Hubcap Tragedy

I lost a hubcap on the downtown connector driving to work this morning. This totally bummed me out all day. (I drove the connector a couple of days later looking for it, but didn't see it anywhere.)

Also, it looks like replacing the tire valve stems is going to turn into a saga all its own.

A little background:

The passenger side front tire valve is a little dented/misshapen, so it is hard to get a hose to fit to inflate the tire. The driver side front tire has a slow leak, and the tire had gone completely flat by Wednesday night.

Since I wanted to get the tires repaired on Thursday, I worked on getting the flat pumped up on Wednesday evening. This was quite an undertaking, requiring the car be jacked up, a can of Fix-a-Flat, and borrowing Willie's air compressor. In order to facilitate access to the valve, I took off the wheel cover. And I thought I had fitted it correctly when putting it back on.

But when I got to work Thursday morning I noted with great dismay that the hubcap was missing. Sigh. Anyway, it looks like it is gonna cost about $65 to replace it. I am waiting to hear back from a local hubcap place...

I took the car to a shop near work and asked them to look at the tires. They first looked at the messed up valve. It's different than the valve stems on more modern cars. It has a curved connecting tube that connects the stem to the rim. The younger guys there said "We've never seen anything like this before". The older mechanics said "We never see these anymore". They checked their suppliers and none of them had them in stock.

Then they looked at the tire with the leak. Sure enough, its leaking at the valve stem. So that one needs to be replaced, too.

I left my spare there so they could make sure they got the right part from the supplier. I also asked them to order a couple of extra for me so I could have them available when I need more. Hopefully, I'll hear from them on Monday.

I'll let you know how much this is gonna set me back...