<VV> Auto Parts Stores - non-Corvair, but uplifting

[shortle]

"the stringent California smog-check"

Seth, Enlighten me. What is that? 

Back to shoveling snow.
Timothy Shortle in Durango Colorado 81301


-----Original Message-----
>From: Sethracer at aol.com
>Sent: Jan 30, 2012 12:37 AM
>To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
>Subject: <VV> Auto Parts Stores - non-Corvair, but uplifting
>
>On more than one occasion, I have heard someone on Virtual Vairs give a  
>slap-down to the "Chain" auto parts stores. Yes, It would be nice if there was 
>a  fully-stocked NAPA store down the street, but they are a ways away from 
>my home,  and usually not open on Sunday. This afternoon, (Sunday) I was 
>pursuing a  pair of non-functioning gauges on a 97 Camaro that has graced my 
>driveway for a  few years now, defying attempts at meeting the stringent 
>California smog-check  process. I determined that the oil pressure sender - for 
>the gauge - was  malfunctioning. I actually used the troubleshooting 
>flow-chart in the original  GM shop manual. I heard the gauge respond - taking the 
>word of my  observing wife - to a ground and "not" at the plug to the sender. 
>So a new  sender it was. The sender on this car lives, like on most Chevy 
>V8s behind  everything else at the back of the motor - in theory, at least. I 
>can feel it,  but not actually see it. But later I dragged a Corvair pal 
>with me  to visit the nearest auto chain store - in this case a Pep Boys about 
> 10 blocks away. Entering the front door, I observed a line of 9 or 10 
>people  waiting for service at the combination parts look-up counter and 
>check-out  register. An instant U-turn, and we hopped back into the car and drove a 
>couple  of miles to an AutoZone. We entered and found a nice lady at the 
>computer, happy  to look up my sending unit needs. They had it in stock and, 
>my wallet a bit  lighter, we turned and headed home, not 3 minutes later.  
>About an  hour later, I layed a folded moving blanket over the top of the 
>Camaro motor and  straddled it face down, with both hands reaching around to the 
>"theoretical"  pressure sender. The sending unit on this car, for some 
>unknown reason has  three pin connectors, but only one wire coming out in the 
>harness to the  gauge. (WTF?) The sender is about 3.5 inches tall, but mounted 
>horizontally into  a tall 90 degree fitting. I had absolutely no way to get 
>a wrench on it. Got any  4" tall 1 1/6" sockets, or a 1 1/16 crows foot 
>wrench? The Corvair oil pressure  switch socket would have fit the metal part, 
>but there was two inches of plastic  sticking up in the middle. And it was 
>way beyond hand removal. So I packed the  replacement in my pocket and headed 
>out to find another tool! I visited my local  Harbor Freight -always a 
>dangerous path - but left empty handed. So on the  way back to the house, I 
>dropped back in to the Pep Boys I had visited earlier.  I visited the tool 
>aisle, but found nothing that would do the trick. So I  walked over to the 
>"service" department and interrupted a pair of mechanics. One  looked at the 
>sender and said "Oh yeah, that one!" and walked me back to the  tool aisle. We 
>both looked at the empty peg, where the right tool may have  resided, at one 
>time. Then he did what I have often done when presented with  that view, I 
>check the pegs to the left and right, behind the tools on the front  of the 
>peg. Eureka, someone had stuffed the correct sucker behind the next  smaller 
>size socket, in "tool purgatory". A bunch more dollars and I was  headed home 
>with the right socket. With a stubby ratchet and a wobble extension,  the 
>swap was quick and easy. And now all gauges work. It won't help the smog  
>test, but at least I can drive to it without imagining all sorts of  internal 
>issues. 60 PSI on start-up. 
>So finally, I have both Pep Boys and Autozone to  thank for helping me 
>accomplish this Sunday task. Of course, I  have a nice tall socket that I will 
>likely never, ever use again. But that  is what a project is for, an excuse 
>to buy more tools!
> 
>Seth Emerson  
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