Painting in progress

I finally got the "paint booth" set up, i definitely got some strange looks from the neighbors.  Kinda looks like an impromptu meth lab, but who would be that brazen to install a meth lab in a front facing garage for all to see...  not me, of course, but I'm sure there is some Rhodes Scholar wannabe out there drawing up their plans as we speak.  When it was all completed, it looked like a murder scene right out of Dexter.  The best part was when I cranked on the fans, the top actually bowed in under the negative air pressure, so at least the fumes would go out via the filtered fans.  I'm sure the neighbors will appreciate that.

The booth did turn out pretty good, its a snug fit with the car in there, but it does the trick, at least so far.  I've sprayed a gallon of base coat over the car in the past three days.  3 light coats on Sunday, let it cure, then color sanded on Monday night and let it sit overnight, and finally sprayed a light base coat in preparation for clear coat.  I was all set to spray clear last night after work, but the more I read up on metallic coatings, the more it became evident that I needed to give it a light coat prior to clear.  Oh well, I burned through my very last drop of base color last night.  I was hoping to have enough left over to complete the top trim piece on the back glass and have a small amount left over for touch ups, but no dice.  I'll have to purchase a little bit more to complete that small panel.  But that's a job for Tomorrowman...    

Today it is all about making the ol girl nice and shiny again.  I'm getting excited just thinking about it.  It's been a long time coming, and so far the paint is turning out good, not perfect, but I didn't expect perfection.  I had a few runs and one instance of a piece of debris fell in the wet paint, but I was able to repair the areas, but until I'm able to get it out in the daylight and really take a look, its hard to tell if there are any other imperfections.  But so far, I'm happy with the result.  I'll know better tomorrow.

Till next time...

ready for paint... almost

Today I was able to wrap up the sanding portion of the prep work to get the vette ready for paint.  I got the headlights blown apart and all the body pieces I've removed over the past few months sanded down and ready to receive paint.  I even added in the drain holes for the rear hatch.  I figured I'd better get them in now so I don't have to drill holes in fresh paint.  Definitely need those in there, otherwise the water just ponds at the back edge of the halo.  No good at all. 

I'm hoping to assemble the paint booth tomorrow and start masking off the car.  We shall see.  I find my motivation comes in spurts at this point in the project.  The prep work seemed like it would never end, sanding, sanding, filler primer, sanding, sand...  well you get the picture.  I'm hoping that getting the new paint layed down will help to motivate me again.  I'll be able to put the car back together and it wont be the same repetitive task over and over.  I'm getting a bit excited now.  I really want to get it back on the road...  I wonder what a corvette would be like with snow tires in MI.  I can't think it would be any worse than the caddy, but that is for another time.  Just thought I'd post a quick update.  I'll get some more pics up once the booth is set up.

Back to work

Well, the past few weeks have been slow as far as progress goes with the vette.  The Nowacki family suffered a great loss of a good Man, we will all miss Dzia Dzia.  He led a full life with a healthy balance of family, friends, and career that is nearly impossible to duplicate.  It was amazing to see the outpouring of love shown by family, friends, and coworkers in our time of loss.  We can all only hope to leave such an impact when we pass from this world.  Dzia has run his race, I don't shed any tears for Him, for He is without the worries of this world in a better place.  The tears shed are for the void He left behind in this world.  He was an example to us all, and He will be missed.

Now we must move on as best we know how, and try to deal with our loss in our own ways.  We all love you Big Guy.  

Its funny how a death of a loved one puts things in perspective.  Things that once seemed important become insignificant, and things we take for granted suddenly become very valued.  We have an amazing family, we have our quirks, but when it comes down to the important stuff, we all come together to take care of one another.  We are all truly blessed.  

...Oh yeah, that corvette thing.  I know its the name of the blog and all, but its my blog and I'll write what I want to, car related or not...  I'm still prepping for paint.  I've got the booth all ready to go, got the supplies in hand, and tonight I finally got the bulk of the body scuffed up for painting.  All the stone chips are filled in on the hood, and the peeling paint by the mirrors has been addressed.  Its down to a final wash and sand for the main body, and a scuff and sand for the bits removed from the car in preparation for paint.  My goal is to shoot the color this coming weekend.  Then I can finally get to putting everything back together. 

Till tomorrow...

Days 24 and 25, Paint prep part one of.....

The past two weeks have been very unproductive, for the car anyway.  I had a weekend trip home and some late nights at work.  I was finally able to put in some time this past Friday and Saturday.  The vette is stripped down to the bare minimum as you can see from the new pics.  I’ve been devoting my time to getting the “paint booth” built.  Thirty 10’ sticks of 1” PVC and a shload of tees and elbows have netted a framework for my paint booth.  I’ll save the final assembly for right before I have the car all sanded and prepped.  It will take up most of the garage, so no need to cut down my workspace sooner than necessary.  I was really hoping to be able to spray some color this weekend, but that is not going to happen, still a lot of prep to do.  No need to skimp now, prep is the most important part, and the most time consuming.  Oh well. 

Till tomorrow….

