Lou's Garage
Well-known member
Happy Motoring!
Lou
Lou
Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The Mary Kay Garage
- Thread starter pickles
- Start date
Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
We’re off. Sitting at O’Hare at the moment. It’s a little warmer. High of 60 today in DC. Looking forward to having lunch with my daughter. Looking forward to seeing my dad. Also Looking forward to seeing Mary Kay as I haven’t since her since work has been done. Wish us luck.
Last edited:
68400BIRD
Well-known member
Wishing you lots of luck and have as much fun as you can on the way home. Make it an adventure!!
billconner
Well-known member
The best of luck to you and son!
Jeff Ivers
Well-known member
How far did you get and what happened?
billconner
Well-known member
Condolences.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Swanny1953
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I guess be happy it happened now, rather in the middle of bum-f&%k Egypt!!!
cycle61
Well-known member
Drive faster obviously.
Success! 
But only temporarily. We got a new power steering belt and got it on. But we only made it as far Hagerstown Maryland where it came off again. This time it looks like it also took out the fan belt and we spilled coolant all over the road.
We are getting Mary Kay towed back to Virginia. My son and I are going to Uber back to Washington DC and we will fly home tomorrow afternoon. At least we will get to spend some time with my daughter. Oh well. At least the weather is nice.
But only temporarily. We got a new power steering belt and got it on. But we only made it as far Hagerstown Maryland where it came off again. This time it looks like it also took out the fan belt and we spilled coolant all over the road.
We are getting Mary Kay towed back to Virginia. My son and I are going to Uber back to Washington DC and we will fly home tomorrow afternoon. At least we will get to spend some time with my daughter. Oh well. At least the weather is nice.
Last edited:
68400BIRD
Well-known member
That stinks. Sounds like an alignment problem with the pulleys. Should have been caught when the motor was installed. Enjoy your extra time with your daughter.
billconner
Well-known member
Sorry..
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Expectations dashed.
Bummer.
Bummer.
Swanny1953
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Never fun when things don't work out as planned, but you'll get even nicer weather later!
Guess I'm just a glass half full guy!
Guess I'm just a glass half full guy!
Farmall450
Well-known member
Can't win them all. Must be some issue with the pump or pulley itself?
Farmall450
Well-known member
Man, I have a lot of catching up to do. Last I remember, this garage build was just getting started 
Between my dad who’s been driving the car four the last few weeks and the restoration ship it probably has two hundred miles on it since restoration. not including the 100 miles we drove today.
I am going to guess one of the pulleys is bad. The belt seemed to start slipping maybe when the bearings get hot? There seems to be rubber on the A/C compressor which shares the same belt as the power steering pulley. This is only a guess. I’ll let the restoration shop figure it out. After they do I’ll have it shipped back to Chicago. I’m not up for this again anytime soon.
I am going to guess one of the pulleys is bad. The belt seemed to start slipping maybe when the bearings get hot? There seems to be rubber on the A/C compressor which shares the same belt as the power steering pulley. This is only a guess. I’ll let the restoration shop figure it out. After they do I’ll have it shipped back to Chicago. I’m not up for this again anytime soon.
Last edited:
Oh there’s been lots of misadventures since then. Did I mention I’ve been boat shopping with a friend too?Man, I have a lot of catching up to do. Last I remember, this garage build was just getting started
Thanks for all the comments everyone. I’m back home today and glad that experience is over. The car is back at WW Motors. I’m sure they’ll get it fixed and then I’ll be shipping it back. Definitely not trying to drive it back . Given the problem it didn’t work out too badly. Or at least it could have been significantly worse. That said I’m definitely not trying that again.
it was nice to see my dad. He is really aging recently. I was surprised how weak he is. We’ve done a few road-trips over the years (in normal cars). I’m sure that this will be our last one (or part of one) as I doubt that he would feel up to it in another year or two, even in a modern car. I’m glad we tried even if it didn’t work out all that well.
It was also nice to see my daughter yesterday of course.
I still like the idea of long road trips. I used t have fantasies about buying an older car (80s Porsche?) out of LA or somewhere like that and road tripping it home. I think I’m cured of that desire.
I have Haverty classic car insurance and they helped with the tow. I highly recommend.
The car also looked really nice. The seats and new top looked great. The rebuilt engine was freshly painted. The exterior paint still looks like **** but it was better. I’ll look forward to tinkering with it once she’s back. There is still lots of small stuff to do. Stuff that is commensurate with my modest skills.
Pic
it was nice to see my dad. He is really aging recently. I was surprised how weak he is. We’ve done a few road-trips over the years (in normal cars). I’m sure that this will be our last one (or part of one) as I doubt that he would feel up to it in another year or two, even in a modern car. I’m glad we tried even if it didn’t work out all that well.
