View allAll Photos Tagged SparkPlug
Pictures of the West Bank Light from on board the Jewel of the Seas at the beginning of our two week cruise. The West Bank Light is a sparkplug lighthouse that dates from 1901 and is in the Lower New York Bay. It serves as the front range light with the Staten Island Lighthouse serving as the rear range. This guided ships into the Ambrose Channel. I was able to see a number of lighthouses in New York Harbor this trip. On board the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas for a grand 14 day cruise to Greenland (September 14th through 28th, 2023). The cruise embarks from Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) with an actual stop in Manhattan (a delay leaving NYC caused by Hurricane Lee); Nuuk, Qaqortoq & Nanortalik in Greenland; St.John's, Newfoundland before heading back to New York City.
I'm replacing my Bosch Super 4s with the Denso Iridium Power IK20 Spark Plug.
Tune-up time for the Apple of my eye. :)
When Transformers Armada/Micro Dentetsu was released, the show was OK but they toys felt like such a giant ste backwards after the excellent offerings of the Car Robots 2000 lineup. But, there were a few gems in that pile, one of which Optimus Prime, which further refined the combining trailer concept by making them turn into a pair of pants.
The actual toy was fun, but engineering wise it was effectively a giant brick, especially the trailer part.
Now, as luck would have it, the most exciting part of the Legacy Evolution line we're currently living through is the upcoming Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime, which so far looks good, at the very least not being watered down class wise like other recent Primes are.
There was also, a few years ago, a third party Fans Hobby attempt at the Armada Prime toy. I'd never gotten any third party of this size, and was figuring that one day I'd get a nicely priced Power Baser (Powermaster Optimus Prime) at TFCon.
Well, turns out if you snag them at preorder from your friendly neighbourhood online toy store, they're actually not horrendously priced.
I didn't take my original out, but I think this Fans Hobby version (Naval Commander... for Amada, get it?!?!) is slightly bigger than the OG figure. Conceptually it's the same (core figure, trailer, mini-con) but with a few premium tricks and twists.
From a high level, visually things have changed, part due to modernization and partly due to desire not to get hassled by the lawyers. The truck mode seems a bit longer, proportionally, compared to the original figure.
The trailer is probably where you see the greatest difference. Gone is the motoorized transformation gimmick, which was expected and fine with me. Certainly more firepower this time around with the inclusion of two rocket launchers... spring loaded rockets I might add. Prime's hand cannon extends to a much larger size for mounting in trailer mode. The pontoon things on the side of the trailer are now removable and can be mounted on several spots, specifically in robot mode.
Trailer turns into nonsensical alt modes, which is par for the course. There's extended trailer mode, which is basically fancy trailer with ramps, and then there's base mode which is... fancy trailer with ramps AND platforms. Shout out to the Fans Hobby team for including semi functional knee cannons, which was a spring powered missile launcher on the original toy.
the transformation scheme has been drastically changed, which should be expected. The core robot probably has about the same amount of articulation, where as the combined mode certainly has more than before.
In some weird twist of fate, the combined mode actually has more articulation than the core robot, thanks to the ab crunch. However, as you can imagine, the sheer bulk of both modes does get in the way of movement, as does the general design, but with the exception of the tabs that keep combined mode together, joints are well designed, robust, and can take a beating.
Sparkplug is a big gangly looking, but sports some impressive engineering to result in a fairly articulated figure.
As with most third party figures (or at least the well designed ones) transformation involves some twists and turns that wouldn't make it to a mainline figure, and you'd be hard pressed to find them on a MP figure, though it could happen. The fascinating thing is that despite the sheer precision required to make all the tiny parts fit properly, Fans Hobby pulled it off. There's some engineering decisions I disagree with, but the QC on this thing is very impressive.
There's actually far less paint on this figure than I anticipated, but that could be them trying to be realistic on budget. Also, for those interested, the materials used feel like what we get on our modern mainline figures... or at least the Legacy stuff.
Also possible on this figure (which I didn't test) are swap out of the combined mode ears for larger, more OG design ears, the ability to swap out the eyes for clear eyes, and of course, LED lights but I didn't have the battery..
This engine has a larger thread for the spark plug than most modern engines, so I had to buy one that size. I got an NGK AP5FS, which is shown next to a Champion CJ8, which is used in most lawnmower and trimmer engines
Pictures of the West Bank Light from on board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas at the beginning of our week-long cruise. The West Bank Light is a sparkplug lighthouse that dates from 1901 and is in the Lower New York Bay. It serves as the front range light with the Staten Island Lighthouse serving as the rear range. This guided ships into the Ambrose Channel. I was able to see a number of lighthouses in New York Harbor this trip. On board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas for the Seven Night Labadee & Puerto Plata Cruise (November 6th through 13th, 2022). The cruise embarks from Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) with stops at Labadee, Haiti and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic before heading back to New York City. The itinerary changed after Hurricane Nicole canceled our planned stops.
Pictures of the Robbins Reef Light from on board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas at the beginning of our week-long cruise. The Robbins Reef Light is a sparkplug lighthouse that dates from 1883 (replacing a light that was built in 1839). It is very close to Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey. I was able to see a number of lighthouses in New York Harbor this trip. On board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas for the Seven Night Labadee & Puerto Plata Cruise (November 6th through 13th, 2022). The cruise embarks from Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) with stops at Labadee, Haiti and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic before heading back to New York City. The itinerary changed after Hurricane Nicole canceled our planned stops.
