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Feature

Alfa Milano Verde Shakedown Trip to the Dragon

July 11, 2014 by Graham

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Last September, my 89 Alfa Milano substantiated a vile Italian automobile stereotype as I traveled to family back east for Labor Day weekend. Of course, there were warning signs; the failed clutch hydraulics hose the day I brought the car home, and the miserably inadequate cooling system that demanded maximum heater settings to control the coolant temp. I attempted to deceive myself with defensive internal retorts to my friends’ negative Alfa sentiments. “Guys, chill. It’s just an Italian e30 – Bosch fuel system. If anything, the German components will be first to go.” The denial even continued into the first manifestation of rod knock. “Hmm, the engine is starting to sound like a tractor. A Lamborghini tractor, heh heh.”

In actuality, it sounded like an Alfa-with-thrown-rod tractor. Less than a month into Alfa ownership, and I was about to atone for the sinful Alfa soundtrack – something like ripping canvas – with the task of replacing the 6-pot paperweight sitting between the torsion bars of my Milano.

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Posted in: Graham Tagged: 164Q, Alfa Romeo, Dragon, Feature, Kentucky, Michigan, Milano Verde, Ohio, Tennessee

Cosworth to Canada

May 1, 2014 by Graham

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Hopefully it’s not too apparent that every trip featured  so far on BlythBros. has been conceived and attempted by engineers. And, hopefully, the traits commonly associated with engineers – being logical, rational, analytical, and concrete – haven’t surfaced too often in the pages of the blog. Really, it doesn’t take an engineering degree to be able to drain the pleasure from activities, road trips included. Our goal for this trip was simply to drive to Canada.

Realizing that my big trip for the year would have to wait until later in the summer, I mentioned the idea of doing a quick loop of Quebec to Taylor. I was enjoying a stint of voluntary funemployment, so the most important element of my daily routine was walking the Dachshunds with my mom. After days of discussion and planning, we decided that my mom would walk the Dachsunds by herself – 2 to the human, that is. I was good to go. As for Taylor? He codes tools for numerical analysis of various nuclear processes, or something like that. Sounds independent enough, as far as work goes, so I’m assuming that he set up a Bueller-style snoring figure in his grad school office to take Friday off. I didn’t ask. Either way, we were staring down the barrel of a hair-triggered 3-day weekend, and we were hungry for the Great White North.

Before I get any further, I owe the reader a quick background on the etymology of Canada. Back before the time of Mounties, Poutine, and even hockey, two great Canadian pioneers sought to name the vast tract of land that would later insulation to the United States as America’s hat. From a real hat, likely furry and extravagant, the pioneers blindly chose 3 letters. “C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?” Later Americanized, the land became known as “Canada”.

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Posted in: Graham Tagged: 2.3-16, Canada, Feature, Mercedes, New York, Pennsylvania, Road Trip

Buying sight-unseen from New Mexico: 1991 BMW 318is

April 6, 2014 by Graham

 

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Old cars: buy the best example that you can afford, right? Unless you’re actively seeking a project, that’s the convention. So, imagine a listing for the car you want, at the price you like, where the only needs listed are “a wash and wax”. I found that car last summer.

I’d been driving a 91 318is as a sort of winter and minor project car up until that point. I bought that thing for $1,500 and slowly worked through it to get it into shape. I swapped in a set of matching M3 seats, replaced the cracked dash, fixed the odometer, installed a headliner, and resealed all of the oil leaks – except for one. The rear main seal leaked oil onto the clutch periodically, and that caused some bothersome slipping. It may have been a worn clutch (I had a spare clutch and flywheel), but either way, I was going to have to pull the transmission, which takes a weekend of concerted effort. Factor in some heinous oil consumption through other avenues – valve stem seals, worn rings – and the car was starting to feel like a money sink. An Indiana and Chicago car for all of its life, rust and urban parking had taken their toll on the bodywork beyond the point where I was willing to hit the car with any sort of money hammer. I figured that it would be cheaper to just sell that car and find one with fewer and less severe needs.

A serious constraint on the purchasing timeline was my goal to take a 6,000 mile trip to Seattle and back with my girlfriend about a month later. I wanted a well-sorted 318is with A/C to take us across the country and back.  Even on my rougher 318is, I was seeing 32mpg highway on premium fuel – decent for a 1991 car with that much character.

Posted in: Graham Tagged: 318is, BMW, Colorado, Feature, M42, New Mexico, Road Trip

Ferrari 456

February 27, 2014 by Graham
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Ah, the transaxle, master of delayed gratification.  The engine has no problem warming up – this particular car even had a second set of owner-installed radiator fans to deal with its thermal output – it’s the transaxle that takes time.  I planned on eventually shifting out of first gear, so with Mark, the owner, sitting passenger, we took a tepid parade lap through a typical Houston neighborhood of ranch houses.

Mark instructed me to take advantage of the stretch of beltway ahead of us.

“It’s your license.”

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Posted in: Graham Tagged: 456, Feature, Ferrari, Texas

A Mercedes, a Rabbit, and a Dragon

January 12, 2014 by Graham

426949From Taylor, BlythBro #1:

I initially heard of the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ through a friend about four years ago and had (regrettably) never done any research or looked for footage from the twisted roads of which he spoke. He had been down there in his stupid-fast Integra and told me that various car clubs usually hold a meet there every year or so. Lucky for me, I had recently purchased a 1987 190E 2.3-16 and was all set to start work in eastern Tennessee for summer of 2013. I knew the car needed some work to get it back to its original Bremen-spec racing form and had invested in a new suspension to start things off. Graham, just four and a half hours away, decided to stop by for the weekend to take me to meet up with a few of his friends at the Dragon.

Graham showed up at my place very late Friday and we noticed that the 190E was running a little louder than normal, as it was fresh off a natural muffler delete. Graham and I were able to pull a rear wheel up onto a sidewalk as we needed a quick solution to get under the body kit. Some 10 gauge wire strung to the rear control arm was good for holding up the remains of the cat-back system. It seemed somewhat stable. The new suspension, Bilsteins and H&R sports all around, had about 6 hours of total driving on them- including none by myself. Graham did the work on my car over at his place as I got to hoon around some nuclear laboratory lots in his GTI for the week. The fabled SLS system had failed/leaked beyond what I was willing to pay to fix and the decision to eschew it in favor of standard struts was not too difficult to justify. For any concerned purists- the SLS components have been living out their days in a very nice bucket in Indiana. Other issues such as a slight oil leak, idle issues, and very worn tires brought my 16v down a bit from its perch as a top-notch driver’s car. The 1984 GTI was much more aptly equipped in terms of tires (Dunlop Star Specs), brakes, and- perhaps most importantly- driver ability (an experienced autocrosser and former FSAE driver… whereas I am the type who sometimes dares to lay down some clutchless shifts and is no stranger to hypermiling).

Posted in: Taylor Tagged: 190E, 2.3-16, Cosworth, Dragon, Feature, GTI, Mercedes, VW

6,000 miles in the 84 GTI (in ten days)

January 4, 2014 by Graham

 

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Earlier in 2013, I decided that I wanted to go for a substantial roadtrip.  I settled on taking a 318is, but figured I’d sell mine and buy one in better mechanical condition.  After a 1,500 mile trip to make that acquisition, I wound up with a car that needed the drive shaft to be balanced, had less AC than the seller implied, and needed 4 new tires.  Normally these would be simple enough fixes, but I wasn’t able to get the car ready in time for the trip.  So, I decided to take my 1984 Rabbit GTI and every tool I own.

I had just driven my GTI, ‘the Git’, to the Tail of the Dragon on Dunlop Z1 Star Specs (and demolished them), and during the first 50 miles of my road trip, I realized that their ability to, um, not kill me while driving through a rainstorm was limited. So, I rerouted to Peoria, IL, where my friend Andrew would let us stay in his apartment so that I could get some tires mounted in the morning.

After getting the tires mounted in Peoria (and resisting the temptation to spend hours in Harbor Freight), we started for Seattle, and didn’t rest until we made it there.

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Once underway, there were only two instances of undesired shutdowns.  The first was the result of water dripping down the windshield onto the cowl, and through the old seal onto the fuse box.  All of the relays take on water when this happens, but the first to go was the fuel pump relay.  After an hour of troubleshooting, we figured this out, and were able to make a jumper to get power to the fuel pump.  Later on, I bought a switch to make the start-up process quicker and more fun.

The second issue was my unskilled interpretation of the fuel gauge.  Luckily, we were 2 miles from the gas station in Brandon, IA when the car sputtered to a halt, and even more fortuitously, I had packed a skateboard, which made the descent from the Interstate into the town a breeze.  I’m surprised that my girlfriend didn’t have me drop her off at the nearest airport at this point.

After that calibration exercise, we made it to Minnesota, where the sun began to set. That state is so green that I can see Al and Tipper Gore settling down there, if they ever get back together. And I really hope they do, because the love story at the beginning of An Inconvenient Truth is the segment that everyone can agree upon.
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Getting back to the drive, South Dakota took up the whole night of driving, during which I took a sleeping shift, so I have no idea what happened there. Here’s my best guess: We drove straight for hundreds of miles.  I woke up in the Black Hills area and took over driving again. With my girlfriend asleep, the GTI managed to hit 104 on a downhill section.

A quick note on food: I had chicken-fried steak in Illinois for my meal of the day. As in, I ate that in the morning and let the fat burn for the rest of the day. I ended up doing the same thing in Wyoming.  I’m not a fan of food-strategy or dieting in general, but I liked the lump-in-the-stomach energy delivery that it provided.

The mountainous ascents in Montana and Idaho were the next major obstacle, though the GTI made quick work of them.  Having recently driven my 318is at altitude, I would say that the GTI felt less anemic.  Passing power remained adequate and it wasn’t a strain to maintain our typical hot hatch driving style.

After crossing the flat plain of eastern Washington, the dark descent into Seattle was particularly perilous.  I-90 seemed to spiral endlessly to sea level, challenging my fatigued brain along its tortuous path.  Heavy traffic arranged in 3-4 lanes made for an adrenaline-soaked final stint.DSC_1811DSC_1829DSC_2187DSC_2305

Making our way out of Seattle, we spent an entire day courting Mt. Rainier.  Following a quick oil change in the Autozone parking lot, I gave the GTI a proper workout through the breathtaking surroundings, driving at 9/10s for  200+ miles.  That drive alone justified the trip.  When traveling so far from home, the front wheel drive comes to be an advantage, as it makes the driver really work to get the ass-end of the car out.  And really, once the car starts to get sideways, the odds of returning home in one piece suffer drastically.  The GTI simply excels at safely guiding its occupants through punishing drives.

The route we took along the Oregon Coast was scenic, with a more relaxing drive in store. And, the GTI’s tall greenhouse and sunroof made for some excellent touring.  The cloth seats remained cool and dry, the vent windows maintained a great cabin temperature in the absence of AC, and the foam seat cushions made up for any harshness in the suspension.

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After visiting Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, and Portland, we started to make our way back to Indiana along the Columbia River, eventually arriving at Boise.  Two long days through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois culminated in our arrival back in Indiana.

We were mostly lucky to make it so far with so few problems.  That being said, there is something to be said of taking a simple car, investing the time and money into maintaining it and developing intimate mechanical knowledge of it, then hoping for the best.

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Posted in: Graham Tagged: Feature, GTI, Rabbit, Road Trip, VW

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