Another wonderful Carlisle Speedster/ Spyder/ MG event.

....I am reading this thread Mr. Crosby  ...glad to see you but we came up short on time to chat, how the hell does that happen ?  Have a safe trip home !

You make it better every time, Jack. Thanks for that. We got home today around 4 pm...no sweat. 

Iron pants! The Man!

Hey so I'm not going to break any news here but I just want to take a few lines to publicly and effusively thank Alan Merklin (AKA Dr. Clock) for talking me into buying out about 2/3 of his remaining Speedster parts, templates, tools and oddities yesterday. We loaded up my truck until it was creaking from the weight of it all, and also filled up Bridget pretty well. And all the while I was sort of persnickety because I'd not had lunch (and would not get lunch until after dinner), and am now completely broke, having blown my life's savings on the Spyder and its engine.

So I kinda nickel-and-dimed him.

And then he (and I probably should not be saying this) gave me credit. 

So I owe the good doctor a debt of gratitude (as well as a modest slug of actual cash).

He kept saying "This stuff is like gold! You will definitely need this!"

I kept saying "It isn't gonna fit" and "It's too heavy."

He is was right (about most of it). It all fit and I made it home safe. And I am very glad to have it all. I will endeavor to make use of it a far as possible, and pay it forward as circumstances permit.

What's really gold is the man himself, and all the knowledge inside his head, which he gives away for the asking. 

So here is wishing Alan a pleasant retirement, with my deepest gratitude for the time he put in and the patience he showed a newcomer with delusions of filling his shoes.

Truly he is the SOC's indispensable man.

You can say that again, Ed.

Yes he is. The world won't be the same without the Amish barn full of magic.

David Stroud posted:

You make it better every time, Jack. Thanks for that. We got home today around 4 pm...no sweat. 

David:  So glad you had good luck in the raffle!  Just don't break this one..

And yes, Alan is the best. 

Yep! Another Carlisle Gathering is in the books. Hard to believe it has come and gone so quickly! It was a great pleasure seeing old and meeting new friends especially after these 14 years running! Keep the great pictures coming, y'all, as I'm a lousy shutter bug.

After reading Jack's concerns, I feel there is a need to clarify the Busted Knuckles Award,

The spirit of this award is meant firstly to be given to an owner who "busted his knuckles" fixing his (own)car during the weekend after a breakdown.

If there are none, then second consideration is given to any other good Samaritan who "busted his knuckles" fixing someone elses car and getting them out of a pickle.

As there were more than a few car maladies this weekend, Bruce called a quorum and we decided to just pull a winner from a hat to keep things moving. I was ok with this even though I had spent 2 hours in the 94' sun dealing with a broken shift coupler on my Blackie. There was blood and a lot of sweat shed during this process. No Problemo.

I trust this clears the air on this.

May 17-20, 2018 will be here before we know it! Plan accordingly!

I hope to see those who couldn't make it this year at the next gathering. Really missed seeing a lot of you!

Mucho Thanks to Bruce, Norma and Alan for another GREAT Show!

~WB

Wonder if I could get that Amish Barn moved to my property in Lively VA?  I'd like the team of bearded craftsmen with it. 

The shop has been in the same spot for some 16 years it might just groan just a bit...

Wild Bill -- if it is any consolation, when Bruce asked, I told him Wild Bill gets the Busted Knuckle, because he in fact busted a knuckle.  I also made a deal with myself on Sat that if my name came up, I'd give the "trophy" to you.  I mean, I already have one, and two of them is just beyond the pale.  Just sayin' . . .

And a "Here here!!!" for Old Iron Pants Crosby.  I think if we had an award (what is with this group and its awards, anyway??) for most total accumulated miles driven I believe Mr. Crosby would win that one hands down.   I voted for Wild Bill for Busted knuckle as he sweated blood, literally flowing from his knuckle, on his car in 95 deg heat to fix his shifter, but seems like Russ had more "fun", although technically, the car is not his, exactly.

I passed along the Busted Knuckle Award to Wild Bill on Sunday morning, it was well deserved ~

Alice and I Just pulled into the casa Del Crosby 1 hour ago.  After Carlisle I drove over to Arlington, VA with grandson followed by Son, Russ to spend Sunday night with the Daughter's family and bring Alice home with me. The 2,800 mile trip is Fun but really a killer---crawling out of the Speedster after a 7 gallon run of almost 200 miles and about 2 1/2 hours tells me I am damned sure aging.  God, how I hate to admit that!! The car ran like a scalded dog the whole 2,800 miles and the Bose noise Cancelling headphones and ipods really made the time more pleasant for me and Alice.   The Type IV engine sounds spectacular with the 'phones because about all the noise you hear is the engine without the road sounds and everything else is totally quiet.

Total mileage including the cruises and side trips was 2,794 miles.  Total fuel used was 100.1 gallons for 27.9 MPG with a few tanks turning in 29 MPG.  Ran 75-80mph on all interstates.  The engine used 1 qt oil, 20 W 50 for the entire trip.

The many dear friends of the SOC made every minute of the trip a pleasure!

Bill--thanks for the "Busted Knuckle" award thoughts--I appreciated you doing that note.  You are one truly special dude!

Looking forward to staying in touch with you crazies on the SOC. 

Excellent report, Jack. Glad you got it done in typical " Crosby Fashion" . You are doing things just right. Nice to see you, Russ and Grandson Sean. Sean presented himself very well. Polite, helpful and very nice to talk to...great kid to hang out with.

Iron Pants does it again.  I wish I could get my engine tuned in to 27-29 MPG.  That would be cool.  Way to go Jack!! Three generations, holy moly!!  The Madness is strong in these folks.

Jack, Alan and Bill - you guys rock!  And so does the the rest of this group who once again made this a memorable Speedsters Meet Spyders weekend. 

The weekend went absolutely as planned.  Weather wise, rain was basically non-existent - some brief misting Saturday morning at the Carlisle show field and five drops during the cruise Friday afternoon.  A couple people caught a few more drops from an outlying cloud Friday afternoon but that was it.  Temperature extremes were another story, it was summertime weather in the 90's Thursday and Friday and Fall weather in the 60's Saturday and Sunday.  

Wild Bill wrote: "There was blood and a lot of sweat shed during this process."

You forgot the swearing - there was a lot of THAT, too (or maybe that was coming from Kelly's direction - you guys parked pretty close).

And it wasn't like the coupler just simply broke...    That thing looked like it had exploded in the tunnel - little pieces of red Urethane all over the place and we all know how easy it is to access that damn coupler, even in comfortable weather (at least it wasn't a downpour)  

Just a friendly reminder, people:  Do NOT use a red Urethane shift rod coupler.  Spend the extra $5 bucks and get a black OEM VW version and save some grief!

"A couple people caught a few more drops from an outlying cloud Friday afternoon..."

There's a little more to that.  I believe that the cloud actually chased Cory and Jeni down, changing direction when they did.

In past years seems Speedsters won Carlisle award for highest club attendees.  Know fewer attended this year but maybe that was across all clubs - how did we fare there (and comparison to past years as reference point).  

I did map quest Hot Springs to Carlisle vs Mary Esther to Carlisle - Jack would still have 70 miles on me for distance!

El Frazoo posted:

Iron Pants does it again.  I wish I could get my engine tuned in to 27-29 MPG.  That would be cool.  Way to go Jack!! Three generations, holy moly!!  The Madness is strong in these folks.

You're right, Kelly.  Jack, Russ, and Sean are a great lineage - genuine, personable, and helpful. 

As for 27-29 mpg, that's what I got in my IM6 on the way to Carlisle.  Not bad for 3.6 liters cruising at 65-70 mph most of the way. 

Greg,

We won eleven straight years for having the replica club with the most Carlisle registrations.  Last year they changed the rules and we are back to being measured against ALL clubs.  Probably due to the fact that fewer replica clubs are  currently coming to Carlisle.  I did notice though that the dune buggy/Myers Manx group is growing in size.  Guess we'll have to get more Speedsters/Spyders/MGs out on the show field.  This year's winners were:  Saabs had 209 cars registered, Volvo had 84 cars and Audi had 53 cars...we have our work cut out for us!

Lane Anderson posted:

"A couple people caught a few more drops from an outlying cloud Friday afternoon..."

There's a little more to that.  I believe that the cloud actually chased Cory and Jeni down, changing direction when they did.

That Friday rain cloud actually stayed centered over me like a Predator drone on an Afghan wedding party. I pulled over to put the top up, then had to reach outside the car to get the wipers to go, then they jammed again, all the while my bloody phone navigation was putting me on the damn toll road. All in all, a harrowing adventure!

So who picked up Terry's book, "Road Trip, Don't Trip" ?