For a long time I’ve rolled my eyes at David Tracy’s heaps and his various misadventures.
Until I became that guy.
I decided to be Mr. Proactive and go change out the Volvo’s oil. As I waited for the car to cool down on the lift, I noticed a rather glaring patch of rust.
Yes, that’s carpet. No I didn’t check for this because I grew up in California, a state where nearly every car comes apart decades later with zero fuss. I guess some rust is to be expected since this car was used exclusively to go to the beach and all the great SoCal surf spots. It’s still tight as a drum, so I think years of wet bags might have done this?
This isn’t the death knell for this car yet. I know you Midwesterners consider this an average used car, so I’m going to go ahead and use this as a chance to figure out welding. Harbor Freight’s got a killer deal on a flux core welder, so I guess I have all that I need... Time to start piecing together parts. I might just wait for the community college course just so I know I’m doing this right.
Now, what can kill this car is failing the smog. I’ve been giving it an Italian tune up, some Marvel Mystery Oil, and just plain driving it around. It smells cleaner than my Integra GS-R and my dad’s ‘85 Toyota 4x4, both of which passed smog with flying colors.
Yes, it makes boost. Yes, it’s hilarious to hear the turbo spooling up and watch the world around you start to blur.
Do I regret it? Not yet. Let’s find out in two weeks.