Putting the '76 away for the winter

[plwindish]

Yesterday afternoon I took the '76 on its last drive for 2011 to my daughter's and son-in-law's farm 65 miles away to put it in a larger garage for the winter. A lot of work was done on the car (rebuilt motor, new automatic overdrive trans, radiator repair-twice, ac repair-three times, exhaust system, tires, turner brakes up front, rebuilt rear brakes, new brake lines,rear axle bearings,new gauges, gas tank cleaned, new fuel lines,and xm radio). The car was driven every month except May as the engine rebuild went from April through June. July saw the car being driven from Illinois to Gettysburg for the AOAI convention. A good number of cruise nights were enjoyed as well as a couple of nice road trips to the Illinois Rail Museum and the AACA's Brighton Run from Illinois to Brighton WI. Over 5100 enjoyable miles traveled in the car this year. It was a little sad to do the final drive,fill up, add in stabil, install a battery cut off switch and cover the car in the garage for the winter. But as the eternal Cubs chant goes, "Wait till nest year!" Thoughts of more enjoyable events, drives, Chicagoland AOAI meetings run through my mind, hoping for the winter months to pass quickly.

[Ray K.]

Yesterday afternoon I took the '76 on its last drive for 2011 to my daughter's and son-in-law's farm 65 miles away to put it in a larger garage for the winter. A lot of work was done on the car (rebuilt motor, new automatic overdrive trans, radiator repair-twice, ac repair-three times, exhaust system, tires, turner brakes up front, rebuilt rear brakes, new brake lines,rear axle bearings,new gauges, gas tank cleaned, new fuel lines,and xm radio). The car was driven every month except May as the engine rebuild went from April through June. July saw the car being driven from Illinois to Gettysburg for the AOAI convention. A good number of cruise nights were enjoyed as well as a couple of nice road trips to the Illinois Rail Museum and the AACA's Brighton Run from Illinois to Brighton WI. Over 5100 enjoyable miles traveled in the car this year. It was a little sad to do the final drive,fill up, add in stabil, install a battery cut off switch and cover the car in the garage for the winter. But as the eternal Cubs chant goes, "Wait till nest year!" Thoughts of more enjoyable events, drives, Chicagoland AOAI meetings run through my mind, hoping for the winter months to pass quickly.

[Ray K.]

I hope you replaced the power steering hoses and power valve while the engine was out for rebuilding. On my '82, these parts are very difficult to get to with the engine in place. The hoses will deteriorate after 20-30 years and start leaking. My return hose failed catastrophically where it is attached to the power valve, and emptied all the fluid on the parking lot. Luckily, I was only 2 miles from home at the time.

[plwindish]

Funny you should mention that. One of the hoses had been replaced several years ago. A couple of weeks ago, while getting the brakes redone, the mechanics noticed the whole power steering unit looking wet. They cleaned up the hoses and cylinder and upon checking it, the slave cylinder is the source of the leak. With the tight clearance of the unit, I don't know if the unit can be taken out without removing the engine. Anyway, the leak is a small one and that will be a 2012 project.