Mini meet west

[jeff10049]

We're headed off to mmw this morning in Eureka. Any other forum members going?

[MiniDave]

Have a great time, I sure enjoyed MME last month. I would love to do another west coast event but it's a bit of a drive to get there....

[Scargo]

I enjoyed meeting and spending time with you Jeff at MMW in Oregon last year. Too much on the plate this summer to cram in another Mini Meet this soon after MME in Asheville. Enjoy those glorious redwoods.

[jeff10049]

We made it on Sunday night. Monday, we were just cruising around checking out Ferndale, CA, and seeing where we would go that evening to check in and get our registration packet. On the way back from Ferndale to Eureka, we broke a valve spring car started missing I pulled into an orileys auto parts store.

I determined that there were 2 dead cylinders, #3 and #4. At first, I thought a head gasket between the two. But it seemed to have compression on #4 so I pulled the valve cover and found a broken intake spring on #3. Somehow that also killed #4 reversion maybe?

Anyway, O'Reilly's had zero valve springs in stock for anything. So I called every auto machine shop in a 50-mile radius; 4 of them and one guy took the time to measure the ID, OD, length, and wire diameter of a bunch of used springs and had an almost exact match. O'Reilly's was able to have a driver go to Fortuna CA and get the spring I bought some small engine starter rope from them pushed it in the cylinder to hold the valve. I was able to push dowm the retainer with an open end wrench while my wife installed the keepers.

We made it to registration in time to get our stuff, and the car drove great back to camp at Redwood Shores.  Today was the car show in Ferndale, a cool little town. Car drove great all day not sure why a spring broke. But im inclined to replace them all when we get home and keep a couple spares just in case.

[jeff10049]

Spring and the close match the shop found I got two just in case

[jeff10049]

Some show pics

[Scargo]

I carry quite a few spares with me on road trips but I've never carried spare valve springs. I'll now add that and a length of rope to my arsenal. Great job with your emergency repairs and in making it to the Meet under your own power.

[MiniDave]

Wow, a broken valve spring.....what a strange thing to happen. Leave it to you to know how to do that the old school way!

What a cool looking venue too.....looking forward to more pics!

[jeff10049]

I thought it was strange as well. It's not like I have a wild cam. I wonder if I just had a defective one from new.

Today was the Avenue of the Giants redwoods drive. 120-mile drive, I think we put about 200 miles on today. No more issues. More pics once I download them or post from my phone.