I see a New Project for Cruising My Lake
Category Archives: Technical
Racer Tip – Engine FiRES
We’ve all had them at the track from carb or NOS backfire. The minor ones are put out by cranking the engine to smoother flames by sucking them into the engine.
However, I’ve seen many an engine become toast when that helpful guy runs over and sprays his CO2 fire bottle down your carb. I seen many a race jacket become garbage by throwing it over the engine to smother because nothing else was available. Worse yet, I’ve seen cars burn down while Racers ran around looking for something to put it out.
I’m betting that 90% of the bad damage could have been avoided if the racer had a Fiberglass fire blanket mounted inside his trailer door and/or to the back of his driver’s seat.
Pull 2 tabs and a 3.5′ X 3.5′ fire blanket to throw over the fire. A four pack is less than $40 on Amazon. I have one mount on the inside door of each trailer, and on the back of my driver’s seat on both cars. You might want to consider doing the same. Share this link with your racer friends. I also have a 10 pound fire bottle mounted to my trailer doors if the blanket won’t do the trick. At the least, the blanket will protect the top of the motor from inhaling what your fire bottle is putting out.
Shop Goin Ons May 2020
RIP Buster
Its with a heavy heart that I have to report that my best friend Buster went to the great racetrack in the sky. His health was dropping like a lead balloon over the last couple of years, but in the last couple of months he’d lost it all. I just didn’t have the heart to put him down, but he let me know that he just needed to chase squirrels in the Happy Hunting Ground. The vet broke the (Covid-19) rules and let me be with him as I insisted that I owed it to him to be there to the end.
Superbird
I had someone blowing up my dress that he wanted to buy my B5 Blue, V-code, 4-speed Superbird. So I took it out of the bubble, cleaned it up, tuned her up. Turns out the guy was all talk but too scared to pull the trigger.
I figure as long as I had to bust ass to make it ready, I might as well push hard to sell. If you know anyone interested, information and photos can be found at www.OldHippie.com
Red, White & Blue
Gone through about 35 gallons of paint at my Barnominium/Race Shop. The pictures tell the story.
Magnum
If you’ve been following along Ginger, my 78 Magnum XE, you’ll know that so far I’ve
- Put a pump gas drag race big block motor in the car
- Street Strip 727 transmission
- 8.75″ rear end from a 74 Charger, with a Suregrip an 3.55:1 gears
- March Serpentine Pulley system
- Schumacher headers to dual 2.5″ exhaust, with Flowmaster 40s
- Gear Vendors Overdrive to Victory Driveshaft
- Brand new Polyurethane paint
- And most recently a Holley Sniper throttle-body EFI
The newest update was to take the dull bumpers off the GT I have, have them powder-coated gloss black, and put them on the Magnum XE. The bright chromed bumpers will go on the GT.
And finally, I ordered a pair of new leaf springs and hardware from Espo Springs and Things. She should be finished now.
Sharknose, Step through & Eagle
Many years ago, while racing at NHRA’s Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green, KY – I saw one of the Racers running around in an early 60s Harley Davidson 3-wheeled tiller steered golf cart. I decided that would be a natural for a Nostalgia Super Stock drag racer like me, who races a 1960 Plymouth wagon, to have instead of my 15 year old Yamaha golf cart. Then I saw the Cushman Sharknose golf carts made between 1962-1964. I knew that was what I needed as a pit cart.
Years prior to that, I dreamed about some day finding a nice 40s or 50s Step through Scooter, like I saw in my Archie comic books in the mid-60s. Jughead rode one.
Well a couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto a lot of Cushmans that included a 1961 Sharknose with the high speed rear axle, three speed transmission. The original 8hp motor had been replaced by a 23hp Vanguard. The step through scooter is mid-50s Model 70 Turtleback. The other bike is a 58 Cushman Eagle.
I ran up to Tulsa last week and bought them back. The scooter is pretty quick, and the golf cart will hit an incredibly unsafe 60 mph. I really haven’t played with the Eagle yet. I have big plans for all, but that’s for another day.
