Gremlins 2

It was a dark and stormy night. Well it was, last night anyway. And deep in the bowels of my old car the gremlins came out to play! Let me set the scene. It's pouring rain and it's about 2:00 in the morning. I've gotten into the car, fired it up and started my way home. Lights on, wipers on full. Then I notice the generator light is pulsing. For those not in the know the light is simply an indicator of a difference in voltage between the battery charge and the output of the generator. Or something like that. It had been acting odd all day, flashing bright with the application of brakes, kicking the brake lights on, and in general being a nuisance. This is one of two main trouble lights in the car, the other being the oil light.
So I'm sitting there illuminated only by the binnacle light and my own headlights and I'm starting to get worried. This could mean a few things. The generator as faithful readers will no doubt recall has been a thorn in my side for a bit. But with third generator and a lifetime warranty all should have been well. But that little orange light was informing me something was not. As I drove along the deserted two lane that leads to my house I tried various methods to get the light to do different things. I noticed it was not at all related to engine RPM which was startling so that means battery or voltage regulator. That pesky regulator!
While diagnosing the generator issue we briefly replaced the regulator but it checked out fine. A visual inspection reveals a fairly new unit and we figured it was good. But this pulsing and flashing does not seem right!
Now I admit I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my car. I drive it the most, I know what it sounds like and what it SHOULD be doing. And this just isn't right.
So needless to say I made it home determined to look over what I could when I had more then two hours of sleep under my belt.
Cut to today. I pull out the back seat, poke around at the wires, figure out what is what and try to recreate the events of last night. Nothing. There is a slight pulsation but it goes away. With wipers, brakes, and turn signal on, NOTHING.
So at this time I blame gremlins until I see further evidence of the issue at hand. My battery is being charged, my generator is working. I have no idea what happened last night but I hope to not see it again. But I have a fear I will. Time to go find a donkey and a witch doctor again!

Just Keep Clean

In one of the classic tomes on running a steam traction engine from the late 1800's the author informs the reader that a good engineer will pick up a rag before a wrench. Seems all the good mechanics I know are the same way. Wiping tools down after use and keeping the project and themselves clean. So I'm pleased to say the only mechanical thing I did to the bug today was wash and vacuum it and spend a delightful forty five minutes with a rag attempting to detail my engine. It's no show engine but it's cleaner then it was before. I think I figured out where the license plate light is wired in and did a quick and dirty temporary fix.
Keeping things clean around a steam engine is paramount. As one cleans and oils it's a time for inspection and a general look over of the operating mechanics. I remember well spending hours on spring rigging and frame inspections. I got to know the underside of that steam locomotive fairly well and it taught me a lot about how it worked and what to look for. Not all learning is or should be active. The ability to passively take in information and figure out what it means is just as important as it being given to you. The old man in me says that is a skill lost on the current generation. But then again I'm only twenty nine!
And as a side project the Typesetter and I attempted to gain some clearance between the drivers side front fender. You see the bumper on that side was viciously attacked by a telephone pole two winters ago and I was afraid the tire was rubbing on the fender which was being pushed in by the fender. Being that I live in a trailer court the following image raised no eyebrows. I'd like to see people try a repair like this with a modern day car!

 This is also a classic case of history helping history. The piece of metal The Typesetter is using is actually an old drill head from a mine about ten miles up stream from Virginia City, MT. In the end the project was successful and I'm no longer worried about the rubbing. Sometimes a come-along and old iron is all it takes to get the job done. May not be pretty but it works! Oh, and happy belated 74th birthday Volkswagen!