This is the story of our journey to bring a 1973 Opel Rallye home to Spotsylvania from San Jose, CA. 3500 miles in a 29 year old car.
Be sure to click the links in the text for the pictures. To read from the beginning, read from the bottom UP!!
Wednesday, August 14, 2002 11:30pm EDT
Well, we made it home early this morning so Jesse was able to go to work at Kings Dominion today. We left the Comfort Inn in Mt. Vernon, IL yesterday in a steady rain. When Jesse went to move the Rallye under the hotel entrance out of the rain, it would not start. It fired up but was sounding like it was running on 1.5 cylinders! Then it just won't start. This after I gave it such glowing reviews just before leaving the hotel yesterday. We pushed it under the canopy to troubleshoot it. In my many years of Opels, they have shown themselves to be very suceptible to rain. Seems that they don't like to run when it is raining. I shot some WD-40 under the distributor cap. Did not start. Checked fuel flow. Checked the carb so see if the accel pump is squirting gas. Pulled a plug and checked spark. Although the spark was there, it did not seem to be very strong. I then swapped the coil for the Pertronix Flamethrower coil that I brought with me. Still no spark. I finally swapped the distributor cap with a used one that I brought with me and it started right up. Must have been tracking inside the cap to ground. Most of the time, the WD-40 will take care of the problem if it is due to moisture. We ate and then hit the road for home. We had 750 miles to go until home and the journey started in the rain. It cleared up and did not rain anymore. We were cruising along when I realized the we needed gas. The car sputtered and so I got off at the next exit. There was NOTHING at this exit and the next exit was five miles away. I drove down the road looking for a gas station. We found nothing. The Rallye finally quit on me near an intersection in the middle of nowhere Indiana. We looked up and down each street and had no idea which way to walk. A truck came up the the stop sign and I asked them which way to gas. The man driving said to the left and the lady passenger said, "You got a long walk!" I thanked them and we started off in that direction and they went the other way. While walking, I kept thinking about what she said... long walk, long walk... I wish she hadn't told me. After we walked about a quarter mile, they came back and gave us a ride to the station. It WAS a long walk! A few miles. I bought a gas can and gas and they took us back. The couple was very nice and kinda funny. Everytime one of them started talking, the other would try to talk over them. They did this constantly and had it down to an artform. They were Sean and Debbie, a very nice Georgetown, Indiana couple. We thanked them and continued on our way. You have to be asking yourself, "Why does he have a problem keeping gas in the Rallye?" I drive a Toyota Camry that will go over 450 miles between gas stations and I am just not used to stopping so often, plus the Camry has a gas warning light that alerts me. The Rallye seems to have a range of 220 miles and that varies due to the terrain of the land. Later on, I almost had the same problem going through part of West Virginia and needed gas. No stations and then when I crossed into beautiful Virginia, I got off at an exit and the station was closed and did not have automatic pumps. Luckily, the next exit had a very nice Texaco with food mart store so we took a break. In our journey home and in my travels with my job, I find that Virginia has much better quality roads and is such a beautiful state compared to others. This is not a put-down for any other state but I just LOVE Virginia! This leg of our trip included Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and finally Virginia. The only traffic back-ups we encountered were in Louisville, KY. When we finally got to the point where we turn off the Interstate highway to head to Spotsylvania, the back roads of Louisa and Spotsylvania counties were a bunch of fun. The Rallye handles great and it showed up on these winding twisting roads. As I was approaching home, I got to thinking about what we were just completing. We had driven this car around San Francisco, across the deserts of California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, cruised Las Vegas, climbed the Rockies, across the plains of Colorado and Kansas, through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and finally through the mountains of West Virginia and into good ole' humid Virginia. We did this all in a 29 year old car that some wonder why I bothered. The fact that Rogers Opel Engineering did the engine, the Steinmetz fender flares and the biggest thing was the FACTORY sunroof. Not many Opels came with those and this one is a Rallye in Fireglow Orange just like the first Opel I bought back in January 1972. I think it was worth it. Jesse says, "No more cross country trips unless they don't come with a lot of spare parts so the seats will recline." I think that this is my last Opel purchase for a while as now we have four of them and they ALL run and are licensed. The next installment will be a synopsis of the trip. Miles, gas used, etc... Back to work, Elwood
Tuesday, August 13, 2002. 8:30am CDT
We left the hotel in Salina, KS and headed east on I-70 again. The road in this area is not smooth or nice. It is very bumpy and lots of patches. Constant swerving is needed to keep from ripping off our muffler. Don't always suceed in missing them, though. I forgot to tell about the previous night's episode with gas... It was about 3am and we needed gas. I was driving and kept passing exits because I wasn't thinking about gas. When I realized it, we were just passing a stop. The next one was a Stuckey's with Texaco. As I let up on the gas to slow, the car started to run out of gas. The Stuckey's was closed and they had antique pumps that were not automatic so I had to go back to the Interstate. As we were getting on the on-ramp, the engine started dying. If I feathered the gas and did not press it, it would barely run. I cruised the shoulder for a while and then another exit was coming up. We got about 500 feet from the exit and the engine totally died. We coasted up the ramp and through the stop sign (totally desserted area) and just barely rolled up to the gas pump at this WONDERFUL Conoco station in the middle of nowhere all lit up and open! Back to Monday... We cruised on I-70 with no major problems. Stopped at a fireworks store to stock up on supplies...hehehe. Passed through Kansas City. It started to rain (first time on the trip) and the Rallye doesn't leak! A car that passed us earlier we found upside down in the ditch a while later. I guess they were not as good as they thought! As we get closer to St. Louis, the roads get much worse. I am starving and Jesse even said he was hungry so I was looking for an Outback but never found one for over fifty miles. Bummer! We got to St. Louis and in my attempt to get to the arch, I went down a street that turned out to be a cobblestone street called Liedre's Landing (probably misspelled) that seems to be a restaurant and nightclub area like Shockoe Slip in Richmond, VA. The Rallye did not like this street as we bottomed out constantly. A couple of times, the bump actually raised the car up and slid along. By the end of the block, we had a sizeable hole in the muffler and it now sounds like one of those low-rider Hondas with the huge mufflers. Yecch!! We found the arch parking area and took a look at it. Very large and high. How in the world did they build that thing? We ended up in Mount Vernon, Illinois looking for a room. The Holiday Inn was full due to an Illinois Sheriff's Association convention so we are in a Comfort Inn, of course, they all look the same inside. Last year in April 2001, we bought a 74 Manta in Denver and drove it home to VA on the same route. We stopped here in Mt.Vernon and the next day when we got on the Interstate, I got pulled by a cop that I had seen on the other side of the road. He had passed us, made a U-turn and came after us. Since I was not speeding, it surprised me. After he asked for my license and registration, he started asking me about the car. What is it? Are you going to restore it? Etc, etc... He gave me a written warning and we said goodbye. Last night after I passed a cop sitting at a light near the Interstate. He made a U-turn and when I made another U-turn to go to the HI, the cop pulled me. Right after asking for my license and registration, he started asking me questions. What is it? Are you going to restore it? Etc, etc... The first time the cop said he got me going EIGHT MILES OVER THE LIMIT! This time he said that my license plate light was out! We think it was the same cop and he just wanted to talk about the car! When he told me that license plate light was out, I started to laugh... Is that all? He just warned me to get it fixed. He is very nice and polite but I think that he just wanted to see what the car was. Guess there are not many Opels in this area. If you pass through Mount Vernon in your Opel, say HI to our friendly cop! Now for today, I don't think we have enough time to go to King's Island and still make it home so Jesse can go to work tomorrow. I think we will get my nice smooth comfortable air-conditioned Camry and come back up to King's Island later to ride The Beast! We head out now for the last 750 miles home. It is raining outside and it looks to be a normal day. Forecast for today at home is sunny and 93 degrees. The Rallye is almost home to humid Virginia! Elwood
Monday, August 12, 2002. 10:30am. CDT
Yesterday, after checking out of the Holiday Inn, we went to Checkers Auto parts on Federal Way in Westminster and they had the front brake pads in stock for our Rallye! Surprise, Surprise! Then we went to Wal-Mart and bought a jack with lug wrench and went back to Checkers and set up shop behind their store (they did not know it... hehehe) and I replaced the brake pads there. I guess you are wondering what I am talking about since I did not mention this before. Well, as we were checking into the Holiday Inn in Westminster after driving around the hills of San Fran, through the horrible 5 O'clock SF/Oakland traffic, down I-5 across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas, to the deserts of Utah and Colorado and finally up and over the Rockies with its thirteen miles of downhill run at 6 percent grade and sharp turns and into Denver, I noticed that the brakes were grinding loudly! We have 1900 miles ahead of us and now no brakes! Well, everything worked out and the brakes are better than new now. After I finished the brakes, we were heading toward the Interstate when Jesse asked me if I smelled something. I told him that it must be us because I had been smelling it too. When we stopped at a traffic light, there was smoke rolling out of the left front wheel! Evidently, the brake fluid spilled when bleeding was on fire. I asked Jesse if brake fluid was flammable and he said, "I dont know. I know that it removes paint." I pulled through the red light and pulled into a parking