Kelly came by the other day and needed some aluminum polish to shine his steering wheel up a bit. I broke out my Maas; best stuff I have. He sat there, in his car -- in Projekt Hoopty's garage stall -- and polished up his Nardi (or whatever it is).

By the time he was done, he was pleased with his work. It took maybe 10 minutes, but it put my poor POS wheel to shame. I don't have a fancy-pants steering wheel. No Momo, no Lempert, not Nardi ... What I have could have been on a Miami Vice bad guy's car. It's a straight-up, no-frills, 1980s special.

The leatherette has shrunk over the years. It sat in the elements when the car lived outdoors. It ate rain, snow and sun regularly, and the wrapping wasn't held in place by its stitching anymore.

It needed to be re-strung and polished in order to keep up with our wax-and-polish neighbor this weekend, so I finally hunkered down and did The Nasty today. Manually re-stitching a steering wheel is a huge PITA, but after about twenty minutes of fussing with the old thread and two hours of sewing, it came out acceptably well and the covering looks a whole lot better.

I see why you guys go for the polished wooden ones. Ease of maintenance.

I can't do much with the Allen screws, since one of them has been rounded out -- I'll drill him out when time permits -- so I didn't bother with the lone standard screw, either. I'll have to find some fine-thread, stainless machine screws that all match or something.


With that, Mr. Frazer, I have made a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Observe and behold; a "restored" Grant GT, the likes of which may never be seen again:

Wait a minute!!!!!!!!>>>>>>>>>>>>>.................

I've got a Grant, TOO!

OK, actually I have two Grants - One on Pearl (a rosewood-rimmed beauty that Kathy got me for Christmas many years ago) and one on Scarlett - a Black-leather trimmed gem that will need a little work to overcome an overly-energetic, New Hampshire country mouse at the PO's place.

Grants are cool.....

Tom,
My Speedster doesn't have drawers...I hope!!! but I won't know for sure until tomorrow night!

Ed,
The Azul One will now have to stay at home. I sure can't drive'em both. If it is a toad strangler, I may wish that I drove her because of the roll-up windows.

Hoss,
I got your ramps...you bringin, a possum, coon or ground hog? Marty's right, we'll all stink if the pickled ramps jar tops leak and ya'll are behind me! %~) I'll be ah burnin' blockade whisky and all will be ashanklan!

I sure don't have much time to get Merlot ready to travel. Strap on the luggage, tool kit/jack (MP). Extra Brad Penn Oil, Sham Wows, 303 for the top and tonneau, complete car cover? Going to be a long Tuesday night!

Mr. Drake:

You are the accomplished seamstress -- or would that be seamster?? The Devil really is in the details, and you have paid very close attention to these at every turn. -- Get it?? ..turn.. Whatever. Nice work on the wheel. I'll assume you have waxed &/or oiled the leather here so as to keep it good order.

Will I see you and the missus at ~8:00 on Thursday morn at my place for breakfast? Fried possum, grits and cornpone will be ready and waiting . . . BWAAHAHAHAHA

Ground hog?? I have a whole herd of groundhogs down here at my "farm". They live in a high-rise condo down by the lake. I'll send a picture. Aaron: you can come and shoot as many as you want.

On for me for sure. Teresa is iffy so far. Real estate stuff might cause her to join us later at the hotel. Don't know for sure.

I can bring you a nice wood Grant wheel if you want, Cory. Came off Bridget in favor of that giant Brooklands style 20-spoke banjo tiller I put on there.

I'd like to have a look at it, sure.
No need to drag it up to PA, though. Bring it to Greg's place next time we're there, or prior to our next cruise?

Now that we're in the home stretch, it's just little stuff today. Filled the cigar humidor for the parking lot BS sessions, completed the last detail work on the car -- and got the raffle artwork and distance awards all framed up and pretty.
Now, I'm just watching the clock.

Blackie is now in towing mode ready to follow Casa De Bill to Carlisle.
Next up, prep mode for the M/H, tire and airbag pressures, lights etc. and oh yeah......check torque on all LUG NUTZ! Then Packing 'er up.

~WB

Bill, spare gas can? :>)

Don't forget to tighten the lug nuts!

Made it to Christiansburg ahead of everybody else. Just a few sprinkles so far. Can you say STOKED! I knew you could.

Have a safe second have half of your trip!

Me, Hoss, David and Jack pulled in Christiansburg at 3:45pm. See Lane and Tom already here.

We are in Ohio past Cleveland. Stopped for coffee and a wee wee!

Weather starting to look better. Especially Saturday.

Ahhhhh, it's all coming together. Drive

Going to bed now. Car is all set, and I am all packed. See you all today!

Made it to Cleveland at about 8pm, dinner, bed and now at 4:30am I'm ready for more road. Not sure my 20 year old son is ready for the wake-up just yet...but we will be mushing on soon with an ETA of 2-3pm. Yesterday's rains were bearable and maybe similar today.

We are headed for Carlisle!!!! Headed for I-40 then to 95. The trailer is way lighter then our toy hauler. I keep looking to see if the Spyder is still there. We always drive it to all the shows. This is much easier on my back! See everyone later today!!

Waiting for the brown truck to arrive this AM with a 2 lb. brake residual valve, install that by noon, load it on the trailer and be at the Hotel around 1:00 ~Alan

Forgot to say, if anyone breaks down or needs help, we do have the trailer. I can take Muttley off and put your car on. :). Let me know. Safe travels everyone!!

Kelly and I are at the Shoney's.

Muttley......

I love it!

We have arrived and in search of a liquor store...a little something I forgot to pack. Duh.

Gordon,
That is exactly who the car is named after!! Everytime something has gone wrong with
The car I hear that laugh!

We are 25 miles away from Carlisle!!! Woohoo!!!

Muttley has the period-correct goggles and head gear too.

Arrived......rain is the standard but a good turn out for an early Thursday arrival.

For those of you not able to make it, this show's off to the races.
Last night, the parking lot beside the Hotel Carlisle was full of Speedsters, Spyders and the odd 911; three 911s so far, and about 20 Speedsters and a small handful of Spyders.
Dinner at the Caddy Shack was its usual noisy, laughter-filled riot. The food was good, the beer was good and the bench-racing went on for hours.
Late last night, Carey and Kevin rolled in from Indiana with the usual hauler full of goodies, and we're all waiting to have a look inside the 904.
I haven't stuck my head outside yet to see if it's raining or not, but it sounds like it might have stopped.
If you're on the fence about joining us this weekend, the forecast is looking clear and sunny. Why not come on up?

Thanks for the updates!
See ya'll this afternoon!

Day started raining so cruise to the covered bridges was cancelled and we all headed out to the fairgrounds. Later just after noon, the sun came out and a group went crusing. Dam, I missed it since was stuffing some terrific fried chicken in my face and got back our spot to see the last of the crusing group heading towards the gate. I grabbed a camp chair that someone left behind and kicked back to field questions about "them there kit cars" from the curious sightseers. Now killing time while waiting for the dinner cruise.

ps: Met some of the nicest people you ever want to meet, 'cepting that hill billy Aaron, hehehehe just kidding you randy old goat.

Is my 911 really odd?

Only you know that. But then, how do you define odd?

Lane, Nolan and I arrived safely in Christiansburg for an overnight. I am still reeling from the wonderful weekend we had at Carlisle, rain and all. Many thanks to all who made this experience possible again, especially you, ECB.
Hoss

Ditto what John (Hoss) said!

Awesome weekend.

After meeting "Geraldine" and "Lucille", I may never be the same!

Yes Paul, that certainly was a life-changing experience, wasn't it?

Kelly, Teresa and I are safely home.
Photos to follow in a day or two, but I did just upload a bunch from my phone to facebook. Sandy, I'll be sending the highlights your way for the montage.
Beautiful day for a drive home. Wish it could have been longer, guys.

Russ -- it wasn't me, I SWEAR!

And we cannot forget Lane's hidden talent, the announcer voice!

Great weekend all!

Mark your calendars for next year....May 18 - May 20 2012 !

What the hell, plan ahead....May 17 - May 19 2013 !!!

Ed~ I never thought about Muttleys goggles and headgear but you are 100% correct! Makes the name even more fitting! :)

Nolan~ I just sprayed Diet coke all over my keyboard after reading your post about *fielding questions about them there kit cars* LOLOLOL it was such a pleasure to meet you and the gang!! Steve and I are still talking about how lucky we were to be able to drive your beautiful Speedy!! Thanks again!!

Darcie

Marty & Sandy home safe after some nasty storms in Indiana. 1560 miles R/T what great road trip. Fun as always.