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Yes folks, it's on.  We will be in Brevard, NC this year, arriving Wednesday 29 September, and leaving Sunday, 3 October.  That give us three days to drive some of the best roads in the US through some beautiful country.  And make no mistake, this is a driving event.  We will probably do the Rattler on one day and most certainly will do Carlos' Deliverance Run on one.  The third day could be used for whatever folks want including wineries, breweries, the Wheels Through Time museum, or more driving.  We don't do a lot of sitting around during the day, but the evenings are open for congeniality, comradery, and conversation.  While we won't have the firepits this year we will have the party room at the hotel.  The manager/owner is a car guy and tracks a Corvette C5 Z06.  I've invited him to join us on our drives.

For those who may not want to go on the more "technical" drives, there are lots of things to do in the area, but I know where I (and Stan and Carlos and...) will be .

This is a low-key, not heavily planned gathering so dinners are usually spur of the moment decisions, but we always have a good time.  A couple of times we even had pizza delivered to the hotel .

I was able to get a really good room rate for a block at the Hampton Inn Brevard, so PM me for specifics if you're interested.

1964 Beck Super Coupe

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A...........SLIGHTLY..........busy weekend in Western NC and nearby East TN

Fri - Sun: Audi Club of America, Fall Treffen at Etowah Valley Resort, Asheville

Sat: Smoky Mtn PCA: Autocross at Greeneviile Airport, Greeneville, TN

Sat: Appalachian Chapter PCA: Luft Vasser, Brevard, NC

Fri-Sun: French Broad River Festival, Hot Springs, NC

Fri-Sun: National Storytelling Festival, Jonesborough, TN

Fri-Sun: Apple Festival, Erwin, TN

Fri-Sun: Ferrari Club of America, Mountain Getaway, Grove Park Inn, Asheville (tentative)

BUMP!!

So far we have:

  1. Little ol' me, of course
  2. Kelly Arnold - A friend of mine since the 9th grade who's bringing his Corvette C5 Z06.
  3. Stan and Jeannie Galat (@Stan Galat) in the Presidential limousine
  4. Bob and Anna Garrett (@Panhandle Bob)
  5. Jack and Alice Crosby (@Jack Crosby)
  6. Tom Raymond (@Former Member)
  7. Carlos Galarza (@Carlos G)
  8. Mike Warjas (@MikelB) and Dianne Croxford
  9. (Hopefully) Phil Luebbert (@550 Phil)
  10. (Hopefully) Pieter Van Rossum

Any of you in the southeast don't want to miss this.  Details are shown in the first post above.  These are some of the best roads in North America with some of the best people in the world IMHO.  PM me with any questions.

Last edited by Lane Anderson

OK, been thinking about this one for  a long time.  Lots of family stuff been weighing me down recently.  But still interested.  Our "Organizer" from SC claims that the event is loosely organized.  Hmmm, I'll say, ... but consider the source.  The agenda is stated as: Wed through Sunday; does that mean Wed is travel/arrive day, Thurs, Fri, Sat are drive-your-ass-off days?  Is that the drill?

ONE MORE WEEK!!!!

To be clear to anybody who may be considering bombing down at the very last minute:

We're based in Brevard, NC at the Hampton Inn there. Everybody is booked for Wed. night through Sunday morning. It's a loose, driving based get-together with roads, views, and friendship not available at your local C&C.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is the 4th time we will have done this. I missed it in 2019 when Jeanie and I were in Europe (which I had hoped would be a more regular thing, before the "troubles"), but in '17, '18, and '20 it was a hoot. I'll come every year Lane pulls it together.

If you are on the fence, get off and come. If you were planning on 2 days, make it 3. If you were thinking "my car's just not running right and I live 16 hours away", fly into Atlanta or Charlotte and rent a 6-cylinder Mustang, or a Kia Rio, or whatever crapbox is on the lot. We won't judge your rental car. It won't be as fun as a speedster, but I guarantee it'll be more fun that whatever else you may be doing next weekend.

You won't regret it.

It didn't happen in 2019, Mr. President.  Ron and Maddie were hoping to put one together in north GA that year, but had a conflict and couldn't.  It was a bit too late to set one up at our usual spot.  This, of course, means you've made every one of 'em.  I think you, @Carlos G, and I are the only ones who have made all three - soon to be four.

Last edited by Lane Anderson

There are ALWAYS flies in the &^%#$&^!%$ ointment!  In this case there are two, both of which will hopefully resolve in my favor.

  1. I have discovered a failed bushing in the rear suspension.  Carey has express shipped a replacement to me, which I should have tomorrow.  If I can get it installed over the weekend I still plan to drive the SC (my new short name for the Super Coupe.  Like it?)  Otherwise I will drive the BMW.  I plan to be there one way or the other, come hell or high water!
  2. Ok, about that "high water" thing .  Hurricane Sam is predicted to become a major (cat 3 or above) hurricane perhaps as early as tonight. The spaghetti models show it turning north well before approaching the coast, but if it doesn't it could impact my area.  I will track it through the next few days and make a definitive call on Tuesday.  I don't think it'll be an issue, but if it is, y'all go on without me.

If you get the bushing installed and the hurricane threatens, I recommend you pack the coupe with whatever you can and head this way. Save the coupe, I mean yourself, man.

Hurricanes suck, that's one of many reasons I left Floriduh.

