Commonality

I'll just get the link out of the way first. aquillun.space/on-second-thought#is-it-common

Now that's out of the way, while I always enjoy holiday festivities, not always to the same degree, there are some curiosities. But, I usually don't let them get in the way of a good time.

As I may or may not have mentioned, I do have another car I'm getting back onto the road again. There were two, but one came down with a smoking habit, so I'm going to pass it on to someone else.

But, the other had a simple water leak. That simpleness turned into an intake manifold replacement. Simple still, but more cumbersome. That is going along with a complete maintenance regime. It's hard to tell how well a car is working if you don't know the age of what it's working with. So, all fluids change, belts, hoses, spark plugs, and coils.

That last item wouldn't normally be on my list, but one that was removed decided to break. What better time to replace them with a fresh set. And keep seven spares.

That in itself is overly boring. But, I found some curiosities. While it does appear the car was well maintained, it also appears to have had short cuts taken. For example, most people don't bother changing the differential fluid, even though they really should. It's probably a bit easier than any other fluid a car would need changed. However, this car had new looking fluid in the differential. It now has different new fluid, but it was odd to see that it had been kept up.

But, I also discovered the transmission was using its original filter, as the pan had never been removed. You may ask how I know, but there's a little plug in these transmissions when there are assembled that goes where the dipstick would eventually be installed on the assembly line. When the dipstick is inserted, the plug falls into the pan. Harmlessly spending its time until someone drops said pan to replace the filter. I have yet another plug in my collection. A collection that is scatter between some land fills and ashes that have been scattered.

I was also relieved to find out a noise in the front suspension was a set of sway bar bushings that were old and loose. Another easy fix, but it needed a parts order. So, sadly, the many parts orders didn't allow me to get the car buttoned back up. Maybe next time.