If it wasn't for cars, I would never have learned how to cuss effectively.

My '73 Eldorado overheated on me and I'm trying to get it back on the road especially since it has been so nice out lately. I've spent the last week installing a new timing chain since the old one was loose. You could almost squeeze it together. I bought new timing chain gears, water pump, power steering pump kit (which my automotive tech friend installed for me).

Every time we would seem to be moving ahead, we would have to stop and run to the nearest automotive store. We made a trip out to the junkyard and found a good looking High Energy Ignition (HEI)distributor for my car. The old points system distributor was on my car, but looking through a Chilton's manual, I discovered that the 1974 Cadillacs had HEI.

So now my car should run better, but we're going back to square one. After reinstalling the timing chain, distributor, water pump, radiator, etc., we found out that we overlooked a detail that has caused us more work than we would like.

The distributor was getting hit by a bolt on the timing chain. A closer inspection revealed that they machined the gear wrong. The camshaft gear on one side was recessed so the bolt would sit down in there. The other side was not recessed, but was supposed to be.

I'm so exhausted from going to work and spending time putting this car back together. Plus with my knees aching so bad, I have been having trouble sleeping at night.

I really like figuring out how things work, but I hate working on cars. You need a third joint in both your arm and leg just to reach a bolt. Your wrench slips and you bust your hand on a bracket holding something for emission controls and then, just like your dad did when you were growing up, you yell out explicit words that makes Joe Pesci in Goodfellas sound like Billy Graham.

Maybe I'll have it done before my surgery next Wednesday.

[Nancy]

Uh-oh.

You need to talk to our resident mechanic, Hank.
I'll forward this thread to him.

[Barry]

Hi Tommy
My only brother Tony and I were bought up in a Garage that my Dad built in 1928, near Biggin Hill, Kent, England.
( A little village called Tatsfield)
Tony still owns the Garage...I went into Building construction.
I hated working on cars.
Tony loves it.
He is a genius with them, which is great, because every time I get a problem he can sort it out.
The smell of oil and grease makes me sick .
Cars are in the blood I guess, but I only want to drive them about....not spend any time working on them.
So I stick to what I know for money and pay someone else
( Not always Tony) to fix them up.
Even when we were kids, Tony would have a motorbike engine in bits in the bedroom cupboard! LOL.
He raced motorbikes...Grass Track. My Dad did the same...not me.
I understand the nature of the things....but I get no kick from them.
Good luck with the Job and the car.
Barry.

With new cars these day, I have not a clue how to work on them, so off they go to the dealer. Luckily, the new cars we have had have not required much maintenance. My older cars in years past were a different deal and I did plenty of 'back yard maintenance.' It seemed like I never had to seek parts in a wrecking yard when it was dry outside - it was ALWAYS muddy and sometimes raining.
Changing a water pump on my 1969 Cadillac convertable was a real pain, but I did it. I had to replace all the A/C sensors in that car because they eventually rusted out and THAT was a tough job. I did love that car,though. A drunk driver hit me broadside and totalled it out in 1981. Fortunately I had my seat belt on - otherwise, I would have been sent flying as the top was down.

Actually, I'm finding it all quite easy to take apart and put back together except for having to spend time running around for little things and the pain and soreness I feel in my knees.

The problems I deal with is like when I was missing the alternator bracket and spacer. After about 45 minutes of searching for it, I drove to the junkyard and yanked it off a '68 DeVille 4 door hardtop. Then the other day, I found the bracket down in the front fender. There are about eight or nine Cadillacs at that junkyard with either the 472 or 500 cubic inch motor or the later 425 and 368 engines.

I discovered that the distributor gear for a small block chevy has the same teeth and outside dimensions as the Cadillac motors, but it has a smaller hole at the end.

It seemed like I never had to seek parts in a wrecking yard when it was dry outside - it was ALWAYS muddy and sometimes raining.

Isn't that the truth! Luckily, it has been dry here for a few days.

Thanks Barry for the encouragement. I need it.

[Barry]

Hi Tommy
I have a poem for almost any situation that crops up
in life.
The one that sums up that bracket you lost...got another
one from the boneyard and then found the original one again
is called "Sods Law" LOL.
It ALWAYS happens doesn't it!
I was plumbing a pipe in at work the other day.
I HATE plumbing but I can do it.
I had some "boss white" with all the other bits for the job
in a plastic bag in the van.
When I looked in the plastic bag for it as I was doing the job
it had gone.
I looked EVERYWHERE for that "b" stuff.
I finally used tape( PTFE tape) that did the job OK.
Then I found the Boss white...it had dropped out of that bag as I took it out the van...rolled right under it and 20 feet down the road.
Sod's law again.
I didn't hear that tin drop on the floor at all.
wierd.
There you go
Cheers,
Barry.

