Well, yes it's been more than 120 days but at long last this little black beauty made it's first flight in many years tonight. Outfitted with brand-spanking-new antique plates and snow tires I managed to take her for a short and somewhat shaky loop around town.
To add my $0.02 into the tire size debate, I outfitted her with a set of four Firestone Winterforce M+S studdable snow tires, size 215/65R15. I got them at a pretty reasonable price at a local Sears and I must say they look rather snazzy. In addition to the rather intricate sidewall design, they really look good proportionately with the vehicle. In looking for new tires, I reviewed all the size suggestions posted here but after consulting with my mechanic friends, we decided that a 205/75R15 would be too small and that the 215/75R15 set that was on there would probably rub since the suspension isn't perfect (and since I think they were made in 1997, they were getting replaced regardless). I'll be sure to update more on how the new ones work out, but so far so good.
Despite the super cool new plates and spiffy new tires, the ride didn't quite go as well as I could have hoped.
After a rather uneventful warm up (at which point I remarked how deliciously evil the car looks from the front with just the parking lights on a dim street), the stalling issue cropped up again like clockwork. Seems she's still having problems with idling once warmed up. It took me a little bit to get the hang of having to drive with two feet and manually shift to keep her from dying out, but after a few hair raising stalls, I managed to keep her running for the most part. We still evidently need to do more adjusting with the Carter and we also noticed the kickdown isn't... so back to the salt mines with that one.
I also noted that the gas gauge is most decidedly not working. I'm unsure whether the problem is the more common dead sending unit, or whether the gauges might be the problem because....
The temperature gauge seems to have lost it's mind in that it starts off in the middle of the range and, as the car warms up, pegs at the top of the dial. The car has coolant and is clearly not overheating, so I'm wondering what the cause might be. More research through the forums for me tomorrow haha.
On the flipside of that coin however, I did notice a number of good things such as:
The license plate light works!!! Someone call the media because this has to be a freaking miracle. I was tempted to take a picture for posterity. Seriously.
The heating/defrost part of the HVAC system works like a charm. Even does a decent job of defogging the windshield, which is more than I can say for most modern cars.
The transmission shifts cleanly and what I'd assume to be normally. The shift button is nice and strong and the shifter locks into place firmly (but is still remarkably easy to shift between N and D quickly when needed haha). Even the backlight in the shift indicator works.
All other interior and exterior lights seem to work properly from the trunk light to the dashboard to the radio backlights.
Finally, and hopefully I'm not whammying myself here but, it seems like the 4wd does engage. The feel of the car suggests that I'm getting power to all four wheels so I'm crossing my fingers that the Select Drive system is still alive and well.
Well, that's all for the moment. More will come soon I'm sure. For now I must prepare to brave another New England snow storm without 4 wheel drive.
Topic: I must be f#@!*^& crazy... (Now known as The Camelot '87 sedan) (Read 22936 times)