This is what happened to me on my way home for the '07 T/A Nats in Ohio last year, here's hoping this year will be easier!
First off, the weekend at the Nats was awesome, if you missed it you have to come next year. This is a little long but there is lots to tell. Now for my story.
Ok gang some of you will not believe the following story, even though every word of it is true. At our meeting at the Drury Inn this year, I was the recipient of the Best Rebound certificate after the events of last year’s Nationals. The story behind that is this. On Saturday after I had spent some time at the show grounds I went back to the hotel. On the way, I noticed that my car (a 1978 Trans Am with a ’74 SD-455 and 4-speed) would lose power whenever I would accelerate although it would idle fine. I made it back to the hotel just barely and by the time Sunday rolled around it had become apparent that my fuel pump was dead. I had my first day of classes on Monday and I had a 600+ mile trip ahead of me. Being it was Sunday meant I had to wait until Monday to get the pump replaced. So I had my car at the local Pepboys at 11 Monday morning and I didn’t leave there until 4pm that evening. You see, after we replaced the fuel pump the car would idle but it still wasn’t getting enough fuel. Eventually we found that the rubber fuel line near the tank had somehow been pinched and once that pressure was relieved she ran wonderfully. So I missed my first day of classes (I am enrolled in the law enforcement course at Chippewa Valley Technical College and they don’t like it when you miss a class when you are going to be a cop some day). Fortunately I got away with it that time. Then, on Labor Day evening I was driving home doing 55mph when I heard a loud bang and every dial dropped to 0. As I pulled off the road I looked behind me and saw a great cloud of smoke/vapor. Long story short, one of the rod bolts (all ARP fasteners) had inexplicably been torn in half with the upper portion ending up in the combustion chamber. Luckily we were able to sleeve the block and thus my ’78 has gone on.
This year I left the Drury at 11am on Monday with the intention of stopping in Tuscola, IL around 5/6pm to view and possibly purchase a 1977 Skybird. I got as far as Indianapolis, IN before something went wrong. That something was the transmission of the 15 passenger 1-ton Dodge van I had used to bring my ’77 SE to the show with. After discovering that the locals would end up charging me at least $1,000 than taking it home was going to cost I decided to rent a U-Haul truck to pull the van home on the trailer. Sounds like a good plan, right? Well, I got as far as Beloit, WI before the next incident caught me. I’m 4+ hours from home, doing 65mph and I suddenly feel a slight trembling and almost instantly a small bump as if I had run over a cat. I looked in the rearview mirror and to my astonishment I saw one the trailer wheels moving of its own inertia, hit something on the side of the rode and promptly fly into some wooded area. Lucky for me there was a gas station just a 2 miles up the road and I pulled off there to inspect the damage. All six studs on the right rear wheel had been sheared clean off the drum. Naturally, none of the wheels I had would fit and even if they had, I still had the problem of the remnants of the studs in the drum to deal with. And so, here at the Rollette Oil Company I sit, 4 hours from home on the 29th day of August. I think someone is out to get me.
I finally made it home last night at 7pm. I had a local diesel repair shop come out and repair the trailer. All-in-all I spent $643.00 on a new rim, tire, studs, dust cap, nuts and labor to get going again. Then of course they would only take cash or a company check. Naturally, my card would not work for some reason, they won’t take personal checks and I didn’t have that much cash on me. So I go to the local ATM only to find a sign on it that said “Out Of Order”. Can you believe my luck? I finally had my uncle call in with his card to get me home. Then I missed a turn on the last leg of the journey and almost ran out of fuel. None of this will deter me from going next year though! Bring it on!
By the way, Jason Daugherty took the SE back with him to begin the restoration and that’s how I was able to use my trailer. He called me to let me know he and his family had made it home with the car without any incident. That is one thoughtful pro. Thanks Jason!
Arcade
