Long Overdue Roasty-Toastiness

is better than













I spent a very satisfying evening in and around the garage last night. I worked on three cars, all with successful outcomes. First, I poured oil into Glinda’s engine and took her for her first spin around the neighborhood since I did the head gasket R&R – first time running the engine for that matter. When it fired up there was a noisy lifter, but since it was on the side opposite where I’d done the work, I wasn’t worried. Sure enough, by the time I got back from cruising the nearby streets, the engine was purring. It’s especially nice not to hear the puff-puff-puff that precipitated the latest teardown. I even ran her heater and, after bits of insulation blew out, it ran cleanly without that motor oil fragrance we’re so used to. I didn’t get to the leak-proofing project because stupid Napa screwed up my order for caulking strips. I went there on my lunch hour and while their computer indicated they had none in stock there, there were some at their local warehouse. The counter guy said they’d have my order available for pickup that afternoon. I left work early and drove a half-hour out of my way to make the pickup only to be told, “I’m sorry, it’s back-ordered. It’ll be here tomorrow morning.” Oh well, I should’ve called. It’s there now, and the lovely Loriann we’ll pick it up for me while she’s out running errands this afternoon.

Back to last night. With Glinda out of the garage, I pulled the Suburban up to the open door to install the new heater core and properly set the timing that’s been out since I replaced the intake manifold gaskets months ago. Since this blog is about Corvair maintenance: no leaks, plenty of heat, and better engine response sum up this segment of the evening.

At that point it was only 9 PM, so I decided to continue. When I went in the house to get Lucy’s keys, the lovely Loriann teasingly told me, “You’re not allowed to complete projects on three cars in one evening.” Ignoring her ribbing, I backed Lucy up onto the ramps, pulled a pair of shrouds off the shelf (with mounting hardware still smartly bagged and tie-wrapped to each piece), and less than forty-five minutes later, Lucy was parked back on the street. Glinda then went into the garage so she’d stay dry during today’s rain.

This morning’s commute was much more tolerable since I didn’t have to peer through my own steaming breath to see the road. Also, given the wet conditions, it was especially nice to have the functioning defroster clearing the windshield. No more wipe marks from the rag that was used to constantly clear the condensation.