Here's a trip summary for those with nothing better to do than read my keyboard dysentery. Pictures are Ray's from many months ago because I haven't developed my film yet.
Saturday (11/11) - My Descent into Madness:
"It's weak and despicable to go on wanting things and not trying to get them." -- Joanna Field (quote printed on my Franklin Planner for 11/11/00, probably the first time I've gotten any use out of the thing. Motivational quotes usually sicken me.)
Fly out of Nashville to Reno. I take a bit of ribbing for carrying a heavy toolbox, and bets are taken on whether they'll let me carry it on. The guy at the luggage check had a smile on his face that suggested a chemical imbalance (self-induced or natural), so I don't think he even cared what was in the box.
As I called my wife to report a safe arrival, I got a call on my cell phone. It was Ray (seller), who was scheduled to pick me up, but there was a strange echo to his voice. He was using the pay phone right next to me!
The '85 urq
is waiting outside. It's Graphite paint and lovely white 8x15 Ronals are
covered in whatever chemical they put on the roads out there, but I'm still
smitten. Driving the car leaves little doubt about the purchase decision.
My capacity for reason drops off sharply. [see bottom of page for full details]
I'm briefly distracted by the scenery in the mountains, then by more car stuff at Ray's house. He has the urq's little cousin, a Rally Golf in Tornado red, and a diminutive off-roader, a Golf Country, plus a G60 Corrado. His house is filled with cool car stuff, like a supercharger on top of the stereo and an oil filter bracket by the phone. The ultimate was the Spearco catalog available for browsing whilst answering nature's call.
All of that doesn't sway me from my intended purpose, though, and we finalize the formalities. After the deal is struck, we meet up with Chris Maresca for some good local brew and grub, and plenty of car nerding. Since the urq was still wearing SP8K shoes, we took the Country. On the way back, a side trip up a steep, snowy trail provided ample evidence of the capabilities of this little VW. Plenty of grip, ground clearance, and skid plates in a light, nimble package. Simply stunning.
With excited thoughts of urq ownership dancing in my head, I drifted off to sleep in Ray's cozy loft...
Sunday - Will I be Driven to Cannibalism?
154 years ago, not far from my location, the bitter cold caused members of the Donner Party to feast on the flesh of their fallen comrades. That same bitter cold nearly did in my urq. All attempts to revive her met with failure. I briefly had thoughts of cannibalism--would a VW coil or sensor even work in this car? Luckily, a 15,000 BTU kerosene blower eventually cured the frostbite, and I was on the road by 4pm.
Not so fast! As I'm driving along Donner Lake, the evil spirits strike again. The cabin begins to fill with smoke as my new car tries to asphyxiate me. I rip out the ashtray to find the culprit, and I watch as the insulation on a wire melts before my eyes. A quick shutdown prevents combustion. The wire is obviously a hack job. It's shoved directly into one terminal of a female connector, and seems to be soldered in. A quick slice with a pocket knife "cures" the problem, and the only apparent ill effect is that some of the accessories on non-switched power (clock, cig. lighter, hazard flashers) stopped working. There'll be plenty of time to figure the whole thing out later. I find it ironic that a big reason I went for the '85 is because of the better electrics. [sigh] It's still an Audi, I guess.
Once on the road,
everything was great. Unfortunately, I had less than two hours of daylight.
The car came with a pair of brand new H1/H4 lamps (see them test fitted at
left), but they were nestled in the trunk. The 4K DOT units that were mounted
(and badly aligned) were next to useless. Luckily, there was a full moon
out, so my drive across Nevada wasn't hampered too greatly.
Still not quite sure about the car's reliability, I took it easy, only rarely loosening the reigns of the K27 cold side to gulp the frigid night air. The bright moon gave me eerie glimpses of mountains in the distance and the occasional cloud-spewing factory. When not focused on the dimly lit road ahead, my eyes were scanning the gauges. The digital voltmeter was dancing on either side of 12, and the oil temp was registering around 150F. At the first gas stop I verified 13.5 volts at the battery with my DMM. Both gauges would return to more reasonable indications with the lights turned off. More electrical gremlins to stalk. The stock boost gauge had been replaced with a coolant temp gauge, and it was reading rather high, too, and didn't seem to be affected by the headlights or anything else. Since the fan operating seemed normal, I chalked up the high readings to the wrong sensor, or maybe another hack wiring job. As long as it was consistent, I didn't worry.
I was tired, but I knew that if there were problems the next morning I'd rather be in a big city where I might be able to get parts, services, or worst case, storage for the car and a plane ride home. I made it to Salt Lake City at about 2:30 am, and bedded down at the cheapest motel I could find. Unfortunately, I couldn't park close enough to the room to plug in the electric dipstick oil heater thing I picked up before leaving Truckee. Tomorrow morning would be the first big test.
Day 1: 9 hours, 550 miles, avg. (incl. stops) 61mph.
Monday - The Whores Can't Persuade Me From My True Love
After about 5 hours of sleep, I lay awake in bed with a feeling of apprehension. I stared at the yellow pages by the phone, desperately hoping that I wouldn't need to make use of them. I was forced out of bed by a knocking at the door. The woman outside looked like she'd seen more hard miles than Paul Royal's 90Q20V. She wanted a cigarette, it seemed, a request I couldn't satisfy. Speaking of satisfaction, she also asked if I "needed company" (wink, wink). "Oh, no," I responded and quickly came up with a polite excuse, "I have to hit the road." It's about this time that I realize that not everyone in Utah is a Mormon. :^)
It took a few minutes to get over the shock of imagining that there are people who accept that woman's offer, then I was ready to get out of there. I wasn't optimistic enough to get anything ready before I knew the outcome, so I just hopped into the car, said a prayer to the gods, and turned the key, determined not to let go until it fired. To my elated surprise, it was only slightly reluctant, and it roared to life in less than 5 seconds. I drove it around to get it good an warm before shutting it down while I showered and packed her up.
