I started out with an awful lot of piddling around and simply staring at it. I mentioned to BIL once that just figuring out what order to go in could be as bad as anything else, and I think my slow start was mostly due to that.
It was also confounded by the fact that we discovered why my fuel pump had gone bad ...somebody had vandalized the car while I was in Waco and dumped hydraulic fluid in my fuel tank. It was fortunate that I had very little fuel in my tank when it was parked because the fluid trashed the pump. Had there been more fuel in the tank (enough that the oil wouldn't have been concentrated enough to have swollen the pump seals to the point of making it inoperative), it probably would have destroyed the entire engine when it fired (at bare minimum, it would have messed up the injectors ...which would have been an easy $600 to replace). I had wanted to thoroughly clean the fuel tank before installing the new pump anyway ...discovering the oil made that part more critical (as well as more time consuming, since I had to neutralize as well as clean).Living with my openly gay brother made me a frequent target for vandalism when I lived in Waco. It happened to both of us more often than I want to admit, but most of the other stuff was minor (smashing out car windows and such); the hydraulic oil is pretty bad even for there, and I'm fairly sure gay-bashing is considered a legitimate sporting event in Waco (grrr).
It was quite the workday ...it rained cats & dogs most of the day, which was good in its way since it would have been hotter than hell otherwise. I started inside the car by pulling out the center console (and throwing away a lot of trash that had accumulated in the console & glovebox); remembering where that ONE hidden screw was at took more time than anything else I think, but all of this is necessary for getting the transmission out. For the hell of it, I decided to just go ahead and pull out the passenger seat and vacuum it all out (kinda silly since I plan to replace all the carpeting anyway). Scary that the REAL "cleaning up" part hasn't even started yet though. I took quite a few pictures under the dash of the A/C switching assembly ...it was having a few problems on the mechanical end of things around the time I parked it even; with pictures, I can peruse the problem later in the comfort of home.
Vehicles in the 80's tended to have one major problem ...it seems as though every car manufacturer back then decided that controlling everything by vacuum was the way to go; even back in the 80's, I could never quite figure out the logic of that (most cars since the earlier to mid-90's have about 3 vacuum lines TOTAL, and even pre-80's had them only where absolutely needed). When I finally made it under the hood after the interior work, untangling and organizing the vacuum system took quite a while. The electrical system was/is even worse though. I lost almost two hours simply in trying to reach some electrical plugs that weren't designed to be reached without pulling off the injector plenum which I had not thought to bring the tool that would have removed the screws (not bolts) that were in too tight to be removed without causing more damage than I was willing to deal with. Spilled milk and crying (and all that); it's a tool that seldom ever gets used, but is worth it's weight in gold when you DO need it (it isn't something I ever woud have thought to have brought even in the best of circumstances).
I was slow and methodical. Every part I take off, I try to arrange in such a way that I won't forget how it went in (especially given that it will be well over a month before I get around to putting it back in). This is also a remarkably futile exercise seeing as how it'll also lose the configuration I put it in when I get around to doing the major cleaning, not to mention that my disability tends to "fog over" most of that sort of thing in my memory anyway (I guess it's notable to mention that I don't take the medication that helps make my dizziness somewhat more tolerable simply because it effects my ability to retain memory of such things). While Sis was on the phone to somebody talking about my working on it, I found her phrasing to be a little bit odd (in my family, what we DON'T say is most often way more important than what we DO say); I don't recall her exact words, but it was just to the effect that it went about as quickly as I had *said* that it would. The unspoken part was that she thought it should have been faster. Who knows ...maybe the only reason it stuck in her head that way was because I had two significant problems (the fuel tank, and the inability to remove a part that would have saved a couple hours of labor), yet I spent almost exactly the amount of time I said it would take before I even started. Sometimes I scare people with how accurate my guesses on time end up being.
Kinda funny with this kind of thing ...you spend all this time, and to an observer who doesn't know much about cars ...they see a big mess, but don't understand what they are actually looking at (shock shock).
Sis started quizzing me about when I thought I would be ready to call it a day about the time I started on the underside of the car. It was at this time I also learned my second bit of nasty shit about having it parked in Waco!
