Having the blues...

My first car was a maroon 1986 Pontiac Parisienne, a double (possibly triple) hand-me-down.  And it had the classic 80's cracked GM paint on the hood.  My father had bought some maroon colored wax for it.  It actually helped that hood quite a bit, but you had to keep up with it or the white primer would start showing up between the cracks again.

Now, silver is arguably THE best color for any car if you don't want scratches and other defects to display like a flashing neon sign.  Vic 1.0 was great that way... though other things like road tar would show up here and there.

This stuff never showed up on SILVER paint!

Vic 2.0 is dark blue.  And Todd drove it a LOT on the highway, and even off-road.  So by the time I ended up with it, the front bumper looked like someone had sandblasted it.  The hood also had some of the same wear.  So I decided to get some blue car wax... thing is, it seems no one makes any for the US market anymore!

Yup... BLUE wax!

Ebay to the rescue.  The only affordable blue wax there was a Turtle Wax product, and all the sellers seemed to be from Israel!  So I took a chance, and soon I was the proud owner of a bottle of blue wax.

I haven't done a full scale wash/clay/polish/wax with it yet, but I did do some spot testing, and used it on the front bumper, where most of the pitting is.   As the wax dries to a haze, it is indeed a blue hue.  The finished effect is subtle, but it does indeed seem to knock down the white pin-prick effect on the bumper.

Blue haze...

Before and after... not perfect, but better than with standard white/yellow wax

Hey... nice rack!!

Vic 2.0 was THE most reliable Vic Mystery Mechanic (aka: Todd) ever owned.  While he owned it, he had one air conditioning part replaced, and one windshield wiper motor.  But the wiper motor was his fault (he always says not to leave your wipers on when you park for the night and there's a snow storm!).

So when on 8/28 I started the car to do a little work over at Belmont Seat Cover, and noticed the wiper motor sounded awful and didn't have much "ooomph", I started thinking back to the headache I had with motors in Vic 1.0.  Those past experiences made me start pondering how I was going to pay for A) a new Motorcraft motor B) a crappy rebuilt motor.  Then I started pondering the option of trying a used one.

Long story short, I spent some (messy) time at a local junk yard and removed a motor from a 2011 Massachusetts State PD cruiser.  I decided to leave it attached to the rack, and also thought it may be a good idea to bring the trim, hoses, weather strip, and wiper arms with me up to the check-out guys.  I had received a quote ahead of time for just the motor if I took it out of the car myself.  For the SAME PRICE, I got the whole setup!

This morning I decided to reverse the process and install the new (used) rack into Vic 2.0.  I started at about 11:45AM, and finished at about 3:45PM.  I decided to work slowly and take a lunch break, which slowed things down (along with stopping to feed the local squirrels and chipmunks!).

Other delays came from trying to remove the wiper arms (and HOW am I supposed to fit a screwdriver there??) a few times, and trying to remove a rusted on bolt on the metal bracket that attaches to the bottom rack bucket.  I never did get the nut off, but I did manage to "remove some metal" from it...

And so now Vic 2.0 has a 2011 wiper motor/rack/trim/weather-strip setup!  It also now has that super annoying "extra wipe" function, which I have NEVER understood.  It should make for a lot of yelling during the winter months, as I am super-wicked-picky about having a clear windshield...

One thing I learned this time that I didn't when I changed the motor in Vic 1.0, is that there is a little "flapper" by the motor that seems to allow water, etc OUT of the rack area, but doesn't allow critters IN.  Seeing as the 2011 had a mouse nest inside that area, I'm not so sure it works that well.  BUT, when I looked at the flapper in MY car, the whole area was clogged full of "shmoo".  I am starting to wonder if this has been a factor in the "What is That Musty Smell Coming From?" saga.

OH, that reminds me, I also squished some Permatex under the bottom lip of the windshield in effort to try and stop the Mystery Leak.  Of course, it was purchased around 2004, and I didn't have enough in the tube.  Also, nitrile gloves aren't tough enough to keep that hazmat off your fingers...

So, long story long, I am all set for winter, providing a 6 year old motor lasts longer than Vic 2.0's replacement one did.