the temps may have gone lower at times than 325, but at 1 hour it looked done so I gave it another 15mins to be sure. Later, sliced, it was done all the way through, even though I used about 1/2 of the charcoal pan full with no wood chips etc. the bread has a very slight woody/smoky flavor. The bottom of the loaf was a thick but not burnt crust, I would probably bake another loaf maybe 50 minutes.
Chili Bean Morroco Style Beef Stew
cooked on a grill with a charcoal starter
It was hot and humid tonight so…..
place a grate over a charcoal starter with white-hot coals
and flame brown seasoned rubbed beef cubes, cut big enough so they
won’t fall through a grill grate, about 2 minutes. do in batches if necessary.
place in a pan with olive oil, butter, sliced garlic, sliced onions.
and seasoning to taste, cumin, ground cloves, allspice etc.
return pan over the charcoal starter and saute the contents.
depending how you can set up your charcoal starter
in your BBQ grille do so carefully, the pan will be balanced on top
of the charcoal starter, acting like a burner, with a grate between the pan
and the top of the charcoal starter. Add your choice of tomatoes, with liquid
(1 can stewed tomatoes).heat through, add some kidney beans and heat through
10 or 15 minutes. Adjust the seasonings to taste (added more) and hot sauce.
heat through about 10 minutes more and taste to check seasonings.
Compared to how fast the raspberries grew and were harvested, the rest of the garden had slow growth . Of course the internet provided me with plantings that I purchased online as I did not get to start any seed this year. (some that i put in the garden didn’t take) The onions I have to do more research on as I planted them too close together and probably too shallow in my hurried effort to get them in the ground. Most shot up green stems but the bulbs didn’t grow all that big. I harvested several but decided to let them winter over till next year with a cover of mulch for now. Though small they were still tasty. Some of the bulbs grew green stems with a flowering top that looks like seed pods. I use some miracle grow once and a while and some slow release fertilizer but thats about it. The plantings will have to get used the the soil that was amended with mulched grass and leave clippings when I turned it over in the spring.
One thing nice about gardening is that it is a hobby that can go on for years with changes along the way growing different things. Tomatoes used to be the norm but learning about bulbous plantings is a plus. Also the oregano grew slowly and I harvested some, one of my fav herbs. I had oregano before, years ago, planted between some shrubbery that would winter over. I think where the oregano is planted may be too much sun. 
The hot pepper plants really gained in height and in the amount of peppers though they are small for now, most likely they should have been planted/purchased earlier.
Constantly in the process of trimming/removing and cutting up overgrown shrubbery. I also have to be more vigilant about the overgrowth of vines and weeds , American Pokeweed is active in areas near the garden and some other type of berries yet to be ID’ed are growing near the mulch pile. As for watering this year I finally cut out an opening in the top of the rain barrel big enough to put the utility pump into and provide rain water for the garden. A screen covers the opening and I’ll extend the down spout over it instead of using the smaller opening with a funnel. It’s fed with about a 4 foot section of gutter from the roof. Also, water from the dehumidifier can be added to the rain barrel.
I knew i had to get the 91 Topaz that I bought from my daughter on the road as the ol Ranger would need major rust-oration and probably wouldn’t pass state inspection.The winter is tough on vehicles that had any rust due to the salt and chems that are used on the roads. I had kept up with the chassis as best I could but the brake lines started to go and laying on your back in the driveway messing with frozen rusted fittings is bad news. The rear cab mounts are just about history also. The main brake line going from front to rear blew out at the rear. I had patched it up till I could replace it during a break in the weather, still the anti-lock was not functional and with frozen fittings no easy way to bleed out the brakes. 200,000 just passed and even the paint wore out more and more adding to a rat rod look. I don’t know what happened to the paint on the hood and roof it looks like someone took a blowtorch to it when I got it, major peeling and cracking The definite winner though is the drive train. The 2.3 L 4 cylinder still starts and runs every time, the only exception when the starter solenoid crapped out, very reliable with the dual ignition 2 plugs per cylinder and five speed tranny (4 speed with overdrive for you purist). Most likely will part it out for the 95 ranger. It’s easy to work on for the most part except for the rust and chassis and I don’t have the facilities to pull it apart down to the chassis, it would take me years (and much noise and $$$) working in the driveway. Several years ago the rust caused the front spring mount on the passenger side to pull away from the chassis, that had to go to the shop for replacement, a new one was welded in place, by the hour, welding is expensive but I got several more years out of it. Most of the other repairs/replacement I did, probably 99% of the parts were purchased on-line, tires , rims, cooling system, exhaust system, components etc. One of the advantages of the ranger is that there is a good supply of restoration parts still available even online bone yards that have rust free parts down south that I got a tranny cross member from. Purchase date was October 6th, 2003 ,$800.00 USD and odometer reading noted was 148296. About 7300 per year average. (mostly back and forth to work).
by the way, I like to work on vehicles for the most part not 24/7, so if could get a (newer) vehicle with payments that would last 60k and be equal with the parts and labor I would put into it repairing it myself……..BORING !!!!! and definitely not classic……..and what would I learn , better finances ? and besides, does having a hobby mean that you have to turn a profit on it ?
