Zebulon Montgomery Pike Trail to Red River, Arkansas Journey 1806 — 1807

Day 7: August 21st, 2004 Pittsburgh (Car Work)

As I was not able to find something at Pep Boys, my next try is Carquest. They don’t have adapters, but the perfect hint: The thread has the correct pitch, but the transmission lines are 5/16" like the brake lines! With this new knowledge I drive on to NAPA. They give me a set of parts and they tell me to cut the lines. I take the parts, but I have my own plans on how to mount everything. To complete everything I buy some additional parts from Pep Boys.

Back in the garage, I start with my speedometer issue. First I try to tie up my gear box with a cable tie, because everything looks like hanging pretty sloppy around. Then I do my oil change. First everything goes well. But when I try to screw the oil plug back in, the bad awakening comes: In the meantime, the screw is so much damaged, that I am not able to get it sealed.

Lucky me Theresa is at home and she has the time to drive me over to Pep Boys. There I buy a whole set of different oil drain plugs to be sure, I have something that eventually fits. Back in my garage I realize, that it is already sufficient to screw in a new oil drain plug — that was luck.

Next I start working on the adapters again. Slowly I find a solution, but I have to again drive over to Pep Boys to get some more adapters. In the meantime, the cashier already knows me…

Back in the garage I am able to finish now everything. Only the space is very limited to mount my pressure sensor down there. But somehow I manage to get everything in. Only the pressure sensor is starting to leak. So I tighten it up a little bit more.

Finally I try to figure out, where this rattling noise is coming from in idle. It sounds like it is coming from the flywheel. Unfortunately I am not able to get the cover off without taking half of the car apart. But at least I am able to loose it a bit. Then I have to realize, that it is not from the cover. So I have no other choice than to mount everything back together and hope the best…

I quickly return my keys to Theresa, because I will leave tomorrow. Her sister with daughter and mother are around for a short visit. They also ask me, if I want to have one slice of their pickup Pizza. But I decline and tell them, I want to have a shower and then a steak.

I drive back home to have my shower. Then I drive to my Outback Steakhouse. There I order my now usual 9 ounce Outback Special. The speedometer is now functioning almost perfectly. Only between 35 and 40mph the needle is a bit jumpy. But that is really acceptable. But the displayed speed feels a bit too high.