Count down to Carlisle

I'll be rolling into Carlisle with the Southeastern Caravan in less than 4 weeks, so it's time to do the last few tweaks to the car. This weekend I'll clean the carb jets and check the floats, and I'll also check for leaks and tighten anything that's loose. Got the oil changed and valves adjusted by my friend Ken this week. He also replaced the front wheel bearings because 3 of the 4 were visibly bad (!). Full lube job (there's a straight line for Vince) rounded it out.

Also will do a few last tweaks to the new side windows after driving it home from Ken's in the rain yesterday. New Stayfast top didn't leak a drop (yay!). Beyond all that, it's time for a good detailing job.

So what are the rest of you Carlisle-bound folks doing to get ready?

Fill the tank and drive it--seriously. I do want to detail and wax it and I am having the side curtains "fixed" to make a better seal.

On some Vintage cars I've seen, the stafast material should be longer to fit up into the space in the convertable top at the top and sides
to better seal out the weather. At Morro Bay last year Dusty Johnson showed me how he did this to his windows and it makes a nice difference.

If I had Lane's skill, I'd do the plexi windows! Mine just didn't seal well enough.

Now, you'll have forgotten...Speedster tops and side curtains are for EMERGENCIES ONLY!

Al least you'll have a car to drive. Waiting on Carey to complete the repairs on Merlot. He is also making a few modifications.

I washed mine!

Maybe I should make a photo album of work in progress on the Speedster and pack it into the 911. And make a list of questions to ask of you seasoned pros.

Jack, remember.. Filling the tank and driving it isn't that simple for some of these fellas :-)

Lane, I have some items to do. Ordered a receiver hitch for the Passat, just in case, but planning to drive this year again!

My car could use a clay bar session, then a wax. Planning to move the spare to the back for more luggage space up front. Need a couple of snaps on the side curtains by the windshield. Adjust the valves and change the oil, and have the new tires mounted and balanced. No problem, plenty of time for that. Last year I had to reassemble the car after paint around now.....

I finally got my Speedster shipped off to Sacramento this last Thursday. Huge thanks goes out to Dave Mitchell for receiving the car and housing it till we get there. We fly to Sac on April 30th and head out the next day and will take 19 days to get to Carlisle, hooking up with some people in Christiansburg the day before that. What did I do to prep for this ? If you saw what's in the trunk you'd laugh your butt off. Spare tire and spare parts, tools, etc. Negotiating back seat space for the Bride's laundry was a bit of a chore but completed without any death threats. Wi-Fi, cell phones and GPS will be our friends for sure. If any interest is shown, I could update our progress Eastbound from our various stops.

Absolutely!! Keep us updated as you roll along!

If you need someone to call via cellphone to then do the posting for you, I would be happy to volunteer. I will email you with my phone number.

Gordon
"Dead Butt Central"

Thanks for that, Gordon. I think WiFi at the various stops and my laptop will allow me to post our progress to the list but it'll be good to have phone numbers if something hits the fan. Regards...looking forward to meeting y'all.

Good for you , David! When I re-retire I hope to do the same thing. Keep us posted and good luck. See you there.

I thought I would do something like that when I retired, but then "life" got in the way...

Plus, I'm too used to decent seats to put up with "Speedstah Seats" for anything more than 4 hours at a whack.

Bummah!!

Got my sticker from the good folks in Carlisle. Gotta make sure I don't lose it in the next few weeks. Maybe I should go ahead and put in on ;-)

I'm going to wash the grime from winter driving off the car sometime in the next four weeks, maybe, and probably do something about a couple loose rivets and a minor fiberglass crack or two (not that you'd notice).

I have a piece of aluminum to fix in the engine compartment, an electrical repair to do on my secondary cooling fan, a minor cosmetic repair to do on my hand brake ... maybe I'll throw some thread at the leather on the steering wheel ... I should probably add a little gear oil ...

I'll be taking it to Peek tomorrow for a little TLC on the lower right trailing arm's bearings and a little fussing with the carbs, and the rest I'll do in my garage. Except for the bearings, none of it NEEDS doing. I've been driving it all year, so it doesn't need "freshening up."

