"InfinityAero" (infinityaero)
09/10/2016 at 12:39 • Filed to: None
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"InfinityAero" (infinityaero)
09/10/2016 at 12:39 • Filed to: None | 4
| 7 |
Last week, I watched my ‘77 Fiat 124 Spider roll away on a flatbed, off to get electrical work done. Chris at Artie’s Auto Electrical finished up the work by Thursday, and we made arrangements to have him drop the car back at my place on Friday.
Unfortunately, he came down with some sort of bug and wasn’t going to be able to drop it off until today or later— I’m about to head out of town for a Business trip, so I started to ask myself: “Do I trust the car enough to drive it 30 miles home?” I don’t. I call and buy AAA, just in case.
I reached the shop in the heat of the afternoon, when the temperature was plateauing around 100 degrees F. I checked through the systems after paying the (pleasantly reasonable) bill; I now have a fully functional Classic. The lights work. The ventilation system works. All gauges are functional. The cold start works correctly now. I can remove the keys without the running lights staying on. The brakes were a little seized from sitting so long, but he’d been able to free them up with some use and lubricant. I was ready to go.
I promptly stalled the car leaving the parking spot. 10 months driving the Xterra have spoiled me; the Fiat’s clutch is not so light, not so forgiving. I start her back up, give it a little more throttle, and I’m off. Immediately, I feel the difference with the suspension and steering. It hasn’t been aligned on a machine yet, but the new shocks, springs and control arms seem to have worked wonders— I’m down to a slight pull to the left. Speed bumps and potholes arrive and depart with the forgotten familiar thump-thump of an old unibody. This isn’t so different from my old S30 Z... except the car feels light, sprightly even.
In fact, everything feels near perfect until I brake. The car darts and pulls to the right under hard braking. My eyes remain riveted to the oil pressure gauge and coolant gauge. Oil pressure hovers between 20 and 40 PSI on throttle, and about 5 psi at idle. The coolant temp seems to bottom out around 180F when driving straight, and top out around 210F when in lights or traffic. I allow myself a brief respite to feel the wind through my hair, hear the buzz of the Twin Cam, to feel the road speak to me through the tires; a pure poem not tainted by Hydraulics or Electronics. It’s around this point that I realize I have a shit-eating grin on my face.
As the light ahead turns red, I began to apply some braking force, and... am extremely disappointed. They squish and give, but the car does reluctantly come to a stop well short of any danger. I pulled into a nearby Cul-de-sac and called AAA — looks like I stopped short of getting the service I wanted; they’ll only tow me 3 miles without overages, and they won’t immediately upgrade me to the plus membership. Whoops. At this point I’ve been standing in the sun for 10 minutes, my phone is dying, and I could likely find a cheaper tow on my own. I cancel the pickup, head back to the car, and test out the brakes again. After a few pumps, the pressure feels fine again.
I returned to the road with paranoia in my heart. It’s not until about 10 minutes later that I again allow myself a smile. The brakes are again functioning, neither me or the car is on fire, and finally, we’re both home.
*EDIT*
Leftout detail: I checked the coolant and oil levels an hour after making it home. Both were at the same levels as when it was towed away.
Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
> InfinityAero
09/10/2016 at 12:50 |
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Sorry the car is giving you a hassle, glad you’re on the road though, make sure to thank the electrical guy for even giving it a shot.
CAR_IS_MI
> InfinityAero
09/10/2016 at 12:53 |
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When I did my brakes on my 79 it took FOREVER to properly bleed them. If you trace all the hard lines from the master, they just go on for miles, so there are a lot of spots where air can hang, causing the sponge feel.
aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
> InfinityAero
09/10/2016 at 13:22 |
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woooo
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InfinityAero
> Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
09/10/2016 at 13:28 |
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I was definitely extremely gracious. I left him a great review on his google places page, added his hours, and plan to do the same on Yelp. He said he likes working on the old cars more than the new— the new are all just component replacement, the older stuff really engages your mind and requires some circuit testing and analysis. I was overjoyed to find someone versed in the art— I’m not; I got a D+ in Electrical Engineering 201 in Undergrad, my only D.
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InfinityAero
> CAR_IS_MI
09/10/2016 at 13:33 |
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Yeah, I had a friend help me to the rear brakes; the previous owner gave it to me with no fluid to the rear brakes because he didn’t know you have to have force on the rear axle to bleed the lines, and they have to be done in a specific order. The car has a “airborne” protection system that shuts off pressure to the rear discs when the axle has no upwards force applied to it, to prevent the rears from locking up when braking after cresting a hill or catching air.
We didn’t do the fronts, I think I will now. I’m guessing the brake failure was due to the rears gripping a bit due to the rust and heating up the fluid, a 5 minute cool-down seemed to solve the problem and they were fine for the 25 minute drive from there. The brakes started failing at about 10 minutes into the drive. They grip decently— but not quite enough to lock up the wheels. I feel safe if I leave about 6-8 seconds of gap between myself and the car in front of me.
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InfinityAero
> Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
09/10/2016 at 14:07 |
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Oh, and as for hassle— no worries, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the condition. I expected him to get the wiring system working only to find half the components not working— everything works. On a 39 year old car. That’s mind-blowing to me, as far as electrical systems on old cars go. The brakes are easily fixed, and cheaply replaced if I need to buy new calipers. A whole new brake system (or rebuilt, at worst) would likely be less than $400. The local Midas will do the front alignment, including shimming, for about $110. I bought it for $2K, knowing I was getting into someone else’s project. It’s near bone-stock and near 100% functional; I can get a proper paint job done on it, replace the floorboards, and it’d be pretty much concourse quality with some sanding, buffing and polishing.
I never knew whether it had 127K miles or 27K miles— I’m leaning towards 27K now.
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InfinityAero
> aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
09/10/2016 at 14:57 |
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It’s driveable! Errmm... kinda; terrifyingly driveable! I may just have the local Midas do the brake alignment, they have better tools... and I buy them beer. It’d be great to eek out 26mpg on the freeway. I drive an ‘02 Xterra so yah... it’d be nice to have something else for camping / whatnot.