Bloo

Day 21, Part 2: I headed west on highway 12. Here's a old vacant farmhouse in Pomeroy, WA: and on to highway 261 and back through Starbuck, retracing the the trip out again. Crossing the Snake River where the Tucannon River connects at Lyons Ferry: Not much chance of getting a picture while on this thing. it is NARROW! Here's one of Google's: There in no road directly north here toward Lind. There is a "T" and you have a choice, you can take highway 260 to Kahlotus, and then highway 21 north, or you can take highway 261 to Washtucna, and then highway 26 to highway 21 north. There really isn't any significant difference in mileage. I went through Kahlotus on the way out, so I went through Washtucna on the way back. Here are some pictures from Washtucna. An old Chevrolet dealer! You can still read the sign if you are standing there, but not in this picture: But you can still read it on waymarking.com 's picture. Sitko Chevrolet Co. A gas station: "Potlatch Yards Inc." Lumber? There must not be many criminals here. Just retracing my original route now via highway 21 north through Lind to Odessa. And then Highway 28 back to Wenatchee. 48585 miles: And 46177 at the beginning of the return trip, so 2408 miles for the return trip including the little side trip to Cloverland: And 43888 at the beginning, so 4697 miles overall including the tour and whatever: It's been fun! Glad you all enjoyed it.

Day 21 Part 1: Lewiston ID and Clarkston WA are very closely connected, separated only by a bridge over the Snake River. I decided to turn south at Clarkston, and take a little side trip to Cloverland WA. I considered doing it on the trip out, but I didn't know how long it was going to take to get to Wisconsin, and I thought I was falling behind. Why Cloverland? I had some sort of a family connection to it over 100 years ago, but that isn't the reason. The reason was to take a picture with the Pontiac in front of the Cloverland Garage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverland_Garage Here's wikipedia's photo of it: While I was in Wisconsin, the Lick Creek fire was raging and Cloverland WA was under a level 3 evacuation notice. I had my doubts it would still be there when I got back. The fire is 100% contained now and the fire maps on InciWeb seem to indicate they stopped the fire before it got to Cloverland. First you head down the bank of the Snake River to Asotin, WA. An old bridge from the Cloverland Road into downtown Asotin: Some old buildings in downtown Asotin: On the Cloverland Road in Asotin: And then you make the climb. I don't have any great pictures of it. The road winds back and forth with many switchbacks up the steep side of a mountain. And then comes out on a very high plateau up on top. There is only one way in and one way out as far as I know... unless you are riding a horse. Are they following me around? I didn't get the camera out quick enough... The Cloverland Garage: The sign was gone. I hope the owner just took it down to preserve it, but I can't help but suspect it might be stolen. Bah. There is not much at Cloverland. The Garage, this little church, and a couple of farmhouses. Later I found out that the farmhouse across the street from the garage was the old hotel. I should have got a picture of it but I didn't. I then headed back out and down the hill. This road is a hoot in a sportscar, especially on the way up. Not so much in a 36 Pontiac, but you run what you brung. Also, there was a lot of truck traffic. It must be harvest time. The road had been basically deserted the other times I was here years ago. I have some great pictures of the switchbacks from the 1990s, but they are not digital photos and I don't even know where to find them. That's the Snake river valley ahead. Asotin is at the bottom if you could see that far down. A road across the canyon that climbs to similar heights: Cloverland Road: And then back up the Snake River Valley to Lewiston/Clarkston for lunch. More to come....

Glad it's coming together! Keep up the good work.

In USA-speak, yes. I'm less sure what a UK manual might say. We NEED PICTURES! That said, if it is like most rack and pinions sets, the outer ball thingie that attaches to the spindle and screws on to the rod hanging out of the rack is an outer tie rod end. it screws onto a tie rod, but on many racks the inner tie rod end, which lives underneath the boot, may be replaceable but not able to be disassembled to rebuild or adjust for wear. In that case, they would probably call the whole mess, including the tie rod, an inner tie rod end since the tie rod is part of the inner tie rod end assembly Generally length adjustment for alignment purposes is done at the outer tie rod end threads, and then locked down with a jam nut. Again, pictures might help a lot. I have never seen alignment (length) adjustments at the inner tie rod end. I guess it's possible but I doubt it. The inner tie rod end may be adjustable for wear though on some rack designs. Typically on most racks, with the jam nut at the outer tie rod end loose, you would turn the tie rod to make adjustments. You might find wrench flats on it. But, what you are actually doing is screwing it in and out of the outer tie rod end. When you have it where you want it, you lock the jam nut down.

