Departure day arrives.
With the help of prep work Adam the K is humming along. The day is cool but bright. The heater works and is almost keeping up with the 25 degree December chill. The K is making good time through Iowa. It has been 4 hours since leaving South Holland, Illinois. I'm even cautiously optimistic that the K and I will get along well and have a trouble-free journey together sharing experiences as we get to know each other better. The K evokes great reactions from fellow motorists – thumbs up, pointing & laughing, and lots of pictures. For amusement I start taking pictures of people taking pictures of the K.
Was that a miss? Another? Damn – the stumble quickly grows and before the next exit appears the K is dead on the shoulder of I-80. The reality sinks in quickly. Iowa is place where the exit ramps are few and far between, and I'm alone with a dead race car that I know almost nothing about. As a bonus, mid-way through the racing season the K had been blowing up the 2.2 liter 4 cylinder motors which had been addressed in typical LeMons fashion – a transplanted V6 motor and 5 speed transmission that was never intended for a Reliant.
The “K car trophy” – built as each teams adds a broken piece from the car after each event – is used as a wheel chock
I was hooked on LeMons and wheel to wheel racing since by first ever race less than 3 years ago. Shortly after my first race autocross buddies Mark & Peter joined me in building a second MX-3 as part of the Hong Norrth race team. Building and racing "Sumbich" over the past 2 years taught us all a lot about building, fixing, and racing cars. More than anyhting we all learned about perseverance. Now was the time to call on the hard won skills. Hood open, pull the coil wire, and position it near a ground where I can see it when cranking the K. We have spark so it must be fuel. Pull the fuel line feeding the fuel injector rail and zip tie it so that any gas that comes out is pointed away from the motor, crank her over. No gas. The K has many endearing qualities but one of them it doesn't have is working gauges – such as the gas gauge. Hopefully the K is only out of gas.
As I am standing there by myself it hits me - I am not alone. Just before leaving Chicago I installed tracker software on my phone which allowed K car "enthusiasts", friends, and family to track the path of the K in real time. I also post on the LeMons internet discussion board that the K is dead. My phone rings and it is DC Doug. "We know where you are and we have help on the way". A glance at the tracker app shows 25 people following along.
Hike to the nearest exit a few miles away to get some gas.
The 2 mile hike to the nearest exit is pleasantly interrupted when a pickup truck stops, the window rolls down, and first of many helpful people that I met on this journey asks if I need a ride. He then tells me that there is a police trooper checking out the K – and on cue flashing lights appear behind us. The trooper offers a ride to the gas station and back – on the promise that I'll get my driver's license that I just handed him back when I produce the registration & insurance cards for the amazing K.
Gas in the K does nothing. Up until now I thought I let down the K. Word is that the tow will take a while so my police buddy has my back and stands guard behind me as we wait
Then he speeds off to an accident behind us, and I see my tow truck deflected to handle the accident – and it is back on me to get the K off the road. A call to Steve M, the guy who did a while lot of work on the K, yields useful info. “The K has a new fuel tank and fuel pump. The fuel pump wires may have been shorted out as they are exposed and under the pile of race tires & spare parts in the back of the K”. So I empty the K on the side of I-80, steal a wire from the stero system wiring harness, jump the fuel pump to the battery – and the K fires. Load up the K, and refire it while holding the emergency fuel pump wire to the battery convenientaly located where the passenger seat used to be, and limp the K to the gas station. Thinking it could be the fuel pump relay I take the relay. Apart it comes. The contacts appear to be mis-aligned so I bend them a bit, install the relay, and presto – the K fires.
