After reassembly and a little cleanup, I started the engine and topped
off the radiator with water. It seemed to do fine, and I proceeded down
the road. I passed several snow covered mountains and a couple of glaciers
on the way. The roads became steeper and more curvy. I had charged up the
batteries for the radio the night before, but there weren't any stations
within range. I listened once again to the only tape I brought on the trip,
the one that was in the tape player when I left. With only about 30 miles
to go until Anchorage, the engine, which had been missing every now and
then for a couple of days now, started getting worse, eventually sputtering
to the point that I was forced to pull over and do something about it, even
though I knew that if I arrived too late Krista and possibly Deb would be
gone to the airport.
I suspected the ignition system, probably the points, but possibly the condenser,
distributor cap, rotor or ignition coil. I removed the distributor cap and
cleaned the points in place with a small file and emery cloth. I reassembled
it and started the engine. It ran even worse than before. I removed the
distributor cap again. At least the fact that there was a change hinted
that I had touched the right spot. I cleaned the points some more and replaced
the rotor with a new one. The engine wouldn't even start! "OK, now
down to business", I thought. I couldn't find my gap tool to measure
the point gap, so I took a good look for the rough estimate I would have
to make later. I installed new points, and a new condenser, and cleaned
the rotor and distributor cap. On reassembly, I eyed the point gap as best
I could (The manual gives the point gap measurement down to thousandth of
an inch accuracy.)
The engine started right up and ran perfectly. I suppose the point gap is
not so critical, or maybe I just got lucky. I cleaned up my tools and proceeded
to Anchorage. I followed Deb's instructions to the house, and went up to
knock on the door. I was meet by a girl that said something about me being
extremely lucky that I got here in time and she was about to leave for the
airport. I supposed this was Krista. I met another girl eating macaroni
& cheese with tuna, who offered me some. I supposed this was Deb. Both
were apparently busy getting packed to go somewhere, and I followed the
one I thought was Krista, but as she continued to talk about her job and
where she was going, I realized she was Deb, so I proceeded to the real
Krista, and wolfed down the remaining macaroni & cheese for dinner.
I know Krista through my friend Kathleen who used to live in Alaska, but
now lives in Georgia. Deb drove Krista to the airport and then took me to
yet another house. Laurie and Herb were friends of their who had just moved
into a new house, and apparently I was getting dumped on them for a few
days. The relationship to my hosts was growing more and more remote, and
I was slightly uncomfortable, since I felt like I was starting to impose
on strangers, but I really didn't see that I had much choice. However, Laurie
and Herb were very nice about it, and made me feel quite at home. Their
friends Dan and Dava came over to visit, and while we were talking, a very
large bull moose appeared in the front yard of the house across the street.
I ran to get the video camera and followed it as it walked down the street
through the neighborhood.
Tomorrow the parts should come to Krista's house, and I will return there
to pick up the package that should have been left on the doorstep. I will
also try to seal the gasket near the top of the fuel tank a little better
- I tend to smell gasoline fumes a lot just after a fillup. That would also
be a good time to try to fix the fuel gauge. On the way over to Herb and
Laurie's house, I had a tough time shifting a couple of times. I need to
play with it and make sure that a problem is not developing in the transmission.
Also, before I leave Anchorage, I plan to have the front wheel bearings
repacked and the rear axle oil changed, if I can find someone that knows
how to do that for my axle - it doesn't seem to have fill and drain holes.
Also, because of the dusty conditions, I would like to change the oil and
clean the air filter, refilling it with fresh automatic transmission fluid.
It's finally dark here - about 1:00 AM. Time to go to bed.