Maintenance & Repair Records!

 

October 2005

Replaced Mr. Jefferson's brake calipers & pads & master cylinder.

Filled Mr. Jefferson's bone-dry transmision.

Replaced Mr. Jefferson's thermostat gasket and upper radiator hose.

 

December 2005

Replaced Meathead's ignition coil.

 

January 2006

Inflated all tires to 38 psi

Replaced Edith's upper control arm bushings.

Replaced Meathead's upper control arm bushings.

Replaced Archie's front wheel bearings.

Replaced Archie's fan clutch.

Replaced Edith's brake pads and shoes at 86,040 miles.

Replaced Edith's driver's side motor mount.

 

 

February 2006

Fixed Mr. Jefferson's muffler hanger (coat hanger)

Replaced Meathead's timing chain

 

 

March 2006

Installed AM/FM/CD Player in Mr. Jefferson.

Replaced Archie's brake pads.

Replaced Archie's center link.

Cleaned Archie's spark plugs.

Changed Archie's oil.

Changed Meathead's transmission fluid, filter and gasket.

Replaced Archie's Vinyl Roof

 

 

April 2006

Replaced Archie's carrier bearings. Messy job.

 

 

May 2006

Changed Meathead's oil at 200,480 miles.

Turned Archie's rotors & installed new caliper kit to quiet rattling caliper/pad.

Flushed and refilled Archie's radiator.

Purchased new tires for Edith, gave hand-me-downs to Archie.

Had Edith's front end aligned.

June 2006

No repairs or maintenance needed in June!

July 2006

Replaced Edith's gearbox.

Replaced Archie's broken speaker wire.

Re-attached Archie's rear view mirror (for about the 7th time).

August 2006

Rebuilt Archie's front end. New shocks, bushings, tie rods,
stabalizer links, ball joints, spring insulators,
center link and cut the coils. Got
an alignment and new front tires.

Replaced Edith's oil pressure switch. Installed the hand-me-down
switch on Archie.

Replaced Archie's power steering hoses to keep them from leaking all
over the new front end parts.

Cleaned Edith's & Archie's spark plugs.

Lubed Archie's, Edith's and Meathead's front end and u-joints
(Meathead still has the original "permanently sealed" u-joints, so I couldn't lube them)

 

 

September 2006

Changed Archie's oil.

Bled Mr. Jefferson's brakes.

 

 

October 2006

Installed some spring lifters to make Archie sit a little higher in the front.

Replaced Archie's 2 defective rear tires.

Replaced Edith's front wheel bearing (yes, the same one I replaced about a year ago).
I heard a little squeak so I took it apart and the washer that holds the rotor on was all
munched. The anti-rotation tab was entirely worn off. That's weird.

 

 

November 2006

Rebuilt Meathead's carburetor, replaced fuel filter, replaced points, condensor & rotor, & fuel line hose. Rotated tires.

Rotated Archie's tires.

 

 

December 2006

Brought Meathead's and Archie's driveshaft to Dick's Driveshaft and had them rebuilt. Took Archie's back to them THREE MORE TIMES before they got it right (and I think it still might not be quite right).

Vibration started in the rear, so I assumed the carrier bearings or differential gears were coming apart again. I took the car to 9 Inch Warehouse. They replaced a bunch of stuff in there that was worn or damaged. It cost $733, the most I ever spent to get Archie repaired in the 18 years I had him. And it didn't even solve the problem! Turned out to be that the rebuilt driveshaft wasn't quite right. Dick's will fix it under the warranty and all should be good. I am glad I spent the money to get the rear end done right. Though they didn't pick up on the driveshaft problem, they did seem to do a good job diagnosing and fixing the differential and axle stuff.

Changed Archie's and Edith's oil on Dec 31st. Happy New Year!!

 

 

January 2007

Upgraded Meathead to HEI. Accidentally mixed up spark plug wires causing a big backfire. Result: Blew the muffler to smithereens.

Replaced Mr. Jefferson's battery.

