Wreck on the front straightaway

Every great racecar driver has at one time or another, limped home with a wrecked car. This past Tuesday, I did just that.

MsNscr has now been involved in her very first accident with another person. <sigh>

SS and I were out for an afternoon drive, when the GMC Sierra 1500 truck in front of me, suddenly came to a complete stop in the middle of the street. Dead. Stop. I slammed on the brakes, but since I don’t have ABS, my car slid right into her trailer hitch. Totally my fault. Fuuuuuuuuuck!

The damage is not great, but it’s definitely not horrible. I was able to drive away with no issues, and although the radiator is cracked on the top, it’s still full four days later. I’ll need a new radiator and fan assembly, a new a/c condenser, a new hood, and a new headlight housing. I’m hoping the bumper doesn’t need to be replaced, but we’ll see once we get things taken apart.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt. All parties drove away with all limbs still attached, and no headaches. Yet.

Now the fun stuff. Let the rebuild begin…..

Add to list: Speaker Installation

Every day, I get into my car and look around. I look around at all the things I could replace or fix that are showing their 15 year age. I’m realistic. I cannot afford a new car, so it’s my responsibility to take care of the one I have. I’ve taken care of all the necessary fixes under the hood, and she appreciates it, I can tell. Now, it’s time to concentrate on the inside.

The other day, I turned up my stereo to blare the new Leah Turner song (Take the Keys), and noticed it was very crackly. So, I said out loud, “Guess it’s time to replace the speakers.”

Six years ago, Jeff replaced my back speakers. If there’s anything I can do well, it’s learn by watching. So, when I announced I was taking on this challenge, I knew it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle. (I learned more from that man than I’ll ever realize. I hope he knows. He’d gloat that accomplishment. As he should.)

I called the one person I figured knew something about it, and got the answer to the two questions I had. I was ready.

Sunday morning, I pulled my car into the garage, turned up the stereo we have out there, and started with the driver door panel. Within minutes I had the speaker out.

“Ha”, I thought to myself. “I got this. This is gonna be easy.”

With a few battle scars, I finished the job in just under an hour and a half. A huge success, and I’m proud of myself.

These were the speakers I took out. Front ones (on the right), weren’t so bad. Back ones (on the left), totally needed to be replaced. Ouch!

I didn’t take any pictures while I was doing it because I was so focused on what I was doing (and singing, of course). Next time I’ll make sure someone else is there with me. If for nothing else, PHOTO OP!!

I guess I can add ‘speaker installation’ to the list of things I know how to do on my car.

More repairs

Remember this post?

Well, after I wrote it, I never was able to get in touch with him again. I’m quite certain Jeff found out he was going to help me, and told him to stop all communication with me. Childish, but whatever. That’s Jeff. (rolling eyes)

Friday, I get home from work, and was relieved that I didn’t have anything to do or anywhere to go till Monday. Thrilled actually. Until I got in my car at midnight to satisfy an iced tea addiction, and it wouldn’t start. I was immediately annoyed, but figured that since it was midnight, it didn’t really matter. So back to bed I went.

The next morning, I ran through an entire laundry list of things I knew to check. Even replaced the battery. Still no dice. No power anywhere. It had to be a stupid simple thing. I just knew it did. Grrr. Obviously a much more skilled mechanic would have probably caught what was wrong, but I didn’t. I just don’t know everything.

Ended up having to have her towed to the place that does all our mechanical work at The Ranch. RM#1 was nice enough to be there when they came and got it. You know, I’m getting kind of tired of seeing her up on that damn truck.

When they called to tell me the news, I almost fell out of my chair. I felt so stupid, I was embarrassed to tell people.

Negative battery cable was damaged.

They replaced. $26 out the door. THEN he sprung it on me. I knew it was coming, but I was hoping they wouldn’t make a big deal of it. Turns out, that timing chain cover noise, wasn’t a timing chain cover noise at all. Ended up being a water pump. Interesting right? I’m a little confused by it, and would love to know how it could have possibly been falling off without my car showing the least bit of overheating, but whatever. I just want it fixed. I only have this bad boy for a few more days. (Yay for trainers that like to loan out their vehicles.)

When I picked up my car today, do you want to know what the best thing in the whole world at that very moment was?

IT DIDN’T KNOCK/CLACK ANYMORE.

Sometimes, it’s the little things in life that make it so exciting.

Watch out, y’all. MsNscr is back! Again. ;-)

Might not need a new one…

It’s car time again.

About two months ago, my car started making a knocking sound. My initial reaction was to be mad or upset, but in the past, that’s never done me any good. It’s gotten me nothing more than a bunch of people angry at me and unwilling to help. Totally not worth it.

For weeks I tried to get in touch with my mechanic (the friend of Jeffy’s that has been doing my car work for over six years), but was unsuccessful.

I’ve gone back and forth about getting a new car. Honestly, it all comes down to not being able to afford a car payment every month, plus the rise in insurance. I’ve gone through every penny, and just can’t come up with the unrealistic number they want every month. Just can’t. Not with how things are currently.

Boss#1 told me he would help. He volunteered to go down to the dealer with me and negotiate. He even went so far as to say he would cosign for me so that I could get the Zero down, Zero interest, etc., deals they were offering (because his credit is incredibly perfect). He wanted to see me in a new car, because after all, I run his office. If I don’t show up to work because I don’t have a car to get there, his business doesn’t run smoothly. And when production companies are upset because they’re talking to people in my office that don’t know what’s happening, it’s not a good thing. Plus, he knows how much I hated driving that big ugly white Rapist van. Remember that thing….

Today, I finally got in touch with my mechanic. He came over, and as soon as I turned my car on, he knew what it was. Finally. An official diagnosis.

Timing Chain House is loose. Making a knocking sound.

He says he can have it done this week.

The whole time I’ve been housesitting (total of five weeks), I’ve been driving her Big Beast of a truck around. I can’t wait to get back into my car. So much easier to swerve in and out of traffic in a little car. With this Beast, I tend to forget about the weight difference when stopping. Oops. ;-)

Car work

I’ve had to do some necessary things to my car.

I learned how to change spark plugs and wires. Never done it before. Never had anyone change them while I was around, so never got the opportunity to learn. Until now. Took about 10 minutes. Awesome.

I learned how to change the valve cover gasket. That was very interesting to me. To be able to see the in’s and out’s of what makes my car run, was fascinating. RM#1 just laughed when she heard me say This is so cool. I’m so excited to do this. Took about 20 minutes. More awesome.

A special thanks to a friend who helped.

Oh! And one of the greatest things? He fixed a really obnoxious rattle I had. Most awesome.

Spark plugs: $9.96

Plug wires: $31.99

Valve Cover Gasket: $19.99

Saving hundreds on labor charges: Priceless.