[neo297]

I have had my car for 5 years now, 4.5 driving, as it was down for a while getting engine work done. I have put 52 k miles on it in that time as a true daily driver and many many road trips around Texas and out to Alabama
(orange beach). This weekends insanity started with replacing the front shocks with koni reds, then the heater valve. Not realy bad but at 6 foot 276# laying on my back looking up under the dash for longer than 30 seconds is no fun but now I have heat again at idle. Next I replaced all brake pads and parking brake pads, rebuilt all calipers, replaced all soft brake lines and replaced rubber clutch hose with steel braided clutch line. I "rebuilt" the throttle linkage bushing at the end of the passenger side where it connects to the adjuster rod, did it from below. No more slop in the accelerator movement anymore. I refilled the transmission and rear end oil.
It was in the upper 30's here and working outside it was cold but at least the rain stopped. One thing I did when filling the trans was run a hose from the engine bay past the exhaust manifold to fill the trans. I put the tip of the bottle into the upper end of the hose and punched a hole in the bottom of the bottle I had my son use the tapered tip of the air nozzle attachment of my air compressor into the hole to pressurize the bottle and filled the trans in about 2 min!!. I never had gear oil that thick and cold move so fast and no there was no leaking or spraying out of the bottle, he never used full pressure. I'm so sore and tired right now spent about 16 hours total and could not have done it without the help of my son Nico.

 

[Uaglio]

no pain, no gain, LOL. Bet it feels good to knock out all that in-depth maintenance and repair though. Here's to a short winter!

 

[gmilke]

My parents allowed me to put my car in their garage for a couple weeks. I sent off the injectors to get cleaned. Also doing minor improvements. No fun to work when it's cold and dreary. I really need a garage.

My son has been a huge help. Some projects are a 2 man job. Or at least for me.

Upper 30s in Texas? Didn't know that happened.

 

[viken69]

Paul, I remember when you first got your car, it was about the same time I got mine, 5 years already!!
I've put about 50k on mine as well, as my main daily driver. I installed IAP springs, lower control arm bushings and ball joints on it during the holidays. Love the way it rides now.

 

[Bjorn S]

My parents allowed me to put my car in their garage for a couple weeks. I sent off the injectors to get cleaned. Also doing minor improvements. No fun to work when it's cold and dreary. I really need a garage.

My son has been a huge help. Some projects are a 2 man job. Or at least for me.

Upper 30s in Texas? Didn't know that happened.

upper 30s? last night we had 29F....yes it does happen in Texas..off and on...

 

[neo297]

I get a small bonus at the end of the year so it always seems I'm doing this work when the weather starts to get cold. I do have a shelter logic soft "garage" to park in. It works great and has stood up to snow, rain, heat. It is just in the driveway which is not level and is blacktop. I do all work that requires jack stands up on a flat concrete slab where my wife usually parks. It has a very steep short ramp and I have to drive the spider up at an angle or it scrapes the underside horribly it is a pain to use regularly. Yeah viken69 it has been 5 years.When I have to redo the suspension i will be rereading your excellent write ups. I have no problems with this car as my daily driver I love it. Sooner or later I'll have to pull the tranny as it has never been worked on and crunches 2nd and third gear but only if i try to shift too fast, maybe next year !
We are expecting teens and maybe some wintery mix this week and into the weekend but I can still drive it year round.

 

[Bjorn S]

Used to drive thru Athens often , when my mother in law lived in Paris ,Tx....recall a winter with 4-6 inches of ice ruts on the roads in Paris...mid 80s?

 

[Evans986]

Everything you just did, I need to do. haha.

I wish I had the time to do it in one weekend.

 

[neo297]

Used to drive thru Athens often , when my mother in law lived in Paris ,Tx....recall a winter with 4-6 inches of ice ruts on the roads in Paris...mid 80s?

I haved lived here since 1998. We have had multiple winters where we have had several inches of snow and/or ice. It just does not last long. I remember driving my wife to work down in Palestine ~ 35 miles away in 3-4 inches of snow with the top down she was not thrilled but I loved it.:thumbup:

 

[Bjorn S]

I haved lived here since 1998. We have had multiple winters where we have had several inches of snow and/or ice. It just does not last long. I remember driving my wife to work down in Palestine ~ 35 miles away in 3-4 inches of snow with the top down she was not thrilled but I loved it.:thumbup:

yup, know Palestine, when we drove thru , we often stopped there , let the kids play....I did drive with top down in my 65 FIAT1500 cabriolet when I lived in Sweden (before 68)....had to, to go skiing , the skis were in passenger seat! but windows up and heater on full blast it wasn't bad at all.....got lots of looks! lol

 

[neo297]

yup, know Palestine, when we drove thru , we often stopped there , let the kids play....I did drive with top down in my 65 FIAT1500 cabriolet when I lived in Sweden (before 68)....had to, to go skiing , the skis were in passenger seat! but windows up and heater on full blast it wasn't bad at all.....got lots of looks! lol

That's awesome exactly what I did, could not have done it this year until I replaced the heater valve but now i can. Unfortunately my son talked me into putting the hard top on we both like the look but it is a bit of a pain, no quick way to put the top down if the weather warms up. For the amount of time he put in doing real work not just watching me I had to give in to him. It is cool to have a dome light and rear defrost i have had to add some stick on weather stripping to seal the windows but it is air and water tight!

 

[John533i]

You had a good wrench day. I just replaced my clutch hose and also the master...took me 3hrs, but all in all a good wrench time. Cant wait to bleed it Sunday. My boy will be employed to help 'bench bleed' the thing before I hook it up, weather he likes it or not! :innocent: