Folks Of Interest 50 years of "Playing ON the Freeway"

That is just way cool!

 

Beulah got all the "spaghetti" and new wiring going in yet?

 

it's takin a while

 

waitin to hear -- been over a few times to see progress -- don't envy the man his job -- I'd be pullin my hair if I tried to REdo myself

there's SO much to do and SO many things cross-connected for multipurpose reasons --

there's gotta be a coupla miles of wirin in the old girl

I spent near 46 years of doin w this vehicle -- remember -- it started w a WRECKED 55 Ford station wagon I paid $35 for -- sittin in a vacant lot in Ocean beach -- some of *my* wirin done well, some not so well, [ had a coupla electrical fires over the years ] later, with more experience and practice, some done REAL well -- everything WORKED up till her "death" in 2011 -- then she *sat* for near four years

something else -- the brakes aren't working well since the crash and "resurrection"-- I've got a hard pedal but minimul stoppin power they always usta be BETTERN the Merc's

I just went thru the Merc's brakes recently when the back brake hose required replacement and replaced the front hoses AND ALL the wheel cylinders! Now the Merc stops MUCH more effortlessly

SO -- When I git Beulah back from the "nervous system" upgrade, I'm going to DO the same TO her brakes as she sat for them 4 years and I'll bet the WCs are FUd inside from sittin and I'm gonna flush out the hyd system as well as replacin all the hoses

here it is -- late October already I'll be happy to have her back "On the Road" and fully operational agin fer my BIRTHday *Christmas* [ 50th year of Playin on the freeway ] we'll see--

It's been a "long and winding road"

 

Stories from the not too distant past --

http://easternsierraforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13576&start=15

goin out toDAY to "play" some more --

and visit Beulah where she's being REwired for me -- hopefully not too much longer --

 

gonna BE a while yet --

 

got injured 2 weeks ago today durin a road rescue -- Merc is down w a blown head gasket - cracked head? can't fix it -- can't move my right shoulder -- Shela may be on her last legs -- been fallin down -- beulah's still goin thru the the painfull process of total REwiring -- painfull to ME anyways cause *I* can't DO it anymore I have faith in the fella who'se doin her - it's just that she's SO complicated and I'm wantin *everything* to work in certain ways like it usta here's hopin Shela and I last long enuf to be able to "go for a ride" in a fully operational Beulah once agin --

 

Sorry to hear that you and Shela are suffering . Hopefully all will be better soon.
Is the guy doing the rewiring making any real progress ? Tearing it apart is the easy part, lol!

 

thx Allen -- REwirin is movin slowly along -- I knew it was gonna be problamatic bein that Beulah is one of a kind and had been damaged SO badly -- here's hopin I'll have her back soon -- my birthday's comin up next month -- it's been a rough 2 weeks since I injured my shoulder and the Merc became unuseable got nuthin new to post so I'm relivin somea my experiences from the past -- here's some --

https://www.facebook.com/sandiego.highwayman.7?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all

 

Thomas .I hope you get better soon. I hear you about you puppy. They are just like family, like Suuny Girl here ands she just turned 10.Bruce.

 

actually DID some "rescuin" yesterday [ CAREfully -- w regards to my injured "wing" ] w my "undercover" car -- [ 01 Chevy Lumina ]


it *has* a dashcam now too but I haven't figured out how to download it's tiny littl micro-card [ different then the Merc's or Beulah's new one that matches the Merc's ]

My right shoulder's givin me HOB - specially when tryin to git some sleep [ can't git comfortable in any position ]


went for an MRI early this mornin first time I've ever had onea them sounded like what bein INside a video game must sound like all sorts of humms, thrumms, & chirps -- we'll see what my shoulder looks like on the inside soon HOPEfully not ruined

the fella i was helpin 2 weeks ago when I damaged my shoulder has NOT returned my battery

onea the risks I take every day --

 

Well, Beulah's *still* got a lotta wires danglin -- goin over to visit her tomorrow -- hopin fer some GOOD news!
My Merc's down w at least a blown head gskt - -at worst a cracked head -- can't fix it w my busted wing - it's permenantly busted [ the shoulder ] can't raise it -- completely torn liftin tendon so if I tried to "fly" I'd just go around in a circle -- MRI showed the damage awfull plainly

Got a LOT of "what ifs" floatin around my brain just now WHY did I haveta stop and help *that* fella for???????????????

 

Hang in there! Bring back some good news on the wiring.

 

thx Chucky -- visited her [ Beulah ] yesterday -- progress bein made -- still lookin a mess however -- on the UP side, a client visiting me today for snowchains, told me her story of how I'd rescued *her* when she was in dire straits on a freeway 16 years ago - and how she'd never fergit what I'd done for her --

lifted my saggin spirits considerable

 

then, there's THIS this mornin --

FIRST morning in a month I've woken up w very *littl* pain since bein disabled by a seconds inattention durin a freeway rescue Still damaged, and from what I saw on the MRI -- [ completely torn tendon ] it's never going to be better - BUT- it feels GOOD to feel good this mornin

https://www.facebook.com/sandiegohighwayman

 

NOR MINE http://heroicstories.org/not-on-my-watch/

 

I'm really sorry to hear about the rough times you've been having. All I can say is the world is a much better place with guys like you in it, and all of your good karma has got to be worth something. Keep your chin up and I'll be pulling for you, Shela and Beulah.

