While not perfect, at least it was not as bad as it was last Monday. The mail was a bit lighter and the car didn't break down. Still I was out until almost 4 PM, mostly because of all the packages. Then as soon as I returned to the office I found that my parcel hamper was full again! This is getting ridiculous.
FedEx was the culprit for the packages we delivered today, but I'm sure those which arrived while I was out delivering were from UPS. At least I had a bit of help today which helped a lot, but not sure I will get any help tomorrow.
Plus I noticed the same sounds the car was making last week on the left side are now coming from the right side, so I'm sure the wheel bearing will need to be replaced on the right as well. It just doesn't end with old cars, but this still beats having to pay for a new one.
Rain is supposed to be moving in this evening and I hope it gets it all over with during the night so we don't have another wet day. Those are a royal pain as once your arm gets wet, then it makes your leg wet and so on. Even with the heater on full blast it just stays cold all day when that happens.
I keep telling myself that I only have 3 more years of this crap, but it doesn't help a lot...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
It all started Saturday
Try to do something nice for someone and it never fails, it comes back to haunt you! My sub at the post office said she wanted off Saturday to have Thanksgiving dinner with her boyfriend's parents. Okay, I was planning to take the day off after Thanksgiving and would have to use an annual leave day for that normally, so I told her we could just switch days. The postal service has gotten very stingy lately with any overtime pay so subs are no longer allowed to take off on the days they are scheduled to work as normally this would cause the regular carrier to receive overtime in compensation for working on their off day. So some carriers will just switch a day for a day with their sub to help them out once in a while.
We had a good bit of mail on Saturday, but I was doing fine with it and would have gotten back to the office in plenty of time, but then on the route my car decided to have a fit! All of a sudden the steering wheel jerked and the car went left of center. I was lucky there was nothing coming so I slowed down and then it happened again.
Once I reached the road where I turn to go back into town, I decided I would just go very slowly and deliver the mail as I went which I did. The car continued to exhibit very strange behavior, making noises that I had never heard before. Once I got back to town I headed straight for the post office.
I explained my problem to the supervisor and she said that one of the girls would be back shortly from their route and they could help me get the rest of the mail delivered. That was the case and we managed to get done a little after 4 PM. I figured I would go in early Monday morning and take the car to the repair shop to have it fixed in plenty of time to use it for the mail once I got it ready.
That was the plan and that is what I did. I arrived a little after 6 AM and took the car to the shop and made arrangements for someone to bring me back to the post office. At about 10:30 AM, I called the shop and they said the car would be ready in 10-15 minutes. We went to pick up the car at 11:00 AM.
The man at the shop said he could find nothing wrong either with the brakes or the front suspension and said to just go ahead and use it like it was. I know my car and I know there was something bad wrong with it. I told him so and also said that I would be seeing him again shortly. I left and loaded the car with my mail at the post office and went to begin my route.
After about 30 minutes, the car began to make the same noises again and this time I was determined to ride it out and see what would happen if I continued. Well, it didn't take long. After 5 more minutes the wheel began to lock up and the next thing I knew something broke and the whole left front side of the car dropped down. The car would still move, but just barely. I pulled it off to the side of the road and got out to have a look.
I saw that the left front wheel was now at an angle instead of being straight up and down. So I went up to the house I was in front of and asked to use the phone. Called the repair shop to come get the car and they said they would. About 45 minutes later someone arrived and we hauled the car in.
Once back at the shop it was determined that the wheel bearing on that side had basically just fell apart. I told them to fix it and called the post office. I explained the problem and the postmaster said he would contact someone to get the mail. I happened to see my sub who was delivering the mail on someone else's route and told her what the problem was. She said she would be back once she got done with that route.
It was now about 1:30 PM and work began to repair my car. Parts were ordered and arrived, not the correct parts, more parts were ordered, etc. This happened several times and shortly my sub arrived to pick up my mail. She said if I got the car fixed to come check on her as she didn't have time to do the entire route before 5 PM. I assured her I would and true to my word when the car was finally fixed, now after 4 PM, I met her out on the route and took half of the remaining mail. We managed to get done with the route and back to the office a short time after 5 PM, the truck was still there so no real harm done as far as the mail was concerned. That was when the other shoe dropped.