lot and doused the caliper with water (that we carry just in case we have another radiator incident). Everything is ok now. We finally left Denver at about 7pm and drove to Salina, Kansas. Interstate 70 out of Denver is a very smooth road and a pleasure to drive. While Jesse was driving, I was laying back looking at the stars through the open sunroof being amazed at how many there are up there. It was so clear that the stars were very bright. I noticed the twinkling lights of an airplane in the sky. While watching the lights, a "shooting star" appeared right in my view as if it was a rocket that was fired from the plane! It temporarily startled me. But then I had to realize that there is NOTHING in Kansas that anyone would want to fire at. Through the whole ride into the night, we were watching very intense lightning all across the horizon (since this is Kansas, nothing blocks your view)and I thought it must be heat lightning. After we got here, we found out that it was a real intense storm traveling east across KS. Glad we did not ride with it. The hood latch on the Rallye has been removed and sometimes it will rise up due to the vacuum over it. Kind of an easy way to look at the engine! Our aim today is to try to get to Cincinnati so we can go to Paramount's Kings Island and ride The Beast, the best wooden roller coaster in the world. We'll see... Jesse is anxious to get home, now. I'm feeling refreshed, Elwood
Sunday, August 11, 2002. 11:30am. MDT
We have had a LONG two days with no sleep and over 1500 miles in the Rallye! On Friday morning, we took the rental car back and headed to San Fran to take some pictures before heading east. We cruised by Haight-Asbury, rode over the Golden Gate Bridge, and headed to Lombard Street. When we started up the hill on Lombard heading to the top where the crooked part starts, the load on the engine torqued up the engine and ate the radiator AGAIN!! I was wrong, the motor mount IS broken! It is now 1:30pm on Friday and we are possibly going to be stuck in San Fran until Monday if we don't get the radiator fixed fast. We went ahead and got pictures of the Rallye going down Lombard Street (you might be able to see a trail of antifreeze behind it) and started toward the other side of SF going around the hills. I stopped at an auto repair and they said that Alouis Radiator was the one we needed. We finally found them over near Haight-Asbury on Divisadero and Hayes. They told me if I can get it to them fast, they would work on it. Ten minutes later I handed it to them. Thirty minutes later, they had it fixed and only charged $15.00. Quite a bit cheaper than George's, eh? Now it is 4pm on Friday in SF and we want to head to Vegas! The traffic was horrible. It took about 3 hours to I-5 heading south! No more problems with the Rallye as we decided to avoid hills and no hot-dogging. We finally got to Vegas at 5am Saturday. We cruised the strip looking at the sights and tried to find a motel for a few hours. hehe Not the way they were thinking! Since it was the weekend, all rooms are expensive so we took some pictures and hit the road to Denver at 6am. The forecast for Vegas was for 103 degrees. Although the temperature is hot when you stop, the wind is cool so it was good for the car. After you get outside of Vegas, there is nothing out there. When we crossed into Arizona on I-15, it was beautiful! Went through a gorge that was really nice. Twenty-two or so miles later we cross into Utah. There is a whole lot of nothing in Utah! We pulled off for gas at an exit and there was a truck sitting there with a U-Haul trailer with a flat tire. As we pulled up to it expectiing to see a person sitting there, there were two beautiful Golden Retrievers sitting there looking at us like, "Could you please help us?" We found their owner and everything was OK. Once we get to I-70, we start the eastward trek again maintaining the proper speed. I came on a sign that said, "No Bull! NO SERVICES FOR 110 Miles!" That got my attention so we got gas. During the next leg, we stopped and got some great pictures and Jesse did some looking around. Lots of beautiful scenery. At the first gas station, we stopped and pulled up next to a Harley Davidson that we had seen at the last gas stop. After getting drinks, we came out and the rider of the Harley was sitting on the curb looking bummed. Turns out it won't kick over. I got out my Fluke digital meter and checked his battery which was reading 12.92V so that means that the battery and charging system are OK. He did not have any allen wrenches with him so I loaned him some so he could look under his primary side cover. Found a plastic chain tensioner had bit the dust and jammed the chain. Cleared it out and it started! Some other Harleys stopped at the same station but did not offer any help or advice and two even ignored an appeal for help! Nice, huh? We again hit the road toward Denver. Since the Rallye is so low, we have to dodge any speed bumps or large expansion joints but don't always suceed. You can hear us bouncing and scraping along... Hopefully, the muffler will hold on. Climbing the Rockies was exciting. Not being jetted for the altitude, the Rallye was a little sluggish going up. BUT, the ride going down was FUN! Thirteen miles down at 6% grade makes for a long fun road. The sign said "Steep Grade, Sharp Curves" and they were right. A Porsche went by me going down so I went after him. Really enjoyed that! We got to Denver and found a room at a Holiday Inn at midnight Saturday night and crashed after 1524 miles since 4pm Friday! Tired, Elwood.
