popefelix @ 9:41pm: Vehicle update
Yes, I know I just posted one. But now it's time for another, damn it all to Xenu.
In
our last thrilling episode, the shifter on Stu had broken (specifically, the cheap plastic bushing that connects the shift cable to the shift lever broke. This problem is apparently endemic to Saturns from '91 - '02). Yesterday I got the stainless steel replacement part in the mail, and decided to attach it. I followed the seller's instructions, removing the remaining bits of the old bushing, swabbing the area with acetone, attaching the bushing with J-B Weld (the real stuff,
not J-B Kwik) and then clamping it and letting it sit overnight. Tonight I went through the rest of the installation process, as it had been almost 24 hours, and the recommended cure time for the J-B Weld was only 15 hours. I fought with the E-clip for a good fifteen minutes, but eventually managed to install it. "Hooray!", I thought. "I can get myself to work tomorrow!" (You may well ask, "What about Arcadia?" I'm getting there) Slightly prudent soul that I am, though, I thought I had better test the shifter out. So I pushed in the clutch and wiggled the shifter around a bit, going through all the gears, and right as I went into reverse (note that the car was off, so I wasn't going anywhere), the bushing pops right off. I called the guy I bought the bushing from (he offers free technical support), but he was not around.
That would have been it for the night, but I recalled reading about an IT guy who had a similar issue with his Saturn. He fixed his shifter with some stripped wires out of a length of Cat 5. Now, I've thrown all my crappy Cat 5 away, but I do have zip-ties. And the bushing itself is physically sound. So I put the bushing back on to the ball-thingy on the end of the shifter and zip-tied the hell out of it. :) It seems to work OK, but I'm still wary, so I'm not going to drive it tomorrow. Maybe Thursday.
Now, I promised to talk about Arcadia, and so I shall. Ever since my
abortive trip to Chambana, Arcadia has been running roughly. I had hoped to nurse her along by charging her battery every night until
the new R/R came. This was not to be the case, it seems, as Arcadia started running
really rough on the way home. She died several times on the way home. I push-started her (or just used my momentum) each time until one time when I couldn't push-start her. So I parked her on the street at 66th, just off of Ward Parkway, with a note bungeed to her trunk bag explaining the situation and giving my number. Local 'Maggot Dan Kunkel and his truck will be helping me haul her home Thursday, as tomorrow I have EIR and I can't miss it.
So I have no working vehicles again. This sucks ass.
I realize that this is due in some part to my own bullheadedness. If I had just shelled out the $400 that Hank's Auto wanted, Stu would be running. If I had taken Arcadia to a mechanic, I'd have the new R/R in by now. But I want "the knowing and the doing" of these things, so I guess this is the price I pay.
Of course, I could have paid more for a different car and maybe not had to deal with Stu's issues at all. But hindsight is 20/20, I guess.
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twocorpses decided she didn't want to continue with Scribblit, and so I took it over and renamed it to Inksome. So come on over! It's cheap! Only $25 for a year, or $10 for 3 months.
calm
curious