ozoneblue

Hey Olds guy glad to hear somebody else knows electricity has a odor

Bluevista

I'm going back to find those guys and have them shoot me now.

Lady72nRob71

Hehe...
That was the best story I could come up with in such a limited time...
Certainly not the best; although you did get a happier ending...

Lady72nRob71

Only when it is confronted though - kinda like a pissed skunk...
Mmmmmm... Barbequed silicon!

Lady72nRob71

Okay, so back on to a more serious path...

Today I got the Ford cluster apart very carefully (it pretty much fell apart) and only the back white cover is crumbly. The rest of it is fine (shown in last 2 pics.)
See pics below.

I passed up any possiblity to glue or coat it, as you can see how much it crumbled just by removing the flex circuit and fuel gauge. I have no experience with fibreglass, so i am going to pass on that, unless it is much easier than I think... I would probably end up making myself into a statue...

What would you guys do to make a replacement cover?
I am almost ready to go the thin 1/16" aluminum way (if I can find some cheap aluminum plate stock) and bend it up and cut holes and use outer brackets to hold the speedo and gas gauge. Film cans can make good light guides for the idiot lights (of which half are not hooked up anyway due to gauges added) ...

Here is where I wish I had one of those "Smithy" milling machines so i can machine one out of a big chunk o' plastic. Hmm... where would I get the chunk o' plastic for that matter...

citcapp

Boy that is something. try paper mache like you used in grade school. that what that crap looks like. Where is McGiver when you need him.

mugzilla

I took my '65 Dodge Polara to a tire shop ...

I watch as the mechanic (doesn't know thread is backwards) has trouble removing a lug nut . He cranks up the torque and spins a lug off ...

I yell at him those are reverse threads ...

He reverses the air wrench, tries the next bolt which is tight and won't go easily. So he reverses the wrench again cranks UP the torque and spins off a lug ...

Now I'm screaming at him ...

"Get away from my car " ...

I go to the manager and tell him to take my car off the lift so I can leave. He says he can't let me go as it would be unsafe and tells me how much it will be to fix ...

I eventually got them to fix the lugs which meant pulling and truing rear brake drum ...

Took me three hours to change that tire ....

Lady72nRob71

He lives just a couple miles north of me doing a complete rebuild of a red '66 Cutlass...
I woulder what he would think up??


That crappy plastic had PP stamped in it - polypropylene??

Lady72nRob71

Crap!
They F it up and want you to pay? Ha! I am glad you got them to see it the RIGHT way!
Only 3 hours for a tire? I had it worse.
I went to the Harley shop 2 years ago to have both tires of my bike replaced. After hours and hours of waiting, excuse after excuse, one guy said it was done. Ten minutes later I went back there to check and they said they did the WRONG black Sportster...
After another 1.5 hours ( a total of 4 and a half hours) they WERE done. They did not wash the bike as said and they had the ***** to charge me an unestimated $5 more for an axle pin.
$385 bucks and this is the service i got - not worth it IMHO...

I will never again have my service work done at that shop...

gearheads78

Rob I might have what you need burried in my shed from the 72 I parted out. Don't count on it 100% but I will try to look this week.

PS who around here is building a 65 I need to check it out.. Think its anywhere as nice as my 66?

Lady72nRob71

Who said 65? I said 66... I was referring to yours! Maybe bad eyesight? It starts around age 35 or so...

Please let me know what you find out there... I wonder what other goodies are lurking about in that shed!

Oh, and don't worry about your eyesight, i edited my post...

wolfman98

had a similar problem putting on new front pads on my Mustang. They told me that they had to replace the rotors cause the rivets caused damage. That was true so I agreed to have it done ( they don't allow you in the shop for insurance reasons ) Within a month my brakes were shuttering under braking so this time I decided to remove the wheel and take a look to find that they had not changed the left side and it ruined the new pads on that side. I took off the disc and took it back into the shop with the bill. He argued that they changed it and could not replace it or the pads. Pissed me off so much that I gave it back to him by dropping it on his desk which had a glass covered date calender , smashed it to bits. I then went to another mechanic I knew to talk to my lawyer who sent them a letter stating that if they did not refund my money they would be sued. I got a full refund minus lawyer fees though I only needed the left side redone.

citcapp

When I had new wide white Radials put on my 57 at a cost of $1200.00 dollars (5 tires) the local discount tire shop stained two of the tires with the soap they used to mount the tires. When I complained they said it would clean up when I washed them at home. The stains did not come off even with white wall cleaner. Went back, they said it must be something I did because they never had the problem before. Makes you want to kill someone. Now I am putting disc brakes on the 57 and converting to 15" rims with another set of wide whites (another $1200.00) and am afraid to have them done at any of the local tire stores. Nothing but a bunch of kids who don't care running the machines. Currently looking for anyone who has a tire changer and I will do the work myself. Oh for and old service station like we used to have

