I posted several years ago that my Daughter had moved far away from home.

Left front tire. This is the worst one. But it's not down to the cord... yet. 

That meant that her car was also a long way from home.

She now lives much closer, and visits us more often.

This is what happens when you don't keep an eye on the condition of the tires. They do have to be rotated on a set schedule. 

I detailed my previous struggle with the problems of a failing battery on her Mustang.

It's easy for me to blame my daughter for this situation, but again, I'm not immune from criticism.

I had planned to take my '06 mustang out to put some miles on it.

I also needed to keep an eye on it's tires. I knew that the tires were worn, but I let them go for too long. I found that the left front tire had worn along the inside edge down to the cord. 

Now I can't drive the car. 

Which I needed to do in order to decide if I want to keep it. 

I don't want to spend a lot for a good set of tires. Maybe I'll buy just one used tire?

But let's go back to my Daughter's car.

Rt. Front tire.

Rt. Rear, not too bad.

Left rear, even better.

I'm not saying that these tires are like new, you can see the wear bars, but ideally each tire should look as good as the last picture. With even wear across the tread. The car's suspension is still in good condition, but the inner fronts are prone to wear faster, unless you're doing burn outs! 

All it takes is paying attention and having access to the car. I don't think that my Daughter will start to pay attention to the tire's condition. Even I, forgot to monitor the condition of my '06's tires, and it's in my garage! 

But this is what happens when you have too many cars. Unless you are a super organized person, which I am not. I have managed to get a handle on maintaining my car's battery's. I keep a clipboard with the dates that I put the cars on the charger. Maybe I can put off expensive battery replacements for as long as possible.

It's much easier to keep after your daily drivers. I just had the oil changed on the Flex. It just passed 60,000 miles. It had approx. 6,000 miles on this oil. Later I reset the oil mileage readout and it still indicated 25% life left. Even on my dailys, I only put five or six thousand miles on them in a year.

After all this thought about tire wear I decided to check on the Flex's tires. They were all still pretty good, but the inner fronts were a bit more worn than the rears. So I rotated them. These are 20 inch tires, and I imagine that they will be expensive to replace. I think I will tie in the tire rotations with the yearly oil changes, that might help me keep track of them. 

It's a struggle to keep the costs manageable, but that is what happens when you think that you're the poor man's Jay Leno!

 I started to work on the Riviera's driver's window.

The door pull is the sturdiest mounting part of the door panel.

Ventilation is pretty good with both windows down. Just like in the Old Days. Two at 65!

I was surprised when the window quit working during my Mendocino trip. It was cold that day near the coast, and the heater isn't working correctly at the moment. 

The passenger window wasn't working when I bought the car, but at least it was in the raised position, and again with no a/c, it got really hot in there during the heat wave. I was familiar with how the window mechanism worked and how to remove the door panel to gain access. 

First is to remove the pull handle bolts. These attach to the inner door sheet metal. Then there is a screw in the front and back of the upper door panel. Then I removed the panel that sits behind the door release handle, where a screw is hidden. Next, the bottom of the panel is pulled away and simultaneously lifted up, releasing the three plastic hooks that hold the bottom of the panel in place. 

Care is the name of the game!

I got to use my Harbor Freight plastic pry tools.

None the less, a collection of broken plastic bits fell out when I pulled the panel off!

I removed the black plastic moisture barrier, carefully prying off the push in retainers. These are much sturdier than the old fashioned waxed paper types used in the 1960's.

The door panels are nothing but plastic, which has become brittle over the last quarter century, so there's no telling what broken parts you'll find!

All these bits fell out of the door panel as I removed it.

I first checked to see if anything on the window mechanism looked obviously broken or stuck. 

I had the panel propped up on a box, and the bungie cord allowed me to hold the panel up while the connections were in place. Try not to cause anymore breakage!

Then I removed the motor and tried to move the window manually. It went up and down just fine. That's a good sign.

The bungie cord was to suspend the panel and keep stress
 off of the electrical connectors.

Then I tried another motor that I knew was good, and that one didn't work either. I figured that it must be a bad switch or connection. I rechecked all the connectors and found that the main blue connectors was hanging free. These connectors all have locking plates, but this was reconnected without using it. It appears that the plug just became loose and fell off over time. 

This the main widow switch plug.

I plugged in the original window motor and it now worked fine! Easy Fix! Except that I hate disassembling these brittle plastic panels!

