Lots to do. (sigh)
So last time I did work on the car was back in November. I had been driving her a lot and putting on some miles with trips back and forth to work. And then one Saturday I was tinkering around, trying to figger out why it wasn't starting reliably...and then the radiator fan didn't come on when it should have. But thankfully 1) the car was in the garage and 2) I noticed it and shut the car off. But it was pretty hot...boiled the coolant and the overflow bottle spewed a bit. Either the thermostat failed or the temp sender failed. I started down the road of just wiring the fan to run all the time (thinking it was the temp sender).
And then it was winter...and I hate working on cars when I have cold hands. And months had passed since I bought the BWA wheels and I'm still trying to get bolts. And then Christmas and then recovering from paying for Christmas. And I've had this little computer related business venture that's taking up a lot of time. And work's been kicking my ass. And I'm trying to buy a house. And now all of a sudden it's March. Yike. (Still no bolts BTW.)
Today I started up the car and ran it for a while. *Lots* of smoke. But it went away after a minute or two. I jury-rigged the fan to run off the battery and tried to set the idle. But it died. I think that I must have been playing around with it back in December a little bit because all the settings were off. I pulled it apart and re-set everything.
Then I noticed that I have a coolant leak from the radiator. F'ckin great. I think I can have it re-cored? A new one sure is expensive. But mine's 30 years old anyhow, so it might need replacement.
So, a little list of things that I need to do and/or buy, not in order:
Replace/recore radiator (leak)
New temp sender for radiator fan...maybe. Might be the thermostat...need to debug that problem.
Replace exhaust manifold (crack)
FIND FRIGGIN WHEEL BOLTS
New rotors (so cheap, I'm gettin new ones)
Caliper rebuilds
new brake pads & brake lines
Fix carburation..either find parts for mine or get a new one. The secondary isn't even hooked up and it's not functional (missing parts).
New exhaust
Something interesting I noticed tonight. If I get upgraded brake rotors, they come with lugs. Which means they might just work with my wheels. Which would solve a very hard problem I'm having. More on that as research allows.
So, I'm gonna try to spend a little time and money on the car each week till it's done. I have a PS-91 ignition coil on the way, I'm excited about that. And I'll be working on the radiator this week as well.
