Sunday, August 30, 2009
Holey
The spare tire well in the Daytona this morning:
Early this afternoon:
I don't have finished pictures yet. The hole has metal in it but I don't want to show any more until it is done.
Early this afternoon:
I don't have finished pictures yet. The hole has metal in it but I don't want to show any more until it is done.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Too Much
My car is a piece of work. There are parts of it I like. There were only 3000 of these made originally. The t-top cars were also hand built. There aren't that many cars around these days that are hand built. I don't know how many of the C/S '86 Daytonas are t-top cars but even it it were all of them, and we lost 100 per year since they were new (I know, it isn't likely a linear function but an exponential function instead, but it is a freaking estimate so get over it) we're only left with about 600 or so of these cars on the road. It is a neat and unique car. It was very highly optioned for '86 and still has some options you don't see to often these days 23 years later.
But the car often fails. Weekly, at least, something goes wrong that makes me want to set it on fire and turn it in for the insurance money. God knows most of these really did burn up because of electrical problems or the stupid way the fuel lines attach to the fuel pressure regulator. I've worked long and hard these past couple of years to make it a fine working automobile. And when the weather is just right, taking the t-tops out is wonderful. Really wonderful. The car is a convertible without the commitment.
Lately though it has had me in fits. The fuel pump and fuel delivery to the engine nearly have me in tears. The "experts" for this car and others like it are at as much of a loss as I am. Even if I were to rip all of the fuel delivery system out and replace it wholesale I'm not sure my problem would go away. When it runs well, it is a nice car. For the past few months, nearly continuously, it has not been a nice car.
I need to graduate if for no other reason than to find reliable transportation.
But the car often fails. Weekly, at least, something goes wrong that makes me want to set it on fire and turn it in for the insurance money. God knows most of these really did burn up because of electrical problems or the stupid way the fuel lines attach to the fuel pressure regulator. I've worked long and hard these past couple of years to make it a fine working automobile. And when the weather is just right, taking the t-tops out is wonderful. Really wonderful. The car is a convertible without the commitment.
Lately though it has had me in fits. The fuel pump and fuel delivery to the engine nearly have me in tears. The "experts" for this car and others like it are at as much of a loss as I am. Even if I were to rip all of the fuel delivery system out and replace it wholesale I'm not sure my problem would go away. When it runs well, it is a nice car. For the past few months, nearly continuously, it has not been a nice car.
I need to graduate if for no other reason than to find reliable transportation.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Looks and works good
The compressor is a little dirty. I ended up sanding off any rust on the lines and painting them to prevent any further rust. It has been running so good I've even had to turn it down in the evenings!
Monday, August 03, 2009
Car Toil
The AC in my car quit on Friday. The AC in this stupid car has been a pain in my ass since I got it. In fact, when I got it, it didn't work at all. I tried letting a local Firestone take a swing at it but they failed miserably. I finally rebuilt it myself last summer. It worked okay but wouldn't cool very well at stop lights. But Friday was the end of it. The longer I drove the warmer it got.
Did a little research and found out that rebuilt compressors, like the one I was using, often fail. They are worn out when they are rebuilt and some of the parts that are worn out cannot be replaced. The quit making/using the compressor in my car in 1990. Another rebuilt version of mine would cost around $200 and a new one, if it could be found, would be around $400.
Did a little more research and found that with a few parts from the junk yard I could convert my AC system to the 1991 and newer setup. With $75 in parts from the junk yard (AC and alternator bracket [used a different one for the newer compressor], compressor, hoses, idler pulley, and condenser) and $25 in parts from AutoZone (gotta use a new dryer in the system) I was ready to have it vacuumed own and recharged. Cost about as much to have it vacuumed down and recharged as it did for me to rebuild the entire system. But it works and it seems to work very well. It was putting air out of the vents at around 48*F on my way home from work today. It also continues to work at stop lights!
It was a royal pain in the ass to rebuild this stupid system though. It wasn't very hot outside but it was super humid. All I had to do was think really hard and I was breaking into a heavy sweat. I had to make 2 runs to the junk yard because I didn't think to grab the idler pulley from the car I yoinked the rest of the parts from (I mean, seriously, why would Chrysler use two different pulleys). I also tried about 5 different belts before I got one that was the right size. I guess the older style crank pulley is enough of a different diameter that when matched with the newer style AC setup the stock belt no longer works. Most of the weekend I was soaked with sweat and I stank. This normally wouldn't bother me too badly because normally when I work on my car I am doing performance upgrades or learning something new. This was just strait out work that had to get done and it sucked.
Did a little research and found out that rebuilt compressors, like the one I was using, often fail. They are worn out when they are rebuilt and some of the parts that are worn out cannot be replaced. The quit making/using the compressor in my car in 1990. Another rebuilt version of mine would cost around $200 and a new one, if it could be found, would be around $400.
Did a little more research and found that with a few parts from the junk yard I could convert my AC system to the 1991 and newer setup. With $75 in parts from the junk yard (AC and alternator bracket [used a different one for the newer compressor], compressor, hoses, idler pulley, and condenser) and $25 in parts from AutoZone (gotta use a new dryer in the system) I was ready to have it vacuumed own and recharged. Cost about as much to have it vacuumed down and recharged as it did for me to rebuild the entire system. But it works and it seems to work very well. It was putting air out of the vents at around 48*F on my way home from work today. It also continues to work at stop lights!
It was a royal pain in the ass to rebuild this stupid system though. It wasn't very hot outside but it was super humid. All I had to do was think really hard and I was breaking into a heavy sweat. I had to make 2 runs to the junk yard because I didn't think to grab the idler pulley from the car I yoinked the rest of the parts from (I mean, seriously, why would Chrysler use two different pulleys). I also tried about 5 different belts before I got one that was the right size. I guess the older style crank pulley is enough of a different diameter that when matched with the newer style AC setup the stock belt no longer works. Most of the weekend I was soaked with sweat and I stank. This normally wouldn't bother me too badly because normally when I work on my car I am doing performance upgrades or learning something new. This was just strait out work that had to get done and it sucked.
