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It was down to 44 degrees this morning, but I was not to be deterred. I kept the top down. Clear and cold, the air whipped around me tugging at the new scarf around my neck. The scarf fluttered above the car looking like a gold striped ribbon on a gift wrapped in black paper. The Killers played to me, guitars building along with the revs…

 
“We’re burning down the highway skyline
on the back of a hurricane that started turning
when you were young
when you were young” 

The roaring wind, the cold air stinging my face and numbing my fingers, driving fast on the best road in Austin, and listening to new music formed a perfect storm of joy for me this morning. I couldn’t stop smiling. I don’t know if it was therapy or a drug, but it was a welcome break from the melancholia that I have been feeling, as I do every year when Summer changes to Autumn.

The Killers’ first CD Hot Fuss never left heavy rotation around me. Literally, it never left the CD changer in my car. As a complete work, it satisfied and thrilled like no other album I had heard in years. Every song was a hidden treasure of sonic tracings and echoes from the 80’s in a way that was like authentic genetic influence rather than a band playing dress-up. Rising above the rest was a song that has become one of my favorites - Brandon Flowers’ discussion with God on “All These Things I’ve Done” - a song I have quoted on this blog before.

On their new CD Sam’s Town, The Killers continue to dazzle, if perhaps to a slightly lesser degree. The DNA strands from my youth are still there. I hear the Styx opening to Paradise Theater on Enterlude. I hear Springsteen’s Born to Run (or Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s superior(!) remake) in When You Were Young and a Book of Love synth thread in perhaps the best song of the album Read My Mind. OCD keeps me from absorbing the whole album at once, so I am rotating through my first favorites, the aforementioned three plus Sam’s Town and Reasons Unknown. In my opinion, these alone substantiate this sophomore effort as near-brilliant in its own right. If I warm to the second half of the CD, I will consider it great indeed.

“Slipping in my faith
until I fall
you never returned that call
woman, open the door
don’t let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again

She said
I don’t mind
if you don’t mind
’cause I don’t shine
if you don’t shine”

- The Killers “Read My Mind”

jimmy
 

With my house cracking apart, I was even more eager to get away this past weekend for some fresh air and the open road. So, Friday afternoon, I loaded-up the Miata and pointed her towards Rising Star, Texas, where I would meet my friend David Sylvester for some dove hunting. I’m not much of a hunter. I have been out with Dave half a dozen times and haven’t bagged a single anything, most of the time because I never saw anything. But that has always been a secondary consideration for me. Hunting has always been about getting outside, drinking beer, shooting firearms, and basically doing things that would make Ted Nugent proud. Not bathing for a few days is just a bonus. Anyway, this would be my first dove hunt; maybe I would have better luck this time.

I stopped to have lunch in Lampasas and review the burger at Storm’s:

Storm’s is legendary around Central Texas. I swear, any time that I hear anyone mention Lampasas, the very next words I hear are, “Did you go to Storm’s?” It could be a conversation between two people, or you can just walk outside and mutter “Lampasas” under your breath and a passerby in a car will call out, “Hey, be sure to go to Storm’s!” I’m not kidding. Go try it. So, inspired by the Texas Burger Guy (TBG) blog that I stumbled upon recently, I decided to stop and see what all the fuss is about.

A quick note about my review style. I hope to submit my review to TBG as a guest reviewer, so I will try to follow TBG review rules.

Storm’s has been serving burgers at their original Lampasas location for over 50 years. Originally called Dairy Cue, it sounds suspiciously like Storm’s started life as one of the many Dairy Queen knockoff restaurants that are strewn around small towns in Texas (Dairy King, Dixie Queen, Daisy Queen, et al). Dairy Cue, or Dairy Q? No matter, Jim Storm and his family were setting themselves apart serving quality burgers and attracting legions of loyal fans, including perhaps the most famous gourmand in history - Elvis Presley, who is said to have frequented the establishment while stationed at Fort Hood.

