Category: 08 GTTSR

I’ll be frank: The weather today just plain sucked. It rained, and rained some more, and then it rained. Did I mention the rain?

Thankfully, due to the wonders of information technology both Mark & I knew today was going to be like this, so we were prepared. Last night we battened down the hatches on the 65E as best we could: Rain-X on the glass, aftermarket weatherstripping applied to the top of the windshield, and preparing the interior for two ~6-foot guys folded into the cramped cockpit. Since the wide-angle adapter of the JagCam was full of water I relocated the cam to the interior of the car.

We dragged our butts out of bed in time for breakfast, but somehow managed to miss the drivers meeting while we were packing the car. Francoise Reyns provided me with the details we needed, and we went out and got the JagCam running and managed to leave at the back of the pack. Here is our route for the day… most of it proscribed by the Rally Route Book but some of it improvised later in the day:

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We left Bozeman and went north, passing a few rally cars. Then we came to a 6.3 mile long straightaway that begged for a high-speed run. I won’t admit in public how fast I drove, but watch the JagCam footage and note that I pretty much passed the entire rally of hard-driving sports cars. Have I ever mentioned how much I love this E-type, and Montana, as a combination? (Starts about 1:10 in the JagCam movie.)

The first car dispatched was an Iso Griffo being driven quite hard. What follows is a long string of Porsches, Jaguars, Ferraris, etc all being run by like they are standing still. from 1:00 through 1:30 in the video basically.

We then stop for gas, since I was burning it at a prodigious rate, and Mark noted that my fancy ITG air filter had broken.

Photo by Mark Collien

The element is glued to a plastic ring, which is held to the plenum by a metal ring. The glue has failed. Ironically I had some inkling that this would happen since several other folks who own this type of unit have notified me in advance. I re-glued it at lunch time and tie-wrapped it together to allow the glue to set. We’ll see how that works.

The next stop was lunch at the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. I snarfed down my lunch, then went to work repairing my filter. I also grabbed a few photos:

(By the way, Mark has been shooting more photos than me… and they are awesome! Way better than my work. Have a look for yourself.)

After that I went back in to wash my hands and was met by somebody with some Jaguar problems. A misfire. I went to have a look and sure enough, the fuel filter bowl was filled with crap… water, rust, sediment, etc. I pulled it off the car, then while cleaning it out had a clumsy moment and cracked the glass bowl. D’oh!

With some silicone, and some duct tape, I made an attempt to repair the bowl.

Photo by Mark Collien

I actually think it would have worked, except I pinched the rubber gasket (which was very old and worn) when I reinstalled the filter it leaked pretty bad. The rally mechanic showed up and took over. He found a similar glass bowl at a NAPA nearby and the XK 150 was on the road again. I ordered a new OEM Jaguar glass bowl from a west coast supplier which I had shipped to the hotel in Whitefish. Hopefully it arrives in time.

Photo by Mark Collien.

We got back on the road ourselves. Since we were now very late we took the I-15 shortcut towards Helena. Once going that way we decided it would be too short, so we sought out a way to rejoin the rally route west of us on MT 200. It took us two tries, but we found our way and enjoyed it much more than the Interstate.

As you can see the weather broke as we approached Helena. The camera fell off about 10 miles outside town and stopped recording. You’ll also note that the camera was mounted inside for most of the day… sorry about that but given the weather I didn’t have much choice. We tried mounting it a few other places but this spot on the window was the only one that the mount stayed put. I also had problems with it swiveling on the mount for a while in the morning. I promise a better location for tomorrow, especially if the weather cooperates.

We checked into the hotel, took a short nap, and then enjoyed a nice live auction for charity hosted by the Govenor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer. He spoke to us about the state and its history, and did an amazing job as an auctioneer.

Let’s hope the sun comes out and the rain goes away tomorrow for the drive up to Whitefish.

We awoke to a beautiful day in southeast Washington. The car ran well. The weather unfortunately did not. I drove from Walla Walla to Lewiston, Idaho. We stopped for gas and Mark took over driving. I really wanted him to experience driving the car on the wonderfully twisty and enjoyable US 12 through Idaho’s Lochsa Valley.

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At one point before we got to the Lochsa section I was composing an email on my phone when suddenly the car was in a full-on braking skid. I looked up and a guy in a pickup truck was making a left turn right in front of us. Mark found out how well the brakes worked, and how controllable the car was in a panic stop. For some odd reason I remained perfectly calm throughout the whole event. The guy aborted his turn and thankfully the vehicles never made impact. I went back to my email and Mark just kept on driving!

Mark enjoyed the run, and I actually fell asleep(!) I guess I’ve driven this road too many times. I did wake up though when the temp dropped. The sun vanished and the clouds came out. Mark had never removed his coat from this morning, but here I was in a light shirt and shorts… getting quite cold. I asked him to stop and put on my coat… and fell asleep again. I woke up sometime later getting rained upon. From 15 miles shy of Montana, pretty much all the way to Bozeman it rained. Heavy at first, but then lighter as we went east. Yuck. We finally gave up on the downside of Lolo Pass and put the top up. I took over driving. We grabbed a late lunch in Missoula (losing an hour going to Mountain Time always screws me up!) and hit the Autobahn for Bozeman. I managed to put it quite a bit of time at 90+ MPH. I even rolled past a Gallatin County Sheriff at 85. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Montana?

