Well... after several tanks of gas...

...I average about 32 MPG in mostly stop-and-go City driving, and that's when I'm driving on the Acceleration side with high RPM's and late shifting, which is rather wasteful of gas. This next tank of gas I'm going to be driving for economy, and see how good my milage gets then. Doing some quick math however, shifting 'on time' instead of 'late' should push me up nearly to 38 MPG for the same driving. If I can get the time, money, and tools to locate and install a 5th gear from one of the 'HF' manual transmissions for the same year car I have currently however, I could well hit 45MPG for highway driving, which would let me get to the Bay Area on a single tank of gas, since the car holds just over 11 gallons.

So, yeah, bay area and back for $35? That's pretty decent. :-)

Now to save up the $150 to replace the driver-side CV boot and axle. The CV boot's got some damage from being left unprotected against the elements on a mostly non-moving vehicle for years, same as the tires themselves had when I got the car.

Once I do that, the only outstanding work needed or desired is:

• Get some sheet-metal and L-corner metal welded into the back to deepen, seal, and extend the existing 'spare tire' area far enough to hold two full-sized spare tires, two small compartments to either side for things like tire chains, and seal off the area forward of the wheel wells to the back footwells as covered 'trunk' spare with fold-up covers, so the back area can be used for medium-capacity storage and transport of tools, parts, and similair. ($200-$300 by current estimates between me and Stalking Cat, who I'd pay to do all the welding and metal-work since I both trust him, and can't think of anyone I'd rather pay to do work like that)


• Flush the radiator system, not just drain it, but FLUSH the whole thing. ($30-$45 depending on where I go)


• Replace the passenger-side front brake calipre ($75, extremely slow leak, only a permenant damp spot that if you wick off the fluid with a paper towel you can verify is brake fluid)


• Near-identical issue with the master brake resevoir ($150 for that)


• Neither of the above are pressing, and both can be handled by keeping a $5 bottle of brake fluid in the car that I check the resevoir with every time I get an oil change, in fact both might just be non-issues resulting from the car sitting out for so long


• Replacing the oil in the entire car with straight 30W, transmission and engine both, since they are both rated to run on that, so I'll be able to keep a unified oil supply for the vehicle ($30 or so for my next oil change, also need to look into a source to get recycled 30W from)


• Replace the windshield ($200 new, or a LOT less if I can pull one from a junkyard, may explore other options to replace the windshield with, such as plastic-coated lexan or similair further down the road)


• Complete suspension system overhaul, mostly for a softer ride and (again) improved traction when dealing with rough, dirt or snow-surfaced roads. (Cost unknown, haven't looked into it. Definately need the work though.)


• Replace the rims next time I buy new wheels, plus-sizing by 1 or 2 steps to get into a more 'standard' size tire, and away from the 13" rims the car came stock with. This is actually a non-performance purchase. 13" tires can cost as much as 200% of what a 14" or 15" tire can cost, in part because so few cars use them anymore, and in part because they require VERY high aspect ratios, meaning they need heavilly reinforced sidewalls on the tires, making them more expensive. It will also let me get tires approximately 30-40mm wider than the original stock 165/70/13's the car came with, for highly improved traction when on dirt roads or on ice and snow. (Around $350 for the set of tires AND rims, compared to $325 for JUST the tires for 13" rims, and that's for the cheapest 13" tires CostCo sells)