Old School Drive-In

New School Patio

The original Storm’s is a drive-in and still has the look of a bona fide burger joint. But they also have a new patio across the parking lot for those wanting to “dine-in.” The patio is contemporary and clean, with a fountain made from Llanite and landscaping that uses native Texas plants. To be honest, the patio didn’t look very “burger joint” at all, but the fact that they chose to keep the original drive-in alongside the new structure, shows their solid values and commitment to their own heritage. Okay, I can feel TBG getting impatient; let’s get to the food.

The menu is simple and features the Storm’s Special - a 1/2 pound, triple-meat cheeseburger and fries. If they say it’s special, then that’s what I want. I placed my order from the patio, using the same intercom and menu system found in the drive-in stalls. In just a few minutes, I was served. My initial observation was that the burger came wrapped in paper rendered clear from the grease. I wondered if I could get an angioplasty in Lampasas.

Click here for 1600 x 1200.

Undeterred, I unwrapped the burger. I had ordered the special without pickles or onion, which is my custom, and this is what was left: three beef patties, one slice of American cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, and mustard, on a lightly toasted white bun that looked like it had been run over by a truck. This was a good burger, maybe even a very good burger, but I would stop short of saying that it was a great burger. Maybe it just goes against too many of my preferences. For instance, the fact that it is a triple-burger might sound impressive at first, but the individual patties are thinner than the ones found in an Elementary School cafeteria. They are so thin that it would be impossible not to overcook them, which is the real problem here. If anything, one of the valid reasons for having multiple patties, is to increase the cheese to beef ratio, but Storm’s only has one slice of cheese to hold together three patties (obviously, extra cheese is available). I also prefer to have my vegetables on top of the burger, rather than beneath it. It’s a small thing, but it does matter. Let’s run down the TBG categories:

Ooze Factor
Let’s talk about ooze for a second. There is good ooze and there is bad ooze. The best ooze is the cow juice from a nice medium-rare to medium burger. To a degree, grease can be good ooze. Bad ooze is a wet burger from watery vegetables. This was a medium-wet burger, but there was very little cow juice. The ooze was mostly from grease and wet vegetables. If you like grease, this is another advantage to a triple-burger, especially if it’s fried - there are six sides of burger holding grease for you. I’m going to go straight down the middle on this.
Ooze Factor Rating: 5

Herd Killer
No mystery here; this burger is a 1/2 pounder. With more patties to cook-down, I bet it comes out less than a single 1/2 pound burger when it’s served.
Herd Killer Rating: 4

Handling
This burger was very easy to handle. By design or by accident, this burger was squished-down flat, which made for good maneuverability and easy ingress. It had good ergonomics, but was not very impressive looking.
Handling Rating: 4

Bling Bling
My total bill was just over $5, an incredible bargain. Also, to aid in digestion and to keep my blood thin enough to hopefully stave off an aneurysm, I ordered water with my meal and they gave me a huge, Super Big Gulp sized cup, which I thought was unusually generous. However, I noticed that there was a $.50 charge for any substitution, no matter the item. I can admire that concept from the standpoint of this being a burger joint (”You get what you get,” according to Alan Richman), but I have to dock them under this category. It would be silly to charge me $.50 for tater tots instead of fries.
Bling Bling Rating: 8

Gravedigger
Half a pound of meat and a little grease isn’t enough to get me too worried. If you think food is going to kill me, you haven’t seen me drive. This was less than an hour later with the top down and the little tin can getting blown all over the road:

Storm’s Gravedigger Rating: 4 shovels
Jimmy’s Driving Gravedigger Rating: 9 shovels

Overall Storm’s Special Burger Rating: 5

This is a case where an overall rating might make a burger look poor. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I said before, this is a good burger, especially when considering other factors of the dining experience. First and foremost are the fries. The fries are outstanding. They are fresh cut and fried in the skin to a perfect level of crispiness and saltiness. The only thing I found unusual was the fact that I found a packet of ketchup at the bottom of my pile of fries, like the prize at the bottom of a cereal box, when it was too late to use it. I couldn’t tell if that was a Storm’s custom, or just a fluke. I don’t usually put ketchup on my fries, so it really didn’t matter.

