Never Say Never Again...

Anyway, COOL CHICK had been totally bogged down by an incredibly ridiculous work schedule on top of classes at Stanford, so we hadn't been able to meet earlier despite some good pleas on my part. I had just about conceded that we'll probably NEVER see each other for the longest time until, lo and behold, one day she tells me... work is over and maybe we can meet? Finally! So I wasn't about to throw away this opportunity for a happy reunion.

But the last Dumbarton Express for the Union City BART ran at 7:15p, way before we would finish having dinner. So mass transit was not a possibility because I wouldn't be able to get home after seeing her. And I WAS going to see her. It took me only an instant to come to a decision.

"No, I'm driving the B," I matter-of-factly state.

Immediately, waves of protest start to roll off my housemate's tongue. "Don't do it, you may never make it!" she exclaims. "Your car has died 3 times in one week already!" she says. "And what about the headlight?"

But I would have none of it.

"You're so crazy!" she says in exasperation.

Crazy, perhaps. Determined, definitely! I was going to Palo Alto, Goldie was gonna take me, and we were going to have a splendid time. At this time I didn't really have much more than a sketchy plan but kept reminding myself, "You've gotta have confidence you'll come through. You gotta have faith everything'll be all right."

Falling asleep on top of my Haynes Workshop manual and the woman's Book of Mormon, I was still in need of some insight. The subconscious mind went to work during the brief dark hours of the night. Tomorrow is going be a big day!

Time to Execute

So on Friday, I naturally awaken at 5:00a, with a fleeting thought in my mind. The spark plugs! Three months ago I took up the advice from other performance-minded Brit Car motorheads to go with a strong coil and Bosch Platinum spark plugs gapped way over the stock 0.025" recommendation. [Warning: techy-geek-speak immediately ahead!] The rationale was that a wider gap would provide for a larger spark and hence more power and performance, provided that the coil was strong enough to provide the necessary voltage. So I upgraded the ignition accordingly, gapping the spark plugs at a "conservative" 0.037 inches. Hey, some of you out there are running a gap of >0.040"! I figured, with my awesome 40,000-volt coil, 0.037" would be no problem.

And it hadn't been, although I noticed that in addition to stalling out at traffic lights, Goldie was also knocking and pinging under high loads and quick acceleration. Hmmmmm....

I decided to reduce the spark plug gap to 0.027". So there I was, early in the morning poking my head under Goldie's bonnet. Had to work fast... you see, in Berkeley one could get a ticket just having one's hood up, much less for fixing one's car on the street! I was closing the hood just as a police car passed by... I was so relieved he decided not to give me a hard time. Better things to do I guess... phew!

The sun was just breaking from its deep sleep just as I was ready to roll. Fire her up... all sounds good. Driveability? Much improved! No pinging and knocking in any gear! What a difference! Could this have solved the stalling problem too?

Now, onto the headlamp problem. I was definitely going to have to drive home at night and I wasn't about to get pulled over again! So I stop by Pep Boys in Fremont at exactly 8:00a, just as they're about to open. Good. While I wait I turn Goldie on and off again, pleased that she is having absolutely no problems starting. I'm getting kinda giddy. Agonizing Problem #1 is solved!

I get a pair of Sylvania Halogen headlamps. I can hear you purists out there gasping, but in this case there's no way I'm going to pay $100 for one genuine Lucas incandescent headlight when each of the far-brighter Sylvania Halogens costs only $9!

I replace the lights in the parking lot in 20 minutes. I leave off the chrome trims so to make adjustment of them easier. I decide that I'll have a shop aim them for me.

I get to Palo Alto, with absolutely no problems this time! I quickly stop by two shops on El Camino, and the last one (a Shell station) says they'll aim the lights with a machine for $30. "Do it," I say. I leave my car over there and walk over to my office. I actually got there earlier than the last two days, despite making the necessary fixes on Goldie!

I am now totally upbeat, since everything had come together that day with perfect execution. Well, almost. When I went back to the Shell Station during lunch, the manager told me that the mechanic couldn't find Goldie's headlight switch and that he didn't want to deal with "finicky" MG's anyway. Ah well, I'll aim them myself then. I drive back to work and improvise a method: driving forward and backwards in front of a wall, I watch the headlight spots on the wall. I adjust the headlamps until their projected spots stay in the same place as I do this. Problem #2 is solved!

So by mid-afternoon, a month's worth a problems is gone and all is ready. I can get off work at a reasonable hour for once in order to meet with COOL CHICK's on time...

Afterword

So, another Brit car episode with a happy ending. For the first time in a month, Goldie wasn't pinging and knocking, nor did I have to push her. She was now truly GoldenEyes with her new headlights, lighting the way through the back roads of Portola Valley to the diner that COOL CHICK and I went to. Yes, I now had the confidence in Goldie to entrust her with the duty of safely getting us to dinner and back, even though COOL CHICK generously offered me the keys to her sporty little Merkur. (Hey, thanks. Actually, I DO want to drive your car some time... maybe next time?) And yah, dinner was great. Of course I'm going to have to leave out the details, but I'll just say she's a total delight to be with and leave it at that so I don't get in trouble. As the ol' MG ads used to say, Safety Fast!