it's aliiiiiiiive

[Brett Dikeman]

For those who didn't know, the Big Baby has been off the road for
almost 6 months now, sleeping in the driveway.  I'm gainfully
employed now, so it was just a matter of building up the supply of
cash to transfuse into various parts and repairs.

Borrowing a battery(the one that's been in the car since the day I
bought it, finally gave up the ship and shorted a cell while
charging- a look through the vents while charging showed enormous
amounts of plate material swimming around), I popped it in and turned
the key after checking coolant and oil levels.

The old gal started just like she always does, like nothing had ever
happened, like it was only yesterday that I put the cover on.  I
finished washing off the algae/pollen crap(three time's the charm)
and moved it around the driveway a little, cleaning up the face of
the flywheel and also rubbing off much of the rust on all four
rotors, and washing off all the dirt on the wheels and tires.

She's sitting in the garage as I speak, drying off and cooling down,
ready for a new aux radiator and a brand new master cylinder.  After
that, it's off to satisfy the various conditions to make her
road-legal again, and continue cleaning.  Given how old the gas is in
the tank(didn't think to add sta-bil), I'll probably add some fresh
gas before taking it anywhere besides the driveway.  There will
probably also be a fuel filter change, the injectors will go to
Marren for cleaning/matching, an oil change,  and at least one
further brake bleed, lest something nasty happen at the Glen.  Oh,
and two technical inspections- my own, and someone who knows what the
hell they're doing :-)

The A/C smelled REALLY funky when I turned that on(probably leave
that to an A/C shop, along with a check for proper oil+refridgerant
levels), and there's some mold in the passenger footwell- so I've got
my work cut out for me.  Oh, and Hakka Q's aren't rated anywhere near
100, so those have gotta go too :-)

The adventure(and the wallet-draining) resumes...

Brett
--
----
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/