We found a transmission shop in Provo, and the mechanics were nice enough to do a free diagnostic on the gear box. Bad news. Needs to be rebuilt. Thousand dollars at the least. Soooo...Sean responds to this in the only way he could: He asked where the nearest junkyard was.
We found one a couple miles away, complete with junkyard dog and all, and Sean sold the car for $225 (He originally paid $600 for it). It was all rather funny. My car is small and was packed with gear to boot, but somehow we found a way to pack three grown men and all our supplies into Bopper. It wasn't pretty, but we made it to beautiful Moab in time for sunset.
On to Denver, Bopper had a very hard time making it up the mountains. With its tiny 1.5 liter engine with 60 horsepower, driving through the Vail Pass at 12,000 feet was very slow going. With the pedal all the way to the floor, and downshifting as much as I could, at some points I was only going 25 mph in a 70 mph zone. SUVs and other modern cars were screaming past us, but I had the hazard lights on.
We then went on to New Mexico. You have to be very careful driving through rural state roads because you might get caught in a speed trap. As we did in Magdalena, on our way to visit the radio telescopes. Yes, I got the $58 dollar ticket for going 20 miles over the speed limit.
Even better, an hour later we ran out of gas in the middle of the New Mexico desert. Bopper's fuel gauge is broken, so we had to simply write down the mileage upon every fill-up and make sure to get gas every 250 miles or so. The farthest I've gone on a single tank of gas is 300 miles. Sean was driving as fast as Bopper could go (84 mph), the wind was very strong, but we were trying to make it to Socorro (290 miles) to save time and make it to the telescopes before sunset.
At 270 miles into it, we lost power and had to pull over to the side of the road. Sean wondered if the car's fuel pump had broken, but I knew we had just run out of gas. We tried to flag some cars down for help, and thankfully it didn't take long before someone pulled over. A nice man in a Toyota FJ drove me into town, we borrowed a gas can, filled it up, and we drove back. The man, Jack Hooper, turned out to be a demolitions engineer in Soccorro, and he even paid for the gas. He was an awesome guy, and we're going to send him a 6-pack of Bell's as a thank you gift.
Bopper did well from there on in, making it to El Paso, Austin, Memphis, and Kentucky. But then something drastic happened. After filling up gas in Columbus, Ohio, we noticed a ratcheting noise eminating from the engine. We pulled over and tried to figure out what it was, but nothing appeared wrong under the hood. Since Columbus was only 120 miles to Cleveland (where I was going for the Neural Interfaces Conference), and Cleveland is then only 150 miles to Ann Arbor, I figured "Ehh...I'll just take a closer look at it when I get into Ann Arbor."
But 50 miles south of Cleveland, Bopper begin to overheat. I pulled over to the side of the road and the radiator was bone-dry. We refilled the radiator with coolant, and then in 10 minutes the engine began overheating again! For the life of me I could not determine where the leak was. At a rest stop I let the car run while I peered under the hood and under the car, but I couldn't not see any leak. Where in the hell was all the coolant going?
So, we had to drive the last 50 miles to Cleveland by stopping every 10 minutes to let the car cool down and refill the radiator. You can see the lovely excitement of such a thing in the two videos below. It took 2.5 hours to travel 50 miles.
Once we arrived in Cleveland, Eric and I parted ways (he took a greyhound back to Ann Arbor), and I was alone again. I took Bopper to the local Toyota dealership to get a diagnostic and possible repair. Mind you, I have not been to a mechanic in five years. Part of my personality that's developed in grad school, among other things, is my transformation into a gearhead. But with a problem I could not figure out, I had reservations about trying to fix the car on the side streets of Cleveland.
Anyway, the mechanics at the dealership had a field day with the car. Surrounded by new Prius, Scion, Camry, Corrola, and Tacoma models, Bopper looked simultaneously completely ridiculous and completely at home. The mechanics would sit in the car, keep looking under the hood, and smile all the time. The car was assigned to the oldest mechanic in the shop, a man in his late 50's named Gil, because he was THE ONLY ONE in the shop who had actually worked on that generation of Tercel. He drove the struggling car into his shop area, got out of the car smiling, saying, "Mannnn....I haven't worked on this car in over 20 years!"
