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woo hoo! Got it back... finally!

Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
2,273
Location
Glen Burnie, MD, USA
Corvette
1986 Bright Red Coupe
I sit here at the keyboard some $2000 poorer, but out in the driveway is my "new" 86 Vette, FINALLY back from the shop (three weeks, mostly waiting for parts).

Most expensive items were the clutch work (including the slave cylinder at $200 :eek for the part and $300 :eek for associated labor - incl. the clutch installation) and the parking brake work, at $168 for the cable installation, $89 for the cables themselves, and $92 for the rear shoes plus money for other bits and pieces. Folks - a lesson. USE YOUR EBRAKE. If you don't use the parking brake, it rusts into the 'released' setting and requires mucho dinero to fix - and it's an inspectable item!

Other major items repaired were timing chain and sprockets ($150 labor, $63 parts), rebuilt water pump and starter at about $70 each, the freeze plugs (all brass, and all of them replaced, for a reasonable-sounding $96 labor and $24 in parts), new exhaust studs and gaskets, rear main seal, clutch fork ($34, doesn't sound bad), oil pan gasket, the alternator bracket (I have a spare of these, if anyone needs one), and a new ring gear and refinished flywheel.

So - the good news. Except for the rumbling wheel bearings, it sounds and drives like a new car :cool . The clutch pickup is about a centimeter off the floor, and the clutch pedal feel is now lighter than the one in my Subaru. I need to wait a couple hundred miles to bed in the new clutch and pressure plate (per Centerforce instructions), but after that... whee! :s

Over the winter I plan to change plugs and wires - anyone have recommendations? Are Magnacores and Bosch +4's worth the $$?

Save the wave!
[RICHR]
 
Good news. Glad you got it back. It is a never ending battle. We found stuff to fix on Nikki's 00 model today.

That is also part of what makes the hobby so much fun.

Sounds like that shop gave you a pretty good deal on labor.
 
69MyWay said:
Sounds like that shop gave you a pretty good deal on labor.

I think because so much of the car was apart, it was almost trivial to do some of the work. I'm betting the mechanic is V E R Y happy to have his lift back, too... it was tied up for three weeks.

Thanks, too, to those of you who recommended that I get some of the other stuff (oil pan seal, etc) done now while the car was apart...

Went out to the garage and started it just to listen...

[RICHR]
 
Racer78 said:
Just glad to have your baby back home huh :)

Yeah..... :dance

And now I gotta wait until MONDAY for the DMV to be open so I can get real tags (the temps expired two weeks ago and I was driving around on them today).

[RICHR]
 
rrubel ____________
I think you will find that BRIGHT RED COUPES are the best Vettes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck with yours and enjoy.
 
Red is Red

Bright red, Spectra Red, Torch red, samey same. I think the red makes it go a little faster too. :) I just need to throw a better coat of red on my baby.
 
he he he

:) :) :cool :J :L :Twist :_rock :dance

I kinda like that admiral blue too.
 
Speed Kills (so they say)

I know it is a statistical fact that red cars get more tickets, and I hear that you pay more for insurance as well, but I've never had any problems getting tickets in ANY colored cars I've had. Red, maroon, black, white. I've even gotten a ticket in a car with no paint on it at all. :D Not to mention the 6 tickets I've gotten over 100 mph, including the 3 on my motorcycle that they couldn't actually tell how fast I was going other than to say, "In excess of 130". I'm not bragging mind you as that was in my wreckless youth. The adult Drewser hasn't gotten a ticket in over 5 years (knock wood), but I have been tempted with this vette. I guess that is what dragstrips are for.:w
 
Sheesh... I've gotten more tickets in my WHITE car than my wife and I have in all THREE of our red cars, combined... Of course, since one is a 4-cyl station wagon (Outback), cops may find it difficult to belive I'm cruising at 85+...

Not that I've gotten a lot of tickets, but I do drive a decent amount of miles (sometimes upwards of 30k per year) so the law of averages works against me.

Tomorrow (Monday) I get the new tags, and my daughter and I will go CRUISING! :dance

Party time, at least until the charge bill arrives :(

[RICHR]
 
Speed Kills (part 2)

Most of the time I drive a big white Chevy 1500 van around that says "Locksmith" all over it. This thing must be invisable because it draws NO notice from the coppers. Maybe it is 'cause I unlock their cars for free (my get out of jail free card). The last time I got pulled over though, when the cop asked why I was going so fast (78 in a 55) I told him, "Sir, I have no excuse" (an old army line of mine). It must have caught him off guard because he started to say something, stopped with his mouth open (he made an"AGUGH" sound) and just handed me back my license/registration and told me to slow it down. I just looked over at my wife, shook my head and said, "Did that really just happen?":w Bye Bye, nice officer.
 
Re: Speed Kills (part 2)

Drewser said:
"Sir, I have no excuse"

I've often thought that if I got stopped when I did something stupid, especially in a fit of pique, I'd say exactly the same thing. After all, there is no such thing as a good excuse, right? ;)

_ken :w
 
That reply has gotten me out of more sh*t. You're right, there IS no good excuse. They have heard them all. Nobody really wants to hear an excuse, just the truth which sometimes disarms people because they so rarely hear it.
 

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