Mike, I got the Land Rover home about 1:30 Tues morning {Shure glad I keep
cola nuts here at work for emergencies}. I'm also glad that Land Rovers are
seriously overbuilt.
If nothing else, this trip tought me something about not quite checking
everything before going on a long trip!!! I checked everything except the
transfer case before I left. The fill plug on the transfer case is frozen.
To check it, I need to remove the center seat, the tray undr the seat, 4 nuts,
a plate on top of the transfer case, then peer down the hole with a flash
light. I have historically not had problems with the transfer case fluid level.
I generally needed to add some oil once a year or so. I was trying to get
everything ready to go the weekend before {including filling the barn with
hay - multiple LR trips}. I did not adjust brakes as I was planning due
to lack of time, I after checking fluid in transmission, both diffs, both
front balljoints, & finding almost all full & one needing a couple pumps of
90 weight, I decided to cut a corner & not check the transfer case {it being
after dark & a little past my bed time & all}.
Well, it seems that the rear seal in my transfer case decided not to. About
200 miles shy of Portland {about 9:00ish PM Fri eve, I heard a bearing start to
seaze. I kept going until I found the first exit with a Pertol station {~5mi}.
I stopped at a station, made a quick check of the engine to varify that it was
not a water pump or altenator bearing. Waling around the back of the LR I
noticed a large amount of 90 wt spots on the back of the car. I immediatly
decided to check the one thing I did not check before I left. The transfer
case was quite hot. I got the plate off & was met by steam {oil smoke?}.
A check with the flashlight showed no oil. I went over to the attendent
& asked if I could purchase some 90 wt. He did not know what 90 wt was.
Luckally there was a station diagonally across the street that had 90 weight.
I put 3 qts into the transfer case & started off again. By that time I had
lost a couple of hours & was too tired to make it to the Land Rover club
staging place. I pulled into the last rest stop before Portland,
inflated the air mat. got out the sleeping bag & found an isolated section
of lawn.
Next morning I got throughly lost in Portland. Wondeded around for about
an hour before finding the Portland International Raceway. Mike Johnson &
daughter came by within five minutes of my parking. I mannaged to meet
three other SOLers & one ex-SOLer. I spent part of Sat. evening pulling the
rear drive shaft, tightning the rear gland nut on the transfer case & other-
wise trying to assertiain that condition the transfer case's condition was in.
So much for the Land Rover club party. Just after I got everything back
together, & cleaned up, everyone else was either leaving or heading for their
sleeping bags. I was finally ready to party & everyone was partied out.
So much for timing.
Sunday, I added high temp. 140 wt oil to the transfer case & drove back with
a maximum speed of 50 mph & stopping at all rest stops to give tings
a chance to cool a little. Other than slow, thew trip back was uneventful.
Highlights-
On the way out thurs eve, i met Chris in Palo Alto. He wanted to purchase
my new TR4A/TR250 bumper. We exchanged money & bumper. Chris unwrapped the
bumper & decided that it was not the correct bumper {too many holes in it}.
So he got back his money & I reloaded the bumper & started of again.
I figgured that a British car meet would be an exellent place to see what the
bumper actually fit. I got lots of questions walking around on Saturday
carrying the bumper. Guess what Chris, the bumper really was a TR4A/TR250
bumper. It was a perfect match.
There was lots of nice British cars there, but I noticed a lack of Rolls/
Bentlys. There were also much fewer Loti than I expected. However I did
like Mike's green 46. It is a chance to see cars that never make it down to
my neck of the woods. Lots of Canadian cars. There was a MGB with louvers
cut behind the front wheels. It looked quite nice & gave it a distintive
appearance.
On Sunday, I sold out on all the parts I brought {including the bumper -
it went to a black TR4A daily driver}. I ordered a green wind breaker
with a TR3A on on the back, & blue & silver logo on the front. All I need
now is a SOL patch to put over a pocket.
I saw the proposed SOL logo - both versions. The one with the computer
looks very IBMish. If we go with it I mthink it should look a little more
generic - a LOT more generic {or Mac like ;^) } The wrenches look a little
strange though. I have never see a wrench with zero flats. Come to think
of it, I sometimes come across bolts with a round head when I purchase a car.
i usually replace these bolts with ones that have hex heads. I guess I did
not have the correct wrench set for round head bolts. I like the logo, but
still would like to see a reference to the fact that it is a UNIX mail list.
My favorate still being british-cars.mail.list@nerds.are.us.com!net
In spite of the transfer case problems, I had a good time, meeting olf friends
and making new ones, looking at oodles of British Cars, poking about the
autojumble, watching cars run over cones and take seanic trips out onto the
grass. Only problem I saw was that a 88 Land Rover got penalized in the
auto cross for putting the wheels in the dirt on a sharp curve. Looking at the
curve, I believe he had the wheels turned all the way. He could not have made
that 180 any sharper without backing up. If my transfer case were healthy
I would have taken the 109 out on the course. The 109 has a turning radius of
6 city blocks. There were at least 2 couves on the course that I would have
needed to backup up at least once to stay on the course. Also, with the
series 2 transmission not having syncro in first or second, most of the
course would have been done in third gear.
All in all good time in spite of the transfer case. I hope to be able to
bring the TR3 next year.
meanwhile .... I think I will nurse the Land Rover over to the Palo Alto
meet next Sunday.
TeriAnn
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