Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Clutching the Sky

One may not be surprised to learn that given this



and this



and these



and this



and this



and this



and this



as well as this



this



this



this



and this



that Larry the Volvo station waggon was suddenly sorely in need of this:



(That's a clutch disc, kids.)

Poor Larry. His get-go had been getting slower and slower, and that pedal on the left lower and lower, until finally Mom had to have him towed home because he'd pretty much stopped moving entirely, though he was still capable of making loud brrrrum-brrruumm!! noises.

So Tara (our handy go-to grrl mechanic) checked it out and concluded that the clutch had finally ascended to heaven. You've been a very good clutch, Tara said the angels sang; Come into the light!

After three day-long sessions in her trusty (albeit filthy) speed suit Tara got the thing switched out, though it involved (if I am remembering this correctly) dropping the transmission out and decoupling the shift something or other and sawing off some bolts and breaking an allen wrench and getting her hair caught in the creeper wheel and getting covered head to toe in grease, as well as (you can imagine) a lot of swearing, especially at the Haynes manual which was not exactly laid out in a straightforward manner, now was it.

But she got it done, though you should have seen her last night after she'd finished, her hair and face charmingly* smeared with grease; and as far as it looks, Larry is more or less back in the game.

So, go Tara!

Of course, what do you think we have planned for tomorrow?

An iron run.

Poor, poor Larry. There's always more.



*for "charmingly," you may substitute "frightfully," if you are so inclined.

8 comments:

Claire said...

Go, Tara, go!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Poor Larry needs to be treated to a spa day and some nice turtle wax to reward him and get him back in the game! And I'm so impressed that Tara did her own repairs!

The Writing Goddess said...

Full of admiration for Tara and her skillz; for Larry and his long-suffering clutch, and for you, Thalia, for not taking a picture of your sister in her filthy jumpsuit and tangled hair and sharing it online. What a good sister you are.

Elaine said...

I was wondering how long Larry would be able to continue working. And I'm super-impressed that Tara fixed him herself! I can barely wash & polish my car, much less vacuuming the inside.

Tonia said...

Larry has the family trait of being an unbeatable trouper.

Well done, all.

Anonymous said...

Can I assume (yea, i know, but sometimes I really an the south end of a north bound mule) that Tara got her car fixing talent from your father???

I am jealous, I was raised to drive them, put gas in them. and keep the inside clean. Never ever was taught how to check oil, etc. ALways had my dad or male coworkers who could take care of me....(ok, so I was a spoiled little a$$ of a girl)

OMG to all the iron runs.....do you have to give the iron guy fair warning of your impending arrivals....
and considering the money you have "earned" from these runs....are you making the guy run out of money???

Cheering you two on from afar.

A reader from the Chicago area.

Dez Crawford said...

Just discovered your blog. You guys rock!

I had to do the same thing to the struts on my Voklswagen Golf, for the same reason. Good car, she is..

curiouslittleoysters said...

Wow I'm just so amazed by the sheer quantity. And your sense of humor is great. :)