Parts replaced this week:

None

Parts cost so far: $1425

Day 22 and 23

So my Sunday and Labor day were spent carefully removing trim and cleaning the car for paint prep.  On Sunday night I was able to get the two doors stripped down including the trim strips and mirrors.  What a treat that was, but had to be done.  I also tackled the rear trim which meant removing the taillights again.  It all went well, minus my arms looking like I got in a fight with an alley cat.  It is amazing the amount of effort required to remove what is such a small piece on the car, well pieces.  The biggest, riskiest task that I tackled was to remove the hatch glass.  I looked at every conceivable way to make the paintjob work without removing it, but there is no way around it.  It has to come off.  So I loosened the hinges and stuffed some towels under the glass to release the hinges from the halo of the car.  Once it was sitting released from the car, I carefully picked it up and moved into the house.  After the glass was out of the way, I was able to take a closer look at the weather stripping, it is in good shape, but it has to come off too.  It actually came off in one single piece without any damage.  Since its already fitted correctly, I’ll set it aside for reuse.  Sums up Sunday night. 

Monday was all about getting the front bumper and headlights off.  I’ll need to respray the headlights and the only way to get them apart is to remove them too.  Actually pretty simple task, it took longer to get the electrical connectors unhooked than it did to pull the housings.  But they are off now…  time for the bumper.  Lots of bolts and nuts, what a pain, but I took my time, bagged and labeled the bolts and nuts, and with the exception of 2 stubborn bolts that had corroded to the speed nuts, it went well.  With all the fasteners removed, I was able to peel the bumper off and work on removing the trim strips.  Those came off without too much of a fight.  I had to slot two of the bolts to give me a way to keep the bolts from spinning while I broke the nuts loose.  After the trim was removed, I gave the car a dish soap bath.  That’s all for today… it is a holiday after all.

Parts replaced this week:

None

Parts cost so far: $1425

The Past Few Days...

Days 14-21, Lots of little projects…

So the credit card finally stopped smoking…  I’ve been trying to lay off any new purchases, but it is tough.  I’ve got to spend money to get finished, right?  Had lots of maintenance projects to take care of.  I finally got around to changing the fuel filter, changed the transmission fluid, and flushed the coolant, I even managed to get the brake system flushed.  Been busy, I guess…  Or just putting off the major project that has been looming for a little while now, repainting the exterior.

It has actually worked out well, I’ve wrapped up all the mechanical “dirty” jobs, now I can concentrate on the paint and interior. 

I started the week off by just pulling the vette up on the race ramps and letting it cool off for the night.  I took the opportunity to tidy up the garage and put all the tools away so when I finally got motivated to bathe in fuel and oil, I wouldn’t have to fumble around looking for tools and parts.  I also tore into the interior trim and removed the targa top while I was waiting. 

First order of business was to replace the fuel filter.  I depressurized the fuel line so I would get sprayed in the face when I broke the lines loose.  I had to pull off a small heat shield to gain better access to the filter and fittings.  I got the first fitting loosened without a problem which meant I had fuel now slowly seeping out of the fitting as I tried to break the second fitting loose.  Of course that would be the troublesome one, right?  Never fails.  I tried to break it loose, but the wrench would slip, or it would start to round off the nut…  not a good thing, so I took a break, hit it with some PB Blaster, crawled out from under the car and had a refreshing beverage.  Mmm, beer and gasoline, does it get much better than that?  I thought about hitting the stubborn nut with some heat, but, not wanting to be a Darwin award winner, I figured that might be a bad idea.  Probably would’ve gotten a lot of YouTube hits, but alas, I had no camera to capture the moment, so no corvette flambé.  And that little train of thought was all before I had a drop to drink.  I figured it was time for another go at it, so I made my way back under the car.  The fitting finally broke loose, queue the fuel spill now, good thing I don’t smoke…  I got the old filter out and started to put the replacement in and hit a snag with the “good” fitting, the one I didn’t have problems with originally.  I started the threads on the previously stubborn fitting, then turned my attention to the second fitting.  I could not get the threads started, all the while fuel is dripping down my arms and onto the floor.  Good times.  I finally got both fittings on and tightened down.  I turn on the car to check for leaks, all’s well, job done.  

The next night it was time to get dirty with the transmission fluid and filter change.  And dirty I got.  I’ve dropped the pans on enough transmissions to be able to do it relatively cleanly, but no chance with this one.  I tried to gently lower the back of the pan so the fluid would drain nicely into the catch can, but wouldn’t you know, the fluid decided to spill out pretty much everywhere else BUT the rear of the pan.  Good times ensued…  Funny how a gallon of fluid slopping around a metal pan only weighs about 10lbs, but when you put that 10lbs right over your head as you are sprawled out under the car with your arms over your head to support it…  it seems much heavier, probably has something to do with the care needed to keep what fluid is in the pan from ending up on the floor, or worse, on me.  I finally got the pan out and dumped the rest of the fluid into the catch pan and headed inside to wash out the pan…  I guess it was time for  a new dish sponge anyway…  So now that the pan is all cleaned out, time for reassembly.  It all went back together much easier than it came out, new filter and all.  Torqued down the bolts in steps from 50% of the total torque required, then ran around the pan twice more at full torque spec…  don’t want a leak, and don’t want to have to crawl under here again to retorque bolts.  I climbed out and added 3 quarts to the transmission and called it a day, well night…  late night. 

The next morning I leave for work and see the puddle of transmission fluid making its way to the garage door, looks like a crime scene where somebody had euthanized my Vette.  I guess I didn’t realize how much fluid had skipped the pan.  So I threw down a couple of towels to stop the puddle from reaching the door and headed off to work…  There is something to be said for having a project car and it not being your daily driver, definitely relieves the stress of having to complete the repair by the next morning.  To quote Ferris Bueller, “It is so choice. If you have the means and an understanding and supportive Wife, I highly recommend picking one up.”  Well maybe more a paraphrase…

The next project for the week was the coolant flush and replacement of the flexible hoses.  Some are in real rough shape, the others are probably okay, but while the system is drained down, time to swap them all out, relatively cheap insurance.  I refilled the system with distilled water and fired up the car.  I let it come up to temp and made sure the heater was pumping out good heat, then shut it down.  Then I did something that I do not recommend anybody do, I pulled the petcock to drain the system again and flush out all the crap, but it was HOT, real hot, oops.  Oh well, won’t do that again.  I let the system drain down and then closed it up to refill it again while the thermostat was still opened.  I topped it off again, but this time with a mix of antifreeze, distilled water and a bottle of water wetter.  After I thought all the air was out of the system, I capped it and shut it down for the night.  Job done. 

