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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Another milestone

For all you lovers of homely Swedish automobiles, at 12:21 p.m. today, at this stretch of Interstate--



located one mile from the I-59/I-459 interchange, the I Am A Moron Project turned over 225,000 miles.



Approximately. I mean, there was several years in there where the previous owner didn't have an operable odometer, but he did keep up with his mileage through the use of a highly entertaining and somewhat disturbing set of office calendars, where he obsessively would track his mileage driven to and from work each day, along with gas prices and repair work. Adding up the mileage of all the separate entries allowed me to piece together a workable estimate of total mileage that I used when I repaired the odometer gear. It's not exact, but I will say it's probably pretty darned close.

So, a tip of the hat to the fellows in Gothenburg who designed him, and to the folks in Torslanda who put him together.

As a special birthday present (of sorts), I have a couple of new things to put on that I found on eBay. One is a remote oil filter adapter--no more trying to reach under the exhaust manifold and alternator--and the other is a new third brake light with an UNCRACKED cover. Yeah, I know--sweeeet.

(And yes, I know the temp gauge looks like it's about to explode, but it went back down to normal soon after the photo was taken. Don't know if I have a sticky thermostat or just need to change out the coolant. I will take care of it, though.)

1 Comments:

Blogger Terry said...

Thank you so much for dropping by, Chris!

Old cars of any sort tend to get under a person's skin, no matter if it's a Volvo or a Vanwall. One of the nice things about them is if you DO want to learn some mechanic skills, there's nothing like on-the-job training.

First thing to do is get yourself a Bentley manual, and the second is a subscription to the IPD catalog. The Bentley book will give you some idea of what's wrong with your idle and how to fix it (could be fuel pump, fuel pump relay, or idle speed control valve), and IPD is a good source for factory grade parts. Other vendors in the sidebar can help you, too, but IPD's been doing it for a long time, and even if you do buy from someone else, the catalog is a good way to find out what you need.

Best of luck to you, and please do keep in touch.

August 11, 2006 10:50 AM  

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