I used some Gorilla tape to give the connector a little more security. 

Since I had the motor off, I greased up the motor gears and tracks.

I used whatever grease that I had available.

That angled piece of plastic is a flimsy,
 brittle piece of trim.

I used some double sided tape to secure the broken trim piece in place before I re-assembled the door panel.

A good thing about the Riv is that it has the old fashioned, steel, scissor-like regulator. So many newer cars have those awful cable and pulley arrangements. 

All lit up and looking good.

Buoyed by my success, I decided to replace the burned out bulb in the tail light panel. I didn't take any photos, but like my Mustangs, the entire tail lamp assembly has to be separated from the body, to access the bulb retainers located in the back.

With all the bulbs lit, the panel looked much more impressive.

It's not an extraterrestrial phenom, it's an unusual
stain on the paint.

A strange thing happened last week. I uncovered the car to use it for some errands. I drove to Costco for a few items. That evening when I was covering the car, I noticed that something had fallen on the trunk like a bird dropping. It was a clear, flat, egg shaped blob. I used some waterless car wash to wipe it off. It came off but left an odd discoloration on the finish, kind of a light copper color. I switched to Meguiars Cleaning wax and found that the area was now dull. That was odd. I used some finish glaze sealer on the area and the surface gloss returned, but the discoloration is still visible. I wondered if something had dripped through the cover, but after inspecting it, I found no trace or stain. Weird.  

I'm sure that the answer is out there!

The Riviera has been running fine. There are a couple of components that I'll replace on the a/c system myself. If those don't fix it, I'll have to find a good a/c shop. 

I've been successful in paying down my credit balance, but one of my cars needs a set of new tires. It's always something. That's what happens when you have too many cars.

 Kit Cars: The evergreen VW floor pan and it's brush with greatness. Part Two.

This is a Blower Bentley replica.
It's the only one that I've ever seen.

 "Would you like to see something from our more affordably priced line?"   

I have been enamored with the romance of the Blower Bentley ever since I watched the Petrolicious video, "Live Life as a Bentley Boy." I have read more articles on these amazing cars and their daring young wealthy drivers. I learned of the fabled Blue Train Bentley, that beat a railroad train in a run from Nice to Calais France. The owner and driver, Joel Woolf Barnato, along with his co driver, beat the train to Calais, and was actually back in London before the train completed its run. Barnato collected on all the bets, but spent more than he won, paying the traffic fines he amassed! 

A recreation of the fabled "Blue Train" Bentley

Okay, we all know that the rich guys get to have all the fun, it helps to be the heir to a South African diamond mine!

But why should the rich guys be the only ones having fun? 

That's what the concept of reproduction cars are all about, spreading out the glory.

I'd rock this in a heartbeat!
I'd never seen a Blower Bentley replica before.

Who needs a Blue Train?  I love the cycle fenders.

While this VW kit will most likely make onlookers think more of the Pep boys, then the Bentley Boys, who doesn't want a taste of that glory? 

Trying to fill those Bentley shoes is just too much of a stretch. However, there are other vehicles that are within reach. As we saw with the Excalibur, smaller British sports cars can make a tempting target.

I wonder if this tweedy couple ever drove that thing?

The MG replica was very popular and produced by
different manufacturers.

I like the rear treatment of the fenders and the fuel tank
 and Continental spare.

You can have it your way with VW power.
There are many avenues to increased horsepower.

The Gazelle Mercedes SSK replica has been an evergreen favorite.

The Mercedes has been a favorite of replicar builders for years. The Excalibur was one of the best tributes to this design. These cars are famous for the exhaust pipes exiting the hood. Most replicas have a fake pipe set up, as most don't even have an engine up front! 

Two seat designs have better proportions, not how this Gazelle has a big box on the back. That's pretty common with four seat designs.

Oh, those terrible wheel covers! I don't expect a builder to use actual wire spoke wheels as they are quite expensive. However there are many alternatives that can be found at a good price. 

The Jaguar SS is differentiated primarily by the large headlamp shells. This is combined with a cross brace bar and rather deep splash pan set up. The Jaguars usually have fully valanced fenders with running boards.

This example uses a much nicer spoke wheel covers, which I believe were sourced form a Chrysler vehicle. 

These Jag replicas are my favorites. With VW power, I'd bet that these would be more reliable than an original car!  

