Howdy, folks...
It's been awhile since I've last posted, but I thought I'd share my latest Riv event with y'all:
I had to have the shifter cable replaced... 
A couple of Saturdays ago I was doing the wash and vacuum thing for my '95, which is affectionately named, Kauyuk. I had her shined and glistening like a brand new penny. After wiping down the chrome rims, it was time to get in, start her up, and back out of my warehouse. Well... when I tried putting the tranny into reverse (Kauyuk has the column- shift/bench-seat combination), the shifter arm simply went all the way down... i.e.: it wouldn't
grab any gear at all...
Just like that! Wouldn't you know it... after spiffing-up Kauyuk for a Saturday night out with my bride, I found myself unable to put the transmission in any gear whatsoever...
Lucky for me I have a dear friend who is a very good mechanic with a highly reputable shop here in Honolulu. I called him up, and he came over to my warehouse to rescue me. He discovered that the cable came off... not at the linkage, but up in the steering column area. Because of his expertise... he
manually shifted the tranny into gear... first into reverse so I could back out of the warehouse, and then into drive. I was then able to drive Kauyuk to his shop.
When Monday showed up, my friend gave Kauyuk's problem to Alex, one of his young, highly motivated and talented mechanics. Alex confirmed that the cable had failed up in the steering column... so they had to order-in the part. Well... as you just might imagine... there was no shifter cable to be found on our island. Here's the funny part: my friend, Jim, calls the only Cadillac/Buick dealer on Oahu, and the parts person tells him that the shifter cable for a '95 Riviera, "
has been discontinued..."
He then calls one of our Chevy dealers, and they tell him the part is most definitely available, but
it had to be ordered, and would take about a week to 10 days or so to get here... which are words in the English language with which we islanders are most familiar...
I picked-up Kauyuk today (Tuesday), and all is well. My buddy, Jim, showed me his invoice price for the part... $129, and there was no shipping charge applied, which was somewhat surprising. He told me that he asked Alex how much time was involved to install the new part, and Alex told him to, "forget about it..." Every now and then I drop by the shop on Fridays just before quitting time, and I bring some form of dead cow to cook-up on the grill they have at the shop. Naturally I'll bring along some brewskies to help wash everything down. I just kinda do this on my own... for the fun, fellowship, and... of course... the
insurance . Jim lets me use his shop when I need to change oil, put air in the tires, etc... I have no garage, because we live in one of those shoe boxes high in the sky (high-floor condo). I do know that Jim and his boys appreciate it when I do this, and it does tend to pay-off... because in this case, Alex wanted to comp me his labor. Well... knowing my buddy, Jim, he told Alex I had to be charged something... with which I certainly agree... so it was decided that I would be billed twenty-five bucks for Alex's work. I had no problem whatsoever with that decision...
After tax... my bill came to $161.25... and we have made plans for me to show-up this Friday with another form of dead cow meat and brews... I'm thinking of doing some Korean-style (kal-bi) ribs...
Life can be good here in Paradise...
