Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Ringo’s Tranny is at 80%

Last evening I removed Ringo’s headlight switch assembly from behind his dash and, after doing some testing – all of which it failed, I tore it apart, cleaned it up, reassembled it, and reinstalled. Everything, headlight and dashlight-wise, are now working again. After pouring a couple gallons of gas into his tank, I took him for a nearly 30 minute tour of our part of town. I was very happy to note that the clackety-clack of the mal-adjusted rocker(s) was absent – just the purr of a well-running GM flat six. Maybe a bit louder than it should be though so I need to pull the lower shrouds off and check for exhaust manifold leaks. I was even happier to have the transmission upshift nearly every time it should. The few times it didn’t I was able to get it to shift either by letting up on the throttle or shifting in Neutral and then back Drive. This is a huge improvement from the last few times I’ve driven him, and I’m hopeful a few more outings will cure the tranny of what ails it.

While I was out and about, I did discover a few more issues needing attending to. First, the blinkers wouldn’t blink – I think that’s going to be the blinker unit at the fuseblock needing its leads cleaned. Second, the brakes need some adjusting. Stomping on the left pedal results in a pull to the left. That side probably needs a little adjusting. Third, the gas gauge is registering just above Empty while I believe there’s more gas in the tank than that. Checking that for accuracy will have to wait until I get the tank filled with fuel. Finally, the driver’s door is still a pain to close – far harder than it should. Yanking on the armrest to slam the door shut has resulted in stripped threads in the forward captured (speed) nut for that big screw. I’ll need to adjust the door hinge and replace the nut. All-in-all I’m pretty confident this re-roadification is nearing an end.

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