Chapter 46: Seriously?
Chapter 46: Seriously?
“Who… are you?”
The woman who stepped out of the luxurious 1979 Lincoln Continental called my name.
(Translator’s Note: 1979 Lincoln Continental — A large American luxury car from the final model year of the fifth-generation Continental. Models of this period used concealed headlights and numerous vacuum-operated accessories.)
But I had never seen her before.
“Wow… You seriously don’t remember me? We went to the same high school for three years, and I was even the student body president.”
The woman pointed at her own chest in disbelief.
“Student body president? …Oh! I remember. Kaylee!”
There had definitely been a flashy blonde girl who was always surrounded by people.
“Seriously? I’m Hailey, not Kaylee… There wasn’t even a single girl named Kaylee at our school!”
At my response, the face of my former classmate named Kaylee—no, Hailey—flushed so red it looked ready to burst.
“Was that so? Sorry. Anyway, Hailey, what brings you here?”
“Anyway…? Whew. Fine, anyway! I heard you restore cars?”
“Well, as you can see. Wait. How did you know that?”
Hailey let out an exaggerated sigh, then took a magazine from her car and handed it to me.
“I saw you in here.”
Then she openly peered into the restoration shop.
“Oh, the magazine came out… Well, come inside.”
Apparently, Hailey had at least been taught basic manners. She had stood outside without taking a single step into the shop until I gave her permission.
“Woof! Woof!”
The moment she crossed the threshold, Dusty became wary and pressed himself against my leg.
“Oh my, how adorable! You have a puppy too? Hello! What’s your name? I’m Hailey. Hai-ley!”
Perhaps she was deliberately saying it for my benefit, because she pronounced her name one syllable at a time.
“Ahem. He’s Dusty. Do you want some coffee?”
“No, thanks. But you… don’t tell me you live here?”
Hailey glanced toward the “rest area” inside and stared in surprise.
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
“What? No. It’s not that. It just… reminded me of the old days. Hmm. Come to think of it, having only one two-post lift is similar too. Hehe.”
Muttering something I could not understand, she slowly looked around the restoration shop, examining the equipment, the lift, and everything else.
Then she stopped in front of the Metropolitan, where I was in the middle of rewiring it.
“Oh! It’s a Metropolitan. I haven’t seen one in ages. But… those aren’t drum brakes. Don’t tell me it’s a restomod?”
“Yeah, it is… How do you know about that?”
The moment Hailey saw the car, she identified not only the model but also the differences from the original.
Earlier, she had commented on the lift and carefully inspected the tools.
You should never judge someone by appearances, but…
Honestly, it was completely unexpected.
She looked more like someone who would be interested in designer handbags and fashion than automobiles, much less classic cars.
“Wow… What do you mean, how do I know? You really must be new to the industry. I’m a Sterling. The daughter of that Sterling family.”
Hailey took a business card from her handbag and handed it to me.
STERLING SELECTION
Chief Curator
Hailey Sterling
Even the texture of the card stock was unusual.
It was matte white with a suitable thickness, and the letters had been stamped in rose-gold foil.
Moreover, Sterling Selection was one of the three largest specialist classic-car auction houses in the United States, a company even I had heard of despite not paying much attention to the industry.
I never imagined she was their daughter.
“Whew. Anyway, I only came today to see whether the magazine article was true. But a restomod… I suppose this is a little different from what I expected.”
While I studied her business card with interest, Hailey rose from her seat.
“Anyway, welcome to the industry! We’ll see each other again if fate allows it!”
With her distinctive, lively voice, she said goodbye and walked toward the Lincoln she had arrived in, her high heels clicking against the floor.
“Sure. Take care.”
Personally, I doubted we would ever meet again.
After walking her as far as the warehouse entrance, I turned back inside.
But at that moment—
Psssh, psssh—
“Huh? What’s wrong with this?”
Hailey’s flustered voice came from behind me.
