Adam arrived to help work on the carport roof, but because Matt had installed the new regulator, we decided to first finish stage sixty-two of the BMW project, and add that missing ground wire to the second, unconnected alternator terminal. After a trip to the hardware store for stout, ten gauge copper wire and fittings, and some discussion about the perfect ground (we reasoned, why not directly to the negative of the battery terminal?), Adam reached in and completed the circuit. Except that as soon as the wire contacted that bare terminal, the engine compartment was transformed into our personal fireworks display. We had roman candlesque sparks, and smoking wires that began to drip red insulation, not unlike the volcano we visited in Hawaii.

I yelled at Adam to pull the wire off – I wasn’t going to put my hand in harm’s way – and he struggled to dodge the sparks, and now flames, to disengage it. Interestingly, with the wire off, and after a few minutes to allow vaguely familiar objects to return to their pre-molten shapes, the car started right up. However, later with a mostly fully charged battery, it again failed to start. But – and this may be a big but – it acted more like an old car that is unaccustomed to quick starts, and not, as it has in the past, an invisible power-draining short. Today I’ll pop in a battery from one of the many Schreiber cars stored on our lot to see if we’ve made enough progress to move to stage sixty-three: new tires. Or is it replacing all the worn out rubber hoses under the hood?

P.S. Peter Finlay assumes that “other” terminal is a second positive. That would explain the, ah, unhappy reaction.

Brian, Peter, Mack and Mike

Mike (not Mutt) and Jeff