20 June 2006 -- I've had enough changes 'round here that I was able to pick up another 914. Sure wish now that I'd kept the old one, it'd be awfully handy for parts right about now!

I flew out to LA 8 June 2006 and pursched a 1975 914 1.8L complete with L-Jet from Leamon, who by the way, is a heck of a guy! And so "The New Adventures of the 914" began. It was a ways home, and overall, the trip back was really a very pleasent one. Got a little lost in LA (looking for a Wal-Mart off the Mountain Ave exit, I took the Mountain exit, turned around, turned again, ect )

Drove from LA to Blythe that Thursday, and stopped around 0430 CST. Stopped at a Motel 6, and had to deal with a Hot Start issue (which I was expecting). The next morning, my supervisor calls at 0900 CST with issues at work that I'd not experienced, so I pass along to call the vendor, and "revealed" the secret location of my notes for the phone number. Wound up borrowing a hammer from the Maint Guy there to get back on the road. I didn't bring my hammer, and had forgotten to get one at Wal Mart the night before, so I tried my channel locks, ratchet, big Mag light all to no effect. Calling Leamon, he said they'd tried other "implements" without success as well, and that only a hammer seemed to work. At which point my phone lost signal and remained that way until hte next "stop"

On the way outta town, smelled something electrical, and noticed my gauges were not working. Quick check showed a blown fuse. Since I didn't have any fuses with me (despite being told that was one important thing to take), I didn't bother, thinking maybe I'd pinched a wire tapping the starter.

Down the road a ways, I decided I'd like to have some knowledge of how much gas I had left. I pulled off into a Roadside park, and swapped the fuse for something else that was red and didn't seem important at the time, got a bearing on how much I had, and started to go. And the car stalled... And I've still got no hammer.

9 June 2006 -- A great couple, working at the roadside park, came over to me offering whatever assitance they could, and loaned me a hammer to use. Tapped, tapped, crank. The car sputters a second and dies. And then will only crank. Long story short, spent some time with Leamon on the phone, going over basic stuff, vac leaks, spark and fuel. After talking and us believing that it is prob the fuel side of things, and my fear of breaking the hard plastic line on the road, I st about trying to figure out the fuel pump relay, since the pump was not heard doing it's job. Finding ground and +12, I strung some wire from the + side of the pump back to the engine bay so I could use my meter and test for continuity. Bingo! Jumpered that to the positive and I was ready to go! The couple that had been coming to check on me had disappeared, but a pan handler told me that they'd be back. I left the hammer with him, asking that he return it (I was getting odd looks wandering around with a hammer in hand looking for them), and hopped to it!

(As an aside, a couple offered me a couple of bottles of water and told me they wished they had some mechanical knowledge to help me out. Kind folk! They insisted after I mentioned that I had 7 Gal in the trunks. Turned out handy the next day though!)

I got into Phoenix w/o further issue, other than some traffic on I10, caught up with a couple of guys that I've known for many years from the Monte Carlo Mailing List, but haven't seen in a while. I also had the luck to meet Greg Robbins, who set me up with some relays to make sure I got home. I felt pretty bad, as we were waiting on the wrong end of the parking lot, and I wasn't sure how long he waited before he came over to our side. Being on the road must have dulled me a tad, and I didn't see the club hat as he walked up asking "Is that a Fiat?" He let me know that a couple of people would be looking out for me and may holler on my way back.

Walked across the lot and picked up a jack from Harbor Freight plus a hammer, and then grabbed a bite to eat. Before I took off, we confirmed that Matthew, of MCML fame, is ill suited to the 914, mostly due to the shifter.

Took off for Flagstaff to stay the night and crash earlier than I had the night before. Driving through the mountains turned out to be a little interesting. There were stretches where the car felt like it lost power, had to drop to 4th, and once down to 3rd to keep going. All the vitals looked good, and other stretches of similiar inclines there were no power losses. I'm guessing that I fell outta the power band, and getting back into it was the problem... (BTW, I popped in some replacement fuses I'd picked up in Phoenix, and they didn't blow the rest of the trip)

Right on time, rolled past the limits sign at 0111 (CST), and procedeed to look for a hotel room. After 6 stops and no vacancies, I tanked up and took off again. Wound up pulling the same stunt almost in Holbrook, but found a Comfort Inn, again around 0400 and crashed for the morning.

10 June, 2006 -- A friend of mine called at 0930 to make sure that I was still alive. So much for sleeping until noon (CST). Hopped up, took a shower and hit it!

Other than running over a 2' sucidial tumble week and seeing some amusing signs, it was a pretty uneventful day. I'd figured that I'd be in my own bed by midnight, there abouts and had been looking forward to it. Early to Amarillo, around 1830, and started looking for a place to have a nice dinner. Took a turn, heard a bad crunching noise, so I pulled off into the parking lot of a Graham Central Station, looked around, and finding nothing, did a figure 8 to see if it came back. Which it did, very briefly, then no more go... I gave Clay a call (Greg gave me my copy of the Emergency Contact List when I met up with him), and he was on target with a CV joint issue, initially having me check that it was still bolted. Unfortunatly, it turned out to be a little more serious, with the actual CV joint in pieces and parts. I decided the best thing to do was to either try to fix it (if the parts places had the half shaft) or get a U-Haul. Well, now that I know what everyone else here does, no parts to fix it, and as it turns out, no U-Haul trucks to pull it back with.

Dave, my neighbot to the rescue. He'd told me before I took off that if something happened within a day of home, he'd come and tow me back. At a good clip, Amarillo is only 3 hours from home, so I called him back (I'd "put him on standby" the night before) and asked really nice if I could get a hand.

So, he rolled up at about 13:15, we made arrangements, picked up the tools, dolly and car, and booked it back home.

So, I'm waiting on a plethora of parts, A/C system, CV joints, maybe a starter if I order it, and plan to have it back up on the road by mid July!

Pics to come!