Distracted by a few things, I never finished a couple of posts and now The Tank has gone on to a new home. Still, I think it’d be nice to finish up so here’s the first of the two posts I started in July 2016, but now with an update.
The brakes, I’ve mentioned. The suspension too has needed some looking at at one point. Some waywardness in the steering revealed that the track rod ends and tie rods needed replacement. This was around the same time the brakes gave trouble in KL and both Lee and the KL mechanic warned me to take it easy so rather than have a blast down the highway, on both the southbound and northward journeys I gave The Tank the run of the trunk roads. This way, I figured, she wouldn’t put me at risk of a high-speed suspension failure, and if things got a bit dicey, I was more likely to find a mechanic in a small town than on the highway.
The suspension lasted both journeys and when I got back to Penang The Tank got new bits put on and she’s been fine ever since.
One day, while reversing in a quiet lane near my favourite hardware store, I got the rear bumper hooked on a boulder hidden under a termite mound. I had done my three-point-turn in this driveway a few times before but the mirrors on The Tank don’t show too wide an angle and on this occasion I missed the earth-coloured mound set against the earthen driveway. Wth help from my hardware-shop friend whose establishment I’d patronised just minutes before, and the crowbar I’d bought then, we jacked up the rear, used the crowbar to pull the lip of the bumper over the edge of the rock and then lowered the car and drove off.
It was while doing this that I realised the rear spring popped out of the top guide when the rear was jacked up. Seems the previous owner had had the springs cut to lower the car. This made the job of extricating The Tank a bit trickier as not only did I have to hang on to the crowbar as we lowered the car on the jack, but my friend had to use a steel pipe to keep the top of the coil spring aligned so it would match up with the mount when the car was lowered to ride height.
All done, but the rear bumper now has a slight kink in it and the rubber end-cap is damaged.
I’ve recently noticed The Tank is getting crashier over the bumps - and there are so many of those in Penang - so at some point in the future she’ll probably need new shocks and maybe even bushes and mounts. For the time being though, she soldiers on.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that she’s running a bit too rich. I’ve asked Lee to have a look but he seems reluctant to give her a tune up, for whatever reason. She’s due in for a service soon so I’ll get them to have a look at the carb then. Perhaps it needs a strip-down and service. I’ve also bookmarked a webpage for tuning the carb on my own so I might just have a go at it myself one day.
She's 32, for heaven's sake...
I have to constantly remind myself that The Tank is 32 years old and that perhaps, short of a rebuild, 30000+km-a-year mileage may not be the best for the old girl. Still, she’s been plugging along reasonably well except for bits and bobs that require attention every now and then.The brakes, I’ve mentioned. The suspension too has needed some looking at at one point. Some waywardness in the steering revealed that the track rod ends and tie rods needed replacement. This was around the same time the brakes gave trouble in KL and both Lee and the KL mechanic warned me to take it easy so rather than have a blast down the highway, on both the southbound and northward journeys I gave The Tank the run of the trunk roads. This way, I figured, she wouldn’t put me at risk of a high-speed suspension failure, and if things got a bit dicey, I was more likely to find a mechanic in a small town than on the highway.
The suspension lasted both journeys and when I got back to Penang The Tank got new bits put on and she’s been fine ever since.
One day, while reversing in a quiet lane near my favourite hardware store, I got the rear bumper hooked on a boulder hidden under a termite mound. I had done my three-point-turn in this driveway a few times before but the mirrors on The Tank don’t show too wide an angle and on this occasion I missed the earth-coloured mound set against the earthen driveway. Wth help from my hardware-shop friend whose establishment I’d patronised just minutes before, and the crowbar I’d bought then, we jacked up the rear, used the crowbar to pull the lip of the bumper over the edge of the rock and then lowered the car and drove off.
It was while doing this that I realised the rear spring popped out of the top guide when the rear was jacked up. Seems the previous owner had had the springs cut to lower the car. This made the job of extricating The Tank a bit trickier as not only did I have to hang on to the crowbar as we lowered the car on the jack, but my friend had to use a steel pipe to keep the top of the coil spring aligned so it would match up with the mount when the car was lowered to ride height.
All done, but the rear bumper now has a slight kink in it and the rubber end-cap is damaged.
She's a tough old girl
At this point too I appreciated how tough the old girl is. The bumper is mounted to the car with two thick metal rods. They’re an inch or more in diameter and account for why the bumper didn’t simply get torn off as I tried to drive The Tank off the boulder.I’ve recently noticed The Tank is getting crashier over the bumps - and there are so many of those in Penang - so at some point in the future she’ll probably need new shocks and maybe even bushes and mounts. For the time being though, she soldiers on.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that she’s running a bit too rich. I’ve asked Lee to have a look but he seems reluctant to give her a tune up, for whatever reason. She’s due in for a service soon so I’ll get them to have a look at the carb then. Perhaps it needs a strip-down and service. I’ve also bookmarked a webpage for tuning the carb on my own so I might just have a go at it myself one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment