Boiling over

Boiling over
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

Wednesday : 2 days to FFO

At lunch Wednesday I'd driven over to the neighborhood mechanic's shop as they'd requested. Fearing the worst, it was almost comic relief when they said they just needed two bolts from the air conditioning compressor's mount to fix my oil "leak". Those bolt holes went all the way through to the oil reservoir - who knew? Proving an old saying of mine that I'd gone against - 'Do just one project at a time' - I thought THIS oil leak was caused by the exhaust manifold bolt I'd stripped.

Insert sigh of relief here.

I raced home, got the bolts, and was assured I could pick up a fully functional car after work. I was elated.

This was not to last.

Alvon Elrod, a Fiat Spider owner in Ventura California, contacted me needing a ride to FFO. His Spider was currently down with a disassembled transmission, so he was flying into the area. His original ride, Dave Voss in his Fiat 131, was driving to FFO from the Oregon Fiat gathering. However, Dave had stopped to help Nanci and Shaun Folkerts with their Lancia Zagato in Idaho, and while it had all worked out, and everyone was on the path to FFO, the timing was off, and Alvon needed someone to pick him up from O'Hare.

Is everyone clear on this?

Alvon's flight was set to arrive at 8:30pm, leaving me PLENTY of time to fetch my Spider from the mechanic, wrap up a few loose ends (like re-installation of the driver's side door panel), and perhaps even drive the Spider to fetch Alvon from O'Hare.

Insert monkey wrench.

I arrive at the mechanic's and see my car outside. Hood up, steam billowing. They had 'fixed' the oil leak, replaced my flex disc, replaced the cap/rotor/wires/plugs, and even adjusted my timing with a REAL timing light. However, the car was horrifically overheating. The radiator fan wasn't coming on, and I had no idea what to do.

Thinking I could get it to cool down by driving, getting some air through the radiator, I took off driving. My intention was to go around the 'hood, come back, hop in Jeep, fetch Alvon. However, driving it didn't help one iota, and once the steam started whistling, I coasted down the block for a quarter mile, and barley made it into my own driveway. Now I was stranded at home without my Jeep, and a Spider with a radiator overflow container that continued to boil 15 minutes after the car was shut down.

Mad with frustration, I wanted to pitch a fit, cry, scream, throw tools, and kick something.

I had put so much effort into this damn car trying to get ready, and I'd accomplished so much, come so far, and was still no closer to having a car I could drive. Now I was stranded, and was running late to pick up Alvon.