Copyright 1998 Bob Storm
Well, I'm not sure whether the third time is a charm or not. The fact that I am writing Part 3 means that I unfortunately have something to write about.
Menagerie a Trois--trouble comes in threes? Which "threes" do I count?
Anyway, we ended the last episode driveable with a new clutch and cable, rebuilt transmission, starter, and Troy headed off to college in the Grand Am to keep the daily wear off of the "good car."
The Saga continues:
Yes Troy, I too wish that we could have gone to the SVO Regional meet, but surely there will be other chances. Okay, take 'er on to school with you for a couple weeks and say "Hi" to that GT. Nothing foolish, right?, just a little "Hi, how ya doin?" All right, enjoy. See ya in a couple of weeks.
Hello? Troy? What's the problem? Coolant all under the car? Okay, where do the students take their cars for help in Brownwood? Great, fill it up with water, take a container of water with you, leave the radiator cap at pressure-relief, and head on over to Firestone. Gimme a call as soon as you have a diagnosis.
(Boy, I sure am glad we didn't head off to Arkansas. We would have undoubtedly been in the middle of nowhere on the highway when this would have happened.)
Rubber hose split between block and turbo? Metal line seems okay? Have them replace the hose, and give them a dad's thanks for helping out.
Haven't said "hi" to the GT yet? Well, we will see you next weekend anyway. Don't stress it too much until you are sure that it didn't overheat and warp the head or damage the turbo.
Welcome home, Troy. Sorry you didn't "meat" the GT, but at least everything seems to be okay. There will be another day...
Garage is cleaned up enough to store it inside. Oops, inspection is due. Take it on over and get that out of the way. She said the tint comes down too low, who did the tinting? Well, at least she passed it; maybe she was jealous that after they removed the old purple tint, that they didn't win the bid for the new tint.
By the way, what's the mileage now? Wait a minute, that's what it was when you left. What about the trip gauge? At least that one is working. I wonder if anyone repairs odometers.
Ouch! I had forgotten how heavy that hatch is. Christmas is coming, maybe the SVO would like new lift supports for the hatch. $22 each from Chief's sounds good to me.
Wow! Look mom--no hands! Shoulda done that long ago. Except, now I can't slam it hard enough to latch. What gives? Jim, its supposed to have a plastic sleeve around the striker bolt? Oh yeah, like the old tow truck. Well, maybe the same approach will work.
Troy, any of that PVC pipe left? That one will work. Just a little bit wider slot and we can jam it over. That works, what about the doors? Yep, much better.
Now, what to do with that Christmas bonus. What about that 85.5 we saw for sale last month? Wouldn't that be neat--2 in 1 stable. Or we could continue bringing up the "Saga" car some more.
(27 hours of intense discussion later, including participation from the household Chief Financial Officer.)
Done. What does the Saga car get next? It starts, it runs, brakes work, let's go for handling. Motion Dynamics, do you have any subframe connectors? Great, we'll go with the weld-ins. If it works for Kenny Brown, it will probably come close to our needs (chuckle,chuckle). Can you put them in tomorrow? See ya at 8.
Not ready yet? Instructions said one hour to install. No, we haven't taken this one off-roading, musta been used car shoppers before we got it. Looks like we really wanted these more than we knew.
Is it ready yet (Are we there yet?)? Only on the Saga car would a flawless welder and jack be able to time their first ever malfunctions together! Thanks for finding the oil leak. We have been looking for that since the last episode, but never had the car that high (on stands) before. So what are we supposed to notice from this enhancement? We will simply feel the improvement? Take your word for that. Here's the check, and my condolences for the jinks.
Troy, work up to whatever you're gonna do, just in case...You did what in that corner? That's at least 10 mph better than... What about the launch? Okay, see ya when ya get home.
The good news is the neighbors aren't home. The bad news is the tire tracks show left rear wheel hop. Guess we gotta learn about shock tuning now.
Temp gauge started climbing while at the bank drive thru? Maybe you shouldn't have carried so much money there. Not funny? All right, still some bonus money left. Hello, 183 Radiator Service? I will be right down.
Those pretty little silver spots are from previous leak repairs? Figures. No, I don't want to do this again, get a new one. I really appreciate your help and promptness on this. Sometimes it just pays (costs?) to be cool...
Hey Grandma, wanna go for a ride in a real car? I'll even let you use my racing helmet. I'm sure that you don't have rides like this back in Virginia. I promise you will be able to tell all the folks back home about it.
Okay, maybe next time...