Next day was strictly a clean up day, so I backed the vette off the ramps and let it idle while I spread some oil dry on the massive puddles of transmission fluid and coolant.  After the car was up to temp, I checked the transmission fluid and added the remaining quart of fluid I had left over in the gallon jug and rechecked.  It was still about a pint low, so I didn’t want to crack open the other full gallon of fluid, I’d rather grab a quart from the store.  Sounds like a good excuse for a trip.  I topped off the coolant overflow and headed down to the store.  I topped off the transmission and headed out for the highway. 

The drive went well, all the systems seem to be functioning properly, but I still can’t read the temp and oil pressure accurately due to the bad LCD in the dash.  When I got back to the house, I placed the order for a replacement, I tried to fix the LCD by cleaning all the contacts, but to no avail, I need to replace the LCD.  Not bad though, $100 from a seller on EBay and added the replacement bulbs to bring the total to $120. 

The remainder of the week was consumed by rounding up the parts to build a paint booth and getting the windshield replaced.  In preparation for the windshield replacement, I removed the trim pieces for paint and scraped the area around the windshield to remove any old sealant.  Being a Saturday, I had the rest of the day to work on the car, so I started the paint prep by stripping the doors of trim and the mirrors.  In between football games of course.   

That brings us up to today, the Sunday before Labor day, not sure what I’ll do today, but I’ll let you all know…

Parts replaced this week:

Windshield - $180

Coolant, Hoses, Trans fluid and Filter - $80

Fuel Filter - $10

LCD replacement - $120

Brake Fluid - $15

Power Steering Fluid - $5

Rear View Mirror Overlay - $20

Parts cost so far: $1425

Day 13 - Fantastic Voyage

Day 13, I’m starting to see the appeal to an older car…

I attempted to cleanup the digital dash again before admitting defeat.  Still no luck, I’ll need to swap out the LCD, not a tough job, but an additional cost, and after yesterday, I’m going to hold off for a few days and let the credit card billing cycle close out. 

I did need to run some errands, so I put the display back in and hit the road.  This is the first drive with the new ABS relay, so I wanted to see how it would do, and make sure I wasn’t going to pop the diodes or blow up the relay.  It all seems to be good to go.  Still have a caliper hanging up now and then, but not all the time. 

I’m currently driving a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V for a daily driver.  So I’m used to the acceleration of the Corvette, but the Caddy is so much more refined…  as it should be, it’s a Caddy, right? 

But right now I find myself in an older, less refined sports car.  I’m feeling the shaking as I roll over bumps, I feel the rough thunk of the turn signal stalk that requires enough effort to snap it off the column,  I smell the combination of old car, gasoline, and exhaust.  I hear the wind and the road leaking through the old seals into the cabin. 

As I’m noticing the little differences, it hits me… and I start to get it…  The reason people like driving old cars.  It’s the simpler time they represent.  They are crude, they smoke, smell, rattle, rumble, they breathe fire and just haul ass down the road.  The driver is not coddled and insulated from the outside world as they are in modern conveyances.  Isolated in our own plush interiors, nope, none of that with this old girl…  I just widen my grin, punch the throttle, and take it all in… 

In the words of Ice Cube, “today was a good day”

Parts replaced today:

none

Parts cost so far: $995

Day 12- The Reckoning

Day 12, D-day…  sort of.  So I get a call from my Wife, did I tell you all how much I love this woman?  Well it’s a lot, and evidently She loves me a lot too, or you wouldn’t be reading this.  Back to the phone call…  It starts off with a question, “do you know how much the credit card bill is?”  Of course I don’t, or I would probably be upset with myself… or not, but I’d understand why my loving Wife is thinking of places to hide the body…  I talk Her off the ledge and we both agree that I cannot spend any more money this month, well except for one minor item.  Paint.

I’ve been trying to find an off the shelf paint match for my car, but no luck thus far.  I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll have to buy the good stuff and paint the car in one sitting, I was hoping to do a few panels at a time, but it has been recommended by the paint supplier to do it all in one shot to eliminate the variations with humidity and pressures and such, the little things that can make differences in how the color lays down and even affecting the shade of the color as it is applied.  Not an easy task.  No matter, I needed to get paint and seeing as I was already on my way to the supply house, I was going to get it today, but I swear that will be it for a while…  Likely story right?  So I got a few quarts of paint and the corresponding clear coat and I was on my way.

Later that day…

During my drive last night, I noticed the center LCD on the digital dash is not reading correctly.  The numbers are tough to make out, but everything still lights up and seems to be accurate.  I have done some research online and the disassembly and reassembly is relatively straight forward so I’ll give it a go.  Maybe it will be a simple matter of cleaning the contacts or the like.  I get it disassembled and clean everything, I put it all back together and give it a test, same problem, so I shelve that project for the night and turn my attention to the ABS relay, again.  I had stopped to the store and purchased a regular 12 volt, 30amp relay and a couple different diodes to try to fabricate what I needed.  I got a mock up done, not pretty, but it should work.  I plugged it in and sure enough, it works. 

