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

According to the son that lives near us they no longer worry about loud exhaust here. Still he's been stopped for speeding, possible theft with his Blazer and other things because it attracts people. The theft was a false alarm when someone said his Blazer fit a description. Lucky he didn't have a weedeater and other things with him.
But he got a ticket just south of the Minn boarder because he got a cop's attention.
To me a couple turbo mufflers would be good insurance.
I've been known to haul a blonde around too for a few years. I can't get rid of her!

 

If there's just a small amount of exhaust, just make sure it's tight, doesn't creak or rattle. If it's loose, add washers under the nuts to snug the u-clamp further. And water dripping out is actually good. Keeps the pipes from rotting on the inside.

 

I feel better already. I've had water dripping out of my pipes before.

 

If you go to your doctor, he likely has a shot for that.

 

They always do!

I can't believe it, we have been under the earliest ever tropical storm watch and so far got only a shower and a small amount of heavy wind.
Just 35 mile south the little island is flooded and Tampa got hit bad.
I'm hoping it will pass soon. Internet comes and goes.

 

Hubby installed the new IAC it still wasn't running right. He didn't know what to check next. So he tried starting it a few days later, it seemed to be running well so he took it up to put gas in it so I could take it to work the next day but then it idled so low it wouldn't start. He did finally get it started again but it now means to have a miss to it???
Our car shoe is this weekend and I have a feeling Lil' Sis will have to miss it.

 

I just had to replace the rubber fuel lines running to the fuel pump. For about a week, I was smelling gasoline, but I just figured it was my spare gas can I keep in the back that was venting in the warmer weather.
Then one day, after the car sat overnight with the windows open, I smelled gas much stronger than I had before, so I figured I should just double check under the hood.
Popped it open and see gas pouring out by the (mechanical) fuel pump, so I shut it off right away.

I don't know whether I had to replace the pump or not, but I figured I might as well since I was in there with all the brackets off. Two new lines and a brand new pump, and I should be good to go for a few more years!

 

He can try the battery disconnect. With the pro lems it was having, it may have learned some bad habits. Wait till it's stone cold, disconnect the NEG cable, wait 30 seconds, then start it. It'll run fast, then it should start bringing down the idle speed. Drive it easy, and it should begin to relearn some good manners. Let me know by conversation how it goes.

 

Thanks, we'll try it tomorrow.

 

Wow, that must have been quite a job!

 

Actually, swapping columns are fairly straightforward, especially if you have a second pair of hands. I've done it on my bro and sis-in-law's '83 CS, my other bro's '87 CV, my '74 Ranchero Squire, etc., and that's not counting pulling columns to repair or rebuild them.

 

I attached my new $80 NOS tail light lense. Now I'm looking at the other one thinking.. Oh great.. now I have to replace that one. Not easy to find.. one-off year.. and each side is different. At least the old one will work for now.. no holes like the right side had. That new right rear tail light sure looks purdy tho'.

Also futzed with the carb.. still can't get it to idle. I have another rebuilt one coming so this one I can put aside and rebuild it when I've got nothing else to do.

Thinking of pulling the bench seat (front) and installing buckets so I can make a middle console. Also the front seat even pushed back as far as it will go doesn't go back far enough. So installing some new seats that will go back farther will be nice. I'll reupholster the original bench one day.. but for now it will just get stored.

 

I reconnected the wiring that supplies power to the light under my hood. Previous owner cut the wire for some reason, so I spliced each end (after disconnecting the battery of course) reconnected each end and vwa-lah! The light came back on! No idea how old the bulb is, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it still working. I then tucked the wiring back into the plastic zipper-style tubing where electrical wires go and done!

Referencing my "new to me" thread, I also discovered a vacuum line was disconnected from the primary vacuum chamber. This SEEMS to have fixed I problem I was having where whenever I was under heavy acceleration, the air flow inside the passenger compartment (when set to "vent") would re-direct itself to both the windshield and floor outlets until I let off the accelerator. After reconnecting this line, I took the wagon out for a short drive, up a couple of hills, and all seems to be working properly. It was a good afternoon.

 

Alrighty! Satisfying when you catch something like that, and it was the problem's cause.

 

My new carb showed up this past weekend. Had an "auto" choke.. I have nothing to connect it to.. I could have ran some tubing and connected it to the exhaust manifold.. bah.. disconnect is easier. Only takes about a minute to warm up and then it runs great. So one more item out of the way. This week I'll pull that front bench and install the buckets.. also in DIRE need of tunes. Loving this quirkly lil' wagon.