The Short Bus- Part 1
So this post came about as a result of this post. You know. . . the one where we broke the truck. No biggie, right?
Well, only having one car is kinda tough when your husband works weird, crazy hours.
Remember back in the day when I mentioned how awesome my husband is with his Neon SRT-4? It's in this post in case you're confused [don't forget to watch the video for the full effect ;)]. That poor car has been broken down for about 2 years now for reasons we won't get into. Mainly because that deserves a post in and of itself. :) But let me give you a hint:
Those holes are, uh, not supposed to be there.
Anywhoo, moving on.
We've had plans to rebuild the Neon for a long, long while.With the truck temporarily out of the picture, we decided there was no time like the present to jump-start the build. So we left the truck parked in the drive way and made plans to put the car together in about 4 days before the hubs had to go back to work. {for the record, any time I say 'WE' in reference to putting the car together, I mean that I sat on my bum in a lawn chair and watched my husband to all the work}
Has anyone ever tried to put an entire engine together from scratch? Has anyone ever tried to do it on a time crunch in a disorganized garage?
Don't do it.
Just walk away.
Save yourself.
I think we jinxed ourselves when the hubs said something along the lines of "I should be able to have the engine all put together today and also start on the transmission" on Day 1. Bad deal. If you don't have much experience with fixing/building vehicles, let me give you a similar example of what that phrase 'did' to us. It's kinda like when you go to the dentist for a simple cleaning thinking that it will be nice, easy, pain-free, and quick only to find that you have 40 cavities and need 3 root canals. You end up spending a week at the dentist's office. . . In that really uncomfortable chair. . . Staring at the ceiling so you don't have to make awkward eye contact with the hygienist. Saying that something should be quick and/or easy when working on a car is pretty much akin to asking Murphy to move in with you and eat all your food.
Suffice it to say that Day 1 didn't go as planned. Neither did Day 2. Or 3. Or 4. Or Day. . . Uh, you get the picture.
Let's take a quick look at what we started with, shall we? This was after we had extracted the old motor and disassembled it {there I go with that 'WE' thing, again!}:
[Quick disclaimer: My cell phone is not the strongest solution for high quality pictures. I apologize in advance for any potential blurriness and general crappiness.]
Yeah. There was a itty-bitty fire under there at one time. Whoopsie.
So here's some photographic evidence of the building process. I know this is totally not interesting to you, and that's okay :) I'll try and make it as easy to swallow as possible, I promise. Just nod and smile if nothing else. Oh, and let's get one thing out of the way-- I know nothing about cars. I just fake it. So I'm basically waiting for Chuck to read this post and look at these pictures and shake his head in shame. He'll take my hand in his and point to the screen and say, "Sweetie? That's not the [insert random car part name]. That's the [insert other random car part name that probably has nothing to do with the first]."
*cough cough*
Alright. Glad we got that cleared up.
And here's Zoe hanging out in the front yard--
She does pretty much everything in her power to play 'keep away' with her ball when you actually want to play fetch. When you're busy doing something else? Totally different story.
What a helper.
I'll add some more to the story later, but I think that's enough for now. I know you'll be biting your fingernails in anticipation. . . don't lie.
Well, only having one car is kinda tough when your husband works weird, crazy hours.
Remember back in the day when I mentioned how awesome my husband is with his Neon SRT-4? It's in this post in case you're confused [don't forget to watch the video for the full effect ;)]. That poor car has been broken down for about 2 years now for reasons we won't get into. Mainly because that deserves a post in and of itself. :) But let me give you a hint:
Those holes are, uh, not supposed to be there.
Anywhoo, moving on.
We've had plans to rebuild the Neon for a long, long while.With the truck temporarily out of the picture, we decided there was no time like the present to jump-start the build. So we left the truck parked in the drive way and made plans to put the car together in about 4 days before the hubs had to go back to work. {for the record, any time I say 'WE' in reference to putting the car together, I mean that I sat on my bum in a lawn chair and watched my husband to all the work}
Has anyone ever tried to put an entire engine together from scratch? Has anyone ever tried to do it on a time crunch in a disorganized garage?
Don't do it.
Just walk away.
Save yourself.
I think we jinxed ourselves when the hubs said something along the lines of "I should be able to have the engine all put together today and also start on the transmission" on Day 1. Bad deal. If you don't have much experience with fixing/building vehicles, let me give you a similar example of what that phrase 'did' to us. It's kinda like when you go to the dentist for a simple cleaning thinking that it will be nice, easy, pain-free, and quick only to find that you have 40 cavities and need 3 root canals. You end up spending a week at the dentist's office. . . In that really uncomfortable chair. . . Staring at the ceiling so you don't have to make awkward eye contact with the hygienist. Saying that something should be quick and/or easy when working on a car is pretty much akin to asking Murphy to move in with you and eat all your food.
Suffice it to say that Day 1 didn't go as planned. Neither did Day 2. Or 3. Or 4. Or Day. . . Uh, you get the picture.
Let's take a quick look at what we started with, shall we? This was after we had extracted the old motor and disassembled it {there I go with that 'WE' thing, again!}:
[Quick disclaimer: My cell phone is not the strongest solution for high quality pictures. I apologize in advance for any potential blurriness and general crappiness.]
Yeah. There was a itty-bitty fire under there at one time. Whoopsie.
So here's some photographic evidence of the building process. I know this is totally not interesting to you, and that's okay :) I'll try and make it as easy to swallow as possible, I promise. Just nod and smile if nothing else. Oh, and let's get one thing out of the way-- I know nothing about cars. I just fake it. So I'm basically waiting for Chuck to read this post and look at these pictures and shake his head in shame. He'll take my hand in his and point to the screen and say, "Sweetie? That's not the [insert random car part name]. That's the [insert other random car part name that probably has nothing to do with the first]."
*cough cough*
Alright. Glad we got that cleared up.
And here's Zoe hanging out in the front yard--
She does pretty much everything in her power to play 'keep away' with her ball when you actually want to play fetch. When you're busy doing something else? Totally different story.
What a helper.
I'll add some more to the story later, but I think that's enough for now. I know you'll be biting your fingernails in anticipation. . . don't lie.
Oh Zoe, what a funny big grown up puppy you have :) If I walk outside for more than 30 seconds Bo grabs the nearest toy and comes running after me with high hopes. He really finds anything he thinks I could throw, sometimes it isn't a toy at all.
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