Step 4: Get a cup holder

Ways to spend five dollars:

Drive 4 blocks to the coffee shop.
Circle the block.
Park on Shotwell St.
(Two winos admire the car.)
Buy $3.25 coffee at Philz .
Tip the flirty barista $0.75.
Winos ask for $2, give them $1.
Drive 3 blocks back.
Spill coffee.
Park car.

Step 4: Get a cup holder (and clean the carpet).

Re: Test drive (brakes working)

I flushed the brakes with ATE superblue DOT 4 brake fluid. The Haynes manual reads (ch 8.14),

"1. Bleeding the braking system is not a routine maintenance task, but is necessary if any part of the hydraulic system has been disconnected...

"2. To commence the bleeding operation, first locate the bleed nipples. The rear ones are on the inner side of the calipers...

"6. A second person is needed to operate the brake pedal at your instruction. The pedal should be depressed smartly one full stroke to the floor and allowed to return slowly. This should be repeated until no more bubbles emerge from the tube in the jar. Smart operation of the pedal ensures that the air is forced along the pipe rather than by-passed. Keep a watch on the level of fluid in the reservoir. If it gets too low it will let air into the master cylinder and then you will have to bleed all four wheels...

"8 Repeat the procedure for the left rear, left front and right front wheels, in that order..."

Adjust rear pads to 0.008" before bleeding and again after. I'm glad to have the new 10mm inside-rear adjuster retaining screws, because 4mm hex wrenches are difficult to find in the right length (to pass through the trailing-arm access hole but not hit the exhaust pipe on the other side) and because as Larry at HPH says, "brake adjusters are worth their weight in gold". Probably exaggeration, but that's why they sell rebuilt calipers w/o adjusters and I can easily see losing one as you retract the adjuster. Reinstall pad retaining springs ("anti-rattle springs"). Double check brake lines for leaks. Thanks to Neal for the smart pedal work, the brakes are bled and feel mighty good. Thanks to the guys at Workingman's Headquarters for the used tools (second set of jack stands: $15, finding the proper flare-nut wrenches in stock: $_).

(26th St, Bryant St, Precita Ave, Alabama St, Bernal Heights Blvd, Folsom St, Precita Ave, Alabama St, 26th St.)

Still AWESOME. Still stalls when the engine is hot, so a cross-town drive is difficult.

(26th St, Florida St, So Van Ness, 15th St, Divisadero St, Oak St, park, Octavia St, US 101 South, Cesar Chavez St, Alabama St, 26th St.)

Good thing, the parking brake now works. Step 2 is complete.

Re: Ferris Bueller moment

A $4200 buy it now on eBay:

You are bidding on a 1974 Porsche 914 4 cylinder car 1.8 fuel injected engine. I have owned this car for 2 months. I bought the car in order to have it converted to electric propulsion but in the meantime I came across another car that was allready converted into electric which i bought. The car has been a California car all its life and I am the 3rd owner. I was told that the first owner kept it in a garage until 1996. The car starts fine and runs well. The brakes work very well although the hand brake cable will likely need an adjustment. The dash has some cracks typical of the cars of this age and the carpet seems original. The body is straight and the car drives straight. Some minor scratches here and there but no dents. The wheels are aluminum and the tires in descent shape. There is a spare tire and a jack.There is a keyless entry installed in the front trunk but no remotes There are a lot of receipts worth a couple of thousand dollars that came with the car including new clutch, bearings etc. The car is overall in great running condition and it will make a great commuter or can be restored to original with some TLC. I reserve the right to sell the car early as it is being advertised in a local paper. I only drove the car twice and it has been sitting there waiting for its new owner. Please ask questions and check my rating, bid with confidence.

Click. I called my Mom around 8pm to see if she could pick me up in Long Beach the following morning. Booked a flight on Jetblue for 6:30am.

Know where the I-5 meets the Glendale freeway? It's an hour from Long Beach, Dodger stadium traffic included. Mom brought her poodles in case we had trouble at the destination. Arrived and sure enough, the guy has a blue electric 914, up on jack-stands in his driveway. I drive off in a new car I knew very little about.

Traffic sucks in LA. I made it to the 110 and zoomed back to Long Beach. The engine stalled as soon as I pulled off the freeway, but that wasn't the first sign of a problem. He told me the speedometer was intermittent, but it's never worked for me. The tachometer bounces back and forth like a metronome, I suppose you're supposed to read the average value.

The next day I was stuck behind a 2-lane accident on the 405 for nearly two hours, then drove at top speed for about 45 minutes until I smelled oil burning and pulled over, and now I know: the engine won't start or idle when it's hot. This made for a pretty miserable drive. Each time I stopped the car I would have to wait 20 or 30 minutes to start it again. I left the car parked at my office for two weeks, taking joyrides at lunch.

Drove it up the 101 from Mountain View to SF in Friday night traffic, saw one 914 pass me at the 92 interchange, saw one needing roadside assistance at the 280 interchange. I held up a "hang in there" salute, knowing my engine would stall as soon as I pulled off the freeway in another mile.

I skipped Spanish class on Tuesday night so I could work late, but got home in time to pick someone up in front of school after class. Ferris Bueller moment.