What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Um, there's another 'Barge' on this site...it's owned by member Leadslead, a '73 Colony Park.

 

I had to get a new transmission for my Safari. We were getting ready for our first road trip of the year, going to Niagara Falls, Cuyahoga NP, and taking it (and the kids) out of the country for the first time to visit Toronto and the Canadian falls. Two days before we left, the transmission started going out.
The thing that makes me the most mad is that I had this rebuilt only 4 years and 50k miles ago.

Turns out, they left the torque converter lockup unhooked, because the wires and connectors were brittle and falling apart. Rather than
1. Say something to me about the issue, and ask me what I wanted to do.
2. Replace the old wires and connectors.
they chose
3. Leave it unhooked, say nothing, and take my money!

In addition, they had the transmission shifting too soft and too early, which probably also contributed to worse gas mileage, and premature transmission failure.

Rather than try a second rebuild since I've owned the car (7 years), with who know what having been done to the car before I owned it, my mechanic felt that replacing it would be the smarter thing to do.
He used some of his contacts, and found one that was essentially NOS and put that in.

Now it's shifting from 1-2 at about 25mph, 2-3 at about 40. Although the throttle position does change that some. I'm excited to see what this does to MPG, performance, and ease of driving.

 

Yeah, those are high. Your MPG won't come up until you get those shift points back into spec.

 

Got too lazy to write "Party Barge" lol if it weighs over 4k lbs its a barge regardless lol

On topic, spent the evening at my storage unit, wrenching again for the first time in a while. Car has new AcDelco plugs, new plug wires, and a Spiffy MSD Cap/Rotor. Runs like a top, doesn't die at stoplights, and generally seems to use less fuel on the highway. lol

 

Well, I did the annual oil change (maybe bi-annual...) on the Fury this past Saturday. It has a tendency to mark it's territory, so it always has fresh oil in it. But the filter needs changed periodically...

 

Makes oil changes simpler. Have you considered pulling the tinware and timing cover, do up the gaskets and main seals front and rear?

 

I replaced the valve cover gaskets a couple of years ago. It could definitely use a main seals, but that's a future winter project.

 

So, not right now.

 

Correct.

 

There'll be plenty of winters to choose from

 

Indeed there will be. So, in the mean time, the Fury will continue to mark it's territory and I'll keep er topped of with fresh fluids.

 

Fruids? You've seem to have picked up a Chinese accent, along the way

 

I'm on vacation here in Texas, with Joe (Leadslead) and his family for a month...car work is on the agenda. Case in point: their 'new' wagon, Annie, needed some tailgate work to restore functions. First off: the lock motor wasn't moving full stroke. So I asked Joe for a can of PB,and pulled up the rubber cover. He hands me the can, I aim, and...sputter. Nearly all the propellant is gone! So he goes to get something else, hands me a can of "Jig-A-Loo" (I swear, I'm not making this up, it is as racist as a name can get without inciting riot), and says his dad bought a full case for $16, or something like that. I press the button, it stays down, and is all propellant! I look at Joe, as Ash is laughing, and he goes back and gets another can, which works. About time!
Anyway, Joe went ahead and swapped out the motor with one I gave him for his birthday, so now, the window goes up and down, and the tailgate locks!

 

It happens sometimes.

 

Like the Ringling Brothers circus... Its the greatest show on earth!


That or its time to send in the clowns?