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1975 242DL Project: B230/M46/Lh2.4 Upgrade <!!! Image Heavy!!!>

The next challenge turned out to be plumbing the fuel system. I decided to retain the K-Jet fuel pump and the firewall mounted fuel filter. The K-jet system uses several banjo type fittings which are not compatible with the Lh system. From the fuel pump next to the tank fuel lines run along the bottom of the car then up along the firewall and into the first fitting on the fuel filter. As the fuel exits, the K-Jet system has two outputs, one into the fuel distributor and the other into the cold start valve. The fuel filter fittings are a different size than used on the Lh-jet systems so I ended up retaining the original filter.

On the output side I ended up stripping the hard plastic line off the nipple for both the line going to the fuel distributor and the cold start valve. To accommodate these two lines the stock fitting has two sets of holes in it for the specific lines. I couldn?t locate a fitting with a single hole set up so I took one of the nipples and had is sealed up by welding the end of the nipple closed. Fuel line was then ran from the other nipple to the fuel rail of the engine. Since there was a height difference for these I couldn?t run the hose in a straight shot as it would kink on one end. To solve this, coiled the fuel line like a ramp in a parking garage and while it ended up being 3-4 times longer than compared to the direct length, it allowed for unimpeded delivery of the fuel. Used a similar approach to connecting up the line to return excess fuel back into the tank. To test the fuel system and to ensure it did not leak, used a battery charger to supply electrons to run the fuel pump. Hooking this up for a couple minutes, the fuel pump whirred away and only had to tighten down the hose clamp on the return line on the fuel rail as there was a slight leak there.

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With fuel delivery operational, focus turned to getting the engine up and running. When transferring the wiring harness, I did make note of the pink label ECU. While the ECU worked during the test runs of the engine while still in the 1990 parts car, it would need to be replaced. Going onto the internet I found a site containing a table cross referring ECUs and I needed to find a 951 unit to substitute in for the original 561 unit. Plugged in a 1984 instrument cluster to monitor warning lights and temperature readings. Rechecked the wiring system once more before initiating the attempt to crank and start the engine.

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My friend Alex Z stopped by the garage to see the progress and hopefully see the B230 come to life. After connecting the battery charger to run the fuel pump, the time to turn the key had arrived. Putting the key into the #1 position the line of warning light illuminated along the base of the instrument cluster and then the gas gauge needed slowly moved up to the halfway mark. Making sure the car was out of gear turned the key fully clockwise and the starter came to life and started spinning the engine. After cranking for about 15 seconds the engine was showing not indications of running. Repeated this several times then checked to find there was no spark.

Getting out the Bentley manual Alex and I went through all sorts of diagnostics for the next hour and a half. I also reinstalled the original pink label ECU as that had previously work. Called it a day after a source for the issue continued to elude us. Later that night Alex texted me saying he might have found the source of the problem. He conferred with Bram Smits (Netherlands) about what we had run into and Bram related that we should look at replacing the switch at the rear of the ignition. Bram shared there was a difference starting in 1990 wiring and we needed to replace with a 1990 or newer switch out of a 200/700/900 series car. The following weekend I made a trip to the junkyard across the bay in Oakland, extracted a switch out of a 1991 then swapped this into the 242?s ignition assembly.

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After installing the new switch, hooked the battery charger to the fuel pump wiring and after turning the key several times, the car would still not start. The 951 ECU was swapped back into large ECU connector and then turned the key once again. The engine cranked and coughed for a moment then began to run. The engine struggled, stalling out several times and after finally warming up, the idle began to settle out. Checking the gauges the temperature gauge turned out to be not registering any sort of reading. After about 5 minutes of running, the check engine light began to illuminate. While not running smoothly, a corner had certainly been turned in this build.

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Thank you for the offer, I have a 951 spare as well.

These postings are not representing real time progress as the B230 installation was done in Feb 2016 and the engine was fired up in April 2016. For example in March, had a couple heavy storms go through and the garage I was doing in this work had a leaky roof so work pretty much came to a halt during that month.

