Grab a cup of coffee, this is going to be a long one…
OK, Fans, the post you have all been waiting for. I have a 2 days of blog updates to do, and
what feels like 4 days of events to cover.
When last you heard from us, we were heading out of Phoenix
and o-dark-30 to beat the rush hour traffic and cross the desert before the
heat. Well, we accomplished that for the
most part unless gusty 93 degree winds through the Palm Desert does not count
as heat. We now know why the placed what
looks like 10,000 wind turbines in that desert valley –
Turbine photos… will load later..
Out goal that morning was to reach Yorba Linda by noon-ish
to meet up with friend, retired co-worker and fellow car guy – Ed Hart. Following a quick gas stop we rolled into
Ed’s driveway at 12:30 on Wednesday. LA
traffic and all, we were right on schedule.
Ed is a man of action, and knew we would want to get back on
the road and out of the LA area before the real traffic hit, so we quickly got
a drink, had a little car Chat, and staged a photo with our piece of classic
engineering and his favorite new engineering marvel. From 1963 P1800 to a 2014 Tesla – you be the
judge –
We then parked the Volvo in his garage per the suggestion of
his son and headed out for lunch in the Tesla.
Ed demonstrated for us that capability of on-demand-torque as we
rocketed down the hill out of his neighborhood – 80 MPH in less than a ¼
mile? - Ed what was that? All I know, is I don’t recall such smooth and
rapid acceleration since some of those roller coasters that Ben used to take me
on at Disney and Universal, or maybe it was the downward acceleration of the
elevator in the Tower of Terror, but much smoother and quieter. Oh, yeah and the Tesla has AC J - yes, we could put AC
in the Volvo, but I won’t…
We had a very nice lunch at a Deli down the road – Ed is
always up for some state of the economy and predictions or personal insights
for the future and having Joe there – the your aspiring college student – just
fired up his natural tendency to mentor and advise even more. In that short lunch, we covered some history
of our work together, and discussions of Joe’s college plans and a number of
other topics, but alas, we needed to get back on the road and not experience
any more of that legendary LA traffic that was absolutely necessary. Besides, after all of the AZ and CA desert
crossings, we were really looking forward to some Pacific Coast roads and cool
ocean breezes.
Back to Ed’s house, a very brief visit with his wife, a
reload of the cooler with ice and drinks and back on that road. We arrived back at Ed’s house and the garage
door was open, his wife had returned, and his son had departed. We went inside, and she told us that she had
opened the door and left it open because of the fumes – the garage smelled like
her dad’s old car. Not an unfamiliar
smell, but in pristine garage that normally houses a Tesla and a Toyota Pries,
that just did not work. We spent a few
more min discussing and admiring the car (the 1800 of course) reviewed our
Google Map options for escaping LA in one piece, and then hopped in the
car. As we backed down the driveway and
waved goodbye to the Harts, I see Ed walk to the edge of the garage and bend
down and swipe the floor with his finger and inspect the result. I think – yeah, our old car has slightly
soiled his Tesla parking space… Then he
calls to us – Gas Leak! --- Well, not
one to ignore something that significant, I drive back up the driveway, and
then think about it for a moment – we just filled the tank before we arrived at
Ed’s house, and there is that overflow tube…
I say – “noting to worry about, we just filled up and there must have
been a little overflow spill – sorry bout the mess, and we motor away. Little
did we know, this was foreshadowing or our next 36 hours and our first real
mechanical issue.
Now, I have to come clean – I have been holding out on all
of you since basically day-1 of this trip.
Since the car was on the road, and certainly since day 1 of this trip,
we have had this little nagging clunk in the rear end. I attributed it to the excess slack in from
my poor job of shimming the axel play following the replacement of an inner
seal over the winter, but better to have a little extra play than too tight and
have a wheel bearing bind or self destruct on a road trip. Well, since NY State I have been listening
carefully to this clunk, and it has been growing. Also, there has been this vibration in the rear
end “at slack” when the car is neither accelerating or engine breaking. So, I have been teaching Joe to “keep it out
of that slack zone” – to the point where he was getting frustrated with my
reminding him.
So I do believe it was maybe 3 days into the trip when I
sent my first note to Mike Dudek at iRoll Motors in San Carlo CA – suggesting
that we would like to have a couple ours on his lift for a “pit stop” at our
approximate half way point mileage wise on the trip. Little did we or Mike know how extensive that
“pit stop” would end up being. – but I
am jumping ahead now…
Following Ed’s advice and ignoring some warnings from Google
Maps about faster routes, we rolled fairly smoothly and un-eventfully through
the Wednesday afternoon LA traffic on our way to Pismo Beach and ultimately San
Luis Obispo, our planned stop for the night.