There's not a lot of room in the cabin, in any of these cars. There will usually not be heating and defrosting. In that way they are very similar to a true early roadster. You can drive these cars, as long as you are willing to accept their shortcomings. I rode motorcycles for thirty five years. I took many long distance road trips on them. Even a basic car like this would be much more comfortable than a bare motorcycle! 

At one time I would have led a harangue against these kit cars. But that would have been a long, long, time ago. Now I think that they're okay. They certainly look like fun. Really, any open top car is going to be fun on a clear, sunny Spring or Fall day. 

I had a ride in a dune buggy and I will say that it was a lot of fun. It is a very viceral experience. I could really enjoy it as a younger person, as an older person I would find it to be somewhat tiring. 

These are also attainable cars, better to have an actual car parked in your driveway, than an unattainable icon stuck in your mind. 

Most of these VW based cars wouldn't fool an experienced and knowledgeable observer. But I don't think that they were ever meant to do that. 

It seems that these are the type of cars that are built and then driven just a bit, then are parked and forgotten about for long periods. That seemed to be a similar case with these car's dune buggy siblings. I'd often see one peeking out from a driveway or a sideyard. It's just recently that dune buggies are starting to regain some of their popularity and desirability.

I bought my oldest Daughter an old VW bug as her first car, and I became acquainted with the custom and reproduction parts aftermarket back in the 1990's. I would imagine that it is as strong as ever. So fixing up and keeping an older VW based car on the road should be a reasonable proposition.  

One of the most basic questions is: "Would I be embarrassed to be seen driving one of these cars?"

That's a pretty personal question.  A lot depends on the owner's motivations. If the owner wants a car that recalls an earlier era, but wants something that is more practical, usable, and affordable, then these make sense. If someone wants to impress onlookers, or to possibly fool them into thinking that this is a valuable, authentic classic vehicle, then I think that they will be disappointed.

In my opinion, kit cars like this are just another way to have fun with cars.

 Maybe you can't go home again,

Mendocino waits for my return.
photo source: the web

But you can pass by the old neighborhood, drive through it, and reminisce.

This post is not the usual blah, blah, blah!

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my old motorcycling days, as I've been looking at all kinds of old photos. It was all about motorcycles back then, and only about motorcycles. I never took a long trip with a car of my own. 

Since I've been married, I've taken a lot of road trips with my Wife and family. 

This thing about Mendocino, it holds a special place in my heart. Riding up there was almost a yearly pilgrimage, and a way to baptize a new machine. Though I'd been there at least once or twice with the Wife and kids. Once even with my Wife on the back of my motorcycle! We were just recently married. 

Would I still feel that a trip up the Coast Highway would be something special, something to reaffirm my love of driving? I was going to make this a solo trip, like back in the Old Days.

Well, I wasn't completely alone!

Part of my curiosity was about my Riviera, and the other part concerned the LaSalle, that I've been thinking about. The question that occupies my mind is simple.

If I bought it, would I ever drive it anywhere? 

It is even prettier than this picture.
photo source: the web

I wanted to take the Riviera on a tour, to a scenic spot, via a scenic route. I'd been up Ca. Hwy. 1 many times in the past. I knew that it was very curvy and narrow, without guardrails in most places. I'd driven our minivan and my '96 Mustang up there once. It's no big challenge, just pay attention, and watch your speed! It's a very slow road. It's about 200 miles on the way up and another 200 miles coming back, though I did cut inland at highway 128. Mendocino is a bit less than 100 miles north from Bodega Bay, but you won't make it in less than two and a half hours. Average speeds are between 30-40 mph. with occasional 50 mph stretches. It's best to mellow out and enjoy the drive. No need to squeal the tires, or expose your passengers to excessive G loading! 

I have always suspected that the most uncomfortable car is far superior to any motorcycle as far as comfort is concerned. No blasting wind, or numbing cold, as you gamely hang onto the handlebar grips, and steel yourself for the duration of the journey.

Any car seat is much wider than any motorcycle seat, and every one of those four wheeled contraptions comes with a windshield! (plus heat and a/c!)

I wasn't surprised that the Riv did a good job on the road, it's got plenty of power, rides smooth, and goes around turns quite well.  It's also got all the essential modern safety equipment. That's become important to me.