BTW, it's currently 70 degrees here with clear blue skies and 50% humidity. Weather looks good for next weekend. Maybe a very slight chance of showers Saturday and Sunday.

Last edited by Carlos G

It's 75 here and 51% humidity, so pretty close to you.  I love it!

I've gotten the control arms out and just need to press out the old bushing and put in the new one, assuming the shipping company does it's job.  Carey tells me I may have to put them on a lathe and take off a few thousandths.  Luckily Mike Lempert has a lathe and pretty much anything else I'll need, and he's close by.

Most predictions put Sam as not presenting much of a danger to us, but If they're wrong and an evac is likely, I need to be here.  I should know in a couple of days.

Of course we might wind up back up there with y'all to escape Sam's wrath.

Last edited by Lane Anderson

That's gonna be a hoot in the mountains, Marty, but the overall luxury prize will top to the Presidential limousine.  You're a close second, though.

I need to let you all know that I have succumbed to Marty's influence and will be sporting a pair of Autodromo cognac leather string-back glove during aggressive drives where I need a good grip and want to be doh so stylish.

On the hurricane front, it looks like Sam will still be waaaaaay out in the Atlantic and more evidence points to it getting pulled north, so I think that's a non-issue.  Now if the new bushings will just get here I'll be done and ready for a quick detail.

This is gonna be sooooo much fun!

Wheel bearing?  You mean control arm bushing, I believe.  The first set was the wrong size.  Apparently they changed the control arms a bit after my car and weren't sure which side of the change I was on.  Carey fabricated a set of delrin bushings and they will be here tomorrow by noon.  As a back up I ordered a set from Summit Racing that should be here as well.  One way or another I should have the car on the road tomorrow afternoon.  Installation should take about an hour (fingers crossed).

I put the Vreds on today. They feel so darn SUPPLE. The ride was smooth before, but now it's sublime. I'm even running a few pounds more air pressure. Sticky, sticky, and you can feel every pebble and ripple in the road. I'm sold.

The 300 treadwear is almost half of the Yokohamas(560 treadwear) that were on there. The round shoulders of the Vreds should be more forgiving with the archaic suspension design.

No, unfortunately I'm not coming to Smo this year.

I just wanted y'all to know to watch out for Carlos this year. He should be REALLY "up on the wheel". He's got Vreds and a front swaybar installed...

Watch out for the NEW "Carlos Deliverance Run Machine".

Lane, I officially want to welcome you to the MEOC, or Mid-Engine Owner's Club.

Be careful, a mid-engine car's limits are higher, but there is little to no warning between going and gone. I've no idea how your car is set up. I'd take it into an abandoned parking lot and play a bit in second gear. Lift off the throttle in mid-corner on purpose just to see what happens. Mid-engine cars have a REALLY good philosophy: NEVER LIFT! That doesn't mean you have to floor it, just MAINTAIN the throttle and steer into it if the tail starts coming round. But never lift, it WILL definitely come around then.

I had a very slight throttle lift(momentary lapse in concentration) going up through the esses at Watkins Glen, at over 100 mph. The back end got loose on the left hander, there is a slight flattening of the hill right at the apex. I squeezed a tiny bit more throttle and steered into it. My instructor said "that is the one and only warning you'll ever get to NEVER lift there. However, that was a most excellent recovery, you gave it just the right amount of squeeze and reacted SMOOTHLY. Well done." Needless to say, that track has a lot of Armco and it's really narrow going up through the esses. That would have been painful and expensive. That was at the end of the first day and I was flat out from the turn one exit to the bus stop. On the next lap I was going about 135 and lost my brakes trying to slow for the bus stop. I straight-lined it, weaving through the cones and got it slowed down.

Anyway, explore the car slowly and gradually increase speeds. And the bottom line: have fun, safely.

@DannyP posted:

I put the Vreds on today. They feel so darn SUPPLE. The ride was smooth before, but now it's sublime. I'm even running a few pounds more air pressure. Sticky, sticky, and you can feel every pebble and ripple in the road. I'm sold.

I know, right?

I can't for the life of me figure out why everybody is so indifferent to these tires. They're transformational.

Last edited by Stan Galat
@calmotion posted:

@DannyP YAP and that’s why I mentioned LOVING the auto pilot 👍❤️

I have one of those too, but you know, not the same as Marty's. Mine is named Michelle LOL!

FYI, I drove around a little the other day with the trailer and put the tow mirrors on that @LI-Rick gave me. They worked great, thanks Rick!

I'm curious how it will work out with my autopilot driving the truck and enclosed trailer next year.

Danny I pulled a LOT of miles with my trailer with the cruise control on.  Run it up to 70mph and hit cruise for the next, oh, eight hours or so (dual 29 gallon fuel tanks) and just watch the scenery go by.  The speed would vary +/-  2  or 3 mph around 70 when set, but that was a diesel.  Your gas job should vary about +/- 5 - 6mph.

After the first day of trailering under cruise, you'll be totally used to it.  

"Ain't no big thang."

@DannyP posted:

With cruise on, speed is maintained very well, except for the REALLY steep grades.

Towing is all about torque. In the case of the mighty, mighty Northstar 4.6 L V8 limo, there's less torque on hand than the trailer and extra 4 ft in the middle requires, so the 4T80E transmission unlocks the torque converter and downshifts to 3rd, then 2nd as the grade increases. We spent some quality time on the side of an exit ramp allowing the transmission to cool off a bit yesterday.