My concern over the progressively increasing rumble and thump from the
rear end, and the LA traffic had me doing all of the CA driving at this point –
70 MPH bumper to bumper in 95 degree heat and LA insanity. Somehow, Joe managed to sleep through most of
this, occasionally waking up to see where we were and apply a few spritzes from
the “AC system” my sister gave us back in Telluride. As we crested a hill on the 101, caught a
glimpse of the valley below, I swear the temperature dropped 20 degrees. Still diligently checking gauges including
fuel, we rolled on down and closer to the shore. I was begging to smell and feel that familiar
ocean air that we had not had since the VSA meet almost 3 weeks ago back in
Newport – how refreshing…
As I caught my first glimpse of the Pacific ocean, I just
had to wake Joe up for a photos. Maybe
not that spectacular, but the first sighting is the first sighting. We still had 2 hours of driving to do, but
that did not seem to matter, the excitement of reaching the Pacific coast, and
the cool air that came with it wiped away all of the days road fatigue and I
could not help but smile and admire ours and the car’s achievement.
More ocean, blue water and sandy beaches came into
view. We slapped the Go-Pro up in the
windshield to capture a few moments of this for the future slide and video
show. Once safely out of the LA traffic,
we decided to do a quick stop for gas and drinks to plan the final miles of the
day, locate dinner and a place to sleep, ideally in the same location. As I fueled up at the Quick-Mart or whatever
local fueling station this was this time, and diligently logged the stats into
the app on my phone, and ever familiar event occurred – a woman pulled up along
side us at the pump and said “I jut have to say, that is a beautiful car”. She added more about the style and having
lived through that era, made you appreciate them even more… All I wanted to say was “yeah, but that clunk
in the rear end is distracting me from all other aspects of the car. Little did I know that there was an even more
immediate issue fermenting at that moment.
We grabbed a couple drinks, pulled the car over by the
shaded picnic table near the convenience store and plotted out the rest of the
day. Not having acquired the Gazetteer
for CA, we were relying on Google on our iPhones – not to self, buy Gazetteer
for OR and WA – our goal for the day was San Luis Obispo, and we were just over
an hour away now. There seemed to be
healthy choice of Motels in San Lui, so we settled on that destination and
planned to call to confirm a room from the road in the next 30 min or so. I continued doing the driving due to this
nagging feeling that I attributed to the rear end issue still. Out of the farmland and away from the shore,
we headed up 54 cutting the corning of 101.
It turned out to be a fun road
with some nice smooth twisties and more vineyards along the way. Sun getting low and air continuing to cool,
the day was winding down nicely. We
rolled into San Lui and about 7:45, found our motel – Joe read reviews and
called from the road to make the reservation just in case.
We checked in, and asked for a room on the ground
floor. The nice man who I am sure was
the owner took our info, looked at the card I filled out, and glanced out the
window – “Oh, you can park right out there, it is bigger space. We don’t want you to have any scratch or
bang, that is very expensive… Or, you can park in handicap spot out back by
your room”. I said I did not want to get
in trouble, but he said – oh, no trouble…
I stepped out the office door where the car was parked to decide where
to park, and then from the corner of my eye, I see a small wet spot on the
ground just below the trunk – hmm… not
good, and I took a closer look, then down on my knees and stuck my head under –
Yikes!!! Gas dripping, and not really a slow drip and a very large spot on the
undercoating of the fuel tank that is the floor of the trunk was wet and
beginning to peal away – double YIKES!!!
Ok, relax, this can be dealt with, pull the car over to the parking
space for the night and assess the situation.
At first, it felt wrong to park in the handicap spot, so I pulled into
one of the regular spaces, and we began to unpack as I assessed the tank
issue. It was dripping pretty fast –
drip, drip… drip, drip.. a small puddle
formed pretty quickly as the car was a quite a slant in this space tipping the
tank toward the leak spot. So, I decided
that we could better manage the hydraulic pressure if the car was level. As we continued to unpack, a couple came out
of there room an strolled across the small parking lot and the woman lit up a
cigarette!!!! OK calm down, how to I say
“I have a gas leak here, why don’t you not come over and admire our car with
that fire stick in your hand”. This time
I was pleased when they did not seem to have much interest in admiring he car,
and just strolled over out of the parking lot.
OK, now I moved the car to the flat handicap spot and checked the drip
again. It did not slow down, but at this
point, we were both so hungry we just had to go find food, and I had agreed to
see a move with Joe that night. Both
were walking distance from the motel, so I tried to put that leak and the later
with the cigarette out of my mind… that
did not work of course. I immediately
began walking and Googling “Gas tank patches”, “immergency fuel tank repair…”
etc. by the time we walked to the
restaurant 4 block away, I had seen 2 videos including one of a guy in the
Australian out-back patching a punctured tank on a Suzuki SUV with a bar of
soap, and some clay mud… OK, that is
just insane, we passed a Volvo dealer (Smith Volvo) on our walk to dinner, so I
knew they would not have parts, but at least we may get some help and Volvo
compassion in the morning when we woke up. During that same walk, I sent an
email to Mike at iRoll letting him know about our situation, and asking if he
had a new fuel tank in stock. Did I
mention, we were now only 2.5 hours from Mikes shop.