I was talking about Captain Kangaroo, but it still works.

Mexico and Canada

It made it to Washington State.

From the article, dated September 20:

Wanted 1936 Buick 40 trunk hinges, like these, also used on Pontiac, Chevrolet Master and Standard, and maybe Oldsmobile. These fit sedans with trunks. GM part numbers are 4065201 and 4065202 (right and left).

Wanted, some trunk hinges like these. They are used on 1936 Pontiac, Chevrolet, and Buick 40 series (Special) sedans with trunk. They may also be found on 1936 Oldsmobiles, but I don't have any way to look that up. GM part numbers are 4065201 and 4065202 (right and left).

It may not look like it, but there are a bunch of different clips about like that, and they probably need to be the right year. I expect Bobs will have 1938, but if they don't, you can bend your own out of music wire if you have a correct one to copy. I have done it after buying some the wrong year and finding out they wouldn't stay in.

Day 20: The next thing on the trip, retracing my steps, was highway 12 over Lolo Pass into Idaho. It is almost as high as Rogers, and I might have been able to avoid it by going through Sandpoint instead. That looks like all valley, but I am not sure. I decided to press on over Lolo to Lewiston, as a hobbyist there was going to look for trunk hinges for me. He is not very mobile these days, and had not been able to look yet. I had a timing light with me, but it is 12 volt. I didn't figure on using it, I just threw it in thinking someone might need it at the event. In the motel parking lot, I connected my spare battery in series with the car to get 12 volts and checked the timing. It was 6 degrees more retarded than I thought it was. I had been trying all sorts of incremental changes to get the engine temperature down. As it turns out, all the settings I tried were way too retarded. Apparently when I changed that condenser in Hettinger, and set the points, it wound up more retarded than it was. Setting the points does change the timing, and generally you expect the timing to get more advanced when you re-gap them. That is because rubbing block wear retards the timing from the original setting. Not this time apparently. I also cleaned the plugs. Those probably hadn't been looked at in a long time, and I didn't get around to it before leaving Washington. They were burning with a nice beige color, but had beige buildup that looked like lead deposits from the old days. It had to be from oil. I chipped it off with a screwdriver and re-gapped the plugs, then headed for Lolo Pass. The Pontiac was now running perfectly, and crested Lolo Pass at 53 mph in high gear, and the temperature gauge didn't even rise. What a difference. I filled up with gas at Lochsa Lodge, just over the top of the pass. Because there won't be any more gas for a while. Coming down the west side, it got pretty rainy, and my generator kicked back into high gear. I saw a 56 Chevy pulled off at a wide spot with tools out, so I pulled over. It turns out he was on his way from Missoula to Boise, and his fan pulley had broken. He asked me to call his brother in Missoula when my cell phone came back to life, which he thought would be around Kooskia. By now it was pouring rain. When I got to Kooskia there was no service. I could see cellphone towers, but did not get service until about 22 miles east of Lewiston, ID. I was able to get help on the way, but I imagine he was out there quite a long time. It turned out the hobbyist I was hoping would have hinges did not have any. I spent the night in Lewiston, Idaho.

Yes, no luck so far. I am going to post want ads as soon as I get caught up on this post. I would still like to find another gas cap too, either a good one or a parts unit that the broken and missing "GM" flip lid could be salvaged from.

