video store, and they guy standing next to me turned to ask me about Xbox RPG's, excusing his lack of knowledge due to his being a gearhead. So I gave him my recommendations, then inquired if he knew much about carbeuration. He said he did, and that he worked on old cars almost exclusively. Supposedly he worked for a well-known body shop in Des Moines.I told him I had the Galaxie out in the garage but that I'd done very little with it due to my lack of knowledge, excusing myself as a computer techie. He said he had a machine that wasn't working right, so I suggested we trade favors - I fix his computer and he get my car running. He said he was interested and actually showed up at my place later that evening, with computer in tow. What luck!
We couldn't get the car running Thursday evening, but he was puzzled when he saw a particular wire laying across the block, saying that he believed it went to a throttle body assembly. As it turned out, he called back the next day and said that he'd determined that my engine came out of an '83 Ford Falcon. Really? Any thoughts of a true restore job went out the window. This was going to be a total custom job now - I was resolute. He also negotiated to come back Saturday, and thought he'd bring a friend who specialized in distributors (I'd replaced most of the parts in mine, and probably really loused it up good).
Saturday came and Matt showed up in the late afternoon (sans friends). He double-checked that I had the plug wires on right (I'd mixed up 2 and 4), looked over the distributor (I'd left the coil unhooked from power), verified that the carb was getting gas, and generally stated that it ought to be starting. Each time we cranked it, the battery lost a little more juice. I brought a small charge unit and hooked it up but it wasn't doing any good. So I pulled up the F250 and we tried jumping it. No dice - it didn't seem to be charging. Matt popped the caps off the battery and one of the cells appeared to be half empty. He declared it a dead battery. By this time, it was 9:30PM - no auto stores were open. My options were to wait until Monday, or buy a Walmart brand battery.
Some things you don't skimp on. I don't buy inferior computer parts, generic peanut butter, or anything other than Charmin toilet paper. And when possible, I always buy Interstate batteries. I replaced the battery in my last '66 LTD with an Interstate, and was pleasantly surprised that it started after many times I forgot and left the headlights or stereo on.
So this week I will have a new Interstate battery for my hoopty.
Matt seems to be a good kid (he's 22) with lots of connections in the hot rod world - while he works in a body shop, he says he can fabricate about any part (with the right tools), fix darned near anything, and knows guys who can fix anything he can't.