Mailster
I’ve also been looking for a Mailster from the Late 50s and Early 60s. While your standard mailman’s leather bag was limited to 35 pounds when I was a kid, the mailman with a Mailster had 500 pounds of mail on board. They were later replaced by little Jeeps – as they weren’t very durable – and a little snow crippled them. There were mainly two different manufacturers of Mailsters. The Cushman above, and the Westcoaster below.
I just bought a very rough Westcoaster Mailster that I’ll pick up Wednesday. I’d prefer the Cushman, but the price was right so I’ll decide what I’ll do with it when I get it home.
Allante
I have two Allantes. The blue one I bought new in 93. It’s had an AC leak. It was finally fixed by first replacing the evaporator, which required dropping the engine cradle, then it wouldn’t charge – requiring replacement of the compressor. That was an equal pain in the ass to remove and replace. Now its all converted to R134 and I hope will last as long as I last.
I also have a Polo Green 93 that had been in storage. I brought it to the shop to be gone through, so I can sell.
Black Bettie & Billie Sue
As Buster got too old to go racing anymore, a new race dog was going to need to be groomed. Buster was a huge (135 pound) English Lab. My wife doesn’t like male dogs because of their size and independence, English Labs because they shed, or labs in general – because they shed. She wanted me to get a Labordoodle, because they don’t shed – but they’re two time Poodle and one part Lab. I don’t want a freakin homo dog! We finally compromised on a female American lab, as they’re smaller. So January a breeder with litter born on Christmas let us check them out. We did and put a deposit on one, to be picked up in February.
In February we went to pick out a female. Since this was to be my dog, I picked the biggest female – who came right to me. However, my wife had her eye on a different one. The breeder said she could have a second for half price, and that’s how no labs turned into two.
Having two Lab pups is very challenging, but also fun. They’re now 5 months old, have been to a race, hang with me at the shop, and love to swim. They’ll be much like Buster, especially Black Betty, the one I chose. Below are some photos as they’ve grown.
Trailer Work
On the single enclosed trailer I’ve been outfitting, I wired a roof fan,
Mounted a pair of batteries to power all of the DC power, and an inverter
I still have a little work, like an inverter and a charger for when I run a generator.
Also made some backing plates to mount a very secure puck lock for the door.
That gets me up to date on shop news.
Wanting To Buy Cushman Step Through Golfcart from 50s
If you know of anyone wanting to sell, have them text or email me
What Happened To Your Legs Lt. Dan?
Harbor Freight Jack-stands Forrest
Real E58 1978 Dodge Diplomat Boat Tail Coupe
I’m downsizing my life. No better Dippy out there.
I’m the second owner of this spotless E58 (High Horsepower 360/4bbl) !978 Dodge Diplomat Coupe. I Think I’ve had over 15 years now.
When the last time you saw one?
You’ll never again see an original paint, original motor/transmission, and original Boat Tail in nicer condition. Not a spec of rust. Never in an accident. Always had best of care.
The AC didn’t work when I bought, so I fixed – converting to R134. It needs to have a can added every couple of months, so there must be an o-ring needing to be replaced,
The original “Plastic Fantastic” Thermoquad was warped, so I converted the lean burn to Mopar Performance E-Ignition, the boat anchor iron intake with an Edelbrock Perforner and the leaky carb with a 600cfm Edelbrock Performer. The car runs like a Raped Ape on Super.
I detailed and shampooed everything and car looks great in its 70s Aztec Gold. Driven regular, it has just turned 100K – but runs great – with nothing except very slow AC leak needing to be fixed. Engine has great compression and burns no oil. Transmission was Serviced and shifts chrisply.
I Love this car, but need the cash, and am downsizing my life by selling everything I don’t need. I have over $10K in Making sure everything works and that I could hop in and drive to Alaska if I wanted. A true fly in and drive home car.
$7900 wired or $7500 in Dead Presidents FIRM. I do have a few things I might consider trading for, and they’re listed in the Wanted Section of oldhippie dot com – as are all other cars I’m selling.
davetheoldhippie @ gmail.com
Homeland Security Has Learned How Murder Hornets Were Smuggled Into The Us
Swamp Rat Spotter’s Guide
Think you know a lot about Big Daddy Don Garlits?
