New Purchase & Seeking Larry Jowdy

Thanks for the reminder Larry.  I keep forgetting how old my kids are

Just got off the phone with Rich.

Blackhawk Down.

Oh no.  What and where?

He was beside the road outside Gallup, NM, waiting for a tow truck. No tools, problem TBD.

Where did we all miss the "Rich: ship a bunch of tools out to pick up at Larry's for the trip home" part?  That's like "Road Trip 101" and we should have caught it.

^x2. I'd rather travel without my pants than have no tools and spares.

Hmmm.  Hope it's nothing too serious and that Gallup is good to him.

I told him...check out the El Rancho in Gallup...just sayin' ...He's probably in the photo shoot phase right now.

1600+ people listed as members....anybody in Gallup or close by?

Sorry to hear about this hitch---whatever it is.  Great Mexican food at El Rancho though.  We stayed here last time we drove to the West Coast.

Details on Rich??

Points. Some radiator shop in Gallup, NM got him rolling again. Albuquerque, NM, or bust.

Whew! Glad that's all it was. I'm still thinking Saturday, Stan, but I'm good for Friday.

Saturday's a lot better for me as well, Bob. We'll see.

I just got home to read all the new info.   Today around noon, Rich called me and said the car just quit..  I gave him info. on several things to check and all were working.   I mentioned that ignition sounded like the problem.   He had the car towed to a shop that specializes in radiators but the guy knew VW's and Porsche's and has worked on several air cooled engines.   Sure enough, it was the points and about 2 hours later Rich called to let me hear that his engine was running again.

Prior to Rich leaving I suggested that he buy a point replacement kit when he got home, in hind sight, I probably should have bought a kit and installed it but the points looked good and VW's ran for years on a set of points.  I'm guessing the condenser quit working and allowed the points to burn.  

Bottom line is he's staying the night in Albuquerque

And hopefully he kept the address of Tino Perez in Albuquerque that I gave him in the previous page of this thread.

Larry

That's one of those things that you can predict, but you can't time. He could have gone another 20 miles or another 20k miles from your place before that happened.

It just is what it is.

Anyone use a dab of Bosch distributor grease?

Thanks Bob, I totally agree...   He made it 615 miles from my home to Gallup, he now has 1566 miles to go so lets hope the points and condenser last that long.

What is the most reliable replacement (eliminator) for points in your experience?

I've used them all and as far as I'm concerned they are equal.  I know some will disagree but I've installed hundreds and like I wrote, none of them, as far as I'm concerned are better than the others.    Lately I've been using Impi mostly because they're less expensive with no failures.

well Ive seen about 5 sets of empi that did not work out of the package 1 set that worked for about a day. the petronix in mine is how old now??? I dont have a clue it was old 13 years ago when I got it, never misses a lick.Ive never heard of any petronix having issues.and never heard of an empi  working. or you can put a "box" in there with a mag pickup dist from msd or petronix or one of the others that make a billet dist for these motors. petronix also makes some std type dist with thier electronix in it too for the guy that wants to look oe. and I think there made in the usa.as are msd&mallory. some dist are plug&play some need a box. I havent ever had points in a vw, I havent had points in any thing since my 74 toyota. no good reason to run points.

Lads, would it be worthwhile to keep this thread directly on Rich's cross country experience? Points vs electronic is a worthy topic and could be done up better with a correct title or subject line. Thanks...

Like I indicated, some of you will disagree with what I wrote.  

Agreed.  This thread should be about Rich, however interesting side discussions may be.

When Rich reads (or re-reads) this "chronicle" he can draw his own conclusions as to whether pertinent side-drifts are of value. They pertain to what caused his problem.

I was hoping to hear more updates from Rich---at least using motel computers to post at day's end.  I know he's busy but a lot of folks here are rooting for him and are keen to hear his reports. 

Rich--great news on solving that points problem.  How ya doin'?

Jack-

In addition to tools, Rich forgot to bring along his SOC log-in information, so he's been updating on the Speedsterowners Facebook page.

However, Jim Ward was the only guy I've ever known who did even a passable job of chronicling a road-trip in real-time. I took "the trip of a lifetime" (Peoria/Sacramento/Chico/Tahoe/Yosemite/etc.) in my speedster in Sept. with the intent of taking pictures and putting up a nice post when I got back. I've been back for almost 6 months, and have put nuthin' up.

Anything Rich puts up here will be second hand. Sorry, man.

Just got a telephone call from Rich...

He wants everyone to know that he's a bit behind schedule, and under duress...BUT HANGING IN THERE!

He had a front tire throw some tread so he's looking for a tire retailer. He's thinking 185's so they can be swapped to the speedster once he's home.

He's very impressed with Larry...Can't say enough good things about him.

Looking for a tire dealer where? Everyone wants to chat about Rich, but nobody tells where he is. What's up with that ?....Carl  ? Where is he ?

When Rich called me, I gave him Carl's phone number and while we were talking, he told me he was 25 miles west of Tucumcari, NM when the tire let loose

David and everyone,

This is embarrassing but I was so surprised and delighted to get his call that 'where' he told me he was in the hinterland just rolled in one ear and out the other!

He's out there somewhere, coping with the vagaries, but in good spirits and pushing bravely into the unknown

He's spending the night in Amarillo, TX, plotting his next adventure. If everything goes right from here on out, he'll hoping to be in Tremont by Saturday night.

We'll see.

He seems like he's still having a good time.

This is the sort of trip he'll remember for a LONG time.

I received this email from Rich last evening.  (3/7/13)

Yes, the mileage continues in the 30's... Even the climb out of Albuquerque...I thought I was going to be going down hill after Albuquerque!   

Haven't gotten worse than 30. Found a Discount Tire in Amarillo with (19) 165's in stock. I relieved them of 4 so I don't have to worry about that pesky lug wrench anymore (I hope).

When I checked email this morning, I had an email from Rich.

""

Thanks for keeping us up to date Larry.

Glad to hear Rich making good process now.  Such a nice looking Bug.  What a grand adventure!

Stan and I are awaiting Mr. Drewek's arrival in the Land of Lincoln (also the land of major government corruption, ridiculous taxes, incredibly inept leadership by the governor, etc...) so we can treat him to a good meal and hear the tale of "The Great March Crossing - LaLa Land to Dairy Land In a Car from DeutschLand", and point him north for the last leg of the journey. 

Bob and Stan, in the message that I received from Rich that I posted above, he indicated that he may have some Carburetor weepage.   Let me know what you find..

It could just be percolation or some loose screws/hose clamp etc etc.   VW's were know to splash some fuel out of the carburetor especially when being 'pushed' and driven for long stretches.

Thanks, Larry. We'll report out once he gets her. Stan is estimating early to mid afternoon in Peoria for Rich's parade arrival! It's a mix of light rain and snow mix this morning so, depending on what it looks like south of us, that arrival time is a "best guess".