> We lost the starter in southern california and put up with that until we 
> got to Mazatlan where we purchased another.  The engine blew up 60,000 
> miles later and I did another rebuild, which has its own story.  

As one who has virtually zero mechanical experience (except for 
extracting and disassembling a Corolla engine, couldn't get it back 
together, another story) the thought of doing what you did sounds like a 
great and wondrous adventure. The trip too. It must be great to have 
family and friends to put up with all that. What a great story!
Many thanks for sharing it!