Today was car repair day at my house. Cruella finally got new front brakes, which were grinding back in February when I bought Sabrina. I've driven her very little since then, not wanting to do any further damage. Not that it mattered; the front rotors were so scored they couldn't be turned. So I replaced both the pads and the rotors. Grinding is gone.
This is the driver's side front brake pad. Ouch:
I can't complain; I got ~40,000 miles out of those pads and rotors.
Betty also got some much-needed attention. New valve cover gaskets and a new vacuum modulator valve for the transmission. She had been clunking back into low when pulling up to a stop sign. Not only is the clunk gone, but you can't even feel it when the Powerglide shifts gears unless you're really paying attention. I've only put up with this for two years. :doh:
My brother-in-law Dave did 99% of the work. He brought his air compressor, which I used to take the wheels off and to remove the nuts for the front brake calipers. If you do any kind of car repairs at home, an air wrench is the way to go.
The cork valve cover gaskets were soaked with oil. They've been on the car for nearly nine years and over 50,000 miles since the engine rebuild, so I can't complain.
I was very pleased to see how clean the valve heads are after nearly nine years and 50,000+ miles.
The biggest, and most time-consuming job turned out to be the starter and solenoid. I've had trouble in the past where if the car sits for 10-15 minutes on a hot day, the starter solenoid soaks up the heat from the exhaust manifold, and when I turn the key, I get buptkis. With a jump, she'll usually start right up.
I had bought a heat shield for both the starter and the solenoid, but after I had to get a jump twice on my road trip to Washington last weekend, I decided to change out the solenoid, too.
Well, once we got the starter out, we found that the solenoid I had bought at NAPA didn't mate up correctly. I went back to NAPA (which I had already been to earlier to get an Allen socket for Cruella's brakes and brake rotors), and they didn't have any other solenoid in stock. So I went to another auto parts store, and they didn't have anything either, but they did have a starter and solenoid, so I just bought the whole damn thing. It was only ~$35, so I figured it was worthwhile.
The heat shield I bought for the solenoid was fine, but the one for the starter wasn't. I already knew that was a problem by this time, so I bought a different one at the same store where I bought the starter. And Dave -- God love him, never complained and got everything done, even though it was in the 90s here today.
The good news is Betty now starts right up. When taking out the starter, Dave found a couple of the connections were loose, which may have had something to do with why I'd usually have to crank her two or three times before she'd start. I also don't see her leaking any oil -- when I pulled her out of the garage this morning and backed her back in, there was a trail of oil drips along my driveway. So the new valve cover gaskets must have done the trick. And I'm very pleased to have a transmission that shifts as smoothly as the Powerglide was known for.