All the Colors of the Painbow
Look, I know I’m not an expert mechanic. I get it. But I can’t imagine that I’m so novice that I can’t do something as seemingly simple as an oil pressure gauge.
I’ve broken yet another. That’s 3 now. There’s another on the way.
That said, this was a banner Emma weekend. One that we will remember for ages.
Some friends came over, and we spent an evening wre(n)ching on the car, accomplishing very little, ultimately.
You can see in the image above my ambition. Here’s what we actually accomplished:
- Removed the steel wrapped oil pressure hose and fitting
- Put in a plastic capilary hose
- Remove the nuts from both Exhaust Manifold <> Down Pipe connections
- Spend an hour trying to figure out why the new thermostat bulb would not fit in the intake manifold like the old one
- Dig through the trash find the old one
We ultimately decided we’d enjoy our time together a lot more if we just sat on the back porch and had wine.
Fast forward to Sunday – I used my new stud-extractor tool to remove both studs on the passenger side. Then it broke.
Off to my favorite O’Reilly’s I go! Picked up another Stud extractor, and removed the studs from the driver side..
In the meantime, I managed to drop the entire exhaust system after some wrangling.
Turns out one of the POs decided the best way to silence a rattling exhaust system was by welding. Everything.
In the end, I used the Dremel to cut the metal bracket. I’ll probably have to buy a welder to put it back together, but we’ll cross that bridge when it’s on fire.
After I cut the bracket – which… doing that right next to the gas tank was a special experience – I was able to lower the pipes enough that I **finally** got access to the donut gasket between the manifold and downpipe (as mentioned way earlier in this blog) – or what is left of them.
So, over the next few days, I will
- Put in the new studs
- Put in the new donuts
- Re-hang the exhaust
- Tighten the manifold connections
- Put Emma’s normal battery back in (I charged it)
- Remove the capilary and put in a copper tube (I give up)
- Install gauges
- Hopefully start Emma and drive somewhere
Special thanks to my dear friends for visiting, the great time, and to my patient wife.
Brian Kerven