Skookum Maru

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  • Garret
    Hills of Vermont
    • Apr 2005
    • 48655

    Re: Skookum Maru

    I get the $ for the GT. Here's a regualar B (rubber bumper though) near you I just noticed on eBay. $7K might be more affordable & it has an aftermarket hardtop:

    "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

    Comment

    • Alan71
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2018
      • 209

      Re: Skookum Maru

      Hello Chris,

      AAH, A3!

      I bought the first A3 Sportback that our local Audi dealer had. I'd been waiting for it to make an appearance in the U.S. .
      I loved that car. It went to someone I know with a 140,000 miles on it it 2013.

      I'd ordered a TTS that I love even more.
      I was concerned about it not being a 6-speed manual but found the dual-clutch, sequential shift transmission, to be pretty interesting.
      Only 36,000 miles in a little less than 10 years. I drive it just a few times a month since I retired in 2015.
      When I uncover it in the garage it still surprises me with it's good (TMI) looks.
      Folks ask what it is since there are so few around. It's possible they've never seen one.

      Regards,
      Alan

      3E3E9349-94A1-4638-8649-17B1E1D2BFA6_1_201_a.jpg

      Comment

      • Rumars
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2016
        • 1318

        Re: Skookum Maru

        Originally posted by cstevens
        For now I just fill the tank every weekend and freeze. Even more since it has no turn signals so I drive with the window down for hand signals. I tell myself that it builds character...
        Stop building character, there's no need for it: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Intellige...erId=101087374
        As for the fuel gauge, it's really simple, reset the trip odometer if you have one, if not, write down the number. Believe me, you get used to it when your car comes with a factory supplied dipstick.

        Comment

        • cstevens
          Dreaming of a boat
          • Nov 2014
          • 6357

          Re: Skookum Maru

          Originally posted by Garret
          I get the $ for the GT. Here's a regualar B (rubber bumper though) near you I just noticed on eBay. $7K might be more affordable & it has an aftermarket hardtop:
          I'd love to find a car for under $10k but I expect I'm going to end up somewhere north of that number. The rubber bumper cars have had something of a rehabilitation in the last few years but I have never been able to love them. Still, I have to admit that's a pretty handsome car even if it's not what I'm after.

          Originally posted by Alan71
          Hello Chris,

          AAH, A3!

          I bought the first A3 Sportback that our local Audi dealer had. I'd been waiting for it to make an appearance in the U.S. .
          I loved that car. It went to someone I know with a 140,000 miles on it it 2013.

          I'd ordered a TTS that I love even more.
          I was concerned about it not being a 6-speed manual but found the dual-clutch, sequential shift transmission, to be pretty interesting.
          Only 36,000 miles in a little less than 10 years. I drive it just a few times a month since I retired in 2015.
          When I uncover it in the garage it still surprises me with it's good (TMI) looks.
          Folks ask what it is since there are so few around. It's possible they've never seen one.

          Regards,
          Alan
          Cheers Alan! I also was impressed with the A3 Sportback when it first came to the US. We bought ours in 2009. It was black with a tan interior (my wife's favorite color combination) and had the 6 speed manual box. We both loved driving it but after 14 years it is time to move on. I like the TTS too, but my wife is not a fan of the styling. If we get another modern car it would probably be a Porsche Macan but I'm holding out for something vintage.

          Originally posted by Rumars
          Stop building character, there's no need for it: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Intellige...erId=101087374
          As for the fuel gauge, it's really simple, reset the trip odometer if you have one, if not, write down the number. Believe me, you get used to it when your car comes with a factory supplied dipstick.
          Hey, I hadn't thought about wireless turn signals. Those would work but they are hardly period-correct. Something like this would be a bit more appropriate:




          Someday I'll get a set of those and wire them up with a period aftermarket column switch. In the meantime I'm happy to make hand signals. Even if most of the time people just wave back at me... As for tracking fuel, I used to use exactly the system that you recommend but the speedometer and odometer died a few months back making it impossible to track mileage. I haven't had a chance to track down the problem yet. Could be the cable, could be the gauge.
          - Chris

          Any single boat project will always expand to encompass the set of all possible boat projects.

