Update

I've got the day off so I run by my mechanic's to see if there's any update or progress on the Daytona.  I see the Daytona has moved from the work area to the AC charging area.  This gives me hope.  The hood is up at the charging station and there is a mechanic working on it.

My mechanic tells me that the Daytona needed a new evaporator core and that they're double checking everything now.  When I ask him about the oil leak he says that is fixed as well.  It was nothing more than a bad oil sending unit.  Those are cheap and easy to replace so that's some good news.

I ask my mechanic what the repair bill is so far ... I'm thinking about $500 or so dollars.

We're up to about $800 to $900 so far.

Sweet Lord!

Okay, no problem.  I've got the cash to cover that but it's going to hit me kind of hard in the buffer I had for this Dodge.

I look over at the Daytona.

Soon.

It's been almost six weeks since I've rowed gears in it and I'm anxious to have it back in my garage.  I've worked a lot lately, extra shifts, so I've been tired, real tired and that means that you don't ride a motorcycle or it's like playing Russian Roulette so I've been driving my '86 TA almost every work day.  That's gotten expensive lately, the TA likes to guzzle gas whereas the Honda and Daytona simply sip gas.

My mechanic says that the Daytona will definitely be ready Friday.

Two more days.

Finally.

Update

I call my mechanic around lunch to see if the Daytona will be ready.  He says that he's trying to get it fixed by this afternoon and if he can it will be ready at closing time.  He'll call me if he gets it ready.

The shop closes for the week / weekend.

I don't get a phone call.

Maybe next week I'll get the Daytona back.

Even more AC problems

Wednesday.

My weekly day off.  I go by my mechanic's shop to check on the Daytona.  The compressor is in but now the system still won't hold a charge.  He thinks it's the evaporator core up in the dash.  No, not in the dash.  Please don't go in the dash.  Bad things happen when you go in the dash.  There's lots of wires and things and important stuff in there and stuff stops working like radio or radio speakers or cigarette lighter or a whole bunch of stuff and things get put back together wrong and panels never fit and it's just not the same any more when a mechanic goes into your car's dash.

He's hoping it won't come to that but I might be looking at an evaporator core as well.

More money.

Murphy is getting greedy lately.

My mechanic tells me that the Daytona should be ready Friday.  Late Friday.  Call him then to see if it is or not.

I leave my mechanic's place with a sense of dread.  The dash of your car is like Mordor.  One does not simply go into the dash of your car and expect to come out the same again.

Why?  Oh, why did it have to involve pulling the dash?

More AC problems

Wednesday.

I have the day off, it's my flex day in my four day work week.  I run by the mechanic and ask him if there's any news on the Daytona.  I feel like I'm visiting a loved one in the ICU.  He says that the compressor is bad and he's got another one coming later that day.  The Daytona should be ready Friday, check with him then.

Okay.

Pickup coil.  Daytona running again.

AC lines changed out, AC converted from Freon to R134A.  Bad compressor.  New compressor on the way.  Bill getting larger but that's okay, I put away some money for this adventure and that included a bit of a cushion in case something like this happened to the Daytona after I got it.

Take that, Murphy.

Problems with the AC

I've been gone a week on vacation.  The Daytona has been with my mechanic sixteen days now, over two weeks and I go to check on it.  My mechanic has the Daytona running again.

Fist pump.

Yay.

Apparently it was a bad pickup coil in the distributor, also apparently a common problem with these cars from back in the day.  Yeah, I thought it might be the "fire" part of the triad of the miracle of internal combustion but a pickup coil?  Nope, didn't have a spare one on me and if I did I might not could have put it on while stranded on the side of the road so while my MacGuyver skills are leet I'm not that good.

The AC has been switched over from Freon to R134A, no problem.

However, the system isn't holding a charge.  Problem.  My mechanic thinks it's the compressor.  It's either leaking or bad.  Great.  I tell him to do what it takes to get the AC running because I need AC in a Mississippi summer.  Without AC, you're doomed to a slow death sentence.

My mechanic tells me to check back later in the week or he'll call when its ready.

So, no Daytona back in my garage today.

Checking on the Daytona

It's been a long week.  In three days I've accumulated 28 hours when I should have only gotten 24 so that means that tomorrow I'm working a half day, four hours and then I'm off for a three day weekend.  I don't have a big 4th of July blowout planned, just Cindy's family over for a cookout and then a long weekend of packing for a week long trip to Gatlinburg, TN ... my yearly sabbatical / pilgrimage to the Great Smoky Mountains.

I worked last night so when I got up this morning and headed to work I was doing about 23 hours of work and 1 hour of sleep.  I asked God to give me strength, freebased a 5 Hour Energy, hopped on the Honda and rode to work.  I got home around noon and my family and I went out to check on the Lincoln (which I had for sale with someone I know), check on the Daytona and get something to eat.  We take my wife's car.

The Lincoln has some interested lookers and one guy who says he wants to buy it.  I tell my seller to have the guy call me later.

We ride by my mechanic's shop and I go in and check on the Daytona.  The Daytona died on the mechanic.  Apparently, the Daytona will run for a while, reach a certain temperature and just shut off and it won't restart until it cools down again.  He thinks the problem is in the distributor.  The AC hose came in but he's swamped.  I tell him don't worry, I'm going on vacation and won't be back for about ten days so take his time and I'll check with him Monday week when I get back.

I leave the Daytona in the hands of my mechanic and take the family to get something to eat at Hardee's (Carl's Jr. for you yankees and westerners).