Hi all, the day went very well. Unfortunately, the train arrived in Niles, MI 1/2 hour late and Carey was waiting with Natalie. We drove back to S.E. together and then I headed for home.
While I was there, I snapped a photo of Joe's car for him (I sent to him by email) and also a shot of Trahn's car through a small window in the paint booth. See below.
Here's the report on the upgrades: In a nutshell, she feels like a brand new car. If I had cushier seats, I would think I was driving Jack's car. It was so comfortable I sometimes forgot that I was driving a speedster.
- Rear disc brakes. Noticeably better, particularly on hard stops. No more locking up the rear wheels. Also, the parking brake feels really good. I haven't had a chance to test while parked on an incline yet, but I suspect it will work great.
- Heat routed to rear bulkheads - Better than expected. It was in the upper 30's and the car was comfortable. It is definitely what I needed for getting to and from storage and to and from Carlisle, etc.
- Heated seats - work great and add to the comfort. Not only were they great in the cold, I think they will be good for top down driving when it gets nippy. When you live in Michigan, you tend to push the top-down driving envelope.
- Side curtains - Probably the best side curtains that can be accomplished on a Speedster. No pulling out at the top. Easy to open and close. Seal well. I knew the visibility would be improved, but it's like they're not there at all. Very impressive. Carey also added straps to my top that wrap around the metal arms and snap to themselves to keep the top from lifting away from the side curtain at speed. This was an unexpected nice touch.
There were quite a few miscellaneous things that would only be noticeable to me and they were all executed flawlessly.
I thought I heard a new speed-dependent noise as I was making the last u-turn near my house, but I hope that I'm imaging things. Last year, after the long winter, I had some noises that seemed to work themselves out after driving awhile. I'll report back.
Carey's shop is humming with lots of cars in process.
Unless this noise turns into something, I feel that the car is really sorted now except for the paint, and, to be honest, when I see her in person, I think that the paint is okay too :-)
Very happy with the upgrades and the customer service that I always receive from Carey.
Oh yeah, Cory, I plan to ship you my old side curtains in the morning. I'll email you with the shipping cost and tracking info. You can pay me by PayPal or check or beer at Carlisle :-)
