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Monthly Archives: September 2007

Trip Report: Chehalis, WA to Las Vegas, NV

Posted on September 22, 2007 by rmmj
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After leaving the gathering, I began the trek home. This adventure would be filled with less stops as I just wanted to get home. I did decide to pass through Southern California though, to take care of some personal business. My goal for this evening was to drive from Chehalis to Sacramento…and get there by midnight. It was 3pm when I left! Well, the weather turned from bad to worse passing through central and southern Oregon and I found myself stressing due to a red glow on the instrument panel – the alternator belt was getting wet and not making good contact…I pressed on though, spraying it down with WD40 to displace the water during fuel stops. Didn’t help much, but it didn’t leave me stranded either. Basically, I’m missing a rain guard underneath…

 I finally did hit Sacramento at 130am and my head hit the pillow moments after arriving at my hotel. The next morning I left for SoCal, leaving at 9am, arriving at 330pm….just right to miss the afternoon rush hour :) After spending the night in Costa Mesa, I headed for home the next morning. No issues to report -

Categories: Fiat, Road Trips, Trip Report, X1/9

PNW Gathering – Chehalis, WA

Posted on September 16, 2007 by rmmj
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I have anticipated this day for many years – making it up to Washington State to visit my virtual friends of the PNW. This is where it all started as far as XWEB is concerned. “Mac”, as he is known on the forum, is the creator of the largest, most well-known X1/9 website on the planet and we had communicated for years; over email, chat room and discussion boards – but have never met in person. Today he made the trip down from Seattle and we finally shook hands. The day was filled with putting faces to names I have corresponded with on the forum; much in the same manner I met all the Oregon guys over the last 2 months.

Eric and I met in the hotel lobby for breakfast, then off to Chehalis we went. We spent the first hour or so trying to track down a car  wash as we discovered my car got hit up pretty bad by some birds and that sh*t was starting the harden…so we took care of that, followed by a few rain showers on the way up north. I guess the rule is though, if you start a trip with the top off, it must remain off for the duration of the trip. So there we were, cruising the interstate in the rain, with no top on. This is not typically a problem in the X1/9, even in heavy rains, as long as you are continuously moving! When we finally arrived at Wayne’s, the weather cleared some, although it would start up again in the early afternoon. Not to be detered by a little rain, the event carried on as planned and people began arriving at various times.

 We were the second ones there. Gregory Smith had already arrived and of course, Wayne was in full FIAT mode playing host. And a terrific host he is. Thank you to all who visited – it was truly my pleasure to have met you all.

Categories: Fiat, Gatherings, X1/9

Meeting with Eric Armstrong

Posted on September 15, 2007 by rmmj
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I arrived at Portland Airport this evening and met up with Eric who picked me up in my X1/9. It was great to see him pull up in it at the “arrivals” area, top-down and all. We sped off and checked into our hotel then drove off to find dinner. I have felt like I owed this guy BIG TIME for storing my X1/9 for nothing – he even worked on; replacing the control arm and ball joint on the right rear. Even threw in a new upright with bearing. Then to drive up to Portland, pick me up and hang - I can’t thank him enough. So the evening was my treat – we chatted over a steak and a brew at Ruth’s Chris in downtown Portland….

On to Wayne’s PNW FIAT gathering the next morning….

Categories: Fiat, Gatherings

Road to Oregon, Part II

Posted on September 15, 2007 by rmmj
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I am on the eve of another trip to the PNW – this time to retrieve my X1/9 and drive it home. I had hoped to have had more work-related visits to the area so that I could explore, but that has not happened and my car has been sitting idle at Eric Armstrong’s house in Brownsville, OR. I am flying into Portland on Saturday afternoon where Eric will meet me and we’ll both stay over then drive up to the NW gathering in Chehalis, WA. This looks to be about a 1.5 hour drive from Portland.

After the meet, I’ll head down to SoCal and stay a night before driving the remaining 3.5 hour stretch back to Las Vegas. With the triple-digit weather gone for the rest of the year, it should be much more tolerable driving around town in the X1/9. It will also give my BMW a much-deserved rest as I’ve alreadly logged over 5,000 miles in the 6 weeks I have owned it. I am in the process of overhauling the cooling system in it anyways, which should only take about a day, but the August heat and travels through the Mojave and Death Valleys have really taken a toll.

Time to mentally prepare for another long trek in the FIAT.

Categories: Fiat, Road Trips, X1/9

A/C project on hold

Posted on September 12, 2007 by rmmj
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Problems with Southern Rods have derailed my project of installing after-market air conditioning into the X1/9. They have screwed up my order from Day 1, never corrected their mistakes nor took accountability for their poor customer relations and business practices. It started when they shipped the entire order for a compressor, evaporator unit, drier, hoses and a condenser to the wrong address. Then, the order was incomplete with the incorrect hose lengths I specified as custom at the time of ordering. I tried several times to get them to correct things, but they never did, nor did they ever respond without provocation. Whenever I called, no one had any knowledge of the status of my order and it seemed they never kept any good records to be able to track it in the first place. I finally ended up sending all the parts back, only to see a partial refund appear on my credit card statement. When I called to find out what the deal was on that, I was told some items returned were damaged from the shipping process and I was charged for those parts plus a 20% re-stocking fee. Despite my best efforts to work this out and then fight with the manager, Southern Rod ended up keeping several hundreds of dollars for no reason. I have since learned that the original person who I had dealt with in trying to get my order fixed no longer works there. I have filed a complaint with the South Carolina Better Business Bureau and they are investigating my claim. As of 9/10/07 the BBB has sent correspondence to Southern Rods and I am awaiting their reply.

Categories: Fiat, Restoration
  • In Memory Of Ian “Mac” McIntosh

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