It's hard to imagine driving an old car like the LaSalle down that same road. It would probably be like the time I rode my front brake-less chopper to Mendocino! Gotta gauge your speed before you enter the curve. You'd have to select the proper gear, there's only three with the LaSalle. You would always have to leave a large cushion for safety. It would be hard to change course once you are committed to a curve, hopefully you won't encounter a stalled car, or anything else blocking the road!

You have to be disciplined in maintaining an optimum speed, and it would be very important to stay near it. In a modern car it's quite common to pick up more speed than you should, but you can always slow down. Even rather abruptly, if needed. 

But back then, all cars were like this, actually most weren't as good as the LaSalle. This was the time when the best performing road cars were the expensive makes, like Cadillac. The engine has a wide power band with lots of low end torque, to minimize the need for shifting. And the transmission is a synchro mesh, which makes shifting much easier, especially from second to first.

Don't forget, that the roads back then were much worse. They were tighter, steeper, and poorly surfaced. 

I left fairly early in the morning, at 7:10, gassed up, and hit  US101 at 7:30. However during the work week this is commute time. I expected it to be heavy and slow, but there were two incidents that caused me a huge delay. First, after I got on n/b 101 there was a vehicle fire on the opposite side, and everyone slowed to look. We creeped along for several miles until I was past it. Even worse, traffic through Oakland was extremely heavy. Once I got on the freeway to the Richmond Bridge things lightened up and traffic sped up to 65 mph. That is, until just before we reached the bridge. Traffic abruptly came to a complete stop in all lanes. All the transition roads entering the freeway were backed up. We must have sat for twenty minutes, creeping forward an inch at a time, until two fire engines forced their way by, on the right shoulder."Something" had happened on the bridge and was blocking the lanes. Nothing to do but wait.

It was tiring and frustrating.

It took me three hours to travel 60 miles! 

How would this have been with an eighty year old car? 

One of the biggest and most common problems with an old car, is with one that overheats. That was a common problem back then. Being stuck in non moving traffic will cause almost any car to start to run hotter. It could get bad enough that you might have to pull over onto the right shoulder and let the car cool down. Provided that there is a right shoulder! 

After traffic was moving, I finally crossed the bridge, and continued through San Rafael until I reached US101 n/b. I stopped at a McDonalds north of Hamilton Field. I had left home in a hurry, gassed up, without eating breakfast, or even grabbing a cup of coffee. I was hungry, but I also wanted to reassess the situation.

My plan had been to join the Coast Highway at Bodega Bay. My first alternative was to take a shorter route that would turn east at Jenner. Then I would continue to Santa Rosa and return home. My original plan had been for a day long drive to Mendocino, and then to return home. Just  like when I was a kid in high school!

It all depended on how I felt at the moment. Since traffic was now light, and the weather was clear and beautiful, I was feeling pretty good. I'd make my decision further down the road.

At Petaluma I turned east, and continued through town until I was driving through pastures filled with contented cows. The landscape was lush and green thanks to all the rain we've had this Winter. It was a very relaxing countryside to drive through, and my spirits were picking up. This was also new territory, as I'd never driven this route.

Taking a photo break at Bodega Bay.
photo by author.

I reached Bodega Bay, though I didn't recognize any locations from the famous Hitchcock movie, The Birds. 

Once north of Bodega Bay the road is extremely twisty and winds close to the shoreline. The views of the rocky shore are breathtaking and truly worth taking a trip to see. I was now fully invigorated and thinking that I would continue to Mendocino.

My Riviera looks longingly at the Sea.
Photo taken north of Bodega Bay.

At Gualala, approx 160 miles into the trip, I topped up the tank, requiring 6.6 gallons. That worked out to 25 mpg. That was pretty good considering all the time spent in stalled traffic. For some reason the driver's window now refused to work, and wouldn't close. This made for a blustery ride as the wind was blowing in from the ocean.

The road was in very good condition, however there were a few places that were partially closed due to construction. These had flagmen controlling traffic, but the delays were short. I was somewhat surprised to see that there were large areas of blown down trees, many had been dragged to a corner of the property. There were piles of cut up trees all along the road. Obviously the powerful storms of this last Winter, had caused a lot of damage to many properties. 

