Squeezed around soccer games, I was able to spend time both Saturday and Sunday working on Corvairs. I had been formulating a list of little items that needed attention on Lucy and Saturday afternoon I was able to get to most of them.
1. Rearview mirror was loose – not anymore.
2. Horn was quiet – not anymore.
3. Dash was only half-lit – not anymore.
4. New oil pressure switch was still in the package – not anymore.
5. Engine needed tune-up – not anymore.
6. Rocker panel trim needed removal – not anymore.
1 was completed by simply tightening a screw. 2 took some cleaning of one of the contacts in the trunk main harness connector. 3 was a simple replacement of a blown bulb. 4 took a little more effort, but after removing the fuel pump and pulley wheel from the generator, the swap was a snap. 5 included pulling, cleaning, and gapping the spark plugs, replacing the distributor cap and rotor with better looking ones from the shelf, and cleaning spark plug cables 6 was just a matter of six screws and it was off. I’ve removed the two panel trim pieces to get to some rust-through. Now that they’re off, I like the cleaner look. I’ll probably keep them off. Still left on the list is balancing the new carburetors and giving the inside a good vacuuming.
Sunday afternoon, Victoria asked me to go out and work on Glinda with her. I could not refuse that request. Since we’d been convinced the brake issue was a failed right rear wheel cylinder, we had to turn the car around in the garage to access that wheel. She and I were able to negotiate the spin without incident. I then directed her in the rebuilding of a brake wheel cylinder. Except for a couple of spring removals and installations, she was able to do the work under my tutelage. Impressive (her efforts, not my direction). With the brake assembly complete and the hub back in place, I had her sit in the driver’s seat and press the brake pedal. Unfortunately, the dripping brake fluid coming from the middle of the car illustrated that we’d missed a problem. A leak in the main brake line that runs to rear of the car. Without a replacement on-hand, we put away tools, cleaned up, and called it a day.
This morning I talked with Jeff at the Corvair Ranch and he told me they just buy a stock length of tubing from the auto parts store and bend it in place. We’ll do the same since a replacement, pre-bent one costs $45 plus extra shipping due to the size.
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