Price Check

Yes, I'm checking prices on all my cars in case I need to liquidate. I think this would be the very last car I would sell if I had to get rid of any. But here it is:

So it's good to know even at average, which this car is not, it is still worth more than I paid for it. :-)

Tyerman's

Alright, I made it to Tyerman's today, finally! I have to say, I am still not 100% comfortable driving this car, and the ride to Tyerman's didn't help. If I hit the brakes hard the right wheel kept screeching like it was going to lock up and the steering is just plain weird feeling to me. All that keeps going through my mind is that I made a terrible mistake doing these things to this car and I should never have started them. But Bob says I always act this way after I've made major changes and before they're all adjusted and I've gotten used to them. Fact is, the ride home with the steering nicely aligned was much better and the screechy right wheel was not really noticable anymore.

But, there really are a couple of issues to attend to. The guy at Tyerman's pointed out that the wheel bearing on the right (and he didn't mention the left but it might be the same) is loose so even with the nut pretty tight, the bearing doesn't snug down like it should. Recall that the outer bearings for this setup are for a 1971-76 Riviera and that to make them fit the Pontiac, the Scarebird kit includes a machined ring that fits into the bearing center.

It may just be that I need to tighten the spindle nut down really, really hard to fully seat that sleeve, then back it off to a comfortable snugness so the bearing doesn't heat. Maybe I didn't do that when I assembled the rotors. I can't remember and I do remember thinking myself that the bearings seemed loose. If that doesn't do the trick, I can contact Scarebird for advice.

The other issue the mechanic found... and I am really embarrased about this one... is that the rack is not mounted level! It is down about a half to three-quarter inch on the right side and while it is functional, it's not right. Recall that this is the side where I had to re-drill the mounting holes to fit the Pontiac idler arm bolt pattern. And I realise now that part of the problem is I measured but I measured from the floor to the rack bottom when the car was on jacks and the jacks were obviously not even. I remember thinking that the thing looked a bit off... but at the shop, being down in their pit, it's very freakin obvious how crooked it is. So... the simplest thing to do is to remove the rack bracket and redrill the holes lower on the right plate. Now, maybe one hole will be one of the ones I didn't think I could use originally... I will have to look once I have the bracket off. I think the rack can stay in the car, and only the lollipop bearing bracket will need to be disconnected.

There is no big hurry to do the rack adjustment, other than my pride and wanting it done right. But the bearing should get attention real soon as it could cause abnormal stress and wear on the spindle.

One step forward, two steps back.

False Start

I was going to go over to Tyerman's for an alignment today, but when I pulled the car out of the driveway and began driving, I heard some strange klunking noises from the front wheels, particularly when braking. OK, I know what that is... these calipers are just not fitting inside the wheels properly. I had tried grinding on the calipers a bit and they cleared when I was turning the wheels by hand, but now with the weight of the car and pressure applied to the caliper, it's banging into the four tabs of the wheel center where they attach to the rim.

The good news is I had already ordered a set of spacers from Summit Racing and they've been sitting here waiting for a need to arise. I originally planned them for the '49er. Made by BilletSpecialties they are part number WSG5L375. You guessed it: Wheel Spacer, 5 lug, .375 thick. Done. But now it's 3 PM and I don't feel like trying to get over to Tyerman's this late in the day. I roll up the sidewalk out front at 5 PM. ;-) Another day!

But now that I have it back up on jacks to do the spacers, I got to thinking I wanted to re-visit the steering wheel to rack linkage again. It's not as smooth as it should be which tells me at least one of the joints is being angled too hard. I want to see if I can remedy that. I tore it apart and reworked it. Much smoother now. [Rerouted the starter cable as well.]

Lube Job

I had ordered some shorter steering arms in an attempt to get some turning radius back, but the Chevy ones won't work and I just decided I don't care enough about it right now to keep the car up on the jacks any longer. So I hooked up my new pneumatic grease gun and greased all the joints on the front suspension and steering, including the new tie rod ends, did some grinding on the calipers for a bit of extra wheel clearance, and bolted on the front wheels with the new tires on them. Then I pulled the car out of the garage and put the glove box door back on and attached the little panel for the shift indicator. I vacuumed the carpet and found there is a worsening tear in the seat on the passenger side. :-(

Need to take a day off to go over to Tyerman's for an alignment now.

2 Tires

Got the first two tires mounted today.Took them over to my favorite tire shop, Western Tire in Burbank.I'm not going to put them on the car yet. I ordered a set of steering arms from Eckler to see if I can increase my turning radius a bit. We'll see if they fit. [They do not!]

Paint Play

Got to mix up a small batch of my new paint I bought last week to spray the little panel I'm putting my shift indicator in. I really like this paint. It's Valspar 327 Series High Solids Acrylic Urethane Enamel. It takes a reducer and a hardener but I just mixed it ad hoc in the pot and sprayed. No problem at all! Dried nice and shiny and I'll let it sit in the garage til next weekend when I will mount the indicator and figure out how I am attaching it to the dash. I love single-stage paint.

New Wheel

Today was a nice day and a trip to the local wrecking yard seemed like a fine thing to do. I needed one more wheel since one of the four '70's Buick wheels had gotten damaged. I had to hit the ATM to get some cash first, then paid my $2 to gain entry to the yard. I had my big bucket with tools in it along so I could remove the wheel and maybe some other small parts if I found something interesting. Within a few minutes I found a '76 Cadillac which had all four wheels removed and laying nearby. I looked at the two fronts, deciding I'd like to get those two so I had one wheel as a spare. Both tires were flat and shot. I walked to the front of the yard to see if I could find a cart or wheelbarrow, but someone was walking off with the last one just then. So I walked back and grabbed one wheel and tire, and manhandled it with my tool bucket to the checkout windows. It seemed several other folks had wheels/tires in line too. It took forever to get through the line, and when I got to the window, I found out why... If you want a wheel AND a tire, you have to pay for both even if the tire is shot, as was the case with my prize. He said something like $20... EACH! Further inquiry on how to buy just the wheel I needed proved a little frustrating, since he did a poor job of explaining, which is why everyone with wheels and tires in front of me in line had taken so long.

Turns out to be a little scam. To avoid paying $20 for a worthless tire I would have to pay $3.50 in cash, in advance at this window to get a ticket to get the tire breaker station at the yard to remove the tire for me. Then I would have to come back to the window to pay for the wheel, which I think he said was going to be around $20 also. Well, if I took the tire home, I'd just have to pay a disposal fee at the tire dealer, probably about $5, so I'm money ahead... except the $2 I paid to enter the yard makes me $0.50 behind. Then too I gotta lug this heavy buggar over to the breaker and back with my tools. Up to this point I was thinking I would buy the one and take it to my truck, then go get the second... that idea died about here. Wait in line at the breaker, then go back... with just the wheel and tools so the load is lighter now... and stand in line at the window again. Then lug it to the gate and have someone smear red ink pen on the wheel and the receipt, then lug it out to my truck. I was done for the day after that.

The good thing is, I fit the wheel to the front rotor and it fits without scraping anywhere. I compared it to one of the Buick rims and it looks identical. All I lack now is a spare and I think I'll just order a chrome smoothie and get it delivered. Phooey. I think they run about $30 and when you figure the time and hassle, I think I'd pay double that to avoid the wrecking yard experience again.

You know, yards are great. I enjoy the self service ones for small parts I can manage myself. This is the first (and last) time I tried to get large, heavy items myself and I think it is definitely worthwhile to go to a full service yard or order online for those items.