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
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