This car is trying to make me hate it, but I've vowed that it's not going to win.
I bought it on eBay for $1800 and drove it home from Cabot, AR (about 45 min away). It's nice enough in that it's a rear wheel V8 with two doors and headers. However, years of "creative engineering" have taken it's toll on the mechanical bits. It drove home fine, as if it was happy with having a new owner, but the next morning was a different story.
It was as if I had gone to Las Vegas and got married to a beautiful girl on a whim, only to wake up the next morning and discover that underneath the pretty exterior is a crazy, angry woman that was not going to be happy with anything I did. The next morning the car would not crank. It was obvious that there was a constant drain on the battery that had depleted it overnight. The owner had the battery disconnected when I picked up the car, now I know why. I boosted the car and drove into town to charge up the battery. While driving the car it's painfully obvious that the springs are two low, I bottom out on everything and it drive me crazy, I'll have to replace the springs back with stock pieces, or at least something higher that what's on there now. Five minutes later I shut off the engine at a park because the water temp gauge was at 240 and I thought I saw steam come out from the hood. The top radiator hose had blow off at the radiator, and she was bone dry. I waited until it cooled down (an hour maybe?) and tried to crank it again, only to find the battery dead as a rock. So much for the alternator. I was due in court in two hours so I called a friend to bring some water and a boost so I could limp home. I made it with only minutes to spare.
I replaced the alternator (tested bad), the voltage regulator (internal short to ground), and the thermostat (bad, would not open in boiling water). The car now cranks and stays cool but during the diagnosis of the electrical system I lost my interior lights. At least the car would drive now, but there is this loud squeaking noise that sounds like the serpentine belt.
The accessory mounts on the engine look like an erector set (clue). The belt tensioner was at the end of it's travel, so my suspicion was that a lack of tension was causing the squeak. I replaced the belt with one that was 1 inch shorter. It barely fit but it put the tensioner where I thought it should be. One day later the belt promptly exited the engine compartment in a parking lot maneuver. I put it on and it jumped off again, just as I turned hard at slow speed. I put it back on again and avoid straining the power steering to limp home. As I pull in the driveway the belt shreaded into two very small pieces ($16 gone).
I park the car until I get the belt problem sorted. One day later two of the tires are almost flat. I notice that the water neck is leaking where the thermostat housing is not making a good seal. If this car is trying to make me hate it then it's trying as hard as possible, throwing nothing but knockout punches one after another, but I'm still dipping and weaving to stay in the fight.
After I replaced the belt the first time the engine bay quietened down enough for me to hear what sounds like lifter noise, on the left side of the engine, at about 1600 RPM. I attributed it to a bad idler arm, or a bad PS pump (would explain the belt problem if it's seizing up). Those suspicions are gone when I hear the noise with no belt on the engine. The source of that noise is yet to be determined.
The belt problem is most likely due to the willingness of the PS pump. There are only two bolts holding on the bracket for the pump and they are a good distance away from the pulley, on the water pump. There is nothing holding the bracket front to back. The pump has good leverage on the bracket and given the strain that is put on it there's no wonder that the bracket bent. I was able to bend it back by hand, that can't be good. I'm going to order a pump bracket from Summit, I hope it fits. I'll go ahead and get a new water pump neck, thermostat and gasket too, to solve that leaky seal.
That's where I stand right now, I wanted a project car but I learned to be carefull what you ask for, you might get it.
Tamara had her first doctor's visit for the new baby today. She had an ultrasound and we could see / hear the baby's heartbeat. They say the baby is 6 weeks along. The baby is on the left, the object on the right is some sort of sack.
We took Emily up to her Grannies work today to do some trick or treating. She obtained about two pounds of various name brand sweet treats in her pumpkin shaped bag. She had a good time. She was very good today, I only had to put her in the corner once for about a minute while we were in the waiting room at Mom's Doctor's visit. It rained pretty hard today while Mom was seeing the Doctor so we went out and watched it.