Quick email reply from Mike while we ate dinner “So, you are
only 2.5 hours away, yes we have a tank in stock, and we can put that in for
you. The rear end may be a bit more
involved. Call me on my cell any time
after 7:am and get to the shop as early as possible.”
Feeling a little better because my map showed 3.5 hours to
Mikes place and he said 2.5. Plus, now
with a little food in my system, and a beer to calm the nerves I was beginning
to relax. As soon as we fond the fuel
leak and I began to go into disaster recovery mode, Joe said – don’t worry, we
will work it out – but I am just envisioning that woman with the cigarette
coming over the admire the car, and up goes the car, the motel and all – BOOM!
Well, like I said, I promised Joe we would do a movie, and
the theatre was just 3 blocks away now and the show (Jurassic World was his
choice) was scheduled to start in 10 min.
Typical CA movie house – wine by the glass J, that will help with the
stress, and if being chased by genetically enhanced dinosaurs does not distract
you from car troubles, what will. Of
course I was critiquing the scene where they start up the 20 year old Jeep
using the battery from the demolished Quad that the T-Rex stepped on. They must not have a fuel leek, but that gas
should be about the consistency of the tree resin they found the Dinosaur DNA
in… But of course it started. I need
to get me one of those fuel tanks.
After the movie we immerged from the fantasy world back into
our reality, but it was a beautiful night in Northern CA, and we walked back to
the motel past the restaurant, past the Volvo dealer trying not to think about
what we were up against tomorrow. All
the time, I could not get that Aussie and his soap and mud tank patch out of my
head. All the other YouTube videos
involved draining the tank, cleaning it with power tools, vinegar and applying
compounds that had to cure for a day… We
had no time for that, and with the new tank only 2.5 hours away, waiting for
us, that seemed like a lot of effort for a short fix. We needed a fix that matched the distance to
target.
Soo exhausted by now, we entered our Motel room, and flopped
down on the bed and I think I was asleep before Joe decided what he would
watch. Some half awake dreams about what
we would do in the morning – driving 70 MPH down the 101 with a trail of gas
behind us in brush fire season, did not seem like a great idea, but what
alternative did we have? At 5:30, I
popped up in bead, and said to my self – why not, use what we have and since
when did a YouTube video ever steer me wrong J. I quickly dressed, no time for shower and
brushing teeth, we had a situation on our hands, and we were 2.5 hours from the
permanent solution.
I went out into the parking lot to be sure that lady was not
wandering around the lot having her morning smoke – the coast was clear. Then to look under the car – I see a fairly
large wet spot, but it is not flowing down the lot. Gas does evaporate fast though. At first I did not see any dripping – a self
healing tank J,
no, there it was, and half of the painted on wheel-chair symbol on the handicap
space was peeling up from the fuel leak.
Into my took box / steamer trunk I go, pulled out the bag
with nitrile gloves and a rag and prepared to do the “soap patch”. First test was can I wipe off the wet area
and not make the hole even bigger? How
solid is this area of the tank, a pin-hole, or a complete blow out? Some wiping and probing and it seems pretty
solid. I head back into the Motel room
and grab a couple bars of that wonderful Motel soap. More the constancy a cheap candle than a bar
of soap, but in this case, that may be best.
Got my car work clothes on for the job of laying on the ground in a pool
of gas and I proceed to rub and scrub the area around the leak to see how clean
I can get it. There are big areas of
undercoating beginning to peal off, so I remove the loose stuff, and the – what
the heck.. I take the first bar of soap
and rub and press it into the are with the palm of my hand. Let go, and hmm.. no drip. Not completely convinced yet, I take the
other bar, and break it in half and press, rub and apply more. Now for the real test; Sit there and watch it for a few min
---- no drip… could it be that crazy
Aussy is onto something here? Turns out
the poor quality of that soap made it even easier to cover the area and fill
the hole. Still in a state of disbelief,
I went into the room and woke Joe and said we need to get on the road now. Not sure how long that patch will hold, and I
want to get as much of Mike’s time as I can today on the tank and the rear
end. 10 min to pack and Joe took a quick
shower. Check the tank again, Still no drip. Fingers crossed, we roll backward so we don’t
ignite the parking space while starting the engine. I set the parking break, get out and clean up
the fuel puddle and soap shavings and we are off.
Sorry, no photo of the car in front of this motel – we don’t
want to get the bill for the resurfacing of the parking lot.
With the rear end clunking and whining more than ever, or at
least in my mind it is. We hit a
Starbucks in town and hop back onto the 101 North. I did not know it, but was pleased to
discover that the entire 2.5 hours to Mike was down hill or flat, and that
helped as rear end whine seemed to get worse by the mile. Now I am watching the clock until 7:am when
I can call Mike on his cell and get some idea what we are in for. Joe goes back to sleep in the passenger seat. He is getting good at that, I think I would
have permanent injuries if I did that.
Of course you realize, this urgent detour to Mikes means we
did not get to do Rt 1 up past Big Sir and all that beautiful PCH scenery : (
End installment 1 of 2-day catch up.
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