I’ll bet you you don’t. The Swamp Rat Spotter’s guide tells you about each of the 50+ Swamp Rats Big Daddy had/has, in history and photos. Every one of them.
Click Here for Spotters Guide
SUVs in 2021
Shop Update For April
With this virus thing going on, Deb and I have been spending every other week alternating between the lake and the shop – so not as much got done in the last month. That said, here we go.
Screamin’ Woody
The rocker set from Jesel arrived, installed, and the motor is back to ready.
The rear of the car was ass-backwards, with the batteries in back of the weight boxes, making it near impossible to get them out. So the weight boxes and batteries were swapped around.
While at it, the rear window was made easily removable, so I can clean the insides of the side and rear windows.
I also removed the old name and numbers, and replaced with something that better matches.
The Stacker
I had some boxes Fabricated out of 1/8″ aluminum. One is the same height and width as the inside fender, and a length that fits between the fender and the lift post. That is to carry loose weight needed for the car’s weight boxes – to change the weight of the car.
I drilled through the aluminum floor and installed threads, so I could easily remove the box, should I want to.
I then drilled holes in the box, bolted them down and filled with weights.
The other was to carry the jack stands in the attic of the stacker. They were mounted the same way.
The in-floor compartment for the winch was too small for both a 9000# winch and the pulley.
So I attached 6 strong magnets to it, so that it can be stowed when not used.
I have a sweeping magnet for when my fat thumbs drop hardware – like valve cover nuts – in the grass. I riveted holders for it and a car mop.
Some HD velco spots will let me keep the T-Handle hex wrenches steady on my work bench
Allante
This was my dream car that I bought new in 93. The AC was repaired and the vent that was cracked and broken was plastic welded with Hot staples to be good as new.
The Petty Tribute Car
The first test drive had the pipes scrape on turns, the horn blow on turns, the transmission’s shifter would pop out of 2nd & 4th, and the motor broke up above 5000 rpm.
The latter was cured with a distributor re-curve and carburetor adjustment. The horn required the steering wheel disassembled many times and played with. Loosening the bottom shifter stops allowed the shifter to stay in 2nd & 4th. The car leaning so much in the turns and scraping the exhaust was solved by calling Espo Springs and More for a set of stiffer springs having a 1″ lift.
I took the car for a ride and it is exactly what I’ve wanted. I took a short video, which sucks because I’m trying to hold the phone, shift and steer a manual steering car.
This car has been rattling around in my head fir almost 20 years, and I’m happy to finally cross it off my bucket list. Here are some Glamour photos I took with my phone when I got back from my ride.
The Magnum GT
If you’ve been following along this blog for the last six months, you know that I dyed the leather, got new Radial TAs tires, and repainted the car. The only thing keeping it from being perfect was an under hood detail and paint, bumpers chromed, paint for the trunk and door jams, and new exhaust. I pretty sure I last posted photos of my cleaning, wire brushing, priming and painting the trunk; and also pulling the drivetrain.
Since then, the motor and trans have been gone through and inspected, resealed, cleaned and painted, while under the hood has been cleaned and made ready for paint.
The bumpers have come off and sent to be crush glass blasted and powder-coated gloss black. They’ll go on my Magnum XE and the freshly chromed ones on the XE will go on the GT.
Magnum XE
I bought a Holley Stinger Throttle-Body EFI with an in-tank fuel pump, 20′ of 6-AN black braided fuel lines, a large black in-line filter with 6-AN fittings, and assorted black anodized fitting to get hooked up from the pump to the black anodized throttle body. Also bought a dropped air cleaner base made for the throttle body. I fell asleep at the wheel photo documenting the install.
I drove about 100 miles at varying speeds while in learn mode. Car drives great when driven sanely. Fast, with no stutters or hesitation. It still has some learning and tuning to happen for when it is hammer time as this motor is about 550hp and much faster than what it limited me to on the first hammer down. I’m sure it will make me happy and the car will run like a raped ape when dialed in. Below is a hammer time drive after 100 mile learn.
