<VV> Self pity and whining

[norman.Witte at comcast.net]

I should probably wait until tomorrow to send this email, but I need to vent.  I am probably as discouraged as I have ever been with my old cars, and that's saying a lot, if you know the story of what happened to my red Corsa a couple of years ago.  The red Corsa has seen little use for the last two years because I tried to make some "improvements" to the carbs and ever since the car has run like crap.  I have tried a number of times to fix the problem to no avail.  Of greater concern is that the car needs a bolted flywheel.  Those of you who were around when I went through the engine rebuild may recall that shortly after I got the motor back in and running, we had to pull back out again because I did not replace the pilot bushing and throwout bearing.  Now, of course, the motor has to come out yet again for the flywheel. I dare not drive it because I'm sure one of these times I am going to bust the snout of my new starter.

Anyway, tonight I came home from work, grabbed the convertible, and went back to the office to get some work done.  Last fall the car had this problem where if you drove it for awhile and then parked it for a short time, it would start, but then sputter to a stop.  Then you could crank it and it would act like it was going to start, but it wouldn't stay running.  Then, suddenly, it would fire and run.  Over the winter the carb was rebuilt and I thought this problem was licked.  

I was wrong.  I drove from the office to church to pick up my son from youth group.  In a repeat of the one other time I used it to pick him up from youth group, we got about half a mile and the dang thing died on me.  My wife came and picked us up and the car is sitting in a parking lot.  

I can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong.  It seems to be getting some spark, because it will briefly catch and stutter.  I don't think the Pertronix is bad because I can't see how that would relate to shutting the car down.  I think its not getting enough gas because I can pump the accelerator heavily, and it doesn't flood, it just does the same sputtery thing.  I thought about vapor lock--I don't know much about it--but I thought that required hot weather, and tonight it was fairly mild, maybe in the upper sixties.  

Last time I drove the '63 Olds the generator light came on.  I rushed it home to the barn and there it sits.  

I'm not half the mechanic most of the people on this list are.  I am starting to wonder if it is worth the time, energy and money that I spend to have these things.  I love my Corvairs, but tonight I wish I had never seen them.  Some people have nice, shiny Toyotas that just go when you need them to.  I have five headaches that are constantly demanding my attention.

Tomorrow is a new day and I am sure that when I go to start the car in the morning, it will start and I will be able to drive it out of there.   But sometimes I wonder what passion for self-inflicted pain makes me keep doing this.

Sorry for the whining.  I am sure it will all look somewhat better in the morning.

Norm Witte