          Life is short. Go boating now!

          Comment

          • Rumars
            Senior Member
            • Dec 2016
            • 1318

            Re: Skookum Maru

            There were period correct ones but they seem to have disappeared. Right now all I can find are these, a little less ugly ones (maybe a chrome spray paint will help). https://swifthitch.com/collections/s...s-for-trailers

            If the odometer is dead (ruptured cable more then likely), the next method is time. You work out the approximate gal/h consumption then start the on-board cronometer every time you drive. Strap an old wristwatch to the steering wheel, or use your phone. I'm sure by now someone has even made an app to tell you how much time you spend in the car. Of course you can also develop a routine to fill her up every monday, but that doesn't work on longer drives.
            Just to stay old school, there are still watches with bezel calculators for fuel consumption, time, etc.

            Comment

            • _QB_
              Senior Member
              • Apr 2012
              • 303

              Re: Skookum Maru

              Y'all entertaining a descent into the realm of Lucas, Prince of Darkness, and no love for the E-Type Jag, prettiest of the lot?

              And why this lust for coupes? Roadster or GTFO, people. And no whining about Seattle weather! These are British cars fer cryin out loud.

              Comment

              • Garret
                Hills of Vermont
                • Apr 2005
                • 48655

                Re: Skookum Maru

                Originally posted by _QB_
                Y'all entertaining a descent into the realm of Lucas, Prince of Darkness, and no love for the E-Type Jag, prettiest of the lot?

                And why this lust for coupes? Roadster or GTFO, people. And no whining about Seattle weather! These are British cars fer cryin out loud.
                You're implying it occasionally rains in the UK?

                Lucas is fine, as long as you carry a spare set of points, a condenser, & a coil in the glovebox. What else would it be for? Oh right - some silicone spray for the ignition wires & cap.
                "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

                Comment

                • _QB_
                  Senior Member
                  • Apr 2012
                  • 303

                  Re: Skookum Maru

                  Originally posted by Garret
                  You're implying it occasionally rains in the UK?.
                  Yes, and that is why British roadsters will keep you somewhat dryer with the top up. Usually.

                  Comment

                  • cstevens
                    Dreaming of a boat
                    • Nov 2014
                    • 6357

                    Re: Skookum Maru

                    Originally posted by _QB_
                    Y'all entertaining a descent into the realm of Lucas, Prince of Darkness, and no love for the E-Type Jag, prettiest of the lot?

                    And why this lust for coupes? Roadster or GTFO, people. And no whining about Seattle weather! These are British cars fer cryin out loud.
                    I was thinking about it, and realized that I've owned American, Japanese, German, Italian and Swedish cars, but have somehow never owned a British vehicle before, despite a long family history with the things. My mother learned to drive in my dad's Jaguar XK120. Legend also has it that she ran it into a wall... And my grandfather had a string of British sports cars - MGs and Austin-Healeys - including at one time this cracking Lester MG PB Special that he imported from England in the 1970s. (I do think "cracking" is the proper adjective here - I absolutely loved this car when I was a kid).




                    (Photo by Steve McKelvie)

                    However I am looking forward to the full British car experience, Lucas electrics and all. Although at one time I did have a 1966 Maserati Sebring that featured Lucas fuel injection and fuel pumps. That system was developed for the Jaguar D-Type and was both fantastically complex and fantastically expensive to service. I ended up replacing it with triple Weber DCOE carburetors and was much happier after that.

                    As for the Jaguar E-Type... That is one of my all-time favorite cars. Just sublime. I may have E-Type dreams but I have an MGB bank account so that's what I'm looking for now. And a coupe because I like coupes. I've had convertibles as well, including this 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce Spider which was restored by my grandfather:



                    The wind-in-your hair thing is fun and bracing, but to be honest I think coupes are almost always better looking than roadsters, the MGB and the fabulous E-Type included (leaving aside the somewhat unfortunately-proportioned E-Type 2+2). That's a personal preference of course - others may reasonably disagree. And coupes were more frequently raced in period, so I associate them with performance more than the open top versions. Plus I think I got enough weather riding motorcycles in my 20s and 30s and bicycles in my 40s so I don't need to experience any more of it than necessary in my 50s.