Excellent progress!

Let me know if you need a 951 ECU - I have spares.
 
When the rubber meets the road

When starting this project six months prior, my original target was to get the 242 ready to go on the Snowball Rally at the end of April. In the middle of March, I realized the car would not be ready for such an endeavor. The successful starting of the engine occurred the weekend before the Snowball Rally, so I did feel I came close enough to my initial objective. Piloted my 1970 1800e on the Snowball which performed without an hitch. One of the interesting aspects of that drive was encountering a Jalopnik writer trying to drive a 1970s VW Bug cross country, experiencing issues with his plug wires. While on the Snowball, I committed to take the 242 on the Motherlode 400, a two-day drive through Gold Country over Father?s Day weekend, just six weeks away. Time came to get the car out of its garage and onto the road.

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Raised up the 242 with the trolley jack and removed the two remaining jack stands under the car. For the first time in three months the car stood on all four tires. If I wanted to take the car for a test drive I needed to connect the fuel pump back into the electrical system. Bridged the wire into the 1990 harness connector and then tested to see if the fuel pump energized when turning the ignition to the #2 position. After several twists of the key, the fuel pump remained silent which was a red flag. Rechecked the wiring connector, then swapped out the white fuel pump relay located next to the ECU with a spare. The new relay did the trick as the fuel pump buzzed to life momentarily to pressurize the fuel lines. Turned the key all the way and the engine rumbled to life. As before, it needed to restarted several times after stalling out, so let it warm up for several minutes.

The front metal work of the 242 as well as the air intake components were the next items on the reassembly list. This started with securing the valence and getting the radiator and air filter box aligned and bolted in place with their respective mounts. Reconnected the hose between the air filter box and the air mass meter next. The AMM mounting bracket is one of the items I saved from the 1990 donor. Drilled a hole into the metal of the wheel arch to secure the bracket and then bolted the AMM in place. Brought the hood down to adjust the hood latch position then spent about a dozen attempt to properly align the hood on the hinges so it would close without binding into fenders. The last steps involved installing the headlight trim and the grill onto the car and once completing those, the road beckoned.

Slowly pushing the clutch in, I put the car into first gear and slowly emerged out into the sunlight of the Sunday afternoon. Even after letting it warm up, the car balked a bit while taking it up the hill from the garage signaling things were not totally copacetic. The engine strained and protested, but did make it up the incline to a road circling around the local park which turns out to be a good circuit for testing out cars post repair work. Drove the 242 around park several times and then took a few pictures alongside Alex's 1973 1800ES before returning to the garage. Backing it into the garage space felt a good deal of satisfaction of the progress. Before taking it on anymore test drives I needed to get the lighting system back on line.

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More wiring and welding

To map and bridge the 1990 wiring system to the existing 1975 wiring harness, I started by creating a paper diagram with the various connectors, wiring color and system name and numbered them against the 1990 system. From this I created the individual wiring leads with connectors with the correct male/female ends to bridge the two different harnesses. Took this approach to not cut up/hack any of the connectors in case of the need to take any of this back to stock in the future.

In the engine compartment two main wiring looms to the front lighting both needed to be reconstructed a bit. The wiring to the headlights, turn signals and marker lights had been cut rather than undone from the main connectors when the body work was removed by the previous owner. Once all of those wires were patched, the lighting systems became operational and checked to make sure all bulbs illuminated as expected. Using a long piece of wood between the steering wheel and the brake pedal, tested to make sure the brake lights properly activated.

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As part of the upgrades, I planned to add several 52mm gauges to monitor oil pressure, volts and ambient temperature. With the dash board out of the car, this made it easier to install the various wiring to support these gauges. Ran the wiring through the firewall for the oil pressure sender and temp sensor as well as connected gauges into the fuse box and to ground.

While the engine started and ran, I needed to figure out the cause(s) of the check engine light being activated. Hooking up the self-diagnosis reader, the LED blinked out 2-2-1 and 2-3-1 (fuel system compensating & extremely compensating for rich or lean air/fuel mixture at cruise.) Next removed the sparkplugs to examine their condition and color. The electrodes had a slight whitish residue but not oily or fouled so it looked like the engine could be running on the lean side.) With that information I began to research possible causes of the thrown codes.

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Figuring it would be worth driving the car in the meantime, I started to drive the 242 around the city. The first excursion involved going to a scenic vista on Bernal Hill, the center piece of the neighborhood where I live in San Francisco for a photo shoot of the car against the city skyline. Took several trips around the city including on the highway where I finally tested the overdrive and it engaged smoothly and without any issues to my relief.

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The transmission crossmember mounting still needed to be addressed and after researching possible options it became apparent fabrication and welding would be required. After getting the car up on my friends Fiid?s lift, removed the original 1975 crossmember off the transmission. Changed the engine oil again as it is cheap insurance as I did not know how much of the 10 year oil remained in the engine even after the previous oil change.

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Matched up the crossmember from the 1985 donor car to see where it would need to be bolted into the frame. A set of tabs had to be added to the front side and then new holes drilled for mounting. Using some scrap steel plate two ?biscuits? were cut and formed to the contours of the crossmember ends. Using a grinding wheel, beveled the rounded end of the biscuits in order to increase the contact area. To prep the crossmember for welding, used a wire brush to remove the paint. Fiid performed the task welding of the biscuits on to the crossmember. The next step involved getting the largest bit and drilling mounting holes approximately 2 inches forward of the stock locations. Attached the crossmember to the rubber transmission mount, bolted it into the frame points and it now sits perpendicular to the transmission.

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Roadtests

Installing the dash became the last real step in the build process. Finished up the wiring to the 52mm gauges by mounting the ambient temp sensor onto the underside of the front bumper. To get the 1985 dashboard properly mounted, it took another trip to the junkyard to procure a set of the mounting supports as the 1975 ones were not interchangeable and unusable. I had neglected to remove those off the 1985 wagon before sending it off to the junkyard. I also needed to update the vents hoses with the ones from the 1985 donor as those were different as well. Attached all of the vacuum lines to the vent servos and tested them to ensure they all worked properly. With all the supports in place and the vent system checked, installed the dashboard into the Coupe after a bit of wrestling with getting it properly aligned. Fitted a modern removeable faceplate stereo into the bottom slot then put in the glovebox and the assorted dash trim. Now the inside of the 242 looked like a mostly normal car again.

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With the Motherlode 400 now two weeks away, it now became time to take the car on an extended test drive. After running a few errands in the neighborhood, I set a course for Pacifica, CA, about a 10 mile drive to the south. Arriving at Rockaway Beach, parked the car to take a few photos of it against the Pacific surf. The route I took went back up the ridgeline to Skyline Drive where it joined 280 South for several miles and then split off at Route 92 heading back up the ridge. At the crest of the heights, I made a right turn to remain on Skyline Drive as it snaked south. The 242 drove strong and well during this drive, every once in a while I could hear a faint clicking noise from the front but it did not exhibit itself in a constant manner.

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The tour kept progressing south for another 15 miles along Skyline when I pulled off to take a few more pictures as well as checking under the hood and looking under the car for leaks or other issues. Continued on for another five miles and then turned onto the twisty Alpine Road to drop back down back on to 280 and head back to San Francisco. The total mileage came out to be close to 120 miles and the 242 took the entire trip in stride. It continued to be a bit balky when starting up, especially when cold, it seemed to be a solid running car.

