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I dropped Stitch off at my Indy yesterday. It was a five mile cross-town drive at a max of about 40mph. The other day I did a couple miles out in the neighborhood and put five gallons of fresh gas in his tank. The fresh gas seems to have helped, because he ran smooth as silk to to indy. A little hesitation when I rolled on throttle at first, but by the time we got there that had all cleared up. Maybe the poor start was just old gas in the tank and line? I'm quite sure some of the gas in the tank was three years old. I told my mechanic that he was having a starting issue and that I was using a couple shots of starter fluid to get him woke up.
As I mentioned, the current plan is for my mechanic to give the front suspension a once-over and look for problems, and if it's good get the car off for an alignment. The car will then come back to me for a week or ten days until it can get to my body guy for paint and panel alignment. During that time, I'm need to get the HVAC working again, pull the pod and dash for recovering with the 928 International skins I bought three years ago, and try to swap in a 944/951 switch assembly to get the high beams working (for the first time). I've also lined up another instrument cluster from a buddy's parts car. Under the hood, there's a stuck cable on the throttle which I believe is the WOT kick down, I'd like to get at that. Stitch's seats are done, and I have a pair of tan-ish seats which have been in my garage for a while; I should probably get those off to be redyed.
Oh, and the DAGGONE PASSENGER DOOR LOCK!
When I mentioned to my mechanic that I was going to be driving Stitch to Florida in a month, he said, "You're a brave man."
Last edited by Shawn Stanford; 04-24-2021 at 10:16 AM.
I'm another vote for all will be well with Stitch.
... but then I'm an optimist! I left in my '88 on a 2500km road trip the day after I finished the rear suspension R&R, torque tube and TC bearing replacement, front suspension R&R, and full brake rotor and pads replacement.
Just a quick update: My indy found that the left side tie rod is bad, and thinks that the wheel bearing will need to be repacked or replaced. This is stuff I could have easily taken care of before Stitch was ready to go for paint, but I simply wasn't focused on the left side of the car at the time. Rather than picking the car up, fixing it, then taking it back to them for alignment, they're going to do the work. He thinks he can get it all done with an hour's labor charge, so I really can't complain about that.
I heard from my indy yesterday that the parts came in over the weekend, and that the car should be ready to go for an alignment on Tuesday. I talked to my body guy and, yes, there's still time to get the paint and body work done.
This morning, I get a ping from my indy: Stitch is on his way for the alignment.
Thirty minutes later, I get another ping from my indy: Stitch has blown a coolant line at the top of the water bridge!
They're going to try to fab something, rather than ordering a part, so hopefully this won't push things much further to the left. But, man, it's getting tight. (I'm leaving in two weeks!)
I know it sucks but better for all those things to happen "close to home" ... Still plenty of time
Yeah, if you're going to blow a hose, best to do it literally in your mechanic's parking lot!
Stitch is fixed and on his way for alignment this morning, so ready for pick up this afternoon. I'll talk to my body guy about when he wants the car, with a little luck I can just take it straight over. The HVAC remains the long tent in the pole, and I've ordered a handful of 53 relays from Roger to make sure I have what I need.
Initial report from the alignment shop. This is what you get when you yank a wheel completely off a car in a crash, let the car sit for two years before getting it pulled, remounting the suspension in your driveway, and then doing an quick-and-dirty alignment using chalk and a tape measure...
Okay. I'm catching up on Pete's awesome refresh (https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-speed-11.html) and my indy calls. The alignment shop says that the rear suspension can't be adjusted because "...everything back there is frozen." My indy says he looked over the suspension before it went to the shop and, while it looked like a 40 year-old suspension, he didn't see anything horrible going on. But the rear suspension will need rebuilt, and until then I can expect tire wear at the rear. That job doesn't scare me, but I don't have the time for that now.
I'll be on my way to pick up the car shortly, and I need to call my body guy.
Last edited by Shawn Stanford; 05-05-2021 at 02:52 PM.
I go to the mechanic last evening to pick the car up. It's raining, so I grab a new pair of wiper blades from the parts store on my way. I pay my tab at the mechanic, put the new wipers on, fire up the car and hit the stalk...
Nothing. No movement in any setting.
Urg..!
I pulled open the fuse panel and pull out the fuse (#6) and it's completely corroded. I run back into my mechanic and they find me an abrasive pad and I clean the ends of the fuse. They also find me another 16amp fuse in the back of a drawer and give me that. I go back out, put it in and still nothing!
So, I drive home with no wipers. Luckily it wasn't raining too hard.
Stitch is going to my body guy this afternoon, so I have a couple hours to try to figure out the wipers and maybe even the HVAC. It would be a lot easier to do this if I could work from the right side of the car, but you may recall from previous episodes that the right-hand door isn't opening. Some of the suggestions for getting it open involve doing things from the top with the window open.
But, of course, the window isn't opening. The window is probably the switch, and I actually have two switches stashed - one good, one questionable - that I replaced out of Reuben a few weeks ago. So, I pull off the console cover and disconnect the window switch and go to my parts pile to find these two switches.
I have no idea where they ended up. I've searched the entire area and it's like they've fallen into a black hole.
What the actual hell? Does Stitch not want to go to Amelia? I feel like Charlie Brown singing the 'Kite Song' from the play "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown": "Millions of little kids do it ev'ry day. They make a kite and-"poof"- it's in the sky. Leave it to me to have the one fool kite. Who likes to see a little kid cry."
Last edited by Shawn Stanford; 05-06-2021 at 09:54 AM.
04-22-2021, 09:13 AM