This rig doesn't strictly love the mountains, but it gets 'er done.

Wow.   I thought a Limo would be based on a 400+CI engine and that beefier, 6-speed transmission, but I guess not.

My F/250 loved hills.  Never even unlocked the torque converter when trailering Pearl and I never needed to use "trailer mode" (which mostly just unlocked the convertor all of the time).  It was a 6-speed automatic, too.  The only thing I ever noticed was the turbo boost gauge climbing up there and the transmission temp gauge would go up something like 5 degrees and hold there, but it took a really long, steep uphill (at 70 - 75mph) for all that to happen.

Now....   If I had an enclosed trailer that was not in the wind shadow of the truck bed cap it would have been a whole 'nuther story.  My little trailer and car acted like there was nothing back there.

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

.

@Stan Galat posted:
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...In the case of the mighty, mighty Northstar 4.6 L V8 limo, there's less torque on hand than the trailer and extra 4 ft in the middle requires...



I think aerodynamic drag from the presidential fender flags is making the critical difference.

The 4T80E transmission was designed to handle the form factor of a standard presidential limo trailing a standard presidential auxiliary vehicle.

Once you add the flag package, the stock cooling can't keep up. Most embassy staffs that mount flags add an external tranny cooler with thermostatically-actuated fan in the rear driver's side wheel well.

.

Last edited by Sacto Mitch

Wow.   I thought a Limo would be based on a 400+CI engine and that beefier, 6-speed transmission, but I guess not.

My F/250 loved hills.  Never even unlocked the torque converter when trailering Pearl and I never needed to use "trailer mode" (which mostly just unlocked the convertor all of the time).  It was a 6-speed automatic, too.  The only thing I ever noticed was the turbo boost gauge climbing up there and the transmission temp gauge would go up something like 5 degrees and hold there, but it took a really long, steep uphill (at 70 - 75mph) for all that to happen.

Now....   If I had an enclosed trailer that was not in the wind shadow of the truck bed cap it would have been a whole 'nuther story.  My little trailer and car acted like there was nothing back there.

Yeah, I'm thinking you would have been very happy with MY truck and YOUR trailer, even with the 5 speed. I can put it into tow mode or manual shift mode as well as

Diesel with your car/trailer was overkill.

Me, towing my 4500 pounds of aerodynamic brick/box is a different story. I do have 407 ft. lbs. of torque, but it's a bit higher in the rev range than a diesel would be.

My next truck WILL be a diesel.

I did the conversion and Stan's 4.7 liter is a 286 - My little '66 Mustang had a 289!

My F/250 6-liter could be considered overkill, but then again, it was never working very hard.  The trailering package gave it not only the trailer brake controller in the dash, but a beefier transmission and torque converter, larger transmission fluid cooler, a tranny temp gauge, larger engine cooling, bigger condenser for the A/C (part of the "Southern Truck" Package) and a few other things I can't remember (Oh, and the dual DVD hook-up for the back seats, too).  All THAT was the overkill part.  The PO was a lady who hauled a 4-horse trailer so figure 1,600 pounds per horse and another ton for the trailer and you get the idea of why all the beefiness.  

Let's see what I remember...  My 6-liter was pushing 560 ft. lbs. of torque.  I never chipped it.  At 70mph on a flat with no headwind it would run around 2,100 rpm and the boost would be around 10-12.  Going up that 11-mile-long uphill on I-81 from NC into Virginia in Cruise it would remain at 70mph and the revs would increase to 2,300-2,400 but at the steepest part, near the top, the boost would be pushing 40 (!!) and there was this sinister snort to the exhaust.  Kinda like Pearl's exhaust note!

Ahhhh....    The good ol' days!

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

engine speed vs road speed + weight + aero drag.

The limo wasn't meant to tow a car...  heck the car the limo was converted from wasn't meant to tow a car. 

diesel trucks have 2x-3x torque at 1/2 the rpms of that Northstar at peak.

And extra capacity tranny + cooler, +aux oil cooler, bigger brakes, punch a bigger hole for the trailer.... etc.



While Stan may have traveled there in a slower style, he got there and is hopefully enjoying the NC high-country immensely.   (the rest of us are just jealous we aren't there too..  )

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It's a ruse! He only drinks beer made with the sweet water that a 600' deep Morton Illinois well can provide.

80%+ of the foundational ingredients for all the world's vodka originates just beyond the edge of the Borders of Stanistan. (True!!!!) I expect that the exalted leader will annex the plant that makes the stuff as soon as he builds the Destroyer he needs to get across the river.

Stand by peasants!

It's a ruse! He only drinks beer made with the sweet water that a 600' deep Morton Illinois well can provide.

80%+ of the foundational ingredients for all the world's vodka originates just beyond the edge of the Borders of Stanistan. (True!!!!) I expect that the exalted leader will annex the plant that makes the stuff as soon as he builds the Destroyer he needs to get across the river.

Stand by peasants!

Are you delirious from the fever/sickness? Or is pot legal in Florida now?

The Roadster was a new guy. I think his name is Wrenn. It might be @Theron s car. It is pretty sweet, It also has a Berg 5 speed in it. He was able to stay on Stan's tail for a while, so he's a driver.

I sat next to Pieter at lunch today and we talked cars and stuff. He only came out today, but I'm going to go see his shop at some point. He's about an hour West of me on back roads. Perfect for the Spyder.

DUDE, we need to talk about transmissions. I need different gearing, especially with the sway bar and tires. It's annoying.

Gotcha Carlos. I'm working on it. As in, I got a bunch of stuff and I'm waiting on a few items that are backordered. They should be here some time this month.

I'm pretty sure I've got it figured though:

3.44/1.93/1.30(or 1.32)/1.04 with a 3.44 final drive. It's a close ratio 4 speed, taller 1st than you probably have but also a shorter 4th. Should be able to keep the motor "on the boil" especially in the mountains.

Let me know what you have, and we'll go from there.

I'll know next year when I see you, it will be done by then.

Carlos:

Correction on trans ratios, 4th was wrong.

3.44 1st, 1.93 2nd, 1.30 3rd, and 1.00 4th. Still using 3.44 final.

My NEW 4th ends up identical to a 3.88 final with stock 0.89, but 1-2-3 are slightly taller and almost dead-even spacing.

This is probably the most expensive way to build it. Custom mainshaft, 1-2-3-4 all custom Weddle. 3.44 final drive(unobtanium!) and a Super Diff and aftermarket sidecovers(stronger than stock). The only way to make it more expensive would be to use an aluminum Rhino case and Weddle gear carrier...

Thanks Marty. I had a couple of WTF moments today. If I had not had my new tires on, I think I would have been in the weeds. They saved my bacon. I'm glad I had my brown pants on.

Bob, we did part of last year's run backwards this time with a new section at the start. Those endless twisties can wear on you though.

Again, I can't say enough about those Sportracs. They are all that and a bag of chips.

BTW Danny, I looked at my info and I do have a 3.44. I just don't know what everything else is. It's the Rancho Pro Street. I should've got the Pro Comp.

Correction: The guy with the Roadster was Chris. Wren aka wolfgang came a passenger in Stan's car today.

This weekend was busy around here. The Audi and Porsche Clubs were in town. The Porsche Club had main street closed displaying 20-30 of their cars. They show their cars, we drive ours. We ran into some of the Audi club out on the Deliverance Run. They were driving on the main roads, but we were doing the back roads in between the main roads. There were pot holes, dips, gravel and a couple of dead skunks.

Lane's buddy, Kelly, had a Z06 Vette that he bottomed out a few times and his front spoiler will never be the same, but he had a blast. Everyone donated some rubber from their tires, the other Kelly some brake fluid, and I might've made a brown spot in a turn.

The weather was perfect.

@Carlos G posted:

This weekend was busy around here. The Audi and Porsche Clubs were in town. The Porsche Club had main street closed displaying 20-30 of their cars. They show their cars, we drive ours. We ran into some of the Audi club out on the Deliverance Run. They were driving on the main roads, but we were doing the back roads in between the main roads. There were pot holes, dips, gravel and a couple of dead skunks.

Lane's buddy, Kelly, had a Z06 Vette that he bottomed out a few times and his front spoiler will never be the same, but he had a blast. Everyone donated some rubber from their tires, the other Kelly some brake fluid, and I might've made a brown spot in a turn.

The weather was perfect.

@Carlos G love the WE DRIVE OURS🤙👍

Made it home just before 2:00 this afternoon.  What a(nother) fantastic weekend!!!  I'll build up the energy to post some pictures a bit later, but you've seen some already.  What a great time!!

"Lane's buddy, Kelly..." Is a best friend I've know since the first day of the 9th grade in 1970, 51 years ago.  He had an absolutely incredible time and plans to return next year. 

Guys,  Quick note to say Thanks again for letting me meetup and special thanks to @Stan Galat for letting me ride along.  You've all got super cool rides and hopefully I'll be able to join with mine sooner than later.

It's just so cool to have a car that's this classic, evokes all things sport and it still 'performs' and yet is so raw that it can be joyous without having to obliterate speed-limits.

To those considering attending the next Tour de Smo, yes, this is definately a driver's tour & I'd agree with spririted as the description.  Using all the lane but not all the road shows the proper restraint. 

Hey, @Carlos G while you had a little step out, you recovered nicely.  (it's nice to have 4 wheels in those situations   )

Great meeting you all.  Wrenn

I thought I'd add a few pictures about the weekends festivities.  As several have said above, this is a driving event without al lot of planned and organized meals, etc., and yet we manage to find several good places and never wanted for good food.  We've already identified the weekend of 28 September through 2 October as the time for next year.  Y'all come!

And now for the pics.

Day 1: The Blue Ridge Parkway and HWY 276 through Pisgah National Forest.  The most scenic drive as well as the least technical.  The ladies joined us on this one.

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Last edited by Lane Anderson

Day 2: The Rattler Run.  Considerably longer this year since we had had an hour's drive just to get to the beginning.  A very fun hour's drive.  Pieter Van Rossum joined us in his black Envemo outlaw.  Latter my buddy Kelly from Memphis, Carlos, Leon, and I went to the Oskar Blue's Brewery for some refreshing adult beverages.

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Day 3: The Deliverance Run.  The most technical and challenging.  I took no pictures on the drive (sigh!), so you'll have to get those from the other participants.  I did use Kelly's (Arnold) phone to take a 6 minute video and will see if I can post it, or at least a link to it.  

Tom Raymond was in Brevard with the Audi group gathering (55 cars) and they had several runs: Scenic (slow), Sporting (medium), and Spirited (fast).  We met the Spirited group at one of our stops on the Deliverance Run, and chatted for a bit.  Nice folks.  Tom, who was in the Sporting crowd showed up later for drinks with us in one of his toys.  Prior to Tom's visit Kelly, Carlos, and I again convened at one of the nearby breweries for rehydration.  This time it was the Ecusta, very near the hotel.

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Both the Porsche and BMW crowds had gatherings the same weekend.  The Porsche folks appeared to me more interested in showing their cars than driving them.

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Last edited by Lane Anderson
@MusbJim posted:

Thanks for sharing those great pics! Looks like you all had a great time...as expected with this group. Glad you all had a safe run and everybody got home safe and sound...well, safe anyway!

One of these days I'm gonna make my way out there to join you and hopefully find an empty right-seat. Peace-Out, my bruthas!!

I'm sure to have a right seat available at least one day of next year. Michelle doesn't like the aggressive rides.

Thanks to all who had anything to do with this trip, but especially to Carlos for opening his hometown and the car-guy wonderland that is the Pisgah Forest. As everybody has alluded - this is a pretty serious driver's weekend, with some of the best roads east of the Mississippi (maybe anywhere). The roads are Speedster/Spyder sized, and while other cars are welcome, the thing is best experienced in a dialed in clown car operating at 8 or 9/10ths. I could drive The Rattler every day of the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

As this was the 3rd or 4th time we've done this, and as Jeanie has gamely come along for at least one ride every time (even though she doesn't like spirited driving), she requested ahead of time that we make an actual vacation of it and head down to Charleston and Savannah after the party broke up on Sunday AM. I booked the AirBnBs for little downtown inns.

We decided to leave the limo and trailer up in Brevard with Carlos (thanks @Carlos G!) and drive the speedster down to the coast since we'd be staying in the interiors of old cities not set up for 40+ ft of rig. We left Brevard in the speedster with the top up due to the predicted rain, but put it down by the time we got very far on I26E. Every interstate highway in America has it's own "feel" and I figured out pretty quickly that I26 is about 1-2 lanes too narrow and traffic is heavy and fast the all the way through NC and SC. We both pretty much hate driving with the top up, and the car likes cruising open much better. The added visibility was almost a requirement on this highway.

I woke up on Sunday with a toothache and an aching back, and by Spartanburg I was hurting pretty badly. Somewhere between Spartanburg and Columbia, my oil light came on and my tach started jumping around. I knew I had good oil pressure because I've got a gauge, but I immediately pulled off on the shoulder with extremely busy (and fast) traffic whizzing around me and shut off the car, mostly out of habit.

I assessed the situation and hoped to get a little further down the road to get a bit further off the road. I tried to restart the car, but was dead in the water. The engine cranked over for about 10 seconds before I gave up - I knew it wasn't going to restart and I didn't want to drain the battery. I sat in the car - tooth throbbing, back hurting,  and traffic buzzing my door. I asked the Lord to help me find the issue quickly.

I suspected a ground problem, since I knew I had oil pressure but the tach was bouncing and the oil light was on. I hobbled out of the car carefully and went to the back. I gingerly opened the decklid and looked straight at the coil mounted upside down on the shroud. I felt underneath the coil and came up with a broken ground wire in roughly 3 seconds. The coil had slipped down in the clamp and rested on the hex bar, where the wire had work-hardened and broken off cleanly at the ring terminal. I went to the front of the car, got out the tool bag and the parts bag labeled "wiring", found a new ring terminal, stripped the broken wire back, and crimped on a new terminal. I replaced the wire on the coil, went around and started the car before it completed 1/2 revolution on the crank.

I zip-tyed the coil so it wouldn't slip down again and put everything back together. We were back on the way in less than 5 minutes. We drove on the Spartanburg, where we ate lunch and got some toothache gel. Traffic started thinning out and we rolled into Charleston by 5:00 and got settled into the Inn. I slept like a baby that night and woke up yesterday morning with the toothache gone and my back feeling better. We had a great day exploring downtown.

The moral of the boring story? You don't need to be a mechanic to own one of these cars, but it's important to understand how they work and what might go wrong. Prayer helps. It's been a long time since a "real" car required this and a lot of guys just can't deal with the uncertainty of it, and deem this sort of thing "unreliability".

It's not. My car is dead-nuts reliable, as long as I think about what is happening and what it's trying to tell me. Carrying sensible spares and tools to make simple repairs is something all automobiles used to require and these cars still do (regardless of what kind of engine is behind the seats). Traveling like this gives the entire thing a feel of a little bit of adventure.

You either like that or you don't.

I do.

Last edited by Stan Galat

Your "tach starting jumping around", wow, that's DEFINITELY a ground, or lack of, problem.

Great sleuthing/mechanic-ing, Stan.

That happened to me in 2006(Carlisle trip) when my floor filled up with rain-water and my Mallory ignition box was grounding out. The tach started wildly spiking down and up and past the actual rpms. Then the engine just stopped. Pull to the graded side of the road, the water moved away from the box and all was good. Start driving down the road, water sloshed back into the ignition box, killing it again. I took the passenger seat out, unbolted the wet box, and laid it onto a plastic bag on the replaced passenger seat. Not a hiccup the rest of the trip...

After you finish visiting Charlston (and there is a LOT to see, there, too) you might try finding the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens up on the Ashley river - Worth the side trip.

Many ways to get to Savannah, both fast and slow.  The best slow (non-Interstate) way is to travel down SC 17 to Garden Corner and then SC 21 down to Beaufort, which is a very pretty, smaller version of Charleston with lots to see, like the planter's mansions to the East of Carteret St.  Take the horse-drawn carriage tour.  The Penn Center in Frogmore out on St. Helena Island is worth the trip but out of the way a bit.  

Take SC 170 out of the west side of Beaufort to SC 17 and into Savannah over the Hutchinson Island Bridge and find your way to the tourist center on MLK Blvd.  Take the Trolley Tour of Savannah (it's worth it).  You can get off and on at any of their stops.  Drive the Roadster around the parks (there is a park on every other block in the historic district.

Enjoy the trip!

Your welcome Stan.

The Presidential Chariot is resting comfortably on a bed of moss. Gravel is for peasants, or trailers.

Presedential chariot

That I 26 corridor between Spartanburg and I 95 is very busy. I should've warned you. Maybe you could take a backroad route coming back up from Savannah. It's about 6 hours, maybe 30 minutes more than the highway route, but would be a lot less stressful.

Maybe stop by Savannah for lunch to get as much Down South vibe as you can get. Coming up 276 to Brevard at the end, would be the last taste of twisties before parking your car on the trailer.

Have tools, will travel. This should be at the bottom of any description of our plastic fantastics.

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  • Presidential chariot

Woke up to rain. Hung out on the covered porch until the rain picked up and drove me inside. Read about Charleston and the Civil War on the bed until 1:00 while the rain slowed to a drizzle.

Met Lane for lunch in Mt. Pleasant. Left in a steady rain. Drove top up, windows fogging slightly across the bridge. Parked and went inside, only getting 2/3 wet. Ate lunch. Just as the card was being swiped, the sky opened up for a biblical-grade thunderstorm. Animals were lining up 2 by 2 headed for the dock to look for their ticket out.

Decided to scratch the carrier visit due to the fact that we only had a couple of hours and I couldn't even see the carrier from the parking lot due to the heavy rain. White knuckled back to the inn wiping the windshield every 10 seconds or so. Got to the room in time to watch the rain drop to a drizzle. Here I am on the covered porch watching traffic go by again.

I'm starting to understand Lane's dislike for Charleston weather.

Last edited by Stan Galat
@Stan Galat posted:

Thanks to all who had anything to do with this trip, but especially to Carlos for opening his hometown and the car-guy wonderland that is the Pisgah Forest. As everybody has alluded - this is a pretty serious driver's weekend, with some of the best roads east of the Mississippi (maybe anywhere). The roads are Speedster/Spyder sized, and while other cars are welcome, the thing is best experienced in a dialed in clown car operating at 8 or 9/10ths. I could drive The Rattler every day of the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

As this was the 3rd or 4th time we've done this, and as Jeanie has gamely come along for at least one ride every time (even though she doesn't like spirited driving), she requested ahead of time that we make an actual vacation of it and head down to Charleston and Savannah after the party broke up on Sunday AM. I booked the AirBnBs for little downtown inns.

We decided to leave the limo and trailer up in Brevard with Carlos (thanks @Carlos G!) and drive the speedster down to the coast since we'd be staying in the interiors of old cities not set up for 40+ ft of rig. We left Brevard in the speedster with the top up due to the predicted rain, but put it down by the time we got very far on I26E. Every interstate highway in America has it's own "feel" and I figured out pretty quickly that I26 is about 1-2 lanes too narrow and traffic is heavy and fast the all the way through NC and SC. We both pretty much hate driving with the top up, and the car likes cruising open much better. The added visibility was almost a requirement on this highway.

I woke up on Sunday with a toothache and an aching back, and by Spartanburg I was hurting pretty badly. Somewhere between Spartanburg and Columbia, my oil light came on and my tach started jumping around. I knew I had good oil pressure because I've got a gauge, but I immediately pulled off on the shoulder with extremely busy (and fast) traffic whizzing around me and shut off the car, mostly out of habit.

I assessed the situation and hoped to get a little further down the road to get a bit further off the road. I tried to restart the car, but was dead in the water. The engine cranked over for about 10 seconds before I gave up - I knew it wasn't going to restart and I didn't want to drain the battery. I sat in the car - tooth throbbing, back hurting,  and traffic buzzing my door. I asked the Lord to help me find the issue quickly.

I suspected a ground problem, since I knew I had oil pressure but the tach was bouncing and the oil light was on. I hobbled out of the car carefully and went to the back. I gingerly opened the decklid and looked straight at the coil mounted upside down on the shroud. I felt underneath the coil and came up with a broken ground wire in roughly 3 seconds. The coil had slipped down in the clamp and rested on the hex bar, where the wire had work-hardened and broken off cleanly at the ring terminal. I went to the front of the car, got out the tool bag and the parts bag labeled "wiring", found a new ring terminal, stripped the broken wire back, and crimped on a new terminal. I replaced the wire on the coil, went around and started the car before it completed 1/2 revolution on the crank.

I zip-tyed the coil so it wouldn't slip down again and put everything back together. We were back on the way in less than 5 minutes. We drove on the Spartanburg, where we ate lunch and got some toothache gel. Traffic started thinning out and we rolled into Charleston by 5:00 and got settled into the Inn. I slept like a baby that night and woke up yesterday morning with the toothache gone and my back feeling better. We had a great day exploring downtown.

The moral of the boring story? You don't need to be a mechanic to own one of these cars, but it's important to understand how they work and what might go wrong. Prayer helps. It's been a long time since a "real" car required this and a lot of guys just can't deal with the uncertainty of it, and deem this sort of thing "unreliability".

It's not. My car is dead-nuts reliable, as long as I think about what is happening and what it's trying to tell me. Carrying sensible spares and tools to make simple repairs is something all automobiles used to require and these cars still do (regardless of what kind of engine is behind the seats). Traveling like this gives the entire thing a feel of a little bit of adventure.

You either like that or you don't.

I do.

“Adventure is misery recounted at leisure.” Some 19th Century explorer a friend quoted to me after telling my tale of riding my Ducati Monster from Utah to NYC.

"I'm starting to understand Lane's dislike for Charleston weather."

Yup.  When it rains here it's often Biblical.  We set a new record for this date today at 2.97", and it's still raining.  Between hurricanes October is usually a dry month.

IN OTHER NEWS...

I'm a week late and more than a dollar short, but the SC is back on four wheels and driveable.  @chines1 and I exchanged a lot of lengthy emails this week and I now understand how the rear suspension is supposed to work - something I'm not sure I can say for my friends at the Porsche place.  I'm sure they did their best, but this was just a bit too alien for the tech to figure out.  I haven't driven it yet (the rain again) and may need to tweak some settings, but I'm pretty sure it's near where it needs to be.

"I'm starting to understand Lane's dislike for Charleston weather."

Yup.  When it rains here it's often Biblical.  We set a new record for this date today at 2.97", and it's still raining.  Between hurricanes October is usually a dry month.

IN OTHER NEWS...

I'm a week late and more than a dollar short, but the SC is back on four wheels and driveable.  @chines1 and I exchanged a lot of lengthy emails this week and I now understand how the rear suspension is supposed to work - something I'm not sure I can say for my friends at the Porsche place.  I'm sure they did their best, but this was just a bit too alien for the tech to figure out.  I haven't driven it yet (the rain again) and may need to tweak some settings, but I'm pretty sure it's near where it needs to be.

You might want to do a little sleuthing to see if there’s a vintage race car shop in your area. From what I understand, the GTS suspension SE uses is based on a Chevron B25 (29?) sports racer chassis. They might understand your suspension a lot better than car mechanics.

No.  I noticed it before the car went to them.  At that point it looked like a cut in the wide part/flange/whatever.  I also noticed the the control arm bushing tube (attachment point - whatever it's called) didn't appear to be completely parallel to the frame.  The shop's alignment just worsened the problem considerably.

I have to say that it's been interesting - and confidence inspiring - to get in there and work on it since Carey edjumacated me on the mysteries of this suspension.  The upper control arm has a helm joint to adjust camber, while the lower trailing link has a helm for adjusting toe/track.  The upper trailing link basically steadies the upper control arm and shouldn't be used in the adjustments, but its heims are adjusted to neutral once the others are set.  I have both sides symmetrical as far as I can measure.  Now I need to drive it to settle things and then see how close I am.

@Stan Galat

Don't know your schedule, but my old car club in Beaufort is having a BIG cruise night this Friday evening at the Grayco Hardware store, 136 Sea Island Parkway, Beaufort, SC from 4:30 to 7pm (That's on SC 21 out on Lady's Island).  They typically get 40+ cars there and a bunch of older members will remember me, like Jim Kampi, Peter McEwan and Mike Keyserling.  The Best Western hotel on Bay street is a handy place to stay unless you're elsewhere or have an airB&B.

Thanks Gordon, but I'm probably gonna' pass. If I committed to it, It would be pretty much guaranteed to rain the entire weekend. Who knows? If I participated, the earth might open up and swallow the entire get-together.

We just got into Savannah - we're staying in an AirBnB in the historic district a couple of blocks from Forsyth Park, a sweet suite in a converted mansion on Jones St. We had a similar 1850-ish place in Charleston, but I already like this place considerably better than anything I saw in Chuck-Town, South Cackalacky, which was almost a total bust for us.

The weather in the (un)Holy City was abysmal. I've always thought Lane was exaggerating with his disgust for the heat/humidity - but it's freaking October, and the windows on every building were impossible to see through, due to the condensation buildup on the panes. We took a $50 bus tour and couldn't see a thing because the windows were steamed up on the outside of the bus. The entire downtown smells like rotting wood and mildew and/or burning sulfur. Perhaps the early settlers stopped and set up shop there, not wanting to go further because they (rightly?) suspected they were at the last weigh-station before descending into the underworld. The only thing missing was a peat bog, but maybe I just missed it.

It rained non-stop for the 3 days we tried to learn to love it. Every time we planned an activity, the sky opened up to move from a steady shower to a biblical punishment spec thunderstorm. To add insult to injury, the smoke detector in our room was chirped steadily every morning we were there from 6:30 until about 10:00. A replacement battery did nothing, I think it acted out of spite against our being there. A good time was had by all.

We gave up and loaded damp luggage in a steady rain into a car that smelled like a wet dog and drove the 2 hrs from there to Savannah in a thunderstorm this afternoon. If the car had broken down on the road, I might have been tempted to set it ablaze, had I not been aware that a fire would be an impossibility in these conditions.

I loved my car last weekend up in the Smoky Mountains. Down here? I'm (again) giving @Lane Anderson credit for having stuck it out with a Speedster for so long in an environment so inhospitable to having one. I'm not sure I would have.

My car is sealed considerably better than a regular speedster (with the roll up windows and all), but is still quite porous in the usual places. The worst of speedster driving in the rain down here is the fog on the windshield, which can only be alleviated by rolling the windows down (which pretty much negates the advantage of having them). I've driven through heavy thunderstorms in my car in the past, but always running through them, darting though a gap and across a squall line sweeping the plains. I've never had to decide between spraying down the inside of the car with God's own pressure washer and trying to drive (blind) from inside the devil's sealed sauna for an entire week. I would almost rather drive my car in the snow, and that's saying something.

But now we're here. The car will (blessedly) be parked until Sunday morning, which should only cost about as much as just giving it away. Some of the restaurants most highly recommended to us by friends are located within a ball's throw of the front door - one of them less than 20 ft away, so walking around is just fine. It's been raining here for 3 days, just like in Charleston - but somehow I can see through all the windows, and the city doesn't smell like it died a week ago, so there's that.

The historic district in Savannah is almost impossibly pretty. Jeanie has already fallen in love with the place.

More updates as they develop...

Last edited by Stan Galat

@Stan Galat

If Jeannie likes it now, she would absolutely LOVE IT TO PIECES in late March/April when all of the flowering shrubs and gardens explode in blossoms.   Savannah is absolutely our favorite Southern city (with Charleston, in good weather, a close second) while Beaufort (more of a "Mini-Savannah) is our favorite small town.

When General Sherman had left Atlanta in a burnt ruins he headed straight to Savannah, getting there (IIRC) on December 22'nd and captured the city without firing a shot.  He presented the city to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present because he considered it "too pretty to burn".  (and now you understand his gift).  They tell about that on the Trolley Tour.  

Sherman (a West Point Grad) had been courting a Charleston woman before he joined the Union Army and they called off the engagement when the Civil war broke out.  I don't recall her name, but a month or so after capturing Savannah,  when Sherman's Union land forces took over Charleston (again, with little damage to the city) he presented the preservation of Charleston to his ex-fiancé as a birthday present (the old softy).

Who says Army Generals don't have feelings?

Marty's right.  In a few weeks it'll be beautiful and will stay that way until January, at which point it will be chilly, with the occasional surprisingly cold day.  By late February it'll start having nice days, which get better until May, at which point it starts getting warm.  June is when the warmth has set in for good.  The real humidity arrives late in the month and stays through most of October.

The weather has well and truly sucked this week, but even without the rain the humidity has been epic.  Working on the car the last few nights was no fun as I was dripping sweat within minutes.  An hour or so was about all I could do either night.  The reason to have A/C (which I didn't have) in a Speedster here is not to keep you cool, but to defog the windshield in the rain.

Rain-X for exterior car glass (windshield/head lights and mirrors) makes an interior product called Fog-X for inside of the windshield.  It works well in keeping condensation off inside of windshield.

We have had rain 2 hours per day (and repeated at night) here in NW FL for last 4 days.  Record accumulation and lots of local flooding on non-Interstate roads.  There has to be a way to get all this excess rain to the West!

Last edited by WOLFGANG

First test drive with the new suspension setup went well.  Under hard acceleration I can feel a little pull to one side, indicating that I don't have the track set perfectly.  Now I have to come up with an alignment measuring setup.

Four jack stands, string, and a tape measure will do nicely for measuring track and toe-in. Make the strings perfectly parallel at hub center.

A 2 foot carpenters square works really well on smooth concrete for checking camber. Simple trigonometry gives distance at the top of the square equaling camber values. 1/8" at the top of the tire(24" from the ground) equals about 1/3 degree of camber, so 3/8" is almost a degree. What's nice about the square and strings is the floor doesn't have to be dead level, just reasonably flat.

This stuff is detailed in "How to Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn.

I use ART(Advanced Racing Technologies) laser toe plates and the SMART camber gauge, along with the scales which you've seen.

My toe plates are a 20 year old version, and were nowhere near as nice or expensive as what's available today. Fun fact, the ART toe plates are made in Staatsburg NY, about 40 minutes from my house.

Last edited by DannyP

Thanks Danny!  Four jack stands and a tape measure I have.  I'll get the string  tomorrow.  If I can get a small level with some sort of inclinometer, I can check camber.  It's pretty close.  I'll also look into the camber gauge if it's not too expensive.

YIKES!!  Ok, that's a bit more than I want to spend.  I'll see if one of my track buddies has one first.

Last edited by Lane Anderson

fwiw I measure camber with a small bubble level on the wheel (like this). I believe the bulgy bit on the bottom of every in-service tire would throw off the measurement if taken from there, making the negative camber look like a little more than it is.

For what we're doing, though, probably doesn't matter: make them the same side to side and rave on.

Last edited by edsnova
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