New project

[grouch]

The Furd is gone. I figured out squirrels got into the wiring and I just sold it off. I lost a bit of money but I was tired of fooling with it.

I picked up a 2005 PT Cruiser convertible from a family where the owner is dying. She wanted everything settled before she passed so it came home with me. I'm not particularly thrilled about a rag top, but when I get it done, I should be able to get my money out of it. In the meantime, my niece has had her license for about 15 years or so. She still wants to learn a stick and her husband is the same way. Yep, it's a 5 speed.

Originally out of Michigan, it does have one rust perforation under the drivers side rocker panel. It was parked because the dash display doesn't work. No gauges or anything. The dimmer on the turn signal stalk will turn it off so I suspect the switch is bad.

Runs good, clutch pulls strong, air works, top works and doesn't leak, windows all work and generally looks a little worn but is decent.

I have a new turn signal switch and tomorrow some front end parts should be here to smooth the ride out a bit.

The clear coat is coming off, there are dents from either a hail storm or being parked under a walnut tree and the headlights are foggy, but so far it's been a fun car to drive. Eventually it'll be a fun drive that gets good mileage for somebody.

 

[swathdiver]

We had a 2002 with a 5-speed for a while and it was a good little car. They have a common cylinder head issue which I was not aware of at the time, the car still started and ran fine. The plastic bushings in the shifter wore out and it would pop out of gear. Instead of spending $20 for new bushings, my daughter spent $15K for an Impala instead! She killed the Impala eventually and we see "Stanley" on the road from time to time around town cleaning pools.

 

[grouch]

We had a 2002 with a 5-speed for a while and it was a good little car. They have a common cylinder head issue which I was not aware of at the time, the car still started and ran fine. The plastic bushings in the shifter wore out and it would pop out of gear. Instead of spending $20 for new bushings, my daughter spent $15K for an Impala instead! She killed the Impala eventually and we see "Stanley" on the road from time to time around town cleaning pools.

I checked the bushings when I looked at the car. The heads do have a bit of an issue and this is a little different engine than I used to race. Years ago, I ran autocross with an '89 Omni. It had the single overhead cam engine rather than the DOHC in the Cruiser. If you want to annoy someone, let them spend $10,000 on suspension and engine work, then beat their time by about 1/2 a second with a mostly stock Omni. All I did was swap wider, stickier tires and wheels.

I've already decided that if it needs either a timing belt or clutch, I'm going to pull the engine and do both. Right now, it runs good and drives decent.

 

[swathdiver]

I checked the bushings when I looked at the car. The heads do have a bit of an issue and this is a little different engine than I used to race. Years ago, I ran autocross with an '89 Omni. It had the single overhead cam engine rather than the DOHC in the Cruiser. If you want to annoy someone, let them spend $10,000 on suspension and engine work, then beat their time by about 1/2 a second with a mostly stock Omni. All I did was swap wider, stickier tires and wheels.

I've already decided that if it needs either a timing belt or clutch, I'm going to pull the engine and do both. Right now, it runs good and drives decent.

Those Omnis were cool, I remember them!

 

[drakon543]

my first car was a 5spd omni think it was an 88?? either way i hated it back then and tried like hell to kill it. course i was constantly speeding and doing other dumb stuff. my mom ended up taking it from me and helping me buy a 79 f150 that had some toys and big fat tires on the back. i ended up taking the omni one night after it became her backup car and hit a deer on a back road at 75mph. so i did finally kill it after it wasn't mine anymore.

 

[grouch]

The Cruiser is coming together pretty well. The dash works on and off. I know I have a problem with the under hood fuse box. I'm consistently getting power to the fuses when it should be, the fuses test good both by eye and ohm meter. The other day the radio died so I swapped a new one in. The new radio works fine but the right windows wouldn't roll up. I was doing some other work and while I was at it, I wiggled the wires in the fuse block and the windows worked.

I don't know if this is why the dash is so erratic, but it's going to an auto electric shop Monday. If it fixes it, great. If not, I may need to replace the PCM. I had it out and opened the case partially. The gel inside was partially melted and was holding the case shut.

 

[Sparksalot]

I checked the bushings when I looked at the car. The heads do have a bit of an issue and this is a little different engine than I used to race. Years ago, I ran autocross with an '89 Omni. It had the single overhead cam engine rather than the DOHC in the Cruiser. If you want to annoy someone, let them spend $10,000 on suspension and engine work, then beat their time by about 1/2 a second with a mostly stock Omni. All I did was swap wider, stickier tires and wheels.

I've already decided that if it needs either a timing belt or clutch, I'm going to pull the engine and do both. Right now, it runs good and drives decent.

I test drove an Omni GLH one time. Surprised and spanked a dude driving a Porsche.

 

[grouch]

I test drove an Omni GLH one time. Surprised and spanked a dude driving a Porsche.

Porsche's are nice cars, but they seem to be a little over rated. Unless you get the active suspension, a 911 isn't a car you go into a curve hot then let up on the throttle. I was told that once when I was getting ready to run a rally stage. There's a difference between being told something and KNOWING it deep down. I didn't go in the bushes, but that was more a matter of luck than skill.