The BritishV8 Pub

I expect everyone except myself and Curtis have made it home already or pretty close. I had the starter go out on the Midget when I stopped for gas in WV but a kind soul gave me a push and after another gas stop and push got to Lexinton, KY for the night. This morning I started working on the car to figure out what happened. A strap contact from the solenoid down to the field coils broke internally. I had to rebuild the starter on the car as you can't remove the "nose" piece without lifting the engine. Had a bit of a tussle, but after walking for parts about a mile and finally calling a cab I got it back together about 4:30 and will be ready to head out in the morning. Should be home around dark. Still it was well worth it to have the car at the event. See you all next year in Indy and the Midget will have a new starter for that trip and a couple of tools I found out I needed and hadn't packed. ;-)

Well Bill! I made it home OK and only got rained on for 45-50 miles. Really enjoyed our time together. The Irish was not my cup of tea, but the J.B. Rye was good. I rushed out today and got a bottle locally to sit beside the Dickel. Just did not acquire a taste for Scotch or Irish. I am also looking fwd to Indy.
SAFETY FASTER!

Didn't figure you would get much rain Kelly as we took it all back to Ontario with us. Had a great time meeting up with old friends and making some new ones; got to ride in a couple of reaaaaal nice cars (now spoiled, have to pull the V6 out) . Many thanks to Max and Emily. It started raining real hard about 20 mins after we left the banquet and rained for all 700 miles home. I was wishing we had remembered the top for the car by the time we got home. But will have it in Indy next year....

Mapquest calculates round trip distance from Longmont Colorado to Durham NC at 3357 miles, and it estimates the trip can reasonably be driven in 51 hours, 47 minutes.

Lisa and I arrived home last night at about 9pm. With our various excursions and diversions, we stretched the trip out to 4782 miles, spread over 15 days. Whew!

The drive home was quite enjoyable. No mechanical problems at all. Much better weather than on the outbound leg. The eastern Colorado plains were far greener and prettier than I ever saw them before. (Last year, I suffered 100+ degree temps coming and going across those arid lands.) Antelope. Pheasant.

Over the entire trip, we only consumed about one quart of motor oil, which is a big improvement over previous years. (Apparently those new Rover valve seals work, and the valve guides are less worn too.) I did a carburetor needle change in western Kansas, coming and going, to accommodate altitude change. Fuel economy is down from previous years. I haven't calculated the final/trip average, but it looks to be in the ballpark of 23 or 24 mpg. That needs to be improved. It would help a lot if I drove slower... but on previous trips I didn't do a needle change, so I was most likely cruising with a leaner fuel mixture and that would have helped fuel economy too.

Yep.

The last 20 miles in a gulleywasher was no fun, though. My "rain tires" were ALL over the road! (at 45MPH)

I took Mike Moor thru a local version of the Dragon, US 421 between Bristol & Mountain City, TN right thru the Cherokee National Forest. They call it the Snake. 489 curves in a 12 mile radius of Shady Valley, TN. Lots of much tighter curves than the Dragon.

[maps.google.com]

[www.shadyvalleycountrystore.com]

The Hot Rod Power Tour's final stop was at Bristol Dragway on Friday & Saturday. Mike Moor & Steve Carrick both showed their MG V8s.

[www.hotrod.com]

Steve later did hot laps on the "World's Fastest Half Mile" at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also finagled hot laps at Road Atlanta Thursday while visiting his Mom in Braselton, GA. Too bad he slept in & missed VIR. Could've had 3 tracks in one week!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2009 09:43PM by MGBV8.