Do Anything Fun With Your Car This Weekend?

"J. Walter Weatherman" (J-WalterWeatherman) 09/16/2013 at 11:51 • Filed to: None

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My weekend involved jumping in my Land Cruiser with a couple friends and taking a drive down to an abandoned 1880's era mine in the mountains south of Tucson.

Here are some of the only remnants of the surrounding buildings, with a view of some mine tailings in the background.

View from the mine out across the valley to the South. You can see my car off in the distance.

Entrance to the lower level of the mine.

Heading down into the mine.

We encountered a family heading out as we were going in. They had been inside scavenging minerals. Maybe not the safest thing to be doing with your kids, but they sure seemed to be having a blast. View from the mine entrance looking out.

Once inside, we encountered LOTS of bat shit, and some very curious bracing. What is that one timber supposed to be holding up? I'm no mining engineer, but I can't imagine that it would do too much to prevent a collapse...

The family we met earlier told us that we could take the tunnels all the way though the mountain and out the other side. We went in a couple hundred yards before we decided it would probably be safest to turn back. What stopped us was getting to this tiny doorway, and the only way through was to crawl through a mountain of bat shit.

Unfortunately, on the way out, my car broke down. I'm not sure what happened. The transmission temp warning light went off and we pulled over to check it out. After that though, it just would not start up again. The engine would crank, but it wouldn't fire. We let it cool for a while, poured a bunch of water on the radiator and transmission cooler and tried again, but it just wouldn't fire. Eventually we called my father-in-law who came and towed us out. The cruiser is sitting at his house right now and later this week I am going to try to get out there and try to figure out what went wrong.

One last gratuitous shot of my rig, just because.

How about you guys, anyone do anything fun with their car this weekend?

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:01

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Bummer that she broke down on you. Hope nothing serious is wrong! Keep us posted. Breaking down while off-roading is one of my biggest fears. The age of my rig is one of the main reasons why my rig has only seen pavement for the last 2 years.

deekster_caddy > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:05

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I drove my Volt up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. I'll get the pics up and make a post soon. It was a lot of fun. Made the whole climb on electric.

I love the southwest where you are. There is just so much cool stuff you can't always find unless you really know the area. I had an unexpectedly awesome time in Silver Springs NM (?) a few years ago on a cross country drive and we stayed there an extra day because of it. The terrain and people were so awesome.

Jagvar > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:10

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With my car? No, but I did have a loaner Tiguan that I took to a friend's wedding just outside of Philly. That was a fun trip.

I'm jelly of your weekend, though. That mine looks awesome. I want to hike it!

J. Walter Weatherman > deekster_caddy 09/16/2013 at 12:28

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Yeah, it is quite nice out here. It is also fun to be able to just go out and explore and discover hidden things.

Nice pic! I love that area. Much cooler up there than it is down here!

J. Walter Weatherman > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 09/16/2013 at 12:29

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Yeah, I'm hoping it is nothing serious too. Breaking down while off-roading is a big fear of mine too. That's why I don't go anywhere too remote or difficult without company.

J. Walter Weatherman > Jagvar 09/16/2013 at 12:31

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There is tons of incredible hiking down here. Shoes are advisable though. Lots of prickly and/or poisonous things.

How did you like the Tiguan? If they ever release one with a diesel here, I would strongly consider it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:33

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Got my 68 Montego back from the shop with its new dual exhaust. Flowmaster 44's. Second loudest street application mufflers.

I spent the weekend sneaking out to the garage every chance I had to make un-sneaky incredibly loud sounds. I'm quite surprised the cops didn't arrive. Unless they were looking and couldn't find me...

deekster_caddy > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:34

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That pic is from the summer of 2000. When I got to Phoenix, it was 126 degrees and we pulled up in front of my girlfriend's parents house (who I was going to meet for the first time) at which time the radiator blew 3 holes in it. Every temp gauge I had in the truck was pegged... So I was like 'Hi, I'm your daughter's boyfriend. Can I borrow your car? Sorry about the antifreeze all over the street.' ;) It must have had a good effect, she's been my wife for 11 years now...

Jagvar > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 12:42

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Careful, that's a challenge I just might take. I climbed Squaw Peak in Arizona barefoot, and managed to escape injury by rock, cactus, and rattlesnake (I did step thoughtfully and take my time, though).

Of course I'm biased, but I loved the Tiguan! I'm thinking of writing up an Oppo review, actually. Very comfy in SEL trim, and surprisingly nimble for a crossover. I averaged 27 MPG, which isn't too shabby.

DocWalt > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 13:02

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Installed a wideband and spent most of Saturday tuning my car. I was pegging the gauge rich at WOT, lol. It's a lot faster than before, it used to feel really flat up top. I'm hoping to see a lot better fuel economy too!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 13:37

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If you were to ask if I did anything fun in my car, the answer would still be no, haha.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 16:40

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Sounds like a fun trip, this is exactly why I bought the cruiser. Sorry about your breakdown. I can't even start to guess as to why it went down on you...you have an FJ, not FZJ right? So the 3F....my only guess is the fuel, fuel clog or fuel pump? I didn't do much exciting with the car this weekend; greased the chassis, shopped for tires, played in a muddy field for a minute. My play time is going to be seriously limited for the next few months; We had baby girl #2 earlier today! Anyway, I will just have to live vicariously through you for a while. let me know what you find out about the car.

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 09/16/2013 at 16:56

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CONGRATS ON THE BABY!!! That is fantastic news. My wife and I are working on our first right now and we can't wait to be parents. Hope you got caught up on your sleep in the last few weeks!

My LC is a '93 so it is the fist year of the FZJs and has the 1FZ-FE. It just has a different transmission than yours. I really don't know what the problem is. I will definitely update as I figure it out.

Congrats again on the baby!

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman 09/16/2013 at 17:42

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Right now? I not one to judge, but maybe you should finish up "working on" that baby before posting...unless your wife is into that. I dont judge.

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 09/16/2013 at 17:57

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Ha. Ummm... I figured being on Jalopnik during the deed would help create little hoons! I'm just doing my part to help curb the scourge of Prius ownership in the next generation...