rogtwo@aol.com

   

To you I may be "just foolish", but I of course see it differently.

I like adventures, this is the main reason I bought an Amphicar. And, for me
part of the adventure is fixing the car myself, whenever possible, and
experimenting when I have a "better idea".

I am most grateful to have Gordon Imports available and I have bought a bunch
of stuff from them. However, I get a great sense of satisfaction when I'm
able to fix something myself. This is why I spent maybe 8 hours repairing
the fuel level sending unit myself (I had to unwind, solder together the
broken resistance wire, and rewind it). Spending 8 hours on a $60 item may
not make much sense to some, but to me I saved $60 AND had 8 hours of
entertainment! Likewise, I repaired the internals of the gas gage and the
voltage regulator myself.

To me the door seals on the body are just another case where I think I have a
better idea. If my Frost King weather seal works out, I will again have a
nice sense of accomplishment. If they don't, then I'll buy a set of door
seals from Gordon's. In my judgment (based on both my 20 years of sailing
and my engineering background) the risk of sinking my Amphi by experimenting
with my door seals is less than the risk of being hit and sunk by another
drunken boater. It's a risk I am quite willing to accept for the enjoyment
that the experimentation gives me.

I think the biggest safety improvement that can be made on an Amphi is for
the captain to always assume, regardless of how tight the car is, that the
car WILL LEAK. If you make this assumption, then you will not travel too far
from shore (regardless of what the car has done, it is not an offshore
vessel) and you will watch the water level very carefully. Then, at the
first sign of a leakage problem (not when the water is all the way up to the
passengers ankles), you can return to dry land.

I understand that many people prefer not to experiment with things and prefer
the tried-and-true. This is a perfectly good approach, but try to understand
that some of us like the adventure of experimenting and doing it our own way.

Roger St. John
White '63
Seattle


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

tommyintpa@aol.com

   

In a message dated 1/29/03 10:53:46 AM Pacific Standard Time, rogtwo@aol.com
writes:

Snip<< To you I may be "just foolish," but I of course see it differently.

I like adventures, this is the main reason I bought an Amphicar. And, for
me
part of the adventure is fixing the car myself, whenever possible, and
experimenting when I have a "better idea."...

I am most grateful to have Gordon Imports available and I have bought a
bunch
of stuff from them....

To me the door seals on the body are just another case where I think I have a
better idea. If my Frost King weather seal works out, I will again have a
nice sense of accomplishment. If they don't, then I'll buy a set of door
seals from Gordon's....


I understand that many people prefer not to experiment with things and
prefer
the tried-and-true. This is a perfectly good approach, but try to
understand
that some of us like the adventure of experimenting and doing it our own way.

Roger St. John
White '63
Seattle >>

Hi Roger,
Congratulations on having the true sprit of Amphicar experimentation.

I must say that you are not the first to try the frost king gaskets just the
latest to bring them up. Although it is possible to have a better idea I
think you will find that this is not it. I would be curious if anyone who
has tried them is still using them.

I urge you to keep that sprit, Amphicar ownership gets better every day.

Tommy in Tampa

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts mind
there few. - Shunryu Suzuki

Mike Israel

   

To follow up on Tommy's thoughts, a real strength of
this list is to "float" any better ideas. You will
often find that it has indeed been tired before. It
may have worked, it may have been a disaster. In
either event, the list porovides a great forum for
validating these ideas with those who have been there,
done that. If nothing else, it could save you some
time and money or maybe even an Amphi.

Mike Israel

--- tommyintpa@aol.com wrote:
> Hi Roger,
> I must say that you are not the first to try the
> frost king gaskets just the
> latest to bring them up. Although it is possible to
> have a better idea I
> think you will find that this is not it.

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