“…Why? Is there a problem?”
“The… headlights won’t open.”
“…What? Hah. Seriously.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
She had just made such a confident and tidy exit, only to be unable to leave because she could not turn on her headlights.
It felt like watching a sitcom.
“Move aside for a moment.”
The Lincoln’s headlights normally remained hidden behind covers. When used, the covers opened upward like garage doors in an elegant mechanism.
Psssh—
However, when I pulled the silver chrome knob on the dashboard, there was a sound of escaping air, and the headlights stopped halfway through opening.
“Hmm… This is a fifth-generation Lincoln Continental, right? A ’78? ’79?”
“Yes. It’s a ’79…”
“Then it’s a vacuum leak.”
“A vacuum leak…?”
Hailey looked up at me from the driver’s seat with an expression that was half surprised and half doubtful.
“What? The chief curator of Sterling doesn’t even know that?”
“W-What!?”
Hailey’s face reddened with embarrassment.
The truth was, I had no idea what a chief curator actually did, but since she had acted as though it were impressive earlier, I decided to throw it back at her.
“I-I’m responsible for finding cars people will like! I don’t know much about the technical side… So what exactly is wrong with it?”
She flared up briefly, then asked again in a subdued voice.
I could not tell whether she was honest or simply bad at being honest.
“Lincolns from this period used vacuum systems to operate the doors, air-conditioning flaps, rotating headlight covers, and things like that. Something in the system has failed. A hose might be leaking somewhere.”
“Then what do I do? I can’t get home like this…”
Hailey’s large eyes instantly grew moist.
There were no streetlights anywhere around this remote part of Arizona.
The sun had already gone down long ago, so as Hailey said, she could not drive away in this condition.
“Whew. First, let’s determine exactly what the problem is. Turn the lights off and on again.”
“Okay… I will.”
Hailey instantly became obedient.
The confident, almost slightly arrogant attitude she had displayed only moments before had vanished completely.
Psssh—
With an ominous hiss of escaping air, the right headlight slowly rotated open.
The left one, however, turned only halfway before stopping.
“…It looks like the left actuator has failed.”
“The actuator?”
“Yeah. It’s the device that creates the vacuum force. There’s a diaphragm inside—basically something like a balloon. It has probably deteriorated and started leaking, so it can’t build pressure. I think the air hose on the right is leaking too.”
“Ah… Then what do we do?”
Hailey looked ready to cry again.
First Noah, and now her. Were people’s expressions normally this dynamic?
To give the conclusion first, it was impossible to repair immediately.
There were countless air hoses running throughout the car, and merely locating the leak by covering them in soapy water would take hours.
There was also no chance I happened to have the exact replacement vacuum actuator in stock.
However…
I have a way to solve both problems.
I opened the hood, crouched in front of the engine bay, and closed my eyes.
“Operate the lights again.”
“Okay!”
Psssh—
When I concentrated, I heard a faint sound of escaping air from the right corner of the engine bay.
Somewhere around here…
When I shone a flashlight around the source of the sound, I saw that an air hose passing through the radiator frame had been rubbing against the body.
“Found it. Turn off the engine.”
Rumble—
I cut away the leaking section of hose and connected the ends with a hose coupler.
That takes care of the right side…
The problem was replacing the actuator.
“Hailey, watch the engine bay and see whether air is leaking anywhere else.”
“Huh? Okay! I’ll check carefully!”
No ordinary person without my appraisal skill could possibly identify a leak just by watching, but it was enough to divert her attention.
While she was occupied, I returned to the shop while pretending to search for a tool.
[1979 Lincoln Continental]
Left Headlight Vacuum Actuator = 180 Coins
As expected, the Coin Market had an original actuator that fit the 1979 model perfectly.
However, perhaps because of its rarity, it was much more expensive than I had expected.
There’s no need to use an original part for this.