It was also nice to see my daughter yesterday of course.
I still like the idea of long road trips. I used t have fantasies about buying an older car (80s Porsche?) out of LA or somewhere like that and road tripping it home. I think I’m cured of that desire.
I have Haverty classic car insurance and they helped with the tow. I highly recommend.
The car also looked really nice. The seats and new top looked great. The rebuilt engine was freshly painted. The exterior paint still looks like **** but it was better. I’ll look forward to tinkering with it once she’s back. There is still lots of small stuff to do. Stuff that is commensurate with my modest skills.
Pic
82355
Well-known member
That's a shame. Was looking forward to the trip report. Could have been I suppose.
Martin
Martin
Geoff289
Well-known member
That's all a bit anti climatic but I think you made the right call.
Ford52PU
Well-known member
shame it didnt work out.
Uofime
Well-known member
Bummer! Might have been the warm weather that screwed you… were you running the A/C? Bet the other test miles weren’t running it. The compressor is the highest power draw on the accessory drive. It’ll test the tension and alignment for sure.
A/C hasn’t worked since I’ve ownedthe car. The compressor is still there, shares a belt with the power steering pump. I have no idea what it would take to fix It. I haven’t bothered to ever find out.
Uofime
Well-known member
Weird that there was belt residue collecting on its pulley. Maybe it’s bracket came loose and the pulley came out of alignment.
I’m sure that’s a R12 system, so it would have to be converted to R134a which requires flushing the old mineral oil out, replacing seals, and ports. Realistically I’d be replacing much of the system given it’s age it’s going to more than likely leak. So new compressor ideally from a vehicle intended for R134, a new condenser again a newer model high efficiency one and new lines. It would be tempting to leave the evaporator alone, it’s probably a pain to get to. I’m theory you should replace the orifice too but again that may be hard to get to and the existing should work.
It would be worth trying to talk to vintage air if you wanted to entertain the idea. They’d have a lot of the “special” parts and knowledge if they felt like selling it to you.
I talked to WW Motorcars today. They agree that the problem we had was likely due to the AC compressor. There is evidence on the pulley that the belt was slipping. Some 68 Cadillacs came without air conditioning. Since it’s not important to me to have AC the plan is to get a belt for the car that came without that option. It should make the car functional and I’ll ship the it back to Chicago. If I ever want to fix the AC I can go back to the original style belt then, presumably with a rebuilt or aftermarket compressor. Hopefully it means I can get it back soon, in time for a full summer of driving and without much additional cost
I wonder if the clutch and/or bearings in your A/C are starting to seize up, ruining the belt that is shared with the power steering. The A/C pulley has a clutch that is normally disengaged, it takes power to lock it up and turn the A/C on (are you sure that power wasn’t accidentally engaged to it somehow?). So sometimes after sitting for a long time the clutch will start to freeze up and if the compressor or its bearings are frozen it will throw or shred belts. Regardless, if the A/C is in any way the problem, bypassing it like you describe should do the trick.
I know I sound like a broken record but the Cadillac is ready. This time I hope for real. They put on a new shorter power steering belt that by passes the air conditioning compressor. After a two hour test drive on the highway they believe that this is the fix. I’ve contacted three car transportation companies hoping to get a decent price for shipping it home to Chicago sometime next week. Will update once it’s here including some photos that I never got the chance to take when it broke down two weeks ago.
Just_Steve
Well-known member
From your lips to gods ears.
garfieldzzz
Well-known member
Fingers crossed…
Uofime
Well-known member
I would have felt better if it was two hours crawling around DC(or similar) for testing. I suppose they could say they were worried about damage from that but she’s a city car and bound to have a few blemishes. I know after parking in Chicago for a few years my car had plenty of “park by braille” witness marks.
No. I didnt get a new one. But my friend did. He’s the bad influence that lead me to going to the Porsche dealership last November in the first place. His car was delivered today. In some ways it’s very similar to mine. 2024 two wheel drive 992 coupe with a stick shift. But also very different. His is a Carrera S so it has forty or so more horsepower than mine. Will that be noticeable? I guess we’ll have a chance to see. His has rear axle steer which is an option debated a lot on Porsche forums so we can make a comparison there. In general his is optioned much more as a luxury car (sun roof, power seats, leather) while mine has some more sports type options (sport exhaust, lowered suspension, no rear seat). Should make for an interesting comparison. Cheers.
Just_Steve
Well-known member
Just_Steve
Well-known member
Oh she's an understanding lady, my wife wouldn't have that although we all park in the driveway, no room in the garage for any car.