While Amelia and I were spending a week away, I noticed a large disparity in the gas mileage my vehicle was achieving.
The vehicle in question, a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
Normally, I get between 15-16mpg in this tank. It doesn’t matter how I drive, or the kind of road I’m on, those are the numbers. The only time that has ever changed has actually been for the negative. If I push it on the interstate and go over 75mph, my mileage will plummet to as low as 13mpg.
Normal mileage readings from my app.
But the opposite happened. My gas mileage increased to 19mpg. Most of my driving was highway/interstate driving. It has me puzzled.
Courtesy the app I use to track my automotive expenses.
The only thing I can think of would be the difference in terrain. The area around Indianapolis doesn’t have many hills.
No, unfortunately it isn’t running again. I sadly have not touched the car since I had to have it towed back home from Greensburg. The general consensus is that whatever the issue is, it’s not one that will require the engine be pulled. One uncle strongly believes that I have a bent push rod.
In anticipation of the issue being larger, over this time I have procured some parts that are period accurate and performance upgrades. An Edelbrock 3890 TPI base, and a set of SLP Runners.
This post is more about a little thing I did over two years ago. The interior was really in need. When it comes to upholstery work, there is only one person on this earth that I trust, and that’s my uncle Ed. While there were still rumblings about some virus in China, I made a mad dash to Oklahoma with the driver seat.
The 30+ year old upholstery was in such bad shape that a seat cover was required due to the rips alone.
The lower portion was just as bad
While out there, my uncle gave me the good and the bad news. While he could repair the damage, what I wanted, it would definitely be noticeable. While minor, none of the new fabrics available look exactly the same as 30+ year old sun bleached fabric.
Thankfully, they no longer live in the stone age and have internet access that even satisfies me. So I began the hunt for new seat covers. While they can be had quite easily for these cars, that embroidery is the white whale. Most are generic, available in colors that did not come from the factory and generally the polar opposite of what I’m looking for.
I’m a professional googler by trade. This shouldn’t be “that” hard. I was really surprised to find exactly what I was looking for on of all places eBay. So I immediately purchased them. A set for the front seats only, a decision I now regret. I will find a cover for the rear at some point however. After a few hiccups with delivery, requiring I actually speak with a FedEX dispatcher and having him follow google maps to the location of my aunt and uncle’s residence, they were delivered.
A couple of weeks ago, my uncle sent me some photos. My driver seat is done.
Is this really the same seat?
I didn’t really have many words. I’m simply blown away at the result. Dad would be happy to have his handiwork on the car he never spoke about. My mind is only on getting the passenger seat out there to have that seat redone as well.
Like just wow!
He then cleaned up the frame and seat tracks. Automotive seats are something he does all the time. Trust is everything to me on the progression of this car. I trust this man with my life, and I know dad would have trusted him as well.
Looks like a brand new seat
So, as soon as I can figure out a time that works I’ll be westbound and down, loaded up and trucking. To see my family that I haven’t seen in years, provide them a laundry list of things I said I would bring, join the Cherokee and lord knows what else.
While my last post was about me fixing a problem with my daily driver, another reared it’s ugly head. The starter went out.
I’m going to give a bit of a personal history of me and Jeeps, because it relates.
At the end of 2015 life was good and it was horrible at the same time. I had just divorced my wife of 11 years, but I had also just started the same job I hold today which doubled my salary, which has now essentially tripled.
Said Kia. I tinted the windows, put new shocks on it and put new speakers in it
The divorce left me with the hand-me-down Kia Rio that my now ex-wife received as a graduation present from her parents. I called it the Clown Car due to it’s small size when compared to my stature. On the way back from taking my daughters shopping for Christmas, the AC Compressor went out. This essentially killed the defrost capabilities of the car. It was the middle of winter in Indiana. I needed it fixed or I needed a different vehicle. The repair would have cost what the car was worth – and I was tired of being cramped. Enter my first Jeep, a 2010 Wrangler Unlimited Sport.