Installed new headlights, passenger side outer rear wheel bearing replaced
rear brakes need to be installed
mileage now at : 150,00
15
Being a stubborn DIYer can have it’s advantages/disadvantages and shopping on the internet for convenience since the local warehouse club closed, where I usually would purchase tires, I had purchased two front tires delivered and as fate would have it right after DIY mounting them (I have yet to DIY balance them (badboy!) A pothole on post road took most of the air from one of them. Being a front wheel drive car I didn’t really notice any difference in handling.. so on I rode… later finding out that the new tire was woefully under inflated from the killer pothole. So I supposed I put the myself and others at risk riding around like this !!! My vehicle doesn’t have the latest safety enhancement of tire pressure monitoring! Nor do I want it. Some sidewall wear on the tire but so far so good …It re inflated and held air . The DIYer rides on… (yes you can purchase replacement insurance for tires bought online.(and yes I have old tires to bring to the recycling center or maybe look up ways to utilize them)) I will have to take a good look ,after the teeth smashing pot hole encounter, of the front end as if there was any alignment it is probably gone. (Is there an app to download for your mobile phone for pothole claim damage?)….
04/22/2011 $3.859 USD/gallon
04/03/2011 $3.639 USD/ gallon
04/09/2011 $3.699 USD/ gallon
The ranger sitting in the driveway will have to go !!!!! Tags expired , if I was on a farm it might be nice to have a rusty pickup around !
The air tube bracket from under the car is buzzing again, the bolt securing it is off the bracket probably from the snow that was piled up and driven over.
The starter failed, friday AM, clicking solenoid, when checked the wiring and voltage was ok, pulled the starter and dissassembled, Intermittent and slow operation when bench tested, looks like oil from the leaking valve cover has dripped down onto and into the starter. The amature and brushes were covered in oil and dirt. Cleaned out the brushes and commutator. Tested ok, reinstalled. Will have to rebuild/replace soon. last check was Sept. with a wiring problem.
Passenger side front window no power or poor connection somewhere, doesn’t work was intermittent (from october)
topped off transmission fluid
heater controls need cleaning /service ,sometimes intermittent fan operation
passenger side tire slow leak, inside sidewall has dry rot, front tires to be replaced.
3/17/2001 regular unleaded @ $3.539 USD/ gallon
The alternator belt broke, replaced. Most likely the bearing seized up and broke the belt. Ordered parts for rebuild only to find out that the alternator is a 75 amp Mitsubishi model (should have checked more closely) and a Topaz with automatic transmission and air conditioning should have a 95 amp unit, unable to rebuild it so a 95 amp model ordered. (Installed new alternator)
12/26/2010,12.436gals, 258 miles, 20.81 mpg
12/09/2010, 12.023 gals,248 miles,20.627mpg , $3.05 USD/gal
$2.889 USD/gallon, 9.944 Gallons, 243 miles 24.4 miles per gallon, $28.73 USD
Unleaded regular, @2.859/G, 11.624 Gal, 266 miles, 22.88 mpg, $33.23 USD
Passenger side power window intermittent power, most likely switch, and/or connections need cleaning.
Tires: the donut spare was found to have a screw through the tread. Since I never thought that space saver spare was a good idea and it’s only for temporary service under 50 mph, I purchased on-line a 14 inch steel rim (Discounttiredirect.com $43.00 and $3.00 for a tire valve ,free shipping.) I could have gone to a bone yard or got used rims on Ebay but theres no guarantee that they would be true (not bent or out of round) , for the money and convenience of delivery it’s a good deal on a new rim..Mounted a 14″ tire I had in the basement. Possibly will buy 2 new tires at a later date. Now I have a full size spare.
Valve cover leaks oil, one reference states that the late models have an integral gasket as part of the valve cover, meaning that if it’s damaged, you replace the entire valve cover. One good thing is that the valve cover is easily replaceable, there is not a lot of plumbing or components blocking it’s removal.
Recent gas up was 13.011 gallons at $2.559 USD/gal. I didn’t get the exact odometer reading but estimate mileage was 24-25 mpg. (about ~300 miles ).
tire valves
both rear tires that were previous mounted on the front of the car had leaking tire valves.
one I discovered leaking and changed, checked the other ones, they seemed alright.
The drivers side rear tire blew out and when a tire was mounted, the tire valve was leaking,
replaced the valve. It looks like fix-a flat sealant was used as there was some around the neck of the tire valve. check donut spare, it went flat when car was parked, re-inflated, may get a rim for a full size spare.