Finally, on my way back home a couple of days later, I stopped at the Storm’s in Burnet to check the consistency between the two locations. I ordered the exact same thing, except that I also ordered a vanilla malt. The burger and fries were exactly as I had found them in Lampasas (except no ketchup packet prize). The malt was thick and delicious. In fact, it was so thick that I couldn’t figure out why they bothered having an “extra thick” option, which I didn’t try. I suppose it comes as a solid, rather than a liquid.

There are Storm’s locations in Lampasas, Burnet, Hamilton, Kingsland, and Marble Falls. For more information, check their website at www.stormsrestaurants.com.

Overall Rating for Storm’s: 7 

After lunch, I turned up 183 and continued heading north. The weather was stunning and the roads were clear. I found that with the top down, but the side windows up, I could cruise comfortably at fairly high speeds. I still had On The Road in my CD player, but there was no hope of hearing anything but subliminal whispers from it.

This might sound a bit strange, but I love the Southern Gothic dilapidation found in small Texas towns and the adjoining countryside. I love the abandoned shops and the broken barns. I love the fallen stables and the (not really so) ancient stone walls. I love the faded signs of times past. I stopped in Zephyr, Texas and snapped some photographs of the Miata in front of such a building.

Click here for bigger. 

I also snapped some fashion shots of the car at our final destination - the hunting camp, which is a boxcar located in the middle of the lease property as if set down by the same mischievous UFO that dropped a boat in the middle of a desert in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Now with Super Shock Control!

I arrived before anyone else, so I had a chance to just sit back, crack open a beer and dig into a book. Despite the mild weather and a gentle breeze, the afternoon sun eventually made me tired, so I dug around in the boxcar until I found a hammock. I tied it between a couple of trees and lay in the shade until Steven Sylvester and his stepson Riley drove up. We unpacked their truck and visited for awhile until the sun started to drop and then we geared-up for an evening hunt. Just as we were driving off, Steven’s best friend, Sam Roach, drove into camp. Within a half hour, the four of us were setup near a tank under a tree line where the doves were known to roost for the night. We waited for them to fly in. When they finally came, Sam and Riley each got a bird, but Steven and I were shooting blanks. We each mumbled something about the beer.

It seems migratory birds are completely safe from me as they appear to be small enough to evade my target locking computer. The same cannot be said for the cute, fuzzy bunny rabbit that Riley flushed out of the brush for me, though. The rabbit ran straight at me and fearing death at the end of sharp, pointed teeth, I was forced to defend myself.

We got back to camp and Sam showed me how to clean the rabbit. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Riley and I built a fire and Steven grilled steaks for everyone. He also grilled the two birds they had got that day. He put the meat into jalepeños and wrapped them with bacon. Delicious. David eventually arrived late in the evening. We told him what had happened and then we turned-in so we could get up early for the morning hunt.

The morning hunt didn’t go as well. I think Sam got another bird, but they were scarce. We spent the rest of the day walking David’s new property. He and his wife just closed on a property about half an hour from the lease. Dave plans to just hunt the property, but eventually they will build and probably retire there. It was a very nice plot. Unfortunately, walking around in the woods was starting to take its toll on me and I developed a fairly righteous allergy attack and I had left all of my meds back at the camp. When we drove into town for lunch, I stopped in a grocery store and bought some Benadryl. When I walked up to the checkout to pay, the cashier and the bag boy acted like I was some kind of alien. The cashier had no qualms at all about checking me out, looking hard up and down as if to say, “What is your story.” Sure, I was in my hunting drag, which is really just my Air Force BDU, except that I can’t button the top button on my trousers anymore. And I was wearing a hat, so my hair couldn’t have been too bad. I just couldn’t figure out what she was looking at. The bag boy (who was really on the verge of being a bag man) kept grinning at me like an idiot. When he asked me if I wanted paper or plastic, I said I didn’t need either and that I would just walk out with it. Then he laughed and pointed at me as if I had said the funniest thing he had ever heard.

Later, we went back to camp and shot skeet to practice for the evening hunt. As usual, I did very well shooting skeet, but I still couldn’t bring down a bird. One time, after another wave of birds had flown safely past us, I turned to Dave and expressed some frustration.

“No dude, you clipped that last one. I saw it.”

