We had a slow morning of attempting to diagnose my wagon. I cleaned up the oil spill on top of the valve cover and Evan cut a butyl shim to make a better seal with the oil cap to prevent more of the spillage. With that done, we pulled the plug wires and spark plug #3; everything was dry, which is good, except that it left us without a culprit. We also pulled off the distributor cap to clean its contacts as well as the inputs to the primary ignition coil. Checked the airbox and MAF and reseated the intake… and it’s not running any worse.
But we managed get it all put back together. Low end and idle is still rough, but it wasn’t lugging anymore. And it got a little better after it warmed up a bit on our way to Mount Rushmore.
I had mixed feelings about the monument given how spectacular the surrounding nature is. It left me feeling like the “before” photo in the gallery was underappreciated. But it is also a technical marvel for its day. And it definitely brought out every kind of tourist imaginable, our weird selves included. I think my favorite part of it might have been the Hall of Flags, with the each state and territory flag lining the wooded promenade. There is a nature walk around the grounds offering more historical placards, biographies of the predsidents featured, and views of the statue.
We puttered around, made a quick pass through the bookstore, sat on the observation deck for a bit, and then headed back into Keystone — with a quick stop at the parking area for the “Profile Viewpoint” for a wagon portrait.
Back at the house, we walked next door to the Black Hills Glass Blowing studio and watched him work for a minute. Then we went back downtown for dinner.
Tomorrow we head for Hot Springs, South Dakota, at the southern end of the Black Hills, via the Needles Highway, a pretty spectacular scenic pass. I’m hoping this day of rest and dental work will put my oxen in better health.
