The 69 Diary - Chapter 6

8/12/01 - I am expanding my library of books and catalogs. Looking for paint for the interior, Kat suggests bed liner....a rubberized stuff that is painted on and only weighs 2.7 pounds per gallon. It comes in various colors and is textured. I like this idea.

8/13/01 - Sam was going to Pep Boys anyway and I asked him to pick up a vacuum canister and a radiator hose. He remembered the hose, but not the canister. That was just as well as Kat messaged me he had a whole distributor for me.

8/15/01 - James is home for a few days. He sees the possibilities in the car and hasn't admitted he thinks I'm nuts. Actually he is pretty supportive. I want to replace the radiator hose and start it up for him.....want him to be able to drive it a bit.

8/16/01 - Came home from work to find James had started to build me a platform. I had joked with him about needing to be taller to reach into the car.

8/18/01 - James & I had to get a different radiator hose. The one Sam got is too big. Pep Boys didn't have the right one, so I replaced the original hose and refilled the front tire again. Started the car. It sounded good. James moved it a bit in the driveway. He has listened to me and all my plans. He's even told his friends about the car. I'm hoping it wasn't in the context of him relating how Mom has gone off the deep end, but I don't think so. He agreed that doing this is the best way I'm going to learn. Haven't accomplished much as I'd rather spend the time with James - he'll only be here one more day.

8/19/01 - It seems Jester and Kat have been discussing my car and making plans. Jase mentioned that Kat might as well put in the final distributor and new ignition. I guess it makes sense. But then he said that they were talking about Kat putting on the new carb and manifolds too. I over-reacted. I know they are being wonderfully helpful, but I don't know enough yet and have too many questions. I feel they are pushing me - no, more like I am running to keep up with them and only falling further behind. Maybe it's just the mood I am in, knowing James will be gone again in a few hours and the fight Sam and I had because we moved his cars to make room in the driveway. Anyway, the discussion was tabled for the evening..

8/25/01 - Kat takes me with him to Virginia Beach to pick up Julie's new 79 Camaro. The whole way down we talk cars and he patiently explains ignitions, wiring, anything I ask. I have my study sheets of car info with me and we reviewed transmissions. Unfortunately, I was too short to be able to work the clutch properly and Kat ended up driving it back to Pennsylvania. These short legs are causing problems.

8/26/01 - My latest idiocy is deciding to take off the carb and pack it with me to Florida to rebuild it. Four bolts and a few hoses is what I am told to remove. After a fast trip to Sears for a wrench set, I take a half dozen pics and send them to Jester. Then I decided to take a video of the car to take with me to show Jester. I want him to hear it running so I need to do that before tackling the carb. Ten minutes of video should be enough for him to get a feel for what it looks and sounds like now.

The first surprise was that the carburator is held on by only 2 bolts, not 4. There is NO bolt here ==========> I need to confirm what everything is and verify how to remove it..

<== choke cable

throttle cable ==>

I didn't expect a brake line in the carb so I was confused by this. As it turned out, the brake line was

the easiest thing! It was just a hose with a bolt plugging it; not connected to anything.

<== brake line

fuel line ==>

Jester finally decided to start adding descriptions and directions right into the pics and sent it back to me. This really helped! So I went to work, loosening bolts, disconnecting cables, etc. Thank God for my platform from James or I wouldn't have been able to reach some things. The extra 8 inches made all the difference! And as it was, I was still leaning on the fender like a see-saw.

The fuel line wouldn't unscrew. The best I could do was get the entire line to twist. I tried 3-in-1 oil on the nut and it still wouldn't budge. I quit when it got dark and I was frustrated.

8/27/01 - Tried the fuel line nut again after work. Still not budging. No response to the email I sent the ex asking if he'd be in the neighborhood and I could borrow his muscle.

8/28/01 - Now I'm worried. I have to be packed tomorrow night and I NEED that carb in the bottom of my suitcase. I sent an emails to jeff and Stell. Then I called Steven and asked if he would help me before we went out for dinner Wednesday. Of course, Stevie agreed, but I hated to let it go until the last minute. Up at the garage to pick up the beater, Bobby says I can always cut the fuel line, too. jeff responds to tell me he will be home Wednesday evening and I can call him if I still need help. He suggests I get some PB Blaster to loosen the bolt. NE3G guys have been great! At lunch, I run to the hardware store and squirt the PB Blaster on.

Kat is online and I am bemoaning this darn fuel line. He suggests I take the carb off and spin the carb while holding the fuel line in place. I like this idea. But my hand is too small to hold the carb and spin it. I need two hands to do it and that means I am one hand short for holding the fuel line.

Sam is sitting on the couch watching trash TV. He had promised to help me with something else and says it's time. So, I ask him if he would also hold the fuel line while I try to spin the carb. I know he has given me grief about the car, but he also was complaining how I shared all my plans with James and never with him. I see an opportunity for mother/son bonding, as well as getting the fuel line off. I decide to explain to him what I am trying to do and why.

He berates me for lack of strength and secures the wrenches on the nuts. Using extreme muscle, he bends the fuel line past the 90 degree point. I yell at him to stop and he grabs the vise grips to hold the fuel line and I go to spin the carb. He crimps the fuel line again. He moved the vise grips closer to the little nut and puts a wrench on the nut.....and crimps and twists it enough that he broke the fuel line... at which point I just told him to tear it off.

The carb was out. Not exactly how I planned it and I now had the task of replacing / fixing the fuel line as well. I drained the gas from it and let it out until dark, then moved it to the porch to air out on newspaper overnight.

I was really worried Jester would be angry that I had asked Sam to do anything. After the starter fiasco, even I had decided it probably wasn't a good idea to ask him for help. But more than that, I was upset because I could see Sam really hated the 69. I'm not sure why, maybe it's

because he thinks I am in over my head or maybe he just doesn't like the idea of mom playing with cars...whatever it is, I wasn't happy that he seems so incapable of appreciating this. Fortunately, Jester chalked this up as a learning experience, and promised to remove the nut for me.

8/29/01 - Carb is wrapped in 2 plastic bags and a box. The box is wrapped in plastic and sealed. It is sitting in the bottom of my suitcase and I am taking a second suitcase for my clothes. Somehow my perfume of choice is not gasoline and I decide it's better to separate the clothes from the carb. But this leaves me enough room to take all sorts of catalogs and books.

8/30/01 - At the airport, an older gentleman offers to help me with the big suitcase. I am afraid he will herniate a disk but he insists that no one can pack as heavy as his wife does. I let him lift the suitcase onto the shuttle for me and watch his eyes bulge. I asked him if his wife ever packed a carb. *snicker snicker *

Jester is at the airport and when we get the luggage, I notice both suitcases have had the locks removed. I can understand some x-ray technician being suspicious of the carb, but the suitcase with the clothes, too? At Jester's, it is obvious that both suitcases have been searched, but nothing is missing.