Hits & Misses

So if you recall my last post about Scruffy, I ended it up with the tale of the dash lights having issue. I ordered a pack of LED light bulbs that were supposed to fit my panel. Come to find out, GM in their infinite wisdom made the light sockets hard wired to the lights. I was able to change them out, but it is a rather time consuming task, and for some reason, the outside gauge lights would not work. Got the odometer light working, and the top lights and center gauge lights, and they all look really good, but those outer ones... grrr....

Somewhere in there, I came across this bit of information: some of the later model L series and Vues use the same arrangement of gauges, but with white faces!!! I had been looking at white gauge face overlays and considering doing that, but this sounded even better!!! I considered, and decided that I didn't think that aesthetic would go as well as what I'm heading towards with Scruffy, but with the silver shade of 3, I think it will go quite well. I went to the junkyard last Saturday after work for another of their 40% off days in search of some 16" Ion factory alloys (more on that later), and picked up this cluster out of a Vue, with the nice chrome look bezels to the gauges. Figure I'll swap the one from 3 into scruffy, and hopefully all the lights in that one will work in there. Also picked up another set of visors for Scruffy (ever since we bought her, she came with what looked like pillow case material stitched over the visors; rendered the mirror on the passenger visor unusable, and more recently the clip on part of the drivers' side broke off) as well as the window switch panel to work in the new style console. I'm thinking of buying myself a pair of headlights for 3. Found out there's a place that sells them with blacked out area between the reflector areas, and they look pretty good, but I think the factory style will go better with the silver body.

Way back before the transmission incident, I had taken Scruffy down to my parents' house with a glasspack muffler and a set of flanges. I've been running the original replacement from baby since she found her voice, but it's a bit loud with that deal. Besides, Jade has that same canister style, and it leaks like crazy!!! I'm actually surprised she passed smog with that big of a leak, and I want to put the old one from baby in her next. ANyway, I managed to get one end welded up, and realized it was coming out too short. Ah well, I've got more pipe from the other taken off systems around, I'll finish that off later. Transmission intervened, and it had been a while. A couple weeks back I got back over there and finished off the task. Once again, I'm happy with the results and new, slightly quieter note.

Way back when I got that system made up, I'd made mention of the crappy hanger they'd put on the end. Well, last Thursday it came apart!!! Going out of a driveway it scraped a little, then the rest of the drive you'd hear it scrape when you'd hit a dip. Finally got it detached from the suspension!!! I was glad to have it loose from there, but I'd mothballed her until I could come up with something.

That something was this!!! Bought a rubber insulator mount clamp and some bracketry from my work, and with much modding I managed to come up with this hanger for now. Already better than what was there, but I want to weld on longer bars to the pipe and have a better mounting. A few days before, also made up some bracketery to mount the rear facing camera in both Jade and Scruffy. Also picked up a new battery to replace the slow cranking one, saving $15 getting a Die Hard from K-Mart instead of Sears!!!

Also found a real nice looking pair of headlights for Scruffy at the junkyard. Really improves the look from the front!!!

So about those wheels... Saturday last week after work I go to a pick your part searching for them, and found they only have one with 2 of what I'm looking for. Front left and rear right, both with only one lug nut holding them on. Tried jamming stuff under that front wheel to keep it from turning, and finally see a slot the right size on the brake caliper, jam a screwdriver in there, and succeed in loosening the lug nut!!! Sweet, the back should be easy, just set the parking brake and go to work!!! I go back there, and it's happening just like I planned, got my breaker bar on the nut, and it feels like it's loosening. Nice!!! Until I realize it's rounded off the nut. Forget it, I'll go to another one on Monday and get 'em. Took the younger with me again so he could stand on the brakes while I loosen. Find two there, with four on one and two on the other. For some reason, the one with two, they'd put 65 series tires on them instead of 55's, so it looked strange and I'd be searching for tires real soon if I got those, so I head to the other one. I have the boy stand on the brakes (which wasn't too effective, it was low on fluid) and go to loosen the front one. It spins a bit, but I already know it's secret and still it with a screwdriver again. Start leaning on my breaker bar, and it feels like it's loosening, then I hear a cracking noise... I had a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter on my bar, and the small end was twisting off!!! Grrrr.... I'm done. Found a window regulator for Jade and called it on that one, too.