Friday, August 9, 2002. 8:18am. PDT
Just thought this was kind of funny...this is an email to me from my mom in it's entirety. Oh, as for the Rallye, dirt no longer flys off when you look at it, the only problem is whoever installed these seats did not have good ol' 6'4 1/2" me in mind...let see...what else...Oh, we got another monstrous hotel room, with one bed and one sofa bed...guess who got the sofa bed....ME! Oh well, could be worse...didn't have to sleep in the Rallye...They got some huge hills here...but we couldn't get the Neon (Hi.) to get any air. Alright, that's it for now. p0! -Jesse
Thursday, August 8, 2002. 11:30pm. PDT
I got up early and went to take out the radiator so George could fix it. When I pulled the lower radiator hose, the remaining water with antifreeze ran out onto the asphalt. Then I remembered that "This is California!" They get weird about stuff like that... OOPS! I got some oil dry and contained it. The radiator had one of the tubes ripped from the bottom of the top tank so that is why the water ran out so freely. One of the plastic blades of the fan was broken in half like it hit something. I first thought that the fan got into the radiator when I took off too hard but now I don't think so. The motor mounts are not broken and the radiator mounts are all intact and the fan is at least an inch from the radiator. I think something got into the fan. I heard something like that once but did not think anything of it. George fixed the radiator and the Rallye is on the road again. We took it to a "quarter" car wash (showing my age here) and cleaned it up. Now our only problem is that the car is sooo low that the muffler will drag on any bumps in the road. Probably have to have a muffler shop help us out. During the day, Jesse and I went to Fisherman's Wharf but could not get tickets for Alcatraz until Monday so that is out. Bummer. We ate at Alioto's on the Wharf and the food and view was GREAT! This is the same restaurant where Cheryle and I had our 27th anniversary dinner last November 9th. Checked out the sea lions. Rode down Lombard Street a few times and abused our SLOW Neon on the hills. They are really lucky that they don't get snow in San Fran. Jesse wants to cruise through Las Vegas on the way back so we are heading in that direction after we get some pictures of the Rallye in San Fran on Friday. The route seems to be SF to Las Vegas to Denver to St. Louis to Cincinnati so we can go to Paramount's Kings Island before heading back to Spotsylvania. Rolling on in the Rallye! Elwood
Wednesday, August 7th, 2002. 9:15pm. PDT
We had a nice day today. I spent the morning organizing the spare parts to consolidate all of it into the large Manta trunk. Then I installed a radio and speakers for our amusement. Then the crowning touch... I installed the Pertronix Ignitor. As usual, it was a no brainer and the car started much easier and just runs better. After we loaded up and checked out of our room, we went to Paramount's Great America and rode some good rides. We left there heading up 101 to San Francisco's Airport to return our SLOW Neon rental. Jesse was following me in the Rallye and called me saying that he had no brakes and the car was overheating! We got off at the next normal exit and found a "service" station for some water. The radiator apparently has a good sized hole in the core and water was coming out of it freely. We went looking for a radiator shop in the Neon and found some very nice people at Sherman's Auto Service on San Antonio Avenue. He told me George's Radiator Shop is a good one on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, CA. We loaded up the Rallye with water and the mechanic at the station we stopped at gave us two gallons of water in used jugs to help us make it. As it turned out, we made it without needing the extra water. I will take it out and have good ole' George fix it in the morning. We passed a Holiday Inn on the way to George's so I called and got a free room at that one. They only had one room left and it was a smoking room. Yuck! I reserved it and requested a no-smoke room when I was checking in. The manager noted that I am a Platinum member of the Priority Club and upgraded us to a suite. Oh, how suite it is... As big as some apartments! We are going to cruise San Fran tonight and worry about problems later. Obviously, I did not return the rental... hehehe. They will get it back when I am finished with it. Rolling on... Elwood
Wednesday, August 7th, 2002. 8:10am. PDT
Well, where to start? We left Richmond at 1:45, got to San Francisco at 5. Carried the two heaviest bags in the world for 400 miles. Then rented a Neon (with NO power)! Showed up at Nate's house and found our ride home sitting in the corner. It's pretty nice...needs a few "minor adjustments" but other than that, no problems, looks really cool, wide tires, handles good, very low, and a sunroof. Today we're headed to Paramount's Great America later on to see what they have, then up to San Francisco for sightseeing. We need to reorganize the trunk and interior (and get those Solexes away from our Webers before they attack them!) Install the radio, readjust the seat, and wash the car, it was very, very dirty. (I turned on the wipers and knocked dust off the windshield!) Now on to San Francisco, and Alcatraz...p0! -Jesse
Tuesday, August 6th, 2002. 4:07am. EDT
Just returned from the employee party at PKD and i'm pretty tired. Just messed with the colors and stuff, going to bed. Gotta catch a flight sometime, and I can't really remember what time, but soon my dad will come running in my room waking me up...oh well, 5 hour flight so I should be able to get some sleep. p0! -Jesse
Email Elwood or Jesse if you have anything to say.
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