A Dragon Comes Home

The Kaiser in its new home

The Kaiser has arrived. Yesterday morning the movers phoned me and said they were in Houston, where they were fixing a part on their truck. They expected to be in Austin in the afternoon. I waited and finally called them about 6:30 p.m.--They were just leaving; it turns out their repairs had taken longer than anticipated. So I waited around some more and then at about 9:30 they called again and said that they were at a grocery store parking lot down the street (they couldn't fit the rig into our complex). So I walked down there and saw a beautiful new (old?) Kaiser. They gave me the keys and I got in to drive it the several blocks to our house: the only problem was it wouldn't start. The drivers insisted it had started right up for them every time, but it was obvious that the battery was dead. We had someone stop by who offered to jump start it, but I had to decline: 1953 Kaisers, as most American cars of that vintage, used 6-volt batteries. Modern cars are use 12-volt batteries, so jumping would be a bad idea. Also, Kaisers used a positive ground. By that time it was after 10:00, so I ran back home, got in our (other) car, and headed to Autozone. I got there just at 11:00 and made it in before they locked the doors. I was lucky that they had a 6-volt battery in stock: apparently they are used in golf carts and marine applications.

I drove back to the grocery store, put the new battery in the trunk, drove home, put the tools I would need in a bag and walked back to the grocery store, where I replaced the battery and started the car right up.

When I talked to the owner he had mentioned that the brake pedal was "soft." I soon found out just how soft: when I pushed it, it went straight to the floor. Lucky for me the emergency brake is in good working order. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street to put some gas in the tank--braking solely with the emergency brake. I filled up and drove home, almost crashing into the curb because the brakes were not working (emergency brakes only operate the rear brakes on most cars, but it is the front brakes that provide the majority of the stopping power). In addition to bad brakes, the engine is running extrememly rough--it needs a tune-up.

The important thing, though, is that the car is here. I am excited to get it into proper running order and register it so I can do with it what I bought it for: drive it! Actually, I plan on driving it for a number of years as is, but eventually I would like to do a full restoration of the vehicle to make it show worthy, at which point I will be scared to drive it (but probably still will). So until then, I plan to enjoy it.

Rear View of the "New" Kaiser