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Jul. 2nd, 2022 01:51 amThe Wanderbeast is both ready and not ready for the next couple weeks. I think that's from it not getting much exercise in the past couple years. Once it gets a chance to stretch its legs, it should be back to normal.
One of the possible stops I was going to make on my road trip was Yellowstone NP and that seems to have taken itself off the itinerary, with the flooding going on. If Yellowstone don't want tourists, Yellowstone ain't gonna have tourists. It's partially reopened now but I can wait another year or two and there are other places I can go if I head out that way.
Filed under "should've done this long ago": I got some of those canvas pouch things, one for each car. It's great for being a place to stuff assorted receipts that accumulate over long trips or between car cleanups, instead of letting them fly around as soon as I open a window. They're $5 at either Home Depot or Lowes.
Ai's axle issue was due to the old one being incredibly stuck on, and the only way to get that off was to take the intermediate shaft off with it, which also involved taking off a mounting bracket. Then once I had it all out in the open, I was able to split them apart using a big pickle fork and a big hammer. Once I got past that, everything just went back together. But there's an odd clunking sound that persists when making hard left turns. I thought it was the axle, which needed replaced anyway, but that didn't fix it. I'll have that figured out eventually. It's good to have Ai back on the road, even if she doesn't have working air conditioning (for now).
She's also due for rear brakes soon. The current set has about 100k miles, I think. On its face, that's a simple and cheap job, and nothing a few mouse clicks on RockAuto can't supply. Let's see, what else do I need to get for her... Timing belt, water pump, clutch flywheel, valve seals, various other seals, suspension bits, air conditioning parts... Probably about 500-600 in parts, using internet dollars. If I have that done at a mechanic, then I'd have to pay for their labor and parts up-charge and who knows what else, so multiply that by 10, and you can quickly see why people get rid of old cars if they can't DIY the repairs.
Next couple days will be preparations and what-not, then adventure! Of some kind.
One of the possible stops I was going to make on my road trip was Yellowstone NP and that seems to have taken itself off the itinerary, with the flooding going on. If Yellowstone don't want tourists, Yellowstone ain't gonna have tourists. It's partially reopened now but I can wait another year or two and there are other places I can go if I head out that way.
Filed under "should've done this long ago": I got some of those canvas pouch things, one for each car. It's great for being a place to stuff assorted receipts that accumulate over long trips or between car cleanups, instead of letting them fly around as soon as I open a window. They're $5 at either Home Depot or Lowes.
Ai's axle issue was due to the old one being incredibly stuck on, and the only way to get that off was to take the intermediate shaft off with it, which also involved taking off a mounting bracket. Then once I had it all out in the open, I was able to split them apart using a big pickle fork and a big hammer. Once I got past that, everything just went back together. But there's an odd clunking sound that persists when making hard left turns. I thought it was the axle, which needed replaced anyway, but that didn't fix it. I'll have that figured out eventually. It's good to have Ai back on the road, even if she doesn't have working air conditioning (for now).
She's also due for rear brakes soon. The current set has about 100k miles, I think. On its face, that's a simple and cheap job, and nothing a few mouse clicks on RockAuto can't supply. Let's see, what else do I need to get for her... Timing belt, water pump, clutch flywheel, valve seals, various other seals, suspension bits, air conditioning parts... Probably about 500-600 in parts, using internet dollars. If I have that done at a mechanic, then I'd have to pay for their labor and parts up-charge and who knows what else, so multiply that by 10, and you can quickly see why people get rid of old cars if they can't DIY the repairs.
Next couple days will be preparations and what-not, then adventure! Of some kind.