The next day I get a call from the Toyota dealership and my worst fears are realized: blown head gasket. The seal between the engine block and engine head had corroded, and coolant was literally leaking into the engine. Gil told me as soon as he saw wet spark plugs he knew exactly what it was. The head gasket part is only $20, but its a huge labor job, and I was looking at $1500 initial assesment, with the potential for even more cost once he opened the engine up and looked at the state of the valves, cylinders, and piston heads. He said it might be better to replace the whole engine, which he could do for $4000 plus labor.
Gulp. What to do? Should I junk the car and just tell them they can have it? I can't afford the repair, and it's not even worth it anyway. I was only mentally prepared to pay $500 max.
I love this car. I love how old it is, how small it is, and all the history associated with it. I couldn't let it go. If only I could get it back to Ann Arbor, I could try to fix it myself. So, I rented a U-Haul truck with car tow bed in Cleveland, and towed Bopper all the way back to Ann Arbor for the tune of $350. It was a bummer to spend the money, but I was planning to go to New York City anyway after Cleveland, but that final trip was cut short due to Bopper's engine troubles.
And so now, Bopper and I, are back in Ann Arbor after our trek across this beautiful country.
Notice there is absolutely nothing in the storage space of the U-Haul. It was the smallest truck I could rent. All I had was my suitcase, my bookbag, and my guitar, and that all went in the cab!
6 comments:
I am a former devoted passenger of Bopper from its earliest days. I remember when that car was brand new. Whether we were parked on The Hill above Berkeley listening to Pink Floyd or off-roading around Death Valley, I always trusted Bopper to get us to our destination, protect us from the elements and entertain us with magnificent sights through its windows and mesmerizing sounds from its speakers. To think that Bopper's long strange trip may finally be over is too sad to contemplate. I mean, after all, how many cars have had 6 significant figures of pi appear on their odometers?
How many people are there out there like me who have experienced particularly memorable segments of their lives buckled into one of Bopper's seats? There must be quite a few of us by now. Perhaps if we each pitch in a few bucks, enough might be collected to bring the Bopper back to life, to once again roam the highways, and yes, the not so highways of this great country. I hereby pledge $20 (it's not much, but I'm going to have a hard time getting more than that past my wife, who no doubt will think I've lost my mind). If the idea catches on, let me know and I'll mail you a check.
Paul Katz
Westlake, CA
paul dot katz at earthlink dot net
I just began taking the engine apart last night. It's a long process, but beyond my time, is not costing me anything yet. Once I begin getting into the engine, I'll have a better idea of cost of repair. I may take you up on it! More to follow.
If Paul's serious, I'd chip in a bit too.
Tim, are you going to drop in an engine or try to make the repairs to the existing engine? If you're lucky, you'll just need to send the head out for a rebuild & grinding. If you're not, rings and cylinders are going to be too much cost & trouble to fix. But, if you're patient, you might find a used Tercel engine to drop in.
I am going to try to just fix the current engine. I am currently on stop 7 of 32 steps required to access the head gasket. The most difficult thing right now is that the carburator has about 30 emissions controls lines (Damn California Car) going into it, and they all have to be carefully labelled and removed.
It will take me awhile but if I am patient and methodical perhaps I can do it and expose the guts of the engine without damaging anything. Let's just hope, as r mentioned, that it's just the gasket and not the pistons and the like. When I drained the oil it looked like chocolate milk; oil and coolant mixed together. Oh no!
Hi, this is Stanley, the original owner. I first want to say how much I love the fact that Tim is now Bopper's owner. I could not think of a more perfect person to guide Bopper through this rough period of his history.
I, of course, will back Paul up on his generous offer to help pitch in on expenses to get Bopper back in gear. I'll tune into this blog frequently to watch how the developments unfold.
I'd like to use this forum from time-to-time to reminisce about Bopper's colorful history. There are so many stories.
