I brought my car ('73 TR6) home on the freeway; a trip of well
over one hundred miles. When I went out the next day to start
it, I got about one and a half rrrs, and then nothing. Figuring
the PO set me up with a battery on it's last legs, today I went
down to Les Schwab and put down about seventy-five bucks on one
of his finest.
As I was installing it, attaching the positive cable, I heard a
click from the front of the car. I took the cable off, and it
was there again. (Thunk)<click!> (Thunk)<click!> (Thunk)<click!>
It sounds for all the world like a relay closing, and I'm
wondering if something is stuck. The sound comes from the front
of the car, it sounds like around the horns. I disconnected the
horns (no button anyway, something else for The List) but that
didn't make the sound go away. I have a suspicion that if I try
to start it in the morning, this battery will be drained as well.
What's up there that sounds like a relay?
Anyway, I put the new battery in and fired her up. Got a few
miles from home, when she quit dead. The PO (remember him?) said
that at one point he had run the car clear out of gas, and that a
bunch of crap from the tank had gotten into the lines. He was
kind enough to show me how to disassemble the filter and clean
out the smutch. I did this twice, and the car ran fine after
that.
It clunks from the rear going into reverse, first, second, third,
and forth, although by the time I get to forth the noise is up
far enough I can't hear it. For a brief while I thought of
getting better speakers for the radio, but what would be the
point? Anyway, I have my Very Own Clunk to chase down and cure.
I can only imagine that the cure becomes more expensive with
time.
The transmission does not shift very smoothly; I suspect the
linkage is worn. The headlights flicker from bright to brighter,
and the gas pedal makes a strange pulsation when we're coasting.
What it does have is torque. Torque served up in buckets, torque
in a never ending supply, torque to make you forget about the
hard shifting, the gas on your hands, the dead batteries, the
noise.
My car.
I think I'll keep her.
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