Nope. I didn't want another carburetor with a plastic doohickey, and didn't want to spend another 2+ weeks waiting to find out if this engine was ever gonna start. I need to move on to something else if it's not. So I got serious about cleaning the old carb with the metal doohickey. Carb cleaner wouldn't cut that corrosion, but a vinegar soak, followed by Dawn with a toothbrush, did the job. Before and After: Used the best parts of each otherwise, and the new gaskets. Tried to order just the other parts so I could return the plastic one, but after hours trying to figure out which to order I got exasperated and gave up. Maybe it's the weather. I don't have much patience lately. It was 100F today, and at least 2 more days of this.
I was happy to see how easy it was to start with the pull rope, and how quiet it was, compared to the lawn mower. Of course I still don't have the string part working yet.
I saw an ad on tv. It was for parts on ebay motors. I didn't even know there WAS an ebay motors. I wonder if it would be worth a peek for parts.
Auto insurance Co wanted 9 pictures and a 20 second video of the damage. Next day they approved $3200 repair on the Ranger ($500 deductible), plus $30/day rental car up to 30 days. The damaged spot is not that large, but it's right at the intersection of 4 separate body pieces. They estimate it will take 4 days and want me to arrange the work to start on a Monday or Tuesday. Why would that matter? For only 4 days it seems like a couple of taxi rides would be easier than a rental car. I have to pick the body shop. It has special paint—triple coat and tinted clear coat. The paint seems stronger than the metal under it. The work on the only two jobs I ever got done was good, but the owner of one retired, and I can't remember who did the other. I hope there is not a short time limit to get this done. My very first thought when this happened was...Oh no, this is going to be so much trouble! .This made me think of Earl Scheib. [
Earl Scheib! Man, there's a flash from the past. Sometime I'll have to tell you the story of my father's garage paint job on his Nash Metropolitan. Mazda has a couple of colors that are the multi-layer paint. Mazda has a few shops/chains that they have trained to apply this paint so you get a good match. This might be one criteria that will help you decide where to get your repairs done, if Ford has done the same thing.
Please do. I'd like to hear read about it. Guess I have to go shopping. I heard car dealerships are not good places to actually get the work done, but they often contract out, so they might pick the best. Or would they? Am I supposed to show them the estimates from the insurance company? The last time I had an accident the guy who did the towing asked me if I had insurance, and said frankly, I'll charge more if you have insurance. At least he was honest. I hate this.
Everything about vehicle buying/owning is a dysfunctional mess. I believe that the body shop and the insurance company battle it out, with you intervening as required. I'm not sure about how dealerships manage body work. I've never had any done there.
Nancy--did you get your own estimates or are you allowing the insurance company to decide what the damage will cost??
That's sort of what I was getting at when I asked if I'm supposed to show the ins. co. estimate to the body shop I might pick. If I don't show them, I'll be getting an estimate. If I show them, they will probably come up with exactly $3200. I'm sure they will ask if I have an estimate already from the insurance company. I can't lie, and don't like to appear sneaky about it. See, I have no idea what I'm doing about to do.
If it were me, I wouldn't show them the insurance estimate and let them come up with a legitimate amount. If estimates are significantly higher than the insurance amount, you might have to dispute the insurance estimate to make sure the entire repair is covered. Don't sign and accept the settlement until you have the repairs made if possible.
I have one and couldn't get the brake to install. The blade cuts fine, but without the brake, it goes through belts like crazy. I wouldn't recommend relying on the blade (I thought I could and was one of the reasons I bought the thing) unless you know how to get the brake installed.
See my post , @Mary Stetler /. I couldn't get my Beaver Blade brake installed, and that made the blade pretty unless unless you want to change belts every day. I could be too stupid to do it, or I might have gotten a bad brake kit. Customer service just tells me to watch the video, but I have done that many times and it just doesn't go on the way it is shown.