Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Keep Calm, Motor On!

I'm at it again, trying to be clever developing logos and such.
I came up with the artwork, My Daughter handled all the computer design stuff.

First it was the logo for my blog, now it's this inspirational shield. This shield sort of summarizes the right approach and attitude you need when dealing with hobby cars. When problems or complications occur, keep calm, take a step back and review the situation. You can't eliminate the innate frustrations and disappointments of our hobby, just learn to manage them! The crossed wrenches symbolize our ability to pick up a wrench and fix the problem, and our pride in our ability. Motor on, Good Man.


Wading through the swamp. Too many cars with too many problems.

It feels familiar though I've never been there, at least literally!

I'm sure you've seen a movie where the hero was lost in the jungle or swamp and battles his way through , only to find that he has been walking in a circle! Right back where he started!

Not too easy to find your way out.

That's kind of how it feels to me right now.

My XJS is in limited use status, That just means that I will be able to drive it to work. It doesn't sound like much, but for almost two years it was just sitting. I know the front suspension needs work, but it will wait for now. I have driven it during our recent heat wave, and it performed quite well, keeping it's cool. This week the weather has taken a delightful turn towards Autumn, cool mornings, warm days and cool nights. This is our usual weather pattern. With the windows down it should be quite comfortable. I took the opportunity to wash and wax the car. I found that the area under the rear bumper was pretty dirty. A careful wash was followed by polishing up the stainless steel tail pipes. It made quite the difference. The original paint is still very good, it's a survivor, a twenty eight year old car. I want to preserve the finish as long as I can. The car is under a cover when it's not being driven. A clay bar cleaning is probably next.


The XJ6 is running fine but it really needs the front suspension done. This has got it into the limited use rotation. It has also developed a slow leak in the left front tire. I replaced the tire with the spare this evening. I'm going to drop by the shop to get it fixed. There are lot's of used tire stores around San Jose and I've even used a few. However I wasn't going to trust my Jaguar's wheel to those guys! These shops will usually use a floor jack under the rocker and they are not too concerned with bending the rocker stamping. It happened to my Chrysler minivan so I am very wary.  I would not take my car to a shop like that.

It turns out that the tire was leaking at the valve stem. I visited my usual tire store, Wheel Works, and they were quite busy. The counterman told me to drop off the loose wheel and come back in a few hours. The manager said that he could do it in five minutes! I gave him the wheel and he did have it done, just like that! When I asked how much, he replied, "no charge". Now that is how you build a customer relationship. I have purchased quite a few sets of tires there and that's where my next set for my XJ6 will probably come from. Hopefully a set of Kumhos or Hankooks.

Then something happened to the Explorer. My Daughter was driving it while the newer Mustang was at the dealer getting the airbag recall done. It stalled out at a stoplight and wouldn't restart. My Daughter has no interest in cars, she doesn't even think about them, just drives. She didn't know where the emergency flashers were. I really can't blame her as I've never shown her.

Typical fuel pump set up.

At first I thought that maybe the fuel pump had given out. This is one of those failures that occurs without any warning and it renders the car unusable. This is probably the bane of a modern fuel injected car. With the fuel tank mounted pump it's not something that can be easily or quickly fixed by the side of the road. I remember when the fuel pump failed in my '96 Mustang. My Daughter had made a late night call at one o'clock in the morning telling me that she was having trouble with her car.


After addressing the issue with her car, I was driving home at about two in the morning, when the car suddenly lost power. Luckily I was able to exit the freeway and reach the shoulder. The car wouldn't restart and Triple A flat bedded my car home. I thought that it was the fuel pump. The next day I tested my theory by shooting some starting fluid into the throttle body. The car fired, then died, just what I would have expected.

However the Explorer started when the Triple A guy arrived for my Daughter. He was able to drive it up onto the flat bed. It also started at the house and he drove it off the truck into our driveway.  When I got home I tried to start it and it fired up. I didn't want the Explorer taking up a spot in the driveway so I started it up again later, and parked it in the "Valley of the Excess Cars" ( This is the side street around the corner. Quite a few cars parked there). Maybe it isn't the fuel pump.

There's no way of knowing when the fuel pump will fail. Usually they will last between one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand miles. If you bought the car new, you know that you're driving on the original pump. When you buy a used car there's no way to know how long that pump has been there unless there is a receipt for it's replacement in the glove box. Modern pumps are housed in the fuel tank. They run cooler and their long life span is proof that this is a better idea. Back in the old, low tech days the fuel pump was bolted to the side of the engine block and could easily be changed in a half hour, and the pump could be purchased for under 50.00. Though it didn't last anywhere near 100k. Replacing the pump in my '96 Mustang cost me 500.00. Now I know that it's good for years to come. Would a preemptive replacement on an older car with no service history be a good idea? It would give some peace of mind, but it's hard to spend that much money if the car is currently running okay. I remember that the pump in my '90 Dodge Caravan, (purchased new) lasted until 130,000 miles were on the clock. It did give me fair warning of it's impending failure. Sometimes it took a lot of cranking time to fire up, but it never left me stranded.

So what to do? As I stated, my '07 Mustang went to the dealer to have the air bag recall done. It came back with a print out of work that the car need to have done- Pronto. Since I bought this car new, I always think of it as a new car, but it's not. At least anymore. There's a good bit of needed maintenance that I have to get done soon. So my Jags will have to wait a bit more.

Maybe I can find a minute to work on the Mark VII? It's about time that I try to drill out that bolt for the grease fitting. I suppose that I can find a machine shop to do it for me if my efforts don't pan out. I should at least try to get the handbrake working properly. I've got to install the carbs again and see if I can get the motor to fire up. My plan is to make up a fuel can that will feed the carbs directly since I don't think those old fuel pumps are going to be in working order. I've also got to primer those rusted surfaces on then hood and roof, the rain will be coming soon.

My current  big project has been working on my backyard. There has been a lot deferred maintenance. It has taken  up a lot of my time, and has cut down my time available to work on my fleet. It had gotten overgrown since the kids grew up and stopped playing outside, so it was easy to ignore. I had a tree blow over in a storm last Winter.  It resulted in a huge mess that I tried to ignore for awhile. Finally though I had to deal with it, I had to cut up the tree and dispose of it. It was a huge job. That was only the first installment.  

This is just half the tree.

Cutting up all those branches!

Sometimes the cars just have to wait.