I now have 1500 miles on my Plymouth. For the most part, everything is good but there are a few little things that need attention. Foremost is the slightly rough idle, which I've mentioned before. It does appear to be an exhaust valve that isn't closing completely, since that's what the dollar bill test indicates. It's very irregular. In fact, it went away entirely for a few days and then came back. But it's much better than it was a few weeks ago. I'm told that it may clear up once I get about 5000 miles or so on the engine, which I'm hoping is the case. Other things, like slipping out of gear in second and hard shifting, cleared up with use. Last week I double checked the valve adjustment with the engine hot and running and they are all correct, so I can rule out a too-tight valve. There are no broken springs and everything looks to be operating as it should.
On Saturday I took a 100 mile trip on the interstate. It was the first time I've driven at highway speed with all the windows closed. I was surprised by how loud the car is. The exhaust system is the one that was on the car when I got it 13 years ago and I don't know how long it had been on the car before then. But I do know the muffler is rusted inside and there's at least one pinhole in the pipe. Add that to the fact that the floor has no insulation on it and I guess that could account for some noise. It's nice and quiet up to about 50 MPH. But after that it gets pretty noisy. So this weekend I put some insulation on the floor. I'm also going to replace the entire exhaust system and see what that does.
According to my GPS, the speedometer reads about 8 MPH faster than actual speed.
The gas gauge only works from empty to half full. From half full to full will not register. From what I've read in the manual, that is a grounding issue at the sending unit. I'm thinking maybe because I painted the trunk floor and it's not making good metal-to-metal contact.
I'm forever getting little dings in my new paint job. But I guess that's life.
I think there's still some air in the brakes, but not much. Once in a while they feel mushy but one extra hit on the pedal firms them up. Doesn't happen much, really.
Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the old Plymouth. I do tend to focus on what's not right, but when I think about what HAS gone right, I should be glad. I drive the heck out of this thing and I drive it practically every day.