What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Man!!, you guys from Manitoba are hard on your old Fox wagons

 

Ouch! That sucks!

We figure our wagons are good Prairie Hummers.

 

I had a total brake failure a couple of weeks ago in my '55 Chevy so I'm updating the old single master cylinder drum brake system. I have the front disk brake assemblies installed and the booster/dual master cylinder installed. The front is all plumbed with all new brake lines. The vacuum line to the booster is installed.

I have to install the steel lines to the rear, I've already replaced the rear flex line, and I'm going to install new brake cylinders in the rear.

Then I'm going to fill the system with DOT5 silicone brake fluid.

 

Just wondering what it is about dot5 that made you make that decision?

 

You might want to read this first. Covers the corrosion differences between DOT3, DOT4 and DOT5.

http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/bleeding-brakes.cfm

BTW, that's a heck of a site for Restoration projects.

 

i put clear lenses and HID's in TiKi a couple weeks ago. pics soon as i have a min.
for you geeks out there they are 4500Kel

 

Unlike the rest of you with your big projects I've just been tinkering.

. Installed rear air bag system with the remote fill/deflate. Nice - set the amount of pressure I want and it keeps it there. Big difference when towing the trailer this past weekend - nicer but firmer ride with the trailer on, softer with out it.

. Pulled the bucket seats and tried two other sets. Back to the '67 T-Bird buckets that suit the car so well, for now, while I decide if I want to try the early sixties GM buckets in the attic.

. Dug out the touch up paint and after touching up all of last years travel beauty marks felt like I'd repainted most of the car.

. Oil/filter/plugs time - low miles but since it sat all winter without moving as it was up on the hoist with the Chevelle underneath I figured I should do it before the trip towing the trailer. It needed it from the look of what came out. Ouch.

. Figured out that one of my rear brake adjusters was buggered up. Replaced it with one I had in stock, but reaffirmed my decision to move to the 8-3/4 Mopar rear end with disc brakes I've been busy assembling.

. This body style had an issue with the lift gate leaking. Mine was good for 29 years, then it got it in its head to leak a bit around the hinges for the lift gate. Grrrrrr. Several attempts to fix it simply moved where the leak was so I redid the seal and added some extra foam and voila - look ma, no leaks (so far).

. Replaced the battery. The five year old unit in the car was acting like a ten year old one. My battery tender on it this past winter over-tended it and boiled it dry. The battery tender is now resting in the local scrap pile, the new battery looks great on its newly painted tray and with clean posts and cables.

. This week - fix the radio antenna, a squeek in the back seat area yet to be found, and a rattle in the passenger door window track is driving us nuts so that will be first on the list.

As an aside, we have a vintage cat (17 years old) that goes with us to vintage trailer and car runs. He needs dialysis daily, which my wife gives him, so he has to go along. We were concerned about how he'd take the ride in the wagon first time, it being noisier and warmer than the airconditioned comfort of the quiet truck. He was in his carrier for a bit, then moved to the back seat where he stretched out, like any kid would, and slept the whole trip. If I hit a big bump he'd raise his head and look at us like "hey, excuse me, but someone is trying to sleep back here", and he didn't even wake up going through Canada Customs. I guess he is fine traveling in the wagon.

 

.... no words need to be said!

 

Not done yet...but after our holiday I need new front rotors. So I'm going to order a set of drilled rotors for the front. Then I hope to finish rebuilding one of my sure grip units and have it installed in my set of 3.23 gears. Then maybe get around to converting the rear drums to discs.

Hope to have this done before I put the wagon away into storage for the winter.

 

Hey Saf. I'll bet that battery-tender would make a good acid bath electrode widget. You could strip rust or oxides from steel or aluminum and use plain old soda or vinegar. Low amps, low voltage. Perfect for anti-corrosion coatings like alodine or light zinc coatings.

So did the cat have his passport?

 

Removed battery from my Subaru to "loan" it to my '73 Duster yesterday afternoon.

In process, cleaned my Sube's battery clamp terminals, cleaned battery tray (it's plastic and easily comes out for such cleaning) and cleaned area under battery tray.

After I was finished tinkering w/ my Duster, cleaned battery terminals and reinstalled battery in Sube. Battery is '08, so I should have another year or two on it I hope.

 

I washed mine and drove it to work. :icon_drive:

 

Well, I didn't do it but the guys at work rolled my boss's chrome rally wheels beside my wagon and emailed me a pic....along with razzing me about "old Man Hubcaps"

My parking spot at the shop, I never get a door ding as I'm the only car that parks in the yard.

 

Never thought about using it for anything other than a frisbee, Norman, but geez, now you have me wishing I'd kept. I must say, though, that flattening it with the 10 lb sledge so it would fly better did feel pretty good.

Yeah, the wife carries the cats (Smokey Bear) passport - he actually has one issued by the vet showing his shots are current. He's her kid, he has a far better life than I suspect any one of us on this forum does. Next time around we will get a dog, maybe, or maybe just go pet-less for a while.

 

I'm threadbare, but I'm new.

I like the idea of this thread. I have gotten along pretty far with the malibu but I decided I was having too much fun so I went out and had open heart surgery, had one gall bladder too many so I took care of that and to R&R I decided to have 4 strokes. But I am now back on track and have painted under hood, upholstered the Malibu SS seats to match the original 83 interior, installed the Grand Prix dash (couldn't read those tiny Chevy guages), installed the GP console and have hooked up the GP shifter. As soon as I can figure how to upload the pictures I will have them up. I enjoy reading about everyones projects and progress.