Just because you fail doesn’t mean you give up

Two times.

Two times I ordered carb rebuild kits.

The first time, it was the wrong kit. The second time…well…we’ll get to that in a moment. Before that, though, let’s talk about breaking down the carb so it could be rebuilt. It was grimy, varnished up from the old gas, With a lot of carburetor cleaner, scrubbing, and patience, I was able to break it down almost completely. The only thing I couldn’t get out were the jets – I just didn’t have a screwdriver large enough.

So…I went out and got one I thought would be large enough. Since the parts still had a bunch of crap and crud, I also picked up a can of parts cleaner. After soaking the carb, I was able to get one of the jets out – but the screwdriver still wasn’t big enough and it started chewing up the brass.

Well, shit.

I thought about it. I did my best to clean it and the passage, and thought, yeah…that’ll work, and started the reassembly process.

And how well did that go?

First…there was no gasket for the power valve. That’s no good.

Then, no bail for the needle. Had a new needle and seat, but the bail to hang the needle?

I said something a bit stronger than just ‘shit.” Especially when I realized I couldn’t find the old bail.

Oh, and did I mention I couldn’t find the float spring?

Mother of all that is fracksanding holy….

So, I put everything to the side and set about doing a cleaning of my workstation. No signs of the bail and no signs of the float spring…

At which point, I put it to the side.

That was two weeks ago. Last week, I decided that to help the process along to put my pride to the side and order a replacement carb. It’ll be here in a few days.

So, I decided to tackle a few other issues. One of the main problems I’ve had is electrical based. I had high beams, but no low beams. Wipers, but no windshield washer pump. No blower for the heater, either.

I got to thinking about it, and spoke with Mr. Mechanical and The Mechanic, and they agreed that it sounded like a ground or fuse issue. So, this past weekend, I started chasing the gremlins. The first thing I did was trace the ground to the body, filed and sanded the connections, then put some electrical grease on everything and reinstalled it. Then, I did the same with the motor ground. That was a bit tougher as it there was a bunch of grime on the motor as well. Wipe, scrub, file, sand, lather, rinse, repeat. Finally, I was happy with it and reconnected everything, including the battery.

So…

I know have high and low beams.

The blower motor worked … kinda … but, it’s old and gummy, so I’ll be picking up a new one when I get the carb.

Still don’t have a working windshield wiper pump.

And…today, hopefully, Mr. Mechanic ordered new tires for me. If all goes well, I’m hoping to be driving Mona around by this weekend. I’m hoping hoping hoping…..