The car was running, driving, and stopping just fine but there were a number of issues that needed to be a dealt with. The gas tank dripped when I put more than a quarter of a tank in. There were a couple of clunks I could hear when I went over rough road, and the exhaust was well, exhausted. Since these were still drivability issues, I took the car into my local garage. They went over it really well. I got a first look at the underside and except for the floor pan rust, it was really clean.
The shop replaced the front strut bushings and other front-end parts, the exhaust (he did manage to keep the original ceramic coated tailpipe), relined the gas tank, greased every zerk and joint, aligned the front end, turned down the drums, and some other stuff I can’t remember.
I now had a more reliable car but a lot less money. I was reminded how expensive having a shop do open repairs can be. On top of all that, as of 2022, the shop no longer works on older cars. All thier old-school mechanics have retired. I now had a stronger resolve to do more of the work myself. Hey if those guys on YouTube can drop a motor in a car in less than an hour, how hard can it be? Of course, I know better than that. But it’s going to be fun learning.
Time to start the next repair.
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