The postmaster asked me how these things were normally handled as far as compensation was concerned and I informed him that normally the subs were paid for their time and I paid for their mileage. He then informed me that he didn't do it that way. He said I would have to take an annual day and let the sub have the evaluated time. In other words, just like I had taken off the entire day and my sub had worked for me. Wow, this day was just getting better and better.
He also said I would be required to pay the girls that helped me Saturday as there was no money in the budget for that. I told him that they had already put the time on their time cards as that was what they were told to do by the supervisor who worked Saturday. He said he would try to see if he could find some extra money in the budget then.
This all started because I tried to do something nice for someone. It just doesn't pay...
We had a good bit of mail on Saturday, but I was doing fine with it and would have gotten back to the office in plenty of time, but then on the route my car decided to have a fit! All of a sudden the steering wheel jerked and the car went left of center. I was lucky there was nothing coming so I slowed down and then it happened again.
Once I reached the road where I turn to go back into town, I decided I would just go very slowly and deliver the mail as I went which I did. The car continued to exhibit very strange behavior, making noises that I had never heard before. Once I got back to town I headed straight for the post office.
I explained my problem to the supervisor and she said that one of the girls would be back shortly from their route and they could help me get the rest of the mail delivered. That was the case and we managed to get done a little after 4 PM. I figured I would go in early Monday morning and take the car to the repair shop to have it fixed in plenty of time to use it for the mail once I got it ready.
That was the plan and that is what I did. I arrived a little after 6 AM and took the car to the shop and made arrangements for someone to bring me back to the post office. At about 10:30 AM, I called the shop and they said the car would be ready in 10-15 minutes. We went to pick up the car at 11:00 AM.
The man at the shop said he could find nothing wrong either with the brakes or the front suspension and said to just go ahead and use it like it was. I know my car and I know there was something bad wrong with it. I told him so and also said that I would be seeing him again shortly. I left and loaded the car with my mail at the post office and went to begin my route.
After about 30 minutes, the car began to make the same noises again and this time I was determined to ride it out and see what would happen if I continued. Well, it didn't take long. After 5 more minutes the wheel began to lock up and the next thing I knew something broke and the whole left front side of the car dropped down. The car would still move, but just barely. I pulled it off to the side of the road and got out to have a look.
I saw that the left front wheel was now at an angle instead of being straight up and down. So I went up to the house I was in front of and asked to use the phone. Called the repair shop to come get the car and they said they would. About 45 minutes later someone arrived and we hauled the car in.
Once back at the shop it was determined that the wheel bearing on that side had basically just fell apart. I told them to fix it and called the post office. I explained the problem and the postmaster said he would contact someone to get the mail. I happened to see my sub who was delivering the mail on someone else's route and told her what the problem was. She said she would be back once she got done with that route.
It was now about 1:30 PM and work began to repair my car. Parts were ordered and arrived, not the correct parts, more parts were ordered, etc. This happened several times and shortly my sub arrived to pick up my mail. She said if I got the car fixed to come check on her as she didn't have time to do the entire route before 5 PM. I assured her I would and true to my word when the car was finally fixed, now after 4 PM, I met her out on the route and took half of the remaining mail. We managed to get done with the route and back to the office a short time after 5 PM, the truck was still there so no real harm done as far as the mail was concerned. That was when the other shoe dropped.
The postmaster asked me how these things were normally handled as far as compensation was concerned and I informed him that normally the subs were paid for their time and I paid for their mileage. He then informed me that he didn't do it that way. He said I would have to take an annual day and let the sub have the evaluated time. In other words, just like I had taken off the entire day and my sub had worked for me. Wow, this day was just getting better and better.
He also said I would be required to pay the girls that helped me Saturday as there was no money in the budget for that. I told him that they had already put the time on their time cards as that was what they were told to do by the supervisor who worked Saturday. He said he would try to see if he could find some extra money in the budget then.
This all started because I tried to do something nice for someone. It just doesn't pay...
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Editors Note
For those of you who have been following the continuing story of my life, you will notice that I have moved all of the past and future chapters to my previous blog site located here:
http://mosslack.wordpress.com/
I was told by more than one reader that posting this storyline on my regular informational blog was a bit confusing, so I hope this move will end any and all confusion and allow easier access to the story for those who wish to follow along.
