Ratdog68
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Dad had this nice little car, an '88 Olds Toronado Trofeo. It's the "little one", like the baby Riviera and el Dorado. It's got some issues, but, still a SOLID little car.
When he was still alive, I caught him monkeying with the switch for the electric moon roof... fussing with trying to get the sliding glass to position JUST RIGHT (closed). So... I sat down with him and showed him how it works. "OOOOOHHHHHH !!!!" And, he smiled triumphantly. Well... I should've asked more questions, because he was fussing about water getting inside the car. I associated the "leak" with his monkeying and having an improper seal due to not allowing the switch/motor do what it's designed to do.
Fast forward a couple of years... I go over to bring him a small fan/heater so he can dry out the inside of his car, and find that he's duct taped all around the moon roof, and had a tarp over the car, and tied line to secure it. They'd mentioned they were using "her car" in the winter months, and "his car" in the summer. Again, I didn't ask why, and he didn't tell me. But, now he's damaged the beautiful black paint with his "fix"... and the headliner's hanging down... and... and... "crap". Ok, dad's getting up in years and battling serious health matters... and, it's just a car... ("crap"... sweet little ride though).
Fast forward a couple of more years... dad's died, my step-mother's died a couple of years later. I'd suggested she keep the car in the driveway at her place (she'd already given away her car, and had decided to quit driving) to give appearances that someone still lived there. Well... the poor little thing's now sat in my driveway for a year (after it came home), waiting for me to tend to it. Last time home, it got washed/buffed/waxed, battery charged up, started and given a test drive.
So... aside from the cosmetic issues done to it by an older person's neglect, and the few "bat it around" (parking lot battle scars), it's still a solid little runner, well equipped car. So, this time home, I've been scrubbing on the inside (OMG) LOL and in the process of working through one tire that isn't holding air (another trip to the tire shop is on today's agenda). A good scrubbing of the glass with RainX, some carpet/upholstery shampoo... I'm making progress.
Ok... now to the "lesson". ASK dear ol' dad WHY he's doin' what he's doin' (for those of you that still have him around). While cleaning, I've discovered something, factory installed electric moon roofs have drains that run down the front pillars on either side of the windshield. One of them was plugged up with gunk. So... now I'm on a mission. I learn from Youtube (I LOVE Youtube !!!) that often, there are also REAR drain tubes that run down the REAR pillars !!! Now, it's not a major deal to clean the drain tubes... but KNOWING they're there... and KNOWING that there's a leak problem helps a WHOLE lot. Dad was monkeying with the switch because he didn't know about the plugging drain tubes causing it to overflow and leak into the car.
So, I now have a plan of attack. I KNOW the front drains are cleared, now, I've got to verify that the rear ones are too... and, I'm also learning that foam backed headliner material is CHEAP. I've done the "emergency re-glue" to my pick-up a couple of years ago, so the job isn't "unknown territory".
Another "issue" is the dash cluster... this is an electronic gauge cluster (like the 'Vettes were using in the same era). After dad had died, step-mom had taken it to a local repair shop, and the guy told her it needed a new one... but that they aren't made anymore. Well... now that I'm tinkering, I'm finding that things come and go with it... so, I'm thinking it's got a bad ground connection... so I'm going to see what I can learn about that too. As long as I'm able to fix things on the cheap, I'm happy. Mechanically, it's a solid little runner.
I've also learned (from my last time home, working on the truck) that it's NOT a major expense to switch over from R12 to R134a when the air conditioner is in need of help... it's just a matter of draining ALL of the old R12 from the system, and using a conversion oil R134a to recharge, along with new nipples on the fillers that are R134a compliant (so you don't put the wrong stuff in by accident). "Nephew" not only has all the right tools for it, but works for NAPA... so, I can have the A/C system back up to snuff for under $100 !!! We did the truck last month. I see a recharge in the Oldsmobubble's future. LOL
If I keep this up... this little buggy's gonna have her dignity back intact and ready to roll for another good amount of time. At 25 yrs. old, it's a 50/50 car... looks GREAT at 50' or 50 mph. LOL It's old enough that it doesn't require emissions testing, gets good mileage, loaded with the comforts of home... and I get to enjoy the many good memories of when dad lived with me for six years after he retired (and before he married my step-mother). I was with him when he bought this car, helped him pick it out, helped him with a custom touch here/there, have waxed this thing untold times... and hauled him here/there with it for any/all of life's outings.
