Ideas and Projects

The first car project, my 1995 Saturn SL2 which I dubbed Project Spring Hill sprang a serious leak.  I took the car to Gene's Midwest Auto Sales and Service on West 7th Street in Joplin and had a compression test run.  Bottom line: engine was shot.  This ridiculously complex Saturn engine runs about $1,800 for a rebuilt engine (not installed), higher for a fully remanufactured engine and $1,600 installed for a used engine of dubious quality.  A used engine with a 3-year, 36,000 mile warranty is available for about $1,500 (not installed).

So, I sold the car for $225 today.  The guy who bought it is going to sell the wheels and then sell the car for scrap metal.  I could probably have gotten $200 or so for the wheels myself, after expenses, but it might have taken a while and this was cash in hand.

I was going to take off the brand new EGR valve (the guy who bought it had no use for it and didn't care), but alas the trusty socket set that rode in the back of the Saturn the whole time I had it was at home on the carport, as I'd cleaned almost everything out when I took it into the shop.

I now have $225 more to spend on Project Fremont and Project Abingdon.  More updates on them later, likely on that car and travel blog I'm still working on.

Two related projects that I'm working on: wine collecting and a wine cellar.

• The Wine Collection - Project Oakville: I'm buying a bottle or two a week of wine to bottle age. A 1998 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon (my favorite variety from my favorite vintner) runs $50-$120. A 2006 Mondavi Cab can be had for as little as $9. It will be 8 more years before we'll really know if the 2006 is as good at the 1998, but it's a risk I'm willing to run - I bought two bottles yesterday. If I drink two bottles a week and buy four, then in ten years I should be able to drink one beautifully aged bottle a week while still building the collection. I'd have to earn a pretty hefty stock market return to be able to buy the wine ten years down the road and I'd be at the mercy of availability to a greater degree. The downside is in the storing of a thousand bottles or so of wine. So...
• The Wine Cellar - Project Pauillac: Right now, those bottles are in a dark cupboard and the temperature in that room is about 65 degrees - about 8 degrees higher than optimum, but it's probably a little cooler in the cupboard. For the moment, that's acceptable and I can even take some steps to keep it cooler. Investing in a small wine cooler might even be a short run option, but they only hold a few dozen bottles at best. Ultimately, I need a wine cellar or cellars. I will be starting with a hand dug cellar, probably a glorified «root cellar» with some racks. The main goals are darkness, sufficiently high humidity, lack of vibration and constant cool temperatures. My current thinking is a shallow cellar that will be accessed by opening the top and reaching in. Past that, something in the 20x20 range with concrete walls and sand floors (that might also eventually be the basement foundation for a new house) is likely. I expect digging something like that will likely be the work of several months, followed by the work and cost of building forms and pouring concrete. More details as plans take shape and photos/videos as the plans turn into action.

The blog project

I've had a new blog project on hold for a while now. The domain is one that I registered several years ago as a potential real estate/local information site for the Joplin area - Crossroadsofusa.com. It's currently «parked» with some advertising related to cars. My current project for the site is a travel and auto blog. I expect to get this off the ground in the next couple of months as the «summer driving season» kicks into high gear. Part of that requires success with one of three car projects so I am actually able to take a roadtrip or two to blog about.

The car projects

• The Saturn - Project Spring Hill:
  

  My main mode of transportation is a 1995 Saturn SL2. This is a 4-door model with an automatic transmission and 1.9 liter DOHC engine. The car has 193,000 miles on it. About a month ago I got a check engine light intermittently every couple of days. I was on the way to work when it began running really rough. I went to Autozone and had them check the OBDC code. It showed a bad EGR valve and the O2 sensor said the car was running rich, which could be a result of the bad EGR.

  I changed out the EGR valve and the service engine light went away, and hasn't been back since. But unfortunately the car kept running rougher and rougher and spitting out nice big clouds of smoke every time I accelerated from a stop.

  I changed the spark plugs, one of which was badly fouled and wet, and plug wires. Drove home from my parents house and back the next day. The new plug in that single cylinder was already fouled again.

  Next step, I ran SeaFoam through the PCV valve vacuum line to clean out the fuel injectors. Ran 1/3 of a pint of SeaFoam in the crankcase oil for a drive down the road and then changed the oil.

  The car ran a bit smoother, but continued to have a rough idle and to knock/buck when pressing the accelerator at 1500-2100 RPM on the road. It also burned, not leaked, a quart of oil in about 200 miles. It began getting worse, especially when stopped and would spit out big clouds of smoke at stoplights. Still runs fine at 60 mph, but tries to die when accelerating after idling at a stop light for more than a few seconds.

  Bottom line. Valve trouble. With this old an engine, it probably needs new valve stems, valve guides, etc. on the bad cylinder. Depending on cost, I may attempt this myself, but it requires at least pulling the cylinder head, so I'm going for an estimate first.

• The Toyota - Project Fremont:
  

  I have a 1992 Toyota Corolla parked in my yard that hasn't been started in a few years. It ran low on oil while my wife was on the way to work. The daughter described it as sounding «like a helicopter.» She didn't know what to do, so she drove on to work and parked it. One of the people there checked the oil and added oil before she drove home. It never overheated, but it had serious lifter noise. Since we both commuted 30-miles one-way, I got a new car (the Saturn) and gave her my old car, since I didn't trust the Toyota on the highway.

  Now, after sitting several years, the Toyota may or may not start when I get the battery recharged (or get a new battery). If it does, I'm going to try the SeaFoam or similar route to try to clean the valve lifters out and see if the noise reduces. It has plenty of power, so if I can get an improvement, I'll try other additives for an oil change or two and see how it goes. Otherwise, it may need valve work, too, but used Toyota engines with warranty are available for about half the cost of Saturn engines and the Toyota is a 5-speed, which I prefer

  Aside from the engine trouble, it needs the clutch hydraulics rebuilt - but I have the parts for that already sitting in the front seat waiting to go in. It also needs two tail light lenses replaced, a new windshield, a lot of cleaning and may need new tires due to dry rot.

• The MG B - Project Abingdon:
  

  I have a 1968 MG B. Nice little roadster.

  This is the one I really hope to get running. If I can get the Saturn and Toyota going without breaking the bank, the Saturn is getting sold so the money can go into the MG.

  I parked it almost 10 years ago because the splines on one axle hub and one wire wheel were stripped. Hit the accelerator and instead of taking off, the hub turns inside the wheel, the knockoff comes off the end and the wheel falls off. New hub and new wire wheel will be about $400. Minor parts, about $100. The car also needs clutch hydraulics which, like the Toyota, I already have. It may need some other minor mechanicals because of sitting so long.

  It needs a new convertible top, though I can probably make due with the current one by not driving in the rain. And, after sitting that long it needs lots of cleaning.

  It has some body rust, which I will probably sand and fill myself. Then, of course, it will need a paintjob.

  I see similar parked cars running for anywhere from $400-800 depending on condition and fully restored same year cars running over $10k. Unfortunately with the existing rust, without replacing body panels it won't ever be a $10k car, but for driving it myself it could eventually look and run as good as one for about half the cost.