(The Bad-Boy Fuel Pump professionally removed)I think the idea came to me when my lazy-ass mechanic never followed through with arranging to get my Corvette towed in. Here's the thing. The car needs some serious mechanical work that I've been putting off since I don't drive the car, but since it was going to be towed in, I figured I'd just go ahead and get it all done, maximizing the cost of the tow. When Buster didn't follow through, I heard this humming noise coming from the computer and the urge to look up, "Changing out fuel pump for 85 Corvette". Almost in a trance I found myself walking in a semi-conscious state punching in exactly that. When I read how simple it was, it had everything but a footnote saying, "MEL, YOU CAN DO THIS".
I wandered out to the garage and found the necessary tools and typically the simple stuff slowed me down. Like pulling of the fuel lines that had been happily in place for 24 years. With the aid of screw drivers, pliers, channel locks and WD-40, I finally got the third one off and removed the 8 bolts holding it in place. The article on the computer said 30 minutes, I personally accomplished it in 2 hours, with a conversation with a lady named Janice thrown in the middle of it for 1 hour. I mention the 1 hour conversation, as it gave the WD-40 time to loosen it's grip on my project.
Why is it that NOTHING is easy? I called the dealer and they wanted $127 for my pump. Then it was NAPA that quoted me $83, but since I had the good fortune of speaking with the store manager, he would personally okay my purchase for $60. Lucky me. I called Buster and asked him who he would use if it were his truck and he said, Penny Pincher Auto Parts on West Van Buren. I called them and it was a meager $44. I'm done with shopping and heading down to that horrible neighborhood for the savings. That's $83 less than my original quote.
If all goes right and it seldom does frankly when I'm turning the wrenches, I should be listening to the purr of the 24 year old engine by sundown, with a minimum of 2 bleeding knuckles! I'll keep you posted...
I wandered out to the garage and found the necessary tools and typically the simple stuff slowed me down. Like pulling of the fuel lines that had been happily in place for 24 years. With the aid of screw drivers, pliers, channel locks and WD-40, I finally got the third one off and removed the 8 bolts holding it in place. The article on the computer said 30 minutes, I personally accomplished it in 2 hours, with a conversation with a lady named Janice thrown in the middle of it for 1 hour. I mention the 1 hour conversation, as it gave the WD-40 time to loosen it's grip on my project.
Why is it that NOTHING is easy? I called the dealer and they wanted $127 for my pump. Then it was NAPA that quoted me $83, but since I had the good fortune of speaking with the store manager, he would personally okay my purchase for $60. Lucky me. I called Buster and asked him who he would use if it were his truck and he said, Penny Pincher Auto Parts on West Van Buren. I called them and it was a meager $44. I'm done with shopping and heading down to that horrible neighborhood for the savings. That's $83 less than my original quote.
If all goes right and it seldom does frankly when I'm turning the wrenches, I should be listening to the purr of the 24 year old engine by sundown, with a minimum of 2 bleeding knuckles! I'll keep you posted...
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