Earlier, at the highway Junction with Jenner, I saw that the restaurant that I used to stop for coffee and clam chowder was now boarded up. The Whale Watch Inn, also located in Gualala appeared to be closed for repairs. This was a spot that my Wife and I had celebrated a couple of our Wedding Anniversaries. I saw that there were trees and debris piled up against some of the buildings. I hope that the owners can get the business back in operation soon.

As I stated, you can't make up time on this road, in fact, that would be contrary to the whole point of taking this trip. I wanted to enjoy the drive as well as the scenery. My memory was jogged by many views that I had appreciated over the years. I was on a journey of rediscovery, did I still enjoy touring like I used to? 

Arriving at our destination, my Riviera enjoys a breath
 of the sea breeze.

Upon reaching Mendocino, I made my way to the coastal view area to take a picture. Originally I had hoped to arrive by noon, then that was adjusted to 2:30. It was almost 3:00 when I arrived.

My Map Questing research had determined that the entire trip would take almost nine hours. Due to the delays it ended up being closer to 12 hours.

I knew that the drive home would be much quicker. I had to back track a few miles down the coast. Then I would take highway 18 east, through Boonville and then on to Cloverdale. 

The first leg was through a dark, very curvy, two lane through a forest of redwood trees. Not a lot of room for error, as the trees are right at the edge of the pavement!

Then I emerged into the bright sunlight and continued on through Boonville. After passing through town, the road narrows considerably, and becomes much twistier. This wasn't a sports car road, it was a motorcycle road! I tossed the Riv from side to side and it never made me feel less than confident, but it didn't feel satisfying, like a proper RWD sporting machine. It could handle the road, but it was clear that it wasn't made to dance.

I rejoined s/b US101 at Cloverdale. 

Once I was back on the freeway, it was all about relaxed cruising. At Petaluma I stopped to top up the gas tank once more. It was another approx. 160 mile leg requiring another 5.3 gallons of high test. Gas mileage was computed at 30 mpg! The difference in price was considerable. At Gualala, premium was 6.65 a gallon. At the discount station in Petaluma it was over a dollar cheaper at 5.35 a gallon.

After I passed Santa Rosa, traffic had lightened up considerably. The remainder of the trip home was uneventful and I arrived at around 7 pm.

The only problem I experienced on the trip was the inoperative driver's window.

The fuel gauge has been pretty erratic, I ran out of gas once, a few months ago. I am hesitant to completely fill an old car's gas tank, until I'm certain that it's not going to leak. I've been adding four or five gallons, then I'd zero the trip meter and add more when it indicated 100 miles. I'd been wanting to fill the tank and check the fuel mileage. This trip would provide that opportunity. If a full tank was going to leak, I would be able to run the level down by driving it.

Imagine my surprise when it only needed 2 and half gallons to fill the tank, I guess I'd been getting ahead of the usage. With a full tank, I would top it off again at around 150 miles, that would give me a starting mileage number. My second top off was in another 150+ miles. I plan to top it off again at another 150 miles segment. The first calculation was of 25 mpg. That was with a lot of time idling in traffic. The second calculation resulted in 30 mpg. I had read that mileage for these cars, was usually between 25-30 mpg. With a 19 gallon tank, range could be between 475 miles and up to 570 miles. That is pretty impressive!

This trip occurred mostly in the lonesome boonies, and my Riviera ran like a champ. It really builds confidence in a vehicle when you put it to the test, it's a pretty good car.

What about the "spiritual" aspect of the trip, was it transcendent? Well, I did enjoy the drive, but it was a longer day than I now prefer. My preference would have been to spend the night in Mendocino and return the next day. If I'm being honest, I think that I used to take these long rides because it filled up my time and gave me something to do. It filled up the time between work and school. I wasn't in a serious relationship for most of my younger years, so I had a lot of free time to fill. It also established the idea in my mind, that I was a serious rider, ready to hit the road at a moments notice. Now I have a very full life, and I'm content and comfortable to be at home with my Wife and take things a bit easier.  I'm half a Century past those days! 

I did spend quite a bit of time thinking about the LaSalle.

I do like it, and think that it is something "new"and different.  Well, at least as new as something that is eighty years old can be! But it would be a new experience to me. But it is more of an artifact, like a large piece of Art Deco furniture. It would be usable but in a limited way. In some ways my current Riviera fulfills many of the same needs. It's something unusual and somewhat rare, and worth taking to shows. 

I have a lot of time to think about this, since I can't just run out and buy it, even if I wanted to.