The day I bought it
Starting it sounded a little off to me, but I bought it anyway. Then, the night before I was about to take off on a large cross country trip; while at a gas station getting fuel – it wouldn’t start. I was 30 miles away from home, with no tools, nothing. There was only 1 starter for my vehicle available in that town; and it was a mile away (I was literally right next to a parts store).
It was due to the kindness of a good samartitan who went home to get his tools; and helped me swap out wrenching duties that I was able to get that starter changed out that night.
Well, I was faced with a similar situation yesterday while leaving work. I had some things working in my favor this time however. The parking lot I was parked in is relatively flat, and I had plenty of space. I called my insurance companies road side assistance service, but hung up out of frustration; as the person on the end of the line seemed to not be able to understand or spell the word “discovery” which was the name of the road I was parked off of. I then called two towing companies, who nonchalantly said that they could handle the job, but it would be 2 hours or so until someone would get to me. So I got to pushing, almost getting it to where it could be pushed to try to start it manually.
That’s right. MANUALLY. Manual transmissions may be dying, but this is one significant advantage to them. If the starter goes out, you can roll start them. Commonly referred to as “popping the clutch,” this is where you push/pull the vehicle to a arbitrary speed, typically between 5 to 10 mph. You engage the clutch and put it in gear. You then simply release the clutch. If you have enough speed for your particular vehicle/engine – poof it will start!
With the help of the custodian (who worked with my father) and the building manager, I had enough man power to push it to a point where there is a downward slope that I was able to build up enough speed on. I then drove it to a buddy’s shop; as I was not exactly in the mood for replacing a starter.
It’s been less than 24 hours since I noticed the problem; and it’s done.
If there’s a single complaint I have about my daily driver, it’s the hinges on it. You see, I drive a Jeep Wrangler. The hinges are not hidden on them, like they are on most vehicles.
Right after I purchased it, in 2018
While this image doesn’t highlight the issues I have with the hinges, the following ones will. The issue relates to how Jeeps were assembled. The problem has been mitigated with the new model, called the JL.
The body on the vehicle is steel, but the hinges are aluminum. The entire body is assembled before it is painted. Due to reasons that are entirely beyond my understanding, this bi-metal situation causes oxidation. The oxidation leads to the paint bubbling and coming off, which is exactly what is happening in my case.
My first resort was to just find replacements. This way I could just replace a part, and not have to worry about alignment issues or have any downtime. The down side is that a new set of hinges for all 4 doors would be $480, just for the ones that mount to the doors. The ones that mount on the body are $352. Pretty damn expensive!
So today I started on this years long quest that has been stewing in my brain. This is the lower hinge on the driver rear door.
This is the results of oxidation
I’ve owned a Jeep since the end of 2015, and taking the doors off has always made me nervous. I’ve read numerous horror stories about people having significant troubles removing them; then not being able to put them back on. The ease at to which I was able to remove this hinge makes me believe I won’t have the troubles I thought I might. Perhaps I can give my little girl a thing she wanted finally. To drive around without doors.
My next step was removing the paint, and the oxidation that has built up over the years. For that, I got my wire wheel and new drill out. That alone removed a vast majority of the paint and all of the oxidation. Some of the paint was very stubborn however, and required I get the paint stripper out.
The door, after using the wire wheel
As you can see, the door is all shiny and fresh. To help eliminate this from happening again, it is recommended to put a coat of paint on either the backside of the hinge or the door itself. I decided to put a thin coat on the door; to protect it from possible rust happening overnight. I used a small paint brush that my daughter lent to me.
Front of the hinge after most prep work
There’s some pitting and some primer that I just couldn’t get off. It’s okay. I’m no expert on this, and will never claim to be. I discovered that I’m out of spray primer; so I will be leaving first thing in the morning for some to proceed with the next step.
Backside of the hinge
One thing that I’ve noticed is that anytime I wash my Jeep, there always seems to be a “backwash” of sorts that comes out from the hinge area. Hopefully I’ll resolve it with this.
The door and the back side of the hinge were covered with a hard but thin layer of a calcified like substance. I think that is the remnants of the oxidation, which created a sliver of space between the door and hinge itself allowing for the seeping I mentioned.
The day up and flew by on me, I can’t wait to complete this tomorrow. I’ll update this post with my results.
Update:
As promised, here are the results. I’m not 100% happy but I am pleased with the results. I woke up this morning to my neighbor commenting on my facebook post offering to sandblast the hinge for me. I took him up on that offer.
Sandblasted and cleaned in soap, ready for primer
I think the sandblasting really helped in the areas I was unable to reach with my crude methods of wire wheel and sandpaper. I really appreciate his offer, and will be buying him more media as a thank you. He makes really awesome things out of glass, you should check out his work!
I was headed out to get primer anyway, so meeting him at his shop was no big deal.
Then I put two coats of primer on it. I wanted black but all I could find was grey. Oh well. This was fairly straightforward.
After the first coat
While this was drying, I decided to multitask and mow the yard; well sections of it. Now it was time for the Mopar color I have been sitting on for a while now.
I put a coat on and it reminded me of the days when I put together model cars. The paint acted very similar. I went with it the best I could, but the bottle had no instructions.
As I was mowing a section of my yard; the wind decided to blow some tree pieces onto the wet paint. I tried to remove a “helicopter” from one of my maple trees, but it removed the color AND some of the primer! Boo.
Running against a time crunch, I decided to make the best of what I had. I can always redo it later on if I’m not happy. I sprayed two coats on the hinge in it’s entirety, then added a couple of more coats on that particular area where the paint and primer had been removed. It helped even it out some.
Installed
As you can see, it’s not perfection. I didn’t expect it either. I need to do some touch ups all around the area of the hinge itself but mother nature had other plans. It began raining. Thankfully the paint had dried. Since it was raining, I decided to wait to do any touch-ups until after it quit raining.
All in all, I’m very happy with the results. It makes my Jeep look so much better.
November 8th I participated in a car rally with my girlfriend’s son. The first time I’ve ever done such a thing. It was called “The Hunt” and there were 110 cars in total, including a Lamborghini Diablo, a Ferrari FF and an Acura NSX.
This rally was a trip from Indianapolis to Cincinnati and back, with detours off the interstate to keep things interesting. I went with 4 other cars from the Bloomington Auto Club, where we met up at 6am.
After a swift drive up to the place where we were staging, the cars started to roll in. We had made it around 8am, and were not set to head out until 10. So we hung out, checked out other cars and after checking in we all had a catered breakfast.
Photo of Lamborghini Diablo, courtesy of Chris Cunningham.
I felt a little embarrassed while we waited. Here I was in a incomplete 32 year old survivor car. Surrounded by vehicles worth more than my own home. I was with car people though, and several came to tell me how happy they were to see a 3rd gen Camaro. One guy even took photos of almost every angle imaginable. My car is of the elder generation now, and the respect it is shown makes me very proud.
The rally was started with a fury like no other. Speed limits didn’t exist. Before I realized it we were out of Marion county. We took an exit off I-74 onto a country road that met back up with I-74. I hit a bump on one corner, which put me in a slide that I was able to control. Tyler was loving every minute of the action.
Meanwhile on the app we were using for the rally, messages of “COPS ARE EVERYWHERE” were being blasted. Apparently our shenanigans had caused the phone lines at many police departments to light up.
Pit stop # 1, photos by Chris Cunningham, merged by me.
As pictured, our first official pit stop was something else. We completely filled up the parking lot in this gas station, with additional cars parked on the side of the highway. If you look closely, you will see my car.
That pit stop lasted about 30 minutes or so. When my fellow BAC members finally decided to take off, I went with them and within 15 minutes it all fell apart.