Being Easter Sunday and all, my shop is closed. That means all I have to do is replace the engine mounts and belts and hoses, oil, filter, plugs, air and fuel filters, tires and brakes on my daughter's car who happens to be visiting from 600 miles away for the weekend. Funny how all these things need attention just when she is visiting.

I grew up in my Dad's gas station, a typical small town 50's Texaco station, and been pulling wrenches ever since. Even as an ordenceman in the Navy, I ended up fixing the NC-5's and tugs that no one else could seem to make run.

Most of the time the thrill is still there when I fix today's complex cars, and the satisfaction of diagnosing and repairing all the computer controlled gadgets is challenging. My problem is usually the owners. Many of them need attitude adjustments, and I still think that a 2X4 across the back of the head works best.

A few axioms I have developed over the years:

1. When you drop a bolt from above, it ALWAYS rolls to the dead center of the vehicle.

2. Nuts, bolts and washers have a life of their own, and play hide and seek inside frame rails and in flat surfaces that cannot be seen by humans, only to re-appear after scrounging around for 15 minutes looking for them, giving up and getting a new one.

3. The easier the job looks, the more things go wrong.

4. Old cars and Harleys do NOT leak.....they are just marking their spot.

5. Every year the engineers change something because the old way worked too well.

I could list about 100 more, but my daughter is waiting...foot tapping and mumbling something about her sun roof not working proplerly.

Happy holiday everyone!

[Nancy]

<< My problem is usually the owners. Many of them need attitude adjustments, and I still think that a 2X4 across the back of the head works best. >>

Oh, Hank, I know you don't do that. But where is Tony Soprano when we need him?



Say hello to Brandie for us.

[Stranger56]

<<But where is Tony Soprano when we need him?>>

Youse calling me?
LOL

No, on second thought, let's not start that again.



Jim

Actually, I've only used the 2X4 once to chase out a person, and seems like it worked.....we became good friends after the incident. But dealing with the public is still the hardest part of this job.

Brandie says 'Hi all' and she's looking forward to Rolling Thunder and meeting you. And she also says to stop playing on the computer and finish her car, cause we need to get home and cleaned up for dinner. I wonder where her priorities are.

[Nancy]

<< Maybe I'll have it done before my surgery next Wednesday. >>

What surgery?

I'm having my knee scoped, but now it looks like I won't be able to get the gear I need until Wednesday because nobody stocks old Cadillac parts.

I hate general anethesia. It feels like you're waking up from the dead, but I suppose it's better than actually watching the surgery even though it probably wouldn't bother me much.

I was just hoping to have it done before going into surgery. I slept most all day yesterday just catching up on rest.

It's just because I was in a hurry that I didn't catch the gear not machined right. If I just would have compared it to the old gear, I might have seen it.

[Nancy]

<< I'm having my knee scoped, >>

Ooohh. Been there myself. The surgery is easy but the recovery is hard. It's all in the after-therapy.

Good luck to you.

I wish I had your talent to repair such things. I used to barely get by when it was easier to fix cars. I am totally lost now.

Good luck on the surgery and Happy Easter 2004.

[Ace917]

I am totally lost now.

Me, too. Anything beyond washing and waxing is almost too complicated. But luckily, those old water/fuel/oil pumps, etc., don't seem to break as often as they used to.

I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee in 1997. The worst part was drawing fluid from under the kneecap. Three days after the surgery, I was cleaning the leaves out of the gutters. Barbara was not happy with me.

The recent wrist surgery was bad enough. At least it does not ache all the time. It will take another 6 months to really be OK, they tell me, but I am an impatient man.

I can tell you one stupid car repair trick NOT to do. A guy I knew in NYC had a 1968 Cadillac that would not start during one winter there, so he sprayed A WHOLE CAN of starting fluid into the carburetor and turned on the ignition. He was not happy with the smoking results.

for the past 4 days, ive been helping my cousin work on my moms 1994 Ford Crown Victoria. it looks like brand new. ok, my mom noticed that it was overheating. then the temp gauge didnt work. ok, its the thermostat. we fixed it. now, we rented a scan tool, and it showed up like 5 different codes. now we have to replace a pcv valve thing, , egr valve, and all these other crap. i hate these computer crap on new cars. when my dads 77 lincoln towncar is not workin good, we just look under it, and in like a hour, its fixed. now with that crown vic, we gotta test it, look up the codes, and its like.... AHHHH!!!! but other than that, its a police interceptor, and its fast!!!! we shuld be done working on it on tuesday... i need some Sinatra music to calm me down...

I really envy you guys being able to do so much work on a car. I wish I was born with more mechanical aptitude. Over the years, even when cars were made simpler, I just never seemed to be mechanically inclined. It must have something to do with the side of the brain you use or something.