5 hours delay

75RivGS · July 2nd, 2009

There are better places and temperatures to change a wheel w/ exploded tire...
Couldn't get the car more on the shoulder (too steep):

Lucky the new wheel survived:

Changed it and had it replaced at a nearby shop.... I wasn't the only customer that day so I took 5 hours delay.

The continuing route was awesome!! (Zion and the 89)

jaxops · July 2nd, 2009

Good job. Those trucks whizzing by make the whole car rock don't they? Glad you made it safely! Great looking Electra by the way!

serb · July 2nd, 2009

Rob,

Hang in there. You just might be the unluckiest guy so far. Great scenery.

Stevo

JohnD1956 · July 2nd, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by 75RivGS

Lucky the new wheel survived:

The continuing route was awesome!! (Zion and the 89)

Rob, What happened to that tire? Was it just old? Or was there an unavoidable road hazzard? Good job keeping that old girl under control. And a sweet ride. Love those big Electras....

75RivGS · July 3rd, 2009

John,
it was even a brand new tire (not even 1500 mls on it. I don't know what happened.

The situation even worsened here:

I was warned for a part of the I-70 where there are no services or whatsoever for about 120 mls. So my trip started (as planned) at the start of that part of the route Richfield, UT
I double checked on all fluids, tires etc before leaving. Electra started right up... no signs for any upcoming trouble.

Guess where I suddenly had a few backfires in the exhaust and the ignition gave up..... With my bad karma that could only be right in the middle of that 120 mls.

(Mile 98 to be exact)
Thought it was smart buying new points and distributor cap etc when this trip started and have em as spare in the trunk. So I thought standing on the shoulder again the engine would be running within half an hour orso.
Changed points and all, but car still didn't want to start

At that point I was out of alternatives for I had no way to check the ignition.(except no spark on a spare spark plug I always keep for checking that way)
An hour orso later (no network for my (or any other) cellphone there) a truck driver stopped and gave us a ride to the 60mls further Green River where I called for a tow truck.

$375.00 and 2 1/2 hours later the Electra was in Green River.
There the mecanic found the wire from the coil to distributor went bad and replaced it (costs for a 3" long piece of wire maybe $0.02).
Finally we continued our goal for today.... Arches, where we arrived around 1830hr.
The route through Arches is more or less a one way:
Told you about my bad karma.....ofcourse at the most far end again ignition appeared broken (like it is missing 1 or 2 cylinders) We were able to get out of the park and make it to Moab in L1-L2 revving the engine to gain enough RPM to drive. Tomorrow again to a shop to sort out what is happening with the ignition.... and than in almost a straight line to Colorado Springs.

Dan Cook · July 3rd, 2009

No kidding, bad karma. You remind me of, and I can't remember the cartoon, the little guy that always had the black rain cloud over his head. I sure hope the rest of the trip and your return home are less eventful.

That is a beautiful Electra. Looks just like my '72 but a different color and you have better paint.

Dan

Dan Cook · July 3rd, 2009

I almost forgot, in the first photo it looks like somebody else had bar karma there before you arrived.

75RivGS · July 3rd, 2009

Dan..... that was from my tire

This Electra is a 30 footer. It had a really bad repaint a few years ago. Once in Holland it will get a new repaint (same color)

I just pulled the spark plug wires one by one... only on the number 1 cylinder there was no significant change while the engine was idling.... so probably the wire went bad while checking for sparks this afternoon...I leave that for tomorrow morning.... daylight and open stores/shops.

BTW: Arches national park is the most beautiful scenery I ever witnessed. I won't show the non-Buick related photos here, but there is a connection with Buicks in this one: