Got the van safety checked

After a week of stormy weather that left parts of Maui and leeward Oahu flooded, the morning was nice enough to finish up the van and take it in for its annual safety inspection. To prepare I installed new wiper blades and a left brake light bulb.

The plan was to do that early, then spend a couple hours on the E9. Got a late start after breakfast with the family at the new Koa's in Hawaii Kai, but what really derailed the plan was the van refusing to start. Sounded like a dead battery, turned out to be corrosion on the negative terminal wires ... long ago I had to replace both connectors with the clamp-on type, due to corrosion.

I mentioned the rain. This week we hosted a conference in Waikiki and since the van was not road worthy I thought it would be nice to give the Lotus a little more road time. Tuesday was beautiful. Wednesday was dark and rainy, so knowing I would get wet getting it started I took my nice clothes in a plastic garbage bag. My plan was working perfectly until I failed to see a traffic island while turning left onto Kuhio. Bam! Bent something in the left front suspension. So, work on the E9 will be interrupted some more.

Remember the shower? The epoxy patch is working perfectly. Tomorrow work begins on the upstairs bathroom renovation, to continue through Monday.

Happy New Year!

Despite taking some time off these past two weeks have been crazy busy. I did spend some time working on the Caravan's windshield wipers, but no work on the E9. With New Year's Day falling on Saturday I doubt anything will get done for another week.

I am writing this on my Android phone using a blogger app called Bloggeroid. It uses Picasa to store photos, which will require me to change my habits. I'll see how it goes.
















The initial problem was the motor not working. It was slow and noisy when I installed it last year. This time it was sitting in a pool of water -- the drains for the plastic tub were plugged. While replacing the motor I discovered that the ball joint at the end of the crank was really stiff. Maybe that is why the last motor was so noisy.

Nobody has a suitable replacement ... the dealer did not know what parts I would need, so I took it apart, cleaned it, and greased it up with axle grease. Still not put back together.

Also need to fix the van's radiator fans.