When I searched again for a compatible replacement—
Dorman Universal Vacuum Actuator = 35 Coins
A universal Dorman part appeared at twenty percent of the price of the original.
(Translator’s Note: Dorman Products — An American automotive replacement-parts company founded in 1918. It specializes in aftermarket components, including universal replacements for discontinued original parts.)
Okay. Buy.
Ding!
[Order Complete]
Coins Deducted: 35
Remaining Coins: 22,820
Holding the part, I returned to the Lincoln while pretending everything was perfectly natural.
“Ahem. How is it? Any other leaks?”
“No. Fortunately, I don’t think any more air is escaping. I can’t hear anything.”
Hailey perked up her ears and spoke with complete seriousness.
Of course she could not.
I had already confirmed earlier that there were no additional leaks.
“Really? Then replacing this should finish it.”
“Huh? Is that the actuator you mentioned? You had one in the shop?”
“Yeah. It isn’t an original Lincoln part, though. It’s a compatible replacement. Is that okay?”
“Of course. I’m not exactly in a position to be picky right now…”
I had worried she might start talking nonsense about refusing to use anything but original parts in her Lincoln, but apparently my concern had been unnecessary.
“Then play with Dusty while I work.”
“Why? Can’t I watch from beside you?”
“No. You’ll get in the way.”
She was not Noah, so there was no reason to show her how I worked.
“Tch. Fine. Restorers really are all the same about not wanting people to watch them work… Dusty! At least you can play with me! Come here, sweetie, come here!”
Fortunately, Hailey was familiar enough with industry habits to give up immediately and head toward Dusty.
“Hmph!”
But when Hailey tried to pet him, Dusty hastily pulled away and rejected her touch.
“Oh my.”
First Elena, and now her. Does this little guy dislike certain people?
In any case, I began replacing the actuator.
“Whew… Since it’s universal, I need to modify the housing slightly so it fits…”
The greatest difficulty in replacing the actuator was the complete lack of working space.
The actuator was buried deep between the frame rails, directly behind the front grille and headlight assembly.
There was barely enough room for an adult man’s hand.
On top of that, all the mounting bolts were hidden behind structural components.
It was impossible to work while looking at them, so I had to fit the ratchet and turn it using only the sensation in my fingertips.
Normally, even locating the mounting bolts would take a long time.
But inside my mind, their exact positions appeared like points on a map.
Click.
Click.
Because the cramped space gave me almost no angle to turn the ratchet, I had to flick my wrist dozens of times.
After spending around thirty minutes replacing the actuator, I lightly pulled the chrome knob again.
It caught halfway, and the parking lights came on.
Then I pulled it all the way.
Click—
The left and right headlight covers rotated open simultaneously and brightly illuminated the area ahead.
“Wow! My God, you really fixed it!”
Hailey, who had been sitting some distance away after being rejected by Dusty, hurried over and exclaimed in her high-pitched voice.
“There are probably problems with other vacuum lines too. Make sure you have them inspected later if you don’t want this to happen again.”
“Okay, I will! But you really are incredible. I’ve watched people repair and restore cars since I was little, but I’ve never seen anyone work as decisively as you.”
Hailey had been chattering excitedly, but when she noticed the scratches on the back of my hand, her voice suddenly became serious.
“Ahem! And I’m sorry for carelessly criticizing the restomod earlier. I made a mistake by judging you without properly knowing your abilities.”
“It’s fine. I don’t care much about what other people say. I’m simply doing the work the client requested.”
“Hmm… I suppose some things about you haven’t changed. Anyway! I’ll definitely repay this debt. Oh! It’s already this late. Robert is going to lecture me… Then I’ll contact you again. Thank you so much for today!”
Vroooooom—
Just as she had arrived noisily and without warning, Hailey disappeared in the same manner.
I took her business card from the pocket of my coveralls, glanced at it once more, and casually tossed it onto a shelf.
[1979 Lincoln Continental]
CC BY 2.0, photograph by Greg Gjerdingen