We were cruising on the interstate at nominal speeds, nothing insane, when I seemed to have lost all power. The engine was still running but driving at speed was impossible. I did not want to stop on the side of the interstate, and so I hobbled along 12 miles to Greensburg, IN. During that 12 miles, the temperature gauge began to spike, the car died once. When I made it to the exit – there was no gas station in sight. So I had to make some evasive and illegal maneuvers to keep the momentum going to make it to a gas station about a mile away.
I got the car parked in a way where it could be towed if needed. I then popped the hood and it began to overheat. So I turned the fans on (a little trick is to turn the AC on with the car off) to do what I could to help it cool. After about 30 minutes, I started the engine. Almost immediately, it sounded like a pop can rattling inside one (or two) of the cylinders. Cylinders 1 or 3 to be exact.
That’s when I knew the course of action. We were done, and the car was not going to move under it’s own power. This was to be the last time I took the car out for the year, and what a way to go out.
Such a sad site
This was meant as a pressure test on the car for an eventual trip to see my family in Oklahoma. My father bought this car in 1988, and none of them have ever seen it in the flesh. I would have had a massive emotional breakdown if it wasn’t for Tyler, my girlfriend’s son. His positive attitude kept me positive through the whole ordeal. The tow bill? $575.
After I contacted my fellow guys in the BAC, I was a little shocked as to what happened not too long after my break down. There was a road block! One of my guys pulled a U turn and got a ticket. There was also apparently LEO’s in the Cincinnati area trying to catch Rally goers. My red Camaro would have been easy to spot from a mile away.
At this point, the probable diagnosis is a broken valve. It could be much worse however. A piston or rod could have had a problem. The head could be warped. The absolute worst case is that the block is damaged beyond repair.
I have ordered a scope to get a look inside the engine and am still waiting on it’s arrival. Once I get that initial diagnosis in, I’ll get a better idea of what direction I have to take. I have no issue rebuilding the top end of the engine with better flowing heads, valves, and to port the intake or find one of those “big mouth” bases for a TPI.
Yesterday, the Holden Owners of Indiana put on a cruise called the Fall Foliage Cruise. I had Amelia with me and wanted to take her on a proper ride in her papaw’s car.
The route began in Nashville, IN with a destination of Bo-Mac’s Drive-In located in Shoals, IN. We then took a separate route towards the starting point, which literally took me home, ending the cruise for us.
The route was far more twisty than Google wanted to show.Me and the Camaro, surrounded by some amazing cars from all around IndianaWhen I took this picture, the guy in the Ute said, “That’ll be $3.” I <3 these Aussie cars.
We all hung around for about an hour, talked to each other and then took off. Shockingly I has the most conversation with a guy in a Mustang. I was the only Camaro on the cruise.
The Geo Metro driver took this photo and I love it.
On the first leg, not too far out of Story, IN we ran into a group of 4 bicyclists. We were all running pretty hot, warming up the road and our tires. The car in front of me, a Geo Metro Convertible locked his brakes up and went in the other lane. That was when my own brake light came on and I lost a lot of my own braking power. For the rest of that first leg, I had to press the brake pedal about 3/4 of the way before the brakes began to work. We drove by Bedford North Lawrence High School, which is right by where my daughter now lives. It would have been nice if her mom and stepbrothers would have came out and waved in support.
Thankfully we were at a gas station for the first pit stop.
The next leg took us to Shoals, IN and the drive-in. Getting there was a bit of a battle though, as our group of 60 cars was split by a stranger and a tanker truck on US50. This road isn’t exactly “friendly” for safe passing of vehicles. One by one, the guy in the Mustang I mentioned previously, an AMG Mercedes and I passed them both however. Amelia loved it.
Home of the ROX Burger!
When we arrived at the drive-in, Amelia ranted and raved about the place. As a friend of hers had three t-shirts from there. Later in the day, she found out this friend’s grandfather owns it.
We all ate, rested and chilled for a while. Then a group of us, mostly driven by members of the BAC, decided to leave early to do some more “spirited” driving. We of course, went with the group. This became the hardest, fastest section. We took a county road the hardest I’ve done since I was a teenager. At some points my tires were telling me I was pushing the limits. I was proud of the IROC’s performance however, beating anyone was not what I was trying to do, keeping up with the pack is all I needed to smile.
