Lone Star 912
|
Lone Star 912 |
|
SCR 2005 Sponsors
|
South Central Rendezvous 2005
The Early 911 S Registry, The 912 Registry, and other Longhood Fanatics everywhere present: Langehaube Fossilbrennstofffest 2005 Dates: May 20th-22nd, 2005 Location: Story by Jamie Novak, founding member of the Texas Longhood Society A good time was had by all. Here is how our weekend went. We left Austin Friday Morning about 930. A little later than planned but not too bad, we had all day to get there. The drive was fine. No traffic on 183 or 84 and we arrive in Abilene about noon. WE stopped for gas and a break just outside Abilene at a truckstop. After gassing up, Matt says his car is broken, it won’t go into gear. Uh OH!!! We are a ways from home at this point. Blocking the pump of a very busy station we stay in the shade and jack up the car. After looking around the clutch cable has come loose. Hmm why is this. It turns out the ear on the bell housing that secures the end of the clutch cable is broken off. There is enough meat to support the end ferrule but not enough to keep it from slipping out when you try to engage the clutch. HMM what to do. Attached to my bag is a section of wire so I try to wire tie it in place. The wire is too large of diameter and this does not work. A friendly rancher pulls up at the adjacent pump. He has a drill and bits in his toolbox and a section of trash bailing wire in the bed. I only needed a one inch section of wire. This did the trick. I managed to get the clutch to work and after two adjustments and about 2 hours we were back on the road. Total cost: a few burns, some dirty clothes and I later find sunburned ankles from laying under the car. No tow trucks needed here. Next stop, Midland Did I mention it was now pretty hot and its another 160 miles to Midland? Oil temps stayed below 210 in my car. When we pull off I20 we get to the first light, We are only blocks from the hotel and Matt comes over the radio with the news that the car will not go into gear again. There is a parking lot to the right and he puts it in gear, starts the car and pulls off the road. You sure are getting good at this now… A quick look shows the cable in place. It was way to hot to get back under that engine it would have to wait until it cooled down. We ask the owner of the body shop if we could park the car there since it just broke down. No problem, on to the hotel for some cool air and shade. This would give me time to think about the problem. There are already a few people at the hotel. We are quickly greeted with friendly faces who help us move bags and place ice-cold, canned adult beverages in our hands. What a relief… A few hours later most of the people had arrived, there were some photos taken, BS shoveled around in large quantities and smiles on everyone’s faces. That continued until someone’s stomach made a mad cry for dinner. A quick trip to the front desk and look at the map and the car’s fired up and headed down the highway. We hit the loop road around Midland and end up at a Mexican restaurant. We took up one whole row for parking and took many pictures after dinner. On the way back I sourced two 17mm wrenches and we went back to try and revive Matt’s car… As I suspected it was an easy fix. It turns out that the first time I adjusted the clutch cable it was not seated on the nipple coming out of the tunnel. When the outer sheath found its correct home, it lost about ¾” of adjustment and would not disengage. I could not tell this was a problem at the truckstop. The engine was just too hot for me to get under and check the whole setup. A few turns of the jam nuts and he was back on the road. Sat morning started with the hotel breakfast. Then we all raced off to the CAF museum. Dean, our tour guide, was an ex-POW that was shot down over Germany towards the end of the war. He had fantastic detail and stories to match the impressive displays. In the hanger, FiFi the B29, was partially naked for maintenance. Hanging on gigantic engine stands were her 4 rotary engines and props. There were many planes and other vehicles inside and out. Next, we were all allowed onto the flight deck for a picture in front of the moored planes. There are some great shots taken from the roof of the forklift overlooking the cars, planes and drivers. It was great fun but we had to get lunch before heading off to our next museum. We raced off around the back side of the airport to eat lunch. After an excruciatingly long wait for food we were off again to the Petroleum Museum. At this point in the afternoon it was hot. We later find out that it was 106 Sat afternoon. Not the most pleasant trip I have had in the targa.The Jim Hall collection was where most people went first. It was a fantastic display. Lots of information about the history, physics, inventions and utmost coolness of his program. There were 6 cars including the famed “sucker-car”. A few took the trip around the oil history but I think some just went back to the hotel to cool off. Everyone was jealous of the few people that had AC. About 7pm we all met in the business hall for dinner. A great catered setup was served. After dinner the giveaway’s started. I think Matt ended up with much of the loot as people thought he might need it for the drive home. Ed Mayo gave one of his famous tech quizzes. 20 difficult questions were asked and some of them were answered. Yours truly had the highest score. It was lots of fun. After dinner we toured a secret spot in Midland. There was a 356 enthusiast that met up with us on Friday night. Morrie, John, Matt and I went to see his shop that night. He had a 63C coupe that was in process for major rust repairs. Bob does amazing work and has a fantastic setup to make it all happen. You all know my love of cool tools. I was drooling over the metal shaping station that Bob,(yes, you read correct) hand built. It was complete with panel beaters bags, shaping dollys and an English wheel. Combine that with the multitude of welders he will be done in no-time. So, After we took the trip on Friday and told of this wonderful person and his lair, Everyone wanted to visit on Sat night. Our time in the garage was great. It even turned into an impromptu tech session on how to use a panel bag and the English wheel. Ed Mayo said I looked like I should be on one of those motorcycle shows. I took that as a compliment. The evening finished off with some good story swapping in the parking lot. Sunday morning the remaining members met for breakfast and hit the road a little after 8. It was about 830 by the time we were all gassed up and on I20 heading East. WE had a train of 6 cars to Abilene. Then we turned South and headed back to Austin. Traffic was relatively light and easily navigated. Matt made this leg of the trip without incident in spite of the alternator that would not charge. All my prayers were answered as we managed to avoid tickets, mechanicals and heat stroke. A great time was had by all. I really enjoyed meeting everyone that was there. I am sure I will see many of them again. Yeah, you shoulda-been-there… Jamie
Nearby Metropolitan Cities:
Lubbock; 116 miles
|
|
|
