Vehicle Repairs On The Homestead

kat's old car,  1977 Corvette 

Most people take their vehicles to a garage nowadays to repair them. Or for preventative maintenance. When I was growing up, most people worked on their vehicles themselves. Teenage boys were known for working on their cars and often their parents' cars too. I remember as a young teenager, sitting with my girlfriends, while all the boys were underneath their, and each other's cars. In the sixties, what was more important than a guy's looks, was his wheels! The cars of that period were outstanding in my mind and still are. I always pause to study a Cheville, a Mustang, A GTO or a Tbird. I loved to have a boyfriend with a fast car!

It is good to know how to work on vehicles!

My father was an auto mechanic, and he welcomed our friends to park in our driveway, as he gave them a hand and knowledge on repairing their cars. Mickey, my brother, was always working on his car. I can still remember him having me sit in the driver's seat of his Chevy, while he and some friends would push it, so I could "pop the clutch" to get it started.  At that time, we lived in Flagler Beach, FL and had a lot of friends. Our driveway was a big circular one and if my brother was home, that driveway was usually full of cars. He knew how to fix them having learned from my father, and back then, that was powerful knowledge!

Hubby's 66' Harley Sportster

Now though, if you know how to fix your own vehicle and can do the repairs yourself, you will save a lot of money. I am fortunate that my husband knows how to fix our truck or he can figure it out. What he has found to be invaluable for repairs is researching on the internet. He has been rebuilding his motorcycle, a 1966 Harley Sportster. Finding the parts he needed and ordering them online saves him the time of searching all over and driving around. He has also been watching videos on utube that show the whole process of doing various repairs or preventative maintenance. He now has a diagnostic tool that he can hook up to the computer on our truck, and hook his computer to it. It tells him what is wrong with the truck. After you fix it, he can clear the codes out. Nice little item!

Our old Ford Van was great!

Another good reason to know how to fix a vehicle is that you can buy a cheap one and it will need to be repaired often, but if you can do it, then you may have a bargain. Our old van, was like that. We bought it for $150. and used it a lot. It could carry a lot of stuff and was great for camping too. When it finally died, it made a good dry spot for storing hay. Now we have a good truck and it has only recently had a problem that needed repairs. My husband though, was able to do the repairs himself. Saved us a ton of money! How about you? Do you do your own repairs?

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Being Stranded With No Vehicle

Truck Repairs

I haven't been writing much on my blogs because my father had a stroke and is in the hospital. Of course, it happened the same time our truck (and only vehicle) had broken down. I cannot complain about this truck. We bought it in 2006 and it is a 2003 Dodge Dakota and at that time it had less than 20,000 miles on it. We both loved it immediately! Never had one problem with it. No repairs or being stranded somewhere. Until now.............. I am lucky that I have some wonderful, giving family members. If it wasn't for my cousins, I wouldn't have been able to get to the hospital.

Vestal, NY Museum

Now the reason for our breakdown was due to the brakes line rusting and the brake fluid was spurting out. We had gone to Vestal a couple of weeks ago to see some grave sites of various family members we had been doing research on. The brake fluid light came on. So we stopped and got some and added it. It worked fine. We went to my father in law's house and came home.

Our truck carries a load of 34 bales of hay.

A couple of days later, when my husband returned with our load of hay, he had no brakes. Yikes! New York state is all hills. I kid you not! Without brakes he could not go to the auto parts store to buy anything. He had to order them online and wait, and wait.............and wait some more. Then he'd have to order something else, another part or a tool to do the job. Very difficult time for us. We lived without a vehicle for 8 months in the past, but we were better prepared. I also had a friend who took me shopping and we had a guy who would deliver hay. Our horse feed was also delivered by a local feed store. Now we were not prepared at all and had even gone through most of my supplies and preps. I know what I will doing in the next few months.......PREPPING!!!!

Our 2003 Dodge Dakota

I am happy to report that yesterday, my husband and my cousin, Gerald worked on the truck and today  he has gone to the store. Testing it. I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying it works fine. I really NEED to be at the hospital with my father. He is 93 years old and he needs his family nearby. There is a chance he will get better enough to go home, but not really counting on that happening. The thing is that he thinks at times I am my mother (I look like her), so he looks to me for everything.

My son, Jeffrey and my father.

I know his time is short now. Having a stroke is the first step in this process. I am ready only because he told me this months ago. He said nobody in his family lives this long. A few months back when his doctor tried to give him medication for his blood clot he refused it. He said he was ready to go be with my mother. And I know he means it. My hope is that he will be able to go home and die there. It is what he truly wants. Not to die in the hospital.

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole