How girly am I?!?!?!

You Are 20% Girly

Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world. And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment.

How Girly Are You?

And that probably fits right in with:


Yes, those are greasy hands. Car grease. A couple of weeks ago, I went into my local Saturn dealer to pick up a special order cup holder for the back of the Ion. $15 and the boys had better stop giving me a hard time about my car. I was worried about what it would take to install because the parts guy said something about taking apart the whole console when I ordered it. I hate to pay for stuff like that if I can help it. Turns out, it just snaps in! Installed before I left the parking lot, no tools required!
As long as I was on a positive roll, I asked how much a valve cover gasket would be for the 93 SL we have. She loses oil but does not drip. She also rarely has a blue cloud behind her so she's not burning much. Hmmm... Well, they have been known to leak from the valve cover but it burns off before it hits the ground and apparently does not leave much residue on the engine either. Since we've only had the car for a little over a year, I have no way of knowing when, or if, it has ever been replaced. She's only got 81,000 miles on her but she is over 14 years old.
I did the valve cover gasket on my beloved 95 SL, 'Sarah' before she was murdered by that Jeep Cherokee that attacked her from behind April 30, 2004. (153,058 miles and my largest repair bill was $20!)
I should be able to do the 93 also. How much is the gasket kit? At Saturn, it's pushing $40. Did he not hear that I was asking about an old 93?!?!? I'm not sure the whole car is worth that much!
I finally stopped at the parts store on the way home one day. How much is....
He looks at me funny. You're gonna do it?
Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I?!?! I've done radiators, air pumps, master cylinders....
Ok, I guess you can do this. (No kidding mister!)
But he keeps looking out the window at what I was driving, not believing that it was a 93. Nope, that's the 07 Ion. The 93 SL is at home. I do know the difference!
Then he goes to get one before even telling me how much. How do we know if I want to buy one yet?? Something had caught his attention on the computer screen and he wanted to check out what was involved.
He brings back a standard gasket box:










He proceeds to open it and pour out the contents. He might still be laughing, I'm not sure.

There is really no gasket involved. Just some RTV sealant (which you can buy for about $4 a tube) and 2 rubber grommets. Gotta buy the kit to get the grommets. But with tax, it was only $11. I can do that! One so called gasket kit sold.

I went to replace it earlier this week but some of my tools have been lost and/or trashed by the (true) males in the household. I now have a lock on MY toolbox. I had a Torx screwdriver that should have worked but I couldn't get the leverage to break the bolts free. Went to Sears hardware and bought a bit (and whole extra set of goodies) to go in a pivoting, ratcheting screwdriver I already had but had never used. First time I tried it, it broke!!! Argh!
After a rough day at work yesterday, I stopped at Ace Hardware and bought more tools. Knitting tools, tool tools, I'm equal opportunity.
I didn't even go into the house before opening the hood and getting to work. Felt good to put a little frustration strength into it! Broke 2 bolts loose, cleaned off the old gasket, disconnected some assorted lines off the back of the cover, and had Steve get some scissors to clip the nozzle on the RTV tube. I wasn't sure how big to make the nozzle opening and it probably was a little tight but that just allowed me to put some more force into squeezing it! It felt soooooooo...... good.
Steve even went in and got me a couple of the liquor filled chocolates he brought back from Toronto this week. (He followed them up with some real drinks later!)


The old grommets were probably the originals for as brittle as they were. And there was oil up around one in particular so I'm thinking that's where some of the missing oil was going. All better now. It's all replaced and reassembled.



And I need a manicure!!! (or would that be too girly?)