HELLO! HOW Y’ALL DOIN’?

AN EDITOR’S NOTE BY TOM GEORGE

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and would like to send you Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

This is our 22nd Cruiser Newsletter, having first appeared in April of 2024, this 2026 edition now spans three years of newsletters. I have enjoyed putting these newsletters together for you and I hope that you have taken a moment to read them and find enjoyment and worth in them as well.

This time of the year our featured calendar gets a bit thin as winter weather, even in Georgia, makes it uncomfortable and sometimes down-right difficult to hold outdoor events. The good news is that our winter weather is more short-lived than other parts of the country and stuff starts up again before the end of the first quarter of the year.

Our calendar is always led off by our local recurring events, but beware as most of them are on hiatus until March or April. We keep them posted as a reminder that we have plenty of opportunity to attend fun events nearly every month!

You’ll find Ellijay Mountain Cruisers hosted events in BOLD in the calendar for our monthly Dinner Social Meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, our monthly Dine & Drive Lunch now on the 3rd Thursday of the month, and as always our Cars & Coffee Cruise-In on the last Saturday of the month.

Please note the change in the monthly Dine & Drive to the 3rd Thursday in order to spread events more evenly throughout the month and to give us more dinning options as many mountain restaurants don’t open the first part of the week. This should allow us to have more variety in not only restaurants but destinations as well. Always check the website calendar to see if things may shift due to other circumstances!

There are still a few events that turn up in January and February, so be sure to check the calendar for something that may strike your fancy. Many of these events have a charity fundraising component to them as well.

Thanks again for being an avid reader of the Ellijay Mountain Cruisers - The Cruiser Newsletter. As always, if there is something you’d like to see in the way of content, just reach out and I’ll see what I can do to include it.

Thanks, Happy New Year!

Tom G.

More often than not, forming—or re-forming—threads in a part or piece follows the destruction of those spiraling channels. You’ve probably broken a piece of hardware—or, worst of all, an easy-out. Toss in the fact that taps are very hard, and thus brittle, and you have a very volatile evening of work ahead of you.

When used properly and carefully, a tap set can be a reset button on the life of a part. Even drilling up one size and tapping so that a fastener can have appropriate holding power may be better than replacing the fastener. Sometimes it’s all about perspective.

Tool #2: Spring compressors

The sudden release of potential energy describes a lot of scenarios: The explosion of a firecracker, the expansion of an airbag, and the release of a compressed spring. Each of those can have serious long-term health effects if it happens too close to your person. There are two groups of people who work on automotive suspension: those who are uncomfortable, and those who ignore the forces at play.

Springs and suspension still need to be serviced, though. Carefully inspect and service spring compressors before using them to ensure there is no damage or problems that might pop up. Sometimes just that bit of added confidence is enough to soften the fear factor.

Tool #3: Camshaft locker

It’s not that this tool is so bad; it’s that the consequences of human error when using it are high enough to make us uneasy. Variable camshaft timing has unlocked horsepower that comes with minimal compromises in fuel economy and also drivability. Unfortunately, the technology also makes for more complicated service; replacing a timing chain or belt often requires careful alignment of multiple points while also holding tensioners and gears in proper orientation. The job can be fairly painless, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun.

Tool #4: Air hammer

Percussive force breaks the bonds of rust, and it hammers eardrums just as thoroughly. The compromise can often be easily overcome with a good set of earplugs or over-the-ear muffs, but using an air hammer still isn’t a pleasurable experience. Compared to using the torch, and the chance of lighting everything on fire, it is the lesser of two evils. We don’t love you, air hammer, but, after all these years, we haven’t let you leave the toolbox.

 

Tool #5: Impact driver

Stripped hardware is the bane of any DIYer’s existence. Even with the proper tools and experience to handle stripped screws and bolts, we don’t want to spend the limited time we have in the garage dealing with them. The combination of driving and turning force delivered by an impact screwdriver can take quickly solve the problem of a partially stripped screw. It can also result in hitting your wrist with a hammer, or create an even bigger problem by snapping a bolt off where you can’t grab it. Often, our opinion of an impact screwdriver is based on how well it worked the last time we used it.

Tool #6: The Big Hammer

You know the one. The handle is slightly stained, and the face features a few chips from that one time you got a little carried away on that ball joint. You probably started addressing the problem at hand with a couple of smaller hammers and, when you realized that things were not going your way, and that you were tired of talking nice, opened the drawer to grab The Big Hammer.

This list is all a matter of opinion and personal experience, so we may have missed one or two here. If you’ve got a tool you avoid reaching for but might not be able to put a finger on why, leave a comment. Consider it an unofficial survey.