Then we had another “incident.” We had moved from the county road to US450, a proper two lane highway. We turned a corner and were on a bridge when everyone just began braking, hard. It took everything I had to not hit the car in front of me. The 4th Generation WS6 Trans Am behind me almost hit me, but he later said he was under control. Then to my left, a white Fiesta went flying down the oncoming lane, hard. He later said he was going to make that oncoming truck stop, and he did! A couple of minutes later, we ended up on US50 at a gas station with a large parking lot. Upon arriving we all got out of our cars in a collective WTF just happened?
As we were there a Bedford cop showed up, I said well we’ve been made.
In all the years dad owned this car, he never really tried to see what it would do except for the few times we took it to Indianapolis Raceway Park to drag race it. Those who know IROC-Z’s know they aren’t a drag car in stock format. They are killer in the corners however, and can keep up with brand new sport cars in that regard.
I talked to Amelia about this, and how I hoped we were making him proud from wherever he is. It’s all I want to do, make him proud.
I feel like I need to write. This week has been a mix of incredible and overwhelming anxiety.
This week was my first week of 4 day workweeks, something I asked for to help with these trying times. I was given approval by my manager and center director to do so. I don’t know how long I will be doing this, but for the time being I need it.
I have been putting off some much needed maintenance on my Jeep. I need to change the spark plugs badly. It seems like every time I psych myself up to do it I chicken out however. I don’t get it. I did get around to changing the differential fluid on both rear ends today. I don’t know if it was a fluke or what but the front would only take 1 quart. The rear 1 1/2 quarts. They should take much more.
I love the fill and drain plugs of the Dana axles.
One day while at work I received a call from my mortgage company. I’m thankful they were able to help me keep my home at a time when all the odds were against me. They have called me many times with offers that were of no benefit to me, just another sale for them. This time it was different.
With the economy in dire straits, and my credit card debts only increasing, this changes the ballgame for me. It rolls all of my credit card debt into a refinance, lowers my interest rate by 1.26% AND my payments with escrow stay essentially the same. This is a financial grand slam as far as I’m concerned.
This will relieve me of over $500 in credit card payments a month alone. It’s not that I couldn’t pay them, but the removal of those stressors is a welcome sign. The only downside to this is resetting the 30 year countdown on paying the debt off, and increasing that particular principal owed.
The elimination of the other higher interest debts really balances it out however, at least to me. With my paycheck not getting any larger anytime soon I need to make some strategic financial moves to ensure I stay in the green and actually build a savings holdings.
The subject of my blog has by and large been about my dad’s IROC lately. It hasn’t been my intention, rather it’s been my saving grace in this dumpster fire of a world we are living in right now.
Due to that however, my Jeep got jealous. While driving to meet a friend who sells Amish vegetables I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting some deer. The brakes said that they were done, and starting then I had to pump the brakes and felt a constant but light grinding in the pedal.
The paint on my door hinges is bubbling up and peeling off, due to corrosion. I still don’t understand why FCA did this but the hinges are aluminum. They are placed directly on the steel body before it is painted. Overtime, they corrode.
I’ve also reached 100,000 miles. On this vehicle it essentially means it just needs a tune up. But what does that require? You must remove the upper portion of the intake manifold, called the plenum, to gain access to the left bank of spark plugs.
So, I’ve got a checklist of mechanical and appearance maintenance projects that I really need to do. This vehicle is my daily driver, I depend on it. It has been dependable to me, especially compared to the blue Jeep I had previously.
Over the weekend, I replaced the front brake pads and rotors. I don’t skimp on brake parts, as they are one of the primary safety features on a vehicle. I’ve been doing brakes on vehicles since I was just a kid. That said, this insanely hot and humid weather has been keeping me a prisoner inside. So I performed the task in my garage.
