Manx Club

Hi :hello: to all our old friends and new friends. We have had quite the adventure!! Thanks to everyone!! You made this an unforgettable trip and a real blast!! We both thoroughly enjoyed Big Bear, the company, our runs and the festivities! The buggies were cool too!! We could never find that many buggies out East in 1 place, that's for sure! Well we made it home today!! (7/15/07) Would have made it home yesterday if it weren't for continued trouble. As many of you know, we left CT on 6/30 and arrived in CA on 7/4. We made and immediate call to the Meyers' for help. We began having trouble in AL when we think we bought bad gas. The car began to loose power and ping. Tom changed the timing and we started using octane booster with a little improvement. @ the Meyers, we pulled the engine and took the heads to VW Pardise. They said the car was running lean and that we burned one of the exhaust valves. On the way to Big Bear we stopped off @ AJ Sims for a distributor with and advance and some carb advice. The car was running much better. We made it to Big Bear and had a BLAST!!!! We both wish we could bring you all closer to CT or us much closer to CA. From Big Bear we left for national parks. Zion was beautiful, but HOT and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was awesome!! The car seemed to be running better. Then, in NM it happened.....this loud snapping noise and gross loss of power. Of course, I was driving...yeah, you all know what I mean...the GIRL was @ the wheel....it must be my fault, right? Well we were stuck on I 40 about 50 miles west of Albequerque (in the middle of nowhere). Even AAA wouldn't service the area! To make a long story short, we snapped a valve spring into 3 pieces! :help: So we had to figure out how we would get home. After spending a lot of we had a U Haul to load the Manxter into and the towing company lifted the car into the truck. The manxter got to ride the last 2000 miles home. But, we made it and had a great adventure!! We Loved seeing everyone and enjoyed all but the last 2000 miles of our adventure. But we are safe and sound and home in time for *UGH* work. We will post pictures soon. Kathleen

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Sorry to hear about your car not making it all the way, but at least you made it home, altogether. I really enjoyed seeing you all again, and you won some ribbons!! A great time was had by all!! Just one question,? What heads are on your motor, as you seemed to have problems coming out with a valve or? Out here, myself and most of my closest friends use the CB 044 heads, valve size a personal preference. They are pricey, but worth it for the dependability.[/FONT]

Tom and Kathleen, it was great meeting both of you and glad to hear you made it back home safely.

Thanks everyone. Manxter10- that was the size of the U-Haul truck. *The only difference was the truck had a turtle on it. LOL * Kathleen Jimbo - thanks for the "extreme run" off road ride, it was a pleasure to spend the day with you. newmanx59 - thanks for the advise over the phone, that helped us make it to Valley Center where we could do the valve job. *Dale - It was really great to meet you and see the famous "joy stick shifter PLUS" in your buggy. I should have spoken up while out there, but I would have loved to see you operate the stick.* Kathleen The heads were CB 044 heads, single springs, with about 19,000 miles on them. The burned exaust valve problem was our fuel problem (bad gas, wrong compression, lack of cooling, ect), the broken valve spring was a different matter. Unlike most valve springs, these seemed to have a rough outside surface on the wire that was used to make the spring, that could cause stress risers that would cause failure. This is the same engine combination we have used in the past, but this time it was under more stress than normal. The hills were larger, the altitiude was higher, the air temp was much higher and we finally found the limit. The Subaru engine will be in the car for next year. Tom * edited by Kathleen

Tom and Kathleen, Glad to hear you made it home.Sorry to hear about your engine problems but you two are still two cool people that I got a chanch to meet. That offer to move to Reno still stands. Lotsa work and close to all the buggy action. Housing prices still dropping. Buggybob Reno,nv

T&C, There is just no way I can express in meaningful words what it means to us that aren?t able to travel the country in our buggy?s, and listen to the adventures you two share driving your Manxter around the country. Tom, you are one of the luckiest men alive to have a wife that will spend days on end, hot, cold, wet, sun burned, wind blown, filthy and just plain uncomfortable. Shucks, most men I know wouldn?t do it either? But you are having the adventure of a life time. So, years from now when the grand kids are sitting on your lap and asking ?Granmaw what did you do when you were a kid??, Well, back when there were cars??? We never seem to remember the trips that went well, it?s the one?s that didn?t we can?t seem to forget. Keep it up, you two keep the juices flowing. Bob ?Towd Dude? Kornoff

T&C, Sorry to hear about your engine malfunction. It's a shame that the quality of aftermarket VW parts is such that you can't depend on them to operate for a reasonable amount of time without failing. All in all it sounds like you still had an enjoyable trip. I hope to make the trip someday myself. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Towd dude - Yes, we know we are lucky to find a life partner who enjoys the same things. We both love to travel. The dune buggy just adds a twist and has introduced us to many GREAT people! We are glad to be together doing these "adventures" and will continue as long as we can. We now have pictures posted here: http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album389 Tom & Kathleen

Hello, I am sorry to here of your misfortune ($) but after reading all the responces to your posts, you must be wonderful people. As my fiance says" your life experiances make you who you are". Hopefully we will meet you someday. Enjoy your adventures! jason

I DON`T KNOW IF I COULD DRIVE THAT FAIR. YOU ARE MY HEROS. GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU MADE IT HOME SAFE. I`M SURE YOU SAID TO EACH OTHER, AS YOU BOTH WALK IN THE FRONT DOOR. {NOW THAT WAS A HELL OF A TRIP} STUART SAN DIEGO http://www.meyersmanx.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=2872 WWW.STUARTBENJAMIN.COM

Joe, There you go gettin' all 'nowledgeable on me aggin. Yes, the turtle is better. Now it looks like our truck! Actually, our son got the first shower when we arrived home! That's kids for ya! We came home to both sons and the fiancee of the younger one. The house was a pit! Two weeks without being vacuumed with 3 cats and hairballs in the house. It's about cleaned up now. Hard to do with work and life. Tomorrow I start on the outside! Kathleen

Bob Enjoyed the tag sale run with you. We'll keep the Reno info tucked into our hats. Right now we aren't ready for a move. But I seem to remember you ...or was it Paul....offering storage space for a buggy out your way. That may make more sense than trying to drive out and back. Seems like an interesting solution.... Now how big would that garage space be? LOL Kathleen

Stuart Well we both have stories to tell the "kids" in the future. Hopefully you have some pictures of your off road adventure. You certainly have the testimonials! It was great talking to you @ lunch and hearing your tale. I could imagine myself in the same place.....I certainly have no off road driving experience but I had Jimbo take me on an extreme run 1 and 1/2 years ago and decided I didn't have what it takes to drive an extreme run (besides the fact my buggy certainly isn't set up for off roading) A lot of what we drove scared the $#it out of me when I thought about actually driving over that terrain or on the edge of the mountain. Where's the guardrail?!!! Kathleen