Mint Condition

I was hoping my friend would get a job at Discount Tire so I could get really cheap tires, but that didn’t work out. So I went ahead and bought new tires today with my friend Clayton. To avoid leaving the car up on jacks, we did the back tires first, then the front tires. It took twice as long this way, because we had to make two trips to the tire place, but it worked out well. They were fairly cheap tires at $50 a pop, but they’ll work for a while, and that’s what matters at this point.

After installing the new tires, Clayton and I took it for a little drive over to our neighbor’s house, because they have a nice long driveway loop. The brakes still need some work, and I need to clean my windshield, but it’s well on its way to being my commuter car this fall!

I was previously under the impression that my backup lights were non-functional. This led me to believe that perhaps my neutral start switch was at fault, or perhaps missing (I could not see it, because it is located on the transmission). However, a quick test today revealed that, indeed, one of my backup lights did come on when I put the car in reverse. Since they’re on the same circuit, the other must simply have a bad bulb.

Well, it turns out that the bulb had actually rusted to the socket, so I had to shatter the bulb and wrestle the remaining glass and metal parts loose. After cleaning the contacts and buying new bulbs (the working one actually had the wrong bulb in it), I now have functional backup lights!

One thing to note, though, is that the lights only come on when the shifter is in a certain position. There’s a bit of wiggle room in each gear, and when I go from park to reverse, they don’t light up right away; I have to move the shifter down slightly further. This, I know, is a relatively simple fix involving recalibrating the neutral start switch. But that is for another day.

Also, on an unrelated note, I was poking around and noticed one of the fuses under the dash was blown. So I bought some new ones and replaced it, and hark! The dome light came on! But it wouldn’t turn off when I closed the door… One more problem to track down.

My grandpa and I pored over schematics and diagrams, tracing the signal path for the passenger tail light and testing for continuity and voltage at various points. After much deliberation, we came to the sound conclusion that the turn signal switch was at fault. As strange as it may be, the tail light signal runs through the turn signal switch. I assume this is because the same filaments, and thus the same lines, are used for the turn signals.

Unfortunately, although it likely was simply a corroded connector or something simple and fixable, the turn signal switch is not made to be disassembled, so it had to be replaced. Thus today my grandpa stopped by the Mustang store and picked up a new turn signal switch for the low price of $100, and we swapped it in. Lo and behold, the brake lights illuminate on both sides now! Another success story.

Now the next problem is my back-up lights not coming on…

Due to the recent holiday celebrating this great country’s independence from oppressive monarchy and a subsequent nearly week-long camping trip, this next step in repairing Nugget has been somewhat delayed. However, it did indeed reach completion, and I’m proud to announce that Nugget is now using her own gas tank!

Previously, there was installed under the hood a temporary gas tank that must have held only about a half-gallon of fuel. The existing fuel line was partially missing, and what was left was old and gross. So I purchased a new fuel line, which came in two parts, and cleaned out the tank with a little gasoline.

It turned out that the new line was a little bit too long; the two sections overlapped so I was unable to connect them with hose. Thus, I took the second half to the auto shop downtown, and they were able to cut it down to a usable length. I used two hose clamps on that end to make up for the missing flange, since the auto shop didn’t have the tool to make a new one.

I also procured a fuel filter from the auto shop at the rather strong suggestion of the individual with whom I spoke. This I inserted in the hose between the line and the fuel pump so I can easily see it and keep an eye on any mischievous gunk from the tank.

I filled up the tank partway using a 5-gallon tank and started her up, and lo and behold, she purred beautifully! There are no leaks and no noticeable gunk so far. It is so satisfying when one’s work is successful.