64 Imperial Convertible
I’ve been working on getting the car right, and its not far away. I had a leak in both convertible rams, and bought replacements that were suppose to fit off Ebay. Their stroke was about 1/2″ short, so they were cut, threaded on both ends of the cut, and an extension screwed on in between.
While the back seat is out and I’m at the lake, my Shop Rat will vacuum, degrease and paint that area with POR 15. The car needs an exhaust modification as the new factory pipes have the left side has about a 1′ too close to the floor. After the exhaust, the car gets new carpet. Someday, if I win the lottery, I’ll convert it to EFI and overdrive too. Hell, it might someday have a pump gas 440 race motor that I have ready to go into something.
Red, White & Blue
I’m not just stopping at my single-car trailer and three rocking chairs in Red, White and Blue.
I had my Shop Rat paint my fence with Red top boards, White posts and center boards, an Blue bottom boards.
Since Grandson #6 and his mother live at our Beasley residence, I had the playground strip down, the vertical boards painted White, horizontal boards painted Red and diagonal boards Blue. I ordered blue grips for the climbing platform, a red swing and a red toddler swing. The slide is in my paint booth, waiting for me to scuff, hit with adhesion promoter, and paint blue.
But why stop there? I have two chairs and table in front of my shop.
One chair is fixin to be red, the other blue and the table white. Then there’s the furniture on the front porch of my barndominium.
Yup, you guessed it. Red, White and Blue. That porch is fixin to get tripled in size and screened in for front porch time.
Well, that pretty has my shop action up to date.
Will the USA Be so Stupid
As to continue to let China have us by the Chandeliers?
Manufacturers need to diversify out of China, and into multiple countries for cheap labor.
Corona Virus Scare Have you Holed Up At Home?
Read a Book
The following is a list of books I’ve read, which strongly influenced me or motivated me to do the best I could to move from an uneducated poor kid to earn a decent living.
If you are in lock down, maybe download and read at least one of the five books I’ve listed below. I guarantee it will help you earn more and become a little better of a person. Many of these were written a long time ago, but are absolutely timeless in the education provided.
1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
3. Up The Organization by Robert Townsend
4. Dress for Success by John Malloy
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnagie
Tac Sack, New Accessory for rifles
Like Craig’s List
Only Better
So I’m wanting to build a smaller shop close to my lake house, and stop the 100 mile each way weekly commute. But to do so I have to sell most of my 31 cars, four containers of parts and an attic full of household item I’ve horded over the years. I was selling a lot of it on eBay, but all of a sudden they now want me to charge and file sales tax in the buyer’s home. That’s not practical.
So I created my own version of Craig’s list that I’ll be listing my stuff on. I’ve already sold a bunch on it in just the week its been up.
For Search Engine Optimization to work its best – more is better. The more ads that get listed, the more buyers are brought to the site. As such, it is in my best interest to allow others to post their free of charge.
So from cars to walking dogs, from land to landscaping, from RVs to baby sitting — what ever is legal and ethical can be listed. It operates like Craig’s list — only easier to use and better organized. So clean out your attic, shed, garage. Advertise the products or services your business offers. It’s all free and my only ulterior motive is to bring more buyers to the site so I sell my stuff faster.
Old is New Again
The refurbishing of a early 90s aluminum race trailer
About 18 months ago, I bought an early 90s Aluminum Trailer from a racing buddy. The reason was that I had a Motorhome and a Stacker Trailer for week long races, a pick-up truck and gooseneck for weekend races, and a Toy Hauler and pick-up for motorcycle trips. The Toy Hauler needed to be replaced because it was shit and cost me money every time I took it out. I came up with brilliant money saving idea that buying an older, quality, aluminum trailer would allow me to sell both the Toy Hauler and Gooseneck. I could take the Motorhome and trailer (If I set up to carry both my son’s and my Harleys) on motorcycle trips and pull it behind the pick-up for weekend racing.