                    On that topic I have an amusing (to me at least) anecdote about motorcycles, convertibles, and weather. Up until I was in my mid-twenties I owned only motorcycles, and rode them in every sort of weather, including snow up to a point. One frigid, damp Seattle morning - the sort where it feels like it's going to snow but hasn't quite decided to yet - I was riding down I-5 when I passed a guy driving an MG Midget with the top down. My first thought was "Damn that looks cold!" My second thought was "That was a hilariously dumb thing to think - you are the one riding a motorcycle!"

                    Originally posted by Garret
                    You're implying it occasionally rains in the UK?

                    Lucas is fine, as long as you carry a spare set of points, a condenser, & a coil in the glovebox. What else would it be for? Oh right - some silicone spray for the ignition wires & cap.
                    Originally posted by _QB_
                    Yes, and that is why British roadsters will keep you somewhat dryer with the top up. Usually.
                    You know they make electronic ignitions nowadays, right? No one has to mess with points unless they really want to. I usually carry nothing more than a few basic tools and a really big jump pack. But I'll share one more story on the topic of points. It involves the Maserati Sebring so here's a photo of that car. Mostly because I never get tired of looking at it, although I could never afford to own one any more.



                    How I came to own that car is a great story of its own, but more to the point(s), it had some interesting features that were inherited from the twin cam six cylinder engine's heritage powering Maserati racing cars, including twin plugs per cylinder, two coils, two sets of points... basically two of everything that could go wrong in the ignition system. Like this.



                    One day my then-girlfriend and now wife Victoria and I were out driving it on a lovely spring Seattle day, as one does when one is young and has no obligations other than to drive a beautiful car in the sun. Only to have the car suddenly fail to proceed. We pulled over to the side of the road and I opened the hood and stared at the engine for a bit. It had always been remarkably reliable so I had gotten complacent and had left the house without any tools at all so I was at a stand - what to do?

                    We had plenty of gas, and I was reasonably certain that the fuel system was working fine because I had completely rebuilt it - tanks, hoses, pumps, filters, everything - when I installed the carburetors. That left the ignition. The amazingly complex, dual-everything, ignition. Where to start? The heart of the whole thing was the Marelli distributor, with its maze of spark plug wires, $800.00 (if you could find one) no-longer-available distributor cap, and not one but two sets of everything inside that could go wrong. Always go for the most complex bit first, I thought, as it's likely the source of a problem. So I popped the distributor cap off and poked around. And found that one of the sets of points had moved on its shaft and was not opening at all. Points not opening meant no spark. No spark meant no joy from the big six. But, foolishly, I had no tools so I could not solve this entirely simple problem. Argh!

                    Casting about for a way out of my own mess, I saw that we were parked a block or so away from a 7-Eleven store. I thought there was just a chance that they would have some sort of screwdriver that we could use to fix the problem. So Tory walked down the road to see what she could find while I stayed with the car. A few minutes later she came back with what tools were available. It was the cheapest sort of no-name screwdriver, pliers and adjustable wrench set imaginable. Utterly worthless. But I was able to use it to open the points again and gap them by eye just accurately enough to get us home again.

                    So there you go. Lucas ignitions don't scare me much after dealing with the Italian variety!
                    - Chris

                    Any single boat project will always expand to encompass the set of all possible boat projects.

                    Life is short. Go boating now!

                    Comment

                    • MattGER
                      Member
                      • Apr 2022
                      • 33

                      Re: Skookum Maru

                      You love boating? And British cars?

                      Then there is only one way to go imho ;-)

                      Comment

                      • Garret
                        Hills of Vermont
                        • Apr 2005
                        • 48655

                        Re: Skookum Maru

                        Having owned many British cars & some Italian ones, I have to agree that Italian electrics are a pretty good training course for British. The real joy in British electrics is when you have an old car with cloth insulation where the colors have all faded to a dull brown.

