Latest car update - June 10, 2006

Gloria Retired!

Decided against redoing Gloria's motor, part way into the process. I needed the driveway space back! Besides, we got Mr. Jefferson for free as a replacement, so what the hell. We had Gloria towed away in an unceremonious manner. Bye Gloria...we'll miss you!



Previous car update - October 11, 2005

Gloria gets an upgrade!

Gloria's motor is in the process of being swapped for enhanced performance!



Previous car update - November 7, 2004

Gloria Wins A Trophy!

Gloria and Archie won trophies at yesterday's All-Chevy show! Oh, and we got Gloria running a lot better. It was a bad spark plug. Just because they look good doesn't mean they are firing properly!



Previous car update - October 29, 2004

Rough Sailing

Gloria has been real sluggish during light to medium acceleration lately. I checked all the spark plugs. They looked fine. I swapped plug wires with Archie. That didn't help. I installed Archie's distributor. That didn't do it either. I put Gloria's carburetor on Archie and he drove fine. I replaced the fuel filter. Still no luck. Finally, I decided to replace the timing chain. I figured it was worn and in need of changing, even if it wouldn't solve the problem at hand. Sure enough, the chain was so stretched that it began banging a hole in the timing cover. And the nylon gear was all chewed up as well. But it was not the problem. So what do I try next? It seems like a misfiring plug or a bad accelerator pump or a vacuum leak. I can't find a vacuum leak anywhere. I ruled out that other stuff. So what's next? Transmission? Maybe. Stay tuned!



Previous car update - October 20, 2004

Emission test results!!

Gloria had her annual emission test. She did very well. See the results here.



Previous car update - September 23, 2004

Gotta watch that rear door!

Yesterday, I was turning off a main road into a bank parking lot. I had my laptop computer in my briefcase which was in the back seat. As I turn the corner, I hear "boom". I look back and Gloria's rear door is wide open! Then I look in my rear view mirror and see my briefcase sitting in the driveway just begging to be run over! So I whip a super fast u-turn and return to the scene and retrieve my briefcase. Sounds like a good outcome, right? Not exactly. When I made the u-turn, I heard "boom, boom". It was a computer I had repaired flying across the trunk. Made 2 scratches and a small dent in the case. The owner was nice about it. It worked. That's all he cared about.



Previous car update - July 1, 2004

Gloria gets vandalized!!!

Gloria was the victim of a senseless crime last night. Read all about it here.



Previous car update - May 29, 2004

Gloria's First Road Trip!

Gloria had her first big trip. See the photos here.



Previous car update - May 1, 2004

Carb Fixed

Gloria was showing signs of a worn carburetor (was bogging down during medium acceleration instead of vrooming up ). So we got a carb rebuild kit for $12 and a can of carb cleaner for $3. Problem fixed. The car is finally in very good condition mechanically. It's definitely more powerful than Archie, perhaps even Edith. But it's lighter than Edith and has the same engine, so I guess that's ok.



Previous car update - April 29, 2004

And so begins the tale of Gloria...

another car that wouldn't quit (we hope).

My Dad (Dave) bought me my first car, a 1976 Chevy Malibu, in March, 2004. The car was only $200! Ok, so it needed some work, but we already did a lot to it. The driver's window was smashed, so we put a junk yard window in for $35. The weatherstripping for the driver's window was gone. Nobody sells a replacement piece for this car, so Dad used a piece of garage door weatherstripping; cut it to just the right shape and glued it in there. Now it's almost waterproof! The upper control arm bushings were completely shot, but the guy who sold us the car supplied the replacement parts. Dad installed those. He also replaced the radiator, spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, vacuum advance, upper radiator hose, thermostat, thermostat housing, pcv valve, air filter, fuel filter and breather filter. Had a new set of tires put on. Took the car to RufRoad Brakes & Mufflers to have them replace the broken muffler. Also had them check the catalytic converter. They said it's fine, even though it's almost 30 years old. Then they said how some new cars already have problems with them...and some new cars have as many as 5 converters...on the same car! We also replaced the carpet, since the original carpet was missing. The carpet is another one of those items that is not available anywhere, so we used a $20 Walmart carpet which turned out pretty nice. The front seat had no upholstery, just a big piece of foam. So we got a seat cover for it. The dash has some cracks, so we'll get a cover for that as well. We got a club for the steering wheel and a locking gas cap for the fuel tank. We did an oil & filter change and a transmission fluid and filter change.

The car had a transmission linkage problem when we got it. I don't even have a license yet, but Dad didn't see any harm in letting me sit in the driver's seat with the car idling. Well, it popped into reverse all by itself. Luckily, Archie was parked a few feet behind Gloria and stopped the car safely! The linkage is now fixed, so the car won't be going anywhere without deliberate human interaction.

 

Future plans for the car:

Fix starter. The car wouldn't start on several occasions. We thought it was the battery but it tested ok at AutoZone. Must either be a bad battery cable or a bad starter solenoid.

Fix left stereo speaker. The right one works fine. Hopefully it's just a loose wire.

Take more photos and maybe some video for the website.

 

 

 

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