Two down, one to go.

When I got the Eagle Summit Wagon, through the auspices of Mr. Marv Walling, it arrived with three major mechanical problems.

To reiterate:

-a broken, leaking heater core.

-a warped front brake rotor.

-a CLUNK-y transmission.

The heater core was replaced with a generic unit months ago. I have been trying for the last few weeks to find replacement rotors at my local automotive parts retailers. No luck. I finally ordered the correct (I hoped) part from an outfit called autobarn.com. The parts arrived yesterday. Remember, I have to get the brakes done and the car roadworthy before the last week of this month, in order to renew my auto insurance.

The first surprise was that only *one* rotor arrived. The price from autobarn was a real bargain...for two rotors. Not such a bargain for just one. Their order page was a wee bit misleading; "qty req - 2" means you ought to buy a pair...but they don't sell them in pairs, apparently. The second surprise was that the pads I bought were so easy to install. Did a brief test drive...it was sooooo good to step on the brake pedal and not worry that the front end of the car was going to shake itself apart. I honestly can't tell if that rotor was warped or not, but I can definitely see a difference in how the brakes perform now. I swapped the new one for the driver's side rotor, and put new pads on both sides. There are no shakes, shimmy or squeaks from anywhere around the front brakes. I must have correctly guessed which rotor was warped...

There are torque measurements for the brake calipers...but I'm not terribly concerned. I used my breaker bar to remove the bolts, and used it again to replace them; turning them down until they didn't move anymore.

I've purchased a tank of premium ethanol-blended gasoline, and I'll be cleaning the plugs as well as changing the oil and filters. I'm seriously thinking of a sealing oil additive. All these preparations for "the heap" to pass its next appointment with aircare.