A little late. I wrote this on Saturday, but have been very busy at work, so now it is late. Better late than never though:
The photo above is me & my father (out rallying in my mother’s Mercedes!) It was taken by the official rally photog for the Colorado Grand. I think I took better photos, but I was never able to capture to two of us. 😉
Had a great day out dtoday with my youngest son. It was my “father’s day” one day early. Let me tell you about it, and how it came to pass:
About 2 weeks ago I stopped at a NAPA near my office to grab a replacement brake light bulb for my daily driver (VW Jetta TDI… those Audi R10 TDI’s are kicking @$$ at Le Mans right now… Go Diesel!!!) and I noticed a flyer for a father’s day car show on Whidbey Island. I figured it would be a good day out for my son & I.
Then last weekend I had a “smoke escapes” incident that I could not find the source for. Out with the wife in the Jag, riding home from a nice dinner date, flick on the headlights and are confronted with a wildly swinging ammeter and a whiff of Genuine Lucas Smoke. Drove the rest of the way sans lights (by choice) and then could not get the smoke to reappear once back at the garage. Humpf… British cars!
So today my son Nicholas & I rolled out early on a misty day for a drive to Whidbey Island. As we left Arlington, we had another whiff of smoke. This time I was prepared and already had my dash knobs out, so I pulled over and dropped the panel, fully expecting to see The Prince of Darkness himself puffing on a pipe!
Nothing.
I was stumped. Though I noted that my ammeter was lying like a dead thing, and not wiggling when I flicked the turn signals on. =\
I stopped at a gas station to fill up, and pulled the voltmeter out of my boot and checked the battery… it was fine, with around 14V. I fired up the engine and checked again… 12V and dropping/wiggling. Damn. I assumed a had fried yet another alternator. Something about this car – it eats alternators. =\
It was still very early here on the west coast, so I didn’t want to wake Ray, so I called Wiggy to find out the model # of the Hitachi so I could grab another one. I stopped at a NAPA in Mt. Vernon, they didn’t have one, but they called ahead to Oak Harbor, and found one for me. Nick & I hit the road and made our way to over Fidalgo Island, and over the Deception Pass bridge to Whidbey. I picked up the Hitachi alternator and made my way down the island to the show.
The show itself was “OK”… the usual 50’s, 60’s cars & hot rods, with a few oddballs here and there. It was a charity show for the Alzheimer’s Society and a hospice on the island, so I was more than happy to pay my entry fee. They did have more than just cars. They had a contest on PS2’s running Gran Turismo 4, where they put everyone in the same car/course and awarded a trophy for the fastest lap. Nick & I did miserably, but it was fun. They also had a 102 year old (running!) Pope car from the Le May Museum in Tacoma. My favorite car there was a pre-war Lancia. Not a sports car, but very cool nonetheless. In the weird world of small-town car shows without much clue about non-American cars, the 65E was in the same class as this, and virtually every other foreign car there.
Nick was awesome, once again jumping out of the car on arrival and giving it a good cleaning while I went and registered.
Over the course of the day, I swear I meet over half a dozen guys who tell me they have an old E-type in their garage! Virtually all of them on Whidbey Island. One of them was even Roger Los. =) I shared the existence of this group and xkedata, so hopefully we’ll see some new guys and cars here.
Later in the afternoon, Nick went off to the swingset, while I set about replacing my alternator. So I get all the tools out… I know exactly what I need. If anybody needs a pit crew alternator replacer for their E-type Jag, I’m your guy! I’m usually a slow mechanic, but I’ve done this so often that it goes very fast. I remove the top nut and take the tension off the belt and right before my eyes the source of all my problems is revealed:
As I push the alternator toward the engine, the main wire breaks off. It was badly corroded and the crimp on the O-connector was almost burned through. It was ‘barely there’ until I broke it by moving the alterator. Well, this was a lot easier to deal with than a full swap! I jump back to the boot, and pull out a new O-connector and the crimp, snip off the munged end, and put a new end on. Presto!
The only issue I had then was what to do with my new alternator. I figured I’d put the right pulley on it and throw it in the boot. With a replacement on board, I assume the one on the car will last forever, right? 😉
The show came to an end. Nick was very sad that we didn’t win anything… but given that all foreign cars were lumped in one class, and from what I could see the cleanliness of the car was the main criteria. Given that I don’t subject the 65E to any full-body Armor-all dips, and drive it too much (and don’t wash it enough!) so we didn’t win.
What I did win was a great drive home, and that’s fine with me. The weather cleared, and the alternator was working again, so I fired up the Valentine1 and drove it like I stole it. For the first time since the engine rebuild I *really* pushed the car, and it drove like a dream. We took back roads most of the way, and violated the law whenever possible. 😉
The highlight was passing a couple of Navy kids in a rice rocket sport compact car (they never saw me coming) and having them try and keep up with a car more than twice THEIR age. They would catch me in traffic, but as soon as we passed, I would walk away from them every time. What a joy!