8/23/06

Whew! It looks like I'm slightly off the hook for the Tail of the Dragon thing next summer. I got another e-mail from the Birkin owners list and towing the car is still on the table. I'm going to wait and see just how “iron man” Dick is going to be about it. I've heard that Bernie, another local Seven owner who did the cross country drive last September along with Dick, is going to this event but I haven’t heard anything about it directly from him. I'm not sure if he’s planning to tow or drive up there. I suggested to Dick that a group of us get together and discuss the situation sometime. We’ll see where that gets us. On another note, I found a rooftop A/C unit on e-Bay this morning. It is 110-volt. I think I'll plan to hit a few RV places and see what is available. I got called away before I could do much searching on the internot for them. The more I think about it, the less likely a 12-volt system seems. I'm sure I could cobble together an engine-driven unit somehow. Think to come of it, I do have a couple knee-knocker evaporator units lying around and at least one compressor. I think there are probably enough bits and pieces, evaporators and driers and such, in the various cars out back to make a whole system. Perhaps I should mention this to John. Oh wait, I just did! Here’s the thing though, with a rooftop unit I could segregate the cockpit and back with a wall and have a system of vents and baffles to send the cool air either front or aft. With the “built in” unit I'd only have cooling for the front of the van. Of course the “swamp cooler” for the cockpit is still an option. I didn’t have a chance to look up any information on those though. Like I said, I think I know how they work but I'm not 100% sure. Here’s a thought, if I were to install a 110-volt generator head on the engine I could run the rooftop unit while driving. That would also allow me to build my “mobile shop” that I've always wanted. I need to go to Northern Tool and Supply to price generator heads. I wouldn’t need much of one; I'd think 20 or 30 amps would suffice. There looks to be plenty of room on the side of that engine to mount more ancillaries as well. Interesting. Robert and I are supposed to meet up this evening to put the alternator back on Mr. Wiggly by the way. I may, but probably won’t, drive it home and to work tomorrow. The heat of the day won’t be an issue since I usually drive to work with the windows down anyway. If I'm all hot and sweaty when I get home it’s no big deal. I should probably look into some seat covers to keep my back from getting all sweaty doo-doo the vinyl. I just spoke to John about these various and sundry things. I'm not sure where we left it but I think it was in the general direction of cobbling together a “knee knocker” system. The camping issue was poo-pooed by him for the fact that the only time I'm talking about doing summertime camping in the thing is for this one trip. So, yes, I think I'm going to look at rounding up enough bits and pieces to make an air-conditioning system for Mr. Wiggly. Oh, and we’ll plan on building a wall behind the seats as well of course. I could always install a window unit in the back for “camping” at places with 110-volt hookups. That sure is ghetto though. Well, perhaps not ghetto but redneck. I don’t know, we’ll see. Interesting, “redneck” is in the tiny and flaccid dictionary. Kooky. Well, it is closing in on lunchtime. I think I'm going to call this rant complete. Have a day.