By this time it had gotten late, so I wrapped it up for the night.

Parts replaced today:

Relay and Diodes - $10

Parts cost so far: $995

Day 11-Bounce No More

Day 11 was a short but productive day, another post-work repair session.  Today was all about the shocks and ball joint boots.  I was jonesing for a drive.  I started on the drivers side front corner, pulled the tire, pulled the shock…  Oh it is so nice working on a Southern car, no corroded fasteners, well at least not to the extent they corrode up in the snow belt…  I did have to chase the threads on the mounting bolts, but other than that, no issues.  After I got the old shock off, I used the additional space to break the upper ball joint loose.  The joint is fine, but the boot is perished.  Put on a new boot and reassembled.  I greased all the joints and cleaned off any excess grease, then I installed the new shock.  Couldn’t have went better, one corner down, three to go. 

The rear drivers side was next.  It took longer to get the tire on and off than it did to swap out the shock.  The same story on the passenger side, no issues, easy repair.  Soon enough, the new shocks were installed, and Wheels on and torqued down.  Time for a drive…

I headed for the on ramp, tonight would be the first highway run for the car under my ownership, and from what the previous owner told, it’s been off the road for a year, so it’s been a while.  I planted the loud pedal and got a corresponding kick in the back and in no time was doing 70 mph.  The car felt decent, not perfect, especially in comparison to my daily driver, but that’s what 18 years difference makes.  The vette is not quite ready for primetime, but she handled the highway sprints with aplomb.  I did notice I have a brake caliper hanging up a little bit, but I planned to go through the hardware and bleed the lines anyway, so no big surprise there.  When I was doing the shocks, I didn’t notice any red flags on any of the brakes, but on a car of this age, there is likely a little corrosion or just old fluid that will cause problems.  I gave it a couple panic stops from 70 to 30 or so to get a better feel and burn off any old crud on the rotors and pads. 

The highway slog definitely made the lack of fresh weather stripping evident.  I’m hoping the addition of new seals will quiet the wind and road noise a bit.  Should also help with the minor rattles.  Like I said, its not quite ready for primetime. 

There is something about this car though…  makes me want to go buy some gold chains, unbutton my polos, watch Scarface and rock out to some good 80’s tunes…  weird, but we’ve already established I’ve got a sickness.

Parts replaced today:

New Shocks (4) - $105

Ball joint boots - $10

Parts cost so far: $985

Day 10-Partial Reassembly

Day 10 was an after work day, so I would have to pick a small task to complete.  I had just gotten my shipment from Advance Auto, 20% off, thankyouverymuch, so I was itching to get the shocks swapped out and take the ol girl for a spin…  But alas…  the ass end is torn apart…  No way to take a drive without brake lights, so that would have to be dealt with first.

I have been putting it off so I can find the correct paint color to do minor touch ups around the car and finish off the antenna plug before I put the taillights back in, but no luck.  I’m going to have to get the real deal from a paint supplier.  That’s the right thing to do anyway, but I was trying to avoid it.  I put the incorrectly painted antenna plug back in, it is so much easier with the taillights out and turned my attention to the bulbs and brake lights.  These things are quite a bear to get in and out so I didn’t want to have to do this but once.  I carefully installed new bulbs and reinstalled the brake lights and followed it up with the reverse lights and the license plate.  I replaced the side markers, new bulbs as well, and reinstalled.  That was it for tonight.   

Parts replaced today:

New bulbs, rear half - $20

Parts cost so far: $870

Day 9-Down the rabbit hole we go...

Day 9 got off to a slow start, but turned out to be a productive day.  Today was an interior fix kinda day.  The dashboard was loose on the driver’s side and the passenger’s side dash needs some attention too.  Time to peel the onion and see what is uncovered... 

I started by pulling the dash pad, it needs to be painted to clean it up a bit and as I’m pulling the dash pad, I start seeing broken plastic pieces so I tread carefully.  I really do not want to have to replace any of the dash pieces, but with the loose driver’s side dash, there is no telling what the issue is.  I got the driver’s dash tore apart fairly easily and removed the LCD dash so I could clean the contacts before it is reassembled.  At this point, the loose dash problem is evident, the main mounting point is made of 1/8” thick plastic, and with the age of the car, its no surprise the mounting point is broken…  Really a poor design, but fixable.  Now I turn my attention to the passenger side dash.  I struggled to get the “bread box” off. That is the hideous puffy pad on the passenger side of the dash, no doubt an early attempt to provide protection in a crash, but did it have to be so hideous looking?  No matter, the previous owner purchased a flat panel conversion, so that will be getting installed.  The bread box finally succumbed to brute force applied on the factory rivets to break it loose…  What a PITA. 

After the bread box was off, it was evident the passenger side dash suffered from the same superior design of the driver’s side…  There really needs to be a sarcasm font…  Well, one more repair to make, gotta love old vehicles, right?  Now that the upper dash was taken apart, I turned my attention to the under side dash.  More screws and plastic, but soon, everything was out.  Now what to do…

I found a lot of cracked screw holes that need some reinforcement, and once that’s done, I’ll need to paint the pieces, but no biggie.  I got started by stripping the parts down and pulling the air vents, less to mask off or paint.  Once that was done, I cleaned all the parts in preparation for some epoxy reinforcement.  I also gave the dash pad a once over with the wax and grease remover as it will likely need additional cleanings to make sure the coating will adhere properly.  Now time to apply some epoxy.  It went quick, as it has to because the stuff sets up in 1 minute.  I turned my attention to the dash support repairs, but that would require additional materials, of course, right?  Another trip to the hardware store got me all set up with the pieces needed to fix the dash and while I was there, I picked up a roll of carpet padding so I can discard all the old stuff in the car.  But the carpet pad will have to wait for another day. 