Bopper was considered a legend to those in the know, well before I handed him off to my cousin Shlomo in 1998 when Bopper had 286000 miles. I watch in awe as the legend continues to grow.
My late great father purchased Bopper from Len Sheridan Toyota in Santa Monica, CA in December of 1980. The dealership was close to the beach and a thick low fog had blown in from the Pacific. I first saw Bopper through the thick fog. Bopper's color sparkled a clean cool metallic blue. This was just after America had experienced its first gas shock in which we suffered through long gas lines and high gas prices. Toyota responded by producing high quality, fuel efficient and low priced small cars. At the time, Toyota was a much smaller company than the big three American car companies. Just recently, Toyota surpassed GM to become the world's largest car manufacturer. Bopper was an 81 Tercel - the second model year for Tercels. I had spent the day carefully observing my Dad artfully work several of the area's Toyota dealerships for the best price. By the time we saw Bopper in the Pacific fog, we had a price in mind. My Dad bought Bopper on the spot for just $5000 cash. I was 18 and I think Bopper had about 20 miles on his odometer. That $5000 car has now traveled 339000 miles. Thats well over a light-second and equivalent to going to the moon and about half way back. Bring him all the way home Timmy!!!
In my 286000 miles driving Bopper, I never had a car accident and I was never ever stranded, although there were two close calls. One time as I was commuting to work from Berkeley to Sunnyvale around 1986, the engine abruptly gave out while driving down 101. I think it was due to the alternator. Anyways, I was able to shift into neutral and coast off a surprisingly nearby off-ramp to a surprisingly well-located gas station. I coasted right up to the garage, where I had it promptly fixed and I was back on the road.
Then a truly amazing thing happened. I think it was December of 1991. I was living up in the San Carlos hills. The nearest gas station was located about 2 miles away, in the flats, about a mile from the bottom of the hill. The day before, I had ran out of gas as I drove down the hill to my apartment. I was able to coast to my apartment and park the car facing downhill. This was the only time I had Bopper ever run out of gas. The next morning I decided to see how close to the gas station Bopper could roll to. Bopper would have to roll down the hill, turn right, then turn left at a light, then roll straight for about a mile down a slight gradient, through about 4 four-way stop signs and through another light, then turn left into the gas station. I really did not think this was possible. I knew there had enough gradient if Bopper never stopped but the lights and stop signs would probably make Bopper lose momentum and stop.
Bopper made it down the hill and then right to the first light - but the light was red. No problem - there was just enough gradient to get me going when the left turn arrow came on. Then I rolled through each 4-way stop. One of them was scary - there was a white Cabrolet with 4 giggling Blonde teenage girls that I almost collided with. Approaching the gas station, I had to go through a light and then turn left. This light is red for about 70% of the time - but this time it turned green just as Bopper approached and Bopper rolled on through. Then a gap in the traffic appeared and Bopper turned left into the gas station. Bopper's momentum died precisely at the pump where Bopper drank the gas and was once again (as his bumper sticker says) 'Bound to cover just a little more ground'
More stories to follow...
-Stanley
-Stanley
Thanks for those nice stories Stanley. Yes I don't want to give up Bopper either. I am slowly working on the engine (I will post some pictures up when I finally get the head off). It's a but funny seeing Bopper's guts all over the place. The distributer is off, the radiator is removed, the alternator is off, the cylinder head cover is off, the timing belt is off, and I am just now finishing taking the carburator and intake manifold off. Then, finally then, I can take the head off and take a look at the head gasket. When all is said and done all that will be left of the engine in Bopper is the engine block and the air pump. It's pretty fun, but I am going very slowly with extensive note taking.
I am going to have to replace all the gaskets (gaskets are the rubber seals, like O-rings) that go in between metal parts of the engine, and I don't know how much that will be be. Probably trivial though, under $100. But if I notice serious issues with Bopper, I may start a "Save Bopper" paypal account.
Shlomo told me you've said it's possible to make out in Bopper through a clever arrangement of the seats? I am gonna have to see a drawing of that....
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