When he was still alive, I caught him monkeying with the switch for the electric moon roof... fussing with trying to get the sliding glass to position JUST RIGHT (closed). So... I sat down with him and showed him how it works. "OOOOOHHHHHH !!!!" And, he smiled triumphantly. Well... I should've asked more questions, because he was fussing about water getting inside the car. I associated the "leak" with his monkeying and having an improper seal due to not allowing the switch/motor do what it's designed to do.
Fast forward a couple of years... I go over to bring him a small fan/heater so he can dry out the inside of his car, and find that he's duct taped all around the moon roof, and had a tarp over the car, and tied line to secure it. They'd mentioned they were using "her car" in the winter months, and "his car" in the summer. Again, I didn't ask why, and he didn't tell me. But, now he's damaged the beautiful black paint with his "fix"... and the headliner's hanging down... and... and... "crap". Ok, dad's getting up in years and battling serious health matters... and, it's just a car... ("crap"... sweet little ride though).
Fast forward a couple of more years... dad's died, my step-mother's died a couple of years later. I'd suggested she keep the car in the driveway at her place (she'd already given away her car, and had decided to quit driving) to give appearances that someone still lived there. Well... the poor little thing's now sat in my driveway for a year (after it came home), waiting for me to tend to it. Last time home, it got washed/buffed/waxed, battery charged up, started and given a test drive.
So... aside from the cosmetic issues done to it by an older person's neglect, and the few "bat it around" (parking lot battle scars), it's still a solid little runner, well equipped car. So, this time home, I've been scrubbing on the inside (OMG) LOL and in the process of working through one tire that isn't holding air (another trip to the tire shop is on today's agenda). A good scrubbing of the glass with RainX, some carpet/upholstery shampoo... I'm making progress.
Ok... now to the "lesson". ASK dear ol' dad WHY he's doin' what he's doin' (for those of you that still have him around). While cleaning, I've discovered something, factory installed electric moon roofs have drains that run down the front pillars on either side of the windshield. One of them was plugged up with gunk. So... now I'm on a mission. I learn from Youtube (I LOVE Youtube !!!) that often, there are also REAR drain tubes that run down the REAR pillars !!! Now, it's not a major deal to clean the drain tubes... but KNOWING they're there... and KNOWING that there's a leak problem helps a WHOLE lot. Dad was monkeying with the switch because he didn't know about the plugging drain tubes causing it to overflow and leak into the car.
So, I now have a plan of attack. I KNOW the front drains are cleared, now, I've got to verify that the rear ones are too... and, I'm also learning that foam backed headliner material is CHEAP. I've done the "emergency re-glue" to my pick-up a couple of years ago, so the job isn't "unknown territory".
Another "issue" is the dash cluster... this is an electronic gauge cluster (like the 'Vettes were using in the same era). After dad had died, step-mom had taken it to a local repair shop, and the guy told her it needed a new one... but that they aren't made anymore. Well... now that I'm tinkering, I'm finding that things come and go with it... so, I'm thinking it's got a bad ground connection... so I'm going to see what I can learn about that too. As long as I'm able to fix things on the cheap, I'm happy. Mechanically, it's a solid little runner.
I've also learned (from my last time home, working on the truck) that it's NOT a major expense to switch over from R12 to R134a when the air conditioner is in need of help... it's just a matter of draining ALL of the old R12 from the system, and using a conversion oil R134a to recharge, along with new nipples on the fillers that are R134a compliant (so you don't put the wrong stuff in by accident). "Nephew" not only has all the right tools for it, but works for NAPA... so, I can have the A/C system back up to snuff for under $100 !!! We did the truck last month. I see a recharge in the Oldsmobubble's future. LOL
If I keep this up... this little buggy's gonna have her dignity back intact and ready to roll for another good amount of time. At 25 yrs. old, it's a 50/50 car... looks GREAT at 50' or 50 mph. LOL It's old enough that it doesn't require emissions testing, gets good mileage, loaded with the comforts of home... and I get to enjoy the many good memories of when dad lived with me for six years after he retired (and before he married my step-mother). I was with him when he bought this car, helped him pick it out, helped him with a custom touch here/there, have waxed this thing untold times... and hauled him here/there with it for any/all of life's outings.