I’ve used many different combinations over the years, these are good for hard use.
The Bosch QuietCast rotors are the best rotors I’ve ever found. They are sprayed with a coating that inhibits the typical rust that happens on rotors. They come with the longest warranty I think I’ve seen for a rotor.
The Wagner OEx brake pads are quite literally the best brake pads I’ve ever used on a vehicle before. I installed these on my last Jeep. They are ceramic and have a lifetime warranty. Need new brakes? You don’t have to buy another set of pads with these. How great is that?
The removal and installation went as expected, with no major hiccups. My suspicions were confirmed however. The pistons on the front brake calipers were extended about as far as they could. The passengers side caliper gave me some troubles compressing, due to how far the piston had extended.
Installed.
Once I had cooled off I decided to “bed in” the brakes. I noticed an issue however. The pedal was still going to the floor. This meant the master cylinder was bad, as it’s job is to build up pressure in the system.
Here’s where the plot twist happens though, on my drive to work (my home) today, it did not act that way at all. It acted normal, with allowable pedal movement. I’ve already ordered a replacement master cylinder through RockAuto.com. I’m going to keep a close eye on it, and possibly return this part.
So, one thing off the list – many more to go. Here is the list, in no particular order:
Yesterday was the July meet of the Indiana Chapter of the VCCA. Thankfully all of my ducks were in a row to finally bring the Camaro, and my youngest wanted to come along too.
We had a great drive up to Cicero, where we met at Red Bridge Park. It was during this drive that I learned the cruise control is now working in the car!
The Three Amigos
We were also visited by a member in a C4 Corvette that was red as well. While having our meeting someone arrived in a 1957 Corvette too!
We then cruised over to Anderson to have lunch at a golf club, where four members of the VCCA who are not members of the Indiana Region were invited. Amelia and I sat to ourselves, and had fun. She kept going on about a YouTube video, speaking in a french accent.
After lunch, we had a pleasant surprise, as one of our invited guests had brought a 1941 Chevrolet convertible with only 12k original miles on it. It was truly a beautiful car that you really don’t see anymore.
While we all were “oooohing” and “awwwwing” over this car, Amelia decided to sit in the car. With the air conditioning not working, she got hot. With the assistance of the wives in the group, I relented to take the t-tops off.
She’s my little model
The director talked to me about how most of the members of the Indiana region have been officers multiple times, and are now getting to a point where they just want to come and enjoy themselves. Our official meeting was led by Joe, who appears to be the next closest in age to me. I definitely see and feel a urgency for a new guard to take the helms. Being so new to the club, it’s a little scary to me. This was important to my father however, and I will stand up to whatever task or challenge that is given to me regarding this club. I want it to continue.
We then cruised back to whence we came, but went to an ice cream shop. While there, cooling off from the day the sky turned dark and the weather became nasty. We all parted ways.
The trip home was full of concern and strife, as this car isn’t known for its wet weather capabilities. There were times when we had to slow to 20mph or less, as I could barely see the vehicles around me or their lights. It took us less than two hours to make it there, it took us around three to make it home.
We also drove the entire day on less than a tank of gas, which has been another concern. This makes the possibility of driving to Oklahoma a real thing. I think I still have some tweaking to do, but I am on the right path.
I really had fun, my company really knows how to make my mood be in tip top shape. I also think she really loves her papaw’s car now. That makes my heart happy.
The speedometer in the IROC has been a Pandora’s box. The first parts of it, were logical and lineal, the last parts have been anything but.
My second attempt, which resolved one problem but presented another.
The original problem was simple, it seemed. It was constantly reading a lower speed than it should, while the odometer was reading significantly faster than it should.
I first verified and replaced all mechanical gears to ensure those systems were proper for the setup of the physical car. This removes all of the problems up to the speedometer itself.
