On the road!

FIRST A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

This blog was made possible by teenagers texting and driving.
Remember that, kids!

Gertrude and me are good for each other.  I've been dragging myself out of bed extra-early (for those of you who don't know me, this is unheard of) to accomplish Fairmont-related tasks.  Friday morning (the day after Sam) I popped up at 7:00 A.M. to get tags taken care of.  Unfortunately, I got a clerk who was lazy, incompetent, or both--with only a cursory glance at the title, he told me my paperwork was incomplete.  After a passel of phone calls, I determined that the paperwork was complete, but by that time I had to report to work.  I spent the warm, sunny weekend watching every classic car, every motorcycle, and every hot rod in Kansas City come out of winter storage and play.

This morning I got a competent, engaged, and downright cheerful clerk at the DMV who obligingly took my money and issued me antique tags for my (only just) antique car.  People smiled at me in the parking lot as I affixed the new plate.  I took her to the car wash; the handful of singles I fed into the bill changer representing what was left over from the $500 I had put aside for sales tax--with less than $100 in the bank, I'm living on the edge!  The car wash attendant came over for a look-see and thanked me for buying American.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that the Ford Motor Company saw its last profit on this car in 1979.  I drove Gertrude to work and back, including a thrilling stint at 55 miles per hour.  Both windows down.  I got lots of grins from my fellow motorists.  Stopping for a gaggle of kids with a lemonade stand, I was complimented first on my hat and goggles, then my cool car.

For lack of a more relevant image, enjoy these spark plugs, which I removed last week.

I haven't been able to wipe the grin off my face all day.  After work, I hand waxed her 'till my arms fell off.

Gertrude still needs some work.  Her front brakes. standing at about 30%, screech.  The parking brake needs replacing, and I'm just paranoid enough to carry a chock.  I think she's running a bit lean, but...carburetor.  And while I'm at the brakes, I'd like to replace the wheel bearings--at $5 a wheel, the repack vs. replace argument isn't much of an argument.  And check and clean the EGR valve, backflush the cooling system, replace the lower radiator hose, and see if I can't figure out why the gas gauge doesn't work.  Perhaps most importantly (and strangely), Ford recommends adjusting the automatic transmission bands with each oil change, and due to the lack of a torque wrench, I have not yet performed this simple-looking yet heretofore unheard-of operation.

As much as it might sound like a pain to some (most, all) of you reading this, I can't wait to get my hands greasy.