Day 19: I left Great Falls and headed for Lincoln and ultimately Missoula via highway 200. Great Falls to Lincoln was the section where I had the deer encounter on the way out. The Pontiac was still running hotter than normal. By now it was clear that the generator problem is a pattern. It works fine for the first 20-40 miles, and then almost stops working, charging just enough to keep the cutout engaged. Sometimes driving through cool air or rain it starts working again. I am pretty sure it is heat related. Full-field testing it doesn't help, so the problem is definitely in the generator. The way I was using the car I never noticed it. It may have been doing this for years. The former owner paid someone to rebuild the generator, and they apparently did. The inside is all painted in Glyptal, and the brushes are long like new. There are a bunch of steep hills west of Great Falls, and I kept pulling over here and there changing the timing a little trying to get the engine temeprature to come down. It wasn't working. At one point I pulled over to check the oil and make sure the radiator was still full. Some guy pulled over to see if I was having trouble. I asked "How many more hills like this are there before I get to Missoula?". He said "Well, you know this is the big one don't you?". I didn't. I continued on. It was Rogers Pass, at the continental divide. By the time I crested the top I was in second gear, going pretty slow and it boiled just as I crested the top. The next few miles were straight downhill, so I went a little further to let it cool off and then pulled over and topped the coolant and oil again, and continued toward Lincoln. Apparently I went over this at night on the way out, and didn't even realize it. Once down the other side, I started looking for skid marks, or the streetlight I pulled over under after the deer incident. I found the streetlight, and just a little further down the road I found the spot I went off. I had an idea that on a bright day like this the chrome gas cap I lost might shine in the sun. As it turned out there were old beer cans everywhere, buried in the grass, and all of them shined in the sun. There was no place to pull off, so I had to pull off down the road a little way and hike back. Down in the gully, I could not tell exactly what happened. There was more than one set of tire tracks. Apparently I am not the only one who went off the road at this spot recently. The tracks cross and get all mixed up. I was able to find the spot where the left rear corner of the Pontiac hit the ground. That identified my tracks, at least for a short distance. Here is the spot where I came to a stop, more or less. That is the road up at the ridge at the very top of the picture where you faintly see a line of fenceposts. They must be on the other side. I didn't hit them. Oh wait, what's this? I filled the tank in Lincoln, and got to Missoula with no more drama. I stopped at an Oreilly and rented a torque wrench and retorqued the Pontiac's head. This was often done at tune-up time in the old days. I had already done it before I left Washington. I got a little movement on two or 3 bolts. It probably won't help but it can't hurt. It is really easy to do on a flathead engine. I spent the night in Missoula.

Really? https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-extends-travel-restrictions-canada-mexico-borders-2021-09-20/

Looking better!

Day 18: I left Lewistown, MT and headed out toward Great Falls on highway 200. I was basically retracing my steps from the trip out. I passed a shop with a bunch of old cars out in front of it, but didn't get pictures. It wasn't long before I hit road construction, and I recalled from the trip out that this is a major reconstruction that goes on for miles, is all gravel, and you have to wait a long time for a pilot car to get through. I decided on the way out I would not go through it again. I turned back toward Lewistown and the owner of the shop with all the cars out in front was standing outside, so I pulled in to say hi. He had no hinges, but we talked for a while about old cars. He had a few out by the road for sale, but said that he had too many projects, and had some T's he wanted to concentrate on, so I suspect a lot of these would be for sale if somebody asked. The plan, concocted on the way out after going through the road construction, was to take highway 191 north out of Lewistown to a town called Brooks, head west on Highway 81 to highway 80, then head south again to pick up Highway 200 just past a town called Stanford. Here is another place with some oldies on the "truck bypass" in Lewistown: I headed out of town on 191, and kept expecting to see a sign for Brooks. It is right at the intersection of 191 and 81 on my official Montana state map. There are some pretty steep hills out there, and the Pontiac was running hot, even hotter than normal as it seems to like 195F. At one point it even boiled a little. It felt a little rough too, not bad, pretty subtle in fact. I kept making small 2 degree changes to the ignition timing with the "octane selector", thinking I must have got the timing too far advanced by resetting the points back in Hettinger when I put in that new condenser, but trying to figure out for sure which way it needed to go. Nothing seemed to make any difference. Eventually I got to a "T" in the road, and it became clear I was way past "Brooks" in the wrong direction. I turned around and eventually found the 81 turnoff. There was no town, and it was at the bottom of a hill that mostly blockes the view of the turnoff when you are northbound. I decided to go on back into Lewistown since it was only about 10 miles away at that point, and get some coolant. That way I wouldn't have to untape the trunk again to get at the coolant in there. I picked up coolant at an Oreilly in Lewistown and grabbed some more oil while I was at it. It was getting on toward evening, and I considered spending another night in Lewistown, but the hotel I had stayed at was already full. I know where the turnoff is now. On to Great Falls! The highway 81 turnoff was no problem this time, but no sign of "Brooks" until I was on 81 for a little bit. There was a sign. It pointed to a farmhouse and a few outbuildings. It wasn't even the closest farmhouse to the intersection, it was the second one. Population out along Highway 81 is fairly sparse. And then I turned south on highway 80 and got back on highway 200 and retraced my steps from the trip out the rest of the way to Great Falls, where I spent the night.

