IML: Imperial tune-up

[Jkelly808@xxxxxxx]

$3.50 a gallon getting you down yet? I realized today I spend so much time fixing broken stuff that I've been neglecting the basics -- I figured out it had been more than a year since my last tune-up. You forget how frequently those old cars needed TLC.

Anyway, fresh plugs, a nudge of the timing and a few carburetor adjustments made a huge difference in how my '68 LeBaron runs -- I thought it was running fine before, but an hour under the hood really paid off. And then I got really ambitious and cleaned out the trunk of golf clubs and other weighty stuff and pumped up the tires to where they belonged.

I may actually get 13 mpg now instead of 9. And I'd rather look cool in an Imperial than virtuous in a Prius.

Jim Kelly

Honolulu

'68 and '71 LeBarons