Here's Chris Ko removing the spark plugs from his 2010 Honda Civic engine to accommodate Ryan Wilford's Oil System Cleaner product demonstration that includes cylinder compression tests. I wrote up the story of Bluechem bringing Oil System Cleaner to Canada on Digital Journal, and made a nifty YouTube video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTmQvi9JpA
When Transformers Armada/Micro Dentetsu was released, the show was OK but they toys felt like such a giant ste backwards after the excellent offerings of the Car Robots 2000 lineup. But, there were a few gems in that pile, one of which Optimus Prime, which further refined the combining trailer concept by making them turn into a pair of pants.
The actual toy was fun, but engineering wise it was effectively a giant brick, especially the trailer part.
Now, as luck would have it, the most exciting part of the Legacy Evolution line we're currently living through is the upcoming Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime, which so far looks good, at the very least not being watered down class wise like other recent Primes are.
There was also, a few years ago, a third party Fans Hobby attempt at the Armada Prime toy. I'd never gotten any third party of this size, and was figuring that one day I'd get a nicely priced Power Baser (Powermaster Optimus Prime) at TFCon.
Well, turns out if you snag them at preorder from your friendly neighbourhood online toy store, they're actually not horrendously priced.
I didn't take my original out, but I think this Fans Hobby version (Naval Commander... for Amada, get it?!?!) is slightly bigger than the OG figure. Conceptually it's the same (core figure, trailer, mini-con) but with a few premium tricks and twists.
From a high level, visually things have changed, part due to modernization and partly due to desire not to get hassled by the lawyers. The truck mode seems a bit longer, proportionally, compared to the original figure.
The trailer is probably where you see the greatest difference. Gone is the motoorized transformation gimmick, which was expected and fine with me. Certainly more firepower this time around with the inclusion of two rocket launchers... spring loaded rockets I might add. Prime's hand cannon extends to a much larger size for mounting in trailer mode. The pontoon things on the side of the trailer are now removable and can be mounted on several spots, specifically in robot mode.
Trailer turns into nonsensical alt modes, which is par for the course. There's extended trailer mode, which is basically fancy trailer with ramps, and then there's base mode which is... fancy trailer with ramps AND platforms. Shout out to the Fans Hobby team for including semi functional knee cannons, which was a spring powered missile launcher on the original toy.
the transformation scheme has been drastically changed, which should be expected. The core robot probably has about the same amount of articulation, where as the combined mode certainly has more than before.
In some weird twist of fate, the combined mode actually has more articulation than the core robot, thanks to the ab crunch. However, as you can imagine, the sheer bulk of both modes does get in the way of movement, as does the general design, but with the exception of the tabs that keep combined mode together, joints are well designed, robust, and can take a beating.
Sparkplug is a big gangly looking, but sports some impressive engineering to result in a fairly articulated figure.
As with most third party figures (or at least the well designed ones) transformation involves some twists and turns that wouldn't make it to a mainline figure, and you'd be hard pressed to find them on a MP figure, though it could happen. The fascinating thing is that despite the sheer precision required to make all the tiny parts fit properly, Fans Hobby pulled it off. There's some engineering decisions I disagree with, but the QC on this thing is very impressive.
There's actually far less paint on this figure than I anticipated, but that could be them trying to be realistic on budget. Also, for those interested, the materials used feel like what we get on our modern mainline figures... or at least the Legacy stuff.
Also possible on this figure (which I didn't test) are swap out of the combined mode ears for larger, more OG design ears, the ability to swap out the eyes for clear eyes, and of course, LED lights but I didn't have the battery..
I finally had a day where I can take my car in to change its spark plugs. The manual says change it every 100,000 miles but my very trusty mechanic said I can have them changed it at 111k. So finally at 113k, I first made a stop at the Glendale Toyota to pickup iridium spark plugs. It came out to about $75 for 6 of them with a discount. The guy said he'll give 15% off to me. Then I drove to my dad's mechanic to have him replace the spark plugs.
I knew it was time consuming to access the 3 rear plugs. I didn't even bother to try to replace them myself. He charged me 1 hour of labor. It took him 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete the job. After peaking at the progress I noticed a bunch of components taken out. When I saw that, I was glad I decided to let someone who is experienced take care of it. It would've taken me an entire day!
I know this may seem like odd subject matter, I was just really drawn to their shapes and the way they caught the light. They're old and dirty, taken out of my dad's motorcycle. But still very sculptural.
This spark plug came out of a Ford Ranger with 170K miles on it. I'm pretty sure these are the orginal plugs.
Robbins Reef Light
The Robbins Reef Light Station is a sparkplug lighthouse located off Constable Hook in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, along the west side of Main Channel, Upper New York Bay. The tower and integral keepers quarters were built in 1883. It replaced an octagonal granite tower built in 1839. The U.S. Coast Guard owned and operated the light station until the 2000s.
The structure is also called Kate's Light for Kate Walker who "manned" the station alone after the death of her husband Captain John Walker in 1886, until 1919. She rowed her children to school on Staten Island.
We had an amazing time on board the Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas on our seven night cruise of New England and Canada (July 27th through August 3rd, 2018). Here are pictures of lighthouses that we took from onboard the Adventure of the Seas. The Spring Point Ledge Light is a sparkplug lighthouse built in 1897 and located in South Portland. Taken on Sunday July 29th, 2018.
Preorder the collected Vortex on Kickstarter until Oct 3rd: www.kickstarter.com/projects/sparkplugfallbooks/sparkplug...
Preorder the collected Vortex on Kickstarter until Oct 3rd: www.kickstarter.com/projects/sparkplugfallbooks/sparkplug...
From the Doors Open Oshawa website:
The museum, built in the 1920’s and established in 1961, is located in a former car dealership. There are approximately 65 vehicles dating from 1898 to 1981, showcasing the development of the automobile. The building contains its original freight elevator.
Oshawa, Ontario.