Geez, don't recall getting my sticker..and I'm only 20 min. away.
Pulled the exhaust off today...hope to have the new muffler on tomorrow.

~WB

What did you get, Bill?

Bought a S/S Magnaflow with the inlet/outlet on the same end.
The Bugpack hideaway muffler outlet pipe interfered with the e-brake coil return spring of the r/r brake caliper. The rubbing noise bothered the $hit outta me and I didn't want that caliper spring to go bye-bye.
The bugpack header remains on the car. Should have it back together tomorrow hopefully.
~WB

Good luck with it--I want to see it at Carlisle.

Friday went to Peek's for two 40mm Del rebuild kits.

This morning drove across the Chesapeake Bay. Glenn and I finished installing the A-1 System - wow.

Then we took the Dels off again, blew them out again, replaced the mixture screw o-rings (crawled around on the garage floor looking for the washers and springs again), changed the banjo fitting gaskets, put it all back together and guess what - it finally runs like it did last fall. Yippee.

Put the sticker in the driver's side pocket so I won't forget to take it.

Drove home from Glenn's and just missed the thunderstorm that went by and the one that went past home after I put the cover on.

All in all a good day.

See you all in > four weeks. Don't forget the blue painters tape!

Paul

Know what you mean, Paul. Giving the ole Dells an enema then fresh parts make a world of difference. Did mine in '07 and haven't touched them since! Yippeeee!

~WB

I'm yanking the radio (we don't listen to it anyway). Plan to reuse the circuit for a 12-volt receptacle so I can (1) plug-in a GPS and (2) use a 12-volt hair dryer to defrost the windshield on humid/rainy days. Anyone know what size fuse I need for the two?

G Day from sunny Myrtle Beach...... GPS has minimal draw and the 12 dryer you'll need to look at the label to find the amps draw.

Aw hell, Doc! If I'd known you were in Myrtle Beach I could have headed up that way yesterday. Ah well, see you in a few weeks.

My bad Lane I forgot to mention the dates we would be here .....

Not really, Lane......he was looking for some "quiet time" with Kim.

Yeah, honest!

nah I'm here - beach front condo with 4 other couples

Oooooo, kinky!

Not sure if you have a sister Lane but if you do she was our breakfast server today....either that or you took a sick day today to be in drag ~

Was she follicley challenged?

Bwaaahahahahaha

Looks like BIGBIRD will be making the trip to Carlisle. The Vantage is just to cramped for me for very long stints. Still considering the R8, but probably too risky, as we have yet to take overnight, anywhere.

Getting ready, lets see........massage, pedicure........
just kidding LOL

If by massage, you mean rubbing some wax into the car's paint, well ... that's good. And, if by pedicure, you mean polishing wheels, we'll let it go. Heck, we let Lane and Kelly get away with that sh*t all the time!
Alternatively, if you mean that's the price you pay in homage to the Missus in order to visit with other dudes for a weekend of burnt gasoiline, tires and oil, that's BRILLIANT!

All hail Tom, the GENIUS!

Of course you know, Tom, that showing up in a bright yellow Porsche is gonna make people ask "Izzat one a them kit cars?"

Good one Lane, or he could tell them we all built it in 24 hours there at Carlisle!

Yavol her Cap-i-tan !
Isch bein ein dumkoff

Replacing aero mirror gaskets,and tweeking the power window adjustments.

Might almost finally have the front end dialed in. Still need:

*4 new tires

*real alignment

*put the !&$#@ radio back in

*bit more wiring & bundling of the mess under the dash

*valve adjustment

*oil change & new gaskets, etc. (these MG replicas are not supposed to leak oil like an actual '52 MG, right?)

*re-fit top bows

+ a real thorough cleaning & some wax & polish.

Needs, mind ya; the "wanted list" is much longer still.

What do you have to tweak in power windows??

Ya push down, they go down.

Ya push up, they go up.

Badda-Boom, Badda-Bing.......

Gotta mean "power side curtains."

Right?

I hear those can be temperamental.