We took the Brown Hornet and Black Beard to Cruising Main street Manchester. We were outnumbered by them pesky Datsun things

 

 

we saw it on the way to the Falls Village Car Show

 

This time Vermont with the Brown Hornet in the summer. Last time we took it it was January. 200 miles round trip.


Colraine MA.




and some of the cool cars spotted with the dash cam

Turned out we know this VW
the little car did well on the twisty mountain roads. It's not completely ideal on the highway but can get up to highway speed at the end of the on ramp and cruises along at about 62 nicely. I was going to check the fuel mileage until I got on the highway in Greenfield and we smelled gas .turned out I left the gas cap off . but it was on the back seat

 

Spotted this car up close today.

 

I forgot this photo my wife got of us on the way to Cruising Main street Manchester. We had to do some rally cross 🤣


now that our son isn't into camping he came out to visit us at a local campground.

Yesterday is two years since getting the Brown Hornet. I just realized since swapping transmissions we haven't done much on the ol car, just drive it. I did check fuel mileage recently and it got about 23 MPG on our last trip to VT . I think it did better on them 50 MPH roads even with the hills. The car did well on them hills also. The mileage probably was also off because I forgot to put the gas cap back on and we got on the highway and could smell gas so some went on the back quarter panel.

 

I finally got around to fixing the reverse lights. I swapped the reverse light / neutral safety switch back to the one that came with the car originally.

 

Let there be light!

 

the next day one blew🤣

I guess it couldn't take being turned on for the first time in 6 months.....

 

I need a BA edition emblem

 

The Brown Hornet is mostly just doing regular every day stuff so we took it to a local bike/ walking trail last week.

 

Been wanting to add new brushes to the alternator for awhile now. These were a little more work than I expected. First I had to desolder the old ones then feed the new leads through and solder the new brushes with springs behind them. Not as bad as it sounds though just old school stuff. Oh and what a bear getting this alternator out. Its physically big. Almost as much trouble as I had with the 4runner. Just had to remove the lower bracket to allow room for it to come out.

 

I think we got it on the jungle site. I'll have ad a link. We got one for the 4runner but the tape came off before I applied it because I am having second thoughts on adding it to the tail gate due to all the other junk we put on it🤣

I still need to make the 4runner an SR 5 with the emblem i got awhile back.

 

Well I wish I had my original alternator but the PO got rid of it long ago, now I just roll the dice for the Reman quest……and that stupid lower radiator hose, I hate it your thread makes me want to go to the mountains more and enjoy what nature has to offer me here in CO but unfortunately it’s not like the 90’s and everywhere close has been taken over and it’s a mess to do anything

 

[size=17px]Wait the lower radiator hose is in the way on other people's 4runner? People had me believing I'm the only one with that problem . I figured it's a solid axle thing because the steering box and torque rod are in the way or it was because the radiator is aftermarket. [/size]

[size=17px]Also the mountains of Colorado. I think our 4runner spent time there. It spent the early part of it's life in Colorado. It seems since covid anywhere outdoors has gotten crazy. It was always on the rise but after that it ramped up fast. Camping in VT slowed down a little though. 2 years ago it seemed like the state parks were getting popular for people living out of their cars. Now it's somewhat less at Green Mountain National Park. I don't think I would ever spend the night up there now. About one out of 10 campers look like a crackhead camper. One of our favorite lakes in CT gets totally taken over on weekends and afternoons by undesirables. Filled to capacity. It used to be a good place to fish and picnic but now it's too crowded to go to shore after fishing and people leave trash everywhere. [/size]

 

Yea that stupid radiator hose is a jerk!!!! First time I had to replace I was like no big deal……then I had no drain pan, had to use multiple trash can tops, made a mess, didn’t have enough coolant when I was done…it was not fun

As far as the mountains yea it’s a mess, most regular campsites now need reservations that are 6 months out, the mountain roads for normally mild traffic areas are completely clogged with parked cars and don’t even get me started on the leaf peepers….so the best way to camp now has turned into a very very long drive that just ends up not being worth it unless it turns into an actual vacation.

Most people are just like whatever Colorado is so awesome but when you’ve lived here for 47 years and see how clogged it’s become it’s super lame, I’m sure it’s like that in any state that people grew up in

 

Out and about in the Brown Hornet.


not the only cool old ride out there.

 

Today I did a little project with the dash cluster. I've been wanting to do this for awhile now and the only other time I have taken a dashboard apart like this before was on the 4runner. Turns out they are very similar. I thought I had a few more LED bulbs for this and wasn't 100 percent sure what bulbs actually light up the speedometer and gas gauge but due to process of elimination it looks like I got the speedometer anyway.




I also cleaned years of dust out while there and also cleaned the cigarette lighter adapter up a bit too.

 

 

Another cruise to Hogback Mountain in Vermont plus some real beautiful back roads in Guilford on our way south to North Hampton MA then back to the highway till home. That little car ran great again.





now we really do love them dirt roads up there and all but only with the 4runner and FJ not this car. Google kept trying to take us down some of our favorite roads when trying to avoid the highway so after ignoring it for 10 miles I thought we were safe then we still ended up on dirt. The crazy part is the dirt was smoother than the last paved road we had hit, who knew?