Not much going on over the weekend

I hung the Christmas lights. Now the cars look pretty at night.

944 Passed smog!

Yay! I'm late in registering it, so it's costing me $70 instead of $54, but I'm very happy that I don't have to fork out a couple hundred for any smog-related issues...

Cadillac Club board meeting

A new member came out to the board meeting today and drove his 1937 Cadillac.

Ugh! Chip in the Windshield

I didn't even see or hear this one happen, it's on the passenger side just on the other side of the rearview mirror, so I can't see it from where I sit. Jim pointed it out to me when we went to get hot dogs...

Cleaned out the garage

I intended to work on the '67 eldo, but the garage was such a mess, I couldn't focus on the car...SO i cleaned the garage instead. I also re-arranged the cars a little, so the '67 eldo is in the garage for now.

Modulator arrived today

I was shocked out of sleep by a door bell ring, and what was there when I answered it? Two packages from Rock Auto! The Modulator, and an oil filter for the 944.

took the cadillac in to work today

Before I left I checked the oil and it was more than a quart low! I think my oil leak is getting worse... or maybe it was the trip to LA that burned so much of it off...

Ordered Modulator!

Maybe it will be here before the end of the week. Every time I look up this part or talk about it, I think of Marvin the Martian, and the way he says "Mod-u-la-tor"

Smog Check

I need to get a smog check done for the 944. I hope it passes! When I bought it, the guy I purchased it from did the smog check, and one of the numbers was very close to the max then. I'm hoping that stays the same, but am also fully expecting to have to get a new O2 sensor or some other smoggy part.

Changed Oil in Porsche!

Finally! I bought a couple of shorter 2-ton jackstands($20 at Kragen), and changed the oil. I was at about 5k miles since the last change (which is actually under the recommended oil change frequency for this car, but I want to keep changing the oil every 3k).

It's still difficult to change the oil even with these shorter jackstands, but at least I can get under the side of the car to reach the drain plug with the lower jacks (I did need to get Jim to help me loosen the plug - why do these guys at the shops always over-tighten everything?). I'm thinking maybe the drive-up ramp lifts might be a better way to go with this car... Also, the oil filter is angled so you lift it from the top of the engine. This makes no sense to me, there's no way to keep all the oil from spilling out over everything.

But, the drain pan I had (that had overflowed when I changed the oil in the Cadillac)worked perfectly for the 944. Just the right size for the oil pan and oil from the filter.

no tires this weekend

didn't pick up the other two wheels this weekend, but mom said she'd drop them off when she drives down this way on Friday.

Tire Swapping

I needed to drive down to LA for a wedding today, so I took one of the old wheels that I just brought down from my parents house (the one that still had functional rubber), and one of the wheels off of the '93 Eldo, and put them on the '95 Eldo. We did this last night at 11:30 p.m.



Not wanting the car to look even junkier than it already does, I swapped the wheels around on the 95 so that the two chrome wheels were on the drivers side, and the two matte aluminum wheels were on the passenger side, so at least each side of the car looked like it had matching wheels. This may not be the best option for tire wear, but it sure save on embarrasment.

Oh - two of these wheels that the tire shop installed were almost impossible to get off the car, I had to stand on the wrench to get the lugnuts off. Someone didn't set the tourque on the air wrench to the right setting... It shouldn't take 155 lbs to loosen the lugnut!

Saggy rear end

The rear end on the '95 Cad is sagging a lot, I suspect that the shocks were either swapped out for the kind you have to fill with compressed air every once in a while, or the fuse for the shocks has gone out... I will do a fuse check as soon as I can get around to it.

I took two of the spare wheels I have home this weekend, which is the number of cadillac wheels you can fit in a honda accord trunk. We're probaly going back up this weekend, so I will grab the other two then.

Why won't anyone change the oil in the 944?

This is getting ridiculous. 8 places that "specialize" in oil changes refuse to do it. WHY?! The place today tried to tell me that the engine needs to be turned over in a special way when the oil is changed. ugh...One a few weeks ago said they didn't have the tools need to change the oil in it. I refuse to go to a Porsche dealer and pay $120 bucks for an oil change!!! I'll probably break down and buy the shorter jack stands so I can do it myself at home.

'95 cad wheels

I think I'm going to grab my spare set of cadillac wheels from my parents house when I go visit this weekend...then I can have the tire shop switch over all the tires when I get the flat repaired. No more leaky tire...

Cadillac meet today

I went to a Cadillac meet today with the Bay Area chapter of the CML. Except I didn't get to drive a Cadillac. We BBQ'd and ate pie, and looked at each others cars. It was a beautiful day and great fun.

so busy...

Work this week is very busy I've had homework every night. so nothing has been done on any of the cars. I haven't even brought the flat into the tire shop for repair yet.

I was thinking that it would be a good idea to bring the 944 into the shop and have the struts and alignment done, but I'll also have to get new tires, and I'm not 100% sure the rear drivers side wheel lock will come off...

More Flat tires

This time a different tire went flat while I was at work...

Plan for this weekend

I have found myself with a free Sunday for once.

Here's a list of stuff that needs to be done that I currently have the parts for in the garage:

Change front brakes on 944
replace headlight on 944
install antenna on 944
re-connect ipod plug in 944
Change oil in 944
Change front brakes on '67 Eldo
Change oil on '95 Eldo

Here's a list of other things that I need to get parts to do:

Check rear brakes on '95 Eldo (well, I MAY need to get parts for this...)
Fix '67 Eldo (need vacuum modluator?)

Cadillac North-South Show

I went to a Cadillac show this weekend in San Luis Obispo, CA. There's nothing better then looking at beautiful working Cadillacs to motive you to finish yours...

There was a gorgeous 1930 v-16 Cadillac at the show, and many 60's including 3 '67-'68 Eldorado's!

I got some good info on possible solutions to my vacuum leak, including the difference between the two vacuum modulators that are available in parts stores. Turns out I want the more expensive brass one which is what the original came with.

The smaller modulator leaves off a feature (that I can't remember what it was exactly...) that you don't NEED to run the car, but why would you buy a part that reduces what the car does?