Tailgate Time, and Betty Remains Undefeated

Betty came home to stay (from the mechanic's) on Friday, Sept. 2nd, just in time for the first home game of the season.  The mechanical work needed was a little more than I expected, but at this point I'm pretty much done working on her for a while so I let him fix what needed to be fixed, handed him a box of parts I had bought a while back, and told him to go to town.  I don't remember everything that was done, but he replaced the alternator, steering dampner, cv boots, and gave the engine a good going-through.  He gave it the thumbs up and she's been crawling down the streets nicely ever since.  I would never try it, but at this point I think I could venture down the road a bit and leave my tools at home.

Not much to report other than that, we are two tailgates into the season already and Betty has improved her overall win loss record to 5 wins, 0 losses.  However, based on what I'm seeing on the field this year it will not be too long before she posts one in the loss column.

The first tailgate was fun - It was a 6 o'clock evening game against a powder puff opponent, our friend Boomer was in town for the festivities, we had good food and cold beer, won the game, and of course Betty ran flawlessly.  After we got home we sat around in the bus, hanging out and partying in the street until late at night.  Good times.

The second tailgate, not so much.  It was cold and drizzling, the on-field display was less than spectacular, and we left at halftime.  The only good thing was I didn't notice any water dripping on my feet during the ride home despite the rain, so maybe the new window seals have finally seated themselves properly.

A few pictures...


Beer.  Wings.  Standard.

Ready to Roll.

Sweet Flag.



Betty doing what I bought her to do.  And with class.



Cards and beers and whatnot.

Boomer's getting old, and now needs "nappy time" mid-tailgate.



New World Record - Biggest bong hit ever recorded at a tailgate.

The morning after.  Seems someone (I won't name names) needs to go back to parking school.

That's it for now.  The hard work is over, hopefully for a while at least, and now I plan on just enjoying the bus for a few thousand miles.  Or until the next part falls off, whichever comes first.




























3 or 4 Months Behind Schedule, but Betty's Back...

Note - I forgot to publish this post but this was written 8/29/11...

I really don't want to try and remember everything I've done since my last post, but everything on my last list is finally done  That list was -

-- Install fan housing, fan, fan housing flaps, and oil filler tube
-- Reconnect thermostat wire and try and make sense of my cooling flaps
-- Install engine tin
-- Install fuel injection/EGR components
-- Install fan belt, oil filler boot, and engine carrier
-- Clean/Re-wire all ground wires
-- Move starter relay to engine compartment
-- Re-wire and install side marker light
-- Paint and install exhaust and muffler
-- Install the engine

If I had known how time consuming this was all going to be I probably would not have tackled so much at once.  But the engine work is done and Betty is purring like a kitten, the only ongoing issue I have is that the alternator is not charging the battery.  I'm pretty spent on working on her so I have carted her off to my mechanic to have a look at that and to give her a general go-through to make sure I didn't do anything really stupid.  I should have her back this week, just in time for the 'Pack's opening day Sept. 3rd.  I'll slowly work on the interior stuff I have planned throughout the season, game days are a pretty good time to get some of it done.

A couple before/after pics of the engine.  I can't believe these are the best ones I have, but it is what it is.

It looks pretty good to me, and I can tell by the sound that Betty prefers a cleaned up engine.  It sounds and runs very very smooth.  It's tailgate time!