Danny's Doting(s)

  𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫  𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 9: 𝐒𝐤𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡! Alas, my sweet but temperamental little Frenzy blew her head gasket again and I decided to retire her.  This time things didn't turn out so well for a replacement. I couldn't find a hatchback. There weren't any available. None in the local car lots. None in the Auto Trader. But, the Frenzy had blown her head gasket again and the route had to be done. I had to settle. My parts car yard now had the J2000, the Cavalier, the Frenzy, and a pair of J2000 coupes I bought for parts; one with no floor, the other having been in a front end collision, sitting in it. It would be kind of dumb to buy a Plymouth Conquest when I didn't have a single part in five cars that would fit it. There were no hatchbacks, but J Body cars were still plentiful in those days. A compromise had to be struck, but how much of a compromise? Right now, a hatchback was out. That left a few other body styles:...

  𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖: 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐲! The Cavalier served me really well, in spite of being a manual window 5 speed. It was tough and reliable. I installed a power release wiper/washer gate out of another J Car hatchback parts car in it and that made rain and snow a lot less of a hassle. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the Cavalier met its end from me under-estimating water running over the road on Pleasant Valley Road. There was no real creek, so I thought nothing of a little water on the road and drove through it. I was wrong. There was quite a bit of gravel gone, and the resulting crash sheered off all of the motor mount bolts and dropped the engine and transmission down onto the subframe. It was still running, and the CV axles hadn't pulled apart, so theoretically it should still drive. The lowering of the engine/transaxle unit had dislodged the clutch pushrod out of its place, so I couldn't ...