 

 

February 2007

Cleaned Archie's spark plugs.

Replaced Meathead's muffler and tailpipe.

Rebuilt Archie's carburetor.

Replaced Archie's fuel filter.

Rotated Archie's tires.

 

 

March 2007

Rotated Mr. Jefferson's Tires.

 

 

April 2007

Not a thing.

 

 

May 2007

Rebuilt Mr. Jefferson's carburetor. Replaced his air filter, cleaned PCV valve, replaced bad vacuum hoses.

Cleaned Meathead's spark plugs, cleaned PCV valve, replaced air filter. 

Replaced Meathead's radiator and thermostat gasket. Removed thermostat.  

 

June 2007

Replaced Meathead's driver side motor mount.

Replaced Meathead's tranny mount.

Lubed Meathead's front end and drive shaft.

Changed Meathead's oil.

Changed Meathead's tranny fluid and filter.

Sold Mr. Jefferson for $450.

Changed Meathead's alternator belt.

Got Meathead's rear windows to roll up and down!

Inspected Meathead's front wheel bearings.

Rotated Meathead's tires.

 

July 2007

Nothing but smooth sailing in July!

 

August 2007

Edith broke down on the way home from Red Lobster. I initially though that the lobsters sabotaged my car while I ate. My neighbor towed me home with this car and a tow strap. I found that pouring a little gas in the carburetor would get the car to start. So I replaced the fuel pump and the fuel hose. I replaced the fuel filter. I swapped the carb with Meathead's carb. I blew out the fuel line with an air compressor. Still, the car would act like it wanted to stall under certain conditions. So having pretty much ruled out a fuel problem, I replaced the original distributor which was fitted with a Pertronix II system. I upgraded it to a true HEI system, replacing also the plug wires, coil, ignition module and distributor cap. Still the problem persisted. Hooked up a volt meter and could see that voltage was constant even when the car was beginning to stall. A few days after trying all this, I was walking behind the car and I smelled gas fumes. Crawled under the car and could see that the rear fuel hose was cracked pretty bad. $2.50 later, Edith is rarin' to go again!

Two days later, Archie wouldn't start. He was in my driveway at the time, so that's no big deal. It doesn't really constitute a "break down" or anything. I tried it later and he started. I cleaned up the spark plugs. A few of them were fairly dirty. Stay tuned to see if this problem occurs again!

 

September 2007

Smooth Sailing!

 

October 2007

Archie was having some carb troubles. Actually he still is when it's cold. Thankfully it doesn't get too cold in Arizona.

 

November 2007

Archie and Edith each got an oil change and lube. Yipee!

While working on restoring Meathead, I found he was missing a few valve cover hold-down tabs. So I borrowed a few from Archie. Apparently that was not a good idea. Archie started leaking. So I redid Archie's valve cover gaskets and even painted the covers!

 

December 2007
One of Archie's rims started leaking. The same thing happened to another one of his rims just a few months earlier. My buddy gave me a few rims he had laying around so it was no big deal.

 

January 2008
Replaced Archie's motor mount...again!

Replaced Archie's coil and ignition module.

 

February 2008

Replaced Archie's driver door glass with Rusty's glass.

Replaced Archie's speedometer.

 

March 2008

Flushed Edith's cooling system...again, only to find a bunch more stop leak or whatever was still in there from before I bought the car, even after flushing the thing like 10 times before! This time, I ran a hose through the radiator with the car running for about an hour or two before it started coming out clean. I get the feeling I'll be battling this problem in the future too. We'll see. Check out the filth coming out of the radiator!!

Archie's front coil spring started making noise. Turned out to be one of the spacers I put in there had worked its way down to the bottom of the coil and was hitting the lower control arm. So I put it back up where it came from.

Changed Archie's oil. Replaced oil pressure switch and fuel filer too! Cleaned his spark plugs.

Changed Edith's oil and cleaned her spark plugs.

Replaced Archie's rotors (again). Also replaced brake pads. Archie now stops at least 3 times as fast!!