I fabbed up brackets for both sides of the dash and installed them, what a difference.  Nice and solid.  I’d snap some pics, but the brackets aren’t very pretty, but they work.  That’s what counts here.  I take a break from the inside work and focus on getting the dash pad and the dash panels painted.  Then I took care of swapping out the carpet on the bottom sides of the dash panels…  then dinner time.

After dinner, I started to reinstall the dash parts.  I started with the underside dash pads and then got the lcd display put back in the car, in case I want to take it out for a spin, kinda need to know how fast you’re going.  And with that, enough for one day…    

Parts replaced today:

Knee bolster carpet

Parts cost so far: $850



Day 8

Day 8 started by finishing up the troubleshooting of the ABS system.  I found it was a bad relay, great, should be an easy fix…  Should be, but not so much…  Come to find out the relay is a special part that is discontinued and nobody has a new one in stock.  Great, so I guess I can try fixing it.  But how? 

To the internet…  I search and find a couple methods to try, I try them, but no luck.  On to something else for now.  I give the antenna a shot, I get the old one removed completely and test  fit the new one, but it doesn’t work, I’d prefer a hidden antenna anyway, so no biggie.  I wrap up the wiring with some shrink tubing to eliminate the chances for a short, and I button up the wiring.

Next up is the sanding and polishing of the taillights.  I run through all the bits and pieces and they turn out really nice, not perfect, but very nice.  It is amazing what some sandpaper and polishes will do. 

Sometime during one of my trips out of the house, I was able to find a paint color to match the car for some touch ups.  I prepped the body panel located by the battery and gave it a shot of the new color.  Not a perfect match, but close.  I may need to go to a paint supply shop to have them mix a custom color. 

For now, I’m tired, so until tomorrow…     

Parts replaced today:

None

Parts cost so far: $850

Day 7-Brand New Shoes

Day 7 was sort of a mish-mash.  I received a partial shipment of parts, but not the door and window seals as I had hoped, so I set out to take the rear end apart to get to the taillights and the power antenna.  As I started tearing into the rear end, I pulled out some trim pieces that need some attention, so I started the repairs on those.  I also got the taillights out and started removing the broken antenna.  While I had most of the plastic pieces out of the rear bumper, I figured I’d pull the side markers too.  They could all use a good polish. 

I also started troubleshooting the ABS light on the dash.  I tried the easy fixes first, just pulling the relays and cleaning the contacts, no luck, but I’ll pick it up tomorrow…

Parts replaced today:

None

Parts cost so far: $850

Day 6

Day 6 was a short, but expensive day.  I really want to get the car out on the highway, but I also really want to get to where I’m going with all four tires remaining intact, so time for new tires.  During the past few drives, its become evident that the tires are ready for replacement.  This is not an unknown expense, but I was hoping to wait a little while longer before spending the money.  I started searching for a set in the stock size and haven’t found much out there.  Not much of a market for a wide 16” tire.  Really, what self respecting individual would ride around on 16’s?  I guess me, for one.  If I knew for sure what the ultimate outcome of this whole project was going to be, and I were going to keep the car for myself, I would upgrade the wheels to a newer larger wheel…  But, in order to keep the car as original as possible, I’m going to stick with the 16”, so that limits the options.  I did finally find a set of the same tire that is presently on the car, and with the lack of other options, I ordered them. 

The tire place had them in the same day, but I didn’t have time to get there to have them mounted.  I had a dinner to get to tonight, but that wouldn’t be until later in the evening, so I left work, grabbed the car and headed out to the tire shop.  They got me right in and out.  I was going to keep the two front tires as spares, but as I examined the passenger side front tire, I saw the evidence of dry rot between the treads and there was a bad cupping wear pattern on the inside edge.  The driver’s side had cupping along the inside edge too, but not as bad, so I kept that one.  The cupping wear pattern concerned me, as that tells me there is a suspension problem of some sort, and if memory serves me, it is the shocks being worn out that causes that. 

I decide to swap out the shocks, they’re only about $30 a corner anyway and fairly simple to get to… or at least it looks that way.  So after dinner, I placed an order for a set of shocks as well, then bedtime. 

Until tomorrow…

Parts replaced today:

Tires $630

Parts cost so far: $850

Day 5

Day 5 was nothing major, just did an oil change.  I took the car out for the trip to the parts store, grabbed an oil filter and brought it back in and up on the ramps for the oil change.  During the drive, I tried the cruise control, and found out it works…  one less item to take care of. 

I got the oil change wrapped up, while the oil was draining, I greased up the upper ball joints and the tie rod ends, while greasing the uppers, it was evident that the rubber boots are history, the joints are solid, but the boots will need to be replaced, cheap fix, but not for today.  I buttoned everything back up and cleaned up. 

Until tomorrow…

Parts replaced today:

Oil and Filter $40

Parts cost so far: $220

Day 4-Window motor repair continued

Day 4 is history now.  I finally got a chance to finish the window motor repair.  But that was Tuesday afternoon following an early morning concrete placement on the jobsite.  Over the weekend, I spent some money… 

So I’m killing time in the airport on Friday and I start to make up a spreadsheet with the parts costs so far, as well as the projected parts costs to finish the repairs.  I plug in everything I can think of including the tools I have and plan to purchase…  then I look at the total…  Ouch, over 7 grand…  I was a little bummed out after that, because I had in my head $7000.00 as the resale amount…  and then I had to tell my Wife.  Not looking forward to that.

