The Ninth Chapter: Working Out The Bugs
Well, it's almost the end of yet another Summer. Time flies, the months slip by, and you find yourself in the middle of October, wondering where it all went. This is pretty much what happened to me, except I knew where it all went: the internship with the Navy defense contractor, where I spent countless hours designing a camera system for unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), and of course, my Impala. I guess you could say this Summer was historic, as it marked the first time my Impala had made an appearance on the roadways since 2009, or thereabouts. I didn't get as much time on the road as I would have liked, but I'm happy with the trips I was able to take, both to cruise nights and general mischief. And of course, there's plenty of stories to go with these escapades. Well without further ado (this is becoming my tag line these days), let's dive right into the automotive hijinks I got up to this Summer.
The first and most concerning story came about a week after I officially got the car on the road. I had borrowed a steering wheel puller from O'Reilly's to once again remove the steering wheel and correct the crushed horn wire that was making my car sound like the '68 Charger at the end of the Bullitt chase (minus the fire, of course), and I decided to take the Impala to return the tool the following day. I also figured it would be a good chance to show the guys at my old Summer job the Impala, since I'd been regaling them with tales of its rust grandeur from the day I bought the car. I dropped the tool off, stopped at the tuxedo place (my old job), and spent about an hour just hanging out and catching up with my former co-workers. Everything was going fine until I went to leave, where my had trouble staying running. I'd crank it over and get it to fire once before it would completely die. Fortunately, repeated pumps of the accelerator combined with carb cleaner down the carburetor eventually got it running again, but not before I stalled pulling out onto the main street. It seemed like I had dodged a bullet, until I heard the engine sputtering and coughing as I started to climb the gradual hill back to my house. It's worth mentioning at this point that I had removed the hazard switch to repair it (it has since been reinstalled), so my car had no functioning hazard lights, therefore I had no direct way to indicate my malfunction to others on the road. Even so, you'd think a primered-out 60s GM sedan running rough and going incredibly slow up a hill would be a clear indication of vehicular problems. Apparently, it wasn't to the 10 or so cars forming an ever-growing line behind me, who politely informed me of their opinions by honking and shouting obscenities. After a stall at a red light, I managed to maneuver safely onto my street, just as a guy in a white '04 Accord with a primer black bumper blew past and shouted "GET OUTTA THE F---ING ROAD." I wished I'd shouted something back, but in hindsight, I'm glad I kept my mouth shut. I eventually determined that the 30-year-old replacement fuel pump was giving up the ghost. The equally-aged fuel filter wasn't doing the car any favors, either. Both of these had to go.
The old fuel filter on the car. Tasty varnish.
Fifth of July Impala
The Impala's first show
With a new fuel pump and filter installed, the car fired right up, although it still ran rough at idle and had a tendency to stall in reverse. This made backing into spaces a nightmare. I took the car to my friend's house for a Fourth of July party, and I had a little fun cramming seven people into it for a ride around the block. Let's just say the worn-out suspension made the car into a pseudo-lowrider. A few weeks later, I finally got my car to its first "show" at a small classic car dealership. Technically, this event was a cruise night, but they gave out awards like a car show typically would. Not surprisingly, I didn't win anything, but the dealership's mechanic really liked my car. I was definitely the odd man out, not just because my car was more than one solid color, but also because it kept stalling in reverse so I had to pull into my space facing the opposite direction of everyone else. I later found out that I was missing the hookup line on the carburetor for the vacuum advance, so the giant vacuum leak this was causing wasn't helping my engine run any better. With the new line installed, the car ran a bit better at idle, but it still had stalling issues in reverse. At this point, I bit the bullet and gave the car a full tune-up with new plugs, wires, points, condenser, cap, rotor, and ballast resistor. I also have to give a huge shoutout to our family mechanic, Jay, who set the timing and corrected my improperly-set float level which was the real culprit behind the stalling in reverse. With the tune-up complete, the car ran like a dream, and the passenger exhaust no longer thumped against the frame rail at stops.
