Summary:
Lack of oxygen is a new concept to me and the TR6.
Background:
As many of you recall, I was transferred from NIST Gaithersburg, to
NIST Boulder as of August 8th. Seeing as I had to move my TR6 out
there anyway, I decided to move it myself. Well, you can't pack much
in a TR6, but I managed to get all my clothes, CD's, two bikes, tools,
spares, and a cooler full of Mountain dew at my side. I actually had
room to spare. The trick was that I packed all my clothes in the
trunk without luggage. I used plastic bags to protect them, and
smooshed them in the trunk till the trunk would just close. This
actually worked great! All my clothes made it and they didn't even
have many wrinkles! I packed a one week bag which rode in the
passenger seat so that I wouldn't have to remove the bikes from the
boot.
Day 1:
I left my loving wife and fellow SOL roomie Paul Gilders in
Gaithersburg on August 1st with a destination of Dayton, Ohio to visit
with fellow SOL folk, Bob Jones and Mark Dodd. Peg (my wife) will be
arriving in Boulder this fall, as she is finishing up her Master's
Thesis. :-( It was a strange feeling traveling through the
aplication(sic) mountains knowing that they would no longer be at my
back door. Oh well having the Rockies at my backdoor would be an "ok"
trade I guess. :-) Still, it was a weird feeling. The weather was
PERFECT. It was about 85 degrees and not a rain cloud could be found
anywhere. The car ran perfectly, except the left rear brake drum had
a harmonious sound as I applied the brakes. I made it to Dayton in
record time and was greeted at Bob's door with open tool boxes and
storage space! What a treat! I got to see Bob's collection of B's
which had both engines down to the block. Bob promised me that he
would have them running by the time I returned. :-) Since I had time
to spare in Dayton, I decided to pull the rear drum and see what's
what. Bob didn't have a 7/8in lug wrench to fit my tire, so I had to
unpack the trunk. (You got a "real" lug wrench yet Bob?) The shoes
were a bit glazed and Mark and I decided to replace the shoes right
there. Bad plan. The new shoes didn't want to go into the old drum
as it had a bit of a lip. Well, one old shoe and the worn new one
seemed to work pretty good and I was able to persuade the drum to go
on with my 3 lb hammer. (Don't leave home without it! After a bit of
sworking we retired to some brew and barbecue. It was a great time!
Thanks to the Dayton folk for showing me such a wonderful time.
Day 2:
Up at my usual crack of dawn, I left bright and early to head out the
the Dayton Airforce museum. It was quite a treat. I had been there
before as a kid, and it was amazing to see that humungous bird they
call the B36 again. I was on the road to St Louis by 12:00, but I
gained an hour this day so it was really only 11:00! The only worry I
had was getting across the Mississippi Lake, as I was sure there were
no bridges left. Driving along at a comfortable 65 mph, I began to
smell brake pad smell. You know, you smell this when you are
following people who ride their brakes down the mountain. I decided
that this MUST be new pad smell from the rear drum and it wouldn't
dare lock up on me. The smell eventually disappeared from my nose,
but occasionally my brain would think that my nose was smelling this
again.
It's amazing what driving alone in the sun with no radio will do to
your brain. Ya see, I was a bit disappointed with the TR6's
performance climbing hills. My brain decided that the fuel pump was
not delivering the fuel needed to climb the hills. (Which still might
be the case actually) Basically as I applied for more fuel, nothing
changed... nothing. Down shifting was a big help, so maybe it's just
me... My brain decided that the fuel pump must have been leaking fuel
into the oil pan. The data which supported this fact was that I got
pretty poor gas mileage on one leg of the trip. I decided to stop and
check. I first smelled the dip stick. I *thought* I could smell some
fuel. So I pulled the cap off the rocker cover. *sniff, sniff,
sniff*... I stopped when I noticed folks watching this strange ritual
I was doing over my TR6 engine. I decided that the people watching me
were right... I was nuts. Onward!
At approximately 4:00pm, I stopped at the last rest stop before the
Mississippi. I called Paul Gilders back at home base and told him
about my progress. I then hoped back in the car and nothing. The
car didn't even want to start. That dog gone Paul cursed me with
*HIS* starting problems! Well, it turned out that Lucas decided to
drop a connector from the starter. After smelling my flesh burn on
the exhaust once or twice, I was able to get the connector back on.
Varrom! I was off to cross the old Miss!