                        Your comments on coupes vs. roadsters perfectly 'splains why we have the different types: different strokes for different folks!
                        "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

                        Comment

                        • cstevens
                          Dreaming of a boat
                          • Nov 2014
                          • 6357

                          Re: Skookum Maru

                          Originally posted by MattGER
                          You love boating? And British cars?

                          Then there is only one way to go imho ;-)
                          Ah, yes. A Series II or Series III 109" Land Rover is absolutely in my dream garage. My wife thinks they are silly for someone who lives in a city and doesn't own a sheep farm, and she's right, but they are far and away the most evocative go-anywhere vehicle on the planet. Make mine olive green please.

                          Originally posted by Garret
                          Having owned many British cars & some Italian ones, I have to agree that Italian electrics are a pretty good training course for British. The real joy in British electrics is when you have an old car with cloth insulation where the colors have all faded to a dull brown.

                          Your comments on coupes vs. roadsters perfectly 'splains why we have the different types: different strokes for different folks!
                          Absolutely Garret. And my dad would certainly agree with you in his preference for the open cars over tin tops. But then I prefer station wagons to saloons too so I'm strange anyway.

                          Originally posted by HRDavies
                          The fixed-head coupe E was several mph faster, quieter, stronger, and to many eyes, better-looking than the drop-head ...
                          Indeed. My thoughts exactly!
                          - Chris

                          Any single boat project will always expand to encompass the set of all possible boat projects.

                          Life is short. Go boating now!

                          Comment

                          • Garret
                            Hills of Vermont
                            • Apr 2005
                            • 48655

                            Re: Skookum Maru

                            Ha! I'd rather have a wagon than a sedan - so it seems I'm possibly stranger than you. Not that this is a contest of course...
                            "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

                            Comment

                            • cstevens
                              Dreaming of a boat
                              • Nov 2014
                              • 6357

                              Re: Skookum Maru

                              Originally posted by HRDavies
                              Well, if we're gonna talk strange ...
                              I have never been, am not now, and will never be cool enough to drive the Harold and Maude E-Type Hearse. But if we are talking about movie cars that get destroyed on camera then my all-time favorite will always be the Lamborghini Miura from the opening credits of The Italian Job. I'm sure I've watched that driving sequence a hundred times, and could watch it a thousand times more. An orange Miura, Matt Munroe on the sound track, Italian Alps, wrap around sunglasses.... I will also never be that cool but I can aspire to it.

                              - Chris

                              Any single boat project will always expand to encompass the set of all possible boat projects.

                              Life is short. Go boating now!

                              Comment

                              • AJZimm
                                Seasoned
                                • Sep 2008
                                • 2122

                                Re: Skookum Maru

                                Originally posted by cstevens
                                Casting about for a way out of my own mess, I saw that we were parked a block or so away from a 7-Eleven store. I thought there was just a chance that they would have some sort of screwdriver that we could use to fix the problem. So Tory walked down the road to see what she could find while I stayed with the car. A few minutes later she came back with what tools were available. It was the cheapest sort of no-name screwdriver, pliers and adjustable wrench set imaginable. Utterly worthless. But I was able to use it to open the points again and gap them by eye just accurately enough to get us home again.
                                I had a similar experience about 40 years, but with a friend's car, a VW Rabbit. We were on a road trip to a hunting area. It was night, a long way from the nearest town and the car started first hesitating, losing power, then stopped. My friend, who knew nothing about cars, was both mystified and upset because had just had the car serviced. I did the usual routine - fuel first and if it isn't fuel it's likely electrics. I finally spotted that the points in the distributor had no gap. He had enough tools that I was able to set the gap by eye. Problem solved, we carried on, only to have the car die again a hundred miles or so down the highway. Points closed again. WTF? I then realized that when the garage had replaced the points, they hadn't greased the follower, so that the distributor shaft was wearing away the follower and effectively closing the points. I swiped a little grease from a tie rod end, re-set the points and we had no problems after that.
                                Alex

                                “No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.” - Robert "Hoot" Gibson, Astronaut

                                http://www.alexzimmerman.ca

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