So I finally get back to Detroit and my Wife picks me up.  We’re driving out of the airport when I break the news…  I figure She can’t do anything too rash right now as I’m the one driving… but I brace for the impact…  and… nothing, she’s cool with it…  did I tell you all how much I love this woman?  She anticipated I’d be putting more than the cost of the car into the car for repairs, so she was not upset at all, or surprised.  Phew.  She makes a joke about this moment being documented on my blog and we both have a laugh. 

Saturday night I’m looking up parts and adding everything to my cart, I check a couple different websites, I compare prices and shipping.  Some parts are cheaper one place, some cheaper at the other, but overall they are close, so I settle on one place to purchase everything.  I place an order and hit the sack. 

Sunday was church then travel back to Georgia.  Monday was a late night at the jobsite, picked up the window motor on the way home, then an early morning for the concrete placement…  which brings us back to Tuesday afternoon, Day 4.  I don’t plan to work on the car today because I’m running on little sleep.  I figure I’ll get to the house, have a bite to eat, shower and head for bed.  Not so much.  I finish my lunch and get a second wind, so I figure I’ll tear into the door again.  It’ll be good, my roommate is not home so I get the whole garage to myself.

I crank up some tunes and get to work.  I left the door panel off and only reattached the inner panel with a couple screws, so it came back apart easily.  Now the hard part, to get the window and the regulator out.  I try to get the window glass out, but there is one stop that is bolted through the glass that will not allow me to slide the glass out.  Not cool.  I’m stumped.  I cannot seem to figure a way to get the regulator out without taking the glass out first.  Then I see there may be enough room if I can lower the regulator as if I were lowering the window.  I had the motor housing off last week when I tried to clean everything and make it work so I fingered it’d be simple enough to pull it off again and spin the motor internals to lower the window.  It does the trick and I’m able to get the regulator out without too much hassle.  I swap out the motor, using the dremel to cut off the rivets to remove the old unit first.  I grease the regulator and put it back in the door.  I reattach the glass and loosely bolt it in the door.  I then plug in the motor and give it a try.  It works great.  I bolt everything back together per the marks I made before disassembly… oh yeah, forgot to mention that… These windows must be realigned if they are removed from the regulator, so I made a few witness marks for reassembly…  before I reassembled everything, I took the opportunity to replace the outer door window seal.  I drilled out three rivets and removed the old piece.  Florida sun has not been kind to the window seals.  I install the replacement part and it functions and looks much better.  Now I can put the door back together.  It’s going to be replaced, but I don’t have the new parts yet, so I’ll need to get back together as best I can.  I button it up and give it a whirl.  The window goes up and down nicely, job done. 

I clean up the garage and chill out for a bit, Day 4 is over.

Parts replaced today:

Window Motor $35

Window Seal $0 (came with the car)

Parts cost so far: $180

Day 3 Driver's window repair?

Day 3 was a short day for work on the car.  Our intern was heading back to school and we went out to dinner after work.  I need to work on the brakes, but that will involve removing the wheels and tying up the whole garage, so tonight wasn’t the night to start that type of project. 

Instead, I’d try figuring out the driver’s window problem.  I started out with the easy fix by checking the switch and fuses.  The switch works fine and the fuse and relay are good so now its on to opening up the door panel, bummer.  I was hoping it would be easy, but not the case. 

I pull the door apart and find a welcomed surprise.  The window regulators are the newer scissor style, not the ribbon style.  The ribbon style is prone to failure and it is a slower mechanism as well.  Problem is, the motor doesn’t work.  I try taking the contacts apart and clean them, but still no luck.  Next, I pull the motor housing off and try to clean that as well, maybe I’ll get lucky… 

No dice.  The only thing left to do will be to replace the motor, but that will have to wait.  It’s late, I’m hot, and my beer is empty.  Time to pack it in for the night. 

Well, they can’t all be easy fixes, right?  I can’t complain too much, the replacement part is only $35 bucks, but the effort to swap it out is fairly involved.  Sounds like a job for Tomorrow-Man…

Parts replaced today:

None

Parts cost so far: $145

Day Two Progress: Fuel injector cleaning and plugs

Day two’s goal was to run the fuel injector cleaner through the injectors and then swap out the plugs. 

I was all set to purchase a professional style fuel induction cleaning rig when I came across a few posts about using an old R-12 can tap and a can of fuel injector cleaner from Napa auto parts.  R-12. For those that don’t know, is the refrigerant used long, long ago, in a land far away back when we didn’t care about the ozone layer or global warming…  at least that’s one of the reasons cited to replace the stuff with R-134a, which they are now looking to phase out as well.  But I digress…

With the R-12 being unavailable to the common man for the past few years, the hardware is just as hard to come by, so finding a cap tap on the shelf at your local auto parts is near impossible.  Oh yeah, they can order it, but it’ll cost you over $50…  not exactly a bargain. 

My father used to have a can tap for the R-12 cans due to driving older cars with tired A/C systems, so last weekend I dropped him a line asking if he still had it.  He found it out on the garage and he brought it with when Him and my Mother came to visit.  I had purchased a can of the cleaner earlier in the day from Napa to do a test run on my truck and it worked great.  Pull the fuel pump relay, screw the end of the fill hose into the fuel rail port and tap the can.  Started the truck, it runs for about 5 minutes on the can of cleaner, then stalls out when the can runs dry.  Job done.

