September 2010 Archives

I am learning to trust my instincts. I didn't like the wob-wob-wob noise the car made. It turns out that the wheel bearings were going bad. Lacking time and tools to press new ones in, we simply swapped the good hub assemblies from the daily GTX to the Challenge car. It only took eight or nine hours...

I finally hit the road Sunday morning.

***

Somewhere east of El Paso towards midnight on Monday, a large SUV came roaring up behind me and rode my bumper for awhile. A cop, thinks I, trying to get me to speed up so they can pull me over. Even if I were confident enough of the car to exceed the speed limit, I know better than to fall for that trick. They backed off and continued to follow me. Oh, right, thinks I, I don't have plates on this car yet and they probably can't figure out the permit.

Eventually, the highway funneled into a Border Patrol inspection station, the SUV still behind me. A patrol guard with a tall German shepherd came by, the dog sticking his nose into my window and grinning at me. I unconsciously leaned forward to touch my nose to his before remembering a) he's not a cat and b) he's working. He didn't seem to mind. The guard and the dog began the walk counter-clockwise around the car.

Another patrol guard approached and I asked if they wanted to see my driver's license. "And registration!" piped up a voice behind the guy now leaning towards my window. The guard shot a dirty look behind him, leaned against my door and looked me in the eye. "Ma'am, are you an American Citizen?" I held his gaze. "Why yes, sir, I am!" The guard with the dog stopped to read the permit and called out the all clear. The second guard waved me on without looking at my license. I drove on into the rolling darkness.

***

Yesterday morning, I could smell burning coolant and...something. I didn't like it, and pulled into the next gas station. White smoke billowed out from under my hood. I went to find the leak and realized that wasn't my only problem. There was oil everywhere. I checked the dipstick, maybe two drops on there. Not good. I was 350 miles from anywhere, and a good ten hours from anyone I knew. I shot an email to the GTX list with a description. Two calls in less than five minutes, both suggesting the valve cover needed tightening. Sure enough, over half the bolts had backed off 2-3 turns. I bolted it back down and filled it with oil. My friend Paul from Georgia told me to check it again in 50, 100, and 200 miles. Still leaking oil, but not so bad that I worried.

I never found the coolant leak. I drove on to Houston.

***

Now I sit in a local coffee shop, soaking up bandwidth and getting a bit of blogging and work done. I'll head to Louisiana where another GTX afficionado will provide crash and garage space. I'll change the valve cover gasket and PCV valve and hopefully make it to Gainesville on Thursday. We'll see.

(Originally posted to the GRM boards... you can follow car stuff at http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/4319/)

I was driving the $2010 GTX back up to Oakland on Wednesday to pack up a few things before hitting the road. Let me just say, rush hour traffic is not the time you want to find out the hard way that you have a leak in your brake system.

Turns out, my mechanic is trying to kill me...the 323 brake hoses don't clip into the 626 struts (they don't make stock struts for the GTX anymore) and I forgot to ziptie them into place. The left (driver's side) one rubbed up against the tire and wouldn't you know, that friction thing will get you every time.

I'm okay, the car's okay, and with a little duct tape and zip ties, I made it back to Oakland. The problem with having such an odd car, though, is that nobody carries the brake hoses normally. After a few hours of calling different auto parts companies, Carquest came to the rescue and had a new hose to me yesterday.

Of course, this morning, I woke up to a new oil leak...a big one, it looks like - I'm a quart down since yesterday. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to be on the road tomorrow. Already called the family and said I loved them, but if I'm heading straight to the Challenge if I can get this back on the road at all.

But, at least it's had an alignment and actually passed smog today. WOO!

In other news...this car is eating my money alive. If my writing entertains you in any way, or you would like to support my actually getting to the Challenge, feel free to throw a dollar by Paypal to carlota-at-dollraves-dot-net. If I raise the $800 in gas that it will take to get me there and back, I'll epoxy a rubber ducky to the hood of the car as a hood ornament. :D

Every three months, one of our call center vendors in India sends us three of their top call agents to train with our company.  They stagger the arrivals by a few weeks so there's a bit of a hand off.  It is extremely rare to get a female agent, and right now, we have two.  Today, one of the agents, "K" came to my cube.

K:  "Carlota, you have to meet our new agent, B!"
Doll:  "I have...we had dinner last week, all of us..."
K:  "No, no, you have not!" *frantically waves B over*  "Meet B!"  *flourish*
Doll:  "Er... hi?"
B:  "Hi!  Notice anything different?"
Doll:  "Um... not really?"

At this point, my friend Raquel starts tugging at her own hair.  She's trying to convey what I should compliment, but in my fog and confusion, I interpreted it as a "You make me so crazy I want to pull my hair out!"  Although completely out of character for sweet Raquel, it's a feeling to which I drive many who love me, I think.

K:  *stage whisper*  "Her hair."
Doll:  "OH!"

I stared at B a moment.  I could not see anything different, honestly.  I just don't pay attention to hair, apparently.

Doll:  "Right then.  Lovely!  Sorry, if it had been shoes, I would have gotten it.  Or cars - I would definitely have spotted a new car!"

I can sympathize now with every man who's ever simply not seen his significant other's new look.  What a terrible feeling!  Perhaps I should buy B some flowers tomorrow...

The $2010 Challenge car still is not on the road.

We're down to a few things:

1. The hole in the radiator - waiting for a friend to recover from Burning Man to braise it...
2. Two busted drive shafts - dropped off with my mechanic friend to see if he can make one good drive shaft out of them
3. Brakes that won't bleed - new brakelines ordered in the hopes that will solve the problem...

That's just to get it on the road; I'm sure to discover new issues once the car is driving. I have no idea what condition that transmission is in, for example. Exciting, I tell you! At least I have a backup plan/car...

When I started all this, I thought, "I'll do this one project car and get it out of my system." But my buddy Alan is an evil man¹ and I have now committed to a $2011 Challenge car.² I have also developed this constant running monologue of "When I rebuild GTX #1...no, wait...I'm going to sell it, really!"³

But first, I have to finish this car...¹ I have taken to calling him "DevilMan" because the name "Alan" is deceptively nice-sounding...
² Alan already has the car and I sourced an engine on Tuesday...
³ And yet, I continue to keep a parts list for it....