Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Work is finished

I'm going out on April 18th, my birthday, to pick up my car. The total amount of work done was:
  • New clutch
  • New flywheel
  • 3 new axle joints
  • New axle boots
  • Adjusted fuel mixture
  • and a Oil Change.
At the same time, Eric identified that the oil return tubes are original to the car and should be replaced soon. In addition, he reported that the car ran rough when wet, indicating that the wires, cap and rotor will need to be replaced fairly soon. It might make sense to replace the spark plugs at that time.

Here is the exact work quote:
Road test and check clutch operation (slips). Remove engine and transmission, separate units inspect clutch. Remove flywheel, replace rear main seal. Replace flywheel, pilot bearing and complete clutch. Remate engine and transmission> clean engine bay, refinish top of bulkhead. Reinstall engine and transmission.

Remove axles, clean and inspect c/v joints and boots. Replace 3 of 4 joints. joints. Pack w/ grease, replace fasteners, and boots, reinstall axles. Road test, re-torque c/v bolts, readjust clutch after seat in. Balance both front tires to minimize shimmy. Recheck fuel mixture. reset from 1.5% to 2.5%

Ah, the joys of classic car ownership!

The wires are interesting. The OEM wires are stainless steel wrapped and cost ~$300. $300 dollars for a set of wires is outrageous, to my mind. Other wire sets cost less, but do they work? Looking on-line, this seems to be a religious war, about on par with Mac/PC. The purists will say that nothing less than OEM works. The hot-rodders say that the newer silicone sets provide better spark. The cost conscious owners say that they have no trouble with the low cost sets and any more money is wasted. I can't tell who is correct. I have no true opinion. I will not be using the car on a race track, so the high end silicone ones may not make sense. I will not be entering a concour, so the stainless steel ones might not be needed.

Any opinions?

1 comment:

Vern said...

Ed,
Call when you are ready to change the wires. Naturally cost of wires to you but I will help with the labor. A little WD40 may do the trick.

Dad