Back from Burning Man (N. of Gerlach Nevada), a week in hot blowing corrosive grit. Had a great time! Alas I came home with a sinus infection. Rambler ran great the whole time. I hauled probably 800 - 1000 lbs. of junk (three people, small trailer, a 10x16 PVC quonset hut, food for a week, clothes, etc etc ...). Took it easy, that M11 air-cooled trans got babied. Checked its external temp once, 10 min. after a steep grade and it was 200 inside the torque converter housing, 180 at the upper gearbox. About 700 miles, 13 hours drive time, split in two days. Drove LA to Reno, moteled it, filled up the water bottles (32 gallons) headed out to the playa. LA is sealevel, we peaked over 8000 feet just south of Carson City NV, then down to 4000 feet in the Black Rock Desert, so it was literally all uphill there -- but all downhill home. I generally drove at two speeds on the highway -- 65mph (2500 rpm) in top gear or 45 mph (3000 rpm) in second, pulling it up to 50 - 52 mph (3500 rpm) to shift up, my usual tactic. I understand why people like (or need) 4 or 5 speed trannies, but I don't mind adjusting my driving style to the mechanism. When I re-ring it, I think I'm switching back to gasoline. When I did the LPG conversion, the inconvenience of travelling restricted to LP availability (eg. Sunday night impossible) didn't bother me. Times change. Now it's a PITA. I'll need to find, or make, a gas tank. _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list