Wife's new Beater

So after some haggling with my father I now own the 1996 Town and Country that hauled my ass to many a campfire etc.. It has 188k miles on it and needs some care. Right before I bought it we changed the following:

(first time ever) rear drum pads, two studs, brake lines. rear shocks.

(second time) front pads.

The car rides fine and returned 22 mpg driving from Charlotte to Greenville sc. It'll need some work, a good cleaning (it's been his trash/work pickup for 10 years.) Abs light is on b/c I broke the sensor when trying to install the rear stud (I tried to take the hub out when we did not need to).

Known repairs to make:

Abs sensor

replace horn fuse and find out why the alarm goes off for hours and drains the battery

front shocks/springs

new drivers/passenger seat (front driver is askew to the track need to junkyard a new one.

fisheye lenses on the really teeny factory mirrors.

Find out why the front door speakers do not work. (dad says that they'll come on while turning....???)

Inspect bushings/tie rods/power steering lines

Pictures to come when I can get them.

So this weekend we made some rounds. 1.) battery died. :( 2.) ABS warning disapeared and has not reappeared after a longer test drive. 3.) Dad let me know that the spark plugs have only ever been changed once. (van now shows 188k miles.)

wife cleaned it up and I started trying to clean the paint up.

The "new" and the car I have to finish cleaning up and sell.

after cleaning:

(I also bought a new steeringwheel cover from autozone for 9bucks... not shown).

cleaning the paint:

this is going to take a while, dad parked the van outside for most of the second half of it's life. with a brief stint in a garage for a year or two during that time. Sun on the old "not touched" side.

sun on the side with some polishing. Meguire's Scratch X, then Meguire's cleaning compound. I'll wax the whole car at once later.

Closer of the "cleaned" side. Ignore the Catch scratch taht I could not get to come out...

hard to tell here but there is a orange line down the hood showing where I have cleaned and not.

Visibly in person this makes a HUGE difference to the appearance of the car.

Job, meet correct tool.
It's not going to be fun, but it'll do.

Misread the thread title, thought you got a new wifebeater.

mazdeuce wrote: Job, meet correct tool. It's not going to be fun, but it'll do.

Wife actually likes how it drives. "so much better than your truck!"... mrrrrg esp since the van has nearly 200k miles on the entire front suspension minus tie rods.

son saw me taking pics.

Finally, mad gets a build thread.

Please tell me that lowering and big sway bars are in the plans. Because this tool, in different colors, is what I'll be getting next.

I'm also wondering if headers/exhaust/cai would make a noticible mpg difference.

Additionally, pullapart seems to be littered with these, so parts and junkyard upgrades should be relatively cheap.

Factory door speakers were crap. 10:1 that's the culprit. Other option would be broken wires in the jamb loom.

Well, the stock exhaust is cracked (saw that this weekend.) I need to get in contact with Tuna and go on an "excursion" with him. New(er) front seats would be nice.

the stock speakers are probably done, but the stock head unit is pristine and sends pre out level to the speakers which each have their own amp on them. It's a complete PITA to replace. (have to rewire the car essentially.)

Car is an LXI (top level) not much I could upgrade from a JU though.

Hmmm....

Junkyard excursion.

I may have to meet up with y'all for that depending.

In reply to EvanR: Me too LOLz

EvanR wrote: Misread the thread title, thought you got a new wifebeater.

Wait, why does he have an Apple logo on his beater? LOL!

Sweet!

Started working on the car.

I thought, first things first, rather than concentrating on the randomly off/on Airbag light. Or the seriously badly groaning suspension. Let's take care of important things. Like the dingy windshield wipers and cowl area.

What I started with.

Taped up. I cannot remove the gridding under the vents as it's sonic welded in place and I really do not want to mess with that.

I scuffed everything up and gave it a light coat then a few minutes later a heavier coat.

Then I proceeded to talk to the neighbor and lose track of time. I thought it had been over 2 hours since the last coat. Turns out I was not in the quick recoat time and was not yet far enough into cured to coat again. My next coat produced the dreaded spider cracking/wrinkled finish. Dumbass me saw it on the small bits and just kept going thinking it was something I could touch up.

So I then waited an hour and put it back on the car as wife needed it the next day... Leaving smudge marks and fingerprints all over it. I'll be waiting for a longer nicer day/weekend and take my time next time. Hate that I'll have to resand it completely too. I need to find a new seal (first pic can be seen just hanging out above the trim...)

I then got distracted with my Eldest's birthday/christmas present. He needs to move up in beds so the crib can go to kiddo dos (due jan 19th.)

I started with the following per an online build list I found. (it was wrong which is why I wont post it here.)

I love these sawhorses and need to buy a few more. Fold up and out of the way and super duper lightweight.

To make the legs I could nto find untreated 4x4's. Since that's a surface I know my kid will touch I went with 2x4 studs and glued/nailed them together.

Some 1x6 and a 2x4 plus 2x6 produced this for the bed frame.

Legs are carriage bolted on. Works great until the nylock nuts you use turn the carriage bolts...

I shoved some wood glue in and hammered the carriage bolts in. Next day they wouldnt rotate so ... win?

I got excited so there are big jumps here.

Stairs are precut (treated..) from lowes. Perfect height for me.

1/2" mdf glued and brad nailed on.

tada

Still to come: PAINT (after I spend a day or three sanding the horrible quality wood from lowes.)

My son was awesome help.

Story: whenever he's crying and carrying on my wife and I tend to tell him, ENOUGH... Well this weekend everytime I had the saw on or the hammer going. He'd yell "Daddy, ENOUGH!" "Daddy!!!, ENOUGH".

The stairs will be against a wall so I need to decide if they need a handrail. I also think I might add a bit that makes a "roof" on the lofted bed to stop him from getting ideas of escape until he's a bit older.

Mad_Ratel wrote: Started working on the car. I thought, first things first, rather than concentrating on the randomly off/on Airbag light. Or the seriously badly groaning suspension. Let's take care of important things. Like the dingy windshield wipers and cowl area. Then I proceeded to talk to the neighbor and lose track of time. I thought it had been over 2 hours since the last coat. Turns out I was not in the quick recoat time and was not yet far enough into cured to coat again. My next coat produced the dreaded spider cracking/wrinkled finish. Dumbass me saw it on the small bits and just kept going thinking it was something I could touch up. So I then waited an hour and put it back on the car as wife needed it the next day... Leaving smudge marks and fingerprints all over it.

OK this is almost EXACTLY the same playbook I use for projects

Nice job on the loft bed!