Rant: A noob's adventures in old technology

**theholycow** · 11-27-2009, 07:04 PM

Today I endeavored to do some neglected maintenance/repairs to my 1980 Buick. The plan is to replace:
- distributor cap
- distributor rotor
- spark plug wires
- spark plugs
- half a tailpipe

Known obstacles:
- Raining and kinda cool temperature
- Muddy back yard
- Battery in car is pretty dead
- My ratchet & socket set is in my broken truck, 30 miles away

So, I pick up the parts. They don't have the tailpipe in stock but they'll order it and have it early afternoon. I get home and begin work. I find that the distributor is partially buried under the A/C compressor and figure I'll work around it. As I work I realize that I probably ought to replace the ignition coil too (but it's easy to replace later). Then I realize that I am not confident that the cap is aligned correctly.

Then I find that I can't fasten the 4th clip because the A/C compressor is in the way; I was barely able to unclip the old one. I find a 15mm wrench in my odds-and-ends wrench/socket toolbox and am able to loosen the A/C with a struggle. Then I have to struggle with a hammer to rotate it far enough to get the belt off, struggle with levers and hammers to move it back in the other direction further than it originally was, and so on. I eventually get the 4th distributor cap clip in place.

Now it's time to replace the wires. The markings I painted on the wires using white-out have rubbed off many in the struggle. Luckily Chilton provides me the firing order (Haynes does not; I have both). I run the first wire from the plug to the distributor. I plug it in and the terminal snaps off the distributor cap.

Cez★ · 11-27-2009, 07:16 PM

pwned

i havent changed my plugs and wires since i got them like a month ago lol

**theholycow** · 11-27-2009, 07:28 PM

They just called and said that the tailpipe got lost and I can either wait for Sunday or cancel the order.

Cez★ · 11-27-2009, 07:37 PM

hack it off

**theholycow** · 11-27-2009, 10:34 PM

It already rusted off. My plan is to hack the new one in half, cut the old one clean, and scab it on.

So, I went to exchange the cap and they were out of stock. They got one from another nearby location, which took an hour so my wife wanted to shop for an hour. We shopped then got the new part.

I installed it and the car won't fire. It's normal for that car to crank for a long time (probably over a minute) before it fires and my battery doesn't have that much cranking in it. However, I sprayed ether so it should have fired immediately. I must have screwed it up.

---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ----------

Ok, I just realized what I did.

My Chilton's book has the same diagram. I looked at it backwards, thinking the thing sticking off the end in the diagram was the fan, not the output shaft.

---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:31 PM ----------

And I think I also forgot to plug the 3 electric plugs back in.

**theholycow** · 11-28-2009, 04:31 PM

Ok, I was wrong about that. I didn't wire it backwards. I only forgot to plug in those connectors.

It fired right up. It seems to run a little better. It bucks with heavy throttle above 40mph, so that's the next thing to troubleshoot. I could barely reach 65 by babying the throttle just right, and I think the slight hill on my test run helped.

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 AM ----------

...ok, I just noticed that one of the spark plugs wasn't plugged in. In the cold rain, frustrated, I must have failed to attach it well.

11-27-2009, 07:04 PM	#1
theholycow Bovinus Administratus Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Greener pastures Posts: 32,377	A noob's adventures in old technology Today I endeavored to do some neglected maintenance/repairs to my 1980 Buick. The plan is to replace: - distributor cap - distributor rotor - spark plug wires - spark plugs - half a tailpipe Known obstacles: - Raining and kinda cool temperature - Muddy back yard - Battery in car is pretty dead - My ratchet & socket set is in my broken truck, 30 miles away So, I pick up the parts. They don't have the tailpipe in stock but they'll order it and have it early afternoon. I get home and begin work. I find that the distributor is partially buried under the A/C compressor and figure I'll work around it. As I work I realize that I probably ought to replace the ignition coil too (but it's easy to replace later). Then I realize that I am not confident that the cap is aligned correctly. Then I find that I can't fasten the 4th clip because the A/C compressor is in the way; I was barely able to unclip the old one. I find a 15mm wrench in my odds-and-ends wrench/socket toolbox and am able to loosen the A/C with a struggle. Then I have to struggle with a hammer to rotate it far enough to get the belt off, struggle with levers and hammers to move it back in the other direction further than it originally was, and so on. I eventually get the 4th distributor cap clip in place. Now it's time to replace the wires. The markings I painted on the wires using white-out have rubbed off many in the struggle. Luckily Chilton provides me the firing order (Haynes does not; I have both). I run the first wire from the plug to the distributor. I plug it in and the terminal snaps off the distributor cap. __________________

11-27-2009, 07:28 PM	#3
theholycow Bovinus Administratus Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Greener pastures Posts: 32,377	They just called and said that the tailpipe got lost and I can either wait for Sunday or cancel the order. __________________

11-27-2009, 10:34 PM	#5
theholycow Bovinus Administratus Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Greener pastures Posts: 32,377	It already rusted off. My plan is to hack the new one in half, cut the old one clean, and scab it on. So, I went to exchange the cap and they were out of stock. They got one from another nearby location, which took an hour so my wife wanted to shop for an hour. We shopped then got the new part. I installed it and the car won't fire. It's normal for that car to crank for a long time (probably over a minute) before it fires and my battery doesn't have that much cranking in it. However, I sprayed ether so it should have fired immediately. I must have screwed it up. ---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ---------- Ok, I just realized what I did. My Chilton's book has the same diagram. I looked at it backwards, thinking the thing sticking off the end in the diagram was the fan, not the output shaft. ---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:31 PM ---------- And I think I also forgot to plug the 3 electric plugs back in. __________________

11-28-2009, 04:31 PM	#6
theholycow Bovinus Administratus Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Greener pastures Posts: 32,377	Ok, I was wrong about that. I didn't wire it backwards. I only forgot to plug in those connectors. It fired right up. It seems to run a little better. It bucks with heavy throttle above 40mph, so that's the next thing to troubleshoot. I could barely reach 65 by babying the throttle just right, and I think the slight hill on my test run helped. ---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 AM ---------- ...ok, I just noticed that one of the spark plugs wasn't plugged in. In the cold rain, frustrated, I must have failed to attach it well. __________________

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