Eric Anderson

It must be something about tire shops that attracts the less than brilliant. I had a trans am with a set of keystone wheels on it, the type with the oblong holes that require washers to fit different bolt patterns, anyway got new tires put on and I told them you can't use the air gun on them because of the washers I of course got the " we do them all of the time, always put them on by hand bla, bla, bla" of course car comes out of the shop used a gun shredded the lug nuts tore up the wheels the washers were all bent idiots, all I got was the the lug nuts and washers replaced. Same shop after this incedent, my boss at the time needed tires for the company dump truck, I told him not to go there, he did, about a week later one of the guys was hauling a load of gravel and noticed a wheel pass him, a second later boom, he was driving on the brake drum, they didn't line the bumps on the outside wheel up with the divit on the inside wheel. They had to replace the two wheels and a brake drum, but if those tires had hit an oncoming vehicle... That's my tire shop rant

Lady72nRob71

Ain't that the bloody truth...
Ask some of those morons about standard hub-centric balancing vs. lug-centric balancing (that Olds SSII's require) and listen to their little minds POP! (Much like a paradigm shifting without a clutch... )

Bluevista

I jest, you used up all the smiley space and it wouldn't let me post any more with yours quoted.

"You have included 23 images in your message. You are limited to using 20 images so please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.

Images include use of smilies, the vB code [img] tag and HTML <img> tags. The use of these is all subject to them being enabled by the administrator."

This site needs to modernize and get those animated smilies so everybody could really go nuts. Call it Classic Olds Power, COP for short.


I likey happy endings.

Mike77

Repair rants, I 'll try to keep short.

Brand new 97 S-10 pick up. Every time I go over speed bump back axle goes squeek, squeek. Dealer says it's ready. Grease gooped all over the rear sprins and bushings. What a mess. Week later squeek squeek greased washed off. After 4 time for repair , dealer says ready. walk up to truck push down on box with my hand, squeek, squeek. I was pissed. Had them change entire rear leaf assembly.

Brand new 95 Blazer evertime I go over speed bump front end squeek, squeek. See above. only took 6 times for entire new front end.

Same 95 Blazer LP switch on A/C blows out ,loose refrigerant. Dealer changes switch recharges refrigerant. Mechanic manages to blow refrigerant oil all over engine compartment buggers up shiny plastic wiper cowl trim. Big piece, claims it was like that. Then wife is driving and the car won't slow down same mechanic managed to jam rubber intake air tube onto throttle body and bust off a piece. Jams throttle body open she almost ran someone over. I'm pissed. Call GM head office and threaten law suit. 6 week they finally fix everything.

Same 95 blazer out of warranty. heater core fails. I'm sick as a dog and I say to wife ,get an estimate I don't have the time. $1200.00. Gotta take out the dash, yuck. Ok do it. Wife takes to dealer all of a sudden it's $1600.00. They say gotta take out the evaporator coil, refrigerant etc, etc. I say no they don't only after 97 this is a 95. Call dealer , buddy look at the service manual where in there does it even mention anything about A/C removal, not required! give me your manager. Manager, I will review with my head mechanic. They call back, we stand by our estimate. I'm pissed. Tell them don't touch my truck. I spend saturday changing heater core and puking never touched the A/C side.

And GM wonders why they are in trouble.
I got more, want to hear?

Lady72nRob71

I have a coworker with exact same truck, exact same problem. Engine also burns coolant...

If you got the stories and the time, fire away! That is what this thread is for! (And also for others to give advice on my crumbly dash cluster...)

Lady72nRob71

But aren't my stories graphical though??

Yes, we could use a few more smileys to choose from also. Take a look at how many the Pinto site offers!

But then again, i am glad you did not have all those choices - you would have used the "puke" one a few times...

Mike77

Ok you asked!
I do have the time off work sick, so I 'm playing on the computer.
Intersting what you said about the blazer burning coolant. I still have as a tow vehicle for my kart trailer. 230,00km. One of the frost plugs rotted out. At the rear. Well I actually changed it with the engine still in. Everyone said It couldn't be done. They shouldn't have said that!