 

thankee kindly pardner preciate yer sentiments Beulah's *still* "in the process"

Here's how *we* were beFORE she was KIA August 10 2011 @ 2:02 in the afternoon ---

http://www.coronadoclarion.com/premier-issue/the-highway-man/

[ be shure to click *play* on the soundtrack icon below the slideshow -- run yer cursor over the bottom and the icon will appear ]

"GIT yer motor RUNnin -- hEAD out on the HIGHway! LOOKIN for adVENTURE -- and whatever comes MY WAY!"

check out Shela's face when the rolled up newspaper is held near "She" hasn't experienced one in MORE then 10 years -- but she's never forgotton the significance of one

 

Well, Beulah's home -- this afternoon -- unfortunatly, she's not goin anywhere soon -- maybe never -- VERY discouraged right now TOO many problems to list I'm gonna be takin a break -- don't know if I'll be back -------------- black clouds decendin on my spirit ----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Well that's not the news I was hoping to hear . Too many wiring issues for the guy to straighten out ? How 'bout dialing that stuff back a bit to get her roadworthy ?
Bummed for ya , my friend ...

 

Mr. Highwayman,
I have never commented on your threads, as many of my fellow HAMBER'S have written my feelings.
I have read most of your post's from day 1 and you have inspired me in many ways.

This is for you.......................................
You inspire people, Someone has or will look at you and say,
Because of you-- "I didn't give up"
Live on my friend......

 

Try to keep your spirits up, the s--t sandwiches will stop soon I hope. Gary

 

thankee kindly fellas

lotta D words weighin heavily on my spirits right now

Beulah is SO messed up it makes my want to cry

I've loaded up all her gear and pieces and parts INto her and I'm transferrin her *back* to her spot where she sat for 4 years before being "raised from the dead" this summer -- short of a *complete* REwire from scratch ----------- that I'd *thought * I had ] she's just about useless to me

When I'd brought her home last week, SO many things were noticeably WRONG with her "nervous system"
[ wirin & electrical ] that I parked her in the garage and thought about other things -- yersterday, I went to start her and found the battery [ brand NEW 3 months ago ] to be STONE COLD DEAD ---- AND LOW ON WATER ]

opened the disconnect switch and slow charged her overnite --

This mornin, I threw the knife switch to an accopanin loud "pop" from my PA speaker which WASN'T TURNED ON everytime I enguage the switch the speaker "pops" then humms

There's some SERIOUSLY bad FUs here and I'm

Disgusted
Demoralized
Disillisioned
Demolished
Dismayed
Depressed
Disabled
Destroyed
Dilapidated
Dejected
Demented? I MUST be --

 

Don't get too down, or down on the guy that tried to rewire it - I'm sure it was quite a daunting task. Probably more than he anticipated. Maybe try to get her main stuff working (running, charging, lights) , then try to add in all the extras (or have someone as them in) . You can't get all bummed out by all of this. She was resurrected from the dead and is almost all the way back to glory . Focus on the positives ! What you've done for 50 years for others is a wonderful thing. Keep looking up.
Happy holidays, Thomas!

 

You might want to call Auto Fire in Escondido. They did some great work years past when I lived in Poway and at a very reasonable price (back then, but I haven't used them in years now) Lew was always up front and listened to the customer to make sure his guys had all the info they needed to fix the problem.
Beulah and Shela need to be crusing the streets of San Diego County again.

 

It sounds to me like it's at the point of removing every s**** of wire to be found and putting it all into a big recycle bin.
Then starting over from a blank slate with a well designed wiring kit would make things a whole lot easier.

 

Thank you Buddy -- I knew it was going to BE a daunting task - in fact, I figured it to be harder then the mechanical - body repair issues -- because she was SO complicated -- thing is -- if her systems are not reliable and ALL workin -- I'm likely a DEAD man! SEEN it TOO many times happen to others who wished to help others and got seriously injured or killed for their efforts

Wife and I took EMT trainin togeather years back and the instructors FIRST lecture was "on approaching an incident scene, your FIRST concern should be SCENE SAFETY!, SCENE SAFETY!, SCENE SAFETY! -- You DON'T want to become a statistic yourself!"

I was aware of this already from 30+ years of doin, BUT, her reinforcin the issue, I've never forgot - -and I've *seen* a LOT

46 YEARS of doin what I do WITH Beulah, before she was "killed" in seconds, by one Selfish Ignorant Driver -- a LOT of "near misses" that likely woulda been HITS if not fer the visibility of my multipule warnin systems brightly workin & directin oncomin traffic aWAY --
I'm not angry at the fella, in fact I like him -- so it's VERY difficult for me now --

I've spent the money I had to get her done -- actually twice what he initally asked for -- to his credit, he didn't *ask* for more - I *gave* him the extre because I knew he'd stepped INto more then he'd bargained for and wanted it done RIGHT
it isn't

 

Blue One, your suggestion is a good one, and for the "normal functions" probably BEST to start with -- I had thought that was what she *was* getting

thankee

 

captaintaytay Thankee kindly

 

mopacltd

thankee sir, I will contact them ---