This will also allow me to post chapters on a more regular basis as I don't have to worry so much about what else I have written on some other subject. At least that is the plan.
You should also find it much easier to post comments on that site as no affiliation with any other service is necessary. I of course welcome your comments and do appreciate when you take the time to let me know what you think of the things I write.
http://mosslack.wordpress.com/
I was told by more than one reader that posting this storyline on my regular informational blog was a bit confusing, so I hope this move will end any and all confusion and allow easier access to the story for those who wish to follow along.
This will also allow me to post chapters on a more regular basis as I don't have to worry so much about what else I have written on some other subject. At least that is the plan.
You should also find it much easier to post comments on that site as no affiliation with any other service is necessary. I of course welcome your comments and do appreciate when you take the time to let me know what you think of the things I write.
Friday, November 19, 2010
This weather sucks!
Okay, I knew it was bound to happen, the warm weather can only last so long this time of the year. Getting to the middle of November with decent temps outside is not bad, but now it's just too cold and wet to do any kind of work outside on the car. It's so lonely looking sitting there up on jack stands from where I removed the wheels last weekend.
After loading up my Monte Carlo with 3 tires on rims, 2 bare rims and 4 tires, along with the air cleaner and hood hinges from the Buick the night before, I left about 8 AM last Friday morning and headed down I-75 to Lexington, KY to Jim and Melody's place. Upon arrival I parked my car at the house and got in with Jim to begin our adventure. Our first order of business was to try to locate a replacement for the heater core in the old Buick which was pretty much shot. After not having any luck at the first radiator shop we stopped at, we hit pay dirt at the second one, where a suitable replacement was found. The end from my core had to be transferred to the new one and the owner advised it would be ready on Monday at a price of $65. Seemed very reasonable to me, and I was tickled pink! Jim said he would stop by and pick it up for me.
The rest of the day was spent mostly running around to different places. Jim is the chief transportation officer for Jim and Melody, INC. so it keeps him pretty busy. We did find time to visit Melody where she works at Sam's Club. Her job it to demo different food items so it seemed logical to visit around lunch time. Along with Melody, there are many others doing the same thing at Sam's, so we hit them all up and by that time were ready for lunch. The snack bar at Sam's is a good place for that as a huge slice of pizza (at least the size of 3 regular slices) and a soda can be had for just $2.48.
In between more transportation duties we managed to remove the old tires from the rims so they could be sand blasted later at Jim's friend Barry's place. As one of the rims did not need any work we went ahead and put a tire on it. It was discovered to have a bad valve stem so we decided to just get all new ones once the rims were ready to have tires mounted. After all of the transportation duties were complete, including picking up Melody from work, we finally headed out to Barry's to do the blasting work.
Jim had told me a bit about Barry and the kind of work he did, but seeing it all was simply amazing, I was very impressed! I suppose you would call Barry a fabrication specialist. His current project is taking 2003 Camaros and turning them into 1969 Camaros for a gentleman of seemingly unlimited funds. The process is basically to remove the front and back sheet metal from the later model Camaro and then Barry fabricates brackets and all necessary hardware to attach the '69 sheet metal to the back and front. Once his part is complete the car is taken to the body man who does the necessary body and paint work.
This apparently is a lucrative business as one of these cars was recently sold at a Barrett-Jackson action for around $55,000.00. Not too shabby at all! Barry also has some neat Anglia's at his shop he has built for himself and others. It was also neat hearing some of the stories from his and Jim's past and all the trouble they got into as kids. Ah, good times.
In no time at all, Jim had managed to sand blast all of the wheels and the air cleaner while I carried the finished ones out to the truck, so it was time to say good-bye to Barry and head off for supper. Completely unaware of what was in store next, I soon discovered we were on our way to the local Texas Roadhouse to meet up with Kathy, Jeff, Amy, Melody and Rodney for a super supper. Good food and fine company, it just doesn't get any better than this!
After saying good-byes to everyone I headed off to the Super 8 where I had checked in earlier in the afternoon. Now nearly midnight, it had been a full day and I was ready for a warm bed and sweet dreams. Unfortunately the family in the room above me were not yet ready. I know it was at least 2 AM before they finally stopped jumping up and down and running across the floor. Oh well, can't have everything!
I awoke the next morning, well rested and ready for another day of action. After I showered and checked out of the hotel, I headed back over to Jim and Melody's. Jim had already started his transportation duties for the day and was now ready to mount the tires on the freshly blasted rims. But first we needed to secure new valve stems, so after finding the needed items at the local Autozone, a trip to Harbor Freight was next to see if we could find the little tool used to install valve stems. No luck there, but we had a pair of channel locks and in no time at all we had the new stems in place.
Although the job was made somewhat easier using the Harbor Freight tire changer Jim had, getting the tires off the rims is a much easier process. But I can tell you this, it sure beats trying to put a tire on in the middle of a parking lot with basically no tools! With Jim doing much of the grunt work while I stood around and looked pretty, the tires were soon mounted and ready to be loaded back into the Monte Carlo for the trip home.
After working up an appetite, we decided to visit Melody once again and see what she was cooking up at work. Once again we hit up all of the sample tables and topped it off with another huge piece of pizza and a soda. I do believe I would have no trouble adjusting to a lifestyle like this!
We had time to kill before we went to visit my other sister (Sharon) in Crab Orchard, so we visited another one of Jim's cousins who has a place in the country he is fixing up. He also has a rather odd collection of vintage iron, mostly Ford products, scattered about his property. When it comes to old cars, I may joke around a lot about the difference between Ford's and Chevy's, but one is just as good as the other when it comes to the old ones and truth be known, there are several old Ford's which I would love to own.
Time flies when you're having fun and in no time at all it was time to head back into the city to meet up with Melody and Rodney to head south to Crab Orchard and Sharon's restaurant, The Past Time Cafe. The trip down is a long one, no matter which way you go, but well worth it as far as I'm concerned. I have not had much of a chance to talk with Sharon as she is not one for traveling, so this is about the only way to do it.
Once there we met Kathy, Jeff and Amy and all had supper again. Sharon had been told I would not be able to attend, so it was hopefully a pleasant surprise for her when I showed up. After eating she showed me where she and her husband live above the restaurant. A very nice arrangement to be sure. After more very pleasant conversation and story telling, we said good-bye once more. Sharon assured me she would visit soon when Jim and Melody come up to Belterra for a visit. I really hope she does.
After the long trip back to Lexington (took the expressway this time), I said my good-byes and thanked them for a most wonderful visit, for I still had to drive back to Vevay. Except for some rain, the trip back home was uneventful and I arrived back home well before midnight. My cat (Dixie), greeted me at the door and she seemed happy to have me back home so the food bowl would be refilled.
All in all it was a wonderful trip which I thoroughly enjoyed. It occurred to me once back home that I had not paid for a single thing I ate and this was a very different experience for me. I want to thank everyone for making my visit so pleasant and hope I can repay you all when you come up to Vevay. Especially you Sharon, don't be such a stranger!
Love you guys!
After loading up my Monte Carlo with 3 tires on rims, 2 bare rims and 4 tires, along with the air cleaner and hood hinges from the Buick the night before, I left about 8 AM last Friday morning and headed down I-75 to Lexington, KY to Jim and Melody's place. Upon arrival I parked my car at the house and got in with Jim to begin our adventure. Our first order of business was to try to locate a replacement for the heater core in the old Buick which was pretty much shot. After not having any luck at the first radiator shop we stopped at, we hit pay dirt at the second one, where a suitable replacement was found. The end from my core had to be transferred to the new one and the owner advised it would be ready on Monday at a price of $65. Seemed very reasonable to me, and I was tickled pink! Jim said he would stop by and pick it up for me.
The rest of the day was spent mostly running around to different places. Jim is the chief transportation officer for Jim and Melody, INC. so it keeps him pretty busy. We did find time to visit Melody where she works at Sam's Club. Her job it to demo different food items so it seemed logical to visit around lunch time. Along with Melody, there are many others doing the same thing at Sam's, so we hit them all up and by that time were ready for lunch. The snack bar at Sam's is a good place for that as a huge slice of pizza (at least the size of 3 regular slices) and a soda can be had for just $2.48.
In between more transportation duties we managed to remove the old tires from the rims so they could be sand blasted later at Jim's friend Barry's place. As one of the rims did not need any work we went ahead and put a tire on it. It was discovered to have a bad valve stem so we decided to just get all new ones once the rims were ready to have tires mounted. After all of the transportation duties were complete, including picking up Melody from work, we finally headed out to Barry's to do the blasting work.
