Off to see the wizard!

Well didn't really go to OZ, but it was a surreal weekend.    Worked all day Friday, then after work went to an Art Gallery opening here in Delray with Lucy.  Really nice place, used to be a day spa so it had all these little rooms.  Well each room is rented by a different artist so it's are really neat concept.

Anyway, 90 minutes of high society and we rolled back to the house and I jumped in the GMC and started heading north.  My goal was Orlando and the GMC Co-op. I need to have the fuel tanks dropped and new ethanol resistant lines installed, as well as, when I fill her up she leaks.  Hoping it's just a loose hose as the leak is only there when filled all the way up and goes away after a gallon or so is burned.

The coach has been running rich and feels pretty boggy with the throttle response.  I messed around with the timing a bit which helped but something else it up.  It has been like this for the last 500 miles or so.   I got rolling into a 20-25 MPH headwind that was blowing me around.  I got her up to highway speed (65-70), and cruised along listening to the exhaust and hum of the motor.  

My initial goal for the evening was a rest area just past halfway into the trip.  Sure I could have rolled all the way up there, but being lazy, didn't want have to clean out the sewer tank in the morning before I left so the rest area was very attractive.  I figured if I got up and out by 6AM, Saturday, I could meet Jim at the shop for breakfast, grab a rental and be back in town by noon.  As I'm trying to finish up a transmission and rear end swap on my wagon before a car show in 2 weeks!

That's a pic of the new rear end waiting to go into my wagon with the old one in the foreground and my springs over there by the wall.

As I'm active on FB, I sent a message to a guy I had online chatted with a few times (a fellow GMC owner) and mentioned I'd be in his neck of the woods later and possibly want to meet at DQ for an ice cream and chat about coaches.  Well within a few minutes I had an invite to park in front of his house for the night. The GMC community is very tight knit with alot of great folks so I said sure, it'd be better than the rest area off the interstate.

Back to the travel story, I'm heading to the evenings destination and get off I95 in Vero Beach. While on the way up the throttle felt weak but I attributed it to the headwind.  Boy was I wrong!  As soon as I was on surface streets, throttle response was horrible.  It felt like I barely made the gas station.   As I've been getting about 5 MPG, I needed fuel to make the rest of the trip.  I threw in 15 gallons which was plenty and kept on as only 8 miles to go.. Well it would barely get out of the way but I limped it to the house.   It seemed to be better the faster I went but it was 40 mph speed limit....

Got to the house and couldn't back it up the driveway (inclined).  I just shut it off and told Bill it couldn't do it.  He offered for me to sleep inside as the coach was on an angle.... I grabbed my bottle of rum and followed him in.  Great couple they were and come to find out although we never met before are old friends that travel in another small tight knit tribe (surfers).

5:45 alarm came waaaaay too early, but I have a schedule to keep and a sketchy coach outside.   We had discussed at length the night before over rum what could be the matter, and had come up with it might be the fuel filter.  Bill had one and so first thing, tried to replace it.......but the hard fuel line hit the thermostat housing before it was backed out all the way.....As I didn't have a gasket for said housing at on me at 6AM, I tightened it back up and moved on to looking at the plugs.....Well my nice new tool kit has a spark plug socket in it......for the skinny ones.. Yep the 455 uses the larger plugs and neither myself or Bill had a socket to fit it.  What to do....

Fire it up and go down the street.  Magically it seems okay while the motor is cold...

Bill and his Coach.

Ok now what?  Go for it, what is the other option.  Bill gives me some coffee and off I go.  Before I even get back to the interstate (10 min), it's doing it again...Damn the torpedos, I know it'll run okay at speed.  I have to manually upshift to rev it out longer and get the power to speed up, but soon I'm humming down the highway ok again.   Now what?  Take the interstate the whole way and pay a toll which is stupid money for 6 wheels or stick with plan A and take a US federal highway and some local roads (more people around if there is an issue).

I stick with plan A and soon, like Punxsutawney Phil I'm looking at my shadow as I head west...

Right before I get to the turn off to Narcoossee she starts losing power and backfiring while I still have my foot in it.  Uh-oh.  I round the corner and start heading north and now I have more throttle response and it seems a little smoother....Weird.  The next 20 miles is fairly uneventful and I roll into the Co-op.  Jim comes running out and yells that I'm on 7 cylinders.  I tell him well  that's better than probably the 6 I was on for most of the trip....

He has me pull it around the back and says he'll have someone on fairly quick  and we discuss  the other work I need and we are off to the airport to pick up my ride home.

I'm back home in around 3 hours and off to work on my other car as planned.  (see pic above)

My wagon flying above my buddy's wagon at the shop.

Only 2 weeks before Wagonfest in Daytona!  Worked until 11PM from a 5:45 wake up and driving 300 miles.  I was bushed..... Slept until 10 this morning.   Still lots to do on my car though......