Episode IV: A New Car

Just when I'd really started to like Pugly, we found out our engine is crap. There are multiple cracks in the head that run from the valve seats to the water jacket or spark plug holes. The nastier problem is the piston with a big chunk eroded away from one edge. I'm pretty sure the cylinder wall is f***ed up to the point that there's no way we can fix this engine and stay anywhere near our $500 budget. So, we started a search for a new engine and have so far come up empty handed. Not just because parts are difficult to find for an old Peugeot 505, but because Pug enthusiasts are proving to be really flaky folks that seem incapable of answering an email or a phone message. I mean, really, is it so hard to answer an inquiry generated by an ad that YOU placed concerning an item YOU want to sell?? What's a guy got to do to get some information out of a Pug owner anyway? As luck would have it, the need for a new engine became a moot point a few days ago. A really decent (OK, OK, decent for an old POS)505 Turbo S showed up on Craigslist. It was reasonably within our price range and once we'd begged the guy down to $500, found ourselves in possession of car that actually runs pretty well. The body is not as nice as the other car, but it's good enough for a cheapo race car. I'm quite pleased with the find. Most of the stuff we need to do to the car falls under the safety category, such as brakes. Everything else that doesn't work we don't want anyway, such as air-conditioning. Once we buy down the cost of the car by selling off everything we don't need, we can replace the few hoses and fiddly bits that look a little rough.

I hope someone reminds me to answer the ads for the parts I want to sell.

-Sean