Radwood Austin COTA April 29 2023

Nurburgringer

Nurburgringer

NW Houston by way of NJ, Germany, PA, Milwaukee
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RADwood Austin 2023

RADwood returns to Austin! RADwood is the ultimate celebration of '80s and '90s automotive lifestyle.
www.eventbrite.com www.eventbrite.com

Anyone else going?
Assuming the X feels good after the engine mount R&R and new oil and trans fluid change finishing up tomorrow, I'll be making the drive with my son from NW Houston early Saturday morning.
Kurt
 
I really miss going to shows; due to personal family obligations I haven't been able to attend any out of town events for the last few years. Plus COVID ruined many of them. Although I can't think of the name of it at the moment, there's another big show that sounds like a lot of fun to me as well. It has all sorts of activities over the multi-day event. And like RADwood it is considered a "lifestyle" affair - as much a party as a car show. They hold it in various cities throughout the year. When I remember the name I'll post it.
 
Thought we may skirt the worst of it but couldnt avoid hitting an epic thunderstorm on the way to Bastrop hotel. Made quick stop to put top on when rain hit, then had to pull off near La Grange when alternator couldn't cope with headlights and wipers on high. Pretty much in middle of nowhere lucked into dry parking to wait out the storm at an amazing art/custom furniture/restaurant/wine bar. We were hungry anyway.
finished drive with the most intense lightning storm I've ever seen all around and above us, but thankfully only a little rain.

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Now enjoying a well deserved whisky at hotel, leaving 7:30AM for COTA...

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Made it home last night with tanned, windblown faces and tons of rad memories.
Only 1 other X at the show, an '85 parked on the "Royalty" lawn but never did cross paths with the owner despite going back to it about 5 times. Too many other things to see and do to hang out by your car much, like us I assume!
While we were with our X at least 10 people commented "I HAD ONE OF THESE IN HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE!!!".
Really great to share stories and see all the smiles.
Drive home was clear and smooth, the X eating up the miles steadily if not especially quickly. Ran like a champ after the stress of Friday's journey (not enough voltage for headlights and wipers meant very not great visibility, plus few minor water leaks into the cabin and an occasionally squealing belt).
294 miles total added to the odo.
Stopped in the Iron Eagle beer garden in Brenham for a cold Lone Star and great convo with the owner Chuck, a former Houston car dealer who now makes friends and sells auto memorabilia.
Then a final stop at Waller County Line BBQ to bring home a footwell-full of awesome grub.
Photo dump:
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Great adventure. I didn't realize COTA is only a couple hours drive from Houston. Although I imagine traffic could double that, depending on exactly where you are around Houston.
 
true - on the best of days it takes about an hour to get to the other side of Houston.
Definitely was an epic adventure. I didn't see anything in the forecast about the massive storm on Thursday, if I'd checked again Friday and saw it would have left at least an hour earlier and beat it to Bastrop. But you know what they say, it's better to be lucky than good sometimes :)
 
I know what you mean. The weather forecast changes dramatically here almost by the hour. :rolleyes:
But sometimes unexpected things like that actually make the adventure more fun. Or at least more memorable, for one reason or another. :D
 
Looks like it was an awesome trip! What's the deal with the alternator though? Lights and wipers shouldn't be a struggle for it... Sure, they are the big draws, but is everything in proper working order?
 
Actually it is common for any/all high load electrical items like wipers, headlights, blower motors, power windows, cooling fans, EFI fuel pump, starter motor, etc, to run slow. And it might not be the alternator per se. The electrical system as a whole tends to be problematic on these cars. The usual culprits are poor connections, under sized wires, poor grounds, corroded or burned wires, dirty switches, etc. A good solution is to add relays with a secondary power source and use the original circuit as a trigger to activate the relay. It's more of a matter of getting the needed current from the alternator/battery to the end component.
 
what happened: when running with lights and wipers on the dash volt gauge dropped to the bottom. With just lights it stayed near the middle.
Wipers are pretty slow so the motors/gears are probably gunked up and putting extra load on the system.
There was also a very loud squealing noise from the engine compartment, which I hoped was just a slipping aux belt not a timing belt tensioner bearing picking an extremely bad time to crap out. Since my car doesn't have the cover in the wheel well the aux belt was getting soaked by all the water on the road.
This was the first time I'd run the lights and wipers at the same time. Will try both again this weekend when the belt is dry and see what happens.
I had planned on eventually investigating the brown wire mod, but didn't plan on that drive being at night, and in heavy rain...
 
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Dr.Jeff said:
Actually it is common for any/all high load electrical items like wipers, headlights, blower motors, power windows, cooling fans, EFI fuel pump, starter motor, etc, to run slow. And it might not be the alternator per se. The electrical system as a whole tends to be problematic on these cars. The usual culprits are poor connections, under sized wires, poor grounds, corroded or burned wires, dirty switches, etc. A good solution is to add relays with a secondary power source and use the original circuit as a trigger to activate the relay. It's more of a matter of getting the needed current from the alternator/battery to the end component.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have run relays for the headlights and high/low wiper speeds in my car to make sure they're actually getting 12-14volts.. He said it was an alternator issue so I just wondered what the state of his electrics might be... To be so bad you actually have to stop driving because it's raining seems quite an inconvenience...⛈️
 
I would guess that the squealing noise was the alt belt was slipping because it was wet, and too loose. You may be able to improve the output of the alt by simply tightening up the alt belt?
You DON'T want you aux belt to "slip"!
 
yeah there's a bit of a story behind that belt... went through 4 different sizes (825mm, 835, 840 and 850) and NONE would both slip on AND tension properly at the far end of the alternator top bracket. So I cut it and welded in a 1" chunk of 3/16 bar stock (turns out the bracket was cracked through the lower thin part, so just cut through that).
At the new far-end the new 850mm belt (shipped from the UK) seemed a bit too tight, so backed it off a hair. Which works fine when dry but is apparently a hair too slack when it's soaking wet...
Should have just left the ancient looking belt on there :/
 
Nurburgringer said:
yeah there's a bit of a story behind that belt... went through 4 different sizes (825mm, 835, 840 and 850) and NONE would both slip on AND tension properly at the far end of the alternator top bracket. So I cut it and welded in a 1" chunk of 3/16 bar stock (turns out the bracket was cracked through the lower thin part, so just cut through that).
At the new far-end the new 850mm belt (shipped from the UK) seemed a bit too tight, so backed it off a hair. Which works fine when dry but is apparently a hair too slack when it's soaking wet...
Should have just left the ancient looking belt on there :/
Click to expand...
I find the same difficulty getting a correct fitting belt, especially on AC equipped X's. Like you I usually modify the mounts to allow more movement (adjustment), and buy a non-stock size belt that works properly.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
I find the same difficulty getting a correct fitting belt, especially on AC equipped X's. Like you I usually modify the mounts to allow more movement (adjustment), and buy a non-stock size belt that works properly.
Click to expand...
mine doesn't have AC, but the bracket's adjustment range was just small enough to elicit COPIOUS curses as I got on and off the creeper for the ~dozen attempts at fitting one before chopping and extending the bracket.
It doesn't really need to slide the full distance either - can just insert the bolt towards the far end, after slipping the belt on with the alternator tipped up touching the block.
 
About slow wipers, not being very capable on electrics, I would appreciate a diagram showing how to connect a relay for the wipers using the original circuit as a trigger to activate the relay, as suggested by Dr.Jeff.
 
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