So I buy this early 90s trailer from Jim Bailey. I paid a premium for it, but it was well cared for and I felt I could freshen up reasonably. To this date, I modified the interior floor to accept the “Lock ‘N Loads to transport bikes, added a winch, some D-Rings, and move the wheel stops to accommodate a bigger car. I then scuffed, prepped and painted the exterior walls white with Red & Blue Stripe. It cost me a gallon of Rustoluem white and a quart each of red and blue Rustoleum – plus some supplies. I also painted the A-Frame gloss black. I later replaced the red and blue stripes with red, white and blue reflector tape – and wrapped the bottom in red/white safety tape. Electrically, I replaced all marker and tail lights with LED and the 7-blade trailer wiring. Finally, I installed an electric jack. Below are a list of shop update links on Maniacal Ravings of Dave Schultz, where I posted Details and Photos of this work.
- https://www.daveschultz.com/2019/08/shop-update-for-early-august-2019/
- https://www.daveschultz.com/2019/09/shop-updates-for-last-week-august-2019/
- https://www.daveschultz.com/2018/09/polish-d-rings-new-seats-engine-assembly-and-paint/
- https://www.daveschultz.com/2019/11/october-2019-1-month-recap-in-1-post/
So the above brings you up until this last week. Everything on the wall was removed and the interior walls were scuffed with 400 grit on a DA Sander, wiped down, taped off, and painted while with a roller.
Then I started to outfit to my convenience. I started with buying a black Yoga mat, cutting it in half, and riveting into place (with 1″ aluminum stock) at the back of the trailer. I then mounted a broom holder, strap holder, cord and hose holders and the Spare tire. I also mounted a hanger for the Director’s chair carrying case.
Moving to the front, I mounted a double helmet closet next to the bench. Onto it I installed a Kenwood stereo and a pair of speakers. To pick up the track radio from pitted in the Boonies, I mounted a high quality antenna on the street side – extending above the roof.
You’ll also note the 12,000 pound winch with a wireless remote mounted against the wall and a removable snatch pulley in the center. Also on the floor are the Lock ‘n Load plates for the removable motorcycle chocks.
Moving to the door, I mounted a door cabinet with fold down table. Below that is an oil bottle shelf, which also holds wrenches and screw drivers. That should alleviate some of the running in and out of the trailer for the most basic tools.
And speaking of convenience, I bought another cheap Yoga mat with carrying strap and riveted the sprap above the door. That makes it easy to grab for those times in the pits when you need to lay on the ground or work under the car.
I still need to:
- Replace the trailer lights junction box with waterproof new
- Mount dual batteries with cutoff switch under bench
- Wire stereo and speakers
- Wire roof exhaust fan
- Run air lines under the trailer from rear and side door to air compressor under bench, and wire a on/off switch on bench
- Make a rack for a set of 4 jack stands
- Mount a rack for two bottle jacks and tire spinner under the spare
- Mount a front strap holder and wall protection
- Mount a 12V fan under upper cabinets
- Mount a intelligent trickle charger for when the trailer is plugged in
- Mount a set of Charging Lug on A-Frame to charge batteries
- Install an inverter to provide AC power from a pair of DC batteries
- Replace 4′ florescent ceiling lights with LED
- Mount a LED pit light
Shop Going Ons – 1st Week January 2020
More work on outfitting the Stacker.
The goal is to organize a 2′ shorter trailer with far less storage than the last one.
I still have to mount and wire up the winch, mount a cord-reel and air hose, install a radio and speakers, make a rack for Jack stands and mount some arrangement for hardware.
Ginger, My Magnum XE
The Gear Vendor Overdrive unit is on the transmission.
The master power switch is mounted in the console as is a USB port and 12V outlet for Bluetooth my Amazon Music and Sirus from my iPhone. The LEDs and the enable/disable switch for the overdrive are mounted on the console plate.
I’m waiting on the driveshaft from Victory and I’ll have to modify the exhaust system as the overdrive interfere with the cross-pipe and need to make it curve away from the solenoid on the overdrive.
