Lesson Learned, Part the First

We got Gertie's powdercoated wheels, with fresh rubber installed last week. Yes!

Four + spare

And they look pretty nice, right? Right. Unfortunately in the general excitement I'd forgotten about the scrapy-scrape sound from that corner that needed attention.

That scraping was a worn brake pad gouging the rotor. The blackish around the outside there is okay. The silver around the middle is not okay.

Way not okay. Small hope was held out that it could be turned (lathed flat) but that hope was dashed by the guys at Mountain Imports. This rotor was "way gone" by their measurements.

¡Ay caramba! That pad on the left, the offender, looks even worse that the one that gave Team Rehm trouble when they came through. Lesson learned: replace pads at the first scrape.

High Water

(video courtesy bad dog racing)

Maybe there is a reason to rescue 02McDonald's 1960 Singlecab from 01Melcher's farm.

My Birthday is January 22nd...

(click for larger image)

...in case anyone wants to get me (Mitch) anything. Those Euros come to a bit under two hundred grand in American money, if a few of you decide you want to go in together on it.

Hint

In the past, I've often lamented the fact that Ludwig's history pre-1991 is basically a black hole for us. We got him in Spring 2004, before that he sat in 01Melcher's machine shed for 11 years, before that he was 02McDonald's driver for a couple years, and before that he very briefly belonged to a family in Norfolk (NE) which had a slight car collecting problem (I knew the son socially and they were heavily into Corvairs, Corvans, and Opels). He has a sticker on his rear hatch indicating that he was at Ecco Motors (nlib) in Bellevue, also NE, for a while previous to that.

But there is a hint as to some of Ludwig's even earlier life, an item I've long known of but have never written about, right there between those two bolts. I think it could explain his lack of having been screwed with, and it jibes perfectly with his having spent time in and around Bellevue.

It used to be much more complete, complete enough to read a lot of anyway. What it is (or was) is an Offutt Air Force Base vehicle pass, with a date of May 1984. This strongly suggests that Ludwig was a military brat for some years, and had an owner who I suspect (or am I just stereotyping?) was likely to take good care of him and certainly not likely to make lame attempts to hippyify him. 

So whoever you are, Ludwig's former-former-driver(s), thanks. Some day we'll get those bumpers back up to spec.

Westside Missoula VW Show '10

No, there wasn't really a VW show in our unassuming neighborhood. After washing Ludwig the other weekend I popped all the lower hatches to give him a good dry. I thought he looked like a car show entrant, all shiny and opened up and all.

First Place!

Trial Run

ENSO gave us a brutally cold but short early Winter, followed by easy weather for the last couple months. We took last weekend's balmy skies as an opportunity to get E back into the swing of things vis-à-vis Ludwig and his real purpose, as opposed to the 'round town driving he's been doing lately. A trip up to the National Bison Range for a picnic and a little woods-walking seemed reasonable. We brought along SW (E's buddy's mom) and A (E's buddy).

The road took us past the Southern reaches of the Mission Mountains. To me, they're reminiscent of the Tetons, how they rise so abruptly from the valley floor (not as jaggedy or as high though).

Wildlife overpass on US 93

We saw antelope, some deer, and some magpies on our short drive through the range. On our way back home around it, we saw some bison.

E and A

A, SW, E, Melissa (left to right)

The short hike around a pond ("Turtles!"), through some trees ("I yelling! I crazy!"), and next to a stream ("Throw rocks!") was a hit. There was also a lot of pep talk--"Do you like riding in Ludwig?" "Would you want to sleep in Ludwig?", ideas to which Tater Tot seemed amenable. For her part, A appeared to like the trip as well. SW, well, maaaaybe. Just kidding; she was a good sport.

(miles 222,825-222,948)

Driver Found.

We went to pick out the color for Gertie's wheels today at the powder coating place (white, basically). When we got back in Ludwig, TT walked forward between the fridge and sink, and announced that she'd be driving. We talked her into waiting until we got home.

Trying to remember Colin's lesson on how to double clutch.

Her wheel-handling form is spot-on.

In case the stills above weren't enough: