- Jul 1, 2013
- 749
Ever notice how when you have a nice vehicle and your friends notice that you do all your own work on it that somehow you become the go-to guy for all their mechanical woes? Ever spent a weekend working on a friend's car for very little to no payment, only the satisfaction that you've helped out a friend and made them a little safer on the roadway? If you do then feel free to relate and post away here - since we're all vehicle enthusiasts I assume there are several of you who know just what I mean.
My buddy's 01 Impala finally gave up slowly in the past few weeks. I've pieced it together for him a few times - once when the lower intake went out and then about a week later I put a new front clip on it when he rear-ended an Asian lady in a new Toyota, to say he's hard on a car is a pretty accurate. It's now a tan Impala with a maroon fender and hood and a damaged but usable factory bumper. It also has a Rockauto right headlight that's so out of line because of the front end structure damage there's not enough adjustment to get it shining where it needs to. The AC no longer works after the country mechanic he once had work on it put a new T-stat in it. It also has more gremlins in the wiring than AMC ever put on the road. It finally just couldn't take it anymore. It still runs, but not even well enough to consider it a reliable car to get from his apartment to school.
He now is the proud owner of a $700 1990 Plymouth Horizon, which he bought without me knowing or being there to help him inspect. So today between and after classes, I helped him with the insurance and title transfer and licensing, and also found out what we'd need to get it legal enough to pass a state inspection, and I replaced the various burnt out light bulbs that are essential to the inspection.
What I'll be doing the rest of the week: front strut top plates (common problem on the Omni/Horizon), 4 new tires (the old ones have cords sticking out, literally), new muffler (there's a usable one there, but it's hanging by a coat hanger and slid over the exhaust in front of it - not even clamped!) , new wheel cylinders on each side for rear brakes, check/pack rear hub bearings, and new brake shoes. Oh yea, and going to class with buttloads of work to do in those. The stuff I mentioned is just to get it legal - after that I have to dig into finding why the odometer doesn't work, I fear I will find that I'm going to have to remove the instrument cluster and get into the tiny gears to see if I can source a replacement for a stripped one. It'll eventually need a new valve cover pan gasket, but that's a warm weather job that can wait. My buddy is fairly knowledgeable of mechanical things, but he's more the "you stand over there and hand me a 9/16 socket" kind of guy, so I end up doing the work.
Despite all the stuff it needs, the body is in super good shape, and underneath the car is pristine - looks like the day it rolled off the showroom floor under there. The engine purrs like a kitten and the little 3 speed auto transmission shifts well and shows no signs of slippage. All the important mechanicals seem to really be in good repair, it's actually kind of fun to drive once you get yourself squeezed in - feels like a street legal go-kart, only bouncy because of the broken cords in the tires.
Believe it or not we've found all the parts for it already and have them all except the strut top plates, and those will be in at the auto parts store in the morning. The tires were also something we had to order - P165/80/R13 tires aren't just kept in stock everywhere, who knew?
Those will be in at around two at a local tire place tomorrow - $69 a tire with free mount and balance. We borrowed the rack of a local mechanic today so we could see what all it needed. For the struts and brakes and wheel cylinders and bearings I'm going to see if he'll cut us a deal to install the parts for us as we only have a snowy parking lot to work in. The strut plates wouldn't be too bad - just deal with the spring compressor. I absolutely HATE dealing with bleeding brakes though, so I truly hope the mechanic is nice to a couple 'ol country boys living up here to go to school.
If any of y'all have experience with these little cars let me know, I could use some pointers about now. Pics of this wonderful piece of machinery will be coming soon - I was too busy today to get 'em. I don't always post about when I do stuff like this, but I figured my friends here at the Nation would understand and relate. Heck, the kind of folks we are I figure maybe some of you have even been in the same situation.
Just looked up at that, I guess that was a little long winded...
My buddy's 01 Impala finally gave up slowly in the past few weeks. I've pieced it together for him a few times - once when the lower intake went out and then about a week later I put a new front clip on it when he rear-ended an Asian lady in a new Toyota, to say he's hard on a car is a pretty accurate. It's now a tan Impala with a maroon fender and hood and a damaged but usable factory bumper. It also has a Rockauto right headlight that's so out of line because of the front end structure damage there's not enough adjustment to get it shining where it needs to. The AC no longer works after the country mechanic he once had work on it put a new T-stat in it. It also has more gremlins in the wiring than AMC ever put on the road. It finally just couldn't take it anymore. It still runs, but not even well enough to consider it a reliable car to get from his apartment to school.
He now is the proud owner of a $700 1990 Plymouth Horizon, which he bought without me knowing or being there to help him inspect. So today between and after classes, I helped him with the insurance and title transfer and licensing, and also found out what we'd need to get it legal enough to pass a state inspection, and I replaced the various burnt out light bulbs that are essential to the inspection.
What I'll be doing the rest of the week: front strut top plates (common problem on the Omni/Horizon), 4 new tires (the old ones have cords sticking out, literally), new muffler (there's a usable one there, but it's hanging by a coat hanger and slid over the exhaust in front of it - not even clamped!) , new wheel cylinders on each side for rear brakes, check/pack rear hub bearings, and new brake shoes. Oh yea, and going to class with buttloads of work to do in those. The stuff I mentioned is just to get it legal - after that I have to dig into finding why the odometer doesn't work, I fear I will find that I'm going to have to remove the instrument cluster and get into the tiny gears to see if I can source a replacement for a stripped one. It'll eventually need a new valve cover pan gasket, but that's a warm weather job that can wait. My buddy is fairly knowledgeable of mechanical things, but he's more the "you stand over there and hand me a 9/16 socket" kind of guy, so I end up doing the work.
Despite all the stuff it needs, the body is in super good shape, and underneath the car is pristine - looks like the day it rolled off the showroom floor under there. The engine purrs like a kitten and the little 3 speed auto transmission shifts well and shows no signs of slippage. All the important mechanicals seem to really be in good repair, it's actually kind of fun to drive once you get yourself squeezed in - feels like a street legal go-kart, only bouncy because of the broken cords in the tires.
Believe it or not we've found all the parts for it already and have them all except the strut top plates, and those will be in at the auto parts store in the morning. The tires were also something we had to order - P165/80/R13 tires aren't just kept in stock everywhere, who knew?
Those will be in at around two at a local tire place tomorrow - $69 a tire with free mount and balance. We borrowed the rack of a local mechanic today so we could see what all it needed. For the struts and brakes and wheel cylinders and bearings I'm going to see if he'll cut us a deal to install the parts for us as we only have a snowy parking lot to work in. The strut plates wouldn't be too bad - just deal with the spring compressor. I absolutely HATE dealing with bleeding brakes though, so I truly hope the mechanic is nice to a couple 'ol country boys living up here to go to school. If any of y'all have experience with these little cars let me know, I could use some pointers about now. Pics of this wonderful piece of machinery will be coming soon - I was too busy today to get 'em. I don't always post about when I do stuff like this, but I figured my friends here at the Nation would understand and relate. Heck, the kind of folks we are I figure maybe some of you have even been in the same situation.
Just looked up at that, I guess that was a little long winded...
