I'm splitting this off from the road trip thread. It's so special it gets its own!
My day was Frosted Flakes-grrreat! For awhile..
Got the plugs changed, got some extraneous emissions hoses out of the way, lubricated the throttle cable and TV cable and e-brake cables.. and I even got my plug wires all arranged the way I wanted them. Spiffy! Until I got pen 15y and decided to have at that right rear brake:
That's where the fun began, anyway. Had to call someone and ask them to run to the store and pick up a 7mm allen-ratchet socket. Broke my most-used ratchet in using it. Finally got the caliper loose, and we had to separate the pads and rotor and caliper with a railroad spike (yes, it was THAT bad) and a BFH. So what was my reward for all this? Getting the caliper piston to puke out jet-black brake fluid as I'm compressing it.
Needless to say, the car's now completely undriveable, six days from when we have to leave.. and I have to borrow the money to pick up new calipers and rear brake lines. (might as well while I'm doing this) No wonder I'm getting physically ill from stress..
I have that same brake setup on my car too, those are great when they're new and shiney, I bet they suck rusty and such.
Just be glad you're not replacing the rotors, those things are $$$$
I am replacing the rotors.. $58 each plus shipping from Rock Auto, if I recall. They're sitting in the car waiting to go on.. got here yesterday.
Replaced the front rotors a little over a week ago, along with 4 wheel bearings and ceramic front pads.
We've dumped several hundred dollars into getting this ready for the trip. All-around brake job with rotors, pair of O2 sensors, front wheel bearings, A/C blower motor, 2 new (not rebuilt) power window motors, air filter, fresh oil with Napa Gold filters (have an extra for the oil change up there) and that Auto-RX stuff at $24 a bottle, etc.
Ben, this is gonna be like driving a whole different car man
good luck with all the fixerups and have a safe trip
Nah, those grooves aren't that deep, only a half-inch or so. A quick scrub with some sandpaper and you're good to go.
"That'll buff right out", huh? :p
Sucks tofind that. But I'm sure it had to be making some noise. Anyhow just think its better to happen now then on the trip and only half way there. Side of the road and parking lot wrench time sucks. Gonna have a new respect for the brakes I bet.
Anyhow I didn't have that bad of a day look at my Low buck small parts surfacing thread and you'll see what I did after I got off work.
I've always had a respect for brakes.. having the brakes fail on a 62 Impala while going way too fast down a road way too small will do that. :p
The problems were always money and pain. Either I had the money to fix them and was too screwed up from the fibromyalgia, (in which case I have to rely on a local friend, and he's often way too busy) or I had no money but felt well enough to work on the brakes. I've known that rotor was damaged pretty much since day 1 of owning the car. Right now I'm leaning more towards the side of having the money but being too sore to work on it, but that friend has some work he absolutely HAS to do by the end of the month and will probably be working on it every spare moment.. so with this trip coming up, I have to try to ignore how much it hurts and just do it.
The calipers are on order and come in later today. Still looking for brake hoses. Might as well replace 'em (if I can get 'em today) while I'm at it.
Got to work this morning to find out the boss' truck and quad were stolen early this morning, then I had a dirtbike burst in to a flame ball in between my legs just before quitting time. Then I get home to find out my gf fell off the deck then locked herself out of the house. I'm not even going to touch the stang today, it'll probabally self destruct!
Thanks for asking though :grinno:
Damm scott that is when you just go home and goto bed and then hope tomorrow is better. 351 that sucks to have pain problems like that. I had somthing like that when I had a broken back.
Any way on another note The wife is watching DAVE Chapelle reruns so to lightin the mod. I feel I must quote. Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch. I'm Wayne Brady Bitch.
I had a day off from the car work because I managed to secure two new calipers for it, but the rear hoses don't arrive until tomorrow. (today, really.. since it's after midnight) So I've split it between messing around with Lego Star Wars 2 (it's a trip) and the new amp and some practicing.
Thats what I did, except I didnt go to sleep when I got there :grinno:
Your never too old for lego, i'll break out mine one of these days, build me a whole city, Then set up the AFX track and break out my corvette and rip it up!!!!
now i'm all excited.
This Lego Star Wars:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/legostarwarstheoriginaltrilogy/review.html
I retired the toys ages ago.
well on th 21 when this was started my day was great! i picked up my TC hood for $20 and then he throw some snowflakes in for 10 for 2. im going to get the other two later. 30 buck for a hood and two rim that i need for winter, and to think that i was looking at 135 from some other mustang guy.
sorry to hear about the troble i know how it is to have evewrything go wrong possoble when i need stuff done. good luck with it
cool, still doesnt change the act that lego kicks ass :p
Thought I had one rear brake finished today.. until I realized that the wheel looked crooked when I put it all back together. Caliper felt really loose, too. I saw somewhere else (LoL) that I was supposed to leave an .055" gap on those rear discs, but it all feels very wrong. Going to get a local second opinion on it all, tomorrow.. but at least for now I have both sides up on jack stands for the night.
I am very paranoid about losing brakes.. I don't wanna be somewhere in the middle of nowhere in another state and have these things fail on me. I have AAA Plus now, and extra towing coverage beyond that on my insurance policy, but it's still peace of mind to have them looked over by someone more experienced.
Oh yeah.. came within about a quarter inch of busting out my front teeth with a tire iron, when that Tough Lock key slipped. Also whacked myself on the inside of my left knee about a minute prior to that. Same reason. I really don't like working with those keyed lug nuts.
Brakes are done and bled, and I bumped the timing to 13 deg. BTDC with SPOUT off and someone holding it in drive. (warmed up) With a 1/4 tank mix of 87 octane, SeaFoam, and 93 octane, it just barely detonates in the RPM falloff from first to second at WOT. (simple solution, I just won't floor it) We'll be running 92/93 octane the whole trip. I did the math on someone else's experiments with bumped timing and premium gas, and it seems to be advantageous, so we'll give it a shot.
All that's left to do is clean and vacuum it out, and set the TV cable.