I fired up the heaters yesterday afternoon so Victoria and I could work on her car without freezing. Our project for the afternoon was bleeding Glinda’s brake lines. After gathering all the tools, I sat down in front of the left rear wheel while Victoria took her seat behind the steering wheel. After a couple dozen cycles of pump, pump, hold, loosen, bubbles, tighten, Victoria claimed the pedal was feeling different. After another dozen, she informed me there was brake fluid dripping onto the car floor. We attempted to tighten the connection where the new brake line entered an elbow under the dash. Unfortunately, we found I had cross-threaded the fitting when I installed it, so no amount of torquing was going to produce a pressure-tight joint. We gave up, unscrewed the brake line connectors from both ends of the elbow, and removed it from the car. I’m calling the Corvair Ranch today to order a replacement. Hopefully, Jeff’s got a GUP on hand since I couldn’t find a GNP in Clark’s catalog (see sidebar for definitions).
After that disappointment, I told Victoria she could go inside to clean up and warm up. I should have found some positive Glinda task we could do, but I was too frustrated to be that rational. Instead I turned my attention to PartsCar. Out came the front bucket seats, and an inspection of their undersides indicated the springs were rusty, but solid. I then gathered up all the bits and pieces that covered the floor and separated the keeps from the keep-nots. The keeps included the two Monza fender badges and a couple exhaust hangers that I’m sure were used to support the dual exhaust setup (u-pipes and glasspacks) I found in the trunk. Amongst the keep-nots were some rusty bearings and seals as well as the bolts I’d just broke removing the seats. While vacuuming up the bits of glass from the broken driver’s door window, pieces of wasp nests, and other detritus, I was pleased to find the carpet in pretty good shape. Looks like Betty’s going to get black carpet to replace her current nasty rubber mat flooring. I’d put the carpet in Glinda, but Victoria deserves nice and new as opposed to old and odiforous.
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