Congrats on the driving test

 

I swear I've responded to this post at least 4 times...I wonder what keeps happening?

Thanks Poorman, it was SUPER easy. 8 right turns and 7 left turns and NO high speed driving (nothing above 40mph!). Oh, and a parallel park. No wonder there are so many bad drivers in Tucson!!

I am out of a job right now and I cannot fix my windshield or the condenser fan just yet...but I have a few interviews two weeks from now...so hopefully I'll get another job soon so I can get the last few things fixed!

So everything is running well minus the condenser fan. I had fixed the metal housing (it was on the side that had the impact) but one of the blades had a little piece broken out of it...thought it'd be okay, but it puts it just enough off balance to make it hit something. A place here quoted me at $46 w/o tax, so I'll be sure to get it there.

I've been looking around for good priced windshields, but the lowest is so far $140...even at the advertised $99 windshield including install places. So I guess I'll have to go with $140.

The next step after all of that is getting it painted. At my old house I was able to set up a paint booth (DIY style! plastic sheets in the garage and garage floor, close everything up and set the ceiling vent fan to HIGH and spray away) but this neighborhood would have the cops over so quickly...lol, So I must find a good priced either paint booth for rent or get a paint and body place to do it for me...I'm scared to ask for prices because I'll likely not be able to afford anything but a single coat plain white...with clear coat mixed in! lol Here is the car I helped paint a few years ago in the DIY booth.



this is what it looked like before all the work!!!


We ended up selling this car for $14,500 last year...and it wasn't anywhere near being finished. the carpet was in and the door panels but the headliner, trunk, deck lid, center console, and dash were not installed. (was a DIY wood console and metal dash because it was completely burned). This is the interior of the car before and after.

 

I also installed the inner fenders. the passenger one happened to be missing a foot of it in the front, but I'm not too concerned. shouldn't be a problem. The next cosmetical thing I need to do is take the steering shaft out and move the wheel back to dead center. When it drives down the road it drives straight, but the wheel is turned about 6" to the right. It is really disconcerting! Do any of you know how to do this? The manual I have doesn't describe how this is done.

 

Def need to get a good shop manual for this......don't want a face full of air bag.

Before doing that, have the alignment checked....it drives straight but you want to be sure something isn't bent.

 

I meant to say the steering wheel, not wheel. lol

 

Before spending the $ at an alignment shop, try adjusting the angle of the front wheels. As you start off, make each adjustment on the wheels the same. If the car is driving straight, but the steering wheel is 6" to the right, turn the steering wheel so it is straight, and the wheels will then be pointing slightly to the left. Then unlock the adjustment nuts from each other and adjust each wheel one complete turn of the rod so that the wheel moves to the right. Then compare the wheels to the steering wheel. If the wheels are still not straight, make some more adjustments to each side, once again turning the adjustment the same for each wheel until both wheels and the steering wheel all look straight. If the steering wheel finally looks straight, and so do the wheels, try another test ride.

 

Thanks Steven, I'll give it a try.

 

I drove it down to the store a few days ago and had an issue...well really it was the screws issue. I couldn't find my other inner fender screws so I had to buy something that would work at the local ace hardware...well apparently they were not the right ones because at 60 mph the inner fender came off. made a hell of a noise before it let go too! I thought the car was about to explode, or something tragic like that!

I just went through my "future purchase list" and found the wheels that I am going to buy sometime in the future...Drag extreme alloys They have a really decent price at only $115 each.

Job searching is fun... /end sarcasm :P

 

Went back and got a few more parts for the car over the past week.

*new* ac condenser for $46
new window for $120 installed (though they didn't put new molding on and they said they would...they only replaced the top molding)
went back to the wrecking yard and purchased the air bag module that goes under the dash...I hope that the plugs are the same this time.

however on the way home I had total electrical failure. first the gauges stopped working and then the radio and finally everything stopped and the car died...on the freeway going 75. No lights were working at all so no flashers, took someone an hour to stop and give me a jump after I fixed the problem. apparently for the last month (since I bought a battery) it has been running on the only, the alternator was not getting a connection, at all. The bolt wasn't tight on one of the posts and it was corroded. after I got that fixed it ran perfectly with a jump. thankfully someone stopped to help because my phone was dead (of course).

 

Well at least is was a "simple" fix........