Great pictures! Thanks for posting. Are there any rumblings about the location for the 2022 Glidden tour?

From page 20: Can that be done again?

Day 17: I decided not to retrace my path to Jordan, as there were gobs of deer out there. It probably wouldn't matter in the morning, but I still decided to avoid it. Staying on 12 meant a common route with Interstate 94 for the next 48 miles to Forsyth. It wasn't heavily traveled and the traffic wasn't too bad. I didn't mind it at all. From there I got back on 12 headed northwest to Roundup, MT. WIkipedia thinks this is the town of Vandana. I never saw any sign, just a school building all by itself in the middle of a field, one farmhouse, and some cows. The cows didn't look all that interested in education. An old gas station in Roundup, MT: Then I got on highway 87, north to Grass Range and then west to Lewistown, MT where I spent the night.

That's a 56.

GAH!!!

Wow, Hope you are ok. That Cadillac doesn't look like it is hurt very bad at all! Mine landed on the LR corner bumper and the corner of the trunk, pushing the lid straight up. The hinges broke clean off on the body side. Surprisingly, it did not bend the sheetmetal at the hinge attachments. Those points are reinforced.

Day 16: Crossing the Missouri River at Mobridge: And back onto the Standing Rock reservation: I turned south on highway 20, to cross on a different road that I came out on. This would take me eventually off of the Standing Rock Reservation and onto the Cheyenne River Reservation. Trail City, SD: Timber Lake, SD: Firesteel, SD: I didn't notice that was a double sided sign. Fortunately waymarking.com had the other half. Whats this thing? Back on highway 20: Then I ran into road construction again. I had intended to turn north to Hettinger, ND on highway 75. It turned out that is the intersection I was at. It is a good thing the flagman told me, thanks to the construction there was no sign. I got meal at Scruffy's in Hettinger. The Pontiac had been running a little ragged, it seemed to not have enough spark at full throttle. I was getting a little suspicious of the coil, and I had a spare along, but I was even more suspicious of the condenser. There seems to be a rash of condenser failures here on the forum lately. By this time I had noticed why the battery had been low back in Plankinton. After driving 20-40 miles, the generator almost stops working. It charges great at first, and then drops drastically. It is like flipping a switch. It keeps charging, but just enough to keep the cutout in. Using the car like I was at home, mostly around town, with an occasional 150 mile jaunt, usually in the daytime, I never noticed. It may have been doing this for years (!), possibly longer than I have owned the car. The previous owner had the generator rebuilt, and the car has always cranked really good. Once I reslivered the headlight reflectors, I always had bright lights. I headed over to the NAPA store and bought a condenser and put it in. I also noticed the screws in the choke plate had come loose, so I tightened those. The car ran much better. I full-field tested the generator and it made no difference. That confirmed the problem was the generator, not the regulator. Oh well. I just won't run at night. I don't want to run at night anyway thanks to the deer incident. I headed west on 12 through North Dakota and into Montana, intending to spend the night in Baker. The last 10 miles or so into Baker were a bit of a white knuckle ride. Deer EVERYWHERE. I was glad it was over. I thought it was over at least. It wasn't. There were no motels available in Baker. I ran into the father of the mechanic who helped me out with the brake cylinder on the trip out. He told me what all the possibilities were and I checked every one. I asked why everything was full on a weeknight when it isn't even late. He told me a pipeline was being built through town. There were towns about 40 miles north or south, but those also might be affected. The next thing on my path was Miles City, and it was 80 miles away, and the deer were thick. By this time it was dark, but I had a full battery, nice bright lights and a spare new battery sitting in the front floorboard. I made the decision to drive halfway to Miles City, change the battery, and continue. That is exactly what I did. At least the deer thinned way out after the first 30 miles or so. I changed the battery at the Powder River at that historical marker I posted on the trip out. I got to Miles City and there were no rooms. Nobody seemed to have any idea why. I spent the night in a truck stop....

The green masking tape is what is in the car. There is also black gorilla tape, but I think it might pull the paint off. I really need some hinges....