Friday, January 30, 2009

Give Me a Brake

I have mentioned previously (Appalachian Boy) that I am proud to belong to a resourceful people. I want to pass on my heritage to my son. So...

...last night E and I went to the local Advanced Auto to get a new headlight and some brake pads for the Cavalier. We came home bearing Captain D's supper and TimBits. After a hearty family supper, blessed by E's rendition of "God is Great...", he and I retired to the garage to replace the light bulb.

Now Chevy seems to be having financial problems due to a slacking in sales. Perhaps it has something to do with the HORRID engineering utilized in the construction of the Cavalier! The oil filter is approachable only by great patience and dexterity. Now I learn that changing a headlight bulb requires an advanced degree in engineering as well! You cannot access it without removing the entire headlight / turn light assembly. But something was holding it to the front quarter panel.

After an hour of thought, discussed, grunting, huffing and dismantling of rubberized covering pieces, I discovered the secret. A latch had to be deactivated with a screwdriver to release the assembly fom the frame!

All the while E. was with me. He refused offers to watch movies, get a bath or anything else until he had helped me fix it. Finally we were able to remove the blown bulb and install the new one. I let him test it by turning on the lights and running around the car to see it was actually on.

After he went to bed, I removed the old brake shoes and replaced them. They were GREATLY worn out and now things are good again.

We are going back to the Advanced Auto this evening to get wires and plugs. He (and I) can hardly wait to work together again on the challenges of the enigmatic Cavalier.

1 comment:

The Momma said...

I love my 2 boys fixing stuff like this! You guys are a great team!