Socal Mini Iron Btm trip report, long winded, delete at will
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:22 pm
All in all a great day, 10 roadsters, with the typical range of equipment, including Eric's 302 V8, Stephen Wan with a cleverly home fabbed bimini top, Tom Prather's styling cues (blacked out side trim with narrow red stripe down the middle, LED taillites), Ron Eastman in his 'textured' 1600- which ripped it up with the best of us, a new addition on Tony Stockler and his wife in their 1600, and Iron Btm vet Peter Harrison and his girlfriend. (they headed home with cooling system concerns, or maybe the reluctance to hear all of the 'mad dogs and Englishmen' puns had he come thru to Taft, which was upwards of 100F when we got there)
The day started out with newly intro'd Vinh stating his 1600 wouldn't pull past 4k, because of running too lean, and watching in amazement as Stephen was able to adjust both mixture screws without taking off the air cleaner. I may have to ask him to fish out that 5mm postie wrench I dropped down between the body and inner fender....5 years ago!
Great folks all around, Stephen being brave, not knowing when or if the 'dogs' in his 4-speed would lock up again, which they did at the top of the first mntn range. He had brought all equipment along (including jack stands and a drain pan), and completed the job during our impromptu 45 minute stop, but they promptly locked up again, so his day was done and headed home. (to Irvine from Palmdale, with only 3 useable gears, I am sure there is a good story their too. Probably just took it easy and drove along with the MG's and Triumphs on the way home!)
'Course we were on a fwy frontage road, so an out-of-contact roadster owner stopped by, interested in selling his 67.5 1600....(but that may have changed while he sat and talked and looked around!)
Some great driving roads, a few more acts of attrition due to wiring and fuel delivery, but made it to the tiny burg of Taft in the Central Valley just in time for noontime heat and eats at the 50's diner. Taft makes the term "B-F-Egypt" a reality, not only in isolation, but the dry desert climate and plethora of oil wells. A local MGBGT owner with keen eyes (and good taste) saw our cars and called his roadster-owner buddy to come by and see the crowd while we were there.
We split at that point, with the majority headed back the way we came, but Victor, myself, and the Stocklers heading thru to Ojai and a welcome ocean breeze north of Ventura. Traffic thickening was a hard pill to swallow, but roundtrip from my house was 14 hours, and I know no better way to spend it.
The driving was incredible.
Last year I found myself on-off the brakes a lot, constantly unweighting different corners and losing momentum, ending up in a wrong gear, bogging while re-gaining speed. I followed someone earlier in the day doing the same, watching the body roll, corners get unweighted and the balance of the car shift, and decided to try another approach.
Following Eric, (no shortage of hp and torque there!) and using his brake lites as downshift cues and staying off the brakes, I got to tossing the car about thru turns, listening to tires roll more towards the sidewalls, and having quite a blast. Had I let Eric get away, my non-existent skills at reading turns would have made for a much more tense, slower, and more cautious time. I'd have to say I know this because at the next stop 30 minutes away, I got out to wobbly knees, heart pounding, and sore cheeks and dry teeth from a constant mouth-open smile!
After getting caught in LA traffic on the way home, my clutch went out 4 blocks from home - again - (happened on my solvang return trip, but 16 miles from home). I went out today to find all the newly replaced slave cylinder joints nice and dry, but a nice little slice right across the hose.
Ahh well, my date at the weighing scales with Eric to learn more about the front/rear balance of his roadster/302 might get delayed a day or two.
Hope to see all for another real soon, Fergus O, 69 2000 -- ridden hard and put away delighted, HB, CA
The day started out with newly intro'd Vinh stating his 1600 wouldn't pull past 4k, because of running too lean, and watching in amazement as Stephen was able to adjust both mixture screws without taking off the air cleaner. I may have to ask him to fish out that 5mm postie wrench I dropped down between the body and inner fender....5 years ago!
Great folks all around, Stephen being brave, not knowing when or if the 'dogs' in his 4-speed would lock up again, which they did at the top of the first mntn range. He had brought all equipment along (including jack stands and a drain pan), and completed the job during our impromptu 45 minute stop, but they promptly locked up again, so his day was done and headed home. (to Irvine from Palmdale, with only 3 useable gears, I am sure there is a good story their too. Probably just took it easy and drove along with the MG's and Triumphs on the way home!)
'Course we were on a fwy frontage road, so an out-of-contact roadster owner stopped by, interested in selling his 67.5 1600....(but that may have changed while he sat and talked and looked around!)
Some great driving roads, a few more acts of attrition due to wiring and fuel delivery, but made it to the tiny burg of Taft in the Central Valley just in time for noontime heat and eats at the 50's diner. Taft makes the term "B-F-Egypt" a reality, not only in isolation, but the dry desert climate and plethora of oil wells. A local MGBGT owner with keen eyes (and good taste) saw our cars and called his roadster-owner buddy to come by and see the crowd while we were there.
We split at that point, with the majority headed back the way we came, but Victor, myself, and the Stocklers heading thru to Ojai and a welcome ocean breeze north of Ventura. Traffic thickening was a hard pill to swallow, but roundtrip from my house was 14 hours, and I know no better way to spend it.
The driving was incredible.
Last year I found myself on-off the brakes a lot, constantly unweighting different corners and losing momentum, ending up in a wrong gear, bogging while re-gaining speed. I followed someone earlier in the day doing the same, watching the body roll, corners get unweighted and the balance of the car shift, and decided to try another approach.
Following Eric, (no shortage of hp and torque there!) and using his brake lites as downshift cues and staying off the brakes, I got to tossing the car about thru turns, listening to tires roll more towards the sidewalls, and having quite a blast. Had I let Eric get away, my non-existent skills at reading turns would have made for a much more tense, slower, and more cautious time. I'd have to say I know this because at the next stop 30 minutes away, I got out to wobbly knees, heart pounding, and sore cheeks and dry teeth from a constant mouth-open smile!
After getting caught in LA traffic on the way home, my clutch went out 4 blocks from home - again - (happened on my solvang return trip, but 16 miles from home). I went out today to find all the newly replaced slave cylinder joints nice and dry, but a nice little slice right across the hose.
Ahh well, my date at the weighing scales with Eric to learn more about the front/rear balance of his roadster/302 might get delayed a day or two.
Hope to see all for another real soon, Fergus O, 69 2000 -- ridden hard and put away delighted, HB, CA
