Go figure.

… 3 months ago Battlecruiser passed inspection.  I never got it registered, I needed to drop the insurance on it and park it for the winter.  So, today I brought it out to get inspected.  With old cars, there’s always the anticipation of it being rejected, for a number of reasons, and even though it passed only 3 months ago, and hasn’t been used since then, I was a little anxious.  So when I saw the REJECTED stamp on my paperwork, I was running through my mind the things that could go wrong while just sitting, and guesstimating how much it was going to cost.

… Imagine my surprise when it failed because the wiper-washers weren’t working.  As a matter of fact, most of the system was removed by the previous owner in order to install a second, backup battery.  It’s not something someone would steal out of the car.

… So, tell me why, two years in a row it can pass inspection without any wiper-washers, and then  all of a sudden this time they notice?  Guess it all depends on who is doing the inspection, and what kind of day they are having.

… I brought the car home, jumped in the Subaru and went down to Pep Boys to see if they had the stuff to fix it.  I knew pretty much nobody would have original equipment parts for that system, so I just wanted to get a universal, after-market system.  The guy at the counter looked at me like I was growing a 3rd arm out the top of my head.  I had to explain the whole situation to him before he figured out enough to send me to someone who actually knew cars*.  This is how I discovered CarQuest down on 3rd East and about 22nd South.  I walked in there, looked around and immediately felt like these guys knew what they were selling.  I asked one of the guys on the counter about and after-market wiper-washer system and he said “Jes a sec.”, wandered off and came back 5 minutes later with exactly what I needed, short one piece.  I found a vacuum hose T which looked like what I needed and asked him if it would work with the washer system.  Instead of “dunno”, he said that it sure would, since the systems are basically the same.  $55 later I have just what I need to get the car to pass inspection, just need daylight back so I can see what I’m doing when I install it.

 

 

*My brothers and I have often discussed how to work in a car parts store these days all you need to know is how to read a computer terminal.  The days of “Well, I got the part for a 1971, but if ya just drill an extra hole in it it’ll work for a ‘68” are long gone.

It's official

I'm hoping to make it to a couple car shows in the near future, and I've decided that the car I'm going to bring is the Battlecruiser. I have gotten tons of comments on it, and even when put with the convertible, people notice the wagon. My mechanic, who has inspected all 3 cars this month, had more praise for the wagon than for the other 2 LTDs combined. He said, and I quote, "You stole that car for $2,000." So, unless I have a way of getting more than one down there, I bringing the wagon to the car shows.