38 Tooth Speedometer Driven Gear with New Aluminum Housing
Originally, I assumed I could just adjust the needle and resolve the problem, resulting in me breaking the needle. Little did I know then, but that was a fatal mistake. Breaking the needle, broke the shaft the whole assembly connects to, which includes a clip that holds that shaft in the correct place, a clock spring to take the needle back to zero and lower the speed when slowing down, and a “black dish” that caps the assembly. The black dish butts up to but does not connect to the actual assembly that connects to the speedometer cable. This works through an eddy current system to display speed and record distance traveled.
Speedometer Carriage, take note of the springBackside of carriage, take note of the teeth on the needleBlack Dish piece. This attaches to the shaft on the image above in this orientation.Eddy Current / Speedometer cable assembly. The part in the middle rotates. The black dish fits within it but operates without touching it.
My original fix was to replace the needle and shaft. To keep as many original to the car as parts as possible, which has been my charge on the restoration. Over a couple of test drives with only the speedometer in the car, I learned that the “black dish” was not staying in the same position on the shaft, causing it to then make contact with the eddy current system.
I had purchased 2 complete clusters out of other Camaros to use as parts to rebuild this speedometer. Because these parts are rare and ever expensive (a 145mph speedometer alone on eBay is $254), I only used one of these clusters initially. Yesterday is when I made the realization about the black dish and eddy current system touching. The only logical reason why that black dish refuses to stay in position is due to the cheap and thin material it is made from. The removal of it from the shaft, changes it’s ability to keep it’s position on the shaft.
Last night, I grabbed that 2nd cluster and found some pleasant surprises. It was an 85mph speedometer, from a base model car. The only gauges it has are the speedometer and the fuel gauge. The rest of the items are warning or “idiot” lights as they are known. I decided to transplant the odometer reels, face plate and needle I want to use to this one.
The pleasant surprise was that the 85mph speedometer did not have a trip odometer. The clips that hold the trip odometer in place on the other two speedometers I have been using had broken “J clips” which hold the axles of the trip odometer assembly in place. Since the frame of this speedometer had never housed a trip odometer, these clips were in place and never used. The only thing I had to do was move a simple gear that operates the trip odometer with the regular odometer, which was easy. I didn’t have to make any repairs to the assembly for the trip odometer to function. I had used zip ties on the one I was using.
The last two evenings I have been up until past 2am working on this speedometer. I have not had an opportunity to test the functionality of this as of yet, but it has the best hope of all of the things I have done so far. The largest question on this attempt is that spring shown at the beginning of this post. In each one of the speedometers I have, the collar on the spring is a different color. I’m unsure if these springs have different rates, this could play in the accuracy of the speedometer. Especially at higher speeds.
I have learned a lot on this journey. There isn’t much documentation I can find on the speedometers of these cars. The largest thing is the Trip Odometer fix from the 3rd Gen Forums. With my faithful girlfriend by my side, often having serious, heated debate on the issues with different points of view on how to resolve each problem that was faced, I think we did it. I’m so happy I have someone who stands beside me and is always up for helping me on things neither of us fully understand. That itself is worth it’s weight in gold.
Independence Day cruise with the Bloomington Auto Club
The test drives I have taken have brought up two issues that I need to remedy however. The air conditioning is not working. I will need to convert it to 134-a refrigerant. There seems to be a significant gas smell from driving, I believe this to be the charcoal canister needing rebuilt/refreshed. The car also died on me several times out of the blue with no warning, which could be associated with the charcoal canister.
UPDATE
This attempt did not give the results I were going for. Speed would not be indicated until I was going about 20mph, but would be accurate through about 40mph. Once I would reach highway speeds however, the speedometer would read much higher than I really was traveling. I’m leaving this image for evidence.
Speed recorded via GPS, 60mph
That said, I did finally reach indicator nirvana and the fix was quite easy. I changed the clock spring (pictured near the top of this post) to the one that was in the car originally. I had to make 2 slight adjustments to the needle position, and voila!
I have reinstalled the speedometer into the cluster. I just have to reinstall the entire assembly back into the car now and this wormhole will have been traversed. It’s been an adventure in learning about a subject I had no real knowledge on.
