Day 13: Arches

Landscape Arch, the Park's longest and fifth-longest in the world.

The Fiery Furnace

Delicate Arch, from about a half-mile away. The angle is accurate.

That's Pine Tree Arch with me and the Smaller One.

Me, crossing my eyes, next to Tunnel Arch. Notice also that non-vertical arch to its left.

Double Arch, probably the favorite of the family as a whole.

Sometimes when we're driving around a park, we let E sit in front. She took this picture and the next two from the passenger seat.

Wait, is that burning rubber smell coming from a car in front of us? Maybe, except there's no car in front of us. Pull over.

That bolt is one of two that holds the alternator in place. It's not supposed to stick out, let alone contact the belt (yes, Ludwig's engine--indeed, any* air-cooled VW engine--has only one belt).

green=belt and its direction of travel (3,000 rpm or more, at speed)

yellow=alternator bolt sticking out

red=where the burning rubber smell came from

The nut at the other end of that bolt had liberated itself, probably a couple days before when we noticed some rattling at idle. (I'd 'fixed' that rattle by smacking the passenger-side heat exchanger with my fist.) We scoured the car for a non-critical 13mm nut we could press into service, settling on the nut that holds the positive battery clamp tight. 

After some frustrating tightening, I realized my mistake: that nut is actually a 1/2" nut, the positive battery clamp being some American-made universal assembly. Now, for our purposes 1/2" does indeed equal 13mm, but the thread pitch was SAE, not metric and all we ended up doing was cross-threading the American nut onto the Kraut bolt.

But hey! The nut was secure in place--being cross-threaded and all--and it limited the loose bolt's travel enough that it couldn't contact the belt any more. C'mon Ludwig, you can do it--it only has to last another 700 miles. (Spoiler: it did.)

Bye bye, Arches National Park.

Book Cliffs on the way to the night's stop in Price.

miles 40725.6-40871.7

*Some 1970s air-cooled Volkswagen were originally outfitted with more than one belt, but the extra belts were to run smog pumps and air conditioners (!), frivolous garbage that any self-respecting owner-operator should kick to the curb forthwith. These engines have better things to do than deal with that shit.