What happened yesterday, stays in yesterday

Okay, it's 6:30am in the morning here in Laramie and Brian is fighting the forces of Sleep and trying to get out of bed.  So far Sleep is winning.

So, just what did happen yesterday?  Pull up a chair my friend...

Only twice were we not the oldest cars on the road, this is one of them.

In the morning, Brian swaps his fuel pressure regulator for mine.  We are on the road at 9:26am (all times are Mountain Time).  Some time later Bri is still showing high fuel pressure on his gauge and the engine is still running rich (black smoke coming from the tail pipe).  We decide that my regulator must be bad and pull over in Bountiful, UT, to get a clicker-style 1-4psi fuel regulator.  Bri installs it in the Chevron parking lot and then we're off at 11:03am.  Since we missed our exit we have to make a U-turn and head back north, then turn right at Farmington to get onto I-84, then we hit I-80 to Wyoming.

At 12:oopm we hit a rest stop as Bri's mileage is really, really bad..."Dude, I can see my [gas gauge] needle dropping!".  He drops the pressure again on the regulator.

We stop in Evanston for a smaller capacity fuel pump.  It's a good spot since he's low on fuel so if we can find a smaller capacity fuel pump then the loss of gas won't be much.  The AutoZone doesn't have what Bri needs but they let us keep his car there while we hit up Napa down the street.  They have a pump that may work, putting out 4-9psi.  But we would need fittings to convert from AN-8 to pipe thread for the pump to be mated to the fuel delivery system.  So we walk next door to Ace Hardware (AH for short) and check out their brass pipe fittings.  We decide that we need to see the fittings in the car before we buy them so we drive back to Bri's car at AutoZone (AZ for short).

Back at AZ Bri decides to give them another shot at finding a pump since they were kind enough to let us use their parking lot for repairs.  Bri was smart to park in front of the only tree there and his nose was in the shade.  Anyway, they found a Facet 2.5 to 4psi pump - yeay!  Much better!  While inside I buy an in-car charger adaptor for my sucky MotoQ so I can keep it on and use the GPS function...when I get cell service so the maps can download...

While Bri is pulling his fuel pump I go over to the liquor store and find me a nice bottle of vintage Port since I forgot to bring one with me.  Back at Bri's Notch and the pump is out and we get the last gallon out of his fuel tank into our gas cans.  We take a fitting to AH to make an adaptor.

We get back to his car and the fittings don't fit, DOH!  I thought Bri tested them, he thought I did...yeah.  I went back to AH and Bri stayed back to remove the clicker regulator (his Holley regulator stayed in the fuel loop the whole time as it would be too much effort to remove, so yes at times he was running two regulators). 

Bri got the new fuel pump in and connected up to the steel braided fuel lines.  Added some gas and checked for leaks.  Oh yeah, there were leaks.  We spent too much time, it seemed, tightening the fittings to stop one leak and start another.  Bri finally gets the leaks down to just one very small, minor one.  We'll live with it.

We hit the local McDonalds for chow.  I thought the childrens area was pretty dang cool:

We get fuel at Chevron, it's 4:00pm, and we're finally on our way.

Outside of Rock Springs, in Point of the Rocks, WY (yes, it had a post office), Bri is still showing high pressure so we pull over and he throws in the clicker regulator, setting the pressure down to 2psi.

As we're toodling along Brian slowly passes a truck (BTW, there are a LOT of 18-wheelers and they are moving fast!).  There isn't space between Brian and the trucker and I see headlights coming up behind me so I pull behind the truck.  The truck starts to slow down so I begin to speed up, hit my turn signal to pass, and the silhouette behind be suddenly lights up in flashing red and blue lights.  I pull over.  He pulls over.  I crap.

I hail Bri on the two-way and I see him near the top of the hill, pulled over and patiently waiting for me.  "I pulled you over because you were following too close to that truck."  What?  Are you friggin' serious?  So I hand him my license, registration, and proof of insurance...which shows an expiration date of May 10, 2010.  I crap again.  As he's checking for 'wants and warrents' I'm tearing through my glove box and side pockets, looking for my insurance card.  Damn, I threw the wrong one away!

The trooper hands me my stuff and gives me a warning for following too close.  He then gives me a ticket for no insurance, however, he tells me that all I have to do is mail a copy of my proof of insurance and the ticket will be dropped.  Whew.  He then asks me about my car.  We briefly chat about it and when I ask if he'd like to see the engine his face lights up.  I move a couple things out of the way so he can peek at it.  I couldn't open the engine lid all the way because of the Type IV case I'm transporting but he is still able to see enough.  We chat a little more about the car, it's history, where we're traveling to an why, then shake hands and I'm on my way.  I know he has a job to do and he was really nice.

We stop in Rawlins for fuel and are on the road at 9pm.

By 11pm we are tired and hungry.  I lead up to a Pizza Hut that was closed.  That's when Brian reminded me that it was rather late.  Oh, yeah, I didn't even think about that.  We go back to the Pilot gas station, eat at Wendy's, cross the road to the Super 8, and our day had ended.

Passing by a wind farm in Wyoming.

Okay, Brian is getting antsy so it's time to pack up, get fueled, and get moving!