Old cars... don't get me started

One of the niggles with the Dodge in the past few weeks has been a leaking power steering pump pressure hose.

So I decided to replace it.

Seemingly a simple job. One nut at each end, remove, replace, refill, sorted.

But no, of course fucking not.

The VIN identifies the engine as a 1982 Camaro 305 V8. There is only one pressure hose that fits 1980-85 Camaro V8s, and I ordered it. After waiting 10 days for it to come from the States and paying £45 for a $20 part, I finally find time to fit it.

Removing the leaking old one is not simple. The nut has been tightened so severely onto the pump housing fitting that I have to cut the hose in order to get enough purchase on the nut to remove it. It's a dirty, oily job as the far end of the hose is hidden under, up and behind the pump, next to the engine block.

I emerge, blackened, from under the truck, dribbling old hose triumphantly held aloft like the still-beating heart of a Aztec sacrificial victim. I reach for the new one and... um. Oh. It's a good four inches shorter than the one I've just butchered.

I don't know any Camaro experts. I am out of pocket, out of time, out of patience and will now have to ride into the city today to try to get a new hose custom made to match the old one.

I know, I know. Don't buy old stuff. Buy new stuff that works. Stop whingeing.

But if I stopped whingeing, this wouldn't be much of a blog, would it?