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The weekend before the Motherlode I decided to change out some of the ignition parts as the car still ran a little rough. This included new rotor, cap and oxygen sensor. The check engine light would not stay extinguished so I wanted to see if a new 02 sensor would help. From my spare parts cache I located a set of spark plugs and installed those into the engine as well. At some point the gas tank had been updated to the new style 240 tank including an in-tank pump set-up. Inspected the pump to make sure proper operation as well as looking at the fuel line to see if it needed to be replaced out. The car didn?t end up running much differently during the test drive after all of those were replaced out, surprising me a little bit. The mystery clicking noise continued to make itself known and it now seemed to be happening more frequently.

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Heading for the Hills & Gold Country

Drove the 242 to pick up Tristan at the airport. As we headed back to San Francisco, we discussed the condition car and doing a bit of small work on the car before heading out to Placerville, the start of the Motherlode. Arriving at my building, I mentioned the mysterious noise, opened up the hood to have him listen, where Tristan responded back, ?It seems to becoming from the back and bottom of the engine.? Shutting things down we grabbed his bags and headed inside where I started to do through things it might be. I figured the best course of action would be to remove the transmission inspection cover as a start to see if the source could be identified.

The next morning I pulled the car forward to leverage the driveway grade to the sidewalk and slid under the car to remove the cover. Once removing that, Tristan manually rotated the engine and then saw something I did not expect. Looking at the flywheel turning, I immediately noticed significant wear on some of the teeth. My main suspect at this point centered on the starter. Looking at the clock I realized we had a little over an hour and change to replace the starter before parking enforcement arrived to ticket cars parked and blocking the street cleaning vehicles from their appointed rounds.

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Rummaging in my garage space located a spare starter and work began removing the one in the engine. Because the AC compressor had been removed out and the car has a manual steering rack, things are really accessible on that side of the engine. It took us 7-8 minutes to extract out the starter from the engine. Inspecting it revealed a good bit of damage and wear to the ends of the teeth on the pinion gear. The gear itself continued to be extended outward rather than tucked back, solidifying the cause of the engine noise. It took less than 20 minutes for the 242 to be back up and running with a the replacement starter installed.

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Late in the morning we finished the rounding up and packing of spare parts and tools and hit the road. As we headed for the Bay Bridge, the 242 ran rough and unsteady. I had expected this to happen since the battery had been disconnected and the ECU needed time to recalibrate the fuel map profile. The 242 seemed to running in protest on the bridge traffic, so much so it required one foot be kept on the gas pedal when applying the brakes as this would maintain vacuum to the booster, otherwise the brakes were very ?generous.? Continuing through the Eastbay, the 242 kept running badly and showed no signs of improvement.

After seeing the solid red on the traffic map for 80, decided to take the route through the Delta rather than experience a stop and go traffic. As we left 80 to get on CA12 near Fairfield, I suddenly had the sinking feeling the running issue had to do with the spark plugs. In thinking about the previous weekend, I realized the spare plugs in the trunk were for B18/B20 engines. Tristan started looking online to see if they were different and a couple minutes later he confirmed two different part numbers for the B20 and B230 plugs as suspected.

Tristan located a FLAPS about a mile up the road and took about 5 minutes to be parked out in front. Several minutes later picked up a set of NKGs and then began to remove the plug from #1 cylinder. Putting them side-by-side, the difference between the two became totally obvious, the B230 plugs sit much deeper into the combustion chamber. Installed the NKG plugs in about 10 minutes and then restarted the car. The engine purred like a kitten as if nothing had been amiss. Getting back on the road, the car now ran really smooth, a big change from the hour of stumbling and unsteadiness.
 
Skyline should have been good enough test of the brakes eh? One of my favorite roads
 
The Sacramento Surprise

Heading into Rio Vista, we headed north on a route to take two car ferries the CA Dept of Transportation runs. The first one is located on Route 84 going across the Sacramento River to Ryer Island. Traveled another 10 miles to reach the second ferry connecting with Grand Island and allowing us get back onto CA160, a pleasant and winding thoroughfare atop the levees separating the orchards and groves from the river, heading into Sacramento. When the farmlands start to transition into suburbs decide to jump on I-5 for a couple miles. Just before exiting to take Freeport Road into Sacramento, the car the rear of the car starts to vibrate and sway. Slowing down, the motion subsides and I start to think if this is an anomaly or not, turning onto Freeport Road, the shaking does not reappear.