Jim had told me a bit about Barry and the kind of work he did, but seeing it all was simply amazing, I was very impressed! I suppose you would call Barry a fabrication specialist. His current project is taking 2003 Camaros and turning them into 1969 Camaros for a gentleman of seemingly unlimited funds. The process is basically to remove the front and back sheet metal from the later model Camaro and then Barry fabricates brackets and all necessary hardware to attach the '69 sheet metal to the back and front. Once his part is complete the car is taken to the body man who does the necessary body and paint work.
This apparently is a lucrative business as one of these cars was recently sold at a Barrett-Jackson action for around $55,000.00. Not too shabby at all! Barry also has some neat Anglia's at his shop he has built for himself and others. It was also neat hearing some of the stories from his and Jim's past and all the trouble they got into as kids. Ah, good times.
In no time at all, Jim had managed to sand blast all of the wheels and the air cleaner while I carried the finished ones out to the truck, so it was time to say good-bye to Barry and head off for supper. Completely unaware of what was in store next, I soon discovered we were on our way to the local Texas Roadhouse to meet up with Kathy, Jeff, Amy, Melody and Rodney for a super supper. Good food and fine company, it just doesn't get any better than this!
After saying good-byes to everyone I headed off to the Super 8 where I had checked in earlier in the afternoon. Now nearly midnight, it had been a full day and I was ready for a warm bed and sweet dreams. Unfortunately the family in the room above me were not yet ready. I know it was at least 2 AM before they finally stopped jumping up and down and running across the floor. Oh well, can't have everything!
I awoke the next morning, well rested and ready for another day of action. After I showered and checked out of the hotel, I headed back over to Jim and Melody's. Jim had already started his transportation duties for the day and was now ready to mount the tires on the freshly blasted rims. But first we needed to secure new valve stems, so after finding the needed items at the local Autozone, a trip to Harbor Freight was next to see if we could find the little tool used to install valve stems. No luck there, but we had a pair of channel locks and in no time at all we had the new stems in place.
Although the job was made somewhat easier using the Harbor Freight tire changer Jim had, getting the tires off the rims is a much easier process. But I can tell you this, it sure beats trying to put a tire on in the middle of a parking lot with basically no tools! With Jim doing much of the grunt work while I stood around and looked pretty, the tires were soon mounted and ready to be loaded back into the Monte Carlo for the trip home.
After working up an appetite, we decided to visit Melody once again and see what she was cooking up at work. Once again we hit up all of the sample tables and topped it off with another huge piece of pizza and a soda. I do believe I would have no trouble adjusting to a lifestyle like this!
We had time to kill before we went to visit my other sister (Sharon) in Crab Orchard, so we visited another one of Jim's cousins who has a place in the country he is fixing up. He also has a rather odd collection of vintage iron, mostly Ford products, scattered about his property. When it comes to old cars, I may joke around a lot about the difference between Ford's and Chevy's, but one is just as good as the other when it comes to the old ones and truth be known, there are several old Ford's which I would love to own.
Time flies when you're having fun and in no time at all it was time to head back into the city to meet up with Melody and Rodney to head south to Crab Orchard and Sharon's restaurant, The Past Time Cafe. The trip down is a long one, no matter which way you go, but well worth it as far as I'm concerned. I have not had much of a chance to talk with Sharon as she is not one for traveling, so this is about the only way to do it.
Once there we met Kathy, Jeff and Amy and all had supper again. Sharon had been told I would not be able to attend, so it was hopefully a pleasant surprise for her when I showed up. After eating she showed me where she and her husband live above the restaurant. A very nice arrangement to be sure. After more very pleasant conversation and story telling, we said good-bye once more. Sharon assured me she would visit soon when Jim and Melody come up to Belterra for a visit. I really hope she does.
After the long trip back to Lexington (took the expressway this time), I said my good-byes and thanked them for a most wonderful visit, for I still had to drive back to Vevay. Except for some rain, the trip back home was uneventful and I arrived back home well before midnight. My cat (Dixie), greeted me at the door and she seemed happy to have me back home so the food bowl would be refilled.