The Impala at Jay's
Well, that's not exactly how things went chronologically. I went to another cruise-in before the tune-up, this one at the last remaining A&W stand in the state. The local A&W has cruise nights every Tuesday, and had the weather cooperated, I would have made an appearance at four of them. I'm still happy I made it to two. The A&W cruise night was great, as it had a larger turn-out than my first "show" and plenty of people were interested in my car and my efforts to restore it. There were even a few other Impalas that showed up, too, a '64 and a '69 SS.
The Impala at A&W (background)
Cruise night Impalas
Another event unfolded over the Summer that was very beneficial for the Impala. My friend Glenn, who sold me the decklid filler panel off his '65 LeSabre sedan, informed me that he was getting ready to junk his '65 Impala sport sedan, so I'd better take what I wanted off it before then. We arranged to stop by on the way back from one of my family's annual Maine trips, so with the help of my parents, I stripped the windshield, trim pieces, and what interior components I could off the car before loading up and heading home. My dad managed to break the rear bumper free using PB Blaster and a couple ratchets, so that came with us as well. Unfortunately, the door panels were beyond repair, but I managed to find the unobtanium driver's side b-pillar cover that was in pieces on my car when I got it (only for an identical one to show up on eBay a week later). I can't complain. The eBay one cost about half of what I paid for everything off Glenn's car.
Glenn's sad '65 Impala sport sedan
Not much else happened with the Impala after that. I took it out to a state park to meet some friends the same day I got the tune-up done, and I also almost got hit twice in that same day. The first was a little old lady who didn't realize she was in a left-turn-only lane and started veering into me, and the second was an SUV getting off the highway that decided to cut me off and then drive snail speed. Note to modern-day drivers: my car does not have the same stopping distance as yours! With those nail-biting experiences over, the rest of the Summer was rather uneventful. I made it to one last A&W cruise-in, and the odometer decided to stick right before it rolled over to 92,300 miles, so now my speedo makes a nice ticking noise and bounces around. Oh, I also flushed the cooling system, replaced the radiator hoses, and installed new accessory belts. I managed to find the two missing bolts from the power steering pump, so it no longer shakes violently and squeaks when the car is running. The last real "issue" the car gave me was the week before I left for school. It started exhibiting earlier symptoms where it would fire in the start position, but then immediately die. My electrical engineering wizardry multimeter confirmed the ignition system wasn't getting anything with the key in the "on" position, so I figured the old ignition switch had finally given up the ghost. I swapped it with the spare I'd grabbed off Glenn's Impala, but the issue persisted. Finally, it occurred to me to check the wiring itself. This car came from the factory with a resistance wire powering the coil while the car was running. The idea was the wire would drop the voltage to the coil and decrease wear on the points while driving. As these cars age, the wire tends to fail, so most cars end up with a ballast resistor subbed in place of the resistance wire. My car was no exception, and as I started to trace the wiring out, I saw the problem.
The driver's side b-pillar cover
Broken splice
The old "twist and tape" splice from thirty years ago had corroded and easily gave way with a few yanks on the wire. I fired up my soldering iron, and with a little solder and heatshrink later, turned the ignition fault into the craftily-disguised repair you see on your right. This should hopefully last a little longer than the electrical tape. Oh, and yet another thing I forgot to mention. I also replaced the transmission kickdown linkage because it turns out that "drum kick-looking thing" I threw out last year when I bought the car was actually an important part of the transmission. Fortunately, I was able to find one for a good price online (the one I threw out was also broken, so it wasn't too much of a loss), and I was able to easily install it in the car. And before you go saying it, yes, I know I should have kept everything that was in the trunk. That was the only thing I got rid of, save for some plastic bottles and bent lines. I also thought it was part of a drum set since there were actual drum set pieces in my car when I bought it.
Re-spliced splice
Well, that's about everything that happened on the car since my last entry. My plan when I return in the Fall is to replace the front door latches as they have a tendency to rattle loose over bumps, as well as maybe fix the stuck odometer. Until next time! Oh, and feel free to enjoy this nighttime shot of the Impala.
The Impala out and about at night