I figured I'd put a small section in about car technical gibberish since I think (or at least I like to think) that a few of my gearhead friends are going to follow this blog.
If there's one thing I've learned in this trade, it's that the mechanic's car is always the last one to get fixed. But for Liz's sake, I wanted to keep the car reasonably safe. And since my toolbox is about the size of the car, I can't take all my tools with me to get through the 5100 mile trip, so I thought I'd address all of her problems beforehand. The car's problems, I mean.
We bought the car for $250 and it was in pretty rough shape. The car had belonged to a friend of mine and I have been servicing it for a couple years, so I knew it's history. It was in decent shape for its mileage (241,000 at this point). New brakes, a new radiator, recent tune-up, inspection sticker, and some other stuff. But it wasn't perfect.
The tires were as thin as potato skins, you could watch it leak oil as it ran (seriously, I mean PUDDLES), the radio didn't work well, the exhaust was loud, and the windshield leaked like a sieve. The thing would overheat on a regular basis, a wiper arm had been snapped off, a license plate light bracket was missing, a/c doesn't work, and the interior was dirtier than my hands after a long day's work. The problem is that since the car is going to be abandoned somewhere in Washington state, we couldn't justify spending a lot of money on it. Or any money, at all, if we could help it... But heck, it sleeps two in the back, cruise control works, and it'll get 26 miles per gallon or better! Perfect road trip car!
The struts are still blown out, I removed the rear sway bar because it was broken and useless anyway, and it still burns a little bit of oil (at least it doesn't leak). Don't sweat the small stuff, right?
I cobbled together a rear windshield wiper arm from one off of a Ford Pickup we were going to send to the junkyard. Add a few beads of welding wire, a spring, and a new 11" blade I had kicking around, and we have a functioning wiper. For just about nothing!
The odds of finding a license plate light housing for a 1990 Toyota Camry wagon in the junkyard was pretty slim, and I'd like to keep this car legal (I can't believe I'm saying this) so I made one out of a piece of exhaust pipe and a fat washer from a shock absorber. The hatch doesn't lock? Bought a hasp and padlock. A pink padlock, no less. You can guess who picked it out.
I figured I'd give a shot at fixing the A/C. It's not entirely necessary, but we're going to be in Texas and we'll probably want it. The old R12 system hasn't worked in years, and the last time I converted a car to the newer R134a refrigerant, I fried the compressor so bad it snapped the belt two days later. But, I did all the necessary conversions and now the car produces 48 degrees at the vents. Not great, but it'll feel pretty good on our inevitably sunburned faces.
You can see the lock and the light housing to the right of the license plate.
I figured I'd give a shot at fixing the A/C. It's not entirely necessary, but we're going to be in Texas and we'll probably want it. The old R12 system hasn't worked in years, and the last time I converted a car to the newer R134a refrigerant, I fried the compressor so bad it snapped the belt two days later. But, I did all the necessary conversions and now the car produces 48 degrees at the vents. Not great, but it'll feel pretty good on our inevitably sunburned faces.
The oil leak was so bad that if I were to not fix it, I'd have to install a hitch and tow a trailer with a 55 gallon drum that I would have to tap into periodically to keep the car full of oil. Seriously, it was that bad. Anyone who's ever worked on older Camrys know that they all leak, specifically the valve cover gasket and the oil pump seal behind the timing belt. Might as well replace the timing belt too, while I was in there. Cheap insurance. I ordered a timing belt, water pump, cam/crank/oil pump seals, serpentine belt, and a couple other odds and ends for about $140 on RockAuto.com (LOVE that website). And hey, the labor was free. Can't argue with that. Factor in a few bucks worth of coolant, some heater hoses and hose clamps, and for around $500 we have a car that's good (and safe) to take across the country. It should be reliable too as long as I stay away from hole shots and racing Mustangs on the highway. I don't think that will be a problem.
Wish us luck.
- Pete
Hahaha reading this I can totally see how you and Liz are together! you guys are both so goddamn funny! :) Best of luck, keep my lil sister safe!! shes in good hands i know! :) have a blast and ill be following ye on this!
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