All in all it was a wonderful trip which I thoroughly enjoyed. It occurred to me once back home that I had not paid for a single thing I ate and this was a very different experience for me. I want to thank everyone for making my visit so pleasant and hope I can repay you all when you come up to Vevay. Especially you Sharon, don't be such a stranger!
Love you guys!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
One man's love affair with motorized transport, (Chapter 3: What's Love Got To Do With It?)
All chapters from this storyline have been moved to my previous blog site located here.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Old Buick Moves Again!
I finally got up the courage to brave the cooler temps outside today and fiddled with the old Buick a little more. I had picked up a cheap pair of channel lock pliers at Tractor Supply yesterday while I was in Madison, so it was time to see if the brittle plastic top of the brake master cylinder could be removed. I managed to get the job done without destroying the top and saw that although no fluid was showing, the inside of the reservoir didn't appear dry.
Kevin came over and so I decided to drain the radiator and refill with fresh antifreeze so the old girl's block wouldn't freeze up and bust over the winter. With new pliers, I was able to open the pet cock on the radiator and completely drained the unit this time. Once that was done, I retightened the pet cock and poured a gallon of new antifreeze in.
At the same time, I had put the battery charger on it again so that we would have some good fresh juice to get her started again. With temps in the mid-20's the last couple of nights and no choke, I knew it would require a little extra cranking to get it going. Surprisingly it was running pretty good in no time at all.
Prior to starting I had also poured about a quart of transmission fluid in the transmission, so once the motor was warmed up I decided to move the car to a different spot in the yard. One a bit more level as well as closer to the back door. Put the car in drive and she took right off with very little effort. In no time I was where I wanted to be and by this time the engine was willing to idle.
About 3/4 of a gallon more antifreeze was added and I saw that the coolant was circulating in the radiator, which meant the thermostat had opened. While the car was sitting there idling, we filled the transmission to the proper level and once the car ran a good long time to be sure the coolant had circulated, I shut it down.
Kevin suggested that I fill the master cylinder up with brake fluid and he would lay under the back of the car to see if there were any leaks. So after filling the reservoir I replaced the top and went inside to pump the brakes to see if we had any leaks. The brake pedal went down, but would not come back up on it's own, so I used my hand to slowly pump the pedal up and down several times until it was coming back up on it's own.
Kevin said he didn't see anything leaking out underneath, but the brake pedal never did feel normal, so I assume the master cylinder will need to be rebuilt before we can examine the brake system any further. No telling how long the rubber pieces inside the brake cylinder have been sitting dry which is not good at all for such parts.
Before we covered it back up I got Kevin to read the writing on the back of the carburetor to see if we could determine what type it was. He read the word, Stromberg, which is all I really needed to know. There were basically two types of two barrel carburetors used on the 1961 Buick, one being the Stromberg and the other a Rochester. I should now be able to secure a rebuild kit for this unit.
I am extremely pleased with the progress we are making in getting this vehicle roadworthy and I am very grateful for all of the help I have been getting from Kevin, Jim and everyone on the V8 Buick forum as well. I have a 4 day weekend coming up starting Thursday, so I plan to put the four tires which Jim brought up, along with 3 of the wheels which are on the Buick, plus the spare rim I bought on Ebay into my Monte Carlo and heading down to Lexington, KY early Friday morning. Jim has a tire changer and agreed to help me get those all changed over, as well as possibly sand blasting the rims to get them ready to be painted. More fun for sure!
Kevin came over and so I decided to drain the radiator and refill with fresh antifreeze so the old girl's block wouldn't freeze up and bust over the winter. With new pliers, I was able to open the pet cock on the radiator and completely drained the unit this time. Once that was done, I retightened the pet cock and poured a gallon of new antifreeze in.
At the same time, I had put the battery charger on it again so that we would have some good fresh juice to get her started again. With temps in the mid-20's the last couple of nights and no choke, I knew it would require a little extra cranking to get it going. Surprisingly it was running pretty good in no time at all.
Prior to starting I had also poured about a quart of transmission fluid in the transmission, so once the motor was warmed up I decided to move the car to a different spot in the yard. One a bit more level as well as closer to the back door. Put the car in drive and she took right off with very little effort. In no time I was where I wanted to be and by this time the engine was willing to idle.
About 3/4 of a gallon more antifreeze was added and I saw that the coolant was circulating in the radiator, which meant the thermostat had opened. While the car was sitting there idling, we filled the transmission to the proper level and once the car ran a good long time to be sure the coolant had circulated, I shut it down.
