made it to Houston, almost![long]

[orange02SS]

Well i left San Diego at noon on tuesday. The car was running ok through the mountains and the desert. It ran alright all the way to Texas(oil, water and gas). When i got to san antonio, it would back-fire every once in awhile doing about 80mph. When i slowed down to go through the traffic in san antonio it got worse. It would back-fire allot at slower speeds. I stopped to check what the problem was and i really didnt see anything. I cleaned the points, plugs, etc.. but it was still the same. I decided it would be alright since it only did it very little at high speed. Got to Houston alright, i was about 15 minutes to my house coming up on a toll booth and the car died. I paid the toll and pushed it into the toll booth parking lot. It was about 12:30am. Worked on the car for about 45minutes and finally gave up(it was about 30 degress). I replaced everything in the distributor but no luck. I finally called AAA and they came at about 2:30am. I made it home about 4:00am. Took them awhile to get it on the flat bed. The problem turned out to be the cap and rotor, which i thought it was but didnt have an extra with me. The ones on there were new but they gave out after the 1500 mile drive. I cant complain though, at least i didnt die out in the desert somewhere. That is the most the car has gone in 15 years. It sat for 5 before i bought it. i restored it in 95 and it has sat since 97. not to bad! Oh i also have no heater, AC or radio. It was pretty loud the whole way too, we couldnt even hear each other talking over the wind and engine noise. It was fun though, and it saved me the $600 to ship it.

 

[Bret]

Ahhhh.. The wonders of traveling with Uncle Lucas. Never a dull moment.

Anyway, I'm happy to see you finally made it with only “minor” issues.

I do have a couple of questions for you:

1) On Tuesday afternoon I was traveling back to San Diego on Interstate 8 just outside of El Centro, when I saw an “Orange MGB GT” heading East. Was that you?
2) By the way - where do you live in Houston? When I got out of the Marine Corps in 1981 – I moved to Conroe Texas with an old friend of mine and took a job as a Roughneck working in the oil fields. Love Texas, but I really hated that job!

In the end look at the bright side – You’ve got a great story to tell about your car from here on out.

Bret

 

[orange02SS]

That was me! It was allot of fun, everybody on the road was looking at the car and talking to me at the gas stops. I live in the woodlands but my address is Conroe. Texas is nice, California is nicer, but it is just way to expensive with too many rules. I like both but Guam is still my favorite.

 

[orange02SS]

here is a pic in the mountains outside of San Diego on 8.

 

[Bret]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by orange02SS:
That was me! It was allot of fun, everybody on the road was looking at the car and talking to me at the gas stops. I live in the woodlands but my address is Conroe. Texas is nice, California is nicer, but it is just way to expensive with too many rules. I like both but Guam is still my favorite.<hr></blockquote>

Small world isn't it. Know anybody with the last name of “Domer”? That was my friend from the Corps.

Bret

 

[Bret]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by orange02SS:
here is a pic in the mountains outside of San Diego on 8.

<hr></blockquote>

That spot looks familiar. Isn’t it on the backside (eastward) of the mountains, looking out towards Imperial county. Looking behind where you are standing you can actually see part of the Freeway towards the bottom. Bet that was a fun drive going down that part of the interstate?

Did you see the Mysterious "In Ko Pah" Tower?

Bret

[ 03-07-2003: Message edited by: Bret ]</p>

 

[LYLE]

One thing to be aware of - take a good look at your rear brake lines since it has been up on the flatbed wrecker. The lines are attached to the front face of the axle tube and there is a tendency for them to be crushed by straps or chains when hauled this way. I've known some folks who lost their rear brakes this way and didn't realize it until they really needed them.

good luck, glad you made it

lyle

 

[orange02SS]

Yup! That is on the back side(eastern) of the mountains and that is the road that twist back around in the background there. I just happened to stop there because the car came out of gear and the syncros are out so i had to stop to get it back in gear. It looked like a nice place for a pic. I dont know Domer, but i have only been in Houston for a year. I didnt see that tower either, or maybe i did and did not know what it was. What is it? As for the flat bed, i made sure he did not hook it up there. I still have the hooks on the back bumper so he hooked it on there. I would of really been upset if he did because i just replaced those in January before i shipped the car out.