Just about then soft, downy feathers began falling gently all around us like snowflakes. I had indeed clipped a bird and the wind had blown his feathers back over us. It was surreal and funny. I never did get a dove, but the other guys each got at least one.

The next day, after another lame morning hunt, we got out our frustration by going redneck and shooting inanimate objects at the camp. Dave shot an old pair of his boots. The best though was an old TV that somebody had brought. We set it up on a chair and I went after it with my 9mm. I didn’t think it would do much…but it did. Then we stepped it up by shooting it with Sam’s AR-15. Finally, we went absolutely medieval by shooting 00 magnum loads at it with a 12 ga. shotgun. We obliterated that TV. I suppose one could argue that we were making a social statement about being outdoors vs. staying indoors, but more realistically we were probably just making a statement about us wanting to shoot up stuff.

It was a great trip.

After I got home, I checked the Internet for rabbit stew recipes, read about six of them, took the elements I liked, and then struck-out on my own. I cook by feel, so don’t expect any measurements. Here is what I did:

1 rabbit
vegetable oil
flour
red wine
potatos
carrots
red (purple) onion
bella mushrooms
2 cans beef stock
salt
pepper

Salt, pepper, and brown both sides of the rabbit in a large frying pan. Then put the rabbit in a crock pot with diced potatos, carrots, bella mushrooms, and anything else you want in your stew. I like to keep it simple. In the frying pan, make a roux out of the remaining vegetable oil, flour, salt, and pepper. Add sliced purple onion and red wine. Reduce. Add beef stock and reduce until you have the consistency you want. Pour the reduction into the crock pot and cook everything on low for a couple of hours. I was going to cook it for two, but it ended-up being three because I went into my office to work on this entry, drank the rest of the bottle of red wine that I had used to cook, and lost track of time.

I took the rabbit out of the crock pot and pulled the meat off of the bone. The stew would probably be best served with/on biscuits, but I’m too lazy, so I had mine with toast points. Okay, they weren’t really points, I just tore up a couple of slices of toast and threw them in the bowl. I thought the stew was quite good. In fact, I wouldn’t change anything except that I would start earlier and cook it longer. It wasn’t undercooked by any means, but if left in the crock pot longer (say, eight hours), the meat would be even more tender. The stew was even better a day later. And the day after that.

jimmy      

From the Miata.net thread:

Can you also shot a pic of what the top looks like with the back window zippered on while trying to lower the whole top? I’d like to see/know how far back the top can be brought down with the window still zipped on.

Not very far.

This is the window down and resting on the factory cockpit brace. If I push the window horizontally towards the back of the car as far as I can, the top edge of the window still does not clear the factory brace, stopping less than an inch short. I was very conservative when cutting the Lexan window, allowing a generous frame. If I had used a better template, I could have cut the window to a tighter tolerance and perhaps avoided this issue.

This is the window bent to clear the cockpit brace. Pushing horizontally on the top edge of the window with one hand and pushing lightly in the middle of the window with the other, will bend the window enough to clear. Once an edge is wedged against or under the brace, it is easy to push the window all the way through. This does not appear to be hurting the integrity of the epoxy seal and it certainly doesn’t hurt the Lexan. However, the cosmetic tape frame is not handling it very well. Oh, and clearly I need to take a sponge to the top’s hidden folds.

Click here for 1600 x 1200

This might be the most critical issue. Once the rear panel is unzipped and the window is tucked under the cockpit brace, this is where the top wants to stop. It’s difficult to see, but the top is resting on the Lexan. The Lexan is being held up by the bottom of the rear panel (highlighted), which is stretched tight as a drum and doesn’t have enough slack for the Lexan to rest on the package shelf. I can push the top down and the Lexan deforms to take it, but I don’t like the amount of stress that puts on the epoxy seal and especially the rear panel. It seems like something has got to give. If I had a better understanding of how a glass window works in a Miata, I might be able to modify this design so that it is more satisfactory.

In further testing news, I drove at sustained highway speeds today with the top up and the windows down to test the integrity of the epoxy. It held together just fine, even at speeds of up to 90 mph.