No probs! I zipped right over the Mississippi and didn't even
notice the flood until, I stopped at the arch. WOW! The flood waters
reached 48 feet that day, 18feet ABOVE flood stage. The steps in
front of the arch lead down INTO the water, and the street in front
was completely under.
Next stop was at Mark Grieshaber's house. What a treat! Again I was
greeted by a fellow SOL as if we had known each other for years. Mark
has a nice Land Rover that he will have to drive out to the Rockies
when he get's it on the road. It really looked like some fun!
Anyway, Mark and I had some wonderful St Louis pizza up the street
from his house and then had some amazing ice cream that could only be
had in this location of the country. Mark enjoyed the ride in the TR
and said that he would have to get a convertible again real soon...
Got one yet Mark? :-)
Day 3:
In the morning, Mark and I made our way to a breakfast place to meet
up with Larry Snyder. My TR6 and Larry's GT6 had a nice visit as did
we. We looked at some photos, drank some wonderful coffee and then
ventured to the parking lot to be sure that these Triumphs were
behaving themselves. Larry then showed me were the lower control arm
bolt broke on his GT6. Ouch! I glanced at mine to make sure they
wouldn't go anywhere too soon.
After a Kodak moment, I was on the road again. I did stop at the
outskirts of St Louis to check on the flood before I left. It was an
amazing thing to see. Route 40 no longer when over the river, but the
river went over Route 40. This convinced me to take I44 to US 54 into
Wichita to avoid problems on the Missouri river.
The new route was quite a treat. I traveled through the Ozarks and
saw some really beautiful GREEN countryside. I guess all this rain
did have some good side effects... Through the flinthills in Kansas I
saw some of the most beautiful rolling hills ever. I could only
imagine that England looked like this, with a LBC zooming along the
road.
I then arrived in Wichita where I stayed with some friends of the
family. Upon my arrival I was notified that my Grandmother was in the
hospital in Great Bend as the result of a heart attack. Not exactly
the kind of welcome I was looking for...
Day 4:
The phone rang and I found that my grandmother had passed away.
Damn... I had missed seeing her by just 4 hours.
I then drove to Great Bend to be with my relatives. My mind no longer
thought of timing, fuel, spark or any of that non-sense. But none the
less, my mind raced with only mechanical music and wind in my hair. My
parents who live in Maryland were out visiting and we had planned to
meet at this point. It was almost eerie that the family was together
in Kansas at this important time.
The upside to all of this was that alot of family from Kansas that I
would not have seen came to town to be with us. It was nice to see
many folk that I didn't get much time to visit since I have been on
the East coast all my life.
Day 5-7:
Not much british car stuff going on here, but I did give many rides to
family in the TR. It was quite a blast as most of them didn't know
much about the LBC disease I had contracted. I may have spread it to
a few, we shall see. :-)
Day 8:
It's now sunday, and I left Great Bend for my final destination,
Boulder Colorado. The weather again was perfect. A little warmer
than before, but very nice for driving with the top down. This part
of the trip was a bit boring for me, as I knew I had to goto work the
next day! Anyway, As I made my assent toward's Denver, I saw these
amazing clouds which start to really make the sky somewhat dark. I
pulled off at an under pass and put up the top as it started to rain.
I turned on my lights and kicked in the overdrive as I started back
out. Now it really started to rain. I check the fuel gauge and it's
starting to get pretty darn close to that 0. I turn up the wipers a
notch and the engine begins to rev 500 rpms faster! The wipers stop.
The fuel gage dives past the 0. Temp drops below the first tick mark.
Drat! I blew a fuse! Well, it's raining pretty darn hard, and I know
that I will need to stop for fuel within 10 miles or be up the creek.
After driving 12 miles, I find a stop. Fix the fuse and fill up.
Humm. I thought the TR only had a 10 gallon tank. It must be bigger
than that, because it took 10.3 gallons. *phew*
I found my way to Boulder under clear skys again, and arrived at my
destination without too much bother. I thank Joe Lucas for that bit
of excitement on the last leg of the trip. I would also like to thank
all the sol folk for all their kindness and good will shown toward me
along the way. This SOL group is a great bunch...
Soooo, calling all front rangers! When would you all like to get
together at a local brew establishment? I know that Paul Gilders will
be in town on wednesday, but may not have time to get out as he will
be touring the west with his folks. I will be talking to him
thursday, but if anyone would like to get together before then, let me
know!
Let the western adventures begin!
-Scotty (paisley@bldrdoc.gov)
"You want to get to know your real self? Try driving across country
alone, with no radio, in a convertable." -Arlie Hart
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