I packed up the can tap and shipped it down to the rental house in Georgia.  It was delivered Wednesday afternoon, so after I procured another can of cleaner from a local Napa store, I was all ready to go.

I got home from work, pulled the fuel pump fuse, checked to make sure the fuel rail was not pressurized, and hooked up the can tap.  I put in the can of cleaner, tapped it, and fired up the car.  It ran for about 5 minutes and stalled out.  I pulled the can tap off, replaced the fuse, and started the car up again.  It still had a miss, at least one cylinder off, but I figured the cleaner wouldn’t fix the problem, and possibly make it worse by fouling a plug or two.  Next step was to swap out the plugs, once the old plugs were out, I’d be able to read them and see what’s been happening in the cylinders.  I’m was hoping to find a carbon fouled plug instead of a lean burning plug, which would mean the fuel delivery is good, but the spark was off at some point to allow the plug to foul.  But yesterday’s repairs should have fixed that issue.  I let the car cool down for a few hours, then swapped out the plugs, pretty simple task.  Finally got it all buttoned up and started it up… 

It fired right up and settled in to a nice smooth idle, no miss… 

To say I was excited, was an understatement.  I took her out for a victory lap.  It was running good, a little stab of the throttle broke the rear tires loose.  I finally had a Corvette! 

Now the car had the go, next task is to make sure it’s got the whoa.  It feels like the brakes are a little off, so no long drives yet.  Till tomorrow…

Parts replaced today:

Spark Plugs $25

Parts cost so far: $145

Day One Progress

Well, day one has come and gone.  I had to get a battery charger to bring the battery back to life.  While it was charging I gave had a chance to look over more of the car, trying to mentally prepare for what needs attention.  I did find that the tires are in better shape than I thought.  I don’t see any dry rot, and there is still a fair amount of tread left, so I can put that on the back burner for a bit. 

And since I could get the old girl started up, I had an opportunity to swap out the distributor cap and wires.  The old ones weren’t in awful shape, but the plugs will be getting changed anyway, and I figured its just a good idea to start with new tune up parts.  My injector cleaning rig is still en route, so I was unable to run a can of cleaner through them, but the battery was still charging anyway.  The longer I give it to charge, the better my chances of the car firing up. 

So I get the old wires off, marking them as I go so the firing order doesn’t get goofed up.  The cap and rotor are next.  A couple of electrical connections and four screws and it’s off too, exposing the rotor.  Two more screws and the old ones gone, being replaced by a shiny new one.  On this particular engine, the coil sits on top of the distributor cap, so that needs to be swapped over to the new cap.  No problems there, the instructions are easy to follow and the job is done.  Four more screws, and the cap is back on.  Now it’s time to run the new wires, always a treat, but I just take it one wire at a time and get them all installed.  By now, the battery has had a few hours to charge, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get the car started now.  I unhook the battery charger and jump in the driver’s seat…  well more like fall into the driver’s seat… 

I turn the key and it fires right up, and stays running…  It’s a good day.  Its still running a little rough, but it is running, nonetheless.  I want to get a full tank of premium fuel so any of the old fuel will be diluted enough that it wont affect performance.  That means I need to drive it down the road a few miles.  I start the voyage with a couple practice laps around the block first…  Sitting for a year has not been kind to the fuel system.  There is a definite miss, but it’s running on most cylinders.  After the parade laps through the subdivision, I bring her back to the garage to clean the windshield and check for any rubbing wires and look for other signs of problems, but it all looks decent, so it’s off to the gas station I go. 

I get out on the road and get her up to speed, it shifts okay and it tracks straight, those are both good signs.  Ah, but the rough running continues, and as I go to check the coolant temp, the gauge on the dash is not reading correctly…  Add one more item to the list.  I get to the gas station, I don’t dare shut it down now, for fear it will not restart.  I pop the hood and check for signs of any catastrophic failures, but other than a little bit of what look like cast off from the fan…  hopefully not coolant…  everything looks good.  So I get the car a full tank of fresh premium fuel with a dash of fuel system cleaner and I’m on my way back to the house.  I get the old girl tucked in for the night, or so I think… 

What is that chime for?  My car is beeping at me, could this be the reason the battery was drained?  I take the key out, I put the key back in, I check the steering column, I tilt the wheel, nothing stops it.  I get out of the car and close the door, the chime is still going…  and then I see it…  the headlights are on dummy.  Oops, so I reach in and turn off the lights, they flip down into the hood so elegantly.  I pop the hood, and hook up the charger for the night. 

Day one is in the books, it was a good day.

Parts replaced today:

Distributor Cap $20

Distributor Rotor $10

Spark plug wire set $90

Parts cost so far: $120

The Game Plan

Now that I have the car in my possession and got it registered this weekend, it is time to figure out my plan of attack.  In its current condition, it is unrivaled.  Its got a miss and the brakes are untested.  Fortunately, there is next to no fuel in the tank, so my first step will be to put a few gallons of fresh premium fuel in her and see how it responds.  I’ve ordered tune up parts, new plugs, wires, and cap and rotor, so those will be replaced for good measure, but I’ll try some fresh fuel and a injector cleaning prior to swapping out the plugs.  I also plan to replace the fuel filter.  If it still runs rough, then it may require a new set of injectors, the OEM pieces are a noted problem and the replacements are about $200, so it’s not a huge expense, but every dollar counts.  I’m going to try the cheap route with the injector cleaning first, but I won’t hesitate to swap out the injectors.  If that doesn’t get it running right, then I’ll have to come up with a new plan of attack.  That should take care of the major items under hood…  Hopefully anyway.

