[Es2] I test drove the coupe today, long and a bit off topic.

[livinotte at cox.net]

Hi everyone

Well what do I say?  We live in a world where one can attempt to be as patient as possible, but yet there are times when you just want to jump into things.  You know it hours before the moment happens that your going to find that smile on your face that you have been waiting for soooo long for to happen.  That moment of pride.  Ah.. I am a sucker for understanding life and all it's challenges.

Tie rods came in today and I installed them as close as I could to a reasonable setting.  Then I tighten up the front control arm bushing on some ramps.  Wired up the head lights.  Battery is dead.  Katie, my honey basically wanted me to sleep at her place.  I knew this, i knew she would give me a heads up call when she was leaving class around 8:30pm.  Around that time I went out to get a coffee and she called and I told her I needed more time.  When I got back the battery was good to go.  So I got in started it up in neutral and first gear would not engage.  So I precede to thinking shut the car off and start it up in first gear. Moved fine, I put it in neutral and it wouldn't budge to another gear.  So I shut the car down and started it up again in first and played around with it and now it seemingly is fine.  However it's something i will be focusing on in the next couple of weeks.  

So I backed it out of the driveway and around the block.  It's raining.. It's slippery.  I am goinging nice and slow.   1/4 mile later bang... bang.. bang.. I pulled over.  Stupid me forgot to tighten up the damn wheel lug nuts.  Cause I was soo.. giddy about getting it on the road.  I left the car where it was, ran home got a jack, 17mm socket and ratchet and ran back.  I killed the threads on one bolt. Which happens to be longer H&r bolts that I bought to work with the spacers.  Well this is where it gets interesting.  When I took the car back to the house I took out the stock bolts that came with the wheels.  I put one of them in to see if the hub was ruined but it was fine.  I noticed that the H&r  bolts stick out alot farther than the stock bolts.  Well they are both a cone seat bolt.  But the H&r don't sit properly because the cone seat is tooo wide.  I measured how much the thread sticks out past the wheel and it's less than the damn stock bolts by 1mm.  Frustrated.. I procede to work on the car.  Opps..  the girlfriend.  Long story short.. she didn't understand my situation and proceeded to say "that ended our relationship".  We broke up a couple of times before.  The chemistry is good but it's bad at times.  I also let my mouth slip a bit too.  4 years of bullshite with this car and all I wanted to do is take it around the block. Well I got my wish, even though it was a complicated night.

I'll behonest here.  Working on cars is great. Building one confidence up is such a nice thing.  All the ups and downs I face, I choose to attack the situation and figure it out.  I choose to learn.  It's kept me out of the bar, where most of my friends hang.  It's challenged me to learn and to read, and to get back all those smiles moments in your life can take away from you.  

Taking a test drive this week was so important to me. Tonight was my only night.  It was the night where I could flip it.  I could look back on this week in the years to come and say I got it on the road vs this is the week that my mother died of cancer.  I spent 5 years of my life in a hospital watching her get ripped apart. I've had every smile sucked out of me and all I wanted to do it get one back.  Life is too interesting.   Not to disrespect the day of my mom.  But to possibly lighten it a bit for future years.  

This isn't "es2" material.  I know.. I'm sorry.  But this is a way of saying I appreciate the help you guys have sent my way.   

In light of things.  I am quite happy. I feel I did get a smile back.  Ironically my father seemingly had a larger smile than me on his face when i pulled the car back into the driveway.  Possibly because he was happy to know he's getting half of his garage back at some point, but hopefully possibly cause I got this project on the road.

I don;t know...  To let 6 months of a relationship go so easily seems so rediculus. But it is in her mind "just a car".  Which she will never understand. The common dynamics of man and women.  I got her to work on gardening and she choose to do that over hanging with me on sunday. She even called me up proudly saying " i pulled out all the shrubs".  I.. The word I is such a strong word.  I did this.. I love that phrase.   Rambling here... I need to stop.

Thanks guys.

I did this with the help of the many people I found online.  

:-)

Cheers
Josh