The next challenge will be getting this to work with a Hard Dog Sport Rollbar, which isn’t designed to work with a glass window. If that doesn’t work, I will probably exchange the Lexan in favor of the more traditional vinyl replacement window. Otherwise, I will keep testing this until it fails.

jimmy 

Miata Mod-Week continued last night with the installation of new Hawk HPS brake pads all around and a good brake bleed. I had an opportunity late last night to bed the brakes on the relatively empty RR620, doing several concurrent hard stops from moderate speeds. The lightweight car, new brake pads, and sticky rubber almost had my eyeballs coming out of my head. Awesome braking power.

We also got started on the Hard Dog Sport Rollbar installation, but we had to abort when the hour got late and we had to rush to Chuy’s before they closed (we didn’t make it). Unfortunately, the rollbar looks like it might interfere with my new rear window. If it does, I will have to decide if I should revert back to a clear vinyl (flexible) window, or if I should sell the rollbar and get one designed for a glass window. Almost certainly, I would choose the former. We will probably finish the installation this weekend.

The Lexan window installation is holding up pretty well. There is still some cosmetic repair work to be done, but it’s holding together. Today I tested the window by driving with the top up, but the windows down. I wanted to see if the positive pressure in the cockpit would force the rear window out. It held like a champ.

Further comments about my installation can be found in this thread on Miata.net:

Can I replace the factory window myself?

In further automotive news, I put a new (salvage) ECU into the A6 and it started right up. Also, Bill Fluhr fixed my sticking power window. After some minor body work and a full detail, the A6 will be ready to sell. Eric worked on the eS2 wiring last night, so we are closer to having that car running. It was a fruitful Wednesday work night.

jimmy

Time: 3 hours

Talent: Use of basic hand tools

Tools and Supplies: 30″ x 36″ sheet of Lexan, Anchor-Tite™ Marine Epoxy, 3M Safety Walk Outdoor Tread (2″ x 5 yd), utility knife, scissors, jigsaw with fine blade suitable for cutting Lexan, ruler, Sharpie, sandpaper, masking tape and duct tape.

Tab: $50

Introduction: The rear plastic window on my recently purchased 1997 Miata was torn in many places and was so sandblasted as to be almost opaque. I had no choice but to address this issue immediately. New rear panels (with new plastic or glass rear windows) are available, but these cost hundreds of dollars to purchase and have installed. I checked at Miata.net and found an FAQ (written by Mike Davis) describing an inexpensive fix which involves cutting out the plastic window and gluing in another piece of clear vinyl. I decided that there would be no harm in trying this inexpensive fix. If it didn’t work, I could always fork over the money for a professional repair.

The only major difference in my repair and the one described in the Davis FAQ is that instead of using clear vinyl to replace the window, I used a sheet of Lexan. Why? The main reason is because I already had a piece left over from when I made windows for my quattro race car. Also, I thought that the rigid Lexan wouldn’t have the problem of waves in the window from uneven gluing, as can happen with vinyl. Optically, the Lexan is certainly superior to vinyl, it is scratch resistant, and it is available tinted. Using Lexan means that all the materials in this FAQ are available at Home Depot, so there is no need to seek out marine shops or other sources for clear vinyl and other supplies. Finally, I’m not sure it has ever been done before, so…let’s get cracking.

Cat-Cat consulted on the project, but lack of opposable thumbs prevented some much needed help from him later

Step 1: Prepare your work area. In the car, move and tilt both seats as far forward as possible. Unlatch the convertible top and unzip the rear panel. Lay the rear panel down on a board or other solid surface that is supported by boxes on the package shelf and/or the stress bar. If you have a fixed antenna, you might remove it for easier access to the work area.

Step 2: Using a utility knife or scissors, cut the rear window from the rear panel. Be careful not to cut into the panel. You can be conservative with the utility knife and then go back and easily clean-up with scissors. Don’t be too conservative, though - you will be using the old window as a template for your new window. You don’t want to be using a template that is too small.

Step 3: Tape the window to the piece of Lexan. Trace the outline of the window onto the Lexan, making sure to add 1/4″-1/2″ or so to the outside edge. This outside edge will be the surface that is glued to the rear panel on top of the old window frame.

Step 4: Cut out the Lexan window. I used a jigsaw with a fine blade.