Next item will be the brakes.  From my quick assessment of the brakes, they are okay, with the exception of the parking brake, but that repair can wait a bit.  The priority will be to flush the braking system… A perfect excuse to get a new tool…  I’ll check all the guide pins and condition of the rotors and pads and replace whatever looks worn out, no need to skimp on the braking system.

And now for something completely different… 

I need to replace all four tires and the wheels need a bit of polishing, so I figure I’ll polish the wheels off the car with the old tires so I don’t have to worry about being neat about it.  Tires are still a mystery, there is not a huge selection out there for wide ass 16” tires, so I’ll deal with what is available.

After the mechanicals are sorted, I’ll move on to the interior, but that is a job for another day.  

Step 5: Vehicle Delivery

The broker and I finally get in touch with each other on Sunday afternoon while I’m on the way back to Georgia.  He assures me I can get my car on the Monday shipment, it will be leaving out of Florida in the afternoon.  We will take care of the particulars on Monday morning, sounds like I may have my car by Tuesday afternoon.  Now I’m excited.

Monday morning rolls around I call the broker at 9am, no answer, so I leave a message.  I call back at 10am, finally get a hold of the broker, he’s still not in the office, but he tells me he will give me a call back in a half hour.  10:30 comes and goes, no call, I’m busy at work so it isn’t until after 11am that I make another call to the broker.  We finally get the ball rolling on the contract.  He sends me an email with the particulars, I read it over…  the price has increased $50, super…  I’m a bit upset to say the least, but if I have my car by Tuesday, then it will be worth it.  I sign the contract, send it back and get the details, the car is set to be picked up around 7pm.  Sounds good to me.  I contact the sellers and let them know the plan, everything is good to go, right?  Not so much…

I was told by the broker to expect an email with the drivers information prior to the pick up.  By 4pm, I’ve got nothing, so I make another call to the broker to make sure everything is still good to go.  The broker tells me the driver ran into some mechanical issues and will not be making his run until the morning, nice of them to contact me with the information, but I read the reviews and expected a few issues throughout the process so this is not a big deal, just one more day. 

Tuesday morning, 9am and no word from the transport company, so I call them and the driver is still set up, but now the pick up wont be until later in the afternoon…  great, more waiting, but wait, there’s more…  The broker I’ve been dealing with hands me off to a different broker that has another option for me to consider.  There is another driver with a smaller trailer that will be heading through the area on Thursday morning after he drops of a load of vehicles, should be able to make the pickup by 10am.  The only problem is it will be an additional $50.  Different driver, smaller load, less economical and all…  I tell the broker that the new option sounds good, but not for the extra cost.  They’ll have to split the difference with me.  They eat $25 and I pay $25 extra, they agree and everything is set up for Thursday morning.  I let the sellers in Florida know the new plan and we’re all set.

Wednesday comes and goes, I make a call later in the day to make sure we are still good to go for the morning, yup, all set. 

Now its Thursday morning, about 9am and no word from the driver, or the broker.  With the history of this whole transaction, I was a little concerned to say the least.  I call the sellers to find out if maybe the driver contacted them, nada, super.  I leave the broker a message on voicemail and email.  I call again at 10am and find out the pick up will not happen till after 2pm.  No problem, I let the sellers know what’s happening so they can plan their day and run some errands. 

Thursday afternoon I get a call from the sellers in Florida, the cars been loaded up and the driver took good care getting it on the trailer, so all is well.  I still didn’t have the drivers info, so I asked the sellers if they had his number, they did, so now I can contact him directly… about time.  I give the driver a call after 5pm and he is planning to drop the car off in the morning about 10am, sounds good to me.  I’ve got a flight to catch in the afternoon, so that should work out nicely.  I’m getting excited, I’ll have my car in the morning, its going to be a good day…

I feel like its Christmas Eve and I’m 10 years old just waiting to see what kind of loot I’m going to get in the morning.  I wake up early, get to work and get some stuff done.  I get a call from the cable guy around 10am telling me he is on his way over to the rental house to repair our internet connection.  We’ve been without internet for the past 3 days at the rental house, so that’s it’s a good thing the repairman is on the way, but I can’t get there till around 11am.  I let the cable guy know, and he has another stop he can make before the our house, so 11am will work out…  Now if I can get a hold of the truck driver, I can get my car and get my cable fixed before I have to head out to the airport. 

I finally get a hold of the driver around 11am and he is anticipating heading my way by 11:30am.  That means he’ll make the drop off by noon.  I get a call at 11:30am, the driver is heading my way, so we make arrangements to meet down by the entrance to the subdivision.  I’m getting very excited now, I’m going to have my car! 

Noon comes and goes, cable guy is still at the rental house, but he’s about finished up, so I call the driver, no answer.  I leave a message.  12:30pm, no word, no car.  I call again, leave another message.  I’m a bit concerned now because I need to leave for the airport at 2pm.  I finally get a hold of the driver at 1pm and he’s still 20 minutes away!  WTF?  I jump in the shower, pack the car and wait to hear from the driver.  Driver shows up at 1:30, I walk down to the entrance of the subdivision to meet him.  There’s  my new project car, sitting on the back of the trailer.  I am a happy man. 

The driver unloads the car, he’s got to jump it to get it started and it keeps wanting to stall, so I’ll need to keep the jump box attached till I get to the house.  I make it to the house without any problems and I put her away in the garage for the weekend.  No time to play today, I’ve got to get to the airport.  I drop the jump box off to the driver and cut him a check for his services and I’m on my way.