So, same Blazer under warranty when the A/C LP switch fails again. dealer repairs and its not right. Wife know nothing about cars and she says why is the engine surging while I am driving. I check it out and the A/C compressor is surging like a mad ***** and is a block of ice. Back to the dealer 5 times to re-charge. Still same. Now I am a refrigeration mechanic for 30 years and he starts giving me some BS about how that's the way its suppose to be. I tell him I want the charging chart he used for the refrigerant he installed. I call GM HQ. I get the regional manager to come out we have an appointment to review. So I bring an IDENTICAL truck and my truck. Start the A/C on both. Mine is cycling and icing up the other is normal. So now I get both of them giving the biggest bunch of BS I ever heard. I am pissed. I leave. I buy a $125.00 GM Service manual for the truck. I read for about 15 minutes and discover 2 types of compressor are used. Variable displacement and cycle control. The mechanic used the wrong chart. I drive to a different dealer and go up to the service manager and tell him this is my problem,this is how you are going to fix it. he starts to contradicte me, well the anger in my eyes must have stopped him, I said you either do exactly as what I am saying or there is going to be hell to pay. they do it , never had a problem since.
Aren't new cars fun.

ent72olds

Kind of a strange one for ypor enjoyment, but the tables were turned on this one! About 15 yrs ago, I worked in a Lincoln-Mercury Dealer bodyshop in upstate NY. An old dude comes in with his pride and joy '86 Town Car. Car was hit down the whole side and a borderline total. Already had a "did it my self" Krylon metallic gray spray can job on the whole car! We took in the job and I went to work on it. I told my boss when time came to paint"what am I supposed to do with this?" He said paint it. "It'll look better than the rest of the car, maybe he'll want the rest painted!" So, I did...he came to pick it up. The side we did looked like the car was new!......then there was the side he did ! Needless to say, he was irrate! He wouldn't take the car. "It don't look like the rest of the caaaar", "I don't like it"....I say, "but it looks beautiful, like new", ...."it don't look like the rest of the caaaaar!" He went home without car. Now I was mad because we were paid flat rate and I had to eat the "redo". The bigger question was, what am I going to do here? I decided to mix 1:1 the color I had with clear and just sprayed all angry, non-stop with no flash in between coats. I made sure to run and drip it, stripe the metallic and I also added flattener to it. The cherry on top was.....I grabbed some dust and dirt off the window sills or wherever, and sprinkled it all over the wet paint. I walked out of the booth and told my boss, "car's done, call him to pick up in an hour!" "WHAT!" He came to pick up and said , "now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" Looks perfect!!!!

OLD SKL 69

That's pretty funny Erik.

Okay, I thought of one for all of you. I had an 85 Riviera Convertible that I drove and put about 210k on it. Best car I ever owned. I was always told that the weakest link in those cars was the transmission. They just did not last more than 100k. I changed the fluid every 20-25k and it worked great up until 169k on the odometer. When I started to slow down it would almost stall. Figured that it needed to go to a tranny shop and I did not have the time myself to go over it. Dropped it off at a Lee Myles. Guy tells me that I need an overhaul after looking it over. I said go ahead. Well he starts to work on it and calls me up to tell me that the heads also need to be removed because the the head gaskets are leaking coolant. I told him I did not have a coolant leak, I would have noticed it. That should have been my 1st clue. Well, one week and an $1800 tranny rebuild later I got my car back. Took it out on the highway and then noticed it had the same problem again. Took it back again. They told me everything was fine and they could not duplicate the problem. I picked it up, did the same thing. Now I am pissed. Bring it back again. Guy calls me up later that day, tells me he left my car idling for 3HOURS and then took it for a drive and it was fine. I get it back and it is still doing it. Talked to another friend who told me that the overdrive solenoid might be the problem. Bought it and put it in, no problems anymore!

So, does that mean I did not need to replace the tranny in the 1st place??? Called up Lee Myles and ripped them a new one. They did not care.

20k later it would not go into reverse. Took it to another shop, told me they had to rebuild the entire tranny because the reverse bands were behind everything else. This shop also told me that the reverse bands were original and were never changed as the 1st shop told me they did. Another $1300 and it was finally fixed.

This is why I just do not trust anyone else to work on my car! They simply do not care for it as much as I do.

mugzilla

When I paint my my '70 442 I am going to specify , No clear coat and could you give me some of that Factory Orange Peal pleaz ...

gearheads78

Rob I looked when I was off yesterday. Sorry I have the gauges but not the part you need. I threw it our when I junked the car.

Lady72nRob71

No problem Richard; - thanks for looking. I would not have expected you to be holding on to old Ford parts that long anyway...
Knowing your MacGyver character, I was hoping you would have found some sort of other magic trick in that shed instead...

How is your '66 doing? It has been warm out lately, so you better take advantage of it before the 100*+ days start up in a couple months...
You know how our TX weather is. I am going cruising somewhere tomorrow...