AGAIN!

Wednesday night I pulled the valve cover AGAIN; adjusted the rocker arm nuts AGAIN; and heard knocking as soon as the engine was turned on AGAIN. I decided I’d done everything correctly and one or more lifters had to pump up. Sure enough, a few minutes later all clattering ceased. I spent the rest of the evening putting the final engine-related bits and pieces back onto the car, installing tires and wheel covers, and making sure all would be good for the maiden voyage AGAIN. There’s a whole lotta’ déjà vu goin’ on here.

Yesterday morning dawned with threatening skies and a good chance of rainfall, so I felt Ringo’s backlight seal would get some testing. The drive to work was nice until about five minutes into the highway portion when the vibration came back. I thought getting the three unevenly worn tires balanced would have solved the problem, and it seemed to for about ten minutes, but then it was back with a vengeance. I slowed down to around 60 and it wasn’t too bad, but anything more than that and the hammering I felt through the steering wheel as well as the seat of my pants was quite distressing.

Once I pulled into my parking spot, I left the shifter in Drive, popped the engine lid, and took a look at the pressure gauge. About 12 psi (see lame, blurry cellphone photo above). That’s a great improvement over the 7 or so it was showing prior to the new bearings being installed.

Yesterday was Take Your Child to Work Day, so Mikhaila joined me for a fun morning. After snagging our complementary bag lunches, we hit the road so she could get to school and enjoy the last two classes of the day. Before climbing behind the wheel, I glanced at the backlight area to see if the leak had been stemmed since it had rained. Nope the leak was still there. CRAP!!!!! On the drive, the vibration again only reappeared after a few minutes of highway driving. The rest of the time I had to keep it below 60 to be tolerable. I dropped her off and headed back to work. About a block away from her school, the GEN/FAN light came on. Seriously? Yes, the fanbelt had snapped. It took a while to install a new one since I had to unmount the oil pressure gauge and I did not have the right tools. Fortunately, my penknife can substitute for a screwdriver. About fifteen minutes later, I was back on the road with greasy hands (I need to remember to put some rags in the trunk).

I’ve put another forty miles or so on without incident, but something must be done about the vibration and leak. Oh yeah, the GUP muffler showed up yesterday from the Corvair Ranch, so that needs to be installed.