On the road again

Today, we raced the sun home to try and get some pictures while there was still daylight. The insurance company needed photos of all sides of the car. The weather is clear now but it will start raining soon. If I didn't do this now, I wouldn't get another opportunity until this weekend. I wanted to get the insurance thing settled sooner than later. We got home just in the nick of time and I was able to get some photos shot.



The car was pretty much ready to go, so TK and I decided to take a drive and get some dinner. It was dark by now, and I didn't have a chance to adjust the headlights. Oh well, we weren't going far and I could see if I use the high beams. First stop was the gas station. On the pavement, it drives about as well as can be expected for a 30+ year old Italian car. The gas station was pretty empty when we showed up, and TK noticed the station attendant inside raised an eyebrow as we pulled next to a pump. A few people drove by as we fueled up and no one seemed to care. Good. I really don't like drawing attention so this was a good first showing. I did notice a state trooper pull in at the opposite end of the station and he didn't seem to care either.

After fueling up, I got back in and we headed 3 miles down to road to our favorite sushi restaurant. I must admit I was pretty nervous. It's a rural road that's poorly lit and I could barely see the road. Thankfully, a helpful traveller decided to tailgate me and illuminate the road ahead.



After dinner, I was feeling less nervous about driving this thing so I opened it up a little more on the way home. Rather than shifting early, I left it in a lower gear to let the engine stretch out. Wow, what a great feeling and sound. People in SUVs were passing me, but I didn't care. I was humming along at 6000 rpm just enjoying the sound.

Ok, that was the good. There are two bad things that are pretty major. First is that the clutch is slipping. It seems to be ok when starting, but it's really noticeable going up a hill. I can accelerate and watch the rpms go up while the car does not pick up speed. A few seconds later, the clutch will catch and then the car speeds up. The second bad thing is second gear. These cars are notorious for having a second gear that is hard to shift into. Usually, the problem go away when the tranny is warm. This is not my problem. I can shift up through all the gears just fine. The problem is I can't seem to downshift from third to second without a horrific crunch. I'm really hoping this is an adjustment issue, or perhaps because the clutch is worn. I'm going to ask the experts on F-chat to try and figure this out.