Coolant:
Drained coolant (no flush) and replaced about 1 gallon of anti freeze, you are supposed to remove the drain plug from the engine block to completely drain the coolant but it’s difficult to get to and no idea how easily it would be to remove it. while I was under the car checked for any major oil/tranny leaks, didn’t see any but didn’t have the engine running at the time.Getting to the petcock on the radiator to drain fluid is no easy task compared to working on the ranger. Plus you have to attach tubing to the petcock as there’s a bracket directly under the petcock. On the topaz, the air cleaner tube was in the way and if you have large hands it’s a tight squeeze. Run up to temp and top off check cooling fan.
A/C
the A/c compressor pulley has major play in it, the bearing are probably shot and that most likely the reason why it’s bypassed. If I ever have time and money to do it I’ll pull the compressor and repair /replace it. Low priority.
Starter circuit
Also pulled the starter out, by chance, the car didn’t start (solenoid clicking) after I changed the anti freeze, the starter and solenoid looked ok and bench tested ok, cleaned all electrical connections on starter and solenoid. Car still didn’t start now, but cranking, no spark, checked connection at coil, getting 12 v but noticed some slight oxidation at primary coil connection, cleaned and applied dielectic grease. vehicle started. Some times working on older vehicles you have to clean some of the electrical connections and grounds that could cause intermittents.
Misc
Also I reattached the air tube bracket from under the car. that was causing a buzzing sound at around 1200 RPM
Gas Milage
Current fill up was 10.433 gallons at 252 miles, more idle time when servicing vehicle, full throttle acceleration test to redline. stallout at idle after service not sure if it was due to computer refresh after having battery cable disconnected for starter service. Other wise, vehicle is running ok. Ignition ok in rain.
topped off transmission fluid, sometimes 1-2 shift delayed, will have to check out transmission, leaking etc. and recheck fluid level
rotated tires,
repaired passenger side power window gear
mileage from last fill up, after emission repairs and tune up, 28mpg , 288 miles which is good but, driving for good mileage may result in an increase in vehicles that tailgate you, especially when accelerating from stoplights or on freeway entrance ramps. seems a bit high
next fill up was 25. 68 mpg, 277 miles.
repairs/ maintenance to be considered:
some small rust spots on the undercarriage and trunk floor, should repair b4 winter
rear brakes may need adjusting ?? right rear drags sometimes
should change coolant b4 winter (done)
possible starter solenoid/ wiring problems, troubleshoot, check wiring (done)
drivers side front door lock solenoid (actually a motor actuator, froze up) needs replacing, low priority
drivers side rear power window gear may need replacing, low priority
spare key works in ignition but won’t unlock doors
July 2010 repairs
Replaced :spark plugs, wires, rotor, distributer cap
Front Brake pads
CV joint boot outer left front axle, quick boot type
Left rear strut assembly
Power window motor gear, drivers side
Coolant temperature sender
(parts from Rock Auto)
Accu Auto Repairs (emission repairs)
Replaced O2 sensor $59.00 USD
Replaced EGR solenoid $62.00 USD
Labor Diagnostic $70.00 USD
RI State Inspection. $39.00 USD
VIN readout:
World Manufacturer Identifier – 1st, 2nd, 3rd Positions
VIN Code: 1ME
Assembly Country: UNITED STATES
Make: Mercury
Body Style: Sedan
Restraint System Type (Passenger Cars) or Brake Type and GVWR Class (Trucks and Vans) – 4th Position
VIN Code: P
Brake System: STANDARD
GVWR Class:
Line,Series Body Type – 5th, 6th, 7th Positions
VIN Code: M36
Vehicle Line: Topaz
Series: GS
Vehicle Type: Passenger Car
Engine Type – 8th Position
VIN Code: X
Engine: 2.3 L
Cylinders: 4
Fuel: Gasoline
Model Year – 10th Position
VIN Code: M
Model Year: 1991
Assembly Plant – 11th Position
VIN Code: K
Assembly Plant: KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
Production Sequence Number – 12th – 17th
VIN Code: deleted
Prod Sequence Number deleted
Additional Information
Wheel Axles Wheelbase 199.8
stats
4 door
Front wheel drive
4 cylinder, 3 speed automatic transmission
color: light blue, faded flat with primer spots (or faded clear coat) showing
one side looks like repaint, rust spot rear quarter
39000 on the clock (139000)
power side mirrors
power locks and windows
A/C, non functional, serpentine belt is for no a/c application, by passes A/C pulley.
I purchased this car from my daughter who wanted to sell it, knowing that I would need another vehicle some day when the ranger crapped out. It sat out in the driveway for a couple of years but I started it and ran it around the hood every couple of months. Some days I would come home and find a “cash for junk cars” flyer on it. I guess people don’t recognize a decent good car when they see it. (and technically they are trespassers.)
average 24 MPG
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