ball bearing in the rocker panel... Sorry, warranty joke. 70's assembly lines weren't what they are now!
Sounds like the best course forward at the present is a 1-2 hour session with wrenches in hand just checking and tightening every darn nut and bolt I can find and get to on this car...
Although I laughed about the ball bearing...and initially the marble...the more I think about it, the more sense that makes... The car is 35+ years old and there could very easily be something (screws, nuts, bolts, acorns, etc.) in the fender cavity or somewhere else just jostling around. Gonna have to look closely into that...
Didn't find any foreign objects in any unusual places. Though I did tighten up a few bolts here and there, there was nothing so loose as to be causing the noise. One thing we have realized: Although we can't make the noise happen, when it does start we can make it STOP with light pressure on the brake pedal. So I've ordered the recommended brake hardware kit - going to put that on and see where that gets us...
Drum roll please... The weird rattling noise was the brakes (or seems to be after a quick drive around the neighborhood) and was fixed quickly and easily with the recommended hardware kit. Now the engine seems to be misfiring a little - but that's okay I suppose because now I can start yet another post about our car...
Hi! One question, I saw pictures of the hardware kit and can't figure out how or where to intall it on the caliper, could you please explain it to me, thank you!
H2o, the pads on the left of the picture are the inside pads. the anti-rattle clips will clip onto the end of one side of each. If yo uhold the brake pad in position notice which side points down. That is the side you put the anti-rattle spring on. You may need to pinch it a little to get it to stay inplace until you slide it in the caliper bracket. Then the tab that sticks out puts pressure on the pad holding it towards the top of the caliper bracket so it dosnt rattle.
