Driving Toward Insanity
Last weekend, Jen and I went back to Washington IL to handle a bundle of wedding-related minutia. We met with Monty of Chef’s Catering, consulted with our mistress of confection to outline cake blueprints, and endured an engagement photo session. We also had a wonderful Easter brunch care of Jen’s family, which I always enjoy. We drove back into town on Tuesday and I hopped on the train home, arriving around 6:15.
Mom took care of Luna while I was gone. Thankfully the appetite stimulants finally kicked, thereby ending Luna’s diet of baby-food via oral syringe. Her condition is vastly improved, but her energy-level is essentially nonexistent. She’ll sit on me and purr though, which is a great alternative to a dirt-nap. I don’t give her very long, but at least she’s comfortable.
This weekend, I finally scored a vehicle, a 1987 Honda CRX Si:
This is the “good” side of the car. The skirt has a little hole in it, and you can see where the spoiler is kinda loose, but a bolt should fix that pretty easily.
It’s not really this shiny in person. I’m guessing the picture was taken last summer and it’s still a tad dirty. You can’t see it, but the left headlight is a tad yellow, and should probably be replaced.
Needs a new wiper blade, but hey, the rear wiper is fully functional. The hatch stays up, which is rare in a car this old, and it has new tires. Score!
The inside is surprisingly clean. Has a new stereo with detachable faceplate, the A/C and heat work great.
According to the ad, they put on new tires in December, new clutch in January, new struts, new brake-pads, and he sprung for a K&N; filter, and it got a tune-up last week. There are also a lot of random improvements: new shift boot, MOMO steering wheel, shift knob, and the afore-mentioned stereo. The car itself is in fair condition. The body has some Bondo on the left rear fender over the wheel well, but it’s not too obvious. The sunroof is somehow stuck closed, but I can hear the motor work and it moves slightly, so I wonder if the rubber seals melted or failed due to age. It needs new side skirts, especially on the driver side where the skirt is simply gone, revealing minor rust. The driver’s side door doesn’t lock, even from the inside, and the driver’s seat simply needs to be replaced–I can sit in it, but it’s like a rocking-chair and resembles a tiger’s chew-toy. I’m also guessing the new struts and wheels weren’t properly balanced, because at high speeds, it shudders like an epileptic ferret.
All that said, the steering is ridiculously tight. I just wish he didn’t put in that fucking MOMO steering-wheel–it’s so small there’s almost no leverage, and this car lacks modern accoutrement such as power steering. The new struts make everything nice and stiff, very much unlike the 1986 Charger I used to learn stick, which felt more like a fishin’ boat on the high seas. The clutch is a nice shortish throw–not nearly as nice as my 2003 Eclipse, but it certainly lacks that “farm tractor” feeling some older manual transmissions wear as a badge of honor against progress. Basically it will be fine to drive to and from the train, and it has potential to be a nifty little pocket-rocket should I ever bother to restore its former glory.
And I took Mom to dinner because she couldn’t go with Jen and I to her parents’. We went to the Celtic Knot, which has totally kickass fish’n’chips, and the corn-beef was great. I’m sure she’ll have a review up on Yelp within seconds.
Until Tomorrow