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Here she is, and she is not on her way to the crusher anytime soon. A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Richard, of Richard's Corvettes in Moncks Corner picked up the car Saturday with a "roll-off" truck. On Sunday morning he called and said, "I hope you didn't cancel your insurance (I had). He said that there was nothing wrong with the engine, but the starter motor was toast. When I picked it up Monday, it had a new starter and solenoid. It started with a pleasant and familiar rumble. A lot of money and a lot of sentiment was saved that day.
Today I went back to the major Chevy dealer in Charleston that had been servicing it for the past decade and who had blown the diagnosis so badly. I drove into the large bay in front of the service writers and parked in front of his station. As soon as he finished with a customer, he looked up and saw me sitting there in the grey '86 'Vette. His face immediately transformed into a wide-eyed, "Holy S**t" expression. I couldn't help but chuckle. It only took a minute for him to agree to reimburse me my hundred bucks for what has to have been the worst diagnosis ever.
Insurance and registration have been renewed, and I think I've found a new "Corvette guy" to take care of it for the next decade at least. Some stories have a happy ending.
Today marks the first day in over 31 years that I have not owned a Corvette! As a car guy since the fifties when the Corvette first appeared, I have always coveted Corvettes. A couple of weeks ago my '86 suddenly wouldn't turn over. A battery booster did not help, so I presumed a bad starter motor. It turns out that the starter was doing its best; the motor was frozen. A big breaker bar at the end of the crank could only move it a quarter turn. The preliminary prognosis was a bent connecting rod. In my opinion, connecting rods don't bend, they break. A running '86 will go for $5K+. A replacement engine would cost $4K just for parts. With the labor cost the value of the car was a negative number. Durelle insisted that I get a second opinion, so...tomorrow it will go to Richard's Corvettes in Moncks Corner who will give me a small amount in exchange for the title. We have decided not to replace it for a while. We will attempt to be a one car family until it becomes too painful. A ranking possibility for a replacement second car is the Dodge Dart. For those who know me from the old days, that's sorta coming full circle. I bought the first Valiant in 1960, and it soon morphed into the Dodge Dart.
On a lighter note the bus is going to get a head start on the summer. The Pecks will be using it for the month of March +/- at the Famcamp at the Charleston AFB.
The weather has been cool with a frost most every night. Sunday, however, is supposed to be in the 70s. The birds have been active at the feeder.
The rains have provided some nice rainbows.
That's Cindy's house under the second rainbow.
I would be remiss if I didn't raise a glass to my old roommate, Dick Daniel. He provided honorable service to his country starting in 1955 and continuing through some of the toughest years in the history of the US Army. He died on the last day of January from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma which was caused by Agent Orange. He was my roommate for four years. He sang in my wedding, and I was best man at his...both in the summer of 1960. Well done, Dick, be thou at peace.