The JagCam got soaked. The wide-angle adapter is filled with water. I’ll have to get it some sunshine or dismantle it to address this. Oh well. It will ride inside the car tomorrow!

We arrived in Bozeman about 6:15 and checked into the rally (a bit late) and rolled into downtown Bozeman for dinner.

We’re back at the hotel now and the top is up and properly rain sealed, with Rain-X applied to the glass. Tomorrow we drive north to Great Falls for lunch, then south to Helena to stay the night.

I’ll upload today’s JagCam movie as soon as it is done.
Video is done, but getting horrific upload bandwidth here at the Hilton in Bozeman. >:-o

Above: Mark Collien soaks in the flatlands of central Washington.

Mark & I left Arlington around 8, made our way south to US 2, up and over the Cascades mountains via US 2 & Stevens Pass, then on to Moses Lake.

I routed our trip through Moses Lake WA to check out a datacenter facility (which was impressive), and as we left I broke my exhaust on a speed bump/pothole combo. Grrrr. We burned a couple of hours in the town of Moses Lake getting that fixed.

Above: The result of the impact. On the downside, it pulled the left exhaust out of the header. On the upside, it seems to have straightened out the crooked tail section of the system… go figure!

While I was huddled under the car mumbling about finding a muffler shop Mark whipped out his iPhone and read me off three shops I could try. We picked one**, called them and got directions. Within 20 minutes the Jaguar was up on a lift being taken care of.

A bit of adjusting, some re-rounding of pipe, and a new clamp later and presto!… we were back on the road.

Above: The refitted exhaust being tack welded to hold it a bit better than clamps alone.

Above: The bent clamp.

** My Pick of a shop was “Pioneer Muffler & Brake, Inc.” I had gone with my gut, and as it is frequently right. Here’s how my thought process worked and how it worked out for the better: The other two shops were franchises of big national outfits, such as Midas. I knew that if I pulled into a Midas, they’d treat me no different than any other customer. They certainly would not let me crawl around under the car and talk with the people working on it about how I wanted it done. They have corporate policies to adhere to. We pulled into Pioneer and there was a home-made race car out front, and mostly farm trucks being worked on – to me that is a good sign as farmers seek out craftsmen. I needed a craftsman, not a corporate employee. The shop was as clean or cleaner than MY workshop at home and the folks working on the customer’s vehicles were the owners, Joe and Denyse Ottmar. They moved a farm truck off the lift within a few minutes of our arrival, had me drive the Jag up onto it, all the while paying extra care (with two spotters) of the low clearance and small/narrow size of the car. Once up on the lift they were happy to have me under it with them and were friendly and approachable throughout. The whole process took a very short time and they charged me a VERY reasonable rate for their labor. Everyone was happy, most especially me.

If you are in Moses Lake and need any exhaust or brake work, you can not go wrong with Pioneer Muffler & Brake on 620 E. Wheeler Road (509) 765-6277.

By the time all this wrapped up it was mid-afternoon, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a Thai place, and hit the road. We readjusted our expectations and aimed for Walla Walla. A friend who is from Walla Walla gave me a few hints of dining there so we knew we could at least eat well. Instead of trying for Enterprise, Oregon, we’d just go to Walla Walla, eat, then stay the night there. John’s suggestion of the Creek Town Cafe was excellent. Mark & I enjoyed a fine meal and some excellent local wine. Tomorrow we drive US 12 to Missoula and then the Autobahn to Bozeman.

Here is the day’s “JagCam” footage.. enjoy!

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Above is my proposed route to Bozeman from Arlington (The “D” stub off to McCall is a red herring to get Google Maps to route properly – no plans to actually go over to McCall, though I hear it is great.) The idea is to have a stop in Moses Lake (a semi-work-related business visit) then aim for Walla Walla (wine country!) for a late lunch/early dinner. Then beeline (if that term even applies!) for Hell’s Canyon via the amazing Wallowa Valley. Might spend the night in Enterprise… we’ll see. The roads between Joseph and US 12 in mid-Idaho are a complete, yet compelling mystery to me, hence my strong desire for this extreme south loop while heading east. LOTS of mountain driving and twisty roads! While I despise Interstate driving, you’ll note that I’m happy to drive the Autobahn from Missoula to Bozeman. Partially due to the lack of alternatives, but mostly because I-90 through Montana is likely the best stretch of Interstate in America. As close to the Autobahn as you’ll get.

The Hell’s Canyon segment might get dropped in favor of a straight shot on US 12 east… we’ll see.

Mark arrives tomorrow at Sea-Tac around noon.