Writing Again
I haven't been writing much. No apologies, but I'll start again now because I feel moved to. :)
So Saturday I learned that I am still a mechanic, if a mediocre one. On Friday night, with all of the rain and junk, I managed to drive off the wrong part of a parking lot. It looked like an exit in the rain and half-light, but it was a curb. And when I did that I did a real number on my radiator.
Now, modern radiators can't really be repaired but they can be replaced cheaply. It cost me $150 for the part plus about $30 for the extra parts, tools, and antifreeze. That's all the good. The bad is that, with it still being cold and rainy on Saturday, when I discovered the problem, I had a devil of a time finding anyone to help me much. My brother in law, Georgedondo, helped me get the parts and drove me around a bit, but he had other things he needed to do. So I got everything and started taking my engine apart. Then I discovered after about 2 hours that I didn't have all the tools I needed.
Luckily I found BryanD wasn't excited about his evening plans and was willing to hang out and learn how to replace a radiator. So he came over and we spent the next 4 hours finishing the job. It took 2 trips to Autozone for special star sockets but it all worked.
I'm really grateful for the help. I am really also bizarrely grateful for the years driving old clunker cars in my misspent youth. When I saw the problem I decided I had to fix it rather than pay someone to fix it. My hands are still cut up today and there is still grease under my fingernails, and I still hate working on cars. Basically when I get done with a project, I want there to be an improvement over what is standard, so the only way I would have enjoyed this would have been to get done and find that I had a car that was better on Sunday than it was on Friday. It isn't, but it's just about as good as it was on Friday, so I'll call it a "win" and move along.
The last of the "bad" is that on Sunday I was congested and by the late afternoon running a low grade fever, I think due to spending hours laying in puddles of radiator fluid that had leaked out in 40 degree weather. But after a nap, I felt better.
Moral of the story: don't drive a Mustang over a curb, even in the rain. If you do, be wealthy so you can pay someone to do your car work for you. :)
So Saturday I learned that I am still a mechanic, if a mediocre one. On Friday night, with all of the rain and junk, I managed to drive off the wrong part of a parking lot. It looked like an exit in the rain and half-light, but it was a curb. And when I did that I did a real number on my radiator.
Now, modern radiators can't really be repaired but they can be replaced cheaply. It cost me $150 for the part plus about $30 for the extra parts, tools, and antifreeze. That's all the good. The bad is that, with it still being cold and rainy on Saturday, when I discovered the problem, I had a devil of a time finding anyone to help me much. My brother in law, Georgedondo, helped me get the parts and drove me around a bit, but he had other things he needed to do. So I got everything and started taking my engine apart. Then I discovered after about 2 hours that I didn't have all the tools I needed.
Luckily I found BryanD wasn't excited about his evening plans and was willing to hang out and learn how to replace a radiator. So he came over and we spent the next 4 hours finishing the job. It took 2 trips to Autozone for special star sockets but it all worked.
I'm really grateful for the help. I am really also bizarrely grateful for the years driving old clunker cars in my misspent youth. When I saw the problem I decided I had to fix it rather than pay someone to fix it. My hands are still cut up today and there is still grease under my fingernails, and I still hate working on cars. Basically when I get done with a project, I want there to be an improvement over what is standard, so the only way I would have enjoyed this would have been to get done and find that I had a car that was better on Sunday than it was on Friday. It isn't, but it's just about as good as it was on Friday, so I'll call it a "win" and move along.
The last of the "bad" is that on Sunday I was congested and by the late afternoon running a low grade fever, I think due to spending hours laying in puddles of radiator fluid that had leaked out in 40 degree weather. But after a nap, I felt better.
Moral of the story: don't drive a Mustang over a curb, even in the rain. If you do, be wealthy so you can pay someone to do your car work for you. :)