Kevin suggested that I fill the master cylinder up with brake fluid and he would lay under the back of the car to see if there were any leaks. So after filling the reservoir I replaced the top and went inside to pump the brakes to see if we had any leaks. The brake pedal went down, but would not come back up on it's own, so I used my hand to slowly pump the pedal up and down several times until it was coming back up on it's own.
Kevin said he didn't see anything leaking out underneath, but the brake pedal never did feel normal, so I assume the master cylinder will need to be rebuilt before we can examine the brake system any further. No telling how long the rubber pieces inside the brake cylinder have been sitting dry which is not good at all for such parts.
Before we covered it back up I got Kevin to read the writing on the back of the carburetor to see if we could determine what type it was. He read the word, Stromberg, which is all I really needed to know. There were basically two types of two barrel carburetors used on the 1961 Buick, one being the Stromberg and the other a Rochester. I should now be able to secure a rebuild kit for this unit.
I am extremely pleased with the progress we are making in getting this vehicle roadworthy and I am very grateful for all of the help I have been getting from Kevin, Jim and everyone on the V8 Buick forum as well. I have a 4 day weekend coming up starting Thursday, so I plan to put the four tires which Jim brought up, along with 3 of the wheels which are on the Buick, plus the spare rim I bought on Ebay into my Monte Carlo and heading down to Lexington, KY early Friday morning. Jim has a tire changer and agreed to help me get those all changed over, as well as possibly sand blasting the rims to get them ready to be painted. More fun for sure!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
One man's love affair with motorized transport, (chapter 2, my first car).
All chapters from this storyline have been moved to my previous blog site located here.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
More on the old Buick
Well, Jim and Melody made their way up from Lexington, KY yesterday to see and help with the car. I had the rear end all jacked up in anticipation of their visit as Jim planned to re-connect the drive shaft so we could see if the old car would move on it's own. I bought some grease to pack the bearing cups and Jim made his way under the car to attach the shaft. Once that was done, we started the old beast up and dropped her into drive to see if she would pull... And pull she did!!! We then tried reverse and saw that the old girl was very willing to go backwards as well.
Once that was done, Jim pulled the dipstick on the tranny and could see no oil showing at all, so a quart or two of Dextron will have to be added before our next attempt. We could not move very far as the brakes still have not been fixed. I still can't find my channel locks to remove the old plastic top from the brake master cylinder. I know they are here somewhere.
Jim also brought up four new (used) tires to put on the Buick so it will hopefully now have some good skins which will stay pumped up for awhile. Melody brought me a special present to jazz up the wall of my garage, if I ever get it built, an authorized Buick service sign like this:
Thanks sis, I love it! Jim also took the heater core, which Kevin and I removed the other day, back with him to see if he could find a replacement or somewhere to have it fixed. Also had a good visit with them before I had to turn in for the night, we talked about a lot of stuff including the swap meets coming up next year. I can't wait!
So all in all things are happening. I have been active on the V8 Buick forum asking questions and getting answers. I was able to secure a rim for a spare tire on Ebay and I have new hood hinges on their way from Washington state. This thing may actually be drivable before winter sets in, I hope, I hope!
Once that was done, Jim pulled the dipstick on the tranny and could see no oil showing at all, so a quart or two of Dextron will have to be added before our next attempt. We could not move very far as the brakes still have not been fixed. I still can't find my channel locks to remove the old plastic top from the brake master cylinder. I know they are here somewhere.
Jim also brought up four new (used) tires to put on the Buick so it will hopefully now have some good skins which will stay pumped up for awhile. Melody brought me a special present to jazz up the wall of my garage, if I ever get it built, an authorized Buick service sign like this:
Thanks sis, I love it! Jim also took the heater core, which Kevin and I removed the other day, back with him to see if he could find a replacement or somewhere to have it fixed. Also had a good visit with them before I had to turn in for the night, we talked about a lot of stuff including the swap meets coming up next year. I can't wait!
So all in all things are happening. I have been active on the V8 Buick forum asking questions and getting answers. I was able to secure a rim for a spare tire on Ebay and I have new hood hinges on their way from Washington state. This thing may actually be drivable before winter sets in, I hope, I hope!
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