Posted by Samurai welcome to reality... here's the thing; most cars rust from the inside out not, not the other way around. That's why the structure needs to be rustproofed or chemically treated to slow that oxidization.

Bingo, rust never sleeps.

My paint touch ups are already rusting again. Definitely an inside out thing, as I smothered that bitch with paint.

And it's dead again. Seems I kilt another fuel pump.

Is it a stock pump or do u have a walbro in it?

It's a Walbro 255. Either i'm doing something wrong or they're kinda junky, because I've killed 2 in this car. Or it might have something to do with the fact FWD-Performance says you shouldn't use the 255 in 91 and newer cars, but since wiring was modified hacked up by the previous owner to take a walbro and not a stock pump, and the last one worked no problem for 3 years, It's gonna get a third. Especially since they're $60 cheaper than the stock replacement.

And when this one dies in 2015, I'll go inline

That's odd I've been told there good pumps. Though I've had stock pumps last 140k miles

Yeah they're kinda the standard pump for anybody that buys one of these cars, but I've had nothing but bad luck with them. Could be user error?

There's nothing u can screw up lol. Try not running it out of gas/ till almost empty. Thats all I can see causing failure

Could a gunked up fuel filter cause issues also? IMO change that also, or at least inspect it.

Yeah I'm assuming you Changed the filter when you did the pump?

I changed the fuel filter sometime 3 years ago, but it wasn't at the same time as the pump. I believe i changed that thinking it was clogged the time the in tank hose came off the pump. Either way, it's getting a new one.

ALWAYS change the filter when you put in a pump. It also voids any type of warranty your pump comes with. Just a fyi

Well it turns out the pump is not dead. After getting under the car and cracking open the gas tank, I immediately see that it somehow came unplugged in the tank, so I got it running, but I put it back together and I can't get the seal to quit leaking, so I'm dropping the tank and doing it the right way tomorrow. There's some pretty bad surface rust on the trunk pan above it I want to combat anyway.

This week's caper, a wire splice gave out, forcing me to pull the fuel pump at the side of the road and Macguyver the wiring with and spare wire from a broken power window motor, some gorilla tape, and shrinkwrap a good samaritan dropped off.

Then come home and do it again the correct way.

Finally, and hopefully, there is nothing i should have to do with the fuel pump for a long long time.

Ugh update, and this isn't a particularly happy one. After rewiring the fuel pump, I thought it would be fun to set my odometer to see how many miles I go before breaking down. I was looking forward to hitting 400 miles because then I figured I could reasonably expect to take my car on a road trip and trust it.

Literally as I crossed the 400 mile mark today, some guy in a cavalier thought it would be a good idea to turn right into Taco bell from the center lane, leaving me no choice but to smash into his front passenger door. But this shit ain't over.

He then starts to pull forward, turning still toward my car, tearing up literally the entire passenger side of his car, and tries to make a run for it. Uh, fuck no! If there's one thing this car is good at, it's outrunning a Cavalier. I follow him through the taco bell parking lot. He pulls out onto the street to try to make a break for it as the light turns red. I pull out behind a car behind him, and honk my horn to alert the cop that's in the next lane over. He blasts through the red light to get away from me, and the cop pulls him over for running the red light. I pull up behind the cop to tell them what happened, as a witness who saw what happened and followed us pulls up to give his statement.

I ended the affair not even getting to speak one word to this asshole, but got his plate number, insurance info, address, and his name, and the satisfaction in seeing his frown as he waited in the car for his hit and run ticket. Good. Bathe in your dissatisfaction of what a piece of shit you are.

I did some internet scooping to see if I could find this asshole. A google search for the name and city came up a 56 year old man, weird since the guy in the car was obviously in his 20s. Assuming it's his dad, I scoped his pictures and found this one, captioned "Son"

There's our asshole!! I recognize what a douchebag he looks like.

Anyway looking at the info sheet, I noticed license # was blank, so that explains why he ran. Obviously some dumbass kid with no license taking his dad's car out for stoned joyride, fucking my car in the process.



The damage is heart wrenching, but purely cosmetic. The car runs and drives like nothing happened, although my drivers side door doesn't like to shut anymore. I'm calling asshole's insurance tomorrow and seeing about getting my car fixed up proper ASAP.

What's really sad is had he just been an adult about the situation, we could have settled this over the price of a fender, bumper, and some rattlecan paint. No need to get the cops involved at all. I hate to see someone get their world fucked like this, But he made the decision to try to fuck me, and I'm sorry but I don't fuck on the first date. What's hilarious is the damage he did to his car pulling away from me was twice as bad as what I did hitting it, and I'll be sure to point this out if we ever come in contact.


Anyway, do you think they'll total it?

i'm not being a douche, but there are two outcomes I see happening:

one- they'll hand you a check for X to get the car fixed
two- they'll hand you a check for -X for your time because the car is old.

No that's not being a douche. You're being realistic. This car is old enough to drink alcohol. Bill Clinton was president when the warrantee expired.

Also I'm fine with that outcome.

Check for X to get my car fixed is just fine, even if as little as $500. My insurance appraised the car for $2500. I'd use it to buy shocks or fix a rust spot and just buy a fender later. The bumper can possibly be salvaged.

Yeah, but don't forget that crick in your neck you got after the wreck, plus all the anguish you suffered from seeing your project get fucked up, as well as all the time you had to miss from work.

Take him to the cleaners.

I won't do that because I'm not a shitty person. I refuse to lower the bar. James Cameron won't be around forever.


Anyway update. Insurance claim through Statefarm went smoothly. Initiated contact at 1pm. Drove home a 2011 Nissan Versa at 330. My car is set up to be fixed at the local Chrysler Dodge dealership. We'll see how it goes from there, but signs are pointing toward a happy ending.


Edit: Signs are not pointing to a happy ending. A 1992 dodge spirit turbo in fair condition blue books for $900. Mine's a 91. I bet anything they total it. In that case, I'll get what, $700 bucks, and the chance to spend most of it buying my broken car back with a salvage title?

The fact I still owe $4000 against the car's title is really brutal awful.

I couldn't sleep if I owed 4k on a dodge spirit ;). Hopefully they let u keep the car and cut you a check for damages.