Happiness is a warm... wrench? (long)

["Tony Sims" <simstony@domain.elided>]

Is there anything more appealing than clean car parts?  Well, sure -- cold
beer on a hot afternoon, smiling happy children, making the green in 2,
Victoria's Secret commercials...  But clean car parts are still pretty damn
cool.

As the GTV comes back together, most of the clean parts have joined to form an
engine and a transmission, and various others have enhanced the front
suspension.  I got the middle part of the sump back from the machine shop last
week, where a stripped bolt hole was repaired.  It was pretty clean when I
dropped it off, but the shop cleaned it so well it looked new!  It felt so
significant, I took a coupe pictures.  I'm such a sap.

For me, much of the joy of working on my car comes from cleaning things.  This
is not a behavior my mother ever would have predicted based on the condition
of my bedroom the last few years I lived with my parents.  I'm not completely
obsessive about it, but I could see that happening.  Every time I look through
an Eastwood catalog, I want to order one of those vibrating parts cleaners.
Sooner or later, Harbor Freight will separate me from enough cash for a small
blast cabinet and a parts washing stand.  My outlaws may never get their
little electric pressure washer back -- it's so good for blasting the gunk off
the bottom of cars, I think bottom of our cars may now be cleaner than the
top.

This entire project started out in December from the simple wish to get all
the RTV sealant out of the GTV's engine before a blob of it lodged somewhere
inappropriate and turned my crank into an artistic Italian boat anchor.  The
person who last assembled it must have lived by the motto "if a little is
good, too much is much is not enough!"  This evil orange glop was oozing out
of every sealing surface on the engine, even between the head and exhaust
manifolds.

As others have mentioned, more than one ground-up restoration has started with
such simple intent.  This project has been reined in somewhat short of that,
but my original budget ("Hmmm, let's see -- I'll need a gasket kit,
antifreeze, oil, some degreaser -- $150 at most!") has grown by a factor of
about 10.  Many a self serving argument has been offered up in defense of this
silliness -- like "Oh well, if I don't do it now, I'll just be pulling the
engine out again next winter", or "It's really much smarter to take care of
this while the engine/transmission/hood/grill is out of the way".

Dolling up the engine compartment was not really on my list, but of course,
once the grease pump is out of the way, things that were previously tolerable
become less so.  The Digest really is no help -- left on my own, I likely
would have decided that it was too much trouble and money to move the car to a
paint shop to spray the engine compartment.  But of course, someone had to
list the website of Tower Paint, and the next thing I know, I've sent off my
license plate light housing and they are matching colors and filling spray
cans in my name.  It does look much better now, and the new electric fan
almost looks like the factory put it there when surrounded by fresh paint.

Likewise, before the spring pans went back in they got a good sanding, some
Corroless and a coat of black Rusto.  This was purely for rust prevention, of
course...  And once the alternator was clean, the pulley was begging for a
touch up, and really, wouldn't it be cool if the pulley was black and the
little fan was red?  Quite so.  And the throttle body really needs to be taken
apart and properly cleaned.  And I can't leave that relay crank all grungy,
and now that I've soaked the goop out of that vapor separator Jim Tyson sent
me it really needs paint, and wouldn't the brake hard lines look better if I
went over them with some steel wool, and the starter is kind of rusty, I'll
get after it with the wire wheel, and -- well, many an evening has been
consumed by the "ands".

Fortunately, a project like this is not just fun and relaxing, it's
educational.  For instance, did you know that the gear that drives the
distributor and oil pump will install on the crank backwards with no problem?
And a related discovery -- copper gasket sealant does stay pliable for a
reasonable amount of time.  And it is possible to remove and reinstall a 2
liter front cover in 5 minutes.

I was in Seattle a couple weeks ago, so I visited Wes Ingram's shop to pick up
a new TA.  Now I know what I want to be when I grow up.  He's a great guy, and
we US Spica car owners are fortunate to have a resource like him.  Now that
he's convinced me that I need to put a stock airbox back on my car, I'm in a
quandry -- polishing all those fuel injector lines easily consumed 10 hours --
they look beautiful, like chrome crazy straws.  And the Spica pump looks
mighty fine too.  Maybe I can mount a mirror on the fender liner so you can
see under the airbox...

So what's the grand cosmic meaning here, the colossal realization, the big
finish?  Nothing really.  It's been a fun winter.  I think I'll head back to
the garage...

Cheers,

Tony
Portland, OR
74 GTV
70 2800cs
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