Finally, back on the road!

In late January I sent the car out for engine & brake work. A friend recommended a shop in Springfield, VA, with classic car experience. Since my car wasn't running, and the shop was about 30 minutes away, I had her towed.

My husband laughs at me because I get so nervous whenever I have to leave my baby at a shop (or have it towed). I am a wreck the whole time! Am I the only one irrationally attached to my car this way?

The good news is that I got my II back from the shop a little over a week later and she runs (& brakes) awesome! Yay! We are officially back on the road!! And just in time for spring!

Last weekend we had friends over and I took them for a cruise around town. It was so much fun!

Now that she's running again, I have a list of projects I want to complete this summer, including replacing one of the seat adjustment knobs; restoring/replacing the air intake hose, which droops; replacing the in-dash speaker (this one's been on the list forever), and some other minor repairs.

But mostly I'm just looking forward to more driving!



 

Best Birthday Gift Ever!

Just what I wanted for my birthday: A shiny new distributor for my car! Thanks Dad!:)

We're installing this baby Saturday & if all goes well, my 77 might be back on the road this weekend. Fingers crossed! 

A few weeks ago I had the speedometer cable replaced, so slowly but surely, my car is being put back together.

Engine Work--Part I

When I first got the car, it had to warm up forever or it would stall. At stop lights, I had to be careful to feather the gas pedal to keep it from quitting on me. I enjoy an occasional adrenaline rush, but not at every intersection!

Anyway, our first order of business was to get the car running better. This would end up taking a while as we troubleshooted/fixed/replaced/fiddled with different parts of the engine over several months.

First, we ordered a rebuilt carburetor and my dad and I installed it. With the new carb, the car ran strong on straightaways with no hesitation but ran rough at slow speeds. After that, we did a tune up, replacing the spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor.

Next, I drove the car to my brother's place and he adjusted the fuel/air mixture, fiddled with the vacuum advance tubing, and reconnected the kickdown rod. The hesitation was 99 percent gone after all that. When I drove home I got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and the car never stalled or overheated. Yay!

The last piece of the puzzle was the fuel pump, which was going bad. As soon as we replaced that (only $30), the car ran better than ever. Now I can drive it without worrying about being stranded (although I do have roadside assistance through my insurance so I can get a tow home if that happens).

Update: Even though the car is more reliable and runs smoothly now, the engine leaks oil, and could use a reseal. I'm hoping to get this done in September/October 2010 (more on this later).