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Rounding a slight curve next to a golf course, things instantly go sideways as the 242 lurches with a loud ?Bang!? emanating from the rear of the car. A moment later the car lists and leans to the back accompanied by a torturous scrapping noise. From experience I pretty much knew what had just happened, the rear tire had separated from the car. Fortunately, the only traffic around the 242 turned out to be one car the next lane over, otherwise the lanes were empty. I guided the car off to the shoulder, its path marked by a whitish gouge in the asphalt. Shut down the car and went out to inspect the situation.

Tristan began walking down the road to locate the wayward tire. He locates it about 30 yards behind us in the median which he quickly retrieves. The median turned out to be another other piece of luck in this situation as the design of it involved a set of bushed and foliage between the opposing lanes which prevented the tire from going into oncoming traffic. There is only one stretch of this foliage barrier on Freeport road. Someone suggested later, the foliage might have been installed to prevent deer and other animals from crossing the road onto the ground of the golf course.

Digging through the truck, specifically in a box filled with a potpourri of fasteners, nuts, bolts, clamps, etc. five turbo lugnuts are located. The trolley jack is pulled out and after placing it on the ground next to the car find it sits about ? too high to be placed under the jack point. Tristan grabs the wheel well and pulls upward lifting the body upward enough to place the jack under the car and seconds later the car is raised upward. Inspection reveals the rotor has been significantly flattened in two places and the bottom of the dust shield totally ground away. The wheel studs look to be intact and did not seem to be bent or have issues with the threads. Fitting the tire onto the studs, the lugnuts are hand-threaded until snug. The car is dropped and the nuts are tightened with the lug wrench. Going around the car Tristan checks all the other lug nuts and they are all adequately snug. This mishap while pretty serious, takes us less than 10 minutes to get the tire mounted and the car operational. I start to think back on why could have wheel come off of the car. The most recent time I had that rear tire off involved installing the 242GT rear swaybar back in April, but I did use a lug wrench to tighten the nuts as I have experienced a wayward rear tire on one other occasion.

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Traveling through Sacramento the roads thickened with traffic, everyone heading out early to start the weekend. Our original plan included going to the aircraft museum located at the former Mcclellan Air Force Base. Looking at the time and as well as considering all the work the 242 required since 8am that morning, decided to just head to Placerville, the starting point of the Motherlode 400.

Cars heading into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and beyond keep Interstate 80 at a slow but somewhat steady pace. All the while, I am at a heightened sense of awareness, waiting for the next mechanical misadventure the 242 will be throwing at us. The Volvo continues to run steady and strong, as we start climbing through the foothills, I begin to relax a little bit. Somewhere close to 5pm we pull into the Motherlode Motel to see assorted other vintage cars scattered throughout the parking lot. After checking in and unloading the car, join friends poolside with cold beverages in hand. We shared the tales of woe of our drive while watching and greeting the other cars arriving at the motel into the evening.

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The Real Test of the 242: Motherlode 400, Day One

After heading into a Placerville diner for breakfast, Tristan and I return back to the motel to check fluids and lugnuts and await the drivers meeting to start the Motherlode 400. The organizer catches me and asks if I can go out ahead to take picture of cars driving across a one-lane bridge on Mosquito Road which is 20 minutes into route. We take off as the drivers meeting is called and set up at an overlook on the far side of the bridge. A short time later, the unmistakable sound of vintage cars resonates along the canyon walls.