MoHawk
MoHawk is going to be part Mopar and part Studebaker Hawk. It is a custom Tube Chassis frame, rack & pinion steering, a Mopar 8.75″ rear end, a 340 ci Mopar motor, Tremek transmission, 63 GT Hawk body with 60 Plymouth rear fins, and a 53 Commander front clip.
This is where MoHawk’s chassis stands. Frame is powder costed in Satin black, as is the 8.75″ rear-end and Super Stock leaf springs.
The Skipper – My GT Magnum
Trunk has been taken tp bare metal, repaired and painted. I’m waiting on the floor pan plugs so the carpet can be reinstalled.
The grill is removed and will be dechromed and painted black. The bumpers will be removed, blasted and powder coated gloss black.
I’ll be reconditioning the clear plastic headlight covers and corner lens. The motor and transmission will be pulled, cleaned, painted and dressed up. Everything in engine compartment will be removed and the compartment also cleaned and painted before the engine and new under hood components replaced. The door jams will also be cleaned, scuffed and repainted.
And that’s it. The next report will also include work on the Screamin’ Woody and the Petty Tribute.
Car Terminology
Shop Goin’ Ons For December 2019
Petty Tribute
I aged some 15″X8″ Wheel Vintiques wheels to look Rusty, and mounted 245/60-15 Goodrich TAs on the rear. I still need to do the same for the fronts.
I repaired the old steering wheel, primed and painted to match the interior.
I tried three different shifter handles and all hit the seat, dash, or both. I finally made a 6″ adaptor to raise a pistol grip shifter 6″, which was enough to clear the bench seat and stay under the boot.
I bought all of the pipes needed to get the block hugger collectors to 2.5″ side exiting exhaust. This is all that is required to finish the car. These are the pipes needed to do the right side.
Magnum GT
If you’ve been following along on the Magnum GT, You’ll know it was recently treated to a new poly-urethene paint job, and the leather dyed before that. This week, everything was taken out of the trunk, the Surface flash removed, it was then masked, primed and painted. Since the car is pure black, it was an easy rattle can project. I’ll give the a paint a week to get hard, and then clean and replace the carpet.
The Screamin’ Woody
The engine was reassembled with a new crank, rod, and set of lifters; and stabbed into the car. It will be started and tuned next week.
Outfitting the Stacker
I spent a day getting the Stacker trailer mostly outfitted. On the door I installed a door cabinet fire bottle holder, tire gauge holder, rack of screw drivers and a pair of clamps that hold the weather station in travel mode, and the telescopic pole it goes on (to raise 5′ over the stacker’s roof) when in the pits. Another set of clamps were installed inside the door to hold the pole in travel mode.
On the front wall of the trailer, I mounted a stainless coat rack with 4 stainless steel hangers for my safety suits. Above the coat rack I mounted a pair of stainless steel baskets for racing shoes and gloves. On the ceiling I mounted a swiveling hook to hold my helmet.
Next to the overhead cabinets I mounted an Oil Rack and used Industrial Grey Velcro to hold the lift’s remote control in place. To the rear of the trailer is a strap holder, jack pouch, a blower holder and a couple cord holders.
I also put the hand tools in the appropriate drawers, but I’ll need to go back to clean and oil them before the first race.
In the attic I mounted a holder for four 5gallon fuel jugs.
I still have a day left to finish organizing myself into a 2′ shorter trailer.
Other
- Installed an electric gate
- Replaced all bulbs in Magnum XE with LED
- Replaced AC blower motor on Magnum XE
- Removed the Grill to the Magnum GT to paint when it gets warmer
- Figured out I had the wrong parts to install an overdrive in the Magnum XE, and ordered the correct ones
- Did a little cleaning and organizing in the shop
Detailing the Trunk of my Magnum GT
Started to Detail the trunk of my GT today. While there was no leak or rust through, the last 40 years has seen a little surface rust from wet items thrown in the trunk over the years. Pulled everything out, Cleaned the flash to bare metal, scuffed, prepped, masked and hit with coats of Grey primer.
A day later I hit with Black paint.
