The cult of the overhead valve

Gertrude has been a great daily driver for the past couple months--although recently she has developed a bit of a cough and stumble when first applying throttle.  I suspect a fuel delivery problem and plan to change the fuel filter again.  On the plus side, Gertie may be a self-repairing car, as the fuel gauge has decided to start working intermittently.  The technical manual's only briefly mentions a fuel sending unit and the use of an unidentified "special tool" to remove it.  I think I'll just keep feeding her fresh gas and adding some fuel system cleaner from time to time.  Results for this method are hopeful so far.

Monday night Sam offered his garage, and I was able to replace the parking brake cables.  The poor transmission no longer has to bear the entire weight of the car when parked on a hill.  The brake shoes still had plenty of wear in them (despite what the Oregon garage said) so we opted to keep 'em a while.  Sam, of course, had the particular large/deep socket required for the job of replacing the hood ornament, so now I have a wonderful visual marker for gauging my lane position.  I've missed that.

We also did the long-overdue job of adjusting the transmission bands.  I'm fascinated by this concept.  A modern automatic transmission requires no periodic adjustment; some are factory-sealed units, for Pete's sake.  Getting the tools in there required uncoupling some shift linkages, and I got it as close to the 10 ft-lbs minus 1 3/4 turns as I could--which is pretty darn loose.  Since then, Gertie has been trying to shift into third almost immediately after shifting into second, so I must have done something wrong.  More tinkering is needed.

Gertrude doing what she was made to do...37 years later.  (No, I wasn't going to purchase a baguette and a bunch of carrots with the tops on in a brown paper bag just for the purpose of a photo op.)

All in all, I couldn't be more pleased.  There is still work to be done, but the next phase or two won't be complicated nor expensive.  A few more fluid flushes, some hose and belt replacements, maybe some new shocks.  Gertie is approaching forty years on her original suspension.  I've been hitting the gym on a regular occasion to help prevent rear-end droop, but Gertrude will need some outside help, a little elective surgery to show off those long Fox legs of hers.  I'd like to overhaul the carburetor before winter, and it seems that the seasons pass like individual months anymore, so I'd better keep my eye on the ball.