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After capturing the parade of cars, rejoined the procession behind the Swedish contingent, a Volvo 122S and a Saab Sonnet. A dozen miles father we stop to render assistance to a 914 which blew out the sidewall of his tire as we are the first car to have an air compressor to inflate the spare. While waiting for the tire to inflate, it seemed like a good time to apply Pegamoose stickers onto the 242. Pulling into the lunch spot, the morning has been pretty much uneventful, a welcome change from the previous day. An intermittent rattle from somewhere in the front-end is the only issue the car seemed to be experiencing. The first order of business is to check the tightness of the lugnuts before heading into the restaurant. To our surprise, the rear left ones have loosened up a bit.

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In the afternoon segment, we join a three Alfas and by 30 minutes in, the rattle seemed to get a little more pronounced. In order to figure out the source we ended up shutting down the stereo and kept talking to a minimum. While traversing a large sweeper, suddenly a loud ?Clang-caa-clang clang!? rings out as something hefty skips along the pavement. The sound definitely came from a sizeable piece of metal. Coming to a quick stop, I then back up to where the sound first occurred. The two of us start to walk the pavement and shoulder and then Tristan bends down to pick up something off of the roadway. Bringing it over I instantly identify the part, it?s the metal plate used to secure the battery in place. We end up duct taping a square of cardboard on the positive terminal and continue on the route.

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The Motherlode route takes us on an 8 or so mile stretch of unpaved road. The 242 handles the ruts and washboard section just fine. About 50 yards from rejoining asphalt, suddenly the check engine light lights up on the dashboard. Continuing on the route, the car runs normally so decide to keep moving. Stopping to stretch our legs, we also take turns sitting on the front corners to see if any noises from the suspension can be coaxed out, but nothing definitive is identified.

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Late in the afternoon we return to the motel in Placerville and take spot along the pool to swap stories with the other participants about our experiences throughout the day. Aside from the CEL appearing and the periodic front-end noise, the 242 seemed to be taking things just fine. It is a relief to have be trouble-free during a day of strenuous and spirited driving.

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The Test Continues: Motherlode 400, Day Two

Sunday morning Tristan and I begin the prep of the car for the second day. He gets out the lug wrench and checks each of the tires and finds the rear left requires the nuts to be snugged up a bit. Going through the fastener box a correct threaded bolt is located and the battery tie down plate is reinstalled. I attempt to manually clear the codes triggering the CEL but it still remains activated. Consider unplugging the ECU but after the crappy running from the Friday, we elect to not bother and keep driving with it on. Fluid levels are checked as well as the radiator and vacuum hoses. Once this is all completed, the tools are put away and the car is packed up.

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The afternoon segment of Day Two features two different routes to the ending point outside of Murphys, CA, CA 4 over Ebbetts Pass or going farther south to CA 106 over the Sonora Pass. Driving via the Sonora Pass means starting earlier because of the extra distance and this is the route we want to take. Soon after leaving the motel parking lot, join up with a Porsche 911 and a Sunbeam Tiger making for some spirited driving. Eventually we are separated and it isn?t until driving along CA 88 do we encounter more Motherlode participants. Arriving in Markleeville and heading into one of the local lunch spots, ending up marooned at our table due to lack of wait staff.

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With the time delay caused by the lunch stop, begin to rethink the Sonora Pass route. Friends driving a BMW 2.0CS convince us to join them on the Ebbetts Pass route. A BMW 2002 joins the procession and soon start the climb towards the 8,700? pass. Soon after crossing over the pass it is evident the 2.0CS is not feeling normal happy and spritely self. After several times it slows down and has a hard time getting back to speed, it pulls over along the side of the road. Norm the 2.0CS driver wants to swap the plugs and lucky enough the 2002 has a unused set in the trunk. The plugs are swapped out, the cars are started and get back on the road. The 2.0CS still continues to be contemptuous, letting out a loud and visible backfires and having trouble keeping speed.