I’ll give the paint a week to dry hard, as I have other stuff to do anyway, before putting the carpet back in.
What I’ve Learned About CBD
Slightly after midnight on December 19, 1974, I was in the backseat of a Mazda RX2 that took a curve in the Everglades at over 100mph, rolled – throwing me from the car. I was Life Flighted to James Archer Smith Hospital in Homestead, Fl. I had many broken bones, a head injury and took 177 stitches in my face and head. To this day, 45 years later, I still have a chunk of windshield in my head.
In the ensuing years, I developed the same type of arthritis that plagued Evil Knievel, which was caused by too many broken bones. By 1980, I would stop by the VA Hospital each morning at 6am, on my way to work, for treatments. I was prescribed Indocin – which made my hair fall out; Napersin – which caused stomach problems; Zomax – which was taken off the market for liver problems; Viox – which was taken of the market for causing heart issues; and finally high dosages of Celebrex – which I quit taking because of concerns. I just muscle through the chronic pain with 800mg of ibuprofen twice day. I’ve lost 80 pounds, which has helped some – but much.
I’ve had about a dozen orthopedic surgeries, including three on my shoulder. After the last one (about 15 years ago) I was told I’d need a shoulder joint replacement, which I’ve yet to do. I can no longer throw overhand, reach above my head or in back of my neck. All of the discs in my back have degenerated, and after my last MRI, the surgeon told me that the arthritis surrounds the nerves and I’m too far past surgery. He suggested shots into the spine and burning the nerve ends to help the pain, but I have a brother-in-law who having that treatment who scared me away from that because of side effects.
So family, friends, former athletes on tv and others have been preaching CBD. To me, it sounds like snake oil. For kicks my wife bought a month’s supply of 750mg CBD at the pharmacy – for $89.95. I’ve been taking one each morning for the last week. I’m told it takes at least a month for it to help.
The last few weeks my right shoulder has given me unbearable pain. Again at our Pharmacy, my wife buys 3ozs of 500mg CBD topical lotion, again for $89.95. I scoffed at it. She put some on her back, which was aching. A couple hours later she said it felt a lot better. So I tried a squirt on my shoulder before going to bed, as my shoulder makes it hard to sleep. I actually slept through the night and had less pain in the morning. I’ve used it twice since then and feel like it is giving me some relief.
So because I’m such a cheap Bastard, I decided that I needed to find it cheaper on-line. I go to Amazon at find stuff claiming to be ten times stronger and ten times cheaper littered all over the site. I’m the type that believes that if its too good to be true (the strength and price) then its not true.
I spent the next five hours researching. What I found was the following:
- Amazon doesn’t sell real CBD, but only sells Hemp Oil claiming to be CBD
- Hemp Oil is pressed from hemp seed, and not true CBD chemically
- Hemp Oil has no anti-inflammation or pain reducing qualities
- True CBD is extracted from the mamajuana flower with an expensive process using CO2
- The expensive stuff that the pharmacy sells is Green Roads, and it is legit.
- The other well respected legit CBD product is CBDMD. It uses the same process, a 3rd party lab analyzing every batch, and is same price as Green Roads.
- The difference for me is that CBDMD will give Military/Veterans a 30% discount, and Service Connected Disabled 40%. You need a military id, DD214 to prove military or veteran status; and a statement from the VA on your disability status.
https://www.cbdmd.com/military-disability?rfsn=2915221.841272&subid=xyyCCxyy211348090
So for me, I’m not 100% convinced. However, I’ll give it a month or two to see if I get some long term relief. More importantly, I’ve learned that:
- Real CBD ain’t cheap
- There’ currently no real regulations to protect the end user that they’re getting legit CBD, and not Hemp Oil being called CBD
- Less 1% of the CBD bought is real CBD
- I’ll save 40%
I hope this helps others from getting suckered into Hemp Oil claiming to be CBD. I’ll post a follow up a month or so down the road. I’m a skeptic, and feel like I’m hard to fool. If anything, I’ll most likely error in feeling that I didn’t get relief when I might have received minor relief.