1200 clicks in 7 days + steep hills + speed bumps = !*$&#@ damage

["Pete Jacobsen" <fluidweb@hotmail.com>]

Well I guess I asked for it...

I took my 1980 rocco to the BC interior last month, going from Victoria 
up thru Vancouver, into Kamloops and Vernon... Lets just say I made it 
over but the trip back home was _HELL_ [stress "hell"].

It started with usual overheating problems driving up the Coquilhalla 
expressway... This is a series of steep hills designed to destroy all 
four-bangers... The 40 degree heat didn't help either so I cruised at 
160 in N going downhill, to cool off of course... 

The severe heat melted my Scosche fuse AND fuse case... I couldn't play 
any bass so listened to punk cd's the rest of the way home... 

Then the rad hose blew off. My car stalled and I reattached it but i 
didn't realize that it had been caused by something more serious -- the 
rear motor mount had sheared off and had dropped the engine against the 
firewall. 

I reconstructed what had happened. Picture this: 7 drunk guys on a 2-day 
camping trip, averaging 160 lbs apiece, 4 stuffed in the rear, 2 in the 
passenger seat, me driving... Then add each person's camping gear, 
tents, stove, 2 beer cases, and remember that my inoperable boom box is 
still taking up the entire trunk, with no space below the top of the 
rear seat [and no roof-rack]... At one point I had to drive with my 
napsack between me and the wheel, with the seat all the way forward. We 
travelled over speed bumps like this and when we hit the last one with a 
THUD I decided to take a look and stepped out. My car is not lowered yet 
but at this point we were literally rubbing my rear tires. Okay, you can 
laugh at me now.
  
I was plagued with more problems on the final day, taking the ferry over 
to Victoria. Stalled on the way down, stalled at the ticket booth, 
stalled on the ON-RAMP with 80 cars in a single line behind me 
honking... it was brutal. I needed a smoke. I met two girls on the top 
deck and told them about my trip from hell. "That was you?" they 
laughed... they had wondered who the cute guy in the beater was.

Anyways I did make it home, stalling at every stop on the way, and spent 
the past week with one of the girls I met on the ferry [maybe breaking 
down wasn't so bad after all]...

Now I need to buy a new motor mount and a fuel filter [it caused the 
stalling -- I hope!]. I am unsure yet how much damage was done, has 
anyone sheared a mount off before? Is $25 Canadian a good deal for a 
used one? How often should I be replacing the ff?

Anyways despite the crappy ride we had a lot of good stories when we 
came back. Anyone else travelled in the rocco this summer? Lets hear it. 


Peace,
Pete

                     
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[http://members.tripod.com/~fluidweb/preprofile.html]


      :::::::::::::::: Pete Jacobsen ::::::::::::::::
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