Somebody fucking stole the catalytic converter! Not only did they go to the trouble of jacking my car up (an extremely low to the ground sports car on a dirt driveway with all four tires flat to boot) to steal it, they actually had the balls to use an (extremely loud) electric "saw's all" to do it rather than simply unbolting the two bolts at either end (which meant I'd simply have to get a new converter); they CUT it ...so now I'll most likely have to replace the entire exhaust system from the engine back (I could possibly have a universal cat welded in, but I'm not sure about how well that will work on a sports car that's going to have to pass a strict emissions test). Given that my brother has been telling me that people had been coming by on numerous occasions wanting to buy the car, I'm reasonably certain that they probably met the thief at some point. The cuts were older than a month, but considerably less than three months old (going by the amount of rust). aggravating. That's a downside of his not being at home very often ...it wouldn't take a thief very long to figure out the "routine" there.
That Sis picked this time to ask about wrapping up was a bit amusing, because generally speaking ...once you make it to the underside of the car, you are almost ready to pull the sucker. I simply told her I wasn't too far off, and it took about an hour after that (even with me removing the entire exhaust system rather than only the part blocking the transmission). I had BIL hook the hoist to the engine while I pulled out the transmission, then we both pulled the engine which came out with absolutely no protest (this is one of the good points about my being so OCD about having everything "just right" before I even try).
I dunno; everyone thought it was SUCH a big deal. Back in my "work" days, it would likely have been closer to a "what took you so long?" reception, but this time it felt almost like winning a Nobel given the amount of fanfare once that sucker was out. I have two minds of course ...I haven't worked in a lot of years, and I was having a hard time even standing up at that point; it's also largely a granted that I'm going to be sick for the next week or so after doing all of this, so MY completing it is a pretty big deal when you look at it in that light. On the other hand ...I consider this sort of job to be mostly "grunt work" since there isn't exactly a lot of "thought process" involved; putting it back in is where one has to do a bit of thinking, and then actually getting it running is where one has to do a LOT of thinking! This car may turn out to be a real bitch since 1986 was the "infancy" of computer control for a car ...it won't be as though I can just plug in a scanner and see where the (component) problems are if troubles arise. Think along the lines of being asked to install an anti-virus program on a computer ...it sounds like no big deal until you find out that the computer is over 20 years old with only a 5 1/4 floppy, and running Linux instead of Windows or Macintosh (you have to be a computer geek from way back to understand the significance of that analogy).
There is a VERY good reason most retail auto shops won't work on computer systems on anything older than a 1996 year model (send straight to dealer, do not pass go, do not collect $200); what passed for a "computer" back then is just a BIT different than what we have these days.
When BIL took this picture, we were both laughing our heads off because I said that I really wished that I had a pair of waders to put on, and a fishing pole to throw over my shoulder. We went ahead and put the engine on my (brand spankin' new) engine stand, and then Sis and BIL shut me down for the evening. Since it had rained all day, they decided to stay over a bit longer so they could mow the lawn before they left the next morning, and I could do all my cleaning up then. People tell me I get really "hollow-eyed" and have difficulty moving around and speaking smoothly (I tend to be acutely aware of my speech though). I tend to either not notice or just not care about how I look, but most people tell me I look like death warmed over when I'm "having a spell;" I find it both flattering and annoying that they're always trying to grab me when I start to tip. I want to say that I don't really fall all that often, but when I moved from Waco back to Dallas, I fell numerous times when I "overdid" things.
I pass for "normal" quite easily simply because I have become so talented at avoiding stuff that aggravates my dizziness in everyday life. I also tend to strategically place myself in areas that if I lose myself, there's something nearby to grab onto. When I purposely overdo myself, I suspect that the danger of my hurting myself is likely a bit greater than I really want to admit to. I'm pretty unapologetic; it isn't as though I could remotely afford to let anyone else do it ...besides the fact that I really MISS working on cars!
I spent perhaps 8 hours total on Saturday, but Sunday morning was strictly for cleaning up; I put up tools, cleaned and swept floors and arranged parts while Sis and BIL did the mowing. All in all, I won't complain too much; I didn't get MORE done than I had hoped for, but certainly no less either. I suppose what all gets done the next time will mostly depend on what parts may happen to come in the meantime coupled with how long it takes me to recover.
It wasn't too bad, all things considered though! The adventure shall continue!
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