The BMW has been drivable, but only because it has been starting instantly. However, shut it off and try to start it again, and it struggles briefly before giving up. That’s why I finally ordered a new starter motor online, and that’s why yesterday when I got home I asked Matthew, “You want to install it today?”

“No, I’m taking a nap.” It was five o’clock, and I knew Matt had been up late the last few nights. “Wake me when it’s time to pick Nana up from bingo.” That would be 9:45 PM.

I was disappointed but decided to imitate my son. I dropped a pillow on the office floor, tuned the radio to NPR, and lay down for my own nap. That’s when I heard footsteps on the stairs and, “All right, let’s do it.”

The starter motor is anchored by only three bolts, but it’s in an awful place – underneath hoses, the manifold, and greasy stuff that’s hard to see. I expected all kinds of problems, but in an hour and a half we had the old beast resting on the driveway and were screwing the used mounting bracket to the new one.

The primary reason it wasn’t more of struggle is because my father had previously repaired it, and when he put it back, he had used a thread compound called Siloo. Siloo is about the only thing I’ve given my father that he actually used. I inherited most of those presents placed under his side of the tree. The super view-all, extra wide rear view mirror was tossed; the suicide knob, I put on my ’56 red and white Plymouth; all those snake oil additives, I eventually poured into my own carburetors; and the Craftsman toolbox from which I was pulling our wrenches was his also. But Siloo he used, and the amazing thing is, it performed as advertised. Twenty-five years later those nuts slid off those bolts as if they were brand new.

So thrilled to see the gray goop on those threads, after each bolt I removed, I’d say to Matt, “You know why we could remove that bolt with our fingers? Siloo!” After the third proclamation, he told me to shut up.

We struggled for another hour getting the new starter motor back in place, but darkness and a thunderstorm sent us scurrying into the house before we could finish. We had a late dinner from T. C. Lando’s, we talked more about the camping trip, I called two parents, and Matt drove off to pick up his grandmother. He didn’t get home until almost eleven, which means you can lay even money on our finishing the repair this afternoon. Or taking naps.

Filling up in Kokadjo.
Running low, we had to make one run into town for gas.
View muddier image