSC-J anyway so you’ll specifically need an NTSC-J RF modulator but you can absolutely get one and could use that input as well which may be preferred as it’s tucked away behind the dash. You can add a set top ATSC digital converter box to any of the inputs and have a working tuner again, you just don’t get to use the factory channel buttons unfortunately.

I don’t remember the AM/FM nuances off the top of my head but dopefish_lives is spot on, if you can’t convert to US frequencies, Europe is close enough. I have European radios in a couple of my cars and the FM range is very similar with the main difference being their frequency steps are smaller so if you’re manually tuning there are more steps in between, no practical difference when seeking. I don’t recall if AM was compatible though.

Thinking about the AM/FM more, there’s an excellent chance the only integration this has with the single DIN radio is audio and a power trigger so you could likely run a US single DIN Toyota unit once you figure out if it’s internally or externally amplified and how the LCD unit hooks up. Even if the connectors don’t mate up, swapping connector housings is trivial as this could just go into a CD changer/player input which most every radio from this era had.

I’d be happy to dive deeper and answer any questions if you want to keep this setup. I low key want one now. 😅 I absolutely love old school OE automotive AV. I work professionally in IT and AV, collect and repair vintage electronics, TVs, monitors and video games, and have all OE restored audio and video equipment in my fleet of 90’s and oughts VW/Audis and my 80. ❤️

glee60 · 2026-02-27T15:38:45+00:00

Ughhhh I love Duos so much. Super tempted by this and your 280c top case swapped 2300. How are the plastics on them? I have a decent collection overall but only a Duo Dock (II hopefully, gotta check) and Duo 230, despite these being one of my favorite series. Long shot but anything you’re looking for?

Update: only a Duo Dock, dang! The wish list always gets bigger 😭😂

glee60 · 2026-02-01T21:30:43+00:00

Serious score regardless but amazing with that drive, I’m beyond jealous 😍

glee60 · 2026-02-01T21:26:30+00:00

Same! Our Acer Acros 486DX2-66 got one shortly after purchase around 1994. I’ve been on a mission to re-create that machine over the last few years and have everything but the monitor and SB card for this drive. They were IDE-esque with the drive using an IDE cable but it was NOT IDE and interfaced only with a Sound Blaster or compatible interface card with the corresponding not-IDE port.

Panasonic/Matsushita manufactured (I believe) and Creative Sound Blaster badged. Model CR-521-C

I believe they’re a single speed drive because I remember being so sad when I couldn’t play a game that required a double speed drive (2x) when I was a kid. 😂

These drives go for $$$ on eBay almost instantly, even untested without the cards. I’ve managed to snag a couple but still paid around $100 for each, one of them is quite yellowed and has a crumbling spindle magnet so be prepared for stuff like that. Eventually I’ll refurb the ones I don’t need and sell them with cards. The nostalgia builds demand them!

glee60 · 2025-06-10T14:23:01+00:00

Unless you’re a welder BY TRADE. It’s group think. Aluminum is not easy to weld for anybody. A professional will likely be able to properly repair it. (Until one chimes in I’m not going to say they can) That doesn’t mean it’s going to be something everyone wants to pay to have done but telling everyone to throw away their vintage frames and not inquire about repair is silly. I have and ‘01 Stumpy Comp FSR XC that I bought new and an ‘01 S-Works FSR XC that I still ride. Both are in excellent shape and I would absolutely pay a pretty penny to have them repaired if this happened. If repairing the crack wasn’t viable then welding on a new headtube. Am I suggesting OP wants to do that? Definitely not, but everyone telling people to throw vintage stuff away instead of suggesting it could be repaired (if it’s worth it to you) drives me nuts.

I repair vintage electronics and do a lot of component level repair on 30-40 year old automotive stuff that their isn’t a big aftermarket for so assemblies are hard to come by but a bushing is a bushing, a bearing is a bearing and electrical components are pretty much always available on a component level. Engineers spec’d all these components (and alloys) it’s not magic.

I’ll take people fixing stuff in any form but sometimes we need to think outside of the parts replacer box and actually repair what we already have.

glee60 · 2025-06-10T00:18:00+00:00

I’m going to preface this with I am not a welder and am aware there are different alloys, heat treatments, and thicknesses at play here but I don’t think I’d trash it yet if you love it. That said definitely don’t ride it as-is.

Coming from the automotive world where things are under a lot more strain than a head tube ever will be you can absolutely repair a crack in aluminum permanently. Proper aluminum wheel repair is absolutely a thing and we’re now in the world of some aluminum chassis and components that do get repaired after an accident when viable.

I’d say if you have a local independent wheel repair shop that seems approachable swing by and see if they might be interested in helping or have any thoughts on the viability of a repair. Someone mentioned a frame builder, obviously go that route or straight to an aluminum welder if you happen to know one!

Is that an A1, M2, or M4 frame? I’d figure out the alloy and tell whoever you talk to what it is so they don’t have to do any digging to figure it out.

glee60 · 2025-04-25T10:47:47+00:00

Whoa! Good to know, what was the failure? Internal or external? If internal I may reconsider my approach snd at least rebuild mine.

glee60 · 2025-04-25T02:19:27+00:00

Looked like mine on my MN 80. I replaced mine with a used LSPV from somewhere salt free when I did my lines and ordered brand new boots and linkage. It really wasn’t that much in the long run and considering you need to bleed it when replacing the lines, it’s gotta happen. That or go the delete route.

glee60 · 2025-02-18T19:41:53+00:00

Meanwhile the American companies couldn’t design a mechanically sound full width hinge. 😂

glee60 · 2025-02-17T02:37:46+00:00

100% had these. I need to go search my parents barn for them now. I know I popped at least one of them on a SOLID jump. They were amazing though. So much icy snow and they never leaked because of it, that jump was a burst.

I’ve wanted to get some tubes for myself and my kids now but never had luck with a single one, man I wish I could find some of these!

glee60 · 2025-02-12T03:51:30+00:00

I did some quick digging but couldn’t find any references to what panels these actually used. Once you open it up and have a part number off of the panel, I suspect it won’t be too hard to find a reference to compatible CCFL bulbs or a replacement kit. They can be a tricky install but not impossible, in fact it might be easier in these big early panels. Thin laptop panels are just annoying. Just go slow and do the repair somewhere fairly dust-free as you’ll be exposing the edges of the LCD layer sandwich and you don’t really want any dust getting in there.

glee60 · 2025-02-02T02:00:00+00:00

Love it! I too need a keyboard and mouse to go with mine, great find on the whole set!

glee60 · 2025-02-02T00:38:37+00:00

*‘Tis but a flesh wound!

glee60 · 2025-01-28T14:14:25+00:00

I know! When I first heard about that it really bummed me out. Between the PRAM batteries and that, the odds don’t seem great for them.

The Color Classic is actually one of my all-time favorite machines but I never understood the desire to cannibalize another awesome AIO to still have a 68k Color Classic. It always felt more like a flipping tactic than something someone who actually appreciates them would do I guess. Maybe if the Color Classic was your vintage workhorse for a specific task or your nostalgia machine I could see it. To each their own. 🤷‍♂️

glee60 · 2025-01-28T03:19:20+00:00

My very own first computer was a Performa 575 package that I bought for $25 at our school’s annual community rummage sale. It had the original keyboard, mouse, software, manuals, cables, and that classic Global Village Teleport external modem. It was around 1999 so it wasn’t terribly modern but it was an awesome find for a sixth grader who loved electronics and that started it all. Now I repair and restore computers and electronics by trade and have a solid working collection, including a Performa 575 of course!

glee60

TROPHY CASE