[elky] Sprint in the shop

  • From: Saul Marsh <saulmarsh72@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:12:23 -0700 (PDT)

Hello all,
 
Been two weeks since I sold Clustertruck, and I don't miss it as much as I 
thought I would.  We've had some nice days that would have been great for 
working on cars, so if I feel like picking up a wrench I'm just gonna have to 
do maintenance on my new Sprint or work on the lawn mower or something.  
Anyway, the new Sprint (the '76 I bought in May) is in the shop, and I now 
remember why I don't like bringing cars to a mechanic.  Just expensive.  My 
intent was for the guy to rebuild the VIR in the A/C system, just like he had 
recently done to his own '76 El Camino.  However, he found a few more problems 
and it looks like I'll be getting those fixed instead.  The carburetor has a 
fitting that leaks and won't tighten, and might need to be replaced with a 
rebuilt carb.  I thought the car smelled awfully bad of fuel, but Clustertruck 
smelled even worse so I just assumed that smelly cars is something you lived 
with when you drive a '70's carbureted
 car.  Apparently not the case.  I hope this helps.  I also will be getting an 
A/C hose replaced, the system evacuated, and refilled with R-12.  But I'm not 
quite clear on whether this means I'll be getting nice cold A/C again (of 
course....right as the temps have dropped where I don't need it anyway).  The 
mechanic said the windshield defrosting in the winter could be affected if the 
A/C system gets too dry.  I don't know.  If I had more time I'd read up on it 
in my repair manual.  For now I'm taking the guy for his word, and realizing it 
will be a little bit of time for me to save up money before my next repair 
(whatever that may be).  Right now, the only thing wrong with the car is that 
the "ice cold" A/C is at best mediocre.  When I drove it in our triple digit 
heat this summer, I ended up smelling bad due to sweat, on top of smelling bad 
due to a leaky carb.
 
And I took the bus home today, while I leave the Sprint at the repair shop. It 
took an hour and a half for my normal 25-minute commute.  Would love to take 
the bus more often, but that's just too much time.
 
Anyway, that's all for now.
 
Saul
'76 GMC Sprint

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