It HAS been awhile once again! Last time I wrote my bank account was taking a beating on account of unforeseen issues with my now 41 year old car. Well those issues have been resolved, primarily by selling my 1999 Nissan. For those slow on the uptake this means that I'm now left with Zazu as my daily driver. It's been a challenge! But he's about ninety percent there and going strong. Straight out of the gate we had a massive overheating and stalling issue. That I could just barely live with. Until it stopped altogether. You see the generator decided to commit Genicide while crossing the Clark's Fork of the Columbia and I ended up at the Boone and Crockett club headquarters. While I love seeing the old CMStP&P depot it's not a good sight when my car is leaving on a flatbed. I'm very happy I have AAA!
So it was $84 bucks in labor with a generator on warranty. But Zazu was still very unsafe to drive in traffic. Following this latest debacle I was not a happy VW owner. I was looking at $200 to get it all put right and it was very stressful. This lasted for two weeks until exasperated I figured I could simply fix the car myself. My buddy the Typesetter, who you may know from my other blog and I figured we'd start with the simplest and most obvious problem that Zazu's symptoms presented: Bad timing. And this brings to mind one of the strengths of an old car. You can do it yourself! So we timed him with help from my VW books and a Youtube video. Low and behold he's running like a champ. So for you entertainment I'll include the video!
And it really is that easy. A continuity tester of some kind, we used a volt meter, and a 10mm socket are all you need. Took as maybe ten minutes and it was like I was given a new car. Backfiring, overheating, and stalling were gone. Gas mileage is back up to where it should be. I then tackled the electrics. Mainly I spent lots of elbow grease and emory cloth cleaning every spade connector I could get my hands on. Now almost all of my lights are working once more. Still ahead are brakes and a few minor cosmetic issues.
I went back through this blog and it was great to reconnect with what it means to own an old car. But now things are different. It's no longer my hobby or second car. It's my only car. And that's a little terrifying. But it's also very exciting. So look ahead for more updates as things progress throughout the summer. Because I think I'll be combining two of my passions this summer. What do you think? Or is it just one death trap on top of another?
