It's Like Christmas!

My BavAuto order came in today!  We spent the day shopping for a get together at the house this weekend so it was a nice surprise to see the boxes on the doorstep.
The contents consisted of rear license plate mounting "nuts", two plate mounting screw sets, two brake light sockets and a new shift knob.

As you can see from the mounts and sockets, the originals are in pretty bad shape.  The mounts were not necessarily loose, but the screws didn't sit in very well.  I half expected the plate to fly off if I hit a pothole or something.  The new ones are made from a different plastic; it seems more likely to hold up to weather than the white originals.  They snapped in nice and snug and the screw kit did what I hoped.  The white plastic washers look like they seal better on the plate than just a screw would.  Hopefully that and the covers will prevent the screws, plate and surrounding area from rusting as well as keep dust, dirt and water from getting into the trunk.

The sockets were needed in a bad way.  The only light I had was the third on the rear deck.  If that went out...well...yeah, bad. Twisted out the old ones, switched the bulbs over (I had replaced them previously) and....nothing.  Troubleshot for a bit and found that the bulbs were not right.  I had a few spares in the toolkit and one from in there worked out, but it has no mate.  So I'll have to run out to AutoZone or something and pick up the right ones.

As for the shift knob, the old one was a bear to get off.  It was pretty stuck on for something that was supposed to just pull straight up and off.  I had to tap, pry, yank and damn near hurt myself to get it off.  The new one is not completely settled in yet as I pulled the boot off to have it go a couple rounds with the leather goop (and did the passenger seat while I was at it).  Once it is dry I will replace it and get the knob on well.  I am not sure what it would have come from but it feels good and looks very nice, especially in comparison to the old one.

So next, I have some oil and a filter waiting to go in, probably tomorrow, and I have some spark plugs on the way from Rock Auto that will go in as soon as they arrive.  I'll also finish up the seat and will likely pull the driver side mirror for a refinish tomorrow and reinstall by Sunday or Monday.  Still debating about the vacuum kit but I am leaning towards it heavily.  With that, the plugs and adjusting the throttle plate and position sensor I am hoping to smooth out the idle and revs in general.