Step 5: Using the utility knife or an X-Acto knife, lightly cut and remove the protective sheets from just the outside 1/4″ of both sides of the Lexan window.

Step 6: Take a small sheet of sandpaper (I used 240 grit, but it doesn’t much matter), fold it over and scuff the outside edge of both sides of the Lexan window. This is to help with the adhesion of epoxy on one side of the window and tape on the other.

Step 7: Flatten and tape down the rear panel onto the support board to provide stability to the rear panel. It’s important to make sure that the base of the rear panel, which meets the bottom of the window, is pulled nice and tight with no slack in the material. You might pull it tight and then tack it to the support board. Mask off all of the rear panel, except for the raised outer frame left over from the old window. In fact, mask everything that you can. The epoxy is nasty stuff and you don’t want to have to try to clean it off of your nice convertible top.

Step 8: Mix the epoxy according to the directions. I chose Anchor-Tite™ (a Super Glue brand) Marine Epoxy. It has all of the specs I wanted for this kind of job: so water proof that it was designed for use under water, strong, flexible (nice for the frequent stretching of the convertible top), and a longer set time to allow for precise positioning of materials. I used two (2) 1 oz. packages ($5/ea).

Smurf Blood

Step 9: Apply the epoxy to the outside edge of the Lexan frame and to the left over frame from the old window, where it will join the rear panel. The epoxy is very thick and not so easy to work. I would recommend wearing nitrile gloves. This is where a helper really comes in handy. While you are applying the Smurf Blood, they can be cleaning up behind you if/when there is a spill. Another option is to have your helper do one piece and you do the other. This particular epoxy has a long set time, so don’t panic. Take your time and make sure there is good coverage on all of the contact surfaces.

Step 10: Position the new Lexan window onto the rear panel. A helper would helpful here, too. I would recommend making two tape-loop handles on the outside of the window, using duct tape or similarly strong tape. Use these handles to position the new window over the opening. I didn’t think of this until it was too late, so I was having to handle the window by it’s edges, which of course were covered in Smurf blood. *WARNING* Be advised that the base of the rear panel did not mate up to my new window! The window was cut correctly, but somehow, the window opening had deformed, perhaps because it was in the down and flat position. I’m thinking that my work surface might have been just a bit too low. For sure, the base of the rear panel was not pulled tightly enough. Among other things, this caused me to make a bloody mess of my car trying to get everything to meet in the middle. Later, when I zipped-up the rear panel, the base would not draw taut. It’s only a minor cosmetic issue, but an issue all the same. You can see the droopiness in the After photograph at the beginning of the article.

Oops

Step 11: Make an outer frame for the window using 3M Safety Walk Outdoor Tread, a 2″ wide black tread tape. The tape is heavily textured, but is still a good match for the original window frame texture. If you have been careful, you can probably cut down the tape, but I needed the full 2″ width to cover my sloppy work. The tape itself is pretty sticky, though not as much to itself, because of the texture. Time will tell how long the tape will last at all. It’s quite rigid and I’m concerned it won’t have the flexibility needed to remain stuck to the rear panel. Cosmetically, the material itself looks very good, but as you might expect, it still looks like a frame made out of tape. Ideally, one could get a sheet of this (or similar) material from an industrial safety catalog and make a nice, one-piece frame.

Conclusion: I must say that this inexpensive repair probably meets most of the major goals of the project: install a new rear window which is a) optically clear b) waterproof, c) inexpensive, and d) close to a factory appearance. For sure the window is clear and inexpensive. Time will tell if the installation is waterproof. However, the goal of having the new window installation appear to be close to a factory appearance was a failure, although it probably looks fine at 50-50 (50 feet and 50 mph). My material choices were good (especially the Lexan), but the tape can simply never make the grade. There should be a one-piece frame or it should be made from tape that is flexible enough to curve around the outside of the window in one piece.

That said, I think this is a worthwhile method of repairing a rear window on the cheap. Any disappointment I have has to do with my particular installation. I should temper my criticism by recognizing that the car is better now than it was before. 

I will report the results of my long-term, road testing of this project, as well as any other modifications or adjustments to it.

jimmy