We took Stella out for the 4th of July downtown to see fireworks. We had to park several blocks from where we ended up watching the show, but nevertheless it was a legendary night of Stella-love. With the city streets packed full of people of all ages, we received countless shout outs and hoots/hollars as we drove past. As per the usual, children loved Stella best and I asked Mike why he thought that was, considering they don't know anything about make, model or horsepower.
Mike: "Stella looks like a big Hot Wheels car."
Me: *STARTLING REVELATION*
;)
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Dream Sequence
I've often had dreams in which Stella makes an appearance, much like I've had dreams about Mike, my family members, and my job. But last night I had a dream that was so detailed and complete that I had to record it here!
I was at my parents' house and for some reason Stella was being stored in the garage (in my dream Mom and Dad's garage was set up like a workshop at the mechanic, though this is not how it is in real life). I was sitting in the living room with the family when I noticed an older black man with a baseball bat coming up the driveway (no stereotypes intended--my subconscious is apparently a little racist! >_<). His mannerisms scared me and I ran to the door, shouting at him to go away--and surprisingly he did, but only to the house across the street. When he reached our neighbor's house he used the bat to smash in their front windows and go inside.
Meanwhile, as I'm watching from the front window of Mom and Dad's house, I'm freaking out and shouting at my Dad to call the police. Dad calmly explains that we don't need to do that because we can "see everything from here and keep an eye on him." Apparently I am the only one concerned about the safety of my neighbors in this dream!
Time seems to go by with little detail, and like many dreams I have, I know things are taking place without witnessing them actually take place. I know that I've been obsessed with watching this strange man inside my neighbor's house, I know my family is not as concerned as me, AND.... I know they've STOLEN STELLA. *HORROR*
The intruder now has invited several of his friends over to stay in my neighbors house, where I'm sure they are breaking all kinds of laws while my family and I watch. But when I start seeing them racing Stella up and down my dirt road (and in my dream I can vividly see her, red with a black stripe, lacking her historic license plate on the nose just the way she is now, squealing tires and flying dirt and rocks off behind her), I go completely insane. I start begging my dad to finally call the police before they "kill her." I was very dramatic in this dream though I'm sure if this really happened I wouldn't act much different.
Dad agrees that it's time to call the police and seems confident that we'll be able to get Stella back because we know exactly where she is. I don't witness the phone call, but I somehow know that the police agreed to come have a look, but only twice a day at certain times. If Stella wasn't at the house where the intruders were during those certain times, they'd drop the case.
I hadn't seen the intruders take Stella out in a while, and I started thinking that the battery probably died. HAHAAAA SUCKAS!! >:D
[This part deserves a little background information, because I'm not sure I've discussed it in the blog previously. Basically, each and every time we go out driving we have to reconnect the battery, and then disconnect it when we return. If we don't, the battery will literally drain overnight, leaving not even enough juice to turn the interior lights on the next day. Luckily, the battery is located just behind the driver's seat, rather than under the hood, so it takes only a few moments to hook it up each time. Last year we panicked numerous times when we would come out and turn the key.... to nothing. We eventually realized that battery power was leaking profusely somewhere, even when the car was turned off. Because we couldn't find any device that seemed to be soaking up battery life, I developed the hunch that the battery cables were probably bad, and simply leaking battery power out into the surrounding area. It's common in a car this old.]
Anyway, in my dream I thought that this had happened. I go to check it out and sure enough, the intruders couldn't figure out why they couldn't get the car to start. They threatened me into explaining what was wrong, but I told them I needed to get some tools to be able to fix the problem. They let me go and I call the police at that point, telling them to come over quick because my stolen car was at my neighbors house!
I didn't see the rest of the dream in detail, but I did end up getting Stella back. I remember that I felt very accomplished with myself because it seemed like Mike and I had earned the right to drive Stella by figuring out all the tricks to keep her on the road, while these strangers hadn't done any work and therefore were too uneducated to handle her. I guess that is true to a certain degree in real life (although I'm sure most people would've checked the battery), but I do have an underlying sense of pride when it comes to Stella. You can't just hop in and turn the key like any other car, because she's simply not like any other car. In reality it's more of an annoying series of mechanical things, but in my dream it was more of "a car chooses its driver" kind of thing. I liked it. ;)
I was at my parents' house and for some reason Stella was being stored in the garage (in my dream Mom and Dad's garage was set up like a workshop at the mechanic, though this is not how it is in real life). I was sitting in the living room with the family when I noticed an older black man with a baseball bat coming up the driveway (no stereotypes intended--my subconscious is apparently a little racist! >_<). His mannerisms scared me and I ran to the door, shouting at him to go away--and surprisingly he did, but only to the house across the street. When he reached our neighbor's house he used the bat to smash in their front windows and go inside.
Meanwhile, as I'm watching from the front window of Mom and Dad's house, I'm freaking out and shouting at my Dad to call the police. Dad calmly explains that we don't need to do that because we can "see everything from here and keep an eye on him." Apparently I am the only one concerned about the safety of my neighbors in this dream!