The car ran flawlessly once started (save for a high idle), so I had enough confidence to take my eyes off of the gauges and absorb some of the scenery. I headed south and dropped off of the interstate onto US Hwy 6, which turned out to be an excellent choice. I even pulled over onto a snow-covered dirt road for a choice photo-op. This is the area I would've liked to explore had I not lost most of Sunday. No time for dawdling, so I pressed on to I70 into CO.
I hoped to get to CO Springs early enough to hang out with some more q-heads. The Continental Divide was looming, though. I had a choice of staying on the interstate to Denver, or taking a more direct route to the Springs through Aspen. How were the roads? Would they let me through with summer tires and no chains? With darkness approaching and uncertain road conditions I chose to stay on I70 to Denver. As it turned out everything was fine, and the car didn't miss a step even over Vail pass.
I got to CO Springs and found Ed Kellock's new house (congrats again, Ed!). The white/white '87 CGT was a welcome site, and the 5-sp V8 was gorgeous. Shortly thereafter, Bruce Bell showed up with his very low mile '84 urq, complete with P7s! I'll bet those are a real handful in the snow, huh Bruce? I had not seen the '84 interior before. It's like a beta version of the later cars, and I liked it. My '85 feels almost exactly like my long gone '86 4KS FWD, while the '84 is different enough to give a feeling of uniqueness befitting the car.
Joe Fyffe arrived in his 4KQ to complete our quartet then we piled into the V8 to hunt some dinner. The q-talk was diluted with the images of the Broncos edging out the Raiders. It was a much-needed break from the solitude of driving, and it's nice to know there are others out there with the same sickness. Joe had some great jokes to go along with a few libations before the evening came to a close. I appreciate Ed letting me crash at his place, but more than the bed, I appreciate him letting the urq use his garage, complete with drop light under the hood.
Day 2: 10 hours, 600 miles, avg. (incl. stops) 60mph.
Tuesday - Making Time
As expected, the car fired up immediately the next morning. I drove around to warm up the oil, then borrowed Ed's pan to switch the juice. The oil in there had less than 2K miles on it, but it was likely quite old. I intended to change it before leaving CA, but other things got in the way. As I poured in the fresh Mobil-1 15W50, I realized that bringing the bottles inside for the night would've been a good idea. The block would warm it up sufficiently, though.
I found a car
wash on my way out of town, and hosed off the road grime. For the first time
(not counting pictures), I saw the exterior in a semi-clean state. It wasn't
as bad as I feared. Yes, the front end and rear bumper have lots of chips
and dings (I knew that long ago), but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.
I've decided that I like this color (Graphite) very much, probably even more
than the Stone gray that I had been coveting for so long.
Time to rack up the miles. I pointed the car east and settled into my pace. The land began to flatten, and the snow slowly disappeared. Remembering the curse of Hays, KS from the Audifest caravans in '97 and '98, I made sure to gingerly speed by, hopefully unnoticed. I did however stop for a photo op at the giant ice cream cone (AF97 caravaners will remember this one). The snow covered parking lot afforded a good opportunity for some quattro mayhem.
The balance of the day was uneventful. The fresh Mobil-1 seemed to run a bit cooler. I was glad for the decent audio (Alpine CD head, Polk speakers), but I was beginning to think the 16 CDs weren't enough. I was confident enough about the car's starting ability to go past KC in favor of a cheaper motel in Columbia, MS.
Day 3: 12 hours, 700 miles, avg. (incl. stops) 58mph.
Wednesday - Home Stretch
Hardest start since CA, but she caught on the first try. It took about 7 seconds of cranking. Once fired, she ran perfectly. I guess this points more toward the distributor alignment, since it's ignored after starting.
No excitement today, either. StL was easy, with less traffic and better roads than other times I've been through. The interstates through IL and KY were concrete and kinda rough, but the TN border brought silky smooth asphalt. Of course, Nashville had to be the only city of the entire trip to have a bit of standstill traffic. Why can't people grasp the concept of smoothly merging from two lanes down to one?
A quick stop at my In-laws' place to fill up on pumpkin bread and show off my new toy, then it's back on the road for the final 100 miles. A couple of near encounters with the long arm threatened to spoil my homecoming, but shrewd strategy kept me in the clear. I know this section of I24 very well. As I reach the familiar mountains of East TN, I can finally appreciate the urq's handling. Of course, it's not much different from my CQ, but the lighter weight, different engine character, and other subtle contrasts make it very enjoyable. Not that it's necessarily better than the CQ, just different. Viva la difference!
As I rolled into town, I noticed how physically good I felt. My CQ is a better tourer because of the extra amenities and slightly better lower back support, but the urq served me well, indeed. The urq nestled into her dock snugly, and enjoyed a much-deserved rest that night.
Day 4: 9 hours, 560 miles, avg. (incl. stops) 62mph.
So that's the adventure. Thankfully, the initial drama and uncertainty gave way to my sheer excitement to finally own one of these things. It's been a long search, and I've even been talking to this particular owner for slightly over a year! It was worth the wait.
I've got a list of little issues as long as my arm, but there's nothing that I can't handle. Part of the fun is turning this car into the one I've been dreaming about for so long. The first half of the adventure is over, but the saga continues...
Totals: 40 hours, 2410 miles, avg. (incl. stops) 60mph.
I want to thank everyone who gave me support during my search and throughout the trip.
1985 ur-quattro