Rip Clarence

[Mother Dragon]

What a wonderful way to end your day! I'll bet you feel complete now. Your happiness makes my day better, too.
I think you should drive Clarence to a picturesque site to photograph him. That seems like a good excuse for a drive to me (as if you needed one!).

I think you should have a holiday tomorrow just to celebrate. Call it Clarence Resurrection Day.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I'm still waiting for picture!

 

[Winchester]

I know. Sorry. I asked Rick to take pictures tonight, but he doesn't feel well and is lying down. I took some, but I don't take good pictures!

 

[Winchester]

The Boy is back in town! Clarence, my 2001 PT Cruiser. A rebuilt engine and a paint job. I am grateful and I don't regret a single penny. I think he looks great. There were spots starting to rust, there were bubbles, and the red was really oxidized from the sun. It wasn't good. No, he doesn't look like a brand new car....and that's OK. He's almost 18 years old!

This is the PT's Inferno Red color. I bought him a car cover last night to prepare him for winter storage.

 

[Mother Dragon]

If I didn't know better, I'd swear you bought a new car. He looks gorgeous. Look at that shine! And a sunroof! What's not to love? You look terrific, too. And very, very happy.

You should get his name embroidered on his cover in a matching color. He deserves it.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Very nice! He looks great!

 

[Kat0121]

Wow. He looks fantastic and so do you! The dynamic duo is back together!

 

[bbdoll22]

Loving His new paint job. He does look new!!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Beautiful, car and lady.

 

[rubysmama]

The news of Clarence's death was premature. He's alive! And he looks great! Would never guess he was 18 years old. He looks brand new! Money well spent!

 

[foxxycat]

Lovely car and lovely lady!! I love the paint job..maybe I will get my bomber painted this spring..she's got rust spots too...hmmm...It would be nice to have a pretty truck again...but at 226K miles wonder if I shouldn't bother..what do you think? I love the paint job!

 

[Winchester]

Aw thanks, guys! He just looks awesome to me. (Rick kind of likes that picture. He said that, yes, I'm 62. But he'll keep me anyway.)

You know, foxxycat i can't answer that question. The problem is that everything where Clarence is concerned, I make decisions with my heart. Heck, way back in 2001, I even bought him with my heart. And those are not really smart decisions. I get that. I do.

Clarence had 150,000 miles on him (actually, I think it's 151,800+ now) when I decided to have the car painted. And when I thought he was "dead" I even had to think long and hard about what to do (although Rick now says that he knew all along that the Boy was coming back....he knew I couldn't let him go to the junkyard or be torn apart). I mean, he needed a new engine; this is different from tires or brakes or what-have-you. I thought about it, I cried about it.....and well, you know what happened. (Ultimately, somebody should kick my butt -- hard -- because I let that blasted timing belt go; none of this would have happened, if I'd have been a more intelligent car owner. I didn't know about timing belts. But it's in the damn manual, for crying out loud. Ignorance is no excuse.)

I guess the thing is that if you're planning on keeping your truck come hell or high water, do it. And look at what's under the hood, too, not just at the physical appearance, if that makes any sense. If you're thinking that, maybe in next 2-3-4 years, you might start looking at other trucks, well, then there's your answer, too.

Clarence? Well, he just makes me smile. And I know how silly that sounds. And before I get out of the car, I give his old dashboard a pat. Every time. I just love that car.

 

[foxxycat]

I bought my truck on a whim..because she has cloth interior...and every Tahoe I was looking at had a sunroof and leather seats..which I run hot so leather and I don't match well. I didn't care for the color but the clothe seats are what sold me. I know my mechanic does body work and he's fairly cheap so it won't break the bank..but for now if it looks like a beater maybe no one will break in LOL. I would def change the color to white..I always had white cars...I didn't like dark colors because so stinkin hot in the summer....but now I guess I should just keep her the same color she is.

I haven't been looking hard as the prices for trucks right now seem to be crazy expensive. I remember getting something decent for 12-16K and now it's 31K and that's just too much...I had the rear end completely rebuilt 2 years ago-so far the transmission is still in good shape-occasionally she drifts when trying to shift on highway but never had issues getting out of park to drive-just doesn't have the OMPH that she had at 71K miles. so far nothing dripping or leaking heavy-there's a pin leak around the valve covers-the oil-but the mechanic didn't seem concerned..he said leave it alone.

As long no drips on my driveway=we are good. I did have to replace the stainless tubing for transmission a few years ago as I was noticing a wet underneath-was the way it was threaded and needed new tubing-so far not noticed too much fuss-I want to replace the radiator but the mechanic says just leave it alone-because of the age and milage-he says when you mess with stuff that isn't broken-can cause issues down the road=so his advice is still the same.

"Just Drive it"

I can hear the wheel bearings getting a tad louder so we will take care of that this fall-they come as a hub-so no pressing bearings out-kind of stupid because makes it expensive but easier to change...I have had them changed out 2 times already...both sides. It's a typical wear thing-just had both inner tierods done, then last week had the canister to the exhaust system replaced-also need the catalyst converter replaced which means they may have to cut it out and weld an after market one in there..which I found out I can get the part for $100. it's the labor-and I don't know how good of a welder those kids are that he hires-it's basic sheet metal welding-not too hard-just have to make sure they don't blow through the material...I can tell it's acting up=it's starting to start hard again like its starved for air=they had mickey moussed it to get the code to go away but it's not a permanent fix-something about unplug something on left side, run it on 2500 rpms for a bit and then reconnect it-it ran great for the first week but I can feel it getting sluggish again...so not sure I should do the paint job...I like to keep things running smooth-I never cared about how my vehicle looks=as long as the engine purred and has power when I need it. I can't believe I rebuilt my carbonator on an older car....now I would get overwhelmed with making sure it's perfect but I did get the car running but it was never as good as before.

Anyways I am blabbing about nothing again..great paint job!! and glad the rebuilt engine is working out. I always love it when I get work done on it and it runs perfect.

 

[AbbysMom]

That came out great!