Another Round of Berni Work Oct. 31st 2015!!!!
This last weekend and oddly on Halloween, speaking of Happy Halloween!, my dad and I pulled more out of my beloved car and now we are 30 minutes away from getting the engine out! So much progress had been made. We got the entire exhaust system, which reminds me of a fatty boa constrictor off. The Drive line exposed and a bunch of other small, but critical car nick nacks. I'm so excited that we are at this point because once the engine is out the real progress can begin.
We will be rebuilding the engine, replacing/rebuilding the transmission, depending on how bad it is, and we are debating if we want to replace the rear end (differential and other supporting components) of the car. If we did, we could get a rear end that would make the car less zippy and fun, but more fuel efficient. I'm not sure that I want to give up the zip though... I would much rather see if there were a way to get another gear in, or (if this is even possible) overdrive.
I'll keep you all posted!
We will be rebuilding the engine, replacing/rebuilding the transmission, depending on how bad it is, and we are debating if we want to replace the rear end (differential and other supporting components) of the car. If we did, we could get a rear end that would make the car less zippy and fun, but more fuel efficient. I'm not sure that I want to give up the zip though... I would much rather see if there were a way to get another gear in, or (if this is even possible) overdrive.
I'll keep you all posted!
Update! September 30th, 2015
Well it's been a little while, so here we gooooooooooooo....
I was last in Portland when my beloved Berni took a turn for the worst. She had been putzing around for quite a while and after fixing an electrical gremlin in the way of a supposed anti theft idea went wrong, her timing belt snapped one day while she was being started. Now Berni has an interference engine. What this means is that there are working parts of the engine that slide between each other in perfect synchronous way. If this goes wrong aka your timing belt breaks it can bend your valves and you loose compression. If you loos compression you loose the ability to make your engine work like it's supposed to.
With that having happened my Dad and I are starting to take the engine out and see what the damage was. We have started the process of pulling the engine out, which is rather extensive. My Dad estimates that we have another half day of work till the engine is free. I intend on fixing her still! It shall be my winter project.
Stay posted for updates!
I was last in Portland when my beloved Berni took a turn for the worst. She had been putzing around for quite a while and after fixing an electrical gremlin in the way of a supposed anti theft idea went wrong, her timing belt snapped one day while she was being started. Now Berni has an interference engine. What this means is that there are working parts of the engine that slide between each other in perfect synchronous way. If this goes wrong aka your timing belt breaks it can bend your valves and you loose compression. If you loos compression you loose the ability to make your engine work like it's supposed to.
With that having happened my Dad and I are starting to take the engine out and see what the damage was. We have started the process of pulling the engine out, which is rather extensive. My Dad estimates that we have another half day of work till the engine is free. I intend on fixing her still! It shall be my winter project.
Stay posted for updates!
January 16th 2014
During the day on Friday I was having a bit of a rough day. I was feeling poorly about my performance at my job and my supervisor had asked me to chat with them. Which wasn't a big deal, but was nerve-wracking all the same. I went to lunch with my mom and my mood didn't improve. Luckily after lunch my ability to do something useful at work suddenly exploded and I had an excellent and productive rest of the day! My supervisor even commented that she thought that was one of the best day I had had.
Being on this high I went directly to meet and old friend I hadn't seen since high school. She had went to school gotten her degree and then joined the peace corps. She was in Peru doing medical related things there and remarked that it had been the highest highs and lowest lows of her life. She said she was really happy with life and she is returning to do a research project!
My day only continued to improve; when I am excited or happy I tend to go a little crazy and just do more things. Like Friday night I was so amped up from the good day at work and my friend that I decided I should go on a run! I had been feeling a little fat from the holidays and felt that I should do something about it. I proceeded to go running at 10pm in 30 or 40 degree weather for 2 miles. It took me about 20 minutes to get to my destination. Now keep in mind, I don't think I had gone running for about half a year. My run felt great and I ran to my friends house and they took me home.
Saturdays awesomeness was no exception. I went to my parents house as my car died when it was really snowy. She decided not to start on my third day of work which was interesting to say the least. My dad and I had tinkered around trying to diagnose her for a few days before. Pulling circuits and checking the draw on the battery which was being drawn down amazingly fast. Turns out that there are batteries within the instrument panel which control the computer in the car. My dad pulled out the instrument panel, which I had done months ago to try and see what was wrong with my tachometer. Turns out that if these batteries go dead then everything; battery, the whole instrument cluster, and other related areas stop functioning.
Dad and I take out the board and go into surgery! A new cluster would cost 500$ but some new batteries and a place to put them would be much much cheaper. On the kitchen table we got out the soldering iron and went to work. First the old batteries and the cases they came in had to be removed from the board. Then we made a connection to where the old batteries were to a remote location for the new batteries. AKA we ran some wires in the old section which linked ot a box that now contained the new batteries. That way if they ever needed changed again we would be able to easily get to them instead of having to take out the entire cluster. It was a total success! I drove her home that day :D
****My dad did the majority of the work and I give credit to him for being so awesome and teaching me to be awesome in turn.
Being on this high I went directly to meet and old friend I hadn't seen since high school. She had went to school gotten her degree and then joined the peace corps. She was in Peru doing medical related things there and remarked that it had been the highest highs and lowest lows of her life. She said she was really happy with life and she is returning to do a research project!
My day only continued to improve; when I am excited or happy I tend to go a little crazy and just do more things. Like Friday night I was so amped up from the good day at work and my friend that I decided I should go on a run! I had been feeling a little fat from the holidays and felt that I should do something about it. I proceeded to go running at 10pm in 30 or 40 degree weather for 2 miles. It took me about 20 minutes to get to my destination. Now keep in mind, I don't think I had gone running for about half a year. My run felt great and I ran to my friends house and they took me home.
Saturdays awesomeness was no exception. I went to my parents house as my car died when it was really snowy. She decided not to start on my third day of work which was interesting to say the least. My dad and I had tinkered around trying to diagnose her for a few days before. Pulling circuits and checking the draw on the battery which was being drawn down amazingly fast. Turns out that there are batteries within the instrument panel which control the computer in the car. My dad pulled out the instrument panel, which I had done months ago to try and see what was wrong with my tachometer. Turns out that if these batteries go dead then everything; battery, the whole instrument cluster, and other related areas stop functioning.
Dad and I take out the board and go into surgery! A new cluster would cost 500$ but some new batteries and a place to put them would be much much cheaper. On the kitchen table we got out the soldering iron and went to work. First the old batteries and the cases they came in had to be removed from the board. Then we made a connection to where the old batteries were to a remote location for the new batteries. AKA we ran some wires in the old section which linked ot a box that now contained the new batteries. That way if they ever needed changed again we would be able to easily get to them instead of having to take out the entire cluster. It was a total success! I drove her home that day :D
****My dad did the majority of the work and I give credit to him for being so awesome and teaching me to be awesome in turn.