Fix my old cars or get rid of them

The 1990 Buick Century was towed away yesterday and I got the 93 Century running a month or so ago after dumping another $700 into it. (Ugh.) I still have the 75 Olds Delta 88 Royale convertible to get operational, in addition to the newly acquired 1992 Catalina Sport RV. Is this progress?

It seems we always have at least one old car that needs some work done, but isn’t worth enough to take it to a shop to have it fixed. In my head I’ll find the time to play auto mechanic and get these beasts back on the road. We’ve had a broken down 1990 Buick Century for a while now, it having cracked its exhaust manifold and now not being able to pass the Utah Safety and Emissions test. It has some other issues and so it has been collected leaves and cat paw prints on the side of the house. I decided to up the stakes and play double or nothing when I saw a local advertisement for a 1993 Buick Century, same model, for $150. However, when I went to test drive it, the car wouldn’t start and I was left with a decision. I ended up calling a local towing company where my daughter-in-law works and they did me a favor and hauled the car to my house, where I deposited it next to its brother. (Incidently, this is the car that I was pushing around that resulted in some upper back pain.) From the description the owner gave and my own observations, I suspected that the starter solenoid was gone and I was hoping that I could just swap it out with the one from the 1st car. (The second car is in better shape and is the one that I am trying to fix.)

Unfortunately, it turned out that I had to take out the entire starter motor from both cars, a dirty and difficult task when laying on one’s back. Good news is that I got it done today and fired up the 2nd car, the silver one. (First car is red. In my family we reference most of the cars by color: green van, red car, silver car…with the exception of the grey GMC van that is used to transport my sons’ band gear to shows, which we affectionately refer to as the “band van.”)

Not being particularly mechanically gifted, I was pleased with myself for my accomplishment. Now I just have to figure out what is making the awful noise (which the previous owner had warned me about) in the engine. I’m betting it’s the alternator and that’ll be my next car repair task.

I only have a few cuts and bruises from the endeavor and the weather has been in the 60s the last couple of days, a real treat for November in Utah. And since I only paid $100 ( I negotiated) for the silver car, and I know that local junk yards will pay about that much for a wreck, I’m not at risk much other than my time, pride and knuckles.

Hence this goal to get the silver car fixed or get rid of them both.