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This continues for another 10 or so miles when they pull off a saloon/watering hole/retox facility known as "The Lube Room". Letting the cars cool down, we head inside and order a round in the meantime. Norm now suspects a carburetor issue and begins to research that on his laptop with the bar?s wifi. After finishing the round of drinks, Norm with Tristan?s and the Steve the BMW 2002 driver assistance begin to take a part the carbs. They are field stripped on the trunk and after a bit, Norm figures out there is an issue with the floats not closing properly. They are able to get them back in working order, reinstalled and the BMW seems to be back to its normal self driving the last of the route into Murphys.

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20 or so cars end up staying in Murphy?s on Sunday night instead of immediately making the drive back home after the post-event dinner at the Ironstone Winery. The Murphy?s Saloon becomes ground zero of those choosing to become Mother-loaded.

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The Day After: aka The Limp Home

Monday morning pack up the Volvo and start the journey back with fellow San Franciscans driving a BMW 1600, Porsche 356 and a Renault Dinalpin A110. (Both 1600 and the Dinalpin have been profiled in Petrolicious videos in this past year.) End up making a pitstop in Angels Camp to pick up items at a bakery run by on of our vintage car friends. While in Angels Camp the 356 fails to initially start, something which periodically happened to the Porsche during the Motherlode. It eventually it coughs to life and our next stop becomes the local autoparts store to acquire a 6V coil which the owner speculates is the problem. Keeping the 356 running in the parking lot and the driver elects to keep pushing to San Francisco rather than swap out parts.

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Leaving Angels Camp spot the Volvo 122S on the road ahead of our convoy. Coming down the front range we catch up to the 122S and each one of us pass it. As the 242 goes by, I see an arm come out of the driver’s window with his thumb pointed downward. Looking for a suitable place to pull over the 122s slowly diminished in the mirror. This section of highway is completely devoid of trees and I want to find a place with shade as the day is already in the low 90s.

Eventually pull into a gas station and I see they had texted me which I hadn’t noticed while driving. I start to compose the text back when I see them in the distance. The 122S pulls into the shade of the station and they describe a tale of the car’s distress in not having any power in 3rd or 4th gear and running really hot. They mention it happening the day before and someone adjusting the distributor. Getting a timing light from the trunk of the 242, hook it up and cannot see any of the timing marks. Grab the distributor and find no resistance and it is able to turn easily. Rotate it and then see timing marks appear in the strobe. Adjusting to around 8 Deg BTDC, the engine suddenly takes a friendlier and smoother tone. Getting out a tool kit, attempt to tighten the bolt on the collar but something has gone bad and it is unable to keep the distributor securely in one place.

Pondering a possible fix, reject utilizing duct tape as I figure the engine heat will loosen the adhesive. Going back to my 242 I look in the trunk and then see a possible solution. Rip a section of cardboard off a larger sheet which is in there as a surface to lie on if needing to do any under car repairs. Walking back to the 122S, fold the cardboard up and bend it in the middle to form a V shape. It is just thick enough wedge between the distributor and the cylinder head. I recheck the timing and then create an alignment mark in the grime of the head to reposition the distributor if the cardboard isn’t able keep things from moving.

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The BMW, Porsche and Renault are ready to leave and I tell them the 242 will assume escort duty and not to wait for the Volvos. They noisily depart the gas station and are soon out of sight. Finish putting the tools in the trunk and followed the 122S back onto the highway. After a couple miles pull up next to the Amazon and see a thumbs-up and smile beaming back. There are no more issues with either car during the final. 100 miles back to San Francisco. Arrive in the city at around 2pm and about two hours later drive Tristan to the airport so he can catch his flight back to Denver. Total mileage turned out to be almost 800 miles for the four-day excursion.

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Overall, the 242 ran better than expected during the weekend, at least once making it past Sacramento on Friday afternoon. While the car could be dialed-in more to make it better handle the twisty and winding roads, it is a respectable and fun car to drive. The days after coming back from the Motherlode, I rode a strong wave of contentment on how the car operated and performed. It took a fair bit of work to put into the car to get it ready for such a journey and I am pretty gratified and proud of my efforts and labor.

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