Fixed the horn and fan. I called Carlos at ITAL Automotive and he said there was no way it was the relay, it had to be the fuses, go check again. So I did, knowing I'd checked it a couple times already. Yanked out the fuse and it fell apart in my hands. I really hate those stupid European fuses.
So, after doing that, I met up with Arne for lunch in his Porsche. We grabbed some IN-N-OUT and watched WRC, discussing the number of eyelid blinks by Peter Solsberg. Or is it Marcus Greunhohlm. Or however it's spelled. Anyway, we went for a drive around the block in the Fiat, a little test. It seemed to be doing really well. Awesome.
So well in fact, that I followed him a third of the way to work (about 2 miles) and did a loop thru the back-roads to get home. It started to get hot and then it started to skip. Died on me once, but I was rolling so I put it back in gear and kept on moving. I got real nervous that I wouldn't get it home. The water temp was reading about 100C, which is 10C more than when it's supposed to blow. But it never has, even when it reached 135C yesterday. I think my temp gauge is off.
So I got it into the garage...pulled in, popped the hood and started checking things out. It ran for a bit, seemed to do ok, then out of nowhere, it died. I tried to re-start and nearly killed my battery in the process. Didn't seem to do any good, it just wouldn't fire back up. So I let it sit for a while. Came back a few hours later, started it and it fired right up. I think I need to stick to the "3 pumps and hold" scheme, it seems to work.
So I started trying to adjust the idle. And killed it again, with no starting as the result. Hmm. I'm fairly sure the carb is doing something funky. I think having it apart for 3 weeks while the steering box was being assembled was bad for it. Maybe it messed something up. So I should probably rebuild it. Adding to list of things to do. (sigh)
So I talked to Carlos again, ordered the other tail-light. He said go to NAPA for radiator hoses, he didn't have any. And to give it a tune up. Points, condenser and spark plugs. So I went and got some spark plugs and a 21mm deep socket from AutoZone. Also got a multi-meter from Radioshack, so I can test stuff. It can test temp too, so that'll help me diagnose my gauge problems. Had to run back out again when I discovered that the 21mm had a 1/2" drive and needed to get a converter to work with my tools.
Pulled out a plug...holy shit it was dirty. Looked down in the hole and good god, it was filled with dirt! I'm lucky a bunch of crap didn't drop into the engine! So I tried my best to clean it with water. Which didn't really work. I think I may need to buy an air compressor just so I can use it to clean shit.
Tomorrow I have an interview, so I probably won't work on the car much. Hopefully Thursday will be a fruitful day.