Time seems to go by with little detail, and like many dreams I have, I know things are taking place without witnessing them actually take place. I know that I've been obsessed with watching this strange man inside my neighbor's house, I know my family is not as concerned as me, AND.... I know they've STOLEN STELLA. *HORROR*
The intruder now has invited several of his friends over to stay in my neighbors house, where I'm sure they are breaking all kinds of laws while my family and I watch. But when I start seeing them racing Stella up and down my dirt road (and in my dream I can vividly see her, red with a black stripe, lacking her historic license plate on the nose just the way she is now, squealing tires and flying dirt and rocks off behind her), I go completely insane. I start begging my dad to finally call the police before they "kill her." I was very dramatic in this dream though I'm sure if this really happened I wouldn't act much different.
Dad agrees that it's time to call the police and seems confident that we'll be able to get Stella back because we know exactly where she is. I don't witness the phone call, but I somehow know that the police agreed to come have a look, but only twice a day at certain times. If Stella wasn't at the house where the intruders were during those certain times, they'd drop the case.
I hadn't seen the intruders take Stella out in a while, and I started thinking that the battery probably died. HAHAAAA SUCKAS!! >:D
[This part deserves a little background information, because I'm not sure I've discussed it in the blog previously. Basically, each and every time we go out driving we have to reconnect the battery, and then disconnect it when we return. If we don't, the battery will literally drain overnight, leaving not even enough juice to turn the interior lights on the next day. Luckily, the battery is located just behind the driver's seat, rather than under the hood, so it takes only a few moments to hook it up each time. Last year we panicked numerous times when we would come out and turn the key.... to nothing. We eventually realized that battery power was leaking profusely somewhere, even when the car was turned off. Because we couldn't find any device that seemed to be soaking up battery life, I developed the hunch that the battery cables were probably bad, and simply leaking battery power out into the surrounding area. It's common in a car this old.]
Anyway, in my dream I thought that this had happened. I go to check it out and sure enough, the intruders couldn't figure out why they couldn't get the car to start. They threatened me into explaining what was wrong, but I told them I needed to get some tools to be able to fix the problem. They let me go and I call the police at that point, telling them to come over quick because my stolen car was at my neighbors house!
I didn't see the rest of the dream in detail, but I did end up getting Stella back. I remember that I felt very accomplished with myself because it seemed like Mike and I had earned the right to drive Stella by figuring out all the tricks to keep her on the road, while these strangers hadn't done any work and therefore were too uneducated to handle her. I guess that is true to a certain degree in real life (although I'm sure most people would've checked the battery), but I do have an underlying sense of pride when it comes to Stella. You can't just hop in and turn the key like any other car, because she's simply not like any other car. In reality it's more of an annoying series of mechanical things, but in my dream it was more of "a car chooses its driver" kind of thing. I liked it. ;)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
So Hot She Melts Plastic. Literally.
After replacing the radiator last fall you can imagine my (pissed off) surprise when we realized that the vette was leaking coolant yet again. We noticed it initially by the smell the first few moments after start-up (it smells almost exactly like maple syrup as it burns off the engine), but later it became more obvious by the green puddles it would leave behind. Luckily, the leak was slow and Stella had bigger problems, so we kept an eye on it and let it be.
After her wheel was repaired we started to get more serious about fixing it, which was apparently a good thing, seeing as though the leak became significantly worse shortly thereafter.
We spent some time under the hood with a flashlight and found this guy (above) to be the culprit. A no doubt original water-heater control valve, which connects two hoses carrying coolant and also taps into the vacuum system. Oddly enough, we were relieved that it wasn't a hose, as that would've been more difficult (not to mention messy) to replace. After doing some research, we were able to go to the local AutoZone and buy a new, plastic replacement valve for about $10.
We also had to replace both clamps which attached the hoses to the valve. To save ourselves a headache, we ended up buying metal clamps with plastic turn-key bolts. The turn-key bolts would be easier to maneuver in such a tight space and also eliminate the use for tools, so this seemed fantastic to us. We reconnected everything and took it for a test run.
Good news: No more leaking coolant!! The water-heater control valve was indeed the cause of the leak, and Mike and I managed to replace it completely on our own without messing something else up. And we did it all for less than $15! Score!
Bad news: The engine is so hot that it melted the plastic turn-key bolts of our new clamps and started to melt away the exterior of our new water-heater control valve. Oh shit.
Now, most people might get a little frustrated at this point, but not Mike and I. Mostly, we were both just so relieved that the burning smell we noticed upon our return trip was not another CATASTROPHIC PROBLEM.
Today we went back out and zip-tied the radiator hoses to the exterior part of the engine compartment, well away from the engine block and anything else which would get in excess of 200 degrees. We fired her up and took her for another spin. This time, no more leaking coolant AND no more burning plastic! Success!!
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