Copyright 1998 Bob Storm
First off, CELEBRATE! The famous (infamous?) SVO Saga car made its initial Texas get-together appearance at the spring Gathering at Washington on the Brazos.
Ella Roberts (editor of this fine publication, and a major part of the glue that holds the Texas SVOOA together) provided the quote of the day: "After reading about the Saga, I didn't know what to expect, but this doesn't look bad at all."
The round trip was 234 miles, without a wrecker bill or even a hint of a problem. For y'all Texans who did not brave the weather to Gather together, you missed not only the Saga SVO, but Allen Roberts bar-b-q & baked beans (hot before the rain drenched the charcoal) and his famous Gathering cookies. He also shared his birthday cake with us, and those of us with grey hair were polite enough to not ask how many candles.
Meanwhile, back to where we left off at the last episode, Troy's grandmother had declined the initial invitation to experience a ride in the SVO. Guess she had been reading about the Saga. After I drove it to the gas station for another gallon (don't want the fuel to get too stale), she decided that the odds of getting back to the house were in her favor.
Troy brought her his racing helmet for a sense of security. When she didn't show stress (no grinding teeth or white knuckles clenching the armrest) after the first couple of switchbacks on "Hairy Man's Road," I turned up the wick a notch. Then we turned onto Parmer Lane toward Jim Whelan's house. Must be something in it's auto pilot system, every time this pony leaves it's stable it thinks it's supposed to go to Jim's. For more parts maybe?? Anyway, for those of you who have not yet enjoyed it, turn on your fuzzbusters and enjoy a short (1/2 mile?) acceleration opportunity. Lemme say that as a father, if I had heard that Troy did what I did, we woulda had a talk. On the other hand, Grandma's reaction to THE RIDE was "That was fun! At 76, I may be getting older, but I am not too old to have fun."
But the ride was a bit noisy. Jim, please order us some weatherstripping for the doors. Allen did an article in The Pony Express a while back about the steps for that. Good job Troy, that ought to keep the wind noise down.
With the Gathering coming up, let's adjust the hood bumpers to straighten the appearance. They won't stay put? Jim, can you get me some new ones? While you're at it, get some for the hatch too. Thanks.
Ya know, these don't stay put either. Troy, take one of these new ones and find lock nuts for them, and I'll start on the hatch. This *#$%@! hatch bumper doesn't want to move. OOPS. Guess that's why we are getting new ones.
Oh! If that sheet metal hadn't been slammed so many times it might have been able to adjust. There, those angled needle nose pliers did the trick. This new one turns in great. Just hope that takes care of the squeak in the wing/hatch area.
Now for that oil leak. Wanna make sure that its not coming from that trick XR4ti filter adapter that we put on. Well, the good news is that area is dry. The bad news is that the oil pressure sending unit on top appears to be leaking. The worse news is that these water hoses to the oil cooler are factory.!? Man, I thought we had replaced every hose on this car, particularly with the problem at college last fall (ref chapter III).
Jim, Two hoses? In stock? Be there in 15 minutes! Ok, hoses, including the other "dinky one" that tees off into the manifold, are done. Can't believe those hadn't blown yet. Sure would not have wanted to do that two hours of reaching on the side of the road!
Next? Oh yeah, the driving lights quit working. Ok, pull out the owners manual (yep, we got that, but not the Koni manual). Now find which fuse controls them. Not shown? Pull the fuse panel cover, maybe its printed on there. Shucks. Let's trace it here on the factory wiring chart and ...
No wonder, fusible link. Let's try jumping that link with trailer connectors and a patch wire. Great, they're on. The patch wire is off, try again. Still on. Switch off. Still on! Huh? Well, at least they work with headlights on low, even if all the time. Jim, new switch?
Ya got a used one, new are obsolete? Meet ya at the corner to pick it up. You have to disassemble how much of the car to replace the switch? It is obviously fine for now. We'll worry about it after the Gathering.
Thinking about the Region meet in Tennessee, we probably ought to put a hold-down on that battery. Thanks, Jim. Darn, I dropped the screw. Troy, gimme the magnet. Golleeyy, there's the original hold-down. Sure was doing a lot of good underneath the battery plate. Now, if the lip on the battery was tall enough to reach up to the hold-down...
You about finished polishing, Troy? I've got a toolbox put together, coveralls, tow rope, Jim's spare parts boxes, and everything else I can think of in Mom's MSV (mini support vehicle). Now, just hope this rain clears up tomorrow...
117 miles later, and still raining, finally we find SVO1 and SVO2. Yes Ella, I know I am later than I predicted. Thanks. We take that as a compliment! Just because its raining, ya don't havta blame the Storm Family, although that's fairly common.
Why do ya think we carry all these umbrellas? We've even collected a UT one somewhere along the way. Uh, sorry Ella, didn't mean to clash with your A&M Maroon.
Allen, gimme a couple of those cookies for the ride home. Y'all be careful now and we'll see ya next time around. While we're stopped at this light let me go give the Saga a 'pat on the back end' to get that brake light back on.
Linda, does it seem to you that the Saga's taillights are pretty dim? Good, thought I was just getting tired. Well, at least he (and we?) are keeping up with Jim on the way home. Guess taillight work is gonna be next on the list. The wiper blades? Yes Troy, we can do that too.
This is great! We actually made it there and back without a problem! And had fun on the trip as well. (At least you had the turbo; the van sucked.) This is beginning to make the recovery of this SVO worth while after all. Sort of like getting a coin out of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Gotta get ready for Tennessee. The IRS wants us to contribute how much more?