 

April 2008 thru September 2008

Very uneventful from a maintenance and repair standpoint. That's a good thing, right?

October 2008

Archie got a new starter. I have a lifetime warranty, so it only cost me $87 in gas to go to AutoZone!

Prepared Archie for November's emission test: Changed oil & filter, replaced fuel filter, spark plug and plug wires. Cleaned rotor and distributor cap.

Replaced Archie's brake shoes.

December 2008

Replaced Archie's original heater core. The heater now works when I drive 50 mph or faster. First time in many years that it worked, so it's a real treat.

February 2009

Edith and Archie had their oil and tranny fluid changed. They got new fuel filters. Edith got a new air filter, so Archie got the hand-me-down filter from Edith. Edith got a new set of tires, so Archie got Edith's old tires. Archie got a new fuel pump. He also got a new ignition coil, distributor cap, rotor and ignition module. Here's the story on that: Archie broke down. And it was a miracle. How, you might ask? I had been driving him all over town the previous few days, at least 125 miles or more. Then, just as I pulled in my driveway after returning from an hour of driving, he sputtered a little. I tapped the gas pedal a couple times to muster up the last oomph he had left, giving him just enough propulsion to park right at the front of the driveway where I always park. Literally, the car took me all the way home, down to the very last inch, before quitting completely and shutting off, even though there were no symptoms or warning signs until I turned into my driveway. The chances of this happening where it did must have been one in a billion. Should be smooth sailing for the next 50,000 miles or so. Archie and Edith had their spark plugs cleaned.

April 2009

Changed Archie's oil again. I'm not sure why I even do that anymore. It leaks so much that I put more than 5 quarts in every 3,000 miles. Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to do it anyway. Also repaired Archie's fender extension which had been falling off for years. A little liquid nails and some silicone made for a rather attractive repair. Also, I added a new high-tech air conditioning system to Archie which is going to keep my head at least 25 degrees cooler when the temps reach 115+ here in sunny Arizona. It consists of two layers of foil insulation plus a section of styrofoam in between them right above my head. 3M adhesive spray was a joke. Once the temp of the metal reached about 90 degrees, the glue melted and it all fell off. I'm currently using Gorilla Glue. It seems to be holding pretty well, though the max temp so far this year was only about 100. If it lasts the summer, that would be awesome. Also this month, Edith got a new set of tires, which means Archie got her hand-me-downs.

May 2009

Bypassed Archie's recently replaced heater core to turn off the heater for the summer months. I tried turning the switch off. That didn't do it. I tried removing the heater fuse. That didn't do it. I cut the wire going to the blower motor. Yet still the heat was flowing. Got Edith a front end alignment. It was awesome. I got there when they opened and was on my way home just 30 minutes later. That's what I call service!

June 2009

Uneventful month for maintenance and repair

July 2009

Archie's ignition switch wore out; not the lock cylinder where you turn the key, but the electrical switch on the steering column. It took $10 for the part and about 15 minutes to replace. Now it's official. Every part on the car that is capable of wearing out has worn out at least once.

August 2009

Uneventful month for maintenance and repair

September 2009

Edith's A/C compressor finally started howling so bad it had to be replaced. Got a remanufactured compressor at AutoZone, along with a new drier and expansion valve. Three days later, the compressor started rattling so I had to replace it again. Now it's working fine, just in time for the summer to be over! Also this month, Archie started sputtering, so I had to clean out his spark plugs. Oh, and his battery died but thankfully I was able to use Meathead's battery since he is still in pieces!

October 2009

Nothing done this month.

November 2009

Rotated Edith's tires. Replaced Archie's motor mount (again). Changed Archie's oil.

December 2009 through September 2010

Nothing really happened during these months, except that Archie was totaled, and then repaired.

October 2010

Replaced Edith's brake booster and master cyclinder. Edith got some new weatherstripping.

Stuff that still needs to be done:

Meathead needs coil springs & shocks replaced. Well, ok...the whole car needs to be restored.

Archie and Edith need new timing chains.

 

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