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

Good idea! LOL!

Wow. Should have known not to say that. lol. I was actually being sarcastic. It is crazy though that it is like I find one thing after another to spend hundreds of dollars on, but that is the joy of owning an old car I guess. It really wasnt that I was "lazy" and kept my car off of the road, I actually never could find anyone to work on it until recently.

Btw, not sure what the oil leak on my wagon has to do with the "Crapulack" I just purchased (practically stole actually where it was so cheap), but sounds like you don't like Cadillacs?

I don't have the tools here to do it, nor the know how. I wouldn't even know where to start and I do not have a garage. That has always been my problem with this car. I really never had the tools, then on top of that, the place or even the time to do it. It wasn't until I found a Chevy mechanic and had the $ to pay that I was even able to get it on the road at all again. He looked at it and according to him the engine likely has to be pulled up a little, because he don't think the oil pan will clear. He said my car has a two piece seal (or one piece, one or the other) whichever one that is called a rope seal and his manual shows it is about a 4 hour task. I wouldn't even attempt it. Apparently with this car it isn't as easy as some... at least that is what he is telling me. He then told me later it would run about $220 labor, then parts. I obviously have no choice but to have it done.

 

3hrs labor and a little over $1000.00 on a rebuilt stage 1 700r4 transmission. now it makes really big burn outs on the launch. next posi traction ONE tire on fire...lol

 

72kingswood how many miles is on that old 400? if you are not like leaking major oil i would not fix it. as the main seal wears and ages it gets hard. also a groove starts to form where the seal actually makes contact with the crank shaft. you replace the seal and you end up with a soft seal that the grove in the crank just eats alive.. its just the fact that the old seal is so hard that keeps it living. to really fix it right you need to pull the motor and have the crank turned and have new bearings and the seal installed. unless it is like dripping oil all over the place or you have a cloud following you i wouldnt fix it..

 

No, I was being sarcastic also.... after all YOU brought up tossing in the towel (again)over $2-300 in repairs although you bout another car

 

Okay let's be realistic. It's true everyone does not have a place to work on their car or the equipment to do it. But most anyone could do many of those small jobs being discussed lately. There are books out to repair pretty much any vehicle that are step by step.
It's the time, tools, place to work, and other reasons most have the work done.
Look around for a friend who does work on cars or be sure the garage is not going to rip you off. I know, that's not always possible either.
Around here there are U-Pull-It salvage lots that have 1/2 price specials. It is possible to get a complete engine/tranny at times for under $500.
Anything is better than $500 a month new car payments and higher insurance.

 

Tomorrow I'll be taking the Way Back Machine on a 250 mile round-trip to Lincoln City. This be a sort of trial run for my trip to So Cal on the 20th. Crossing my fingers....

 

Speaking of Way Back machine, I found a pic and modified it for the back window of my '63:
Wayback-63

 

Pretty high. It is showing 42K, but I am pretty sure it is 142K, but I am not sure. I know that the interior has very little wear on the driver side. I had a new cam and lifters installed. He mentioned something about checking the bearings, etc, but didn't say he would have to replace. I have already sunk $500 in the engine and $700 in the transmission, so probably not going to put anymore into it. Strange thing was that I moved it around in the driveway for years and it never leaked a drop... then I changed the oil after I got the tranny rebuilt and started driving on the weekends and it slowly started leaking. It seemed to leak only when I would shut the engine off... about 5 or 6 drips. I foolishly put in Lucas stop leak... that didn't help so I put in Barrs rear main seal stop leak, still didn't help. It actually made it worse. Last time I drove the car when I would go up a grade I could smell oil burning. In the pics below you can see where it is blowing back on the new exhaust system. Also found out that the muffler shop didn't install the exhaust correctly and when on the lift the axle pulled down the exhaust and broke a hanger.

Oh yeah, lol. Well the Caddy was too cheap to pass up and the entire amount I paid for it wasn't much more than this repair.

Yeah, I actually do a lot of my own work on my cars and what I cannot do, my dad will help me. Some things though I just don't have the time for. If I had a nice garage, I would probably make more time though. lol. The guy that works on my car is a guy that works out of his home garage, so I usually get a good deal. He works on a lot of my and my families cars. I cannot imagine what someone like a dealer would charge to work on this. They probably wouldn't even touch it. I could call out of curiosity.

 

That's cool. I may have to do something along those lines........ I'm a BIG Jay Ward fan.

 

Today I'll be calling my mechanic in WI who has the wagon to see if he has replaced the bench seat with the buckets yet, and if he has replaced the alternator and blown belts. Unfortunately he'll have to remove 15" of snow off of the car before he can bring it into his garage (better him than me!). The scary part will be driving that 2 ton, one wheel wonder, the 20 miles back to my cabin next week for winter storage. I remember driving my Dad's identical wagon during several winters in the 70's with my cousin and having to push it out of the ditch when it had slid off snow packed gravel roads (on several occasions, even on the same day!). I hope to not repeat that scenario as I'm too old now for such physical endeavors. Plus my cousin won't be there to help me push, as he now resides in Singapore, where the temperature and humidity is around 84 degrees 24/7/365 (lucky SOB).

 

15" of snow ?????? I just turned up the home thermostat .

 

Today was window tint day!:banana:

 

What does it cost to have all the windows (besides windshield) tinted on a station wagon? In 1963 my Dad special ordered a AMC Rambler Cross Country 770 wagon with some unique features (Motor Trend's Car of the Year for '63). It was white with black and silver interior; bucket seats, center console with floor shifter (o.d. button on top of black ball shifter), 327 V-8, manual windows and locks, AM radio, no AC, dual opening rear tail gate, roof rack, twin grip rear end. It rusted out badly in the first 2 years (especially on top of the front fenders — driven year around in MN) and he sold it to mechanic who wanted it for the motor in 1970 when he bought a 1970 Plymouth Fury Custom Suburban station wagon (which rusted out just as badly). I always thought it would be cool to build a 69 American wagon to resemble a 69 SC/Rambler (mailbox hood scoop and RWB color scheme too).

 

I got mine done for $260. Went with 15% on the front two and 5% on the rest.
I like people to wonder what I'm up to in there.

 

And yes